I see the magazines working that Photoshop
We know that shit ain't real
Come on now, make it stop
If you got beauty beauty just raise 'em up
'Cause every inch of you is perfect
From the bottom to the top

-All About That Bass; by Meghan Trainor

The remainder of Gemma's day went on relatively well. She had to admit, though, she would've smacked herself over being so anxious earlier and for acting so snarky with her mother, as well. As it would turn out, Gemma's other teachers were seemingly nice, giving her a chance to really understand the topics before diving too deeply into them. Unlike her biology teacher, Gemma's other teachers gave her the option of introducing herself to the class. It was refreshing, having that kind of option.

Sadly, for Gemma at least, she was a bit bummed out after finding out that Ines had completely different classes from her after Spanish. Ines was nice enough, though, to help Gemma get to her third period and gave her detailed directions on how to get to her remaining classes. Gemma was extremely thankful for that.

By the time the last bell rang and school was officially over, Gemma had her things put away and was already out the classroom door behind all her other classmates. She felt a lot lighter, having experienced her first official day at Midtown. There was still an air of uncertainty that Gemma had for it, but she knew she'd get a hang of everything as the school year progressed. She already had one friend, and maybe hanging out with Peter after class would bump it up to two. That was when it clicked — Gemma was going to hang out with Peter after school and she hadn't told her mother or Remy. Cursing slightly under her breath, Gemma dug through her pocket and pulled her cell phone out. Dialing her eldest brother's number, she waited anxiously for him to answer.

"Hey, Gemstone, what's up?" Remy exclaimed. "I was just about to call you!"

"Rem, I was going to let you know I was gonna hang out with someone after school today," Gemma said.

"Really?" There was a happiness in Remy's tone; but once he found out that someone was a boy, Gemma knew he'd be on her like a hawk. Remy was extremely protective of his baby sister, and had grown protective of his mother since the divorce. Remy wanted the best for his sister and especially their mother. After finding out about their father's infidelity, things had definitely changed. But in regards to Gemma, Remy wanted her staying as far away from boys as possible. Gemma was completely aware of what would happen if he found out she was hanging out with boys, and it wasn't good at all. "You're already making friends?" he exclaimed. "What's their name?"

"Uh...his name's Peter."

There was a slight pause before Remy spoke again. "His?" he said, his voice low. "You're hanging around boys, Gemma?"

"He showed me to my first class and offered to show me around the area," she exclaimed, hoping to stop the conversation from getting too out of control. "He seems nice."

"You know how I feel about you being around boys," he exclaimed. "Especially boys your age! You never know what their intentions are."

"Remy, if you'd listen..."

"No, I am not letting you go out with this kid!" The tone of Remy's voice made Gemma's blood boil. It was almost like Remy was trying to act fatherly to her. She hated that. She understood he meant well, but he could get so overprotective, so paternal, that it drove her crazy. With their actual father no longer in the picture, the last thing Gemma wanted was for Remy to go and act as if he could dictate what went on in the household.

"OK, first off, you're not dad, Remy," she hissed, "so don't go acting as if you can tell everyone else what they're supposed to do! I understand you've got a lot going on with your job and mom working, but I'm pretty sure me getting a tour of the area with one boy isn't going to kill anyone. I don't need your permission for this."

There was a long pause, such a long one that Gemma was nearly convinced that Remy had hung up. Part of her wouldn't have been surprised if he had. Sometimes he could get so hyped up on his moods to create order, that he wouldn't listen to anyone else.

"You really think this kid's good news? Fine. But the second he tries something on you, don't say I didn't warn you."

Hanging up her phone, Gemma let out a frustrated groan. Not even a second after hanging up with her brother, one of the front doors of the school swung open and a kid barged in, his eyes wide with excitement and what looked like disbelief.

"Fight!" he shouted. That one simple word got any remaining student in the building running outside to see what was going on. Gemma hurried out, too, trying not to get trampled by the others. An already large circle of students gathered a couple feet from the front steps; the students shouting and hooting, throwing their arms up in excitement. Back in Syracuse, at least in the school Gemma went to, there had been a good amount of fighting between some students. Gemma had to admit that she'd participated in at least one of them, but the threat of being expelled and some scolding from her mother helped Gemma change her attitude some. By the time she finished middle school, she had completely gotten any excess energy out of her system, so any thoughts she had on fighting or getting in trouble all but dissipated.

