Chapter 8
Armed with an action plan, Tony and Pepper began their return to the Tomorrow Academy with minutes to spare before the bell was due to ring to signify the end of the lunch period. The next class the two teens had to attend – Literature – was shared with Rhodey, who had already heard about the commotion during Chemistry class and was in complete disbelief. Accounts of what had occurred varied depending on whom was asked, and so far the stories going around the campus ranged from dubious to just plain outrageous. The worst one Rhodey had heard on his way up to the roof had been one where Tony had apparently suited-up and blasted the teacher to ashes and dust.
These people need to stop watching reality television, Rhodey thought as he paced back and forth at the roof. Everyone else had already gone downstairs to wait for the final countdown to the bell, but Rhodey had not left the roof since he found out what had occurred. He knew Pepper and Tony had to land either on the roof or on the sidewalk, and from his vantage point Rhodey had all areas covered.
Where the hell are you? You have two minutes!
Not a second after Rhodey's last thought, he heard the familiar sound of incoming flight stabilizers nearing the school grounds. He covered his eyes from the sun by placing his palm over his brows as he waited for the couple to make it down to the ground. As soon as Tony was certain Pepper's feet were securely on the ground, he began retracting his suit only to find the disapproving look of his long-time friend piercing his eyes.
"Whatever you think happened, it's not true," Tony said immediately, hands up by the sides of his face in a defensive manner.
"If it was any other situation, I would've not believed your words, but in this case, I'm gonna have to admit you might be right."
"What's the rumor now, Rhodey?" Pepper asked as she and Tony walked closer to their friend.
"Oh, there isn't just one rumor; there are more like a million of them! Why don't you tell me what happened?"
"I wish I could," Pepper said with shake of her head. "One moment I'm trying to understand how to write diagrams of chemical compounds and the next I'm accused of disrespecting Miss Jones and her class."
"Did you?"
"No," Tony and Pepper said in unison.
Rhodey sighed and rubbed his temples in frustration. "Well, I think you probably want to have a long talk with Miss Jones today during detention. I don't know what happened but this whole thing got blown way out of proportion by the middle of lunch time. It doesn't help that the campaign to split you two up just got amped up."
"Amped up? What do you mean?" Tony asked, worried that the plan they had just come up with was going to be ineffective even before it got to be implemented. "Is there now an after-school club with the sole purpose of breaking us up? Is Janet Lowe the self-appointed president of it?" Tony threw his hands in the air in annoyance.
Janet had been one of the most adamant proposers and followers of the NYTA girls' Force Tony Stark to Date Me movement of yesterday. There was no doubt in his mind that she could be the main perpetrator of any despicable rumors out there about Pepper, and perhaps even be the mastermind behind the locker prank of this morning. He was yet to tell Pepper about it, but Janet had been bold enough to steal a kiss from him yesterday morning in a moment of confusion while escaping the asphyxiating mob of fangirls.
"Might as well call it that," Rhodey responded much to Pepper and Tony's chagrin. "What are you going to do about it? Word is that the Principal already knows about it – the good and the bad – and he'll probably call you both to his office sometime soon. Oh! And your escapade during lunch didn't help either. Some of the girls swear that you two left so that you could have…well, you know…"
"Could have what?" Tony asked, wishing they had just stuck to his recommendation of not coming back to the school for the day. "Could have what, Rhodey?"
The clueless genius asked again when he received no immediate response. Pepper, on the other hand, stared at Rhodey with questioning eyes, and when she saw the slight blush that crept up to James' face when Tony asked the question, she immediately understood what Rhodey had meant.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Both Tony and Rhodey flinched at Pepper's scream, leaving them both wondering how they were not bleeding from their ears. "DO THEY REALLY THINK WE WERE HAVING SEX?!"
"WHAT?" Tony asked in a tone similar to Pepper's, and this time it was only Rhodey who covered his ears. "IS THAT ALL THEY THINK ABOUT AROUND HERE?"
"Well, what did you guys expect, leaving like that in the middle of the school day when everyone knows you're dating?!"
"But, but, sex?" Pepper spat. "Tony and I having sex?"
Pepper opened her mouth to continue her rant, but when the corner of her eye caught something she did not want to see, her face paled. Rhodey and Tony stared at Pepper with a confused look before their eyes darted to what she was seeing and they too paled when they saw a group of girls and boys by the roof access door, mouths hung in shock. However, the consequences of their words did not truly hit home until they saw the group of students run downstairs as they chanted 'Tony and Pepper had sex!' for everyone else to hear.
"Oh, nuts," Rhodey mumbled immediately before Tony's pod began ringing. The inventor's eyes were still glued to the now empty opened door that led to the academy's bottom floors as he dug his hand inside his pants pocket and took out his pod. He removed his gaze away from the door just long enough to read the marked urgent text message that he had just received, only for his eyes to bug open.
"Oh, shit!" His swearword caused Pepper and Rhodey to look away from the door and watch Tony repeatedly hit his forehead with his pod. "It's my dad. He just arrived to the school. The principal called him in when we left."
As soon as Tony's words ended, Rhodey's pod began ringing. With shaky hands and wide eyes he took it out of his pocket to read the text message he had just received. "What the hell? My mom was called, too! She carpooled with your dad, Tony!"
"Son of a –" Tony's next word was cut off when Pepper's pod went off, causing the color to leave her already pale face. Rhodey and Tony's ears rung with the loud noise of her pod simultaneously receiving texts AND a call but she did not make any effort to retrieve it. After the call went to voicemail and the ringing began again, Rhodey spoke up.
"Uhm, Pepper, aren't you gonna answer that?"
