the strongest avenger

fifty

Tal waits as everyone files off the bus, it's dark out as parents wait to pick up their kids. She's smart enough to know that there's no way Tony's here and coming to pick her up, so she just keeps her head down as she gets down the stairs.

"Oh Peter." May says as she comes over to the duo. "Come here Tal."

"I—oh." She tenses as she's pulled into a hug with May and Peter, but smiles at the gesture.

May pulls back and looks at the girl. "Are your parents here?"

"Uh, no." She gives May a smile.

"Oh, do you need a ride home? We can bring you."

"Thank you so much for the offer, but my car's parked around here," she looks around. "somewhere."

"Are you sure? It's late."

"Yeah I'm sure. Thank you again for the offer." She smiles at May and turns to Peter. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye Tal."

The girl turns and makes her way around the parking lot, spotting her car. She drives straight to the Tower and unpacks her items. She showers and then snuggles in her bed, putting on a movie to fall asleep too. To help calm her racing mind.

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Tal tunes out the morning news on the screens in the hallway, keeping her head down as she walks next to Peter. She can tell he's smiling, his thoughts are shining bright with happiness from Spiderman being on the news.

Tal on the other hand, is trying to ignore the stray thoughts sent her way, the confusion, the shock, the looks at her. She just wants to disappear.

They make their way down the stairs and start turning, but Ned stops them.

"Guys, guys, guys. What is like being famous?" He asks Tal, and then turns to Peter. "What's it like being famous when no one knows it's you? Cause it is crazy...should we tell everyone?"

"No..." Pete says.

"It sucks." Says Tal.

"Should I tell everyone?" Ned asks.

"No, dude. No that's not a good idea."

"Okay well we're gonna be late to class, let's go."

"I'm not going to class." Pete says, causing the girl and Ned to turn to him.

"You're already in so much trouble for ditching the decathlon." Ned says.

"I know dude listen though, I figured it out right, the guy is stealing from Damage Control and what they take from Damage Control, that's how they build the weapons—"

"This was common sense, I thought we knew this." Tal says while crossing her arms.

"So all I've gotta do is catch him."

"We, Peter. We."

"Oh hell no you're not coming Tal."

"I have to agree with Peter on that, you're in like deep shit already. So you definitely can't go." Ned says.

The girl huffs, but ultimately knows that they're right.

"Wait but Peter we have a Spanish quiz." Ned says.

"Ned I'm probably never gonna come back here. Mr Stark is moving the Avengers upstate so...when I bring this guy in—"

"Dude! You wanna be a high school dropout? Tal tell him he's being stupid."

"Even if Tony makes you an Avenger you can still go to Midtown...that's what I'm doing. Even when we move I'm still coming here."

"I am so far beyond high school now." Pete says as he backs up.

Talia shakes her head as he starts walking away.

"He needs to be humbled." Tal mutters.

"I agree."

Ned and Talia say a quick goodbye before going separate ways. She makes her way to English, groaning when she remembers that they're starting a group project today.

She heads to her desk, at the back of the room, and plops down, waiting for instructions.

Her english teacher, Mrs Lenni, stands up once the bell rings.

"Okay class, today your starting your project on Pride and Prejudice. I'm gonna read off your partners and then when I finish, you can all go and meet with each other to begin. Lila and James...Cindy and Ryan...Talia and Jackson..." Talia resists the urge to groan at her partner choice, she was so going to complain to Peter later. Her and Jackson sort of got along, he would try to talk to her way too much for her liking, but he wasn't rude to her like on that first day.

Once Mrs Lenni is done, everyone gets up to find their partner. Talia watches as Jackson gets up and sits down in the desk next to hers.

"So, you're an Avenger huh?"

She groans and rubs her temples. "Yes. Now, for the project we have to make a poster and compare and contrast the elements of this book to something else. So what do you wanna do?"

"Have you read North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell?"

"No, but I could."

"Basically both books focus on couple's that clash terribly when they first meet. Mostly due to the snobbishness of one of the two. The way their differences are solved are similar as well."

"Okay... what about Gaskell's book Cranford? For both rather than focusing on young attractive women, they focus on the lives of older women living in gentile poverty. This was also the lives that the Bennet sisters would've faced on the death of their dad."

"I've read that one...didn't know you were a reader." He says.

"There's a lot of things you don't know."

"Well we could do Cranford since we both read it. I can send you a document and then we can split the work."

"I'll do contrasting and you can do comparing?" Talia suggests.

"Sounds good. We'll type it up and then we can make a good poster during class."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Have you read Wuthering Heights?"

"Not yet, it's on my list though." Talia says, finding herself wanting to smile at him.

"I highly recommend."

Talia thinks to herself that maybe Jackson isn't so bad. A little annoying at times, but a good person.