Size Manipulation: the ability to manipulate the size of anything and everything, including themselves.

Peter Parker makes balancing school life and hero life look easy. Newsflash- it isn't. It's freaking torture.

August becomes September, September melts into October, and suddenly Halloween is a week away and they've been mediocre neighborhood heroes for three months. During those three torturous months, Josh and Tiana fall into a routine.

Wake up, eat breakfast, walk to school, go to Hayley's studio after school, train for hours, go home, do homework, eat dinner if they're not too tired, pass out, and repeat. It's painful, but somehow they pull it off.

Since both of their parents are always working, it's easy to spend weeknights patrolling around with Hayley and Tyler, learning how to spot crimes and stop them before it turns deadly. Weekends are trickier to get away without their parents noticing, but they manage. His siblings don't really notice.

Hayley's practically become a second mom for them now. Whenever either Tiana or Josh skip a meal, she somehow always knows and makes them eat. She's overprotective of Josh, while she's lenient with Tiana, who's having a better time controlling her powers than Josh is. He blames her IQ.

Tyler is... well he's Tyler. Still scary, still unpredictable, still treats Josh like he's nine and not five months younger than himself. They've gotten closer, sure, but not as close as Josh assumes they should've. Since he isn't used to having friends other than Tiana, when Josh sees Tyler putting up walls between him and a pretty dope friendship, he doesn't try to stop him.

But that's okay. He doesn't need anymore friends.

The Monday before Halloween, Josh is sore like he's never been sore before. His training session with Tyler the night prior had been more painful than usual as he's transitioning from control his teleporting and combat training to learning how to use his spatiokinesis.

He can barely get out of bed when his alarm goes off, but he begrudgingly does so, pulling himself out of his pillow fortress and plodding to the bathroom.

"Josh, honey, have you seen my stethoscope?" His mother calls from her bedroom right beside his.

"I think it was on the washing machine," he answers, closing the bathroom door behind him.

Josh starts to peel off his pajamas, seeing a nasty yellowing bruise just under his ribs where Tyler had whacked him with a wooden sword they use to practice fight with. He turns on the shower, putting the water to its hottest setting.

Not to brag or anything, but he's gotten a lot taller and buffer since training started. He's not The Rock by any means, but he's not the short, scrawny kid who started his sophomore year scared out of his mind over bullies.

As soon as he steps in, every aching muscle in his body relaxes. Josh sighs contently and cranes his neck to the side, massaging soap into his hair. He hears his sister Ashley shouting over the blast of the water.

"Jordan, where did you put my crocs?"

"I didn't touch your nasty crocs."

"Don't lie to me, asshat, I know you took them. I need those, my anatomy and physiology class starts in twenty minutes."

"Watch your mouth, Ashley," their mother warns.

"Is Josh still in the shower?" Abigail asks.

"Yup," Jordan says. "Taking forever as usual."

"Abby, have you seen my crocs?"

"I think they were in the bathroom."

Josh shuts the shower off and grabs a towel off the rack before Ashley barges in, snatching her pastel pink crocs off the ground.

"Hurry up, Einstein, you're not the only one who needs to shower," she says.

"Fight me, Ash!"

After Josh brushes his teeth and fluffs his wings so they can dry, he wraps the towel under his arms, making sure his wings can't be seen, and darts into his room. His phone is buzzing on his nightstand with messages from their Instagram groupchat, respectively named Hero Shit™.

As he gets dressed, he skims through their conversation so far.

tyler.hoeseph
I'm just saying, Chick-fil-A is overrated

actuallythemedium
Their spicy chicken sandwich is amazing, fuck you

vodkamomtia
They're homophobic

actuallythemedium
...

tyler.hoeseph
Uh oh, is the famous Hayley Kiyoko homophobic???

actuallythemedium
I'm literally a lesbian, Tyler

joshweh
and I oop-

vodkamomtia
skskskkskskskskkskskskssksksk

actuallythemedium
What????

tyler.hoeseph
Don't corrupt her with your gen z bullshit

joshweh
You're literally a gen z kid old man

vodkamomtia
uwu
Josh did you do the study guide
for the biology test today

joshweh
Yup
Did you?

vodkamomtia
no comment

actuallythemedium
Tiana!!!!!

vodkamomtia
I studied I swear
Just not with the study guide

joshweh
Quizlet?

vodkamomtia
Quizlet.

Josh laughs and haphazardly buttons his shirt, searching for his pants. He pulls them up, not being able to get them over his hips. The bottom doesn't reach his ankles. When he looks down, his pants are almost above his socks.

"Uh, oh," he says.

"What's wrong, kiddo?"

He jumps and covers his eyes with one hand, holding his pants up with the other. "Hey, Ash. Hey, I think I got Abby's pants during laundry day, because these are way too small on me."

"Mhm, as if you haven't grown six inches in three months. You want me to get you a pair of Jordan's pants?" She asks. Josh can't see her face but can tell she's grinning.

"Please." She closes his door and Josh drops the pants, kicking them away. "Calm down, man, they won't find out. You're slick. You're Peter Parker."

He almost forgot what it was like having his siblings around. Since Josh is the youngest of four and the only one left in high school, when his sisters left for college and his brother for work, he got used to being home alone. Now they were back for Halloween- a tradition in their family- and Josh has to be more on edge than usual.

Ashley returns with Jordan's work pants that luckily match the color required for his school. Josh takes it gratefully and his backpack, finding the rest of his family scrambling around their tightly packed kitchen.

Their mom is rummaging through the fridge with a bagel in her mouth, while Ashley climbs the counter, still shouting at Jordan for her crocs. Jordan is shirtless with khakis on, taunting her back as he pops two frozen waffles into the toaster.

"Hey, little man!" He exclaims when Josh crosses to the kitchen table. "How's school going?"

"Tiring," Josh jokes, going to grab a hot pocket from the freezer.

"I can see that, with your new muscles and height and all."

Josh doesn't flinch, putting his food on a plate and setting it into the microwave. "Tia and I were thinking about joining the track team."

The waffles pop up and Josh takes this opportunity to slip back into his room for his phone.

joshweh
Weird question
Have I grown a lot lately?

vodkamomtia
Definitely

actuallythemedium
A little bit!

tyler.hoeseph
A little??? Dude puberty hit you like a bullet train

Josh rolls his eyes.

joshweh
Gee thanks

tyler.hoeseph
Am I lying???
You actually look like you could be fourteen
Maybe even fifteen

joshweh
Alright that's it I'm blocking you