When I got downstairs the next morning, it was to find a full breakfast buffet spread over the kitchen island. I raised my eyebrow at Tony who was standing next to the excessive amount of food, looking pretty proud of himself.

"Are we expecting the entire school to show up here for breakfast?"

He gave me a dirty look. "You're a funny one this morning. Just eat."

I grinned at him and began loading a plate with food, pushing a plate in his direction. "You too, old man."

He grumbled, "I'm not that old, you need to stop calling me that."

I gave him a sideways look, "I see you're a sensitive one this morning. Just eat."

That got me a glare. But he took food and started eating, so I considered it a win.

Our silent eating was interrupted a few minutes later as Peter came stumbling down the stairs, rubbing a hand over his face. His sleepy expression brightened considerably when he saw all the food, his usual exuberance immediately returning as he raced over and began shoveling food onto his plate and into his mouth, "There's so much food, Mr. Stark! This is awesome! Thanks!"

Tony gave me a pointed look, "See, that's how you're supposed to react when I do something like this for you."

I gave him my best look of innocence and went back to eating.

Peter spoke while devouring his food, intermittently pausing to chew and swallow amidst his rush of words, "It's goingtobesocool —to have you at school, Y/N,— MJ and Ned are gonna loveyou and— I canshow youaround— and wouldn't it be awesome if our lockers were closeto eachother?— If wegetthereearlyenough —I can show you how to get toallofyourclasses."

I smiled at him, amused, while Tony just looked horrified at his lack of table manners. Either that or he was concerned about when Peter was finding time to breath while he spoke, which honestly, was something I hadn't quite figured out how he was managing to accomplish.

"Sounds great, Peter. But there'll be no chance of us getting there early enough if we don't get a move on."

I dropped my empty plate in the sink and ran upstairs to finish getting ready, hearing Peter's frantic footsteps following soon after. I carefully put on the outfit I'd chosen the day before, applied my make-up, grabbed my backpack, and headed downstairs, banging on Peter's door as I passed his room.

Tony was tidying up in the kitchen while still nibbling on his plate of food, and I noticed another dirty plate in the sink indicating Pepper had stopped by while we were upstairs.

"Pepper was here?"

Tony looked up from what he was doing, "Yeah, she said to tell you 'Good luck, not that you need it' and sent her apologies for not being able to stick around, but she was needed in the office."

I nodded, pitching in to help him clean up while I waited for Peter. I purposely bumped into Tony every chance I had, and soon he was doing the same to me, and by the time Peter made it downstairs, the two of us were defensively moving around the kitchen, desperately trying to escape the other person while getting in our own hits, both snickering, though Tony was doing a slightly better job at keeping a straight face than I was.

Peter immediately joined in, Naruto running towards me and tackling me to the floor, though he made sure to twist slightly, bracing our descent with an outstretched hand so we didn't get hurt on impact. We sat there, tangled together on the floor and laughing. Tony told FRIDAY to take a picture—who then gleefully informed him she'd been recording the entire affair and had already sent a copy to Pepper. This was followed by the warning, "If Y/N and Peter do not leave in the next five minutes, they will miss the bus and be late for their desired arrival time at school."

That sent us scrambling, Tony reaching out a hand to help me up, then pushed us both towards the door. I backtracked slightly, giving him a quick side hug. His return squeeze came with a rushed 'Go get 'em, kid", and then Peter and I were headed to the elevator and down to ground level.

I followed Peter to the subway stop, nervously squeezing between New Yorkers to keep up, sighing in relief as we got to the platform just as the train arrived. We got on, and Peter told me to grab a spot close to the doors, since we only had to go a few stops. I nodded, watching all the tired commuters on the train, most of whom looked like they were on their way to some kind of business job, but with a few trade workers thrown in, and a few other teenagers with backpacks, likely headed to one of the multiple schools near this subway line.

The subway whooshed through the tunnels, and I once more watched in wonder as we sped along, this only being my second time on the subway. Peter watched my reactions, blushing and looking away when he noticed I'd seen him.

A few minutes later, he stood up, indicating for me to do the same, and reminded me to hold onto the little straps hanging from the ceiling so I wouldn't go flying down the car when the subway braked, which it did a moment later. Despite my grip on the strap, I still lost my footing, and Peter had to reach out with one hand to stop me from falling on the floor, his hand pressing into my back.

We disembarked, this stop busier than the one where we'd gotten on, and Peter grabbed my hand so we wouldn't lose each other, pulling me through the crowd and back up to the surface. From there, we had to walk down the block a bit, and over a street, and ta-da: Midtown Tech.

