Never been able to upload 2 chapters in 2 days before, maybe I'm finally getting the hang of writing fanfiction! I've made a plan for where I want this series to go/end, so I feel a lot more motivated to finish it now. If anyone is still reading, I hope you enjoy!
Ava was lost.
She had arrived early thanks to a faulty alarm clock and jumpy mind, and had been trying to follow Liz's complicated directions to their homeroom as more students appeared, but the hallways refused to cooperate, and soon time caught up with her. She jumped violently at the bell, signalling 5 minutes before class started. Ava did not think of herself as shy, but the students around her suddenly seemed a lot more intimidating than they had done with Liz Allan at her side. She turned a corner and almost ran into someone.
"Oh! Hi, Ava."
Peter grabbed her shoulders instinctively to steady her and then, just as quickly, removed them, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Hey Peter," she replied with a smile.
"Are you lost? There's only a few minutes left until homeroom. You're in-"
"2B," the blonde recalled.
"Or not 2B," he wiggled his eyebrows in humour. "Yeah, that's the same as me. I can walk you there, if you'd like."
She hadn't remembered him from yesterday's homeroom, and immediately felt a little bad.
"Sure."
It didn't take long to find the room from there. Ava noticed that her guide was limping slightly, almost imperceptibly, but she said nothing.
"Mr Parker, Miss Livingston, you're late," the teacher snapped, "I'll have to give you both a tardy slip."
"Sorry, Mr Blackwell," Peter mumbled.
"Actually, it was my fault. I-I don't know the school very well and I got lost. Peter... went looking for me and that's why he was late as well," Ava lied. Well, it was half-true, but what Peter was really doing down that corridor at the very back of the school was a complete mystery to her.
"Is that true, Mr Parker?" the man asked sceptically. Ava gave Peter a meaningful look.
"Uh- Yes."
"Well, this is a warning then, Miss Livingston. Make sure you stay in the halls you know before homeroom," Blackwell cautioned.
"Yes, Mr Blackwell," Ava nodded, before following Peter to two empty seats partway near the back.
Mr Blackwell began the daily announcements, and Peter took the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the girl sitting next to him. Once he looked, Peter found he couldn't tear his eyes away. Her face was rather stoic, and yet Peter began to find the smallest traces of emotion cross her face when she didn't think that anyone was looking. A twitch of her nose for dislike. A swallow for discomfort. A quiver of the corner of her mouth for amusement. After a while, Ava sensed that she was being watched and looked up. His eyes widened at her confusion and he looked away. He could see her expression falter in the corner of his eye and felt a pang of regret.
By lunch, Ava and Peter hadn't really spoken. However, she had had fun chatting with Gwen in Physics. She had entered the cafeteria with Gwen, and so shot Liz an apologetic smile as she sat with the blonde.
"Ava, this is Harry Osborn," Gwen introduced amiably.
"Hi Ava. I've heard a lot about you from Gwen and Peter," Harry greeted.
"It's nice to meet you. Where's Peter?"
"He decided to join photography club, I think. Went to talk to Mr Havenport about when it's on," Gwen answered.
"Why? Miss him already?" Harry smirked, causing Ava to blush.
"I-I was just wondering."
"I'm sure he'll be here soon."
"How long have you two been together for?" Ava asked Gwen.
"Who?"
"You and Peter?"
Harry burst out laughing. Gwen was barely containing her laughter herself.
"You think we're together? Ew! No, me and Pete have been friends for years, but nothing more."
Ava felt herself blushing again. Gwen calmed herself and smiled sympathetically. She quickly changed the subject.
Hey, did you guys see Spiderman on the news last night? He brought down the Sandman again."
"Good. Whenever Spiderman is distracted with those guys is running around, all the petty thugs start thinking they own the place," Harry scowled.
"Doesn't DC have its own resident superhero as well, Ava?" Gwen asked.
"Oh - yeah - well, had, anyway. The Firebird. But no one's seen her in months."
Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Do you think she - y'know - died?"
Ava pursed her lips, refraining from smiling.
"Who knows? But I doubt it, she seemed way too powerful for that."
"Did you ever see her in action?"
"A couple times," Ava couldn't help but smile a little, "Her costume was pretty cool - red and gold with a cool half mask, kind of Venetian style."
"What are her powers again?" Harry asked through his mouthful of sandwich.
Gwen rolled her eyes.
"Clue's in the name, Harry. She controls fire, right?"
"Yeah, something like that."
Peter walked in, pulling something red off of his hand as he entered the hall. He strolled over to the table, but Ava couldn't help once again noticing a slight limp in his stride. She frowned. He shouldn't be putting so much pressure on a twisted ankle, if that's what it was.
"Hey," he greeted, his voice sounding slightly out of breath.
"Hey Peter. Did you talk to Havenport?" Gwen queried.
"Oh, um, no, I couldn't find him. Oh well, maybe I'll join the school newspaper instead," Peter shrugged.
"We were just talking about Spiderman and the Firebird," Harry filled in, his voice still muffled with food.
"Wait, wait, wait. Why does Firebird get a "the"? Spiderman doesn't!" Peter exclaimed.
"Maybe if he had a more original name, people would respect him enough for a 'the'," Ava smirked.
Peter's eyes narrowed, but his face was full of mirth.
"So what are the Firebird's powers?"
