Pepper decided that she hated puddles.
Who could possibly like them? They were wet and always seemed to appear when Pepper least expected them. Today was no exception. As she had run towards the bus stop, late as usual, she hadn't even noticed the deceiving collection of raindrops to her feet. Naturally, she stepped into it and came crashing down. Soaked from the polluted water she didn't even bother to get up. She simply gazed at her watch.
Great., She thought. I actually missed the bus today.
As mentioned before, puddles happen to be wet and Pepper started to feel a bit chilly. If she didn't get up soon, she might catch a cold. On the other hand, she really didn't want to move right now and face the wrath of her science teacher for being late once again.
Suddenly she felt a hand tip her lightly on the shoulder from behind.
"Hey, you need some help?", a boy's voice asked.
Embarrassed, she turned her head to look at said boy. It was raining slightly, so she couldn't quit make him out, but he seemed to be roughly her age, maybe just a little older. He definitely was taller than her and had dark, almost jet black hair.
Realising she still hadn't responded, Pepper blushed slightly and desperately thought of something to say that would save what was left of her dignity. Without waiting for her to respond he grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back to her feet. Pepper's hair was a complete mess from her bathing session and she was quit pissed, considering the reason she was late in the first place was that she had spent an extra five minutes in front of the mirror.
The boy's warm, chocolate brown eyes rested on her and she blushed even deeper.
"Thanks.", she murmured nervously.
"No problem.", he responded coolly. Pepper then took a better look at him, realizing two things. One, he was undeniably handsome and two, he looked an offal lot like… Tony Stark!
She had completely forgotten! Which was quit surprising, considering the entire town hadn't stopped talking about Tony Stark, who would soon be visiting the local school.
Still, it was a long shot that Tony Stark, the son of legendary weapons designer Howard Stark himself, had just helped her out of a puddle. Her eyes widened however as she noticed the long stretched black limousine across the street.
"Your…",
"Tony Stark", the genius himself completed her sentence, a cocky grin plastered onto his face.
Pepper simply gaped at him for a second before noticing something else.
She was going to be late for class! Normally she wouldn't care, but her science teacher had threatened to make her write a two thousand word essay if she wasn't on time at least once this weak. Well, it was Thursday and she was running out of options.
"Oh crap, I'm so dead if I'm not on time!", Pepper voiced her thoughts.
Tony seemed genuinely surprised that he wasn't the centre of her attention anymore.
Since when did girls start caring more about being on time than me?, he mused.
Interesting. But I'm not liking the whole "Let's ignore Tony Stark" thing.
"You can ride with me.", Tony nodded towards the limo.
That caught Pepper's attention and she once again gaped at him. She quickly regained her composure and replied: "Oh, that's all right, I'll just…"
What exactly?, she thought, frustrated. All she knew was, that she wasn't prepared for arriving at school in Tony Stark's limousine.
Everyone's gonna think I'm one of his girlfriends!
He could actually see her thinking of an excuse not to come with him and was once again caught off guard. Most girls would kill for a ride with me.
But the girl stood in front of him obviously wasn't "most girls" and that made him curious. He couldn't quit place his finger on it, but he really wanted to get to know her better.
Which was quit unusual for him. It wasn't that he didn't know how to act around girls, on the contrary, he doubted that most sixteen-year-olds had had as many girlfriends as him. He hadn't actually liked any of those girls, though. His father insisted on calling them his girlfriends, though it was pretty clear that they were merely affairs.
He pulled his eyes back to the redheaded girl with the sparkling blue eyes and found her still searching for an excuse.
I could say that I forgot something at home. Or that a friend is going to pick me up. Or…
Why is he looking at me like that? I really need some kind of excuse…
He chuckled then, making Pepper forget what she was thinking.
"What?", she asked, slightly annoyed at the awkwardness of the situation.
That didn't seem to phase him, he simply grinned and answered: "I won't bite."
She shot him a sceptical glare and he actually seemed to rethink his statement.
"Unless you want me to.", he added while smirking at her.
She became uncomfortably aware of his gaze, as well of the fact, that her clothes were still soaking wet and her hair was a complete mess. She blushed the colour of her hair, which made Tony smirk even more. He chuckled once again before taking her hand and dragging her towards the limousine. He shoved her into the vehicle and immediately followed.
Pepper noticed the limousine had that certain new car smell, every recently purchased car smelled of. She hadn't expected anything else, the Starks, after all, had more than enough money to buy a new car every time their son had to be driven to school.
Tony basically sat there the entire time, staring at her, trying to figure her out. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.
"So…", Tony made an attempt at starting a conversation.
"So?", she definitely wasn't going to make it easy for him.
"What do I call you?", he finally asked, thinking it was a good enough question.
"My name is Virginia, but everyone calls me Pepper.", she explained, feeling insecure.
"Pepper? Why's that?", he asked curiously.
"I'm… not sure.", she shrugged. "I was given that nickname in preschool. I don't know why."
"Well, it sort of fits you. Pepper.", he repeated the name, deciding that he liked it.
"So you've never been to a public school?", she asked after a moment of silence.
"Huh? No, not really. I used to have a private tutor, but…", Tony grinned. "Actually, I had many tutors. My dad decided we needed a different solution after my thirty-seventh tutor resigned due to stress."
Pepper tried to suppress a giggle, at which she failed terribly, earning a self satisfied smirk from Tony. He was some what relieved that he was able to get a giggle out of her.
Pepper smiled at Tony and for the first time really looked into his eyes. She loved the colour, it made his eyes look like they consisted of liquid chocolate. They were deep and soulful and…
"Your blushing.", Tony stated calmly.
"Am not!", Pepper shrieked, though it only made her blush an even deeper shade of red.
"Right.", Tony said while giving his best smirk and leaning back against the leather seats.
She turned her head towards the window, wishing for nothing more than for her face to return to it's normal colour. She eventually calmed down and mimicked Tony by leaning back in her own seat. And though she was still quit embarrassed, the two of them fell into a comfortable silence.
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