Shuri, aged 14

"Queens?! Of every place you could send me to in America, you chose Queens?!"

"It is for your own safety, Shuri." My mother replies.

I completely ignore her, for I know this was absolutely my father's idea. "I cannot believe I do not even get a say as to where I am sent! This is ridiculous, Papa!"

"Calm yourself, Shuri." He is so irritatingly calm about this that it makes me not want to listen to him. "We have discussed this with the council, and with T'Challa and Okoye, and you will be sent with some of her best Dora Milaje to live for a few years."

"I do not want to!"

"It does not matter what you want." Once again, my mother has proven she has a colder heart than freshly mined vibranium. "You will go, and that is a fact. Stop arguing with your father."

"Papa, please!" I plead, still ignoring her. "I need to be here, for T'Challa and for my research and the Wakandan people and –"

"The American high school you will attend is among the best for sciences and mathematics in the entire Eastern area." My father told me, and it softened the blow a bit before he spoke again. "Your mother and I will be in contact as often as possible, as well as T'Challa. Some of your equipment will be moved with you to continue your research, as I agree it is vital to the Wakandan people. But you do not need to be here to do it."

"Yes I do! I need access to the resources here, and the minds that help me!" Please, Father, do not send me away from my lab. I am too young to live away from my home.

"You will have everything you need and everything you ask for whenever you need it. But you will not remain in Wakanda because we have decided it is too dangerous for you right now." Mother states.

"I do not need protection! I am capable of protecting myself, and I do not need you or the council to tell me where to go! In fact, I am more than tempted to tell you all where you can go!" I snap at her.

"Do not raise your voice at your mother." My father sounds angry now, and I know it is time to back off.

"Sorry, Papa. Sorry, Mother." I bow my head before them until my father touches my shoulder.

"Shuri, I know this will be difficult. But there have been threats against Wakanda that are simply too much for a girl your age to have to deal with. You do not have the ability to fight if the time comes. You are too young and Okoye has stated you are too reckless in your training."

I start to protest, but he puts his finger up to silence me.

"Please do not argue with me, Umntwana [child]. I will not change my mind."


Peter, aged 15

"Hey, Parker!"

I really want to ignore Flash Thompson, but he's so obnoxiously loud that he makes it really difficult. "What, Flash?" I ask as I slam my locker door closed.

"Did you hear we're getting a new student today? Heard she's from Africa. Maybe she's met your family. You know, the gorillas."

"That would depend on which country in Africa she's from. Because if she's from Kenya, they don't have natural gorillas, but she might know your family. You know, hyenas."

I heard a snicker from beside me, and I turn to see my best friend Gwen Stacy smirking at me.

"Oh, nice one Parker. I almost thought it was funny." Flash said sarcastically.

"Funny, I think the same thing about you regularly."

Flash rolled his eyes and stalked away, probably to pick on somebody who wasn't more clever than he is.

"I liked that one, Peter." Gwen grins. "Hyenas. They fit him perfectly. Conniving, obnoxious, cunning, always plotting to kill a king…"

"Well, in truth, hyenas aren't all that 'evil' like The Lion King depicts. They got a really bad reputation from that depiction, and it's lead to a rise in people hunting them for sport, among other cruel things. They're actually –"

"I know that, Peter." Gwen cuts me off with an eye roll. "I was just making a joke."

"I just get passionate about animal cruelty." I reply with a fake pout.

"I know that too, Peter. Which is why I keep telling you that you need to meet my girlfriend M.J., but you keep putting it off."

"I told you, Gwen, I've been busy in the evenings." I know I've been evasive about it, but what am I going to do? I can't tell her I've been working at Oscorp, she'd kill me for keeping it a secret because she desperately wants a job there when we're old enough. But the Doc said I have to keep it under wraps since I'm not 16 yet.

"Uh-huh… Is Aunt May dragging you to her church stuff again?"

