New Girl
Maisie approached the steps of Midtown School of Science and Technology with slight hesitation. The large black gates that surrounded it reminded her of her old school, and she wrinkled her nose. If she thought hard enough, she could still recall the smell of pretentiousness and teenage angst. But, she mused, looking around, this school was full of nerds. Then again, who was she to judge?
Someone bumped into her and half-apologized as they brushed past her. First awkward interaction of the day was over in less than five seconds, surely everything would be fine from here on out. Maisie took a breath, and she stepped forward.
******
It was easy enough to find her locker, and the secretary had been nice, so Maisie felt the day got off to a pretty good start.
"Ned, dude, I'm sorry, but I can't come over tonight!" a boy said as he walked by. He stopped a few lockers down from her. "May scheduled family time, and you know how she is about that sort of thing."
"Peter, I just bought the new Lego—" Ned, presumably, was interrupted by his friend.
"Sorry, man," the first boy, Peter, shrugged.
Maisie smirked into her locker, putting a few things away as she tried to figure out her first period class. Who knew boys in high school still played with Legos?
"Whoa, who's that?" Ned dropped his voice to whisper.
Maisie stiffened, and she felt two pairs of eyes land on her. With her power to teleport came a whole lot of stuff she wasn't originally ready to deal with, including enhanced strength and speed, increased reflexes, and most irritatingly, super-hearing. Maisie tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she tried to ignore the words pouring out of Ned's mouth.
"She must be new," Peter replied, curiosity lacing his voice.
"Yeah, obviously," Ned scoffed. "She's too pretty, we would've noticed her by now."
Maisie couldn't help it; she snorted in amusement.
Ned's eyes widened, "Do you think she can hear us? She just laughed!"
Peter's eyes narrowed, but he shook his head, "No, there's no way."
Not about to expose her special powers, Maisie closed her locker and looked down at her schedule, searching for her class. She had first hour physics with Ms. Warren, she noted.
"She's going to physics class, too!" Ned observed, and she heard Peter shush him.
Finally, Maisie sat down in the third row, the seat closest to the door. Only one other student occupied the room, a curly haired brunette with light skin, and she looked up upon Maisie's arrival. Maisie smiled in greeting, and the brunette's serious look faded for a moment to offer a small smile back. Maisie returned to her backpack to take out her supplies for the class, and more students began to file into the room. As she previously heard, the two boys from the hallway, Peter and Ned, joined the class.
Maisie looked up, and she noticed Peter's gaze linger on her for a moment. The two locked eyes, and Peter's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he rushed to sit down in the seat alongside Ned in the second row. Maisie held back a smirk, wondering why she was so amused by the boy.
"Alright, class!" a woman who Maisie assumed was Ms. Warren announced. "Welcome to Honors Physics! I will have a seating chart for you in a moment along with a syllabus that we will use to review class expectations for this year."
Maisie felt a tap on her shoulder, and she paused in confusion before turning around to face a black haired boy who shot her a smirk.
Maisie raised an eyebrow, "Yes?"
"Ms. Warren should put us next to each other," the boy began, a poor attempt at flirting. Maisie frowned. "I bet we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on, new girl."
"God, I hope not," she frowned, considering the thought for a moment before turning back around with a swift shake of her head, leaving the boy to stare at her back in embarrassment.
A muffled laugh caught Maisie's attention, and she turned her head to the source of the noise. Peter, on the far end of the room, had obviously heard her little conversation with the boy behind her and thought it was funny. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion; how had he heard her from all the way over there? Still, the corners of Maisie's mouth quirked upward in a smile as she focused on Ms. Warren once again.
******
At lunch, Maisie was sick of being alone. Granted, she'd spent most of her life that way, but she'd reached her breaking point. After the accident at SHIELD when her mom died, it became tougher to find someone to relate to with shared life experience.
The girl grabbed her lunch tray and headed toward the large cafeteria, searching for any open seats. A large, empty table immediately caught her eye, and she frowned as she saw the brunette from Physics sitting alone. A bit down the table, she noticed the two boys from earlier sitting by themselves, too. Looking around, she didn't recognize anyone else besides the annoying kid who sat behind her in class.
