The rest of the school day was pretty uneventful. She had finished her last class of the day, dealt with a few more students thrusting her into the spotlight, and is now hungry after neglecting to really eat her lunch food. She sighed as she closed her locker and squeaked a bit when she realized her locker neighbor was there too and she didn't even realize exactly how close. Natasha would never let her hear the end of it if she ever found out she got snuck up on so easily.
Her neighbor seemed startled as well, flinching at her reaction and accidentally dropping a folder that multiple sheets of drawing paper fell out of. "I'm so sorry! I really have to get used to having someone so close." Carina apologized, bending down to pick up the scattered pictures. In her opinion, it was the least she could do after causing the mess in the first place.
"It's okay. I shouldn't be startled so easily." The other girl said and knelt down as well, picking up sheets of drawing paper. While picking them up, Carina took a moment to look at her. Immediately, the most noticeable thing about her was the wild curly mane of red hair she had that framed her freckled face that had startling green eyes and a smear of dried blue paint on the tip of her nose. The girl looked to her as well, their eyes meeting. "You're the new girl, right? The one everyone has been talking about?"
"Er, yeah. Carina Muñoz." She introduced herself and handed her back the papers again. "Sorry for that again."
"It's fine." The girl reassured her once again with a smile and held a hand out to her. "I'm Rachel. Rachel Elizabeth Dare." Carina saw the irony but commented nothing on it. Her initials were RED and so was her hair. That qohls have gotten a chuckle if she didn't care about whether it's rude or not. Still, Carina shook her hand and smiled back to her. "It's nice to meet you."
"You, too." Rachel smiled at her and stood up, Carina doing so as well. "Everyone is saying how you're the youngest hero in the Avengers. I figured you would be at a private school or some super secret superhero tutoring thing. You don't have to answer but why would you come here? This school is only pretty good for a public school."
Carina sighed but nodded. "Yeah. I just really wanted to try the normal teen thing for once. The 'going to school and making normal friends' thing seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so. It's been harder than I realized it would be, though." She sighed a bit and Rachel nodded.
"It's always hard for the new kids to fit in at first. Must be harder since you're famous, though. Maybe you'll find a nice friend group. If not, I can be your friend, if you want?"
"It is hard." She agreed and pondered at this girl's offer. On one hand, she seems like a genuinely nice girl. On the other, it could be a ruse. Then again, she can't go her whole high school career of being suspicious of literally everyone's intention, especially when she does want friends. However, she can't forget how she did try to make friends earlier and ended up as the awkward one out of the lot. Ugh, she could already feel the headache forming from her overthinking and this girl is still looking at her too. "I'd like to be your friend." She finally blurts out, hoping she won't regret that decision.
Rachel grinned at her and closed her locker. "Great! I'm normally pretty busy with after school activities and stuff and I'm in the art club too, but maybe you can join and we can hang out?"
"I'm not that good at art. The best I can do is a tree and not even a good tree. I mean, like, the cotton candy trees." She says and the girls shared a laugh. Even if she was into art, she doubts she can do much club stuff. Her basic school schedule is already conflicted with her 'work' schedule. Until she gets used to things, she'll feel paranoid that she's gonna miss something major while she's at school.
While she had Rachel there, she did have some questions. "Hey, I know you don't seem like the gossipy type, but can I ask you a couple questions about some students here?"
"Sure! I know just about everyone."
"There's this guy in my English class? Percy Jackson, I think his name was? I sat with him and his friends at lunch but I dunno..." Carina doesn't want to get into too much detail about how weird it felt and how she was probably gonna end up eating her lunch in a bathroom stall like Cady from Mean Girls from now on. "Know anything about them?"
"Yeah, I know them. I met Percy and Annabeth a few years ago. Jason, Piper, and Leo I met more recently, but I'm not as close to them."
"But you're closer to Percy and Annabeth?"
"Not really." Rachel sighed, tucking a wild strand of hair behind her ear and started walking towards the exit, Carina easily keeping pace with her. "I met Percy first. We sort of ran into each other at Hoover Dam and then we met again at Orientation and then Annabeth a bit later. Annabeth and I didn't really get along at first, mostly because of Percy. She was pretty jealous of us becoming close and I wasn't blind to why. She obviously liked him and he felt the same towards her. I mean, I started to like him too, and maybe he liked me a bit, but things were too… complicated. And a guy like Percy, who could blame me for catching feelings?"
Carina could understand that. She wouldn't go as far as to say she caught feelings for the guy, but she can't deny that he is a very attractive guy and seemed nice enough. "What happened?"
"Life happened." Rachel said with a bit of a mysterious and sad smile. "It became apparent that a relationship wouldn't fit in my life and he moved on to Annabeth. I got busy with my own stuff and his attention was tunnel vision on her and we sort of just… departed, in a way. We still talk on occasion and we even go to the same summer camp, but things aren't the same as it used to be. Annabeth is no longer hostile towards me, but we aren't exactly 'besties', either.
