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Tony Stark was known for many things and he knew most of those things weren't necessarily the best things. High school proved it. It was the first day of junior year and what started off as a promising day turned bad.

His mother had woken him up for breakfast with the promise of her famous pancakes and omelets, and against normal behavior, he voluntarily got out of bed and went downstairs. Maria Stark spent all her time in her office, which made it impossible for him to see her. The time he'd spent with her today made him aware of the fact that he missed her - not that he'd ever admit it.

He was used to it though. Being nonexistent to his parents. And when they, particularly his mother, did show the slightest bit of interest in him, he latched onto it for reasons still unknown to him. His parents gave him everything he wanted, he had it all, but it wasn't really something to be proud of. Sometimes he would wonder what it'd be like to be the center of his parents' life the way all normal kids were. Things could be different if he spoke up, but he wouldn't do it. Feelings were a sign of weakness and he'd rather keep having them eat away at him than run the risk of being vulnerable for his parents.

"You're late," said a voice as soon as Tony got out of his Audi.

James Rhodes had been his best friend since freshman year and the two had hit if off from the start since they met in homeroom three years ago.

"I'm fifteen minutes early."

"I remember asking you to be here by 7:30."

"Just be grateful I'm here," Tony stated, putting on his jacket and walking towards campus. "Same homeroom?"

"Yeah, and I..." Rhodey trailed off as he saw his friend flash a smile to a group of cheerleaders nearby. "Seriously? You just got here."

"Why deny them the joy of seeing my smile? Besides, it would had been rude to ignore them."

Rhodey sighed, shaking his head. "I don't get it."

Tony smirked, reaching over to clap his hand on his friend's back. "I do."

"Anyway," said Rhodey with apprehension, but choosing to continue anyways. "I'd steer clear of Wilson. He knows about you and Cassidy."

"Whoa, what?!" As soon as those words left his mouth, Tony halted and turned so he could face him. "Did I do something to piss you off?"

"I. Did. Not. Tell. Him," Rhodey replied, emphasizing each word.

Right. He'd never rat me out. "Then who did?"

"No clue," his friend replied, shaking his head.

Tony let out a deep breath and ran a hand down his face. He was drunk out of his mind that night and he couldn't remember much, even if he tried. He knew Cassidy was involved with someone, but part of him felt she had been sending him signals over the summer. To test it, he had gone up to her at his party and asked if she wanted a drink since hers was empty. He returned with her drink an hour later and was thanked by her hands shoving down his pants. Before he knew it, they were in one of the guest rooms having sex. He had a great time.

"Great," he sarcastically said as they walked into the music room.

"It's very nice to see you two again," said Mrs. Sanders, their homeroom teacher.

Tony said nothing, only grabbing the papers handed to him and taking a seat in the back of the class.

"Don't tell me you're butt hurt over this," Rhodey said, sitting next to him.

"I'm not," replied Tony defensively.

"Really," Rhodey asked with a raised brow.

"Alright. Maybe just a little."

"Because Wilson's the football captain this year?"

"Yep."

Rhodey let out a chuckle, clearly enjoying the situation. "Should had thought of that before you fucked his girl."

"Yeah, well..." He trailed off and started filling his stack of papers.

Honestly, he hated football. Soccer was more his thing...but he couldn't quit. He and his father never talked much, and when the both of them did, it ended up in fights. Joining football, after finding out how much Howard liked it, gave them something to talk about whenever he was home, and he wasn't willing to give that up even though he knew there was no use in trying to please his father.

He looked around for a distraction and found one. There was a girl talking to the teacher. She was new. He had never seen her around, because if he had, he'd remember. Her hair was blonde with shades of red in it. He could see blue eyes and light freckles, but nothing else. Slouching over, he tried to get a better view, but at the same time, she had turned around to face the class. Not risking getting caught, he decided to go back to his work.

"Who's that," Tony asked, several minutes later.

Rhodey raised his brow and followed the direction of Tony's pen to the person in question. "I've never seen her before. Why?"

"Nothing," he muttered.

Rhodey grinned. "Wow," he teased. "That's convincing." Not getting a response, he went back to work. It wasn't until another couple minutes had passed that he decided to speak up again. "Go over there."

"Uh, this is a four paged packet," Tony said, as if it was a lot of work.

"Sure," Rhodey replied, his amusement clearly showing.

"Okay, first of all, I'm not scared to go up and talk to her."

"I never said you were."

"You didn't have to," Tony pointed out. Rhodey just shrugged, knowing it would irritate him. "And second," he added, quickly glancing over at the girl. "She looks busy."

"Excuses," Rhodey sang-song.

This time, he dropped the pen out of his hand and looked at Rhodey with annoyance. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why are you making excuses?"

"I'm not," Tony asserted.

A smile crossed his face. "You so are. It's okay if you're scared."

"I'm not," Tony asserted again. "And why do I get the feeling that you're the one that actually wants to talk to her?"

"I'm not the one who's been staring at her since I noticed her."

Tony smirked. "She has nice legs."

Rhodey shook his head in disbelief. It was such a typical Stark response.

"Screw it," Tony spoke. Ten minutes had passed and he had just finished his packet and was now picking up his backpack. He had to figure out who this girl was.