Sam: Meeting The Avengers (Book 2)

Undercover

  One would assume that I would get the worst sleep because of nerves from the threat of tomorrow. But, actually, I slept better than I had in a while. It was just waking up that was difficult. A groan slipped from my mouth as my eyes squinted open. After letting out a yawn, I roll over to look at my clock; 8:27.
  With a gasp, I shot up in my bed. I'm late?! You've GOT to be kidding me! I lept out of my bed and bolted to my dresser. While my heart pounded in my ears, I slid out some random clothes and raced to slip them on - almost stumbling and falling to my face in the process. Once my clothes and shoes were on, I bolted to the nearest bathroom and brushed my teeth as quickly as I could. Then I brushed my hair and touched up some makeup so I didn't look like a complete wreck.
  After getting ready, I threw my backpack over my shoulder and darted out of the house. I was going to have to skip breakfast this morning. Still in a rush, I dashed outside and quickly spotted my car in the driveway. With a deep breath, I ran to my car, turning a corner.
  A shriek slipped from my mouth when a figure came out of nowhere and I was forced to run into them. I gasped then peered up only to see Tony raise his eyebrow at me with a quizzical look. Realizing who it was, I took a deep breath to calm myself down.
  "I was just about to come get you," Stark explained.
  "Great. We gotta go!" I exclaimed, mostly ignoring him. I started to race to my car again, except he takes my hand so I can't run off. With an exasperated groan, I stopped and turned to look at him with an irritated expression.
  This got a smirk from the man but Tony ordered, "Slow down."
  "I'm late!" I declared.
  "Not my problem," Stark annoyingly pointed out. Before I could protest, Tony pulled out the earpiece and handed it over to me. With a glare, I took the small piece of technology and pressed it into my ear. "Nod if you can hear me," his voice sounded in my ear from the bug. 
  So I reluctantly nodded and gave a thumbs up, "It works. Time to go."
  "Wait," Tony rolled his eyes, getting impatient. "Speak into this," he handed over the necklace from a few days ago - the dolphin one. 
  Once the jewelry was in my hands, I held it up to my mouth and - innocently - shouted, "I HAVE TO GO!"
  "Son of a-!" Tony flinched and yanked his earpiece out of his ear. "Samantha!" Stark snapped at me.
  Except, I shot him a smirk, "Bye Tony!" I threw the necklace on then I pushed past him and into my car. After giving him one more wave, I drove away from the house and toward school. I tried not to speed too much but I was in a hurry. My heart was pounding from the adrenaline of it all. Until I finally got to the parking lot of school. So, I took a deep breath then sprinted inside.
  The late bell had already rung but the doors were still open so I slipped in without anyone noticing my tardy. Then I jogged down the hallway and into my first class. Since my teacher - Mrs. Lamar, who was the history instructor - was always late to her own classroom, no one noticed that I was late besides Cassie.
  As soon my friend saw me, she sent me a bewildered look my way. So, I scurried to the table that she was sitting at - trying hard not to be noticed - then gave her a shrug, "I know, I know. I'm late. Spare me the lecture."
  "Sleep in much?" Cassie challenged.
  With a sigh, I explained, "You have no idea. This weekend has kind of been stressful..."
  "Hm," Cassie hummed. Then she tilted her head as her eyebrows narrowed, "Did you get a new necklace?" 
  For a split second, my eyes widened as I glanced down at the dolphin necklace wrapped around my neck. Although, I quickly calmed down and tried to act cool about it, "Oh. Uh, this ole thing? Just-... found it." Okay, so I wasn't as smooth at lying as I hoped. 
  "Maybe you should tell her you got it from an old foster parent. It wouldn't really be lying," a sudden deep voice sounded in my ear.
  The noise startled me so I jumped in the chair and found myself glancing around the room. It was definitely Tony's voice but he wasn't in the near vicinity at all. The voice came from the earpiece. 
  Cassie looked even more confused now, "Are you okay?"
  After taking a deep breath, I stood up from my chair and walked toward the door to exit the classroom. While walking through the exit, Mrs. Lamar happened to pass by me at the same time. 
  "And where do you think you're going, Miss. Hadley?" the history teacher interjected.
  "Bathroom," I muttered then slipped out of the classroom. Once I was in the halls, I began to walk to the girl's bathroom but the hallway was empty so I figured it was safe. "You can't just start speaking like that, Tony!" I barked.
  There was a short pause before Stark answered, sounding a bit surprised, "I thought we went over this. That's why I tested it out with you this morning."
  Except I just rolled my eyes at the answer, "Well, yeah, but I'm not used to this."
  "What do you want me to do? Knock before I start speaking?" Tony sassed. 
  I took a long breath and rubbed my forehead in hopes to get my mind working so I could figure out something to say. Tony had a point, I had to get familiar with this. So, after a few moments of thought, I finally sighed and admitted, "You're right. I need to get used to it."
  Then there was a sigh from the other side of the earpiece before Stark hesitantly replied, "I won't comment so quickly."
  He understood that I was still learning, and I was thankful for that. However, that wasn't the only thing bothering me. I knew I had been worrying about this day all weekend but it was even more pressure now that the day was here. I would be nervous to talk to anyone in fear of saying the wrong thing. So many people were counting on me but it was so easy to mess up. That made my body feel frozen and I had a feeling that the whole day was going to be a long, tense one. 
  "Sam...? Are you okay?" the familiar voice jarred me from my thoughts.
  Almost flinching again, I glanced up at the nearby lockers. I hadn't actually made it to the bathroom but I wasn't going in that direction anymore. Eventually, I found my voice, "I-... might be slightly nervous. Maybe you should hire someone else to be Titanium."
  There was a scoff then Tony disagreed, "Trust me, there's no one more qualified than you."
  With each word he spoke, my heart slowed and my shoulders relaxed but it was still worrying to think about. So, I stated - half teasingly, "I could say something and screw up everything. The worst part is, you're not here to hold my hand through it."
  Hearing the mocking tone in my voice, Tony let out a brief chuckle before reassuring, "You just have to be relaxed. You're over thinking it. Besides, even if you did screw up then I'm right here to help you out. It won't be on you. If everything, it would be Sir Patriot's fault."
  Hearing him make fun of Steve Rogers actually made me relaxed because it helped me realize that everything was still normal. Taking a deep breath, I nodded. Confidence numbed the anxiety so I turned around and headed back to class. As soon as I walked in, the teacher claimed, "Alright class, let's begin." 

