a/n: So, (spoilers ahead for this chapter!) I just wanted to say that I know she's forgiven Tony very quickly, but I've never seen Gamila as one to hold a grudge for a very long time, except against Tahan. With Wanda, she wasn't really holding a grudge, she was more afraid of her. Also, I hope that I'm not writing Peter OOC and that I'm not writing Gamila and Peter's relationship too fast. It'll still be a bit before they actually get together. I'm not sure when, but we'll see. Please enjoy! (I don't own Marvel)
Lucy Jacob- I'm so glad you liked it! I was hoping that I wrote Peter ok and not OOC. Allison is not gonna play a big role in this story, but I'll try to write more scenes with her in the future. Thank you for all your compliments and please enjoy this chapter!
Spider-Man became something that was now always in the back of Gamila's mind. She just needed to know who he was. The only problem was that she had no idea how to find out who he was. She could try and get close to him and then unmask him, but she knew that would never work. Spider-Man was much too strong for her. Other than that, she had no other ideas.
Her focus on Spider-Man luckily didn't have much of an effect on her school life. She was still able to pass her classes. Before she knew it, her first week of school had passed and it was the weekend. She and Allison were heading back up to the compound for the weekend so Gamila could check on her plants, mostly.
When they arrived, Gamila didn't greet anyone. She merely handed her bags to Happy and took off for her greenhouse. She almost smiled when she walked in. The smells and sights were so familiar. She grabbed a shovel and started digging. It was such a relief to be away from school and back to something she enjoyed. She was completely distracted. She never even thought about who Spider-Man really was, of which she had several theories developing, each as unlikely as the next.
"Hey Hobbit," Tony stepped out from behind some plants to greet her. Gamila looked up at him for a second before looking back down and resuming her digging. Tony sighed. "Come on, kid. What do I have to do to get you to talk to me because I've tried everything." Gamila still said nothing but dug faster and shoved the shovel in the dirt with much more force. "Could you please say something? Anything. You could even attack me like you did. Just some sort of reaction would be pleasant."
Gamila stopped shoveling and stuck the shovel in the dirt. "What do you want me to say to you, Stark? You took me away from my family and forced me to live with you. You drove everyone away! Clint, Steve, Natasha, Wanda, Sam. All of them."
Tony stared at her for a minute before he looked down at the ground. Gamila shook her head and went back to her digging. She should've known better than to expect Stark to feel guilty or even apologize. He was too self centered to admit he was wrong. They agreed on the Accords but not on fighting the team over it. "You're right." She has spoken too soon. Gamila looked back up at Tony, surprise written on her face. "You're right," Tony repeated. "I did. I drove them away. But I hope you know that that was never my intention. I just wanted... Well, I was so caught up in the Accords that I couldn't see what was happening with Barnes. But it was never my intention to split us all apart, and certainly not you and Clint. Believe me, I tried to get Ross to let you go back to Laura, but it was hard enough convincing him to let you stay in America. He would only let you stay if you were put in my care. I'm... I'm sorry. I know that you must feel so hurt and angry right now and you probably think I don't care but I do. So... yeah. I'm sorry."
Gamila remained silent because she was so shocked. Tony apologizing? It must've been the end of the world or... or he really meant it. Because Tony never apologized. And last Gamila checked, the world was still spinning so that meant that he was truly sorry. She didn't see it coming from him. Now her question was if she could forgive him. She had forgiven Wanda. Perhaps she ought to give Tony another chance. After all, how bad could he be? "It's fine. I... well, I think I can forgive you," Gamila said softly. "I'm sorry I punched you. And kicked you. And shot arrows at you. I do agree with you on the Accords, actually. But I wasn't about to go against my baba. You can understand that, right?"
Tony nodded quickly, hiding his smile because he had really thought Gamila would stay angry at him forever. "I do understand and you were fine. Although, I do still have bruises on my arms." Gamila allowed herself to smile. "So, does this mean we can be friends again?"
