Here's another chapter for you guys! Thanks for all the positive feedback! :) Glad to see that this is a good different. Since I got such a good reaction, I felt like I should get a few chapters in. This chapter seems to go a little everywhere, yet nowhere at the same time, it was bugging me, but I couldn't figure a different way to write it. But I hope you guys will still enjoy it.
Disclaimer: IMAA does not belong to me. It belongs to its rightful owners.
She felt as if the attention of the entire class was directly on her. Yet, as she tried to make herself seem as invisible as possible by slouching in her chair and letting her red hair cover her face as she stared intently at the paper that held her notes, it didn't change a thing. Even the laughter felt as if it was directed at her. Almost as if they were laughing at her vain attempt to make herself invisible. They knew how epically she was failing at trying to become as small as humanly possible in her chair.
But in the end, not a single pair of eyes was on her. None of the laughter was even directed at her. This was what it was like sitting next to Tony Stark.
The first time this situation happened, she felt almost swamped by the feeling. She wasn't all that fond of being ignored, but she was even less fond of having the spot light. And of course, having the big mouth she had, which she became very good at hiding, she had practically yelled at all of them to stop laughing at her. They definitely weren't laughing at her before, but as soon as those dumb words escaped her lips, the laughter was definitely directed at her then. But after that little accident, she learned to double check that the attention and laughter was focused on her before she even muttered a word. And ever since then, the attention was never on her, even though it felt like it every single time.
"Mr. Stark!" the teacher scolded, her hands pressed against her hips. "Enough with the distractions."
Pepper could almost feel Tony's customary smirk. "But I'm not doing anything."
"Then why is the whole class looking directly at you," their teacher, Ms. Darren, inquired. When Pepper peeked through her hair, she could see Ms. Darren's fingers tap impatiently against her hips. She knew it. Tony was going to get sent to the office. Again.
"I'm incredibly handsome and have amazing hair," Tony said in response, his tone dripping with arrogance. Another thing Pepper has added to her list within the first month of being at Tomorrow Academy.
Half the class gave a laugh while the other half just rolled their eyes. But the teacher wasn't impressed. And if it mattered, Pepper wasn't either. "Mr. Stark, do I have to send you to the office?"
"You don't have to," Tony assured her, "but if you must..."
Tony slid his chair back as if he was going to stand up, but Ms. Darren held up a hand. "I'm willing to let this slide this once if you promise not to cause any more interruptions for the remainder of the hour."
Pepper glanced over to see Tony pretending to give her offer some thought. "Deal. Now please, go on with teaching us about whatever it was you were teaching."
Ms. Darren pressed her lips into a straight line, almost as if she was forcing herself not to respond. With a sigh, she lowered her hands from her hips and flipped the page on her teaching book in front of her. "As I was saying..."
The bell for second period rang, interrupting the teacher's voice, which brought much amusement to the rest of the class as they left the room in a mad rush for their lockers.
"Mr. Stark, I'd like to have a word with you," Ms. Darren called as Tony was about to step out the door.
Pepper just gave a shake of her head as Tony passed by her. Just an average morning at Tomorrow Academy.
The day went by relatively slow; it seemed like every day went by too slow. If she had to guess, she'd say it was because almost every day started off badly because she had to have first period with Tony. If the day didn't start out well, the rest of the day can't go much better. Well, for the most part, at least. It didn't help that they had a pop quiz in physics and they had homework in just about every subject. Plus, her clothes smelt like milk, fruit, and pizza sauce and because she was currently in her last period class, there was nothing much she could do about it.
The story behind that, wasn't very long. In its entirety, Annie had a slip up with her untied shoe and before they knew it, pepper had fallen victim to Annie's lunch. The school had a great laugh at that. Fortunately for her, she wasn't the one to succumb to their laughter and was able to calmly walk out to leave to clean herself up. All while Annie followed her, stringing out a million apologies.
At the present time, there was about five minutes left of class, if even. And yet the teacher was spending it angrily lecturing them about the use of electric devices after he caught a student texting. Although she really couldn't care less about what the teacher was doing, she wasn't pleased with this distraction. She already got enough distractions in first period and any other class period that she shared with Tony. It was a cold splash to her face when she realized that Tony wasn't the only troublemaker in the school. He wasn't the only one who served as a constant thorn in the side for all that surrounded him.
