Second chapter.

There's a huge time skip here btw ;) it's on about 16 years.

"see you later mom!" she yelled after the car that'd just dropped her off at her new school. She turned around and looked at it. Her mom had gotten a job in New York, and her dad build a new department there not too long ago, so they moved there. She sighed and walked into the new school, hoping no one would recognize her as Mariah Stark. As soon as she stepped into the halls, she was surprised. She'd apparently hit the middle of recess, because the halls were filled with students and some girls stood and talked around every corner. Some girls looked up and giggled when she walked by. She fiddled a bit with her hair and tried to get past them as quickly as possible. She looked into the ground, she always did. But suddenly she walked into somebody and fell on her behind. She looked up in slight fear, but was met with a pair of gentle brown eyes.

"Hey, you okay there?" the rather big teen asked her and she nodded. He took out a hand and she grabbed it.

"Sorry about bumping into you…" she mumbled and he gave looked at her.

"You're new" he said and she nodded.

"Just arrived… do you know where the principal's office is?" she asked and he pointed.

"Sure, follow me" he said and started to walk. She was a little bit suspicious, having been used to some mean pranks on her previous school, no matter who her dad were.

"Name's Luke Cage by the way, yours?"

"Mariah St… Stewart" she said and looked around. She could hear some more snickering around her and she got a little nervous.

"Stewart?" he asked and looked at her.

"Yeah. Mariah Stewart…" she said and gave a small smile "I just moved here… it's all so big here" she said and looked at him.

"Well here's the principal's office" he said and patted her shoulder "good luck in there" he walked away and she looked after him. Then she turned to look at the door and knocked.

"Wait a few minutes" she heard someone say and she gulped. The door opened a little after and she almost got stunned. The boy who walked out stopped up and looked at her for a bit before continuing on. She looked after him for a bit and raised an eyebrow.

#Danny? # she thought and suddenly felt some of the pressure of starting a new place fade a bit. A smile swept across her face and she walked into the office.

"Miss Stark I presume?" the man sitting there asked and she looked around. The office was really plain, too plain for it to be real. She looked at him and nodded.

"But… could you call me Stewart? I don't want people to know who I am" she said and he looked at her. She knew he was wondering why "I don't need the attention…" she said and he seemed to understand.

"I understand. Will you need any assistance getting to know the school?" he asked and she thought it over for a minute.

"I think I'd like that…" she said and smiled shyly.

"Good, now we actually got four new students in last Friday"

"Really?" she asked and smiled "it's good to know I'm not alone"

"I actually just had one of them in here"

"Really? What for?" she asked and his looks changed. She'd been trained by her mother to recognize when people would start lying, even trained lies could be spotted if you knew what to look for.

"Oh nothing in particular, but one thing I did discuss was if he actually wanted to escort a new student around. He accepted the offer" he said and she felt her heart flutter a bit for an unknown reason.

"Did you tell him who I was?" she asked.

"I didn't, but I did drop a few hints" he took out a few papers and handed them to her.

"What're these?" she asked and looked at them.

"Those are your schedule, the lunch menu and a map, in case both you and your guide gets lost. And some papers for clubs to join, if you're into that kind of stuff"

"Thanks I guess… so when does the tour start?"

"After lunch, your first class is history, the map should tell you where to go. Good luck Miss Stewart" he said and she got up from the chair. She mumbled a response and walked out the door.

"This school has almost as many hall ways as mom's closet…" she said to herself and looked around. Even though the bell hadn't made a sound while she was in there, the crowd had thinned out. She walked down the halls trying to figure out where to go. She found the room quickly, and noted a few pointers to find it again in the future.

#good thing I inherited dad's memory# she thought to herself and looked a bit around before deciding to find her locker. She found it with some difficulty. When she opened, she was a bit surprised. There were already two books in there, and someone had dropped a letter. She took out the letter and opened it, a smile instantly appeared on her face. She giggled a bit and closed the locker. The crowd thinned out and the bell rang. She smiled and walked over to the classroom and walked in. no one looked up at her, except a blonde buff guy. She was a bit worried and sat down in the only available chair, luckily far away from him.

The class went okay, except for the fact that the blonde guy wouldn't stop looking at her. She avoided him when she left the room, and bumped into someone yet again. This time she hit the unsuspecting person with a little more force, sending him or her, a step back as well as sending her flying on her butt again. She looked up and was face to face with a hand. She took it and looked at who pulled her up this time.

"Danny!" she exclaimed happily. He gave a small chuckle in reply and smiled at her.

"Been looking for you" he said and she smiled.

"I've been dodging this guy who won't stop staring at me…" she looked over her shoulder.

"Who?" Danny asked and they started walking.

"Don't know his name… but he looks like he's from the football team or something. He's got blond hair"

"There are a lot of blondes in this school" Danny said and she smiled.

"I know… could we visit the cafeteria first? Mom forgot to give me lunch today" she said and he turned down a hall.

"sure thing dude" she smiled at him and felt that weird flutter in her stomach again.

End of chapter