Shoving her way through the crowds of students, Gemma finally managed to make her way to the front end of the fight, where she saw the boy who'd hassled her earlier punching Peter in the face. Peter already looked like he'd taken a bit of a beating already, since Gemma could see bruises already forming on his face and some cuts, as well. Seeing him look that way, seeing him stumble every time the bully shoved or punched him, sent a knife of anger and fear through Gemma. Peter hadn't done a single thing wrong, yet he was being beaten mercilessly by someone who obviously had the upper-hand. Pursing her lips, Gemma dropped her backpack from her shoulders and ran in, shoving Peter behind her right as the bully was about to punch again. The assailant didn't seem to notice right away someone else had gotten involved before his fist was just inches from Gemma's face.

The punch was exactly what Gemma thought it would feel like. It hurt like hell and knocked her off her feet. Gemma's head exploded in pain as her hand immediately went up to touch the area that had been hit. It stung and burned, making her hand flinch away. Peter immediately dropped down to look at her, his eyes wide with fear. Blinking a few times, Gemma looked up at Peter — one of his eyes was already starting to darken; his bottom lip was split and bloodied; his nose was red and some blood was smeared a little on his cheek. His cheek was starting to bruise and he was breathing heavily.

"Are you OK?" she murmured, slowly sitting up on her knees.

Before anything else could be said, the crowd of students split right as a teacher and possibly the principal stormed in. When they saw Peter and Gemma kneeling on the ground, obviously injured, they shot their glares to the assailant.

0-0-0-0

Peter and Gemma told what happened to the teacher while the principal took the other student away. They were able to convince the teacher not to call their homes. What surprised Gemma the most was the story Peter told the teacher about what started the fight.

"I-I saw Ty bothering her this morning," Peter said, his voice small and a little high pitched. "Uhm...I, uh, I didn't want to see her getting bothered. Then he came up to me and started calling me names a-and..."

"It's not Peter's fault," Gemma said, stepping in. "I don't know what kind of vendetta this Ty kid has with him, but Peter was being nice to me. Please don't get him in trouble."

"And what about you, Ms. Ricci?" the teacher asked, her hands on her hips.

"What about me?"

"What was your involvement in the fight?"

Gemma shook her head. "I didn't have any involvement," she said. "The only reason I stepped in was because I couldn't stand seeing that happen. Peter doesn't deserve this, and if any of you cared at all, you'd do something to change it."

Peter looked at Gemma wide-eyed at that statement. He felt his heart skip a beat a little. No one had really said that about him before. Sure, Ned would say a few things to make him feel better should he get beaten up, but Ned was his friend, he expected that. But Gemma...she was the new kid, she didn't know anything about the bullying Peter had faced. He wasn't the most popular or good looking kid in school, he accepted that a long time ago, but he'd never really had anyone stand up for him before.

"Neither of you are in trouble," the teacher sighed. "Ty Duchannes will certainly be facing the consequences for his actions." The two kids nodded in return. "Now, are you both going to be fine going home? Are you sure I shouldn't call someone?"

"We'll be fine, Mrs. Fredrickson," Peter exclaimed. "Really."

With a nod, Mrs. Fredrickson headed back into the building.

Letting out a breath, Gemma turned to look at Peter. He was shifting anxiously on his feet, his gaze not quite meeting hers. Gemma took that opportunity to look at Peter's face more closely, considering there were no distractions. The bruises were a dark red at that point, already showing signs of turning purple at the edges. The black-eye was already pretty dark, and the blood that had come from Peter's nose had crusted a bit. His split lip was swollen and red, but it looked like it was still bleeding some. His nose looked a little swollen, too.

"I should have some tissues in my backpack," Gemma sighed, taking her backpack off to find said item. "We can go to a bathroom or whatever and wipe the blood off your face."

"Y-You, uhm, you didn't have to jump in like that," Peter said, his voice borderline whispering.

Looking up at him, Gemma frowned. "Why? I couldn't let him hurt you," she said. "It's not right."

"He...He hit you!" Peter motioned to the possible bruise making an appearance on Gemma's cheek.

"I know," she replied, pulling a small packet of tissues out of her bag. She stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulders. "But I couldn't let him hurt you. It wasn't right." She stepped closer to him to take a closer look at the injuries and she faintly saw a blush come on his cheeks. "Do you want to do this here or at your place?" she asked.

"I-I...," he stammered. "I-I think my place would be fine."

"Let's go," she said.

With a nod, Peter and Gemma started walking back to Peter's apartment.

(A/N):

Holy poop this chapter's long! Is it good or is it meh? I'll always welcome constructive criticism. Let me know if I get the characters wrong, let me know if I need to add or take out details! I love having ideas and support from reviewers so I understand what to do for future updates.

Unfortunately, I own nothing in MARVEL.

If you have ideas for subplots or OCs, don't hesitate to let me know. PM me or leave a review on your ideas and I'll add them in as quickly as possible.

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

Thanks.

Jasper