"We were never friends, Tony," Gamila retorted. Tony was surprised for a moment before he realized that she was joking.
"Real funny," he told her sarcastically, though he secretly thought it was funny. "Do you want some dinner or something? Allison will be joining us." Gamila nodded and followed Tony out to the compound. Rhodey, Vision, and Pepper were there too. Allison was in conversation with Rhodey.
Pepper smiled when she saw the Arabic girl. "Gamila! It's so good to see you again." She got up and gave her a hug, which Gamila returned, deciding to ignore the warning bells going off in her mind. She wasn't supposed to get close to anyone, but she ignored that for the moment. "How are you? How's school?"
Gamila sat down between Allison and Tony. "School is fine. Kind of boring, but I shouldn't complain. Not everyone gets to go to school." Gamila always reminded herself of that when she felt school was boring. She didn't always have the opportunity to go to school, so she should be more grateful that she was allowed to go. "I'm doing fine. Not doing much."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll find some activity to get involved in," Pepper said encouragingly.
Allison looked away from her conversation with Rhodey. "I told her to get involved in the Academic Decathlon group. The teacher, Mister Harrington, has already told her to join. So have her friends Ned and Peter."
"They're not my friends," Gamila grumbled into her plate of pasta. "I barely even know them." It was true. She barely knew either of the two boys, even if she did sit near them at lunch and next to them in some of her classes. It wasn't like she talked to them. Ok, that was an exaggeration. She spoke with them often enough. Peter and Ned were both pretty talkative and they often spoke to her. She could've ignored them, but she had a hard time of it when they were both so nice, especially Peter. That kid didn't have a mean bone in his body, which made it hard for Gamila to hate him or distance herself from him. She just liked nice people, like Steve. They were just too hard to hate.
"I think that's a great idea!" Pepper said enthusiastically. "Are you going to do it, Gamila? I really think you should."
Gamila shrugged in reply. "I guess. I'm not doing anything else at the moment." Pepper and Allison actually clapped enthusiastically. Gamila liked both of them, but sometimes they were both a little too enthusiastic. They bordered on pushy.
Allison and Pepper carried the conversation on, talking more about high school and the Academic Decathlon team. Gamila tried not to seem annoyed that they were pushing her into this. Yes, she was going to do it, but that was her decision to make and not theirs to meddle in. Tony caught her look and grinned at her. "Have fun joining the nerd squad, Hobbit," he muttered in her ear.
"You're one to talk, Tony. Aren't you like, the biggest nerd ever, since you graduated from MIT at seventeen?" Gamila retorted with a smirk on her face.
Naturally, Tony had a reply. "No. Being smart doesn't make me a nerd."
"You're right," Gamila said. "You were a nerd before you revealed how much of a genius you were."
"Are," he corrected right away. Gamila rolled her eyes, not believing that that was what he got from that. Then again, Tony only heard what he wanted to hear. She shouldn't be so surprised.
They finished dinner and headed off for bed. Pepper walked with Gamila. "Thank you for forgiving him," Pepper said. She had actual tears in her eyes. Gamila gave a small nod, dismissing it. "No really, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me and him. After Siberia with Steve and Bucky, I've never seen Tony so depressed. And then you were so angry with him. I don't blame you, but it still upset him. You should be kind of flattered. Tony doesn't really like a lot of people, but I think he likes you. Anyway, in those months that you were gone, he seemed so distant and upset about everything that had happened. But now... he seems so much better already. He's not having as much drink as he did before. So thank you."
Gamila had never even thought about how hard this might've been on Tony. She had stupidly assumed that he had gotten everything he ever wanted when he won the airport battle in Leipzig. It never even crossed her mind that he never wanted any of this. Suddenly, she felt a bit more guilty about how she treated Tony. Hurting him, ignoring him, refusing to be grateful for all he had done for her. She felt the need to apologize some more to the poor man. "It was nothing. I can learn to forgive and forget every once in a while. I'm gonna go talk to Tony. I'll see you later Pepper."
