Chapter 2
Summer had gone far too quickly for your taste, and here you were, on the steps of Midtown High.
You fidgeted with your top, pursing your lips. Alice, your AI, had scanned all the nearby schools to put together some outfit options, and you’d gone on a shopping spree for some more options, but still. This was important.
What if no one talked to you?
Where were you going to sit at lunch?
What if you couldn’t find your classes?
You looked back at Happy for a moment, but he’d already driven away. Probably for the best, honestly. He’d already dealt with your yapping for the entire drive.
As you walked up the stairs to the school, you marveled at its size. It looked around three floors high, and the football field was massive. Students milled around, exchanging hugs and greetings to friends they hadn’t seen all summer.
Inside, there were even more people your age: slamming their lockers shut, sharing schedules, and someone was even flying a drone around. Chaos reigned, and you couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on your face. This seemed like your kind of place.
First, though, you had to find your class.
You squinted down at your phone, trying to weave through the students as you read the room numbers. The warning bell rang, and your pace quickened as you searched the halls for your AP Chemistry classroom. Where was it-
“Oh shit!” you cursed as you knocked into someone. “I’m so sorry!”
Your breath caught as you looked up at the guy you’d collided with. He looked about your age, with brown hair and eyes. He was slight, but he’d nearly knocked the wind out of you.
He was gorgeous.
“Are you okay?” you asked.
The guy blinked a few times before he answered. “Oh. Yes. That was totally my fault. I'm so sorry!” he chuckled. “I should really be asking if you’re okay.”
You smiled. “I’m fine.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at Midtown before. What’s your name?”
You introduced yourself. “I’m new here, so I have no idea where I’m going, as you can probably tell.”
The halls were emptying and you noticed that you only had a minute to get to class. “Do you happen to know where the AP Chem room is?”
He checked your schedule. “Oh yeah! I’m headed there right now,” he paused awkwardly. “You’re going in the wrong direction.”
“Of course I am,” you snorted. “Well, lead on, kind sir.”
*
The two of you made it to class just as the bell rang and you scrambled to grab the last lab table. Of course, your seats were right in front.
And you were right next to the cabinet with all the liquid chemicals. You could feel each and every one of them sitting in there, bubbling and moving and distracting you from class. Not to mention everyone’s water bottles that they carried everywhere.
This class was going to be great.
The teacher took attendance and you finally learned that the boy’s name was Peter Parker, and he would be your lab partner for the year. He didn’t seem too bad. He had a nice smile, and he wore a shirt that said: “I was reading a book on helium. I couldn’t put it down.”
Some kid named Flash Thompson laughed obnoxiously when Peter’s name was called, and you rolled your eyes.
Yeah, it could definitely be worse.
You wanted to flinch when she used your last name Waters (yeah, real funny Dad)—hearing it again after the summer was weird.
Only two more years, and you could actually be known as a Stark. If your parents held up their half of the deal.
“So why did you come to Midtown?” Peter asked, distracting you from your thoughts.
“I used to go to boarding school and my parents wanted me closer, so here I am.”
“You live in Queens?”
“No, Manhattan, I just commute because it's a good school.” You’d prepared all these answers beforehand. “I assume you do?”
“Yeah, I live in an apartment pretty close to here.”
“Alright everyone!” your teacher began. “I am Mr. Cobbwell, and today we’re going to go over lab safety.”
The class groaned, yourself included. If anyone in AP Chem didn’t know not to touch a hot Bunsen burner, that was just natural selection.
“I know, I know, but it's legally required and I like my paycheck, so you guys are just going to have to deal with it.” The class broke out into whispered conversations as Mr. Cobbwell loaded up a video. Your eyes widened when you saw the screen.
It was Steve. He was decked out in his full, stupid Captain America costume, with a terrible green screen behind him.
“Hi, I’m Captain America,” he began, well-hidden agony in his eyes, “and today I’m here to teach you about lab safety.”
You couldn’t help but giggle quietly as you watched, wondering how many of these rules Steve had broken in Tony’s or one of Bruce’s old labs. Probably all of them.
