Estelle Stark

|| Chapter One ||

     Estelle was walking to school on her eighteenth birthday. Nobody remembered. Not even her dad, Tony Stark. Certainly not her sister Morgan. Oh, Estelle had friends. But they weren't really her friends. They stuck to her because she was Estelle Stark, and was probably rolling in money. But Tony never gave her money unless it was necessary; the dollars were saved for Morgan and Peter, and them alone. Besides, she never told anybody her birthday. That way she'd never be disappointed.

     As she turned the corner and reached the school, the first person she saw was Peter Parker. Her dad's intern; Spiderman; the boy who had stolen her life. Parker sneered at her, and in response, Estelle held up a fist, then stuck out the finger.

     He rolled his eyes and she smiled sweetly. Putting her finger down, she walked into the school. Immediately she was met with loud chatter and squealing. She grit her teeth and tried not to cringe. Loud noise gave her severe headaches, although she didn't know why. Her perfect sister certainly didn't have the same problem.

     As the bell rang, she made her way to Period 1, Literature. Her teacher, Mrs. Ronan, was a sweet old lady with a plump body and bright smile. She had a sort of grandmotherly vibe to her, and was very kind. Her once-blonde hair was graying at the roots. She smelled slightly of flowers, as though she rolled through a garden every day.

     Estelle took a seat and pulled out her 500-word essay. There was no topic for the writing assignment; only the guidelines of "school appropriate." She'd written her essay about neglected children that were uncared for, only because she had been angry once again at her father. Setting the papers on her desk, she looked up at Mrs. Ronan.

     Mrs. Ronan stood up on her tiny legs and announced to the whole class, "The 500-word essay was due today. I do not see anybody getting out papers except for Estelle Stark. Did none of you do your work?"

     Immediately the other students scrambled to search their bags. They all pulled out sheets of paper and put them on their desks. Mrs. Ronan smiled. "Good. I expect you all to be ready to turn in any assignments due. Every day."

     Mrs. Ronan collected their papers then clapped her hands together. "Today I have a meeting at 8:45." Moans of disbelief. "So you will be having a substitute." Louder groans. "Now, class, don't act like that. She's a very nice person. I'm sure you'll be fine. However," she added, looking each student in the eye. "If any of you misbehaves, I will know about it. So be on your best behavior. Do you all understand me?" Murmurs of yes.

     Mrs. Ronan smiled. "Brilliant. She should be here soon." A couple minutes later, a woman with dyed-blonde hair and green eyes walked in. She turned to the class and smiled.

     Mrs. Ronan tipped her head to the woman slightly and left the room. "Hello, everybody!" the woman said. "You can call me Ms. Romanoff."

    Estelle's mouth fell slightly open. Romanoff? She studied the woman and realized that yes--she did bear resemblance to Natasha Romanoff--the Black Widow who had been her friend and acted much kinder to her than Tony Stark--but the blonde hair threw Estelle off. It had been nearly two years since she'd last seen Natasha, since she left for a mission and did not return. The blonde hair could have been for some anonymity, since Natasha had never talked about wanting to be a blonde.

     Noticing Estelle staring at her, 'Ms. Romanoff' sent her a small wink. "Before we begin," Ms. Romanoff began. "Apparently Ms. Estelle Stark is wanted at the office. Somebody is going home early." She smiled brightly. "Lucky duck."

     Startled, Estelle quickly stood up and grabbed her backpack before exiting the room. She tried not to run to the office--despite the nice teacher, Literature was never one of her favorite subjects. And she just didn't like school in general.

     When she pulled the door of the office open, the secretary, Mrs. Carter, beamed at her. "Estelle Stark! So happy to see you today. Your father's, ah, work friends are here to pick you up." At that, Estelle began to feel a bit worried. Her father certainly wouldn't send for her, which meant these people were probably here to take her away. She wondered how Mrs. Carter had been so easily fooled.

     However, when she opened her mouth to say this was all a mistake, she heard a familiar voice. "Stellie! Long time no see!" Estelle whirled around and her jaw dropped.

     Standing in front of her were the Avengers. Her father's "Work friends".

     Steve Rogers; Captain America, was beaming. James Buchanan Barnes "Bucky"; the Winter Soldier, gave a slight smile. Dr. Stephen Strange; Dr. Strange, offered her a curt incline of the head. Thor; Lord of thunder, was grinning from ear to ear. Clint Barton; Hawkeye, stood tall, his bow at the ready.

     "What--" Estelle managed to stammer out. Thor interrupted her with his booming voice. "IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY, ISN'T IT, MIDGARDIAN?"

     "I-I mean, yes, but how did you-- and why are you-"

     Bucky laughed. "We're ditching school! For a party."

     "A... party? But--why-- I mean, my father certainly didn't plan this, so--"

     Stephen clapped her on the shoulder. "We are throwing you a party. Not your father."

     Although he probably didn't mean it to hurt, Estelle winced slightly. She still smiled at them, however, and clapped her hands. "I'M DRIVING!"

     Collective groans. "If you drive anything like Tony," Clint groaned. "You'll kill us all."

     Estelle's smile wilted slightly at the ends, and she tried to say with the least venom possible, "I share nothing in common with my father except looks, brain, and blood."

     Steve nudged Clint slightly and cocked his head. "You can drive, but if you get pulled over, I'm taking over."

     "Deal."

     So they went off, and didn't get pulled over once. They spent a nice day eating food and cake, going on shopping sprees and such. The day would have been perfect, except for the loud nagging voice in the back of Estelle's head, reminding her that these people cared more than her father.