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IRON HEART chapter 10 "Surprise Announcements"

"DUDE! WAKE UP! We have school today!" Rhodey said, shaking a sleeping Tony.

"Snnrrk-what? Huh? Oh, nuts, I forgot about school!" Tony said, instantly awake.

~later, at the Tomorrow Academy~

Tony was working diligently on a research paper for his physics class, when the school principle's magnified voice came over the loudspeakers, and everyone fell silent, looking up from their papers to listen.

"Attention to all students! I am pleased to announce that the annual school dance will be held this Friday, starting at seven o'clock, going on until eleven o'clock. All students are REQUIRED to attend-AS A TRADITION TO THIS SCHOOL!" He said loudly as a mutinous buzz rang out over half the school, mostly from the boys.

"All students will be required to dress appropriately, please arrive before seven; you may leave when you please. Exact arrival time is appreciated. Furthermore, everyone MUST have a partner, there are exactly enough of all you students to have a partner. Details will be on the white pamphlets outside of the physics room. For those who don't know how to properly dance, lessons will be held in the gymnasium for one hour after school. Thank you, and remember; DO YOUR HOMEWORK!"

A stunned silence fell upon all of the students as they looked at one another, shocked. Then, in about two seconds, the silence was broken, and everybody started talking at once. Such was the clamor; the principle came over the loudspeakers again.

"STUDENTS! PLEASE, SAVE YOUR TALKING FOR THE LUNCHROOM!" he bellowed, and Mr. Klein, the physics teacher, nodded at them, smiling playfully, and they all returned to their papers obediently. All, that is, but Tony. His mind was racing furiously. (A school dance!) He thought, horrified. (On Friday! That's when the armor systems will be fully repaired and I'll be able to go after Ghost…I can't go to the dance! But I'll have to…the principle said all students must participate no matter what…and I have no choice, can't ditch this time, I'm already on thin ice with him…but who do I go with anyway?) He thought, stealing a glance at the many girls in the room. He looked first at Whitney, but remembered they broke up, and quickly looked away. After several moments of scanning the room, his eyes came to rest on Pepper, working attentively next to him. She looked up, and smiled at him, and their eyes met, bright blue meeting warm brown, but he abruptly looked back down at his paper.

(No, she's going out with Happy. And she'll probably go to the dance with him.) He thought miserably. Oh, how he wished he had told her sooner, how he wished he had told her how he really felt about her!

Pepper sighed and looked back at her paper. Very little was written so far, and she usually depended on Tony to tell her what to write, but he seemed really stressed today, so after a moment's heated debate, she decided against it. (After all, we just messed with his heart, and the damage done to it must really hurt…) She reasoned. Indeed, she had seen him wince several times during the class, clutching at his chest.

Eventually, her thoughts returned to her paper, and, sighing, she tapped her pencil against the paper, trying to remember the exact form of the periodic table…soo boring…when Tony slid his finished paper close to hers, so she could see his answers. She smiled at him gratefully, and he grinned back.

~ten minutes later~

"Hey, Tony, thanks for letting me copy your paper back there!" Pepper said happily, once they were out in the hallway. "Wait-you let her copy your answers?" Rhodey said indignantly. Tony smiled at him mischievously. "Sure did!" Rhodey sighed and said no more. Noticing a pretty girl with coffee-colored skin and long, curly hair looking at Rhodey, who was unaware of her interest, Pepper and Tony quickly stifled laughter. "What?" Rhodey asked suspiciously. Tony looked at him, a sly smile playing on his lips, and said, "Well, we just overheard that girl you like, Lily Smith, saying that she wanted to ask you to the dance."

"Really?" Rhodey said excitedly. "Awesome! Oh, by the way, are you going with Whitney?" Tony gave his friend a withering look. "No, I'm not. It's just that-well-we broke up! It would be kinda awkward to go together." He said testily. Pepper looked at him, a little shy, and was about to ask him something, when the lunch bell rang and the three friends headed off to the cafeteria, forgetting their romantic troubles.