It was nice to see him, to be honest. You usually tried to avoid their pictures if you could, but seeing Steve all annoyed like this was a typical day at Stark Tower before everything happened.
The teacher had handed out a worksheet to do, which you finished in like thirty seconds until you realized you were supposed to work with Peter.
“Oh sorry!” Peter said when the teacher announced you’d work in partners. “I'm already finished.”
You smiled and waved a hand. “No you’re fine, I did too.”
“Guess we’re perfect partners then.”
“I suppose so.”
It was silent for a moment until you asked, “So how’s Midtown High? Is it a good school, are the people nice?”
Peter hesitated for a moment, his head cocking to the side. “It’s okay, I suppose. Pretty much everyone is some kind of nerd, so the people are alright.”
“I hope so,” you replied. “It’ll be nice to have some actually challenging classes. My old school was marketed as an,” you put up air quotes, “‘academically rigorous institution’ but there were definitely some cheerleaders who couldn’t add two plus two.”
“Ah, the classic rich kid’s parents pay for them to go to a good school shtick,” Peter chuckled. “Yeah, we have some of that here as well.” His head tilted to the other side of the room, but you couldn’t tell who he was gesturing to.
You couldn’t help but notice how his brown eyes lightened when he laughed, and you could feel yourself smiling more as you looked at him.
“Anyway,” Peter continued. “Why Midtown? I can tell you’re smart, but it seems like a pretty long commute from Manhattan.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty annoying, but at least I don’t have to take the subway. My dad’s-” you hesitated for a second. You couldn’t exactly say your dad’s head of security. “Someone on my dad’s staff is going to drive me.”
Peter’s eyes widened. “Woah, I’m jealous. The subway rats have become friends at this point.” You chuckled, and something sparkled in his eyes. “But you didn’t answer, why Midtown?”
You hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t like you had any say in the school you went to. But Dad did care in his own way. “Midtown has a really good engineering program, and it allows me to focus on my favorite STEM classes, so here I am, I guess.”
“Alright, everyone!” Mr. Cobbwell called. “I hope you’re finished with those worksheets because we’re moving on.” He gestured to the SmartBoard. “Today we are going to review atomic structure, which you all learned last year. We will have a quiz next class.”
*
After your chemistry teacher assigned you about three hours of homework, you were headed to English. Fortunately, you managed to make it there without crashing into anyone else.
Still, English was boring as hell. You didn’t know whether to cheer or groan when you saw the booklist, as you’d already read nearly everything on there. Still, maybe you could reuse some of your old essays.
History was the same. You swore that any American student worth their salt could recite the entire history of the Revolution, yet you learned about it every. Single. Year.
Your heart raced as the bell rang. Lunch was upon you, and the only person you’d really spoken to was Peter. It felt like one of those stupid high school movies as you held your tray, looking around like a deer in headlights.
You tried to control the anxiety that was filling you as you searched the cafeteria for anyone who looked friendly. Your breath quickened and your mouth dried. Every chair seemed full, and running to the library seemed more appealing by the second. The door was getting closer and closer, while you were getting further and further from finding anyone.
You released a sigh of relief when you heard a familiar voice call your name. Turning in the direction of the sound, you could see Peter waving you over from a table tucked in the corner of the cafe. Next to him sat a larger, dark-haired boy and a slim girl with curly hair.
“Hey,” he said as you sat down. “You looked like you needed some saving.”
“Wow Peter, you’re a real Avenger,” you teased. “Thank you so much for rescuing me from the perils of a high school cafeteria.”
“Don’t thank me yet, you still have to eat the food.”
“And who is this?” one of Peter’s friends asked. He looked at Peter with wide eyes and a big smile. “Are you going to introduce us to your new friend?”
You introduced yourself, and Peter’s other friend looked up from her book for the first time.
“You’re in my English class,” she said.
You blushed. “Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you!”
“No, I’ve mastered the art of not being seen. You’re just one of my many victims.”