The bell rang, abruptly interrupting the teachers lecture. He straightened himself with a sigh and retired himself to his desk as the students of Tomorrow Academy piled out of his class like a pack of hunting wolves preying on a rabbit.
Pepper followed behind them and assumed a place in the crowd as she approached her locker. She moved promptly as she packed her school books into her backpack. She was about to swing her backpack over her shoulder, when her sleeve was abruptly, albeit gently, tugged outward. She almost dropped her backpack as she spun around.
"What is that?" the blue-eyed teen eyed her sleeve with curiosity. "It smells," he commented before she could respond, leaning over to smell it. "Is that pineapple?"
"And milk and pizza sauce," Pepper informed Tony, using her free hand to push his hand away. She finished swinging her backpack over her shoulder and closed her locker.
"An interesting mix," Tony stated, matching his pace with hers when she started walking down the halls. "Is that a new form of perfume these days?
Pepper sighed and sped up her pace, not giving him an answer. With the day she had, she didn't know if she could handle much of him. She had hoped that she might lose him in the crowd as she left, but he had the advantage. He was tall with long legs; it wasn't going to be so easy to outrun him. "I'm guessing you want something other than a smell at my dirty shirt."
"Right," Tony replied, scratching at the back of his neck. She had to wonder if he was nervous. But Tony wasn't the person to be nervous, especially when talking to her. "You know that project in history that we got today?"
"Yeah, but how would you know?" Pepper inquired.
"Rhodey told me," Tony stated simply, knowing exactly what Pepper was indirectly telling him. "Anyway, I was told that we could have partners."
"Did Rhodey reject you?" Pepper teased, knowing full well what Tony was about to ask her. "So, I'm your second choice, huh?"
"No," Tony shook his head, "Someone else asked him and since I wasn't there...yeah, you know the rest. So, do you mind being my partner?"
For a moment, Pepper actually considered accepting his request. But on second thought, she knew exactly what his plan was. He was just using her so she'd do most of the project and he'd get the points. And being used wasn't going to work for her. "Actually, I already have a partner."
"Who?" Tony asked.
"Someone who's actually my friend," she responded, shifting the weight of her backpack. They were just stepping out of the school, the sunlight hitting them directly in the face. She stopped and turned to him once they reached the bottom of the steps. "Sorry, I hope you find a partner."
Tony narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Are you lying?"
Pepper frowned, but shook her head. "No, I actually do have a partner, because I actually have some friends."
"I have friends," Tony reminded her. "And my friend told me that you don't have a partner."
Pepper couldn't believe that he couldn't just accept that she didn't want to be partners. It was true, she really didn't have a partner. Happy had immediately asked Annie to be his partner, who accepted, albeit reluctantly. So she decided that since it was an option, she was going to go solo and do it herself. But Tony apparently didn't like going solo.
"Come on, being partners for a measly few days won't hurt anything," Tony tried to assure her, apparently noticing her reluctance. "We can split the work half and half."
She rose her eyebrows in a disbelieving manner. "Is that so?"
"It's a promise," he gave her his famous smirk combined with a confident wink.
She could only roll her eyes and give out a long sigh of defeat as she glanced down to the ground, knowing she was going to regret the decision. "Fine, but it's a onetime deal, okay?"
And when she looked up, she was surprised to find that his smirk was replaced with an exuberant smile, which sent Pepper's stomach into a fit of butterflies. "Deal," he said, holding out his hand.
"So this is where you live," Tony said more as a statement than a question. She couldn't tell if he was saying it as a compliment or an insult. Her house wasn't big by any means, but she liked to think that it wasn't that small either.
"Yep, this is my house," Pepper replied, leading the way to the front door.
"It needs a little something," Tony commented, craning his head to get a full view of everything. "Maybe some plants by the steps or a tree."
"We just moved," Pepper defended, "we haven't had time to do anything to the yard yet," she gave a sigh, willing herself not to take his words to heart. "Look, my dad has a hardworking job, he's not home often and I have school and my mom, well, she lives halfway across the country. So don't be commenting on the house or anything."
