Chapter 3

The redhead was sitting under a tree, patiently waiting for the forensic science professor to let them know it was time to leave the state park she had spent her weekend in. Even though at first it had been somewhat exciting to hang around her roommate and classmates, as well as with FBI agents, crime scene clean up officers and others, last night her happiness had been shattered before her very eyes and in an unexpected way.

It had all begun like any other conversation. The class had taken advantage of being in the woods and started a fire and roasted marshmallows over it. Each student had taken their turn to share their life's story with everyone, particularly explaining the reason why they had chosen to come to Berkeley. Pepper had been thrilled at hearing everyone's tales and when her turn had come around, she had been more than honest with everyone with the small exception of bringing up her involvement with Team Iron Man. Since Rescue had only been seen in action once, no one had yet associated her with the hero, and at this point she figured it was better this way. Now that she thought about it more, however, she would have preferred talking about Rescue's single mission rather than letting everyone know what had brought her to California.

Me and big mouth. Pepper sighed as she remembered with sadness how her life was now going to be hell in her own dorm, and all due to some stupid thing. She still had a few minutes left before she was to get on the bus to go back to Berkeley, and even though she did not want to worry him with her pathetic story, she could not stop thinking about calling the blue-eyed boy.

He told me to call him for anything, she reminded herself. If I don't call him now, who knows when I can call him again? Screw it! I've got to talk to someone about this!

Casting her doubts aside, Pepper pressed speed-dial one and waited. After only two rings Tony answered, making her sigh in both relief and desperation.

"Hey, babe! Missed me?" The scientist asked in a teasing tone that also reeked of happiness.

"Tony!" her voice nearly cracked at hearing him. "My roommate is a minion of the devil himself!"

The inventor did not miss the fact that the redhead was trying to hold back a sob, and he became worried. "Pepper, what's happening? Are you alright?"

"No, Tony. I'm NOT alright! I knew it was too good to be true that Sandra accepted me the way I am. She was only pretending and now I know why she did it, the phony!

"I'm lost, Pepper. Take a deep breath, calm down and tell me what happened."

"OK, yes…alright," the redhead agreed and did as told. "It all began last night when we were exchanging stories about how we ended up in Berkeley. Everything was going fine until I happened to mention that I'm here on a scholarship and as soon as I said that, Sandra got mad at me. And, to top it off, she called me a liar in front of everyone! Everyone, Tony!"

"Scholarship? What scholarship? And, she got mad at you? Called you a liar? Why Pepper? I don't get it."

"What do you mean 'what scholarship'? The only one that responded to me from the millions I sent. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah, now I remember," the scientist said. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"That's the stupid part about the whole thing. Turns out that Sandra comes from a very wealthy family and she thought that was the case with me, too. When she heard that my dad is – and I quote: a pathetic government employee, and that she was sharing her room with a 'commoner,' she went nuts!"

"'Commoner'?"

"Yup, Pepper 'The Commoner' Potts. That's what everyone's calling me now."

"What kind of dumbass thinking is that? Why did she call you a liar?"

"Because she says I lied to her by not telling her that I wasn't in the same social status as she is. And, that if she had known ahead of time that we were not the same, she would've requested a transfer to another dorm when she had the chance to do so."

"Social status? What the hell? Who does she think she is? What is the matter with this girl? Does she think she lives in…ugh!" The inventor gave up in trying to relay his anger to the redhead as the right words refused to come out. "I'm sorry, Pepper. I really am. You don't deserve that. What can I do for you?"

"Nothing, Tony," she answered with a sigh, rubbing her forehead in frustration with her right hand. "I don't expect anything else from you other than just coming to see me next weekend, and to please, please, PLEASE not start calling me 'commoner."

"Why would you think I would, Pep? Not all rich kids are like that, you know?"

"But most of them are like that: Whitney, Gene, Justin Hammer… What's stopping you from realizing that … and then…"

"OK, OK, granted. Most of us are like that, but you know that I'm not like them. I don't care about stupid shit like that. You know that, right? You know that I wouldn't treat you like that."

The redhead sighed and stood up from the ground, patting her clothes free of dirt and leaves. "I know, Tony, but you're not the one who is here; it's that crazy girl. She's the one that is going to make my life miserable, and if it wasn't for the fact that they don't have the same last name, I could've sworn Sandra is related to Whitney Stane."

Tony nodded even though Pepper could not see him. "I know, Pep. But it will only be for a moment. I doubt she has the time or the energy to continue annoying you forever. Besides, you'll both soon be so very busy with your classes that you'll hardly ever see her, anyway."

"We're going for the same major, Tony," she said with a resigned tone.

"Oh," he frowned. "When can you switch dorms?"

"Next year, in August."

"Right…uhm…well…in that case…uh…"

"Hey, commoner!" The ginger heard a voice nearby and she eyed Sandra from the corner of her eye. "The instructor wanted me to come find you. We're leaving now, so hurry the hell up before we live you here in your natural habitat, you riffraff."

Without another word, the blonde turned around in place and began walking to the bus, leaving Pepper standing there, mouth agape, almost forgetting that Tony was still on the other end of the line. The inventor's jaw clenched at hearing the other girl abuse his friend, but he decided that Pepper was already mad enough for the both of them. "Forget about her; she's probably pissed because the humidity is messing up her stupid hair. Pepper? Hey, Pepper, are you there?"

The redhead swallowed the pain in her chest, blinked her tears away and began walking to the bus herself. "Yes, Tony. I'm here, but I have to go."