"Jason, Piper, and Leo are alright. I don't hang out with them, though. Jason and Piper are obviously a couple. If they aren't hanging all over each other, they are staring at each other. Leo is Jason's best friend I'm pretty sure and he has ADHD to the extreme. He has a girlfriend, too, but she doesn't go to this school. They're all pretty nice but they're just…"
"All in their own world?" Carina could see that. Feel that. Like she could hang out with them and be cordial all she wants but might never really belong. Maybe it's because she's new and an outsider, but it feels like they have their own way of the world she isn't a part of.
"Exactly."
"Hmm." Carina says with an understanding nod. Seemed like Rachel was closer to being in their friend group than most but was still a bit of an outsider as well. "Since you don't sit with them at lunch, where do you go? Or do you have a different lunch period?"
"I take my lunch to the art room and eat there. Sitting with them is still a bit awkward, even when we are on good terms. My ex-almost and his girlfriend, plus their friends? I'd rather not." Rachel shakes her head.
"I get that. Can I join you next time? I'd rather not have to be forced to eat my lunch in the bathroom or anything."
Rachel laughed at that. "Do people even do that? I'm pretty sure I only saw it in a movie. But sure, you can have lunch with me. It'll be nice to have someone besides the art teacher to talk to. Mr. Boller is nice and all, I'm pretty sure he's pushing his 70s and talking to him is like talking to my grandpa. By the way, was sitting with them that bad? They're not mean or anything."
"Oh, it was just so awkward." Carina sighed. "After the initial conversation and intros, they basically went back to talking to each other about other things and I felt invisible. I mean, Percy was nice enough to invite me to their table and the others didn't seem to mind, but it still felt like I was invading."
"You're still just the new girl." Rachel reminded her. "Don't worry about making a lot of friends immediately, especially with an established group. If push comes to shove, maybe you can join a club or do sports?"
Carina scoffed at the idea. "Sports? I think I'd be banned, given how everyone already knows I'm associated with the Avengers and SHIELD. Plus, I think I'll be too busy. If something happens, I'll be forced to choose obligations and that's not as easy as Kim Possible makes it look."
"From that being your second pop culture reference, I feel like you only learned about how high school works from TV."
"Not true." Carina said with a slightly affronted expression. "I've read books, too."
The pair is silent for a moment before they dissolve into a short fit of giggles. As they walk out, there is a small herd of paparazzi waiting for her with cameras raised and questions being yelled out at her. Coupled with an audience of gawking students with their own camera phones raised towards her, some even laughing or sneering at her direction. She should have expected all of this but she still wants to drop everything and run. She knows she can outrun them and New York traffic if necessary. She'll feel bad if she left Rachel to deal with them potentially hounding her for a story.
"Wow." Rachel said, looking at the crowd that obviously gathered for her newest friend. "That's not something you see everyday."
"Normally when I see it, it's for Tony. All eyes on me feels like a nightmare." Still, she walked down the path, ignoring the commotion.
This attention won't be forever. She reminded herself. It won't be forever.
Her saving grace was a familiar looking black motorcycle pulling up near the sidewalk and the figure pulling off the helmet to reveal a messy mop of black hair and pale-ish skin. "Jackson!" She shouted and while the male did look up, she froze a bit when she heard a voice behind her and Rachel.
"Huh?"
The pair looked back and saw Percy, a look of confusion on his face while his friends gathered also. She looked back and forth between the two individuals. The first, her Jackson, was her best friend and teammate, getting off his bike and approaching them. The other, Percy Jackson, was standing there. Talk about a moment of confusion.
"Quite sure she was talking to me." Jackson said when he arrived to the gathered group, then looked to her in particular. "I came to give you a ride home. I figured things would be this hectic."
"Thanks." She smiled at him and then glanced at her… acquaintances. "These are some people I met today. Rachel, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, and Leo." She lightly gestured to each person she introduced. "Guys, this is Jackson, one of my best friends." Not to mention one of her teammates, but they don't necessarily need to know all of that.
"Great." Jackson said passively before his hand gripped Carina's. "Now, we're leaving." She knows that he never liked crowds and was never that social, so him rushing her along was to be expected. As he started to drag her away, she managed to wave and grin at the others. "See y'all tomorrow."
The pair quickly got on the bike, Jackson sat in the front and placed on his helmet, while Carina sat behind him and used the spare helmet. Once situated they quickly sped off, leaving the school and the people behind as they sped through traffic. "I thought you said you didn't have any friends yet." Jackson's voice invertebrates through Carina's helmet from the built in mic.
"I met Rachel after we texted and she seems cool. I had met Percy earlier and sat with his friends at lunch, but we barely talked, so I wouldn't call them friends or anything. Except maybe Rachel." She answered, her arms wrapped around his torso. "You were worried, weren't you?"
"Someone has to keep an eye on you."
"You'll do a better job of that if you attended the school."
"No."
She rolled her eyes but dropped the subject as they continued the ride. After a few minutes, they pulled into the Stark garage and parked.
Carina can now say she experienced the absolute relief of getting home after school.
But she always has to go back tomorrow.
