Torn

-|SCHOOL|-

One Day Before School Starts

"What about parent-teacher conferences? Everyone knows who you are since you basically told the government to suck it on the news two years ago. And I can't use your last name or else they'll know."

"Well, I asked Maria to do parent-teacher conferences. And as for the last name, I think you'll just have to use your own."

Natasha answered matter of factly. Katia rolled her eyes. Sure, she didn't view her real last name as a symbol of abandonment as much anymore. However, she had been Katia Romanoff to her Uncle Clint and Aunt Maria all her life and it would be kind of weird to get used to. Katia took this as a sign that she would not be the best at working undercover. She was more of an infiltrate quietly in the dead of night and then either wreak havoc or do a quiet takedown, kinda gal.

First Day of School

Kaita had her backpack full of books and her mind full of doubts. She had woken up early and was dreading the walk to school. She had a pocket knife just in her bag just in case. Hydra or the Red Room could be anywhere. She knew she was being paranoid, but she would rather be paranoid than tortured. She used concealer to cover up the scars on her wrists from the hand cuffs during her time at the Red Room.

She stood in front of the door, nervous to even open it. She would be away from home for a whole day and that last time that happened... She didn't even want to think about it. She took a deep breath and stepped outside. The walk to school wasn't so bad.

When she got to school she was very on edge. Hundreds of people all in one place and she didn't know any of their intentions. Some of them could be Hydra, she wouldn't know...

Peter walked through the halls of his high school. It was another boring day. He was looking forward to school ending because then he could finally go on patrol as Spiderman. Someone people actually noticed. But he wasn't in it for the fame. He just wanted to help people.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a girl just standing there in the middle of the hallway. He had never seen her here before. Maybe she was the transfer student he heard people talking about. He went over to introduce himself, wanting to be the first friendly face at Midtown tech. There weren't a lot of other friendly faces. He went to tap her on the shoulder.

Katia was standing in the middle of the hallway. She knew this was a bad idea. Soon she heard someone behind her. She whipped around and grabbed his arm mid-movement, looking at the boy with wide eyes.

"Who are you?"

"Uh, I-I'm Peter. I wanted to introduce myself."

"Great. Next time, no physical contact."

"Got it. So, where did you transfer from?"

Katia was not going to be trusting right away. And she was certainly not in the mood to make friends.

"Homeshool."

"Nice. So, why no touching? Is it a germaphobe thing? Or..."

Peter was cut off by MJ approaching both of them.

"Trauma. Intense fear or avoidance of physical contact is often due to trauma."

Katia looked at MJ in surprise.

"Do you always evesdrop?"

"Yep. So, was I right?"

"I wouldn't tell you either way."

"Understandable."

"I have to get to class."

Katia walked away briskly. She focused on where she needed to be. AP Tech, one of the two science classes she would be taking. Seems like a fun class. When she entered the classroom, half the class was already there and the other half was slowly filing in. Some people were even five minutes late. I would get a good slap on the face for being that late to training in the Red Room. She thought. Then then class started.

"Hey, class. So, as you all know we have a new student, so Katia why don't you tell the class a bit about yourself?"

All eyes landed on Katia.

"Um... I uh, my name is Katia Campbell, and I... uh, I don't really know what to say."

"Why don't you tell us what you're good at?"

"Um, okay... I guess I'm good at dancing and I know several languages."

"Oh, wow. I happen to know a few things myself. Mind if I give you a pop quiz?"

This isn't even a language class.

"I- I don't mind."

"Знаете ли вы, русский?"

Do you know Russian?

"да."

Yes.

"Wie wäre es mit Deutsch?"

How about German?

"Ja."

Yes.

"Kulungile, le inzima."

Okay, this is a hard one.(Xhosa (or Wakandan))

"Hayi ncma."

Not really

Katia could see past her teacher's smile. She knew he was frustrated.

"Pun pariu că nu știi limba română."

I bet you don't know Romanian.

"De fapt, da. Putem reveni la învățare acum?"

Actually, I do. Can we get back to learning now?

Katia smiled innocently. She knew that this teacher already hated her, so she was determined to do so well in this class he would be forced to give her a good grade.

"Yes. Now, I think everyone in this class knows the tradition for when a new student comes."

A bunch of "Oooooh"s were exchanged throughout the classroom.

"It's a simple question, but no one can get it right... Who invented the lightbulb?"

Katia almost scoffed at how obvious the answer is.

"Most people think that Thomas Eddison invented the light bulb. And on paper, that would be true because he did win the patent for it, but the credit should really be given to two other people. Lewis Latimer and Sir Joseph Wilson Swan. Sir Joseph Wilson Swan actually developed the first lightbulb in 1878 where Thomas Eddison developed his design in 1879. However when they both applied for a patent in 1880, Thomas Eddison was the one to get it, but he did start a company with Sir Joseph Wilson Swan. And as for Thomas Eddison's design, the filament wasn't really his idea. Lewis Latimer was the one to actually develop the longer lasting filament, but he didn't get a patent until 1881. There were also many people before them who attempted to use electricity in that form... Would that be enough information?"

The whole class looked baffled. Katia wore a smug look on her face. The teacher looked enfuriated.

"I- Uh... That's correct."

The rest of the day went smoothly for Katia. She wasn't really looking forward to the next school day, but she would learn to tolerate it.