DESTROYED | What They Made Me | part 1✔️

22. Road trips and adventures

We leave Miami after a while. The beaches change into empty farmlands as it gets colder and colder. Rhodey tells me stories about dad when he was younger. About how he made the mark 1 suit and a few of the things he's managed to blow up. He also tells me about before he was iron patriot or whatever it is he's doing. When he worked for the Air Force.

When we are on this long, empty piece of road, Rhodey rolls down all the windows. He turns the music very loud and we sing along with it while the wind blows my hair around. We're going really really fast. Like way faster than I think is legal. But well, I'm not paying for it so I don't judge him. It's his choice after all.

We get to the little town called Maynardville. It's where Maddie and her family lives. It's very small and there's a few patches of snow on the ground. It's going to start snowing again soon, and Rhodey wants to be out of here before that time.

We get to her house, and Rhodey helps me with my stuff. I say hi to Harrison and Lisa and quickly say goodbye to Rhodey, before Maddie and I run off to go play.

The snow started outside, and we had a lot of fun playing in it for about ten minutes. But it's very cold so we didn't last long.

Maddie has to go to dance class later today, and I get to come with her! I'm very excited. We have been digging through Maddie's dance clothes to see if we could find something that fit me. After a while I have a very pretty red leotard with black leggings over it. She has ballet class, and even though she's in the advanced group, I still got to come.

We walk into the studio and make our way to the right room. There's three other kids in the class. One boy and two girls. The dance teacher comes in and introduces herself as Janet. She's very nice, and after quickly explaining the basics, I get to learn a part of their dance. It's pretty fast but I can kinda keep up.

After an hour of class we took a break and had another 45 minutes. Lisa picked us up from the studio after that, and we told her all about the class. We got home a little while later, and after putting on our normal clothes again I got a call from Pepper.

"Hey, Pepper!"

She lets out a sigh. It takes her a while before answering again.

"Nova? How- are you alright?"

"Yeah. I just had a dance class."

"Really? That's great honey. Have you heard what happened yet?"

I think about that for a while. What happened? Something probably. But I don't know why I would know.

"Remember what your Dad did at the hospital?"

"Yeah, why. What happened Pepper. Is he okay?"

"He's fine. He just called. But the house, it got blown up. It's gone. We lost dad for a while and... well he's alright. He just can't come back yet. You'll probably have to stay out a little longer. Just to be sure. Bruce'll pick you up in a day or two to take you to the tower."

It takes me a while to respond. It blew up. Everything's gone. And dad's somewhere. It's a bit confusing and I don't really comprehend what it all means.

"Was it the Mandarin Pepper?"

Silence. I take that as a yes.

"Just be careful Nova. It's going to be fine. Don't worry and try to have some fun still, alright?"

I nod a little to myself and mumble a yes. She asks me if I can hand the phone to Harrison, so I do. They talk for a minute or so before he hands me back the phone. I put it back to my ear and I hear Pepper sniffle a little on the other end of the line.