There's a lot of pretty, pretty ones
That want to get you high
But all the pretty, pretty ones
Will leave you low and blow your mind

-The Dope Show; by Marilyn Manson

Peter proved to be very patient and kind to Gemma. She was very grateful to have met him, though she wondered if he would ever consider the possibility of being her friend. It'd be unfortunate if he was only being nice to her because she was the new kid. She let out a frustrated sigh at that.

"Is something wrong?" Peter asked.

Looking over at him, she shook her head. "I'm fine," she responded. "This school's pretty big, though."

Letting out a nervous laugh, he nodded. "It's easy to get lost." There was a heavy silence as they continued walking. The two of them had gone up a flight of stairs and were making their way down what seemed to be an extremely long hallway. Gemma looked at the closed and partially opened classroom doors, hearing the voices of the teachers and some of the students inside, and she felt butterflies in her stomach. Would her teacher make her introduce herself in front of the class? God, she hoped not. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

"How long have you lived in Queens?" Gemma asked, keeping her voice low.

"Since I was little," Peter responded, his voice cracking a little. "I live with my aunt."

"What's it like here?"

They stopped for a moment in front of a classroom, the second to last near the end of the hall. Peter looked like he was thinking deeply on the topic before his face brightened a little. "How about I show you around after school?" he offered. The question itself caught Gemma off guard, she hadn't expected him to be so enthusiastic at the thought of showing her around. Though she had to admit, she appreciated Peter's generosity.

"Y-Yeah, that's fine," she stammered. "Are you sure that's OK, though? If you're busy, I don't want to hold you up or anything."

Brushing it off, Peter shook his head. "I don't have anything planned, trust me," he said, shifting anxiously on his feet. Gemma swore she saw a light blush on his face. "But I-I'll meet you after class. At the front of the school?"

"That's fine," Gemma confirmed, nodding slightly. She looked at the closed door of the class, taking a deep breath. "This is Menendez?"

Peter nodded. "If I were you, I'd come up with a good excuse," he murmured, leaning in a little. "She doesn't like it when people come in late."

"Thanks." Despite the amount of uncertainty and anxiety that washed over her, Gemma forced her hand on the doorknob and turned it. Peter had, at that point, started walking off in the direction of his first class. Gemma partially felt bad for making him late, but she was grateful he was willing to lend her a hand. But when that door opened, and all those eyes went on Gemma, she felt the guilt and thankfulness she had for Peter quickly wash away.

"Oh," a woman, obviously Ms. Menendez, said, her voice clipped. "You must be Gemma Ricci. Why don't you come up here and introduce yourself."

0-0-0-0

Come up and introduce yourself — the one statement Gemma dreaded the most. She didn't want to introduce herself. There was nothing about herself worth sharing! But with the look on Menendez's face, Gemma knew there'd be no getting out of it. So, with a slight nod, Gemma forced herself to walk into the class and close the door. She felt her knees trembling and her heart beating painfully in her chest. The closer she got to the front of the class, the more out of breath she felt. Had she been breathing that shallow before? She felt her cheeks burning, which made her feel even worse.

Menendez's cold gray eyes were watching Gemma's movements like a hawk, expecting her to do something unruly. By the time Gemma reached the front of the class, there was a long, heavy, deafening silence before the teacher spoke. "Class, I'd like you to meet our new student," she said, her voice still clipped. "Tell us a little bit about yourself."

That was when Gemma felt the room start spinning. What would be the right thing to say? If she said too much, she may sound like an idiot — someone who's looking for attention. If she didn't say enough, then people would think she's weird regardless.

"Uh, I, uh," she stammered. "I'm from Syracuse. Uhm...I've never been to Queens before."

"Is there anything else you'd like to add?" Menendez asked. When Gemma shook her head, the teacher nodded. "As a warning to you, Ms. Ricci, I don't appreciate tardiness in my class, understand?" Gemma, again, nodded. "I'll let this serve as your only warning, considering you're new. Come in late again, and I'll have you sent to detention."

With that, Gemma hurriedly made her way to the first empty desk she could find.

0-0-0-0

Fiddling with her pencil, Gemma tried keeping herself as focused on the lesson as possible. Considering how Menendez was, and from Peter's warning, Gemma wanted to make a good first impression — even if coming to class late ruined that for her — but she found it impossible to keep her attention on the lesson. For some reason, her mind was going a mile a minute. Actually sitting in a class, listening to the teacher give a lesson that probably wouldn't have been so easily taught at any other high school, made Gemma feel overwhelmed. Her earlier attitude of not really caring or trying to act like she didn't care faded away faster than she cared to admit.

