Title: The Way You Fit In (Is Through Music) - An Avengers Academy Story

Summary: Loki has never fit in at school. So when his crush Thor and his friend Tony Stark approach him with the idea for a band, he's skeptical. But what will accepting the offer bring to Loki's life? LOTS OF HIGHSCHOOL AU DRAMA AHEAD!

Pairings: Thorki, Stony, Clint/Coulson, Bruce/Natasha, Spideypool (Deadpool age change, don't worry...I mean they're all highschoolers now so the only one whose age didn't change was Peter), Winterfalcon, and a lot more background pairings that I either made because I needed to pair a character up with someone or put in 'cause it's a canon pairing. Please note that these are my personal ships and do not reflect the ideas of the entire fandom.

A/N: So, this is technically my first highschool AU, and honestly I have no clue how long it'll be. It could be novel-length by the time I'm finished, so if it is and you don't like reading stuff that's that long, that's fine. I'm sorry. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! I got the idea from the amazingly talented author Self-Inflicted Insanity and her story Loki and the Avengers (which yes, I advise you to check out!), so: Self-Inflicted Insanity, thank you for inspiring me to write this (however unintentionally)! Review please!

Disclaimer: None of this, and I mean absolutely none of this, except the plot is mine. Everything recognisable is owned by Marvel and the various artists I'm going to be borrowing songs from. Please don't sue me! No copyright infringement intended! I make no money off of this!

Chapter One: Secretive

Loki had never been a fan of large crowds uness he was the one in the spotlight. Loki had never been a fan of being stared at wherever he went unless the starers had a valid reason to be staring. Loki had never been a fan of people being idiots just to get his attention - unless said idiot was his crush. Loki had never been a fan of making his hobbies and personal life known to anyone unless that person was his best (and frankly only) friend.

Loki Laufeyson was a very negative person, he reflected.

He had reasons to be: namely, family issues. His mother had died when he was six, and his father, Laufey, had been closed off ever since they'd moved from London to New York City. Despite living in NYC since he was seven - which was eleven years now, he realized with a start - he'd never lost his British accent. He knew a few other kids at school that were also foreign and hadn't lost their accents despite living in the US for years, so he wasn't too put off by it. Besides, he liked his accent. Anyway, Laufey was a businessman or something and was hardly ever home. Loki pretty much lived either alone or at his best friend's house. It didn't help that Laufey had gone stright to alcohol to cope with his mom's death. Loki had only been hit once, and that had ended badly, as Laufey had brought out a knife, not recognizing his son. Loki always tried to retreat to his best friend's place when his dad came home.

His best friend's name was Valkyrie, and she was probably the only person who even remotely understood Loki and his chaotic brain. She was about as secretive as he was, and somehow that made a good combo. Valkyrie, however, was a lot more social than Loki ever was. She had made friends with Bruce Banner, one of the Six, which was quite the accomplishment. She was also friends with Wade Wilson, curiously, as he was friends with a very select few. Valkyrie was lucky to be among them.

Loki himself had only the one friend. People were constantly coming up to him in the hallways and practically begging for him to be their friend, but Loki waved them all aside. He was a total introvert and people annoyed him. Most of the other students at his school were no exception. Girls and guys alike were constantly all over him, though; for Loki was intensely good-looking, with shoulder-length raven-black hair and emerald green eyes that were constantly alight with mischief. His silver tongue had earned him the nickname "Liesmith" and his love of pranks and mischief had given him the titles of "Trickster" and "God of Mischief", the latter being like his Norse-god namesake. Despite being somewhat attention-shy when in the midst of a crowd, Loki didn't mind the nicknames. If anything, he enjoyed them.

Loki and Valkyrie were often assumed to be dating because they spent so much time together, including having almost all of their classes together. They weren't; both had made it clear that they were just friends and would stay that way. Both of them were bisexual (as were a lot of other students at AA, apparently), but Loki tended to lean more towards guys anyway. He and Valkyrie would often tease each other about their crushes. Valkyrie had a crush on Pietro Maximoff. And Loki?

Loki had a crush on none other than superstar jock Thor Odinson, one of the Six.

The Six were the six most popular kids in the school. They were to be the original team once they'd mastered their powers, Headmaster Fury had told the "special" students. There was Steve Rogers, their defacto leader, who was nicknamed "Captain America" because of his patriotism and kindness. Everything about him screamed I'm a good guy, and it wasn't just because of the vibranium shield he used as his principal weapon.

Next was the genius Tony Stark, top of his class in everything and a scientist beyond his years. Students in the Ability Control class (because despite there being a lot of them, there was only one class for it) called him "Iron Man" because of the (multiple) metal suits of armor he'd built and programmed. Due to a freak accident (supposedly) a few years prior, Stark had built himself a miniaturized ARC reactor that he'd put into his chest. Loki had heard a rumor that it was the only thing keeping him alive.

