Chapter 3

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Zoza peeked around the corner, spotting the dinner table. No one had noticed her yet, so she imagined how easy it would be to just sneak back to her room and just avoid everything. As she turned to leave, she heard a chair scrape against the floor, and footsteps came closer to her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned her head, craning her neck to look up at Steve. 

"There you are. We were starting to worry. Come on, you can sit by me." he smiled gently. She nodded, and he brought her to the table. Zoza climbed into her chair, sitting in between Steve and a man, in a yellow button down shirt, that she didn't recognize. He kindly smiled at her, holding out his right hand.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Banner, but you can call me Bruce. And this here is my lovely fiancée, Cynthia." He introduced himself. Zoza took his hand first, shaking it carefully, then she shook the hand that belonged to the woman on his right. They both smiled at her, and she shyly smiled back, not wanting to be rude. Steve pat her shoulder gently, making her look up at him. 

"Okay, you've met Bruce, Cynthia, Blossom, and myself. And of course you know who Pepper is. Now, the woman with the red hair talking with her is Natasha Romanoff. On Nat's left, the man with the short blonde hair, that's Clint Barton. And of course, sitting on Pepper's other side is your Uncle Tony." Steve said softly, pointing to each person as he identified them. Zoza nodded at each name, pausing only at Tony's. Her mother almost never spoke of him, so she had no idea whether or not to avoid him. She had it set in her head to avoid most everyone at the table, except maybe Steve and Aunt Pepper. And she couldn't really avoid JARVIS, now could she? As Zoza was deep in thought, she noticed her Uncle Tony look right at her, and he cleared his throat. All surrounding conversations died down instantly.

"This had better be good Stark." Steve chuckled, and Zoza looked down at her fingers, which were sitting in her lap, curling and uncurling. 

"Oh, it is Rogers. I'm not sure how for how long the arrangement is, but we have a new member of the Avengers' family. Miss Zoza Potts will be staying with us for as long as her mother needs." Tony announced, and Zoza squeaked in shock. She jumped up from the table and ran, full speed, to her room. She shut the door, locked it, and slid down it. She covered her face with her hands and began to cry quietly. She hadn't even been at her Uncle's for a day and she already wanted to go home. She missed her mom, she missed her babysitter, she missed being able to stay out of the spotlight. She had always hated being the center of attention, and to be put on the spot like that had frightened her. She heard a soft knock on her door, making her jump away from the door.

"Zoza? It is Zoza, right?" A soft voice asked. A woman's voice. Slowly, Zoza stood and unlocked her door, stepping away from it. The door slowly opened, and Natasha stood in the doorway. Zoza looked up at her, and Natasha came down to her level. even though Zoza was thirteen, she was very short for her age.

"Did Tony do something to bother you?" She asked, and Zoza nodded. 

"I-I hate being in the spotlight. I like being alone, where I can be quiet and do my own thing without anyone telling me it's wrong, or that it's not as good as person A's." Zoza admitted quietly.

"Understandable. I was the same way. I keep to myself most of the time. But, so do a lot of us here." Natasha said softly.

"You-You understand?" Zoza asked, surpried. Natasha gave her a half-smile and nodded, setting her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Of course I understand. You're not alone." She carefully pulled the girl into a hug, which was returned hesitantly. Natasha pulled away, stood, and left Zoza alone. Zoza shut her door and walked over to her bed. In her travel bag, she had left a diary and a pen. Ever since she went to go stay with her grandmother for a week, she made sure to keep a spared journal in the pocket of the bag. She pulled it out, along with the pen, opened it, and began to write on a clean page.

'Day one wasn't quite what I expected. It was a bit better, since drama was saved for dinner. Uncle Steve is nice, Aunt Pepper has always been nice, Aunt Natasha understands how I feel, and Uncle Bruce seems kind. Should I call them Uncle and Aunt? Maybe I could ask each of them, one on one. I miss my mother, and I want to go home already. And Uncle Tony scares me. I think I should keep away from him for a little while, just to test the water like you do a swimming pool. Write more tomorrow.' 

Zoza shut the journal as her door opened again. She shoved the book under her pillow, and Steve appeared in the doorway, a plate of food in his hands.

"You kinda missed dinner. so I brought you a bit of everything. Want  me to sit in here with you, so you're not alone?" He asked, walking over to her. He held out the plate for her to take, which she did, gingerly.

"No thank you. I'm fine with being alone." Zoza said softly.

"You sure?"

Zoza nodded.

"Well, holler if you need anything. Or I suppose you could ask JARVIS to help you if you don't feel comfortable with us yet." Steve smiled kindly, leaving her room. Zoza sighed, picked up her fork,and dug into her makeshift dinner, thinking of the nights where she and her mother would sit on the couch, talking and eating.

"I wanna go home." She whispered, tears filling her eyes as she dropped the plated onto the bed, spilling food everywhere.

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