Pepper nodded and let Gamila run to catch up with Tony. "Hey, Tony!" she called out to him. Tony stopped and turned around to face her. "I didn't apologize enough earlier. I'm so sorry for all that I put you through. You were probably going through enough as it was. I never even considered your side. I'm really sorry."
Tony's face softened considerably. "You were fine, Hobbit. You've been through a lot, for a teenager. None of this has been easy on you. I'm sorry you got dragged in the middle of it. It was wrong of me to try and make you choose between me and Barton. So, I should be the one who's sorry."
"I think we both have reasons to be sorry," Gamila said. "But now it can all be in the past, as they say."
Tony nodded at that. "Can we stop with all the apologies? I think I may throw up." Gamila laughed and nodded in agreement. "Good." There was an awkward pause. "Well, night Hobbit. Don't let the bed bugs bite."
"Night, Tony," Gamila said with a smile.
G*G*G
The weekend ended quickly and before she knew it, Gamila was saying goodbye to Tony and Pepper and returning to Queens with Allison. "See you next weekend?" Pepper asked as she hugged Gamila goodbye. Again, Gamila felt the warning bells ring in her mind. She pulled away as subtly as she could, so she didn't hurt Pepper's feelings.
"I think so," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "We'll see if I'm busy or not."
"Of course. Don't fall behind in school and you really should join the Decathlon team. I'll see you later, Gamila," Pepper said. She was very fond of Gamila. As a little girl, Pepper had always dreamed of having a daughter of her own. Of course, she never pictured her to be an adopted Arabic girl who used to be a child soldier. She had pictured more of a mini version of herself, with red hair and freckles. But Gamila was just perfect for what her life was like now.
Gamila turned to Tony. "Bye, Tony," she said simply, not knowing what else to say to the billionaire.
"What? No goodbye hug for me?" Tony teased sarcastically. Gamila made a gagging sound that made Rhodey burst out laughing. "I have something even better for you." He pulled a suit case out from behind his back. "Your suit. I've made several modifications to it, including an AI and some Iron boots, since you seemed to like them. Please enjoy, Artemis. You have my permission to hero around Queens. You could even work with Spider-Man if you wanted."
"Who is Spider-Man?" Gamila demanded right away.
"Oh, right. His name is..." He paused and Gamila waited in anticipation. Then, Tony only shook his head. "I'm not telling you. You'll have to find out for yourself."
"Right," Gamila mumbled angrily. "Thanks a bunch, Anthony." Her voice had taken on a more sarcastic tone.
"Ooh, the full name's coming out," Tony said mockingly, feigning fear. Gamila rolled her eyes at him and took the suit case, then she spun on her heel and walked away. "Bye," Tony called out cheerily. Gamila flipped him off without turning around as she tossed her case in the trunk and climbed in the passengers seat.
Allison started up the car. "He seems so much better than before," she commented, nodding and waving to Tony before she pulled out onto the open road. "Less depressed. He'll be much more fun to work with now."
Gamila hummed in agreement. "Although, I don't know how you can stand working with him. He's the most annoying person in the world, and that's including Ned."
Allison narrowed her eyes at Gamila. "I thought you two had made up?" she asked curiously.
"We have, but that doesn't stop him from being annoying," Gamila replied, which made Allison chuckle a little. But secretly, Gamila felt that Tony and her would only get closer despite her attempts to stop getting close to anyone. Which just made her life even more complicated.
G*G*G
When they finished the long drive home, Gamila immediately went to her room to examine all the changes Tony made to her suit. She was very excited about it, though she wouldn't let Tony know, since she was busy pretending to be annoyed with him. Plus, she shouldn't be getting close to anyone, like she planned.
She flipped the latches on the case to reveal her new and improved suit. It was still generally the same, looks wise. It was still a one piece suit that was black and had a zipper in the back with the two white stripes. The biggest difference was the mask and the boots.
