Only a Memory | Bucky Barnes

Chapter 5: Suspension

Rebecca was sitting at the kitchen island eating Cheerios when Bucky made his way downstairs. He made himself some toast and sat beside her. Rebecca was a sophomore at Bucky's school.

"How is school so far?" Bucky asked her.

Rebecca turned to face him, swallowing a mouthful of Cheerios. "It's alright," she said. She had been there over a week already and Bucky, being the horrible brother he was, had forgotten to ask her how things were.

"Have you made any new friends?" Bucky hadn't even seen her around at school much, besides walking past her sometimes to get to P.E.

"No." She shovelled a mouthful of Cheerios into her mouth. It was obvious she didn't really want to talk about school. However, Bucky still pushed her.

"What about Stacy? Nellie? No?" Stacy and Nellie had been her best friends back when she was ten, but he supposed that just like with him and Steve, things must've not been the same between them.

Rebecca shrugged. "I talked to Stacy a couple of times."

"But that's it?"

"Yeah. I mean, I don't think she hates me or anything, she just is over being my friend. Like, it's not as if we we firsts since first grade or anything," Rebecca said bitterly.

"She'll come around," Bucky tried to reassure her.

"I dunno. . ."

Rebecca left for school shortly after. She was complaining loudly about how she had to take the bus, and that Bucky shouldn't driven her considering he drove himself to school everyday anyway. Which, she added in, looking dubious, he should've done everyday because an extra person in the car really wasn't a hassle.

Bucky almost wished he hadn't worn his hearing aids that day. Without them, it was much easier to drown her out. He didn't usually wear them, which annoyed both Winifred and George a great deal because they were very expensive. He had lived without them for a while, and had gotten used to it so that when he finally got the hearing aids he almost didn't like them. He didn't wear them enough to allow himself to get used to them. He wore them at home sometimes, just to appease his parents.

Bucky wouldn't be going to school that day because he was suspended for two days. The only comfort he had was knowing that Pierce was suspended too, which had taken some convincing on Bucky's part. He had wanted Pierce to get in trouble for being a complete asshole, but at the same time he didn't want to get himself out of trouble, feeling as if he deserved every punishment he got. In the end, Principal Fury resolved to suspending Pierce for a day, ultimately agreeing that they had both somehow played a part.

Being suspending wouldn't have actually been that bad, Bucky figured, if it hadn't been for the fact that he was grounded  for two weeks. No tv—as if he watched it anyway—and no phone. It could've been worse. Winifred agreed with George when he said that not allowing Bucky to hang around with friends probably wasn't the best idea considering their situation.

What Winifred didn't understand was that Bucky relied on his phone as a means of calming himself down when his friends were unavailable. He couldn't exactly explain this without worrying his mother too much. He had looked down at his arm with hatred that Winifred mistook for hatred of herself, which resulted in two weeks of grounding instead of one. George had stared at his son apologetically, somewhat understanding.

Bucky had virtually no means to entertain himself and only stared down at the countertop. It was dusted with toast crumbs from what he assumed was his slob of a dad. George was already gone, having had to leave work early for his office job.