"Alright, I'll be nice," Tony replied. "Oh, is your dad home right now?"
Pepper opened the door and invited the blue-eyed teen into her home, trying to comprehend how she even agreed to do the project at her house. He had something along the lines of 'my house is a mess' and insisted that if they wanted to get something done, it best be done at her house.
"He should be," Pepper finally replied when she kicked her shoes off in the closet.
Tony imitated her actions as he kicked his own shoes off next to hers. He followed her silently, much to Pepper's relief. She glanced back occasionally as they delved deeper into her home to see him examining his surroundings. It was nice to finally see him silent and thoughtful than loud and rude.
"Who's that I see?" her dad said, when they passed by the living room.
Pepper stopped and waved her greeting to her dad. "This is Tony, we have a project in history, do you mind if he stays over for a bit?"
Her dad got up off the couch he was sitting on, setting aside some papers he had on his lap. "As long as you keep your door open, I'm fine with it." he smiled politely as he offered his hand to Tony. "I'm Virgil Potts, Pepper's dad. Nice to meet one of my daughter's friends."
Thankfully, Tony kindly accepted her dad's hand and shook it. He returned the smile. "Tony Stark, nice to meet you too, Mr. Potts."
"Please, just call me Virgil, I'm not at work," Virgil replied, releasing Tony hand.
Tony nodded and before he could say anything else, Pepper quickly snatched his wrist and tugged him toward her room so they could get to work already. She wasn't taking any risk with letting the two converse for long periods of time. She didn't want to know what could happen. With her dad being an FBI agent and Tony being known for bringing up rude comments to about every adult he sees, she feared what might happen if Tony said the wrong thing.
"Wait," her dad stopped them, just before they could get out of hearing range. Pepper peeked into the living room curiously. Her dad waved her over to come back. Tony followed her again as she returned to her father's side.
"What is it, dad?"
"You said your name is, Tony Stark?" her dad directed his question to Tony, who nodded. "As in Howard Stark, CEO of Stark International?"
"Yeah, that's my dad," Tony confirmed, a distant look entering his face, "or was..."
Then it suddenly occurred to Pepper, why his name sounded so familiar when she first heard his last name that one day. His dad was the CEO of Stark International, a very well-known modern technology company. Was, being the key word, saying that the famous, billionaire genius was no longer living. The last she heard, it has been changed into a weapons company and is owned by some guy or another. She can never remember.
"Right," her dad began, sounding a little embarrassed. "The car crash...I'm so sorry."
Tony shook his head, and shrugged. "It's fine," the vibe Tony was giving off, Pepper knew that 'fine' wasn't used truthfully. "It's been a while, so I...uh yeah, It's fine."
"Alright, now that you two have met," Pepper broke in, knowing that Tony needed to escape the conversation, "we have a project that needs to get done."
Once again, she grabbed at his wrist and dragged him behind her to her room before her dad could say another word. Tony went along with it silently, most likely lost in his thoughts or maybe he was overwhelmed by the unwanted topic her dad had accidentally brought up.
"Sorry about my dad," Pepper apologized, "he's been at work too much, and he's probably really tired."
For once, Tony seemed at a loss for words as his eyes swept across the room in an investiture manner. "Nice room," he commented, flat out ignoring her words. "Small, but cozy."
"I thought I said no judging the house," Pepper said with a sigh. She should have known that his peace and cooperation wouldn't last. It was too good to be true.
Tony slipped off his backpack approached her bed. "I wasn't judging, I was just making a statement. No harm done."
"Our project," Pepper said, "could we get to work on it already?"
"Right," Tony said, as if remembering it for the first time, "let's get going."
Working on the project went surprisingly well, much to Pepper's relief. They worked diligently and without distraction the entire time. Pepper had been worried that Tony would mess around and be nothing but a distraction, but he was exceptionally the exact opposite of what he was at school. He didn't have idle chit chat with her, he didn't try to mess around with the things in her room, and he didn't even shove the work onto her. But that didn't mean that the day went by with no incidents. A little after an hour of working, Tony had suddenly stated that he didn't feel well and then excused himself from her house and went home. Although they had worked hard, they were just barely halfway done. Had they had longer to do this project, she'd be more willing to let it slide, but they had two days–one day now–to finish the project.