"Well, we were just talking about that. She can control fire and fly, and I think she has a little bit of superhuman strength?" Ava recalled, "Spidey can climb on most surfaces, has the proportionate strength of the spider and... Some kind of senses?"
"He calls it his Spider-sense. He can tell if something is... Flying towards him or if someone's going to attack him a moment before it happens. Oh, and you missed out the webs," Peter added, almost proudly.
"I didn't miss them out. We were talking about powers, abilities. He made those webs, so it's not on my list," Ava justified with a grin.
"I'd say they're pretty evenly matched," Gwen said.
"Um, fire and flying against sticking and swinging? I don't see that as evenly matched," Ava snickered.
"Spiderman may not have the strongest powers in the world, but he sure knows how to use what he's got. The Firebird has cool abilities, but they're a little unoriginal," Peter challenged.
"Unoriginal? She didn't get to choose them you know. And the Firebird would be more than capable against-"
"Hey Ava!" a new voice greeted, shocking the group out of their debate.
They looked up to see Liz Allan and Flash Thompson standing next to their table. Flash wasn't looking at the table, but instead staring off to the side.
"Weren't you going to eat lunch with us?" she queried.
"Oh, well I thought it might be fun to eat with someone else today," Ava responded earnestly.
"But you'll sit with us tomorrow, right?" Liz insisted, staring directly at Ava with puppy-dog eyes.
"Sure," she smiled.
At that, they sauntered off. Watching their retreating figures, Ava sighed. Harry looked at her curiously.
"What did you turn Liz Allan down for?" he asked.
"Liz is great, really, but some of her friends are a little.."
"Stuck-up?" Peter offered.
"Bitchy?" Harry suggested.
"Rude?" Gwen finished.
"Overbearing," Ava grinned. "And besides, I like you guys."
Gwen glowed at this.
"So, how are you liking your classes?" Harry asked.
"I like them all. Although, I'm having trouble catching up in English. I've never read Medea and I don't have time to, with all of the other assignments I have to catch up on. Everyone else read it over the summer, but I wasn't even registered at this school until last week."
"I'm in that class, too," Peter said, "You can borrow my notes if you'd like?"
"Really?" Ava looked relieved, "Thanks Peter, you're a lifesaver!"
After school, Peter and Gwen spotted Ava with Liz again. She glanced at them and waved, but didn't walk over. They watched her say goodbye to the popular girls, who hurried off to watch football practice, and walk around the corner away from the pair
Gwen was ready to ignore the strange behaviour and catch the bus before they missed it completely, but Peter remembered the notes he had grabbed from his locker that were now lying in his backpack.
"I'll take the subway," he excused, following the girl in the opposite direction.
"Ava!"
Her dark blonde locks spun to reveal her surprised face. He held up the pages of notes and she smiled.
"Thanks, Peter! I'll try and get them back to you by the end of the week, if that's ok."
He nodded, still catching his breath a little. She began to leave and he blurted something out before he could think.
"Caniwalkyouhome?"
"Sorry?"
"Uh, can I - I mean, if you want me to, can I walk you home?" his cheeks turned red as he realised how stupid he sounded.
She gave a small laugh and nodded.
"Sure."
They started walking and an awkward silence fell over them.
"So, um, why did you move to New York?" Peter eventually asked.
Ava looked at the ground.
"My dad died. My only two living relatives are my uncle and grandmother, and my grandmother already needed help because she's sick, plus I thought it would be nice to get away from DC, so here I am."
Peter wanted to smack himself on the forehead. Idiot.
"I'm really sorry," he breathed, "I'm sorry for prying."
"No - don't be," she gave him a weak smile, "It was bound to come out at some point. It was just before the summer. I didn't move here immediately though, I stayed with some family friends back home while the investigation was happening and everything."
"Investigation?"
"Yeah," she winced, "He was killed. They think it was just a mugging gone wrong so... well, no one was ever charged."
"My uncle died in a similar way, a couple years ago," Peter smiled sadly, "I live with my aunt now."
"Wow. I guess we're pretty alike then, huh?"
She shivered slightly, though the weather was still very warm and mild. Peter offered his jacket, but she politely refused. Once they reached her apartment building, Peter began to stutter an awkward farewell. Ava grinned and gave him a quick hug, which made them both blush.
"Ava, is that you?"
Ava closed the apartment's front door gently.
"Yes, it's me, Grandma!"
"Could you open some windows while you're up, it's getting very stuffy," her grandmother called.
She sounded tired, and Ava quickly opened the window in her bedroom despite her shudders, then the one in the living room, before finally entering her grandmother's room. The dog, Luna, was sitting on her owner's lap as she read Frankenstein for the umpteenth time. Ava smiled.
"How was school?"
"Good, I think I'm actually making some really good friends."
Mrs Livingston smiled serenely.
"Do you need anything?" Ava asked.
Her grandmother shook her head, thanked her, and began reading once more. Ava returned to her room, but after a few minutes her shivers became unbearable. She climbed onto the fire escape and began to ascend. She liked the roof, though it wasn't as high as she might have liked. The view of the Hudson and the surrounding buildings made the city feel a little less chaotic than when she was walking its streets. She could breathe up her, and most importantly, she was alone, which meant that she could vent.
Freezing in the warm late-summer air, Ava sat down, cross-legged, and laid her palms flat on the floor. Almost instantly, a ring of fire surrounded her, and she finally began to warm up.
Hope you enjoyed!