The Grumpy Sunshine Series

The GED - Part 2

You don't know how long you've been standing in the common room. You don't know how long it's been since you heard those agents making fun of your friends, making fun of you.

All you know is that you can't get the sound of their voices out of your head. They just keep echoing off each other, getting louder and louder with every passing moment.

You feel shellshocked, hollow.

"Hey, I thought you were taking those down," Sam's voice interrupts from the doorway. You didn't even realize you were still clutching the plate of cookies you made for those agents.

"Oh," you choke out. Your knuckles are white. You have to will yourself to set the plate down on the table. You have to will the sadness off your face before Sam sees your pained expression. You don't want to tell him what you heard. He would tell the others and they would just go down there. You really didn't want to make a tense relationship worse because you couldn't leave well enough alone. This was your fault. There's another part of you that just doesn't want to admit it. That doesn't want them to know what those agents think of you, what they found out by reading confidential files. You're worried they'll agree. You're worried they'll tell you they had a point. You're embarrassed. Embarrassed that people really think of you like that. Dumb. The stupid, illiterate Avenger. "I - I was. They weren't down there."

"Oh." Sam looks at you quizzically. "Are you okay? You look upset."

You shake your head, clearing the knot lodged in your throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just don't want those cookies to go to waste."

"Well, I doubt you have to worry about that," Sam jokes, grabbing a cookie off the plate.

As Sam finishes off the cookie in his hand, your curiosity gets the best of you, "Hey, Sam? What's a Stepford Wife?"

"Nothing good, why?"

"I just - I heard it from somewhere."

"It's sorta like a woman who does whatever her husband wants, like she can't think for herself."

"Oh." It feels like a punch to the gut. That's what they thought of you.

Sam reaches out, nudging your shoulder, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I was just thinking."

"About?" Sam urges.

"I want to go to school," you unexpectedly announce.

"You wanna go to school. Why?"

"Why not?" you counter, an uncharacteristic bite to your words.

Sam jolts, confused by your defensive response. "You've just - you've already got so much on your plate, you know? You barely have any free time as it is. And school is - it's hard, really hard."

"So you don't think I can do it?"

"Of course I think you can do it!" Sam exclaims. "I just don't know what brought this on, that's all."

You force yourself to calm back down. You remind yourself that you brought this on yourself, Sam didn't deserve your frustration. You take a deep breath, rolling your shoulders back. You hate how easily the lie rolls off your tongue. "I just - I want to have that experience. Everyone else in this Compound does."

"That's fair," Sam acquiesces. He gives your shoulder a comforting squeeze. "We'll talk to Fury. I'm sure we could make it happen. If anyone can do it, it's you."

You smile at him. "Thanks, Sam."