Chapter 2
I wake up as usual and follow my itinerary, as soon as I finish I prepare my backpack and walk to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast, I stop to see the whole committee. Everyone is already dressed to train. I step into the kitchen.
"Morning!" everyone says in unison and my eyes wander to the unmistakable figure
"Nat! oh God... where you've been?" I rub my eyes to see if it isn't an illusion
"come here you" Nat hugs me as if there's no tomorrow, her red hair is damp and collides with my cheek, oh, I missed her, she's the best
"no breakfast?" Steve says behind me and I pull away to look at him
I open the fridge and grab my already prepared lunch "this is my breakfast" I point to my overnight oatmeal "I'll eat it on the way, bye everyone have a great day!"
They said bye, Clint and Sam with a drowsy voice, and I walk to the lift trying not to overthink my first day, I'm always overthinking and that's my problem and I always end up stressing about everything. I wait and the doors open revealing my dad and my mom, I stepped in with a quizzical look at them.
"Hey! Thought you were sleeping... and you not at your lab, not sleeping..." I push the button and spin to look at them
My mom is wearing a black pencil skirt with a white blouse, her blonde hair is perfectly brushed into a ponytail and my dad, well... he likes his sweatpants and his Black Sabbath shirt.
"There's always time to say goodbye and good luck to our daughter," my dad smirks at me and I snort
"I love you baby" my mom tightly hugs me "you'll do amazing this year"
"Thanks mom, I'm feeling it's my year" I excitedly smile
"well please be safe and I put something inside your backpack that'll help you," dad winks and I just smile
"love you dad" I walk closer to him and slightly hug him, he returns it and smacks a kiss on my cheek
"kick asses and then kick them again and then again, you know, just for fun" he casually says
"Tony!" my mom slaps his arm in disapproval but he grins at me
"c' mon dad, me kicking asses? That's definitely not me" I wink at him and when the doors open I walk away
That's definitely me
I search for Happy and get inside the car, we talk about the embarrassing moment my dad created yesterday for me and Happy was laughing so much about the fact that Steve Rogers was in a sex-ed video. He parks just one block before 36 Ave, only not to get attention from the others, I wave goodbye and take a deep long breath. Let's go Midtown, give me the best year, please.
I walk to the front and see everyone already in deep conversation with their friends, new kids who are totally lost and others totally shy and as I thought it will happen... All eyes are on me, I mean, I don't mind, I like attention, probably my Stark gene talking, but let me be clear on something... I'll never, ever be a pretentious snooty brat.
I walk to my locker, the sound of my steps rumbles through the hall. Let's see if I remember the code uh... 80-10-20... it opens and I start reaching to some books and post-it's I left during the summer. I put inside my new books and the girl next to me suddenly is hugged by one of her best friends, a nostalgic smile creeps on my face... it's been a while since I don't have a true best friend. I shake off those depressing thoughts and skim my schedule and notice that my first class is geometry which is my least favourite subject...
I take out my notebook and the advanced geometry book and strut to the assigned classroom that was already crowded. Exactly when I enter a little scream, that I thought it was girl, pops beside me.
"Oh yes! thank you, God! a familiar face in this sea of peasants!"
I throw my backpack and sit in front of him "Hi Flash, a new haircut or your head got bigger?" an external little laugh snaps behind me
He ignores my comment and an attempt of a smug smile forms in his face "oh Tannie you're always sooooo funny"
"wait... you're in advanced geometry?" I say in surprise "you shouldn't be at Woodwork?" the same laugh from earlier appears but with more strength
"I actually did my homework last year and paid attention so yes, I deserve to be in this class, I mean, it's not the best class... is full of nerds, Imma cool guy" he crosses his arms and cocks his head "and you too Tannie you're the best" he shoots me a flirtatious smile and I wince
"of course yes" I simply answer, I was about to turn to the teacher who walks in but his hand grabs my shoulder
"listen mmm Tannie, this Friday I'm doing a little party, ya know just to celebrate the beginning of a new year, you are in the VIP list with me of course" he whispers and I quickly nos just to get away from his awfully strong cologne
The class starts and I begin writing everything down when I hear a whisper saying "oh man, my notebook, I forgot it" I look up and see the one who said it, it was Ned Leeds who's in front of me, I poke his shoulder and he turns to me and opens his mouth agape in surprise.
"Ned, don't worry I'm writing everything here so when I finish you can take a picture if you want" I kindly smile at him
"Ummm thank you, Tannie!" he exclaims with a wide smile " you're so kind unlike others" referring to Flash
"it's nothing, by the way, Ned, for the final project and other Homeworks in this class... do you want to be my partner?"
"me? I mean, yes! trust me... I'm disciplined, I can get the radius of a circle so fast and the area of any kind of triangles you can imagine... at record time" he excitedly says and I snort
"haha yeah of course! we can be a great team"
He then spins around and the class goes by too slowly for me, in the end, Ned was waiting for me outside the classroom.
"here Ned" I place my notebook for him to take a picture, he pats his pockets and takes out his phone, he tries to center the camera but before he can take it someone crashes behind him.
