Okay this is a high school AU - completely disconnected from my other Pepperony story. I've always liked the idea of putting the characters in a high school setting with all the teenage drama and angst, and I know it's been done many of times but I thought I'd write my own since it struck my creativity. Also, I am continuing with My Life With You, but I always have writers block with that one and it takes me a little longer to do chapters and think of how I'll do it, but it's definitely still ongoing! Anyway, hope you like this story.

Pepper tried to tell herself this place wouldn't be so bad, it was a beautiful school after all. She knew it was going to be difficult to adjust, but she wasn't the first teenager to ever move and start a new school, she just had to give it time.

"Okay this is your locker and here's your code," a girl with a large stack of books told her, pointing to the metal doors. "Here's all your textbooks and timetable for rest of semester. All the rooms are labelled and have the teachers names on them. Class starts in ten minutes, do you need some help finding your way?"

Taking the textbooks and shoving them into the locker, Pepper sighed and picked up her timetable. She didn't want to draw any more attention to herself by being personally shown to each class, she'd much rather be on her own.

"Uh, no I'm okay, thanks," she smiled.

"Okay well if you need anything, here's my cell phone number and I sit in the far side of the cafeteria,"

Pepper took the piece of paper handed to her and looked down at the handwritten note which had her name "Shelby" scrawled across the top.

"Okay, thanks,"

Pepper walked down the corridor, following the room numbers as mobs of other students did the same, except they actually knew where they were going. She would have never admitted that she was lost, so it was lucky when she walked to the door of her history class and saw that it was the right one. Pepper hurried inside and took a seat at a table in the back corner, pulling out her books in order to blend in and begin work, but the teacher wasn't so subtle.

"Class, we have a new student joining us, Virginia Potts," Mr. Davies called out, pointing to Pepper in the back row. "It's nice to have you joining the class Miss Potts. Mind telling us a little about yourself?"

Pepper internally groaned at the idea of doing the horrible task of introducing herself. It wasn't always going to be like this, it was going to get better. That's what she kept telling herself.


"Haven't you got detention with Mr. Williams?" Rhodey asked, leaning back on the table at lunch.

"That's what he thinks," Tony shrugged, taking a bite of his burger.

"You know he's gonna catch you later in another class,"

"He has a weird obsession with me,"

"Because you manage to set everything on fire in the science labs. And I don't think it's an obsession, more like a…hatred,"

"Same thing,"

The two sat at their table for a while longer before another boy joined them, silently eating his food as the two others took some of his lunch.

"Hey come on, for once I'd like to eat my whole lunch myself guys,"

"Hap, when was the last time you ate an apple?" Tony questioned as he took a bite of the red fruit he had just stolen.

Happy glared at his friend as he ate his burger.

"Maybe I'd eat it if you didn't take it everyday,"

Tony ignored his friend's complaints and continued munching on the apple, looking around the school. There was groups of people everywhere enjoying their break, but his attention was always taken by the girls who conveniently decided to practice their cheerleading routine and exercises directly across from where Tony's usual table was.

Just as the cheerleaders began their routine, Tony caught a glimpse of red hair blowing in the wind just behind the girls. Her hair was gorgeous as it blew in the Autumn winds and glowed in the sun. Her skin was creamy and pale, a few freckles on her face as she walked right past everyone. Tony hadn't seen her before, and although he didn't know everyone who went here, he knew if he'd remembering seeing her before. The girl continued walking until she found a table to herself underneath a shady tree, sitting down and putting in her earphones as she looked over a textbook. Before Tony knew it, he was staring at her, and he didn't know why.

"Dude, Christine's totally winking at you," Rhodey nudged his side, bringing him out of his daze.

"Huh?" Tony looked over to the blonde cheerleader who was staring back at him with a playful grin. "Oh right…Christine,"

"Yeah, Christine,"

Tony looked over to his friend suspiciously.

"What's your point?"

"Never mind man," Rhodey chuckled. "I sure as hell don't see what all those girls see in you though,"

Tony threw his apple core behind him, just missing Happy's head as it landed in the bin. The girl he had been staring at was still sitting alone, but he wasn't about to walk over to her, she was just some girl, he didn't care.

"So, what's on tonight?" he asked his friends. "Any parties?"

"It's Monday...nothing," Happy told him with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh right,'' Tony sighed. ''Wasn't yesterday Thursday?''

''Man, you must have had a hell of a weekend,'' Rhodey laughed.


Pepper had managed to make it through the whole day of school without too much embarrassment and when the bell went after the last class, she almost sprinted to the parking lot and jumped in her car, speeding home. It was her first day here, and it wasn't that bad.

''I'm home,'' she called out when she walked in the door of her house, throwing her bag into the corner.

Pepper walked into the kitchen and saw a note on the table, knowing what it was going to say before she even looked at it.

If I'm not home I'm working late, sorry kiddo. Hope you had a good day at school - Dad

Tossing the note to the side, Pepper opened up the fridge to look at her options. She pulled out a box of leftover pizza and walked into the living room, throwing herself down on the couch and turning on the television. They had been living in this house for a little over two weeks now, but Pepper still couldn't get used to the fact that the window let the sun shine directly into her face every time she sat down, causing her to get up and close the blinds, sitting in an empty and dark house, waiting for her dad to come home.

Mark Potts worked for a legal agency in Malibu, and since it was his second week on the job, he was offering to work back later than usual and build up a good rapport with his boss. Unfortunately that left Pepper at home by herself until late at night, but she wasn't too bothered by it. Her dad was doing all of this for her, she couldn't complain about it.


The next day at school, Pepper took her seat outside at a table under the big tree at lunch, taking a bite out of her apple and opening up a textbook. It was quiet for a while until she felt the table tremble as three massive textbooks slammed down next to hers and she looked up to see a blonde girl looking at her in desperation.