"Alright. Call me when you get to Berkeley."

"I will, but it might be a while; it's a four hour drive. Wouldn't you be busy by then?"

"I only have to run a few errands, but I'll be done by then."

"Don't rush on my account. I don't want you to crash or something."

"I'm not driving," he promised. "It's all here on campus; returning some books to the library, stuff like that."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Call me, OK?"

"Alright. Bye, Tony"

"Bye, Pep."

xxxXXXxxx

As soon as she set foot on campus, Pepper had busied herself cleaning up her side of the room, doing laundry, getting her books ready for the next day, and showering. When she had finally finished doing chores and had stepped out of the bathroom, already in pajamas and all, she had realized that her room had been invaded by unwanted guests. Sandra, in her moment of grief, had called on reinforcements, and ten girls had taken over their already small dorm room. The reinforcements were girls Pepper already knew from orientation, and it was painful to see the way they had all stared at her; as if she had betrayed every single one of them, too. The ginger had not even tried to reason with any of them and had opted to leave her room.

That unwelcomed surprised had Pepper currently walking aimlessly in the building, barefoot, in her pajamas, and hair still wet from the shower. She was aware that it had been more than four hours since she had told Tony she would call him, but she refused to do so from a random hall. She wanted some privacy to have their conversation, and thanks to her roommate, her dorm room was the last place she wanted to be in. In any case, she was second guessing herself regarding even making the call. She knew Tony would ask about what had happened with the girl, and she did not want to give him any more reasons to worry.

Ugh, and this is just the first week. You have the worst, luck, Pepper. She thought to herself. All that is missing is going back to my room and finding my stuff gone.

Knowing that making the call inside the building was going to give her no privacy at all, she decided to take the emergency stairs and went up to the roof. She had been there only a couple of times when she had first move in, and she knew for a fact that hardly anyone went up there, especially at night, making it the perfect place to be by herself. She dialed Tony's number and waited for him to answer the call.

"Hey, Pepper! I thought you weren't going to call me again!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," she said in a soft tone. "I just wanted to make sure I left everything ready for tomorrow." Pepper walked over to the edge of the building and looked down, confirming that everyone was already tucked in for the night. She then carefully perched herself on the ledge so that her feet dangled off the side of the building while she sat on the brick fence of the roof. Even though it was a five-story fall, Pepper felt extremely comfortable with heights; it was one of the main reasons why she loved being Rescue, and flying in Iron Man's arms.

"I see. Do you have time to talk now?"

"Just for a short while. It's been a tiring day and I'd like to go to bed early, if you don't mind."

"How early? Are you already in bed?"

"Before ten," she responded, remembering that when she had left her room it had already been past eight. "I'm not in my room right now. I'm on the roof."

"The roof? What are you doing there? Don't tell me the witch kicked you out!"

"Of course not, don't be silly. I just wanted some privacy and some fresh air."

"OK. Well, not counting the made up stories of the rich girl, did you enjoy your weekend?

"I did, actually," Pepper said as she placed the Bluetooth headset in her right ear. "I learned a lot. I mean, some things I obviously already knew from my dad, but I did have fun."

"I'm glad, Pepper."

"Oh! And thanks for the pod's games. They are so much fun," she said to him while she put away her pod in her pajama shorts' pockets and held on to the ledge of the building with both hands, and Tony chuckled at her.

"Did you really think I wouldn't put games in your pod, Potts? What kind of inventor do you think I am? Stark Solutions makes only the best."

"No doubt about it. Although, is there a chance you can make me some super-duper, high-tech ear plugs? Princess snores worse than you."

"What? I don't snore!"

"Sure you do."

"When have you ever heard me snore, Pepper?"

"When have I not? How about every time I would walk into your lab and you'd fallen asleep on your work table?"

"I haven't got the slightest."

Pepper laughed aloud. "I'm sure the camera feed of the temple will have evidence of the contrary."

"Not if someone, say, edited some of the footage right about now."

"You're pathetic, Stark!" Pepper said in between giggles. "You don't snore as bad as she does, but you do snore."

"I'm not really liking this conversation. Why don't we change the topic, huh?"

"Oh, alright," she rolled her eyes. "What do you want to talk about?

"You. How about we talk about you?" He answered with a serious tone. "About how much I miss you."

The ginger smiled sadly, looked down at the ground and her heart began to beat rapidly. "I miss you too, Tony; now more than ever." She breathed hard. "I feel so lonely. And I know that you're probably right about Sandra not annoying me forever, but that's not how I expected my life to start here."

"I know what you mean. I didn't imagine being here by myself, without you, without Rhodey. I never stopped to think what it meant to go to separate schools, and I regret not spending more time with you. I wish there was something else I could do for you, but there's only one thing I can do for now to cheer you up."

"What do you mean Tony?" The girl asked but the inventor did not immediately respond. "Tony?" she tapped the earpiece with her fingertips, but still there was no noise on the other end of the line.

"Tony, can you hear me?" Pepper stood up from the edge of the building and returned her feet to the roof, covering her right ear with her palm to listen carefully for any sign that Tony was still on the call. "Tony, are you there?"

"Yes, Pepper. I'm here," he responded to her from his position behind her on the roof.

A/N: *FEELS* I know you guys are happy that the chapters are being translated so quickly, but I am afraid I only have 3 more chapters after this to translate and then it will slow down. The chapters are short, though, so I may have a new one up for both versions sometime this weekend. Enjoy!