not like you → c . barton

[6]

It was finally the last day of school, so everyone was going crazy. Yearbooks were being shoved in people's faces, squealing girls who would spend every day of the summer together were shedding fake tears in the halls, hugging each other tightly. Then there was me, giving little handmade cards to my teachers and getting hugs from them in return. I smiled a bit, but my stomach was in knots for two reasons. The first one was that next school year, I would be a high schooler. The second reason was that on the last day of school, as per tradition, dad and I would jump into the lake, in our clothes. But, since he was on his mission, I wouldn't do it. It was our thing. So, when the final bell rang, I stayed behind to wait for Jeb, Diamond, and Hank. As I waited, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and came face to face with my science teacher. I looked up at him, and he smiled down at me.

"Thank you for the book. I don't have it yet, so I look forward to reading it this summer," he smiled, and I felt my cheeks warming up. I nodded, my head, and he held out his hand for me to shake. So, I took his hand, and we shook, firmly. Then, he pulled me in for a quick hug, and I hugged him back. I was really going to miss my teachers, and I'd probably never see them again.

"I'm glad you liked it, and I'm glad to hear you'll maybe enjoy it," I said softly, and he chuckled.

"Alex! Come on, we're ready!" Diamond called from the hallway, and I nodded.

"Have a great summer," I smiled, and I got a pat on the back from my teacher.

"You too Alex," he chuckled, and with that, I jogged out, yearbook in hand, out to meet my friends in the hall. Together, the four of us walked out of the school, and we stopped to wave and hug our teachers that were standing outside. I got another hug from my social studies teacher, my math teacher, my science teacher, and my writing teacher, and then we were off to my house. As we walked through the apple tree grove, I sighed and looked towards the clouds.

"Fuck man, we're going to high school," Hank mumbled, and I nodded, not really believing it myself.

"Damn it, that means we're the low men on the totem pole, again!" Jeb groaned, and we all laughed. But, it was true. We were eighth grades, top of the food chain in middle school, and now, we're lowly freshmen, fighting our way through the halls to class, getting pushed aside because we're 'annoying newbies', and there was probably worse. As we walked to my house, the conversation turned to how we wouldn't see each other a whole lot during high school, or how strong the possibility was of us not seeing each other. Since my last name starts with a 'B', I won't see Jeb and Diamond in HR. Their last name is O' Harris, and Hank's last name is Mallard. It'll be a miracle if we even get one class together, or even see each other at all. That was why we needed summer to last forever, even though Hank and I only became friends because he asked me out, heh. We neared my house, and I saw Tony's red sports car parked in the driveway.

"Hey, could you guys wait outside for a minute? I need to go say hi to my.... Uncle Anthony," I asked, panic kind of giving me a charley horse right then and there. My friends nodded, and I smiled before hurrying into the house.

"Hey Alex. What's the rush?" Tony asked, and I set my yearbook down.

"First off, hey Tony. Second off, my friends are standing just fifteen feet away, and I don't want them to know that I'm practically connected to Tony Stark. Would it be too much to ask if I asked you to just, erm, leave the room until I can get my friends upstairs? I'll give you a signal and then you can come back out and talk with mom," I asked, trying to pull off a panic stricken puppy dog pout.

"Okay, okay. I understand. Nice take charge attitude, by the way," he smiled, and I tucked my hair behind my ear, smiling sheepishly. How does one smile sheepishly anyways? Never mind. So, Tony went to go step into the bathroom, and he shut the door, so I jogged back out to bring my friends inside.

"That was a pretty lengthy hello," Jeb chuckled, and I rolled my eyes.

"He's the clingy uncle. I'll be right up," I chuckled, and they all went into my room. I knocked on the bathroom door three times, and then I raced upstairs before Tony could give me a joking lecture on being the 'clingy' uncle. We all sat in my room, talking, and I kept listening for my mother, or for Tony. We were mainly making plans for the summer, starting with tomorrow.

"So, we'll head to the lake tomorrow morning?" Hank asked, and we all nodded. But, I wasn't really listening. My mind was wandering to my dad, and where he was. He had been gone for almost a week, remember. I could only hope for the best at this point, and hope that he would be home soon.