  Following history was my elective class; Debate. That class was a lot more relaxed and I almost forgot about the whole mission because today's lesson was debating over technology. It was definitely fun to argue about certain pros and cons of the new advancements. The class was even more fun - like always - because Mr. Parson, the teacher, was always a fun guy to hang around. 
  After that class was AP Literature. I didn't need to take the class but I hated having holes in my schedule. So, English it was. It was a good thing that the teacher was so lenient. We hardly got work from Ms. Combs. Luckily the class wasn't a long one even though it was still morning which meant it felt slow. 
  Finally, it was lunch. After eating was usually when I got a burst of energy which was much needed considering my long night. I met up with Cassie in the hallway so the two of us made our way to the Cafeteria. Of course, it was overcrowded and noisy but we soon got some decent food from the lunch line and found our table. It wasn't long until Ian joined us.
  Through the whole morning, I hadn't talked about the Avengers at all. However, Ian was the first one to bring it up, "So, you left quite early Friday."
  My face turned pale for a brief moment, "Oh... yeah."
  "What was that about?" Ian questioned.
  With a shrug of my shoulders, I explained, "Mrs. Tracy was busy and couldn't come get me. So, they dropped me off. The jerks," I muttered. 
  "Was it that unpleasant?" Ian tested.
  "Of course it was! What else would you expect from the selfish pricks?" I hissed like I was genuinely pissed at them.
  Surprisingly enough, Ian chuckled and admitted, "From the sound of it, you should join the school Avengers' hate club."
  This got my attention as I narrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "Is that a thing?"
  Although, my reaction caught him by surprise as Ian stared at me with slight hesitation and bewilderment, "Um... yeah, that's a thing."
  "Are you in it?" I inquired, secretly testing him.
  Which only made Ian scoff, "Please, of course I'm not. That group is only for people who want to vent because their parents don't want to spoon feed them anymore." 
  After hearing his rant, I nodded slowly, "Yep, sounds like something I should join."
  Except Ian rolled his eyes and confessed, "Well, don't expect me to join with you."
  "Who do I talk to, to get in?" I pondered.
  Ian shrugged his shoulders before stating, "Some guy named Caleb."
  Well, that was convenient and easy! Now I could eat peacefully with some of the pressure off of my shoulders. All I had to do was find some guy named Caleb that ran it. Although, I could just look up the club - and hopefully find it - on our school's website. I was sure that it would have who the leader of the club was.
  Since I was a lot more relaxed, the classes went by quicker after lunch. It went in order from Physics - one of my easier classes because Mr. Kline was such a good teacher. To Algebra with Dr. Hopson. Which was one of my harder classes since she wanted to give us a ton of homework. Then, lastly, French II - the teacher being Mrs. Small - her last name definitely matched the tone and volume of her voice.
  Eventually, school was over. It wasn't as hard as I had anticipated it being. Also, I knew that with each day I came to school it would - hopefully - get a lot easier. Now all I had to do was drive to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters and give a "report". With a deep breath, I hopped into my car and began to drive toward my destination.