When her pencil fell from her fingers and landed on her notebook, Gemma's lips pursed a little. Peering up to look at the teacher, she could see that Menendez hadn't focused on her for most of the period. Relief had washed over Gemma. She had to wonder if Menendez was giving her a break from the embarrassment of introducing herself and coming in late. Or maybe it was because Gemma wasn't entirely familiar with the material yet. She didn't know and part of her didn't care. If she were to be lucky, she'd be able to find someone who'd be willing to tutor her so she could really understand what was being taught.

The feeling of a poke at Gemma's side made her jump a little in her seat. Thankfully Menendez hadn't noticed, but it made Gemma glare at the girl sitting in the desk next to her. The girl was a petite redhead with a small smile on her face. She kept glancing over at Gemma, and the smile grew a little when she noticed she had Gemma's attention.

"You don't look very interested," the girl whispered, leaning over a little so Gemma could hear her better. With a shrug as the girl's only form of response, she chuckled. "First day of class and you've already lost focus? Must be some kind of record."

"Why're you talking to me?"

"Thought I'd be friendly. I'm Ines Keller."

"Gemma."

"Girls, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Menendez's voice snapped the girls out of their whispered conversation. A blush came to Gemma's face at being caught; she desperately hoped she didn't get in trouble.

"No," Ines responded, "I was just asking Gemma a question."

Menendez's eyes narrowed slightly. "Next time you have a question, raise your hand," she instructed, clasping her hands behind her back. "Considering today is Gemma's first day, I wouldn't want to have her feel pressured in any way." Without waiting for a response, Menendez continued where she left off. There were a few whispers here and there, and that made Gemma's blush deepen. Ines and Gemma didn't say anything for the remainder of class.

0-0-0-0

"You're from Syracuse, huh?" Ines asked. Once the bell rang for the end of class, Gemma was quick to get out. She could feel the teacher's eyes on her the whole time, and it made her feel unnerved. When Gemma nodded, Ines nodded. "My dad's from there," she responded. "He loved it there growing up, but his job had him relocate here."

"This is my first time anywhere outside of Syracuse," Gemma responded. "I was kind of surprised my mom chose Queens out of all places to live."

"Is it just your mom and you?" The girls walked down another hallway on their way to their second period, Spanish. Thankfully, Ines was more knowledgeable on the school's layout than Gemma was, which meant, considering she didn't have Peter as her tour guide, Ines would have to do.

Gemma felt her heart drop at the question. Obviously the only reason it was being asked was out of curiosity, but she also knew that Ines didn't know the whole story behind why the question made her feel so uncomfortable. In that moment, she could keep the answer as vague as she'd like. "I live with my brothers and mom." See?* Not bad.

Nodding, Ines shrugged the straps of her backpack higher on her shoulders. "Understandable," she responded. "Not long after we moved here, my mom died of lung cancer. She smoked more than a chimney. It's been my dad and I for a while."

"I'm sorry," Gemma said.

"It's fine. I knew it'd happen one day, I just didn't think it would happen so soon, ya know?" Ines shook her head. "I heard the Spanish teacher's actually pretty cool. I've got some upperclassmen friends here, so we shouldn't have to worry."

"We?"* Gemma looked at Ines curiously.

"Yeah," she responded. "We're the freshmen, the bottom of the totem pole. We gotta stick together."

'Did I just make an actual friend?' The thought rang through Gemma's mind for a moment before she responded with a simple nod. With a smile of her own, Ines went on to continue talking. Gemma listened intently, hoping to understand more of the redhead beside her. Despite biology's scare for her, it seemed Gemma's day may have turned out a little better than expected.

(A/N):

Guys, this chapter is AWFUL! God, I am so sorry about that! I may be a little hard on myself, but I had a steady pace going, but then I don't know what happened! I guess I lost where I intended to go with this chapter. Just let me know what you think, OK? Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Sadly, I own nothing in MARVEL.

So, question time for you reviewers: I have an idea on how Gemma could unlock her Inhuman powers, but how do you, the reviewers, want to see it happen? I'm letting you guys throw out your suggestions and ideas here!* Let me know what you think in the reviews or maybe just PM me your ideas.

I'll say that's about it for now.

Let me know if there's anything I should improve on.

Thanks.

Jasper