"hey man! I was looking for you everywhere!" a bubbly voice says walking in front of us
Then I see Ned with a killing stare at his friend and I look at him as well, a young face, brown eyes, and hair and thin lips, tall but not too tall and skinny guy who instantly opens his eyes when he spots me.
"Dude, I'm trying to take a picture here, I love you but... please?"
I continue to grab the notebook while staring at... uh... I do know his name... I see that he's staring at me too.
"I'm... Peter hey!" he fakes a hoarse voice which makes me smile, I see his blue sweater and the neck of his plaid shirt, is it too early for some witty comments? yeah, probably...
I cock my head and smile at him "Yeah, I've seen you around... I'm-"
"Tannie Stark!!" he excitedly interrupts me "I mean... Tannie... Stark" he clears his throat and the tip of his ears turn red
"it's done Tannie, thank you," Ned tells me and pats my shoulder, Peter still looking at me
"sure! do we have other classes together? what type of timetable you have?" I ask him
"I have the S-30," he says "what about you?"
"I have the S-28" I shrug in disappointment knowing that we would only share three classes together
"I have the S-28!" Peter quickly raises his hand and I turn to him
"why you weren't at geometry then? I quirk a brow at him and he gulps
"I overslept in my comfy bed... yeah" he slowly admits
"great then, I'll see you at...? let me see..." Ned starts checking both timetables
"P.E, Geometry, and chemistry" Peter rapidly says
"that's good man!" Ned palms Peter in the back "see you, bro! Art is waiting for me!"
I stand there without saying anything and Peter as well.
"well, shall we go to the next class?" I break the silence with the offer and his eyes go-round for a moment
"yeah sure!" he awkwardly says
We start walking through the hallway... silently. Sideways I spot him stealing subtle glances at me.
"so ummm, new year huh?" I finally say
"yeah! Sophomore year is a big deal" he says scratching his right shoulder and when he touches it he makes a painful expression
"are you okay?"
"yeah! it's a bruise, I fall from my bed" he quickly says but he seemed to regret saying it
"oh okay..." we almost arrive to the classroom
"so... what did you do this summer break?" he questions me and I open and close my mouth
"not much, I tried to finish a robotics book and then I reread the first three books of Harry Potter!" my voice betrays my excitement, no one actually cares for what I do except my family (including Happy) "oh! and also hear this... I actually tried to replicate my dad's A.I. but failed, he used this kind of weird algorithm..." I stop when I notice Peter smiling at me
"Sorry..." I shrug "hey we're here!" I change the topic and stride inside the room
The benches are in a circle instead of the traditional way, I quickly sit down away from the door and Peter grabs the seat next to me. I take out my notebook and he opens his laptop. The class starts and I almost fall asleep, Ethics is not my strength, I peek at Peter's laptop just to distract myself and see he's watching some YouTube videos of Spider-Man.
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"I'm so tired and it's only third period," I dramatically groan and he laughs, we're walking together to Physics
"not only is the third period... the first day of school" he looks at me smiling
"thanks for the reminder"we keep laughing until someone shouts my name
"TANNIE!! Wait!" I turn around and see the Liz Toomes rushing to get to me "hello girl, so... just wondering if you're going to Flash's party?" she cheerfully jumps showing a slight smile
"mmmm I don't really know but maybe?"
"Great! think about it, some friends want to meet you, bye!" she sways away and I turn to Peter who can harvest a nest in his open mouth
"You're drooling Parker," I chuckle and step inside the classroom
At Physics, Warren assigned us to our partners and I got Flash, we were seated in front of Peter and other guy and Flash kept annoyingly insisting in flirting with me saying things like "What's your resonance frequency gurl?" I ignored him and remember that my dad put something in my bag, I open it finding the circuit board I began building this summer, the replica of Jarvis and Friday, I smile knowing my dad believes in me, then I spin it and spot a post-it and read it:
"You are simply amazing T"
-Love you, the other T in this family-
I did my best in Physics and Warren noticed, in the end, she told me she's expecting good things from me. I like it when others actually notice my effort. I got out and it was recess, quickly I tried to walk through the crowd to go to the Auditorium. When I got there, at least 8 tables were decorated with logos from their respective clubs, I skimmed them and found the Robotic's Labs table.
"hi!" I stop in front Tanner Chung who was reading a book
"hi, welcome to the Robotic's Lab's Club where we build the future and it's not like Terminator" he says with a tedious voice probably because he was sat there since morning
"thanks!" I tried to hide my excitement "where can I sign up?"
"Obviously, at that paper" he points his finger and then looks up to see me and he almost falls from his chair "I mean... please at this paper" hi smiles to creepily
"sure... so I know I have to submit a previous work, when can I present it?"
"umm... yes... It's the number one rule of the club but you know... it's not necessary Tannie"
"I think it is, I have many projects and I'm sure you'll like one of them" I kindly smile and he nods
"well, what about if you bring it tomorrow? today is just the introduction day" he again smiles "oh... hey Parker" he immediately stops smiling
"oh hey Peter!"