This was the exact topic she wanted to speak with Tony about, but as of right now, he was nowhere to be found. It was the following day after he had come over to work on the project, and it was the middle of free period. Tony wasn't anywhere to be found. She looked up on the roof, where he's normally sitting by the ledge or on the raised platform, but it was empty. The second place she thought to look would be one of the teachers' rooms, but all the teachers said that he wasn't seen anywhere.
"The one time I actually want to talk to him," she whispered to herself as she retired from her search.
It was later that day at lunch, when she decided that talking to Tony was her priority before lunch. She just reached the top of the stairs, where she knew Tony would be. Even when he's determined to skip every class period, she still sees him go up to eat lunch.
Instead, when she opened the door, she came up short and he wasn't there.
"He's not here."
The sudden voice startled her. "What?"
She pivoted on her feet to meet face to face with Rhodey. He gave her a short wave from where he sat beside his lunch. "Tony. He's sick today."
"I was afraid of that," Pepper sighed. "I guess I'll just eat my lunch then if I won't find him here."
"You can eat up here with me if you want," Rhodey offered.
"Really? You're not going to kick me off or politely ask me to eat in the cafeteria?" Pepper questioned. She wasn't trying to judge, but he was the friend of Tony.
"Tony may like eating alone, but I'm not like him," Rhodey informed her, then added jokingly, "I'm actually nice to others."
"I've heard, you're Rhodey, right?"
He nodded with a gentle smile. "James Rhodes, or as I prefer, Rhodey. Yes," he replied easily. "And you're the newest new student, Pepper."
"Patricia Potts, or as I prefer, Pepper," Pepper quoted with a laugh.
Annie was right, compared to Tony, Rhodey was fun to talk to. He didn't make idiotic, rude comments about the little things. It made her question how the two even became friends if they were that different. Especially considering how close the two seemed. She wasn't keeping track, but she was almost positive that the two walked home together and to school together. It was almost as if they were connected by the hip, and were inseparable as they said.
"Nice to officially meet you," Rhodey said, then he gestured across from him, "now come sit. I don't bite."
Pepper took a seat just a couple feet in front of him, quick to open up her lunch. After all, she actually was hungry. It felt nice finally being able to eat her lunch back on the roof. Especially since this time around, she wasn't eating alone. Also on the plus side, she was eating across someone that didn't want her gone.
As they ate, Rhodey asked her a bunch of questions someone would normally ask the new kid. He asked her if she liked it there at Tomorrow Academy, if she liked her friends, her classes, her new house, the city, and other things like that. In return for answers, he easily supplied her with answers to the same questions.
"You said Tony was sick," Pepper mentioned, a few minutes before the bell as they packed up their lunch. "Did he go to the doctor?"
Rhodey seemed to hesitate before answering. "Not exactly," he finally replied, sounding uneasy, "he's not a big fan of the doctor."
"Afraid of needles?" Pepper joked lightly, trying to imagine Tony at the doctors when they tried giving him a shot.
"That would make a lot of sense," Rhodey gave a short laugh. "But I don't think it's like that."
"Bad experience?" Pepper guessed, trying to find other reasons why Tony Stark would be afraid of the doctor.
She still wasn't able to wrap that new discovery around her head. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that his dad was supposed to have been a genius. Likely one of the smartest people in the United States, if not the world. Then there was Tony, who wasn't very secretive about the grades he had. And she had to wonder what had happened between father and son.
"Something like that," Rhodey shrugged, just in time for the bell to ring. He gave her a wave. "Hey, maybe I'll see you around."
"That's unlikely if Tony's around," Pepper absentmindedly commented. "But do you have his number? I have to talk to him later about what we're going to do about the project."
Rhodey seemed uneasy again, but recovered quickly enough to give her a nod. "Yeah, sure. I'll have it written down for you after school, is that alright?"
Pepper nodded. "Okay, thanks."
