Middle School Heroes

Chapter 6 - Lunch with the Avengers and Peanut Love

When PE was over, all the kids started filing back into the school. Skye caught up with Pepper and they walked up to their lockers to change shoes and grab their bags. When they entered the cafeteria, it was mostly full. There were large tables spread out around the room in two distinct sections and it seemed oddly separated. She looked at Pepper. "So what's the deal? Why does there seem to be a line in the middle of the room?"

Pepper glanced around the room like she was noticing it for the first time. "I'm not really sure. We all seem to mix well in classes and other meals, but at lunch we just sort of naturally separate. No idea why."

Sky looked at the other side of the cafeteria and saw her lab partner, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, the green hooded boy named Oliver, the Prince girl from math class, and a bunch of other kids that she hadn't met yet. They were all eating and chatting happily amongst themselves.

Pepper led her to a table that was already partially full. Tony, Clint and Natasha, Bruce Banner and the Maximoff twins were already seated there. They all waved when the girls walked up. Pietro introduced Skye to his sister, Wanda, who nodded to her in greeting.

She took an empty seat and opened up the bag that Mrs. Parker had given her, pulling out an egg salad sandwich. How Mrs. Parker had known that egg salad was her favorite, she had no idea. She usually preferred it with lettuce, but that didn't matter so much. There were also grapes, carrots and celery and a giant homemade chocolate chip cookie for dessert. She unwrapped the sandwich and was about to take a bite, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Peter standing there holding his own wrapped up sandwich.

"Hey! I think Aunt May got our bags mixed up. Does your sandwich have lettuce on it?"

"No. It doesn't."

"Great. This must be yours then. I hate lettuce." He made a loud vomiting sound as he grabbed the sandwich from her hands and replaced it with his wrapped up sandwich. "Hey guys," he grinned to the rest of the table as he waved goodbye and joined the table next to them, where she saw Fitz and Simmons also sitting.

"He's a strange kid" Tony remarked as he walked away.

"Naah, he's harmless" Skye replied, standing up for Peter.

"Oh, I don't think he's harmless. I've seen what he can do!" Tony shuddered. "I think we should invite him to sit with us sometime. See how it goes." The rest of the table nodded in agreement.

A loud booming voice echoed through the cafeteria, causing everyone to stop eating and stare. A very tall boy with long flowing blond hair came bounding into the room with Loki on one side and Jane on the other. All three were carrying trays of food. They approached the table and Loki had to stop suddenly because the boy threw out his ginormous arm, blocking his path forward. Loki almost dumped his food on the floor, but managed to balance himself just in time. He sighed in frustration at the blond boy.

"My friends!" the boy yelled. He looked around at each of them, and stopped when he got to Skye. "This must be our new friend! Lady Jane has been telling me about you!"

"Brother," Loki said through gritted teeth. "We are all right here. There is no need to shout. Skye, this is my brother, Thor. He doesn't know what an inside voice is, I'm afraid."

Thor looked from Skye to Loki questioningly. "Does my brother already know this beautiful Midgardian creature?"

"Yes," Skye blushed at the compliment. "We have math together."

Thor suddenly grabbed Skye out of her seat and gave her a giant bear hug. For a moment, she felt like she couldn't breathe and expected that ribs were going to start cracking soon.