Pepper nodded. "Yeah-huh. I'm gonna answer it alright, but there's something I need to do first," she said as she began walking away from where Tony and Rhodey stood.
"What's that?" Tony asked, brows furrowed.
"Oh, nothing important," she assured them with a wave of the hand. "Just gonna jump off the ledge."
She placed a foot on the edge and prepared her body to jump. Tony ran toward her but his effort was in vain when the redhead stopped midway, walked down from the ledge, turned around and gulped.
"Your dad just saw you, didn't he?" Rhodey asked, feeling terrible for his friend's luck.
"Glared, too," Pepper said before she covered her face with her hands as the first tardy bell for after lunch rang.
xxxXXXxxx
The walk down the hall had been worse than it had been in the morning. The spectators had no longer held back their actions and their rude comments from being said aloud. Their stares and finger pointing had been more than obvious, and some of the male students had even made obscene gestures toward the couple as the trio had walked to the principal's office. None of them had even been allowed to enter the classroom when they arrived to it and had instead been sent directly toward the main office of the school.
The three of them now sat in the front office where the three parents were holding a meeting with Principal Nara and Miss Jones behind closed doors. It had been at least an hour since their arrival, and the sound-proofed doors and walls prevented the teens from listening in on the conversation. Rhodey tapped his feet on the floor, and Pepper was yet to remove her hands from her face. Tony, for his part, was staring into nothingness as he hit himself mentally for getting Pepper in trouble. He did not care if his dad was mad at him, and he knew Rhodey had no true involvement in the situation. Pepper's case, however, was a completely different story.
Not only had she become the target of many students overnight, she had also gotten on the bad side of a teacher, the principal, and who knew how many other people he was yet to find out about. She had severed ties with her first boyfriend ever, and would probably be grounded for a long time for disrespecting a teacher. From all the terrible situations a soon-to-graduate high school student could experience, spending your last month in detention and being hated by the entire student body was probably one of the worst ones.
And all because I have feelings for her, he sighed as he stared at the redhead from the corner of his eye. Is it worth it for us to be together if she's going to be treated like this? I'd rather her not go through all of this…I don't want her to suffer like this. We should just call it off… but… I don't want to… I… I…
The sound of the door opening made the youngsters' heads snap to the left to see a familiar looking face walk out of the office. Pepper was the first one to react and ran toward him, her hands clasped on her chest as she spoke.
"Oh, Happy! Please, please, please tell me you're not here because of me! Please tell me I didn't get you in trouble, too!"
Happy gave her a smile and shook his head. He could not deny that he still had feelings for Pepper, and seeing her worried expression and her almost watery eyes made him react in ways he probably should not have. The fact that he had heard the terrible things that were being said about her made him mad, and he could only imagine how devastating it was for Pepper – who would not purposely hurt anyone – to see her reputation smeared across the dirty floor. Regardless of how inappropriate it may have seemed, Harold still surrounded her slim form with his muscled arms and rocked her left and right as he spoke in a soft tone to her.
"Nah, Pepper. They just wanted me to clarify some of the rumors around here."
Pepper felt slightly relieved at those words but she still sniffed. The frustration and feeling of powerlessness to correct the situation was finally getting to her. She had tried to keep her head up and her nerves in check if for no other reason than to not worry Tony, but the rollercoaster of emotions she had been put through in one day had reached its peak. Her heart was beating fast in fear at what would happen when she walked inside the office, and she did not think she could bear to find out that any of her friends were greatly affected by whatever mutiny against her was going on around school.
"Are you sure, Happy? You're not lying to me, are you?" she said in a voice muffled by her face on his chest.
Happy could feel the waves of desperation pouring out of her. She was shaking in his embrace, and he could tell she was moments away from breaking down as he pressed his lips near her ear to whisper to her.
"I'm sure. And I'm not letting those girls get away with what they're doing to you. You don't deserve it, Pepper."
Pepper's barely controlled sob made it to the ears of everyone present, especially the ones of the silent young inventor sitting a few feet away from the hugging couple. His eyes were glued to Happy and Pepper, and while he knew there was nothing ill-intended in the exchange, he could not help but feel the terrible Green Monster – not the Hulk, mind you – move in to his heart and settle there. Tony swallowed hard and looked away from them, feeling both irrational and justified in his jealous actions.
"Hi, Pepper," a female voice said, which caught the attention of everyone again. Exiting from the Principal's office was Mrs. Hogan, a smile plastered on her face. Pepper pulled herself away from Happy and then lunged toward Harold's mom. "I miss your visits, girlie. When are you going to stop by?"
"I, uhm… well…"
Mrs. Hogan shook her head. "It's alright. Happy already told me it didn't work out between you two kids, but that doesn't mean you can't visit this old woman."
Pepper smiled brightly at her, truly regretting not being able to see her as often. Roberta Rhodes and Mrs. Hogan were the closest she had to a mother, and she valued them very much. "I promise I will stop by to visit soon, Mrs. Hogan."
"Any time, dear."
Mrs. Hogan gave Pepper one last smile and hug before she and Happy left the room. When Pepper turned around to face the door, she was greeted by the Principal's secretary, who asked her to return to her seat. Pepper nodded and her state of depression returned as she sat in between Tony and Rhodey.
"Mr. Rhodes, we will see you now," Glenda, the secretary said.
Rhodey stared at Tony and Pepper and shrugged before he stood up and followed Glenda inside the room. The lock of the door was the only sound in the office for a very long time.
A/N: Talk about interrogation room, huh? Again, thank you all for reading and especially for your reviews. Every review makes me write faster :) BTW, if you have stories here in FF, give your summaries a look. There was an issue where almost all of the words that were next to a period were removed for some reason. I had to go edit many of mine yesterday.