You blinked. “Okay.”
“Don’t mind MJ,” Peter chuckled. “She’ll probably take over the world someday.”
“Yeah, that checks out,” you said as MJ returned to her book. She wore a denim jacket with a bunch of patches on the back, most of them for human rights campaigns.
Peter’s other friend introduced himself to you as Ned, and apparently, he and Peter had recently finished building the Lego Death Star.
“Now, wait, how many times have you rebuilt this?” you asked.
“We’re on our third time now,” Ned said, giving Peter a look. “Because someone keeps knocking it over.”
“C’mon Ned, the first time was at least partially your fault,” Peter insisted. “I hadn’t even touched it by then!”
“I think seeing my best friend’s-” Ned winced as there was a sound of kicking under the table. Peter was looking at Ned with wide eyes, and he cleared his throat. “Seeing my best friend’s abs was a little distracting.”
Oh. Well, Peter could be a great friend then.
“It’s not what you’re thinking!” Peter sputtered. His entire face was red.
“No no!” you explained quickly. “I’m totally fine with that! I mean, pride is awesome!”
Ned and MJ had dissolved into laughter, and Peter was smiling awkwardly. “Me and Ned aren’t together! He just walked into my room at the wrong time and-”
“Peter, you really aren’t making this sound any better,” MJ said. “Stop talking.”
“I mean, I do swing that way sometimes,” Peter rambled. “But not with Ned! I mean he’s my best friend and-”
Ned covered Peter’s mouth. “She’s got it Pete. I promise.”
You could feel the heat on your face, and your cheeks ached from smiling. Peter was pretty adorable when he was rambling.
And you have only known Peter one day. So you should probably stop admiring his smile and his eyes and these possible abs that he has…
“So!” Ned said after a few moments of extremely awkward silence. “New girl, what’s your favorite Star Wars movie?”
*
After a thorough debate on the best Star Wars movie, lunch ended and you were headed to your favorite class: Mechanical Engineering II. Luckily enough, Peter, Ned, and MJ were in this class too, so you could team up for some of the projects.
The four of you spent the entire class messing around, and by the end, you felt closer to them than to some of your friends from your old school. Everyone joked around so easily, and Peter turned out to be one of the sassiest people you knew beneath all his awkwardness.
It was kind of strange, to be honest. The more you talked to Peter, the more familiar he seemed, as if you’d met him somewhere before. You just couldn’t put your finger on it.
The rest of your classes were pretty typical, and soon enough, the final bell rang and you were headed out to the front of the school. Peter and Ned were sitting on a bench nearby, and you joined them as you waited for Happy.
“So what do you think of Midtown so far?” Peter asked.
“It’s pretty good, I think,” you replied. “It’s hard to get a feel after one day, but you guys seem pretty nice.”
“Well,” Peter hesitated for a moment. “We’re glad to have you.”
You ignored the blush that was spreading on your face. “Thanks.”
The three of you sat in silence for a moment, until Happy finally pulled up in front of Midtown. You stood and brushed yourself off, waving to your new friends as you headed down the stairs.
When you looked back for a moment, Peter was staring at you, his brow furrowed. He elbowed Ned and whispered something to him, and before you could try and read his reaction, a car honked and your attention was dropped.
Happy was weird too. As soon as you stepped in the car he asked, “Who’s that kid you were talking to?”
“My friend?”
“You know what I mean. What’s his name?”
“Peter.”
“That’s it?”
“You asked his name.”
“Do you know his last name?”
“Parker, I think?” You rolled your eyes. “I met him today, sorry if I don’t know his Social Security number yet.”
“Great.” Happy mumbled under his breath. “Mr. Stark is gonna be thrilled about this.”
“I don’t think my dad really has any issues with me having friends. That would be a whole new level for him.”
Happy braked harder than he should have. “It’s not that. Just be careful. You know how the press would react if they found out about you.”
“It’s been sixteen years, Happy. If they haven’t found out yet, they aren’t going to find out now,” you said. “And honestly, what’s the worst that could happen?”