''You're Virginia Potts, right?'' the girl asked.

''Uh, it's Pepper...but yeah, that's me,''

''Pepper?'' the girl looked at her confused before remembering her initial reason for coming over. ''Anyway, Mrs. Abel told me you were signed up to do tutoring for business and commerce, right?''

''Yeah,'' Pepper answered cautiously.

''Look I'm failing so bad,'' the girl ran her hands through her golden hair. ''I was wondering if you uh, you'd be my tutor,''

Pepper looked around to see if this girl had anyone with her and if she was a part of some sort of prank, but everyone else was clueless to what was going on at the table.

''Why me? No offence, but there must be heaps of other tutors in this school-''

''There's only two other business tutors and they're both guys, they don't take me seriously and I need to pass this class. Please.''

''Uh, yeah sure, I'll help you,'' Pepper nodded her head.

The girl sighed with relief. ''Thank you so much,'' she sat down across from Pepper. ''I'm Olivia, by the way, but it's just Liv,''

''Well we should probably work out a study schedule if you want me to tutor you-''

''Can I just ask...why do you go by Pepper?'' Liv asked with genuine confusion.

Pepper chuckled and looked away from the girl in front of her. She had been asked this question everywhere she went and it was always the same look of shock on people's faces whenever she told them her name was Pepper. It was as if the word was unheard of.

''Nickname when I was little, I guess it just stuck,'' Pepper shrugged. ''Anyway, what are your classes today?''

''I have next period free,'' Liv told her, looking over her timetable to be sure.

''Me too,'' Pepper looked over hers too. ''Okay, well I guess we could start then, if you want?''

''Yes, please,'' Liv smiled. ''Again, thank you for this,''

''It's no problem,''


What was meant to be a study period turned out to be a get-to-know-you session with Liv and Pepper, still sitting at the table outside with their textbooks open but no work getting done. Pepper wasn't someone who opened up to people easily, and so whenever Liv asked a question, Pepper would answer with the most basic answers.

''I can't believe you lived in New York,'' Liv gasped. ''Did you like it there?''

''It was okay,'' Pepper nodded.

''Well why'd you move here?''

''My dad got a better job offer, so we bought a house here,''

''Where's he work?''

''At a law firm,''

''What about your mom?''

Pepper stayed silent as she looked over at Liv, her eyes saying all that needed to be told. There were certain things Pepper didn't want to talk about to someone she had just met, and that was a sensitive topic. Liv could tell she had asked the wrong question, but before she had a chance to apologize, Pepper pulled the textbook closer and flipped the pages.

''We better get some work done,'' she forced out a laugh. ''After all, it's supposed to be a study period, right?''


''So Tony, are you coming to the game Friday?''

Tony leaned back on his table in chemistry, chewing on a piece of gum as he balanced on the back legs of his chair. Christine Everhart was sitting in front of him, twisted around in her chair to look at him with her blonde curls just above her shoulders and her perfectly glossed lips smiling over to him. Friday was three days away, but it marked the first football game of the semester and Tony was well known for his post-game parties, however Christine was in charge of the cheer squad and she wanted to make sure Tony would be there to see her.

Tony pulled his arms around his head and looked up just in time to see that same girl he saw outside the day before walking into the classroom. She made no eye contact with anyone in the room, she only clutched her textbooks and walked to the back of the room, taking a seat at an empty table and immediately opening her book. He had noticed that she didn't really have any friends and didn't talk to anyone, but he didn't know why. She was so different to all the other girls at the school. Probably because they all stared at him whenever he walked into a room and went out of their way to talk to him, but this girl didn't, and he didn't know why, but it frustrated him.

''Tony?'' Christine waved her hand in front of his face, bring him back to her question.

''Have I ever missed a game?'' he asked her. ''I'll be there,''

''Good,'' she smiled, turning back around.

Mr. Williams walked into the room moments later and immediately shook his head when he looked at Tony leaning back on his chair carelessly, no books on his desk and his sunglasses still on. So far, Tony had managed to turn every practical lab lesson into a cloud of smoke on purpose, and he owed Mr. Williams approximately two weeks of detention.

''Mr. Stark,'' Mr. Williams began, walking over to Tony's desk. ''It seems your memory has been affected over the past few days, am I right?''

Everyone in the class looked up from their desks and over to what was going on. It seemed that whatever Tony did in his classes managed to entertain his peers, even if it meant more detention. Pepper stopped reading over her textbook and looked at Tony just like everyone else was. Pepper knew who Tony was, she watched the news. His family owned the biggest weapons manufacturing company in the world, Stark Industries, and they were filthy rich. Tony had made headlines for himself over the past few years with his partying and inventions. He was extremely intelligent, but that's not what he was most famous at the school for. Every girl lusted over him and all of the guys worshiped him, and Pepper didn't care to find out why.

''Well, there is a first for everything sir,'' Tony replied.

The class chuckled in response, earning a glare from Mr. Williams.

''Well, not only are you going to stay back for detention this afternoon, it's now doubles thanks to your wonderful wit,''

Before Tony could make another comeback, Mr. Williams raised his voice and instructed the class to begin working on an exercise while he set up an activity. The sound of paged folding over filled the classroom and Tony looked over to the girl in the back row and noticed there was a small smirk on her lips and it made him smile with satisfaction. He didn't have to go over and talk to her, he could tell he was already getting to her, at least that's what he thought.


Wow okay I hope you guys like this story? It's in development so please be easy on the criticism. I know a lot of Pepperony high school AU's have been done before, but I'm hoping to make mine different by making Pepper a lot different to how she is in other fics. I think it'll be a bit darker and more complex, but hopefully you guys will like it. PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!