Disclaimer – I don't own any of the characters, nor do I profit from this writing. It's purely for my own and other's enjoyment.

Author's Note: This chapter is so late, I'm so sorry! I nearly forgot about this fic. I decided to post another chapter though, and will continue for awhile. Promise! Just nag at me if I'm not updating!

After physics, Steve had art class. He wouldn't exactly say he was good at art, but he needed credits in some sort of arts program to graduate, so this is what he had settled on. The class went by fairly quickly and the teacher was nice, so he figured he wouldn't have too many problems with it. And, much to his relief, Tony Stark wasn't in his class.

Thinking back to earlier still had Steve blushing in embarrassment. And he didn't seem to be able to get those eyes out of his head, either. He figured it was some form of post-traumatic stress or something – being unable to get those calculating brown orbs from flashing occasionally in front of his face.

At least it was lunch now, and Tony, being popular and all, would be somewhere in the middle of the school cafeteria. So, at least he would be easy enough to avoid for the time being.

Steve grabbed his lunch from his locker – at least he remembered the code right – and went back to the cafeteria to sit somewhere off by the side. He couldn't help glancing to the middle of the room to make sure Tony was actually there (he was) before relaxing enough to pull out his sandwich and eat. He tried not to think too much of this morning and instead focused on the homework he had so far, and some of the theory on kinematics, before a small cough interrupted his thought trail.

Steve looked up in surprise to see a girl staring down at him from the opposite side of the table. She had thick, dark red hair that framed a pretty, rounded face. Her eyes were almond-shaped and tinted green, and also narrowed slightly at him. He was pretty sure she sat in front of him in his Physics class.

"I usually sit here," she said bluntly, though her voice was smooth.

Steve blinked once, then frowned slightly. "Oh, uhm, I'm sorry. I can move-," he started grabbing his lunch, but the girl sat down and waved her hand at him.

"Oh, Its fine I suppose. I could use a bit of company. You're Steve, right? Just moved her from New Jersey or something?"

"New York."

"Right. I'm Natasha," she smiled slightly, grabbing her own sandwich off her lunch tray and biting down on it. Steve just watched her for a second, a little taken aback at how easily she was able to sit with a complete stranger. She also kept glancing up at him like she wanted to say something.

It didn't take her long to cut to the chase.

"Hey, I couldn't help but overhear you and Tony…"

Steve choked a bit on the water he was trying to swallow, coughing a few times as his cheeks burned red again. Oh god, were people talking about it now? Had Tony already spread rumors?

"Oh. Right," he mumbled, trying not to look too mortified. Natasha chuckled at him, picking up a French fry and sticking it in her mouth.

"Don't worry too much, Tony's always like that. Wouldn't be surprised if he does like you, actually. He always bugs people he likes."

Steve laughed uncomfortably. "Right, he definitely sounded like he wanted to be my best friend," he said sarcastically. Natasha shrugged and bit down on her sandwich again.

"Oh well, Tony and Clint are jerks anyways," she muttered, glaring over her shoulder at the group of popular people sitting round the middle table of the cafeteria. Steve followed her gaze, seeing a group of jocks it looked like, all laughing at some sort of story the mousy-haired guy (that had been next to Tony in Physics class) was telling.

"Is that Clint? Talking right now?" he asked. Natasha nodded her head, then rolled her eyes.

"If you've ever met someone with a bigger ego than him, I'll eat my own shoe. Well, aside from Tony, of course."

Steve chuckled lightly, grabbing his own sandwich again. He suddenly realized he was alone talking to Natasha, and wondered if maybe he was keeping her from other friends.

"Oh, hey, uhm, if you have other people to talk to I understand. Not a lot of people would want to talk to me anyways, I'm not very interesting-," he started, but Natasha just laughed at him again.

"Yeah, a lot of people like to talk to the spider-freak," she sighed, her eyes cast for a second in shadow before she seemed to shake it off and take another bite of sandwich. Steve stared at her for a second, wanting to help somehow without prodding for information. He didn't particularly enjoy other people being nosy, so he figured they wouldn't like it either.