The mask looked a lot different from before. It looked more like Tony's mask, only it was black and white instead of red and gold, and it only covered her face instead of her whole head. She pulled it on, the strap secure in the back. Like Tony said, an AI was programmed in there. "Hello, Miss Qureshi. I am your AI system." The voice was a female, though her accent was distinctly Middle Eastern, just like Gamila's accent (which was slowly fading over time).
"Hi," Gamila greeted slowly, feeling slightly weird talking to her mask. But she had known Jarvis. This lady was no different. Speaking of which... "Do you have a name yet?" Gamila asked the suit curiously.
"No, Mister Stark did not give me a name," the lady answered. "But you can give me whatever name you wish."
Gamila thought long and hard. She thought about musicians, book characters, TV shows and movies. Nothing seemed to quite fit the accent the lady had. She would have to give the AI an Arabic name for it to sound right to Gamila's ears. She thought over names of her cousins and aunts that she had known as a child. Suddenly, her mind settled on a memory of a cousin she had been particularly close to. She was the only child of her mother's sister and her husband. Her name was Atiya. It meant "gift" in Arabic. She was named because of course her parents saw their only child as a gift. Technically, her suit and AI was a gift from Tony. The name seemed fitting to her.
"I've got it. I'm going to name you Atiya," Gamila told the suit AI.
"I like that name, Miss Qureshi," Atiya said in a seemingly pleased tone of voice.
Keeping her mask on, Gamila pulled out the Iron boots. They were yet again similar to Tony's. The only differences were in size and color. Gamila let her eyes roam over them for a button. When she found it, she pressed it and the boot loosened up to allow her foot to slip in there. Once she was comfortably inside the shoe, it tightened itself automatically.
Gamila wanted to try her new things right away, but she had other responsibilities. Those responsibilities being homework.
Gamila heaved a large sigh and she put her new things away, storing it next to her old suit and things. Being in high school always sucked the fun out of everything.
G*G*G
Gamila returned to school trying to have a better attitude about her education. She kept reminding herself that high school was much better than no education at all.
Unfortunately, her mood was immediately ruined by Flash Thompson speaking. He wasn't even speaking to her, but his voice was enough to ruin her day entirely. "Hey, Penis Parker!" he called out from the hall. Peter was a few paces in front of Gamila and Flash was a few paces behind her. She was caught right in the middle.
Peter turned around with an angry look. Gamila has never seen Peter get even slightly angry, so she was a little surprised. "Would you stop calling me that, Flash?" he demanded slash asked in a tone as angry as his expression.
"Nah. It's not as fun," Flash replied snarkily. Gamila rolled her eyes. Why did every teenage boy think that his joke was the funniest thing that had ever happened to this world? It was like they had no filter. The only boy Gamila had met who was not like that was Peter Parker, but even he was annoying, just in a different way. Or so Gamila told herself.
Flash made his way over to Peter to do who knows what. Gamila has no idea why, but she decided to stick her foot out and trip him on his way over to Peter. He fell face first on the ground with an "oof!" A few people around laughed and pointed. Gamila pretended she had no idea what was going on. She feigned oblivion as she changed the music on her phone from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Collective Soul's "It's the World I Know." Flash seemed to accept that he had just tripped and he stood up quickly, brushing himself off and acting like nothing had happened. He walked past Peter and shoved his shoulder a little, but did nothing else.
Gamila continued on to her first period French class. Peter caught up with her. "Hey," he greeted. "I saw what you did in the hall. Thank you for that."
The Arabic girl shrugged him off. "It was nothing. Thompson needs to learn to keep his mouth shut." Gamila was suddenly fantasizing different ways in which she could get him to shut up permanently. Whether it was sewing his lips together or permanent glue or maybe removing his tongue from his mouth, it was all very satisfying.
"Yeah," Peter agreed with a chuckle. "Well, I'll see you in history, I gues." Gamila nodded by way of goodbye. "Hey wait!" Peter called out, causing her to halt in her tracks. "Did you decide to join the Academic Decathlon team?"