After that was another genius, Bruce Banner. The reason he was in the Ability Control class was because of some accident with gamma radiation that had given him strange powers. Namely, whenever he became angry (which was frequently - seriously, Banner had some serious anger issues), he'd turn into a large green monster that took pleasure in destroying things. He was in the class to learn how to control the Other Guy, whom people called the Hulk.

Then there were Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. Headmaster Fury had pretty much brought the two of them up as SHIELD agents-in-training before deciding that their unusual backgrounds made them great for the Avengers Initiative, which was what had sparked this school. Romanoff had been trained as a master assassin in Russia from a young age and was therefore quite scary to be around sometimes, and Barton's background remained a secret known only to a few, though he was an amazing archer, which earned him the nickname "Hawkeye" because of his accuracy in the target range. Romanoff had simply instructed everyone to call her "Black Widow" in training.

And then there was Thor. Thor was an unusual one; his hammer resembled that of Mjolnir from Norse mythology, and acted like it too. He could control thunder and call on lightning and was an all-around dangerous enemy, but he was also a fierce friend. Or so Loki gathered from watching his interactions with the rest of the Six.

The rest of them in the Ability Control class varied. There were the Maximoff twins, Wanda (Scarlet Witch - magic) and Pietro (Quicksilver; he could run at extremely fast speeds); Vision (an android with interesting abilities); Peter Parker (Spider-Man; he was bitten by a radioactive spider - Loki didn't want to know); Stephen Strange (magic-wielder); T'Challa (Black Panther - some Wakandan thing); James "Bucky" Barnes (the Winter Soldier; Loki didn't know the story, but he had a metal arm and enhanced abilities); Sam Wilson (Falcon - mechanical wings, Loki didn't want to know what happened); James "Rhodey" Rhodes (War Machine, same sort of deal as Stark); Wade Wilson (Deadpool - he was a mercenary to be avoided, called the Merc with a Mouth for reasons unknown to Loki); Valkyrie (Loki had no idea why, she'd never demonstrated her powers for him); and of course Loki himself. Loki was powerful with magic but had no clue how to control it, which is how he ended up in the Ability Control class, being considered for one of the "waves" of Avengers.

The school was called Avengers Academy for a reason.

Most of the other students who went to the school were SHIELD agents-in-training. With the exception of Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan. Those two's families had worked for Stark Industries for ages, and since the Stark heir went to this school, so did Pepper and Happy. They recieved most of the same training that SHIELD agents-to-be did.

A couple of more notable SHIELD trainees were Phil Coulson (Clint Barton's boyfriend) and Shuri, T'Challa's sister. The two of them were the most promising, top of all their classes. Just like so many other people in this school, Loki included. He had to hand it to the Headmaster: He knew how to select smart students.

"Loki. Loki. Loki!"

Valkyrie's voice brought Loki back to reality. "Sorry, what?" he said apologetically. Valkyrie was the only person Loki was ever apologetic to.

"You weren't listening to me again," Valkyrie accused, grinning.

"Sorry! You know my mind wanders of its own accord, Val."

"Excuses, excuses," Valkyrie teased.

"Shut up," Loki laughed.

"I was asking if you wanted to come over to study tonight?" Valkyrie said.

"Yeah, sure," Loki said, distracted as he caught sight of Thor. Valkyrie caught him staring and smirked.

"Why don't you just go talk to him?" she suggested, not for the first time. Loki blushed.

"He's always surrounded by his friends," Loki protested. "And, um, have you met me? I'm, like, the most anitsocial you can get at this school. Val, you are legit my only friend here."

"That's because you don't try," Valkyrie said. "You never try to make friends, you just sit in the back of the classroom reading."

"There's nothing wrong with a good book!" protested Loki.

"I know there isn't, but Loki, you do have to actually talk to other human beings once in a while," Valkyrie told him. Loki gave an exaggerated gasp of mock surprise.

"What? You mean social interaction? Me?" Loki teased. "How dare you suggest such a thing!"

"Please forgive me, Your Highness," Valkyrie laughed. "I spoke out of turn."

"Indeed you did," Loki said, laughing.

"I'm serious, though, Lo," Valkyrie said. "You do need to talk to other people once in a while."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Yeah, not happening." He went back to watching Thor as the Thunderer interacted with his friends. Someone - Barton, maybe - said something that made all six of them laugh, and Loki smiled despite himself. He knew Valkyrie was watching him witha smirk, but he didn't particularly care. Thor looked so cute when he laughed.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period and startling Loki out of his thoughts.

"Come on! You know Professor Hill hates it when we're late to History!" Valkyrie said. Loki magicked his garbage away, grabbed his bag, and then left the cafeteria together.

Loki knew Val was talking about something or other - possibly Pietro again - but he didn't hear her. His mind was on her earlier statement, that he needed to get some social interaction occasionally. Maybe she was right...

But Loki was too people-shy to ever actually try that of his own accord.

Besides, who except her would ever want to be friends with a monster?