Turns out, she tried so hard for nothing. He hadn't once answered her phone call, even after what seemed like the fiftieth voice message. Yeah, she was pretty sure she was going to hear a lot from him the next day, but she couldn't care less, because he was going to hear quite a bit more from her. While he was out sick, whether or not it was true, she was stuck finishing their project that they both had due the next day, when she could have been done with it hours ago. Sick or not, she was not going to let him get by that easy. Her friends had told her not to get on Tony's bad side, well they forgot to tell Tony not to get on her bad side.
She was currently lying on her stomach, trying to tie together the last part of the project with her pencil pressed into her cheek. A light knock at her door broke her thoughts.
"How's the project?"
She craned her neck back to bring her dad into her sight. "Alright, I'm just tired." She noticed that he was carrying a stack of papers and a folder, which wasn't something new per se, but from what she could tell, those weren't his normal stack of papers. "What's that?"
He looked at the items in his hand, with equal curiosity. "I think she said it was for your project, but my mind was elsewhere."
Curious, she pushed herself to her knees and dropped her pencil as she accepted the papers. She scanned over the top one, and that was all she needed to see. "Who did you say gave these to you?"
"I believe her name was Roberta Rhodes," Her dad responded, before nodding, "Yeah, that was her name. She knocked on the door and asked me to give these to you."
Rhodes? Like Rhodey, as in James Rhodes? But the papers in front of her had Tony's name on them, his handwriting, and his random doodles in the corner. Why did Rhodey's mom, or presumably his mom, have Tony's folder with homework in it?
"Oh great," she spoke softly through her confusion, "they're for the project."
"Perfect, now you can finish your project sooner!" her dad cheered, then paused. "Oh, I almost forgot, I got called in again. I probably won't be back until later. So, leftovers are in the fridge."
Pepper frowned, but nodded, erasing her frown. "Okay, dad. Good luck."
He nodded and left the room with quick, uncomfortable hug and a wave. Pepper waved back, even though her dad had already left. She fell back onto her heels, glancing over the new information she was given, hoping that it was the information she actually needed or if it was even useful. Soon, she discovered that not only did he get the right information and more, it was actually plenty useful. He had even left a quick note to her, reading: "Since I couldn't help out in person."
Although his penmanship was barely even legible, she found herself smiling at the gesture.
"Who's Roberta Rhodes?" she found herself asking the following day.
Tony spun around at her outburst. After all, she literally just burst onto the roof and popped that question on him before he could realize that it was her. "Who?"
"Roberta Rhodes," Pepper repeated, "the woman who brought the stuff for the project."
"Where is that, by the way?" Tony asked, recovering smoothly. "You didn't keep my folder, did you?"
"No, it's in my locker," Pepper replied. "But who is she."
"She's Rhodey's mom," Tony finally answered. "Why, do you need her?"
"Why was Rhodey's mom bringing your stuff to my house?"
Naturally, Pepper was a curious person. She wanted to know the answer to anything she found worth looking into. But maybe she was being a little too demanding of someone who just did her a solid and helped with the project when she most needed it.
Tony leaned back against the ledge. "Why is that any of your business?"
His tone told her to drop the question and move on, but that was the last thing she wanted to do. If anything, she wanted to press for an answer. "Because I was the one who had to do all the work. Just as I expected when you asked me to be your partner."
He stared at her for a second, seeming angry. "Are you seriously blaming me for being sick? You know, I didn't have to send all that help. Maybe you should be thanking me."
Pepper frowned lightly. "Thank you." she paused for a moment. "But you couldn't answer my phone calls and at least explain why you couldn't help me?"
"I left my phone in my locker," Tony sighed as he shrugged, pushing himself away from the ledge. "Look, let's not fight over this. It's a Friday, you're probably just tired, and I'm still recovering from my cold."
She sighed as well, glancing over the ledge and to the city. "I guess you're right," she softly spoke, "but honestly, Thank you."
His blue eyes briefly met with hers before he quickly turned to face the streets of New York. She didn't know if she was imagining it or not, but she could have sworn she saw him blush.
How'd it go? Still good? Hopefully that's the case, because I'm having fun writing this story, and hopefully it's the same for you guys when reading it.
Fun Fact: I can't stand sleeping on my back. I can only sleep on my side or my stomach.
I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but I have high hopes that it'll be soon.
Hugs and Love, SilverPedals! :D