Gamila gave a short, curt nod. "Why not? I'm not doing anything else with my life right now."
Peter gave a smile that, for reasons that were unknown to Gamila, made her heart skip a beat. She tried to hide her confusion and brushed it off as nothing more than some stupid coincidence. "Cool! It'll be good to have you." Gamila nodded again, still mulling over why her heart was suddenly skipping beats. "See you later, Nadia."
"Yeah, see you Peter," she said, trying her very best to sound bored. Peter walked off to his first period class. Gamila plopped down in her seat and spent the entire class period wondering what could possibly be wrong with her.
G*G*G
By history, Gamila had decided that her heart skipping a beat was definitely a coincidence or at the very least some medical problem. She had pushed it to the back of her mind and decided to ignore it. That was an easy enough feat when she had music playing in her ears.
Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as easy when she saw Peter Parker again. He gave that same dang smile and Gamila felt her heart speed up. Her confusion showed on her face this time as she thought that she was probably having a heart attack or something. It slowed down after a bit though and again, Gamila pushed it aside.
Peter caught her confused look. "Nadia, are you ok?" he asked her.
"Hmm?" Gamila hummed. "Oh, yeah. Fine. Just thinking," she told him shortly. It had of course crossed her mind that maybe it had something to do with Peter, but she had dismissed that right away. It was a ridiculous thought. Why on earth would Peter make her heart race and skip beats? Just because he smiled? I was one of the stupidest notions she had thought of.
The bell rang and the class slowly stopped chatting. "Alright, class," Mr. Harrington spoke up. "Today we're preparing for our test on World War II. You have the flash cards that you prepared last week. Please study quietly or with your partner. If your studying with your partner, please keep the noise level down, thanks. You can go ahead and go now."
Chatter yet again broke out as most people turned to their partners and pretended to study. There were only a few pairs in the room that were studying. Gamila caught sight of Michelle reading her book. Flash was busy being himself by flirting with his partner.
"Do you want to study together?" Peter asked her, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Gamila shrugged. "Sure," she told him. She reached down into her bag to pull out her cards that she had made as homework. It was the thing that had stopped her from going out and being Artemis last night. It was a shame. She was hoping she could find Spider-Man and maybe get him to reveal who he was.
Peter pulled out his own flash cards. "Ok. When did the US enter World War II?" Peter questioned her.
"Er..." Gamila paused and thought. Steve had taught her this. She just needed to remember everything he taught her. She thought over all the old lessons. Those had been over a year ago and her memories were quickly fading. "I think it was 1941? Pearl Harbor day, right?"
Peter nodded. "Exactly. December seventh, 1941. Your turn."
"What was the name of the only US General that the Germans ever feared?" Gamila asked as she read over her cards.
"George S Patton," Peter answered automatically. "How many Jews were killed during the Holocaust?"
"Six million," Gamila answered quietly. It was a number that was hard to forget. Six million people slaughtered for no reason. And she thought the thirty one people she had killed was a lot. It still felt like a lot to her, but at least it wasn't six million.
"It's horrible, isn't it?" Peter said with an edge of bitterness. "Six million people, dying for no reason. I will never understand murderers. How could they even consider killing someone?"
"I don't know," Gamila replied, trying not to feel hurt by his words. He had no idea what she had done. He was just speaking the truth.
"And all those children that were killed too," Peter continued. "I can't imagine being a child and being dragged into a war like that. It's not fair, is it?"
"Who said life was fair?" Gamila asked. Again, she kept having to tell herself that Peter didn't know anything about her. Not really. He was just speaking his mind.
Peter shook his head. "Nobody did. I just feel bad for any child who was dragged into war."
"I do too," Gamila agreed with a nod. Her eyes misted over slightly. Peter thought he saw tears in her eyes, but she blinked and they were gone. He decided that he had imagined it. "Back in Yemen, there are some terrorist groups who take children from their homes to be child soldiers. I saw it happen, but there was nothing I could do because I was only a child. That's why my aunt got me out. Because she didn't want me to have to face the horrors of war." She thought back over the first time she had met Clint and over all her six years in that trafficking ring. "It's sickening what happens to children in those situations," she finished with a shake of her head.