"hi... hi... I was about to sign up for the club" he shyly adds
"really? great I just sign up too, I'll see you there then" I spin to walk out of the auditorium
"it's in the classroom next to biology!" I hear Chung shouting at me
I then stroll to the cafeteria, avoiding not that discreet glances at me. But then stop in my track. Oh God, it's so crowded. Nope. Nope. I walk outside and reach to the football field and sit in one of the benches, I open my lunch and began eating while scrolling through the news. The New York Times has a section called 'A', all about the Avengers, including some news about Stark Industries. where they go, new threats, What they eat and how they work out, New witty comments from my dad, etc. In the end, I went to Music, played the piano and did my best suppressing too many laughs at Peter who was holding a flute but failing amazingly at that. Then Art class came and I nap behind the canvas. Last period is designed for our selected club so I search for the classroom and realize that every member happens to be all boys, great.
"Welcome! I'm Tanner Chung president of this Club!... I don't have any words to describe how happy I am to see that we have our first girl!!" he starts clapping and everyone else too
I wave at the boys, enjoying the little spotlight they were giving me. My eyes search for the shy boy I talked with today... Peter is not here. Chung was right when he said it was only an introduction, we read the syllabus for the class and the projects we were aiming to achieve, in the end, I quickly exited the room and went to look for Happy, then my phone vibrates, breaking news, the trending video shows this happened just blocks from Midtown showing a man running with a purse and then the Spider-Man webbed and punch the guy and he gave the purse to the woman, the title was "The Masked Hero: Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" I hear a horn and spot the shiny black car.
"Hello again!" I wave at him and he smiles
"Hello again Tannie, how was the first day?"
"not bad actually, new core subjects that are amazing!"
"I'm glad yeah, keep studying kid, keep studying"
"hey did you saw the new "Masked hero of New York"?" I say creating quotation marks in the air
"what are you talking about?"
"well, it's a new guy who is trying to help people and it seems like an amateur because he is not so good at martial arts, to be honest, you should create a Twitter account to see what's happening in the world" I point out
"why? I have you"
Minutes later, Happy drops me at the tower and with a quick pace I reach to the kitchen seeing my mom cooking? Oh, that's a first... no one else at the complex again.
"hi mom" I greet her and hug her
"oh god you look bigger today," she says being nostalgic "how was your first day, tell me everything please"
I grab some grapes and spin to her "well... I liked it, my classes are better than I expected, I already have homework and tomorrow I need to bring a robotic project I previously worked on"
"mmmhm" she hums "I'm glad baby... any prospects?" she asks making a weird face
"what?" I was confused "prospects?"
"yeah! for being my son-in-law?"
"you have a boyfriend now T?" Thor enters the kitchen and grins at me
"no!" cringe at the comment
"really? that's fast, niceeee" Sam then enters munching a protein bar
"what did I miss?" Steve comes... oh no...
"T has a boyfriend," Thor says casually and Steve winces wrinkling his nose
"wow" he looks at me with a surprised expression "what happened with 'I don't have time for one?'"
"Mom!" I rapidly spin to her "can you please explain to them that you were... and I was ... oh, forget it" I quit this fight and I stride to my room
Seriously all this testosterone is bad for my health
I do most of the homework, then I tiptoe to the kitchen finding it empty, I grab some food and heated it in the microwave and slowly retreated to my room. I take one of my many robots and lined them in front of me, I need to choose the best for tomorrow. I finally made up my mind and chose the one that I know will make them open their mouths agape. I lazily finish my homework, I'm still getting the hang of it because when I was homeschooled homework was not in the picture... Then I slump in the chair and unlock my phone looking the video of Spider-Man I left open. I remember when I was meters away from him, his suit definitely was something he needed to improve as well as his martial arts... and the webbing thing is weird, it's a natural power? if yes, then how he got it? before I could continue in my deep thinking I hear a knocking in my opened door.
"Hey Peanut," my dad says entering my room
"peanut?" I quirk a brow at him, he snorts while sitting at the edge of my bed
"yeah never mind, trying to be a normal parent" he says scratching his beard
"Nah dad, is not happening" I laugh at him
"so... I wanted to know how was your day" he lays his back in my bed
"I like it, until now Physics is my favorite subject and I'm bringing that robot for tomorrow"
He quickly lifts his head "which one?"
"that one" I point at it
"ohhh yes, they'll love it T!"
"what about your day?" I ask
"not much... I talked with the Secretary of State of the United States of America" he dramatically emphasizes the title
"and that's not much?"
"He wants to talk with other nations about the Avengers..." I rapidly spot the change of his feature "but nothing to worry about!" he stands up and kisses me on top of my head "Love you kid, have a good night" he exits my room
I then unwillingly went to wash my plate and none of the Avengers were there, I then played a little with Friday and decided not to eat dinner. My heavy eyelids making me fall asleep thinking about the party Flash is hosting... maybe it's good to be social sometimes? what could go wrong?