Sighing, Maisie stepped toward the mostly empty table, focusing on the brunette. The girl didn't necessarily look like she needed company, and Maisie had a feeling she got by on her own pretty well. Still, the blonde took the seat across from her.
"Hey," she greeted, surprising the girl a bit. Before she could object, Maisie took the wrapping off her sandwich and took a bite, getting comfortable.
"Hi," the brunette replied after a moment, looking around as though a whole party of people were going to show up now that Maisie did.
"I'm Maisie," she said, swallowing the bite of sandwich. "Well, technically, my name's Margaret, but if you call me that, you can't be my friend."
The girl's mouth quirked upwards, "I'm Michelle." A beat. "But, my friends call me MJ."
"Nice to meet you, MJ," Maisie replied, tentatively using her nickname.
MJ had a quiet reserve, but not a shy one. She looked sure of herself, and Maisie got the sense that she spent a lot of time mumbling sarcastic comments under her breath.
"So," she began, noticing MJ's hesitation, "what's the deal at this school? Are there any sports, clubs, obnoxious acapella singing groups?"
MJ snorted, "We're not great at sports, but our lacrosse team is alright. No singing groups, though there is choir and band offered as classes. I'm in Academic Decathlon, and we made it to Nationals last year."
Maisie nodded, "Gotcha, well, it's not like I'm a sports girl anyway."
The same two boys from earlier sat down a small distance away from them at the same long table. MJ glanced that way for a moment, and the shorter and thinner one, Peter, gave a short wave. He looked confused to see Maisie sitting with MJ, and she assumed it was because MJ usually kept to herself.
"Who're they?" Maisie found herself asking, nodding at the two boys.
MJ glanced up, following her gaze. Her eyes brightened in amusement, "They're on my Decathlon team, so I guess they're kinda smart, but total losers."
Maisie snorted, wondering what made her say that.
"The bigger one's Ned, he's nice enough, but the other one—"
"Peter, right?" Maisie interrupted, a small smirk crossing her face. She didn't notice how the boy stopped chewing his sandwich once she said his name.
"Yeah, he's a huge dork," MJ nodded, popping a grape into her mouth.
Maisie shrugged, "Kinda cute, in a nerdy sort of way."
"Gross," MJ shook her head, grimacing.
Maisie only laughed in response, a happy sound that echoed in Peter's ears. His lips tilted into a small smile, but Ned interrupted his super-eavesdropping to talk about the test they already had that next Friday in algebra.
******
The next period was spent in English, something Maisie enjoyed only about half the time. She and MJ had to split up after lunch because they both had separate classes, and Maisie frowned as she realized she was alone again.
As the students trickled into the class, a few pouted that the teacher created a seating chart. Maisie scanned the front board for her name, finding it nearer the back of the classroom. Maneuvering around the other students trying to find their assignment, Maisie made it to her seat, dropping her backpack next to her desk with a soft thud.
She was preparing her notes for class when someone familiar dropped into the seat next to her. Maisie looked up and found Peter sitting in the desk beside her, looking more anxious than Maisie thought he should be. Maybe she could help with that.
She smiled, leaning over, "Hi, I'm Maisie. I'm new here."
"Yeah, I know," Peter replied, wincing at his own words.
"You're Peter, right?" she continued.
"Yeah, yeah, my name's Peter," he nodded. "Um, how's your first day been so far?"
"It's been alright. Most everyone seems nice enough," Maisie smirked, remembering her first hour. "Except that one kid, was his name 'Flash' or something?"
Peter seemed to relax a bit, laughing, "Seemed like you handled him alright."
"I don't have time for douchebags who peak in high school," Maisie shrugged, giving Peter an approving look, "You seem okay."
"Thanks," Peter smiled. A moment passed, and Peter spoke up once again, "So, where'd you—"
"Alright, listen up, class!" Mr. Harrison announced, moving to the front board to start the lesson and interrupting Peter.
