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Because Jasper shattered the backboard glass while dunking, of course he got called into the office for a talk with the teachers.
"I know you, Jasper."That was the first thing the principal said. And he really did know Jasper — he wasn't just saying that to sound friendly. He even knew Jasper's parents; they used to be classmates back in the day.
Hearing that, Jasper replied, "Yeah, I know you too."He'd seen the principal a few times giving speeches at school, so that's how he recognized him.
The principal smiled and asked, "Do you have some kind of conflict with Rick?"
Jasper shook his head. "Not really a conflict. Rick's just been picking on me for no reason."
The principal asked a few more things about his situation with Rick, then told him he could leave.
As Jasper stepped out of the office, he saw Annie leaning against the wall. She must've shown up after he went in. Was she worried about him?
There really wasn't anything to worry about.
"You okay?" Annie asked curiously.
Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing here though?"
"I was worried about you!" Annie said. "I didn't think you'd actually break the backboard. The school's equipment must be super unsafe. What if you'd gotten hurt?"
She started ranting — clearly blaming the school for the weak equipment. She figured the school should do a full check on all the gear before someone actually gets hurt.
Honestly, most of the school's equipment was fine, and that backboard was usually solid too… Jasper just used a bit too much force.
Not long after, Jasper's foster parents arrived. The moment his foster mom saw him, she rushed over, hugged him, and asked worriedly, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
Jasper shook his head. "I'm sorry… I caused you trouble."
He felt a little guilty. His emotions got the better of him, and if he'd held back just a bit, they wouldn't have needed to come all the way here.
As soon as he said that, his foster parents both laughed. They clearly thought it was the school's fault. I mean, how could a high schooler break a backboard unless there was something wrong with it?
Then they noticed Annie standing nearby.
Annie got a little nervous under their gaze, but stood tall and greeted them, "Hello."
His foster parents exchanged a glance and smiled. "You two go hang out. Leave the rest to us."
With that, they walked into the principal's office.
"Wanna go get a drink or something?" Annie suggested. Standing around was pointless, and she figured they might as well chill somewhere.
Jasper nodded.
So they went and sat down at a cold drinks shop just outside the school.
"Sorry for dragging you into this," Annie said, a little embarrassed. She hadn't thought her actions would get Jasper into trouble, and she felt kind of bad about it.
"It's fine," Jasper said, shaking his head.
They talked for a long time, and during their conversation, Annie realized she and Jasper actually saw eye to eye on a lot of things. That made her really happy. Honestly, it even felt a little like he was her other half — like a soulmate or something. That connection felt amazing.
Chatting with Jasper made her realize she didn't want to be apart from him. She wanted to keep talking to him forever.
Good thing they were "dating" now — that gave her an excuse to stay close.
About half an hour later, Jasper stood up and said, "I should head out. See you, Annie."
Annie smiled. "I had a really good time talking with you."
"Me too," Jasper nodded.
His foster parents had left early on purpose so they wouldn't interrupt his "date" with Annie.
Not long after Jasper left the drink shop, he suddenly saw someone swing down from the sky — Spider-Man, landing while carrying a girl in his arms.
"Hey~! Kid, mind watching her for me?" Spider-Man said, gently setting the girl down in front of Jasper.
Jasper nodded.
"Good kid!" Peter Parker said with a quick pat on Jasper's shoulder, then turned and raced off. A fire had broken out on the fifth floor of a nearby high-rise, and a lot of people were still in danger — he had to hurry.
Jasper glanced up and saw the flames on the fifth floor. He understood — Spidey was off to save people. But there were limits to how many he could rescue at once. There'd probably still be some people who'd get hurt.
Jasper quietly slipped away.
Moments later, he reappeared from the shadows on the fifth floor of the burning building.
Right away, the heat hit him hard. He spotted Peter, already busy rescuing folks.
Still too slow...
Jasper thought for a second, then used his Shadow Step ability to teleport everyone within his line of sight to safety.
Peter noticed what Jasper had done and called out, "Nice job!"
"There might still be some folks stuck under the rubble. You should check around," Jasper said. He could only teleport people he could actually see — if they were hidden under debris, he couldn't do anything.
"Got it," Spider-Man nodded and started searching.
Jasper looked around too. Once he was sure no one else was there, he vanished into the shadows again.
He headed straight home. Not long after he got there, he saw a news report: a few people had suffered minor injuries, but no one had died.
The broadcast even praised Spider-Man's heroic rescue.
Jasper turned off the TV and went to his room, ready to play some games for a bit.
He'd just sat down and opened his laptop when he heard tapping on his window.
Spider-Man.
Jasper opened the window and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Peter Parker climbed in and said, "Seriously, thank you for earlier. Without you, there would've been casualties."
Jasper looked at him. "You came all the way here just to say that? Honestly, instead of wasting time thanking me, maybe go help an old lady cross the street or something."
Peter gave a sheepish laugh. "Can I rest for a bit? Saving people's exhausting, man. And some folks are just ridiculous. They act like I owe them, like I'm supposed to rescue them no matter what, and then they still yell at me."
Turns out, even after saving people, Spidey still got chewed out by one ungrateful guy.
That guy blamed Spidey for being too slow, said his skin got burned, and had the nerve to demand Spider-Man pay his hospital bills. Like, what?!
Hearing that, Jasper got it. This guy was here just to vent.
Watching Spidey rant, Jasper sighed. "Wanna play a round?"
Peter looked at him, then nodded.
So the two of them played a few rounds of video games. When Peter got ready to leave, he smiled and said, "This path's tough, but I'm not giving up."
Jasper gave him a nod. "Then keep going!"
"....."