OHIO UNIVERSITY
The small, grey colored hallways of the university were crowded with different teenagers. Each of them were surrounded by their own group of friends. Most of them were holding their books to their chests while they spoke about the school gossips, boys, girls or trends. That wasn't the circle where Robert Banner was in anyways.
He sat in one empty corner from the hallway, his writing and reading book balanced on his knees as he ran his eyes over the dirty pages of the book. He had always been the quiet one, never enjoying being in a huge group of persons and never having close friends. Maybe it was because he was shy and on inside too genial to stand up listening to the school gossips. He never went to parties either. He preferred to stay home, helping his mother clean up the house or simply studying for his exams. That was why most of the boys from the school called him a girl. He didn't minded, he never showed it anyways. He only remained quiet and went further. Why to get in a fight with an idiot anyways?
He never was the perfect guy as appearance either. He could be called cute but not remarkable. Maybe that was why he didn't had a girlfriend until now. He had short, dark brown and barely curled hair that framed his face at perfection. He always wore reading glasses that covered the deep, warm, deer eyes underneath. He considered his eyes the only thing that was beautiful about him. He wasn't tall and neither muscular, he had a child face thing that most of the girls disliked. Not that he ever minded, he didn't cared about them at all.
'Robert. Robert Banner.' The voice of the director echoed through his ears and only then he realized that he sat right in front of his office door. Bruce looked up at the older man with both eyebrows arched. Why did the director called his name? He did nothing wrong after all.
'Could you come in? We do have to talk.' The grey haired man gave the boy a gentle smile, showing that he had good news to share with him.
Bruce nodded, closing his books and getting up from the floor. The warmth of the office hit him as soon he entered it. As was the smell of coffee and old papers that he loved so much. He always loved the smell the director's offices had and it always came as a calming smell to him. But that couldn't keep his mind away from what the director said. Why would the director speak with him?
'I've seen you on a list. For an experience change thing at the M.I.T and the board of directors, with me, of course, made a decision. You are the winner of the excursion. You will leave tomorrow morning at six with the first plane to Massachusetts and you will be paired into a project with a boy,' the director paused and looked down at his notebook with pursed lips. 'Yes…With Stark. Anthony Edward Stark.'
Bruce stared at him dumbly and even blinked incredulously a few times. He was selected to go in Boston and to the M.I.T for a whole week? That was his dream. He always wanted to go to the M.I.T but his family didn't had enough moneys to send him there for the college. Bruce shook his head, his lips curled into a genuine smile as he looked at the plane ticket from the director's desk. Yes, it was his, it had his name written on it. Robert Bruce Banner.
'I can't believe it,' he managed to utter out and glanced up at the director. 'I guess…Thank you, Sir.' That gained him an arched eyebrow from the director. 'For trusting me, I mean. The M.I.T is an important institute and I feel honored you decided to send me there.' Bruce added and took the plane ticket between his fingers. He stared at it for a few good moments before he, carefully, stuffed it in his shirt breast pocket.
'You have the rest of the day free. Tomorrow you'll have a long day.' The director smiled reassuringly at his young student. Bruce simply nodded and turned around almost robotically, he didn't cared about anything else than going there and creating a good impression. He couldn't wait to get home and tell his mother about it.