"Why would anyone call you that?" he finally asked, frowning slightly.

"Absolutely stupid…" she muttered, taking a deep breath. "In grade 8, a tarantula escaped from the aquarium of the science lab, and I caught it. Apparently it's weird for a girl to like spiders," she shrugged, her words barely bitter despite the sour look on her face. "Not that I care what those idiots think, anyways. It was only a spider, but no-one wanted to be around me after that. Guess nothing changes in four years."

Steve stared at her for a second in disbelief. "Why would anyone use that as a reason not to like you?" he asked, honestly confused. Back in New York everyone had a group, and some groups didn't like other groups, but not for a reason that stupid. He was starting to dislike this school more and more.

"I guess I'm also a bitch," Natasha grinned, finishing off her sandwich and swallowing. "But at least I'm only a bitch to the bitches."

Steve smiled lightly, deciding he liked Natasha. And honestly, now that he'd been caught staring at Tony Stark, he was probably going to be in the same boat as her. He figured it was only a matter of time before everyone avoided him completely. He already didn't fit in, and now he'd probably become completely alienated.

"Well, I think you're nice to talk to. No-one else has said anything to me," he told her honestly, taking another sip of water.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I might have scared everyone else off now," Natasha said, actually looking a bit guilty.

"No-one else was going to say hi anyways," he told her quickly, smiling earnestly. "By tomorrow I'm sure Tony will have convinced the whole school that I'm some crazy man stalker."

Natasha snorted, smiling lightly. "Probably," she agreed, grinning.

Steve shrugged, still smiling as he stood up. "Here, I'll throw out the garbage," he offered, picking up all their remains and sticking it on the lunch tray. At least now he maybe had a friend? He hadn't had many back in New York, just Bucky and Peggy. The thought of them conjured a lump in his throat. He missed them a lot already, especially after what happened today. Normally he would have them to fall back on, but right now he didn't really have anyone.

Still lost in thought, Steve dumped the garbage and started heading back to Natasha. He was suddenly jolted from his thoughts, however, when someone bumped roughly into his shoulder. He looked over to apologize, only to meet the same eyes that had been plaguing him all day. Tony's face was a mask on innocence, though his eyes danced slightly when they met Steve's.

"Sorry, Stevie, didn't see you there," the guy apologized, grinning widely in a way that said he had most definitely seen Steve, and had also deliberately walked into him.

Steve felt his face go red again as he tried to choke out an, "It's all right." Tony simply laughed at him, motioning to someone behind Steve to leave. Steve watched as Tony left with that guy, Clint, close behind him. He was frozen for a minute, watching Clint glance back at him then whisper something to Tony, to which Tony laughed in response and whispered something back.

Steve saw Tony just start to turn around and decided to leave before he could make more eye contact with him. He hurried back to his seat, still feeling his face hot, and wondered how he could blush so much in one day. Natasha stared at him as he sat down, eyebrows raised.

Steve coughed, shifting uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah, I don't think he likes me."

Natasha shook her head slightly, laughing. "Uhm, yeah, guess not. Unless he's flirting with you," she added teasingly with a wink. Steve laughed at that, shaking his head.

"At least my life can't get much worse, can it?" he smiled, just as the bell for third class rang. Steve stood reluctantly, really not wanting to see if Tony was in any more of his classes to further torment him.

"I guess I'll see you in physics, then?" he asked Natasha. She nodded her head, waving goodbye as she walked in the opposite direction he had to go.

Steve sighed, heading back to his locker to grab his binder. As he headed for English, he prayed he wouldn't find Tony already there.

Apparently the world decided to go easy on Steve for English class, because even ten minutes after the second bell had gone, Tony still hadn't showed up and Steve could come to the conclusion that he wasn't going to be there. It was a relaxing class, especially because Steve was actually good at English. He even sat beside someone nice.

Naturally, Steve was in a good mood when it was finally time for his last class of the day – PE. He might have even been OK for the rest of the school year if Tony was only in his first class. But, of course, the first thing he saw upon entering the guys change rooms was the toned back of none other than Tony Stark.

Maybe the world did hate him.