"I didn't know that still happened," Peter responded quietly. Maybe he hadn't imagined those tears. "Did you know anyone who got taken?"
"One," Gamila said shortly. "Her name was Gamila. I didn't know her very well. She was bold, for a child. She always tried to speak when she wasn't supposed to or talk back to her elders. Pretty irresponsible, too. She was only eight when she was taken. I can't imagine what's happened to her now." Gamila couldn't think why on earth she was sharing her backstory with Peter Parker of all people. What had he done that had made her trust him that much? She couldn't think why. Maybe it was just his kindness to her. Maybe she just needed to talk to someone about it. Someone other than Clint. But it didn't matter. Peter would never know he was talking about herself. He only knew her as Nadia. The girl from Yemen who lived with her aunt. The quiet and sometimes sarcastic girl who listened to a lot of music. He didn't really know her and he never would.
"That's awful," Peter said, horror written in his eyes. He thought about Nadia. Maybe the reason she was so quiet and even harsh at times was because she was trying to protect herself from the horrors of her past. He didn't know her well, but he knew in that moment he felt very bad for the pretty Arabic girl beside him. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
Gamila shrugged. "It was a long time ago. I'm over it," she lied. She decided that she didn't want to talk about it anymore with Peter. She had already made herself vulnerable enough through her stupidity. "Why was the Battle of the Bulge so significant to the US?"
G*G*G
Gamila headed to the stage room after school for her very first Academic Decathlon meeting. To her extreme disappointment, one of the first people she saw there was Flash Thompson. It seemed as though she would never get away from this idiot. She moved her gaze away from the Hispanic boy over to some more familiar faces. Peter and Ned were both there, sitting together at a table with a boy with dark skin. Gamila thought his name was Abraham or Alex or something like that. In the corner, Michelle was there, reading her book as usual. Gamila decided to go sit by her when someone came up to greet her.
"Hi. You must be Nadia. Peter, Ned, and Michelle told me about you." The girl had long black hair and darker skin. She wore a kind smile with her short red skirt and white top. She was actually very pretty. That would explain why Peter and Ned were staring at her like she was some sort of model. "I'm Liz. I'm the team Captain." Liz held out her hand to shake.
"Nice to meet you," Gamila said politely, taking Liz's hand and shaking it.
"Well, come on in," Liz said, waving her hand. "You can come meet everyone. I'll tell Mister Harrington you're here."
Gamila walked in the room. She gave Peter, Ned, and the other guy a quick nod before walking over to go sit with Michelle. "I can't believe you decided to join," Michelle said without looking up from her book.
"Why?" Gamila replied shortly as she pulled out her phone and stuffed one ear bud in her ear. She scrolled through her selection before settling on "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
"Because it doesn't seem like your scene," Michelle answered. "You're very antisocial."
"So are you and yet, you're still here," Gamila retorted. Michelle nodded at that, but had no reply. "So, is this what you do here? You sit and read and talk and do whatever? Seems weird for one of the best teams in the country."
"No. You wait until it's your turn to be quizzed by Liz or Mister Harrington. If you're not up on stage, then you're down here studying. Or doing whatever. Harrington doesn't care," Michelle explained.
Gamila nodded. "Sounds like something I'll be good at," she whispered to herself. She could sit and do nothing until it was her turn to answer questions. So long as it was only math or science questions. Those were the areas in which she excelled.
"Ok everybody, listen up!" Liz called out, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "We've got a new member of the team, so I figured we should all introduce ourselves and go around in a circle. Nadia, you start. Tell us your name and why you joined Academic Decathlon."
Gamila stood up. "I'm Nadia Dart and I joined because I'm good at math." She sat down without another word.
Michelle went next. "I'm Michelle Jones and I joined because I have nothing better to do."