The boy sat back in his seat, facing forward and paying attention to the lecture as Maisie bit back a quiet laugh.
******
At the end of the day, Maisie returned to her locker after exchanging numbers with MJ. They had bonded over their hatred for Snapchat and their reluctant acceptance of digital media. The two were more similar than Maisie initially thought. Her newfound hope for this school had grown to full blown optimism.
She stared at the inside of her locker, trying to ignore the daunting pile of textbooks she had to bring home. Reaching for her headphones to block out the sound of the city as she made her way home, Maisie felt someone stand next to her.
"So, new girl," Flash began. He looked less cocky than during Physics, but the arrogance on his face was impossible to miss.
"Yikes," Maisie mumbled.
He didn't hear her, "I just figured that since you're new that you're in need of a friend, or, if you're lucky..."
Maisie was mid-way through rolling her eyes when her gaze landed on someone hiding his laughter in his locker a short distance away. Flash didn't seem to notice her disinterest nor her complete disregard of whatever he was saying as she watched Peter look half-concerned and half-amused by Maisie's situation.
"So, anyway, I'm gaining a lot of followers on Instagram, and if you want my Snapchat, it's--"
"Look, Flash, is it?" Maisie cut him off, but didn't wait for him to answer. "I've got to go now, so thanks, but no thanks. I'm good."
"You're... good?" Flash asked, frowning.
"Yep," Maisie shut her locker door, holding three books in one hand.
She gave Flash a simple nod of her head as she walked past him, but he stepped backward to cut her off, "Are you sure, because I--"
"Don't worry, I'm sure," her annoyance with the boy felt a bit unfounded. Teenage boys were ridiculous, sure, but he seemed to want to be her friend, and maybe--
"Fine, I was just trying to be nice," Flash scoffed. "Girls like you aren't worth it anyway."
Not keen on being rejected any longer, Flash pushed past her with more strength than Maisie was expecting. She stumbled, her weight unbalanced. Maisie winced as one of her textbooks fell off of the stack in her hands. As she fell backward, she didn't move to catch herself; Maisie cursed herself that her first instinct was to teleport back onto her feet even though she was in front of a whole hallway full of kids. She was lucky, however, that a hand reached out to grab hers, holding her in place.
Without realizing her eyes were closed, Maisie opened them. Peter stood in front of her, his amusement gone.
"Are you okay?" he asked, frowning past her. Maisie planted her feet firmly on the ground.
Maisie looked at the boy's hand in hers, somehow summoning the strength to keep her from falling.
"Yeah," she let go. "Thanks."
Something about this boy was odd, she decided.
Peter shrugged, "It didn't seem like you needed much help."
Still, he was pretty cool.
Maisie cracked a smile, "I usually don't."
Peter bent down to grab the book that had fallen, "I figured."
"Is that guy always such an ass?" she asked, adding the book to her stack.
"Yeah," Peter sighed. He adjusted his bag around his shoulders, frowning. "He calls me 'Penis Parker.'"
Maisie covered her mouth with her hand, stifling a pitying laugh, "No way."
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get a nickname soon enough," Peter assured her. The two began to walk down the hallway, "After today, I wouldn't be surprised if most people believe that he's already turned down the new girl."
"I don't really care," Maisie shrugged. It was true, after all. "I made a couple friends today that don't care about Flash, so if I stick with them, I'm sure I'll be just fine."
"Oh, who? MJ?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, she seems pretty cool," Maisie supplied. "And, I was thinking that after you saved me from an embarrassing moment in the hallway that you didn't seem such a bad option for a friend either."
"Really?" Peter asked. They'd reached the school gates now, coming to a stop as they began to part ways.
"I mean, that's entirely up to you," Maisie started to back away, holding her books against her chest. "Unless you'd rather me call you 'Penis Parker.'"
Peter shook his head rapidly in protest, only making Maisie laugh, "Please, no. It's traumatic at this point."
Maisie shook her head, "I'll see you later, Pete."
As far as superheroic missions went, if "First Day of School" counted as one, Maisie figured she'd label it a success.