It was still early, so the parking lot was half empty, and there were only a small handful of students loitering outside. I took a deep breath as we walked through the doors into equally quiet halls. This school was massive compared to mine back home and I already knew I'd be getting lost.

Peter gave me a supportive look, reaching over to squeeze my hand quickly before letting go. "You got this, Y/N."

We went to the office, where the secretary gave me a cheerful, "Welcome to Midtown!", along with a small map and an official copy of my schedule which showed my room numbers and assigned me a locker.

Peter cheered as we went back into the hallway and he looked at my locker assignment, "This is great, you're just a few down from me! I figured you would be since they try to group them by homerooms but wasn't sure if there were still some available."

I smiled back, "Makes sense." My school had done it alphabetically, since there had only been three home rooms, and they'd all been in the same hall.

Peter clapped his hands together, "Okay, tour time!"

First, he took me to our lockers, where I was able to drop off most of my belongings. After that, he showed me the route I'd be taking to get to all my classes. "For the morning, one of us will always be around to point you in the right direction, but in the afternoon you'll be on your own so it's super important you know those ones—we can go over it again at lunch just to be sure."

I gave him a nervous expression, "Good, because I already have no idea where I am."

"You'll get used to it in no time!"

Someone yelling Peter's name had us both turning to see a cheerful looking Asian kid coming towards us. I recognized his face from the pictures Peter had shown me, this would be Ned.

Ned came over, rambling so quickly his words ran into each other and I could only make out enough of what he was saying to tell that it had something to do with Star Wars. Whatever it was, must have been exciting, because Peter's mouth dropped and he exclaimed, "No way!" followed by equally unintelligible speed talking. I simply watched, curious how long it would take them to remember I was here. The answer? Not until MJ showed up, quietly coming to stand beside me and extending her hand, "You must be Y/N, I'm MJ, it's nice to meet you."

I shook her hand, "Hi MJ, it's nice to meet you too."

That's when Peter clued back in, turning an impressive shade of red as he panicked, his eyes widening as he gestured between Ned and myself, "Omg, I'm so sorry—Ned, this is Y/N! Y/N this is Ned!" He widened his gesture to include MJ, "These are my best friends!"

I gave a small wave to Ned, startling as he reached out to grab my hand, pumping it excitedly, "It's so cool to meet you! When Peter told us Tony Stmmmph"

Peter clamped his hand over Ned's mouth, "Quiet Ned! That's a secret, remember!"

Ned nodded sheepishly, and Peter took his hand away. Ned continued, whispering this time, "Your dad is like, the greatest inventor ever and the best superhero—aside from Spiderman."

I nodded, unsure how to respond, "Thanks?"

MJ chuckled next to me, "You get used to their idiocy, don't worry."

I laughed, my reply getting cut off as the warning bell rang. A massive swarm of butterflies immediately taking residence in my stomach, my laughter cutting off into a small choking noise.

Three pairs of eyes looked at me in concern, but I waved them off, "I'm fine—it's just nerves. To homeroom?" I pointed to my right. They exchanged a look and Peter, with an apologetic expression, pointed in the opposite direction. I sighed, following them down the hall.

Seating was assigned, so I had to go ask the teacher where she wanted me to sit. She gave me a warm smile, "Welcome to Midtown, Y/N. There's an empty desk in the third row, right there." She pointed, and I swallowed another sigh as I realized I was on the opposite side of the room from Peter and his friends. I went to my seat, taking out a small notebook in case I needed to write any announcements down. I watched as the class filled up, friendly chatter breaking up as students split up to their seats, two students that were clearly a couple sharing a despondent look before going to opposite ends of the class. I rolled my eyes as the clearly 'popular' guy swaggered in, his voice a little louder than necessary as he joked with those around him. I saw his gaze narrow in on Peter, but before he followed through with whatever he'd been planning to say, one of his friends elbowed him and pointed in my direction.

He immediately snapped his head towards me, strutting over and leaning against my desk. Oh joy. I looked up at him expectantly, dropping the pencil I'd been nervously fiddling with to return his handshake as he said, his voice oozing with overconfidence, "Hi, you must be new. I'm Flash. I'm the one to know if you want to be anyone here. I can tell you who you'll want to hang out with and who you may want to avoid."

I mentally narrowed my eyes at him, immediately sizing him up as a jerk. A subtle side glance towards Peter solidified this thought and made me wonder if Flash was the bully he'd spoken about, as Peter and both his friends were watching our interaction with nervous expressions. I turned my attention back to Flash, who was standing with his hands in his pockets as he smirked at me.