Gamila tried to remember everyone's name. There was Cindy, Sally, Charles, Seymour, Flash, Peter, Ned, Abraham, and Liz. Not a very large team, but apparently, entries were limited. Gamila was lucky her math skills were so good and that the team needed more math experts because otherwise she wouldn't be there. It was just a shame that Flash somehow got on the team.
"Good. Now that that's out of the way, let's get to work. Remember, Nationals is coming up. So far, we've got Michelle, Peter, Ned, me, Cindy, Charles, and Seymour going, with Flash and Sally as alternates. Nadia, you'll be an alternate as well."
Gamila nodded at that. Liz then called a few people up on stage to quiz and practice. Once the meeting was over, Gamila felt that Pepper and Allison were right to be pushy with this. She actually enjoyed herself in that meeting.
After school, Gamila headed straight for her car to go to a sandwich shop. It was Allison's favorite and she had texted earlier asking Gamila to grab her a sandwich from the shop and that she would pay her back. Gamila agreed to do it, only because she was hungry as well.
She entered the shop to see a familiar face. Peter Parker was ordering a sandwich as well. "Thank you," he told the man behind the counter as he handed him money. He turned around and almost knocked her over. Or he would've had he not reached out and caught her hand. "I'm so sorry! Oh," he said when he saw who it was. "Hey Nadia. Sorry about that." He pulled her back up to her feet.
"It's fine," Gamila said shortly. She brushed past him to get to the counter. "Can I get two Black Forest ham melts and these two Dr. Peppers?" She pulled out two Dr. Peppers from the fridge and she placed enough cash on the counter for it all.
"You got it, kid," the man behind the counter said. He took the cash and put it in the register before handing her a receipt. "Your sandwiches will be done in a minute."
Gamila nodded and she moved towards the back of the shop so the other customers could order. She opened her Dr. Pepper and took a long sip. It had quickly become her favorite drink, ever since she was introduced to it. She drank it all too often now. It was an unhealthy habit, but she didn't really care.
"Order up," he said a minute later and he handed her a small brown paper bag, containing the two sandwiches. "Enjoy, kid."
Gamila walked out of the shop to yet again run into Peter Parker. "Hi," he greeted. "I just wanted to say sorry again for nearly knocking you over."
"It's fine Peter, you don't have to keep apologizing," Gamila said, a little bit of annoyance creeping into her tone. Luckily for her, Peter didn't catch it.
"Well, I was wondering what you're doing today. After school I mean," he asked. Gamila thought he was acting a bit weird. Well, weird for him. "I mean, if you wanted to hang out or something, we could, since I'm not really doing anything right now."
"I've got homework," Gamila answered quickly. "And I've got to get this sandwich to my aunt." She wasn't being careful enough. She was starting to be considered friends by other people.
"Oh," Peter said. He sounded and even looked a little hurt by the quickness of her answer. He should've thought that she wouldn't want to. She was a pretty girl who could have any boy she wanted. Not that he was asking her out on a date. Was he? Now he had confused himself. Was he asking to hang out with Nadia as friends or more than friends? Sure, she was very pretty and sometimes, she was even a little bit nice. But he had only just met her a little over a week ago, despite having the nagging feeling that he had met her somewhere else. He couldn't possibly like her yet, not really. He determined that he was just asking as a friend. Besides, she was not Liz. He liked Liz, not Nadia.
Gamila could see and hear the hurt and she felt the smallest twinge of guilt twist in her stomach. "Maybe some other time, yeah?" she said, as a way to make him feel better. She couldn't stand seeing someone so nice look even a little bit hurt. It was stupid, but she went with her gut, which was telling her to be kind to the boy, instead of her brain, which was telling her to stop getting close to people.
Peter brightened considerably. "Yeah! Sure! Cool! Uh... I'll see you tomorrow at school." He walked backwards, giving her a wave.
"See you tomorrow," Gamila replied before she climbed in her car. What had she gotten herself into?