Stark

chapter four

One Week Later

I'd settled in as well as I could. Tony had made arrangements for me to attend a school nearby. He said that he knows someone who attends, and that's why he wants me to go.

I told him that I don't need a bodyguard, but he ignored that statement.

My first day of high school at the school had arrived, and my bruises had colored to dark purples and yellows. The worst injury that the doctor found was a hairline fracture on my cheekbone, which was still black and blue today.

My abdomen still hurt when I did too much, so I was told to take it easy.

Yeah, like that'll happen.

Happy drives me to the school, a new backpack held tightly in my lap. I'm nervous, since I haven't been to school in quite some time. Happy offers to walk me in, but I decline the offer.

If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it. No one should help.

The doors of the school seem huge, and people stare as I walk in. I sling my backpack over one of my shoulders and tuck a loose piece of hair behind my ear as I pass through the threshold. My eyes immediately spot two boys standing by the door, as if they are waiting for me.

Peter's POV

A girl with green eyes and black hair steps through the door right on time. She must be the girl Mr. Stark told me about. Considering what she's been through, you would think she'd look timid. But no, she has a sort of fire about her eyes and a fierceness in her stance. Ned breathes in as he spots her, and I struggle not to do the same. Despite the bruises, the starved face, she is beautiful.

As all of this is going through my head, her eyes focus on me. My face burns a little, but I stride over to her.

"Hey," I say, my voice comes out high-pitched, so I clear my throat. "I'm Peter. Peter Parker. You're staying with Mr. Stark, yeah?" She gives a little nod, then hands me a slip of paper. It is her school schedule.

"It looks like we have... All the same classes..." Looking down at the schedule, we do have all the same ones. I wonder if this was Mr. Stark's doing. "Well, first period is the other way. We should probably head over there.

Period one: Sophomore year Trigonometry. Trig is easy, but boring.

I sit next to her, and no one objects to her sudden appearance.

No one but Flash, of course.

"Hey, who's the new chick? She looks like she got in a fight with The Rock!" Only he laughs at his own joke, ignorant to the cruelty of it.

"Shut up, Flash, you don't-" The girl whose name I still don't know stands with a blank look on her face. She walks to Flash's desk and looks him right in the eyes.

"Your name?" It's the first time I've heard her talk. Her voice sounds unused, but menacing.

Flash looks up at her arrogantly. "Flash."

She scoffs. "I don't like being made fun of, Flash." He looks around, as if to say 'can you believe this girl?'

She punches him. Right in the nose.

He recoils, groaning. Ned and I both guffaw. The rest of the class sits in stony silence.

"I never thought a good guy from the comics could be such a dick." Flash looks like he's gonna cry.

That's when the teacher walks in.

-----

"You had one job, Parker." Veronica, which I learned is her name, and I both sit on chairs in the principle's office. Though I hadn't done anything, I was supposed to watch out for Veronica.

"I tried to-"

"Don't blame him," Veronica says, folding her arms over her chest. "Even if he tried, he wouldn't have been able to stop me."

I glance over at her, then Mr. Stark. His arms are folded the same way hers are. I glance between them a few more times before Mr. Stark shrugs.

"Okay," he says, "let's go home, I'll make sure this kid doesn't give you any more shit..." He looks over at the principle, who nods his head quickly.

Mr. Stark then motions for us to follow him out of the school and into a car driven by Happy.

"My aunt is gonna kill me when she finds out we left early," I say, my thoughts traveling straight from my mind to my mouth.

"I'll take care of it, don't worry," Tony says from the front seat. Both me and Veronica sit in the back of the car, the middle seat separating us. I lower my head slightly. Aunt May knows now that I'm spider-man but that's just got her even MORE worried about my wellbeing.

I glance over at Veronica, who is rubbing the knuckles on her right hand.

"Hey, is your hand okay?" She flicks her eyes to me for a second, moving them back to her hand with a slight nod. I sigh, wanting to say something else to attempt a conversation but not knowing what.

There is a couple minutes pause before I say, "Did you see the look on Flash's face?"

The smallest of smiles hints at her lips. I grin.

"Yes, like he was going to cry." We both look at each other for a second, then she goes back to staring at her hands.