I leaned forwards, giving him a simpering smile, "I appreciate the offer but I'm perfectly capable of making my own judgements, I don't need someone to tell me who I can make friends with."

His expression darkened slightly, but before he could respond, the final bell rang and he went to his seat in the second row and a few over, glancing backwards at me with a warning glare before turning forwards to face the teacher. I also directed my attention to the teacher, wincing as she asked me to stand up.

"Everyone, we have a new student. This is Y/n Y/ln, she's new to Midtown Tech. I trust you will all help her to feel welcome and at home," She looked at me, "Y/N, why don't you tell us a fun fact about yourself?"

I mentally cursed her out, wishing the floor would swallow me up. Ned, MJ, and Peter watched me with a sympathetic expression, and their friendly presence gave me the courage to stammer out, "I grew up in Maryland, but just moved to New York to live with my dad."

"Welcome to New York, thank you Y/N, you may sit back down."

I gratefully slid back into my seat, my legs feeling like jelly. After a few other short announcements, another bell rang and we all stood up to head to our first class. Knowing we had five minutes and remembering that Peter had said our first class was in the same hall, I lingered at my desk instead of following the others in their rush out the door.

Before Peter could get over to me, a pretty girl with dark hair stopped by at my desk, greeting me with a smile, "Hi Y/N, I'm Liz. Welcome to Midtown. If you need help with anything, let me know."

I smiled back, "Thank you, Liz, that's kind of you. Luckily, I already have a welcome committee to show me the ropes, but if they're not around, I'll look for you."

She nodded and headed out, looking back with a slightly curious look as the trio rejoined me.

"Well, you got through homeroom, that's a good start."

I gave Peter a sullen look, "Though I had to get put on display. What do you think the chances of any other teachers doing that are?"

He shared a look with the others, then looked at me with a cautious expression, "Probably pretty high, unfortunately."

I sighed, following them out into the hall, "Great."

They were, unfortunately, correct. In every single class that morning, I got singled out and presented. Some teachers thankfully considered it sufficient to gesture at me and give my name, I decided I liked those ones. Those that made me stand up and introduce myself in one way or another, got put on the shortlist as possible nominees for my worst teacher.

Aside from that, the classes were pretty okay. I hadn't been as lost in Math and Biology as I'd feared I would be, in Spanish we were starting a unit covering material I'd done the year before at home, and in English they were in the middle of Hamlet, one of my favourite Shakespearean plays. I'd also gained a stack of textbooks, which I happily dropped off at my locker—once MJ had brought me back to that hallway. She grabbed her stuff for lunch, and as the boys hadn't shown up yet, we walked together to the cafeteria to grab a table before it got too busy.

We sat down and took out our packed lunches. She had a pretty standard PB & J, while mine was leftovers from the pasta dinner with Tony the night before. I'd brought it in a thermos, so it was still warm, and I didn't have to use the questionable public microwave in the corner. I watched the hordes of students swarming around the room, my mind still struggling to wrap around how many of them there were. Aside from Liz and Flash, both of whom had shown up in some of my morning classes, every face I passed was unknown and strange, a phenomenon that threw me for a loop every time. It was so strange not knowing every single person around me—it made me feel unexpectedly lost and adrift. So, I was extra thankful when Peter and Ned showed up in a bubble of more excited Star Wars chatter, and I was surrounded once more by familiar faces as we all ate our lunches.

We caught up on how any classes apart had gone, and Peter once more promised to take me for a reminder tour over lunch to show me my afternoon classes. Just as I finished my food and we about to go, Flash showed up, his arms crossed over his chest as he gave my group a dismissive glance, focusing on me. "See, this is the kind of mistake I could have helped you avoid—" he gestured at Peter and Ned, "these are the kind of losers you don't want to spend time with, especially Penis Parker here."

Peter turned red and MJ and Ned's expressions both darkened, Ned's eyes filling with sympathy.

I clenched my fist beneath the table, then stood up slightly, leaning towards Flash, "Listen —Trash, was it? — the only loser I see here, is you," I sat back down, giving him a small dismissive wave, "You can go now."

He sputtered angrily before turning on his heel and striding away.

Ned was staring at me in awe, but Peter looked nervous, "You didn't have to do that, Y/N."

I shrugged, "I know, but I wanted to. I don't like people being mean, especially to my friends."

"He's going to target you now."

I shrugged again. "Let him. I can handle it."

The three of them exchanged a look, but didn't say anything more, instead suggesting we go do the reminder tour before we ran out of time, and I gratefully followed them back out into the halls.