Chapter 5
Walking across the MIT campus was a different experience entirely. The small, close knit community of Xavier's school was behind him, and although it had been his safe haven for years, Tony was glad to be leaving. Too much raw emotion sat in the confines of the school, reaching deep into Tony's bones, waking him at god awful times whenever somebody had a nightmare. Xavier had tried to help, but there wasn't much that could be done. If Tony concentrated hard enough he could attempt to block out the empathetic connection he had with others, but more often than not he ended up accidentally reading someone's mind, so he generally avoided that route. The most effective method Tony had discovered was to avoid contact with others, because the less he touched people the less he worked his connection. It sort of faded into the background as a kind of manageable thought.
Now he was here in Massachusetts, and suddenly there was someone right in front of his line of sight.
"Hi! I'm Whitney, a sophomore here at MIT!" The brunette stuck out her hand, and Tony winced internally as he reached out to shake it, bursts of excitement and curiosity blooming in the corner of his mind before he let go of the smaller hand. "I'm majoring in bio-chem, and head of the sophomore class club! Is there anything I can help you with?"
Tony shook his head quickly. "N-no. I'm fine."
The girl tilted her head, peering down at the shorter boy. "You're kind of tiny, aren't you?"
Tony opened his mouth, then closed it before opening it again. "I'm a little short for my age, okay?" Tony turned to the side, getting a bit defensive.
A tiny laugh brought Tony's eyes back to the dark skinned girl. "Whatever kid, let me or one of the other supervisors know if you need anything. We're wearing the ugly shirts!" And with that the girl disappeared into a crowd of incoming freshmen and Tony was left to make his way to the dorms.
~
"...I don't need a liaison! Seriously what is wrong with you people?!"
The graying counselor peered over his glasses at the two young men sitting in his office. "Mr. Stark I understand your concerns, but they are unnecessary. As a minor you are required to be supervised on campus. I believe with time you and James here could become friends."
Tony scoffed, slouching even deeper into the ugly chair. "This is ridiculous. I don't need to be assigned friends!"
The older male in the chair next to Tony shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't mean to cause any problems Mr. Stark."
"Stop with the Mister Stark thing!" Tony shot an annoyed glance at the dark skinned man. His voice dropped a bit. "I'm not my father."
"My apologies. May I call you Tony?" James addressed Tony.
"Whatever."
The counselor took that as his opportunity too act as if he helped. "See? This could work. Tony, James lives on the same floor as you, and you two are expected to walk to and from class together. We'll meet again next week."
With that obvious dismissal Tony shot for the door, but James was quicker, and grabbed the boys arm. He expected perhaps a tug, or a shout, but he did not expect the instant wetness in the younger boys eyes, the gasp or the pale color in his face. "Leave me alone!" And with that Stark was gone.
~
That was possibly one of the worst experiences of Tony's life, ever. When the older student had grabbed his arm he had felt the confusion and concern. Concern? For him? It was ridiculous. This whole situation was ridiculous.
He did not need to be babysat. He was fifteen, not five.
With the brisk pace he set he could only hope that the other man wouldn't catch up, or that he was smart enough to know not to follow him, because the shaking of his shoulders was definitely from the cold and not held back tears.