Chapter 2
People are always telling me I'm pretty. I don't think I agree. I'm average height, slim with quite long dark wavy hair. I get asked every other day to do commercials for hair products. I've got brown eyes with green around the edges.
Scott walked into my room behind me, his fingers intertwined with mine. I sat down on the bed and he sat down beside me.
Scott was tall, tanned, with dark blonde streaked hair and the most amazing abs underneath a blue striped shirt.
"So, how are you Maddy?" He said with a grin.
We'd met four months ago at a friend's house party. He had a girl with him but he had forgotten about her after three seconds with me. It's a technique I inherited from my father. I'm not exactly proud of it but it gets the job done. I'm not as bad as my father used to be before he met mom, but I could be if I wanted to. I'm very sarcastic and generally what you would call a trouble maker but I can talk my way out of almost anything. I have an anxiety disorder, same as my dad yet again. I'm pretty difficult to deal with most of the time. Sometimes it seems the only thing I got from my mom was her musical talent and her rebellious teenage streak.
"I'm alright." I said, "Bit tired. Trained for three hours straight today."
"Poor baby." Scott crooned, stroking my hair.
"I'll live." I said, sliding closer to him.
"I certainly hope so." Scott said.
I kissed him. I leaned back on the bed and put my hands on his broad shoulders.
"Miss." Jarvis said suddenly, making me jump. "You asked me to inform you when Mr Stark and Mrs Stark would be home. They are driving up to the house now."
Oh shit.
"I thought they wouldn't be back from the party until ten!" I said angrily, sitting up.
"It is 9:57." Jarvis said.
"What do we do?" Scott said, worried.
He was a strong guy but he was always nervous around Tony for some reason. Must be the whole superhero thing.
"It's fine." I said, smoothing my hair. "Just read a book or something, try and act natural."
Whenever you tell someone to act natural, they always seem to do the most unnatural things.
"Right, okay." Scott said, following me downstairs into the living room. Scott sat and read a book uncomfortably and I flicked on a movie.
Mom and Dad arrived.
"Hey guys!" I said enthusiastically when they walked in.
They both looked from me to Scott and back again. I smiled innocently.
Mom rolled her eyes and walked over to the kitchen with that knowing smile of hers. Dad looked at me suspiciously then walked over to Scott and tried to engage him in conversation. I walked into the kitchen and found mom drinking a glass of water. I got myself a glass and stood awkwardly on the other side of the room, trying not to make eye contact.
"How long has he been here?" Mom said.
"About an hour." I said, staring at my cup.
"I see." My mother looked at me over the rim of her glass and raised an eyebrow.
I was done. She knew exactly what had been going on.
"You guys didn't-"
I choked on my water. "Mom!"
"Sorry! I was just wondering!" She said.
There was a silence.
"You didn't, did you?"
"Mother!"
Dad came in.
"If I get grandchildren from him, they'll never get anywhere near MIT. They won't even know what it is!" He sighed.
"Where is Scott?" I asked, wondering if dad had scared him away.
"He went home, said something about taking his pet goldfish for a walk."
Yes, he had scared him away.
"I'm going to bed." I said.
"Okay, love. See you in the morning." Mom gave me a hug and kissed my head as usual.
Dad nodded at me. "Night, kid."
I nodded back and walked upstairs. Me and my dad aren't really that close. He didn't have time for me much with all his missions.
"Don't forget, the prodigal son returns tomorrow!" Dad called after me.
I groaned and flopped onto my bed. My brother came back from his stupid science camp tomorrow. Oh great, I thought sarcastically.