Oh, that might work as a cover. Thanks, Gwen. "Yeah, you got me. Uncle Ben hasn't been feeling well and she still needs a buddy, you know?"

"Oh no! What's wrong with Uncle Ben? Is your Aunt okay?"

Crap. Gwen can't possibly stay away from my house now if she thinks Uncle Ben isn't well and Aunt May is lonely. They dote on her more than they do on me. "They're fine, it's all fine. He's just been tired."

Gwen looks concerned as well as suspicious, but she thankfully changes the subject. "I heard the new kid is from somewhere in Central Africa, like Rwanda or something."

"Really? That would be interesting to hear about."

My mind starts wandering to all the questions I could ask this new kid about their home country as we walk to homeroom, and I don't hear anything Gwen is talking about.

At some point I am snapped out of it by Gwen actually snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"Earth to Peter!" She probably has been trying to ask me something for several minutes. This happens more often than I'm willing to admit.

"Sorry, Gwen." I reply sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck.

"I asked if you had started on Mr. Brace's history assignment yet."

"Oh, yeah." I pull my laptop out of my bag and open up the document. "Here, take a look."

She reads through my draft and hums in thought. "That wasn't what I thought the assignment was supposed to be."

"What? That's exactly what the sheet said."

"No, I think the sheet said to –"

She's interrupted by the teacher coming into the classroom and yelling for us to quiet down.

"Alright, you wankers." I still can't believe our teacher gets away with calling us that, but nobody really seems to care, so it's been happening all year. "We have a new kid coming in, and I want you to be nice, okay?"

One could almost hear crickets in the lack of response.

"Right. Like you lot could be nice anyways." He strides over to the door and swings it open, visibly almost hitting someone in the face. "Get in here."

The person, who luckily dodged the door quickly, steps into the room cautiously. The new kid, apparently, is a very beautiful girl with beautiful hair.

"Don't hit my face with that door next time." She says in a thick accent. "You nearly broke my nose, colonizer."

And beautiful sass, clearly.

A few kids snicker, and the teacher raises his eyebrows. "Colonizer, eh?"

"I mean, you live on stolen land and your people continue to think they own everything just because they see it. So, yes, colonizer."

The Indigenous kid who sits behind me, Jason, lets out a whoop of agreement.

The teacher just shrugs his shoulders. "You got me. British as charged." He lets the girl come in before turning to the class. "Okay, wankers. This is – uh –"

"Shuri. Shuri Ubukumkani."

"Shuri Umbu – Umu – Ub –"

"Just Shuri is fine." She interrupts.

"Okay, Shuri. There's a seat there in front of Gwen Stacy. Wave your hand, Gwen – yeah, there."

Shuri nods as she sees Gwen enthusiastically wave with a smile. "Much thanks, Mr. Karl."

"You knew my name this whole time and chose to call me colonizer anyways?" He responds with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"You knew this land was stolen when you immigrated here and chose to come anyways." She retorts, much to the delight of the class, who bursts out in laughter and hoots, especially Jason.

As Mr. Karl tries to get control over the class, I focus my attention on Shuri, who is taking out her own laptop. Much nicer than mine, far more expensive, and not even a brand I recognize. The language isn't something I can read, and the logo is unfamiliar. Possibly a panther?

"Hi, Shuri, I'm Gwen." Gwen says happily, extending her hand to the girl in front of her with another smile.

"Nice to meet you." Shuri replies. Then, to my surprise, she looks directly at me. "Is this your boyfriend?"

Gwen bursts out laughing, and I feel my own face flush. "Oh, God no." Gwen tells her, still laughing. "I'm a lesbian, and he's just alone because he actually likes Nickelback."

"Gwen!" I hiss, as Shuri chuckles.

"Nickelback is not the worst band your continent has produced; I can agree with him on that." Shuri says.

A beautiful girl who doesn't hate Nickelback? Oh no. I'm going to fall head over heels, aren't I?