Angela would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid.
The redhead had never been in an actual classroom with other students before. Her grandfather always insisted on her being homeschooled and hired a strict tutor, making sure she was well inversed with all types of subjects. So, being in a place full of kids her age slightly terrified her.
She had read several books on how mean kids could be. Granted, Peter had been nothing but kind to her in the past 24 hours, but that didn't mean the other kids wouldn't jump at the opportunity to stick gum in her hair or put a dead fish in her locker.
Angela had received little sleep, so she awoke early and fixed everyone lunch before sitting on the couch to wait for everyone else. Having already been showered and dressed in her school attire, she was ready to go.
Going off of what knowledge she has of public high school, she dressed in a way that wouldn't draw attention yet was comfortable for spending hours in a chair. A pair of jeans, a plain black sweater and running shoes seemed fitting enough. As for her hair, she just tied it up in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. Angela never saw a use for make up, and thus never wore any.
May was the next to wake up. She ran out of her room and into the kitchen to make her lunch when she found three sacks on the counter. Angela turned to face her, not getting up from the couch.
"I hope you don't mind. I made everyone lunch." She said shyly.
"Oh." May started, unsure of what to say. "That was sweet of you. Thank you."
"Morning Aunt May." Peter stumbled out of his room, running late just like his aunt was. "Morning Angie."
"Angie?" Angela whispered.
"Sorry, it slipped out." Peter blushed and faced away from her.
"I kinda like it." She admitted quietly.
May gave the kids the lunches that Angela had made for them and ushered them out of the apartment, locking the door behind her. "I'm gonna be back late tonight, so don't wait up for me." May said, running down the stairs.
Peter glanced at his watch and gasped. "We're gonna be late!"
the two of them ran down the stairs and out to the sidewalk where the bus was supposed to pick them up. Unfortunately, they made it to the stop right as the bus had pulled away.
"Dammit!" Peter shouted. "Now we'll never make it!"
Thinking quickly, Angela pulled out her phone. Peter looked over at her confused before she smirked and returned the device to her waist bag.
"What did you do?" Peter asked her.
Not even a minute later, a cab pulled up to them. "What are you waiting for? Get in!"
Angela took Peters bag and tossed it into the back seat of the cab. They climbed in and Peter gave the cabbie the address of the school. "Please hurry." He added nicely.
"Let me guess, you kids missed the bus?" He chuckled, shaking his head.
"Yeah." Angela met the old man's eyes in the mirror. "It was my fault."
"No it wasn't. I shouldn't have smashed my alarm clock." Peter grumbled. "The darn thing wouldn't stop yelling at me."
"That's what clocks are supposed to do?" Angela said questioningly.
"Shad up, Angie." He jokingly nudged her, making her laugh.
Angie... I don't think I've ever had a nickname before.
Angela studied the street names so she could make it to the school on her own if she ever had to. The cabbie pulled up to the side of the building, away from where the kids were piling into the school.
"I didn't think you would want the other kids seeing you get out of a cab." He said, holding out the card swipe for Angela.
"Thank you." She said, punching in her pin and giving the nice old man a generous tip.
Peter led Angela to the front office where she received her schedule from a prudish older woman before following Peter to where her locker was located. Luckily for her, it was right next to her first class. Unlucky for her, Peter only shared two classes with her.
"I guess this is where we part ways." Peter said, leaning against the locker. "I'll see you later." He waved and walked off to his first class.
Angela took a deep breath before shoving her way through the crowd of people and towards her first class of the day. Calculus.
Her schedule went like this: Calculus for first period, AP English for second, Chemistry for third, Gym for fourth, Lunch, then fifth period which was Spanish and then World History for her sixth period. The only classes she shared with Peter were Gym and Chemistry, but learned that he had some friends that would be in the same Spanish class as her so it wouldn't be all bad.
Angela kept her head down and only spoke when spoken to. The teacher was nice enough to not make a scene when she showed up and only called on her a few times. English was okay, it passed as quickly as it came, nothing too major happened. Chemistry was fun. She managed to find a seat behind Peter and he introduced her to Ned.
"Dude, why didn't you tell me you lived with a girl!?" He whispered once class had ended.
"She just moved in yesterday." Peter whispered back.
Ned spun around in his chair to face Angela. "I have but one thing to say."
"I have the high ground."
Smirking, Angela replied, "You underestimate my power." She cleared her throat. "Tis but a scratch."
"A scratch? Your arm's off." Peter replied in an English accent.
"I've had worse." Angela said.
"You liar! You've got no legs!" Ned joined in.
"It's just a flesh wound!"
"Great, there's another one." Someone said. Angela looked to her right to see a girl with her nose in a book.
"MJ? When did you get here?" Peter asked.
"Long enough to know we have another dork in the group."
Angela glanced at the title of the book and smiled brightly. "I love the Bane Chronicles!"
"You do?" MJ raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah! Cassandra Clare is one of my favorite fantasy authors. Have you read the Infernal Devices series yet?"
MJ set her book down and the boys began whispering to each other about "conspiring against them" or something like that.
"I just finished it. Who's you're favorite, Jem or Will?" She asked.
(BOOK SPOILERS AGEAD. SKIP NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU WANNA READ THE INFERNAL DEVICES I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM.)
"Honestly, I like them both. Tessa deserved to be with someone who loved her and the fact that the story ends with Will dying next to Tessa and their grandchildren is heart wrenching. But I guess being immortal worked for Tessa since Jem was still alive after leaving the Silent Brothers, so in the end she could be with both of the men she loved." Angela explained, going into more detail than she intended to. "Tessa is such a badass."
Someone cleared their throat and the four friends looked up to see Mr. Harrington staring down at them. "If you don't hurry, you four will be late for your next class."
Angela thanked him for the warning and dragged her newfound friends behind her to the locker rooms, letting them go once they reached the split. MJ and Angela entered the girls locker room and went their separate ways. While MJ changed into her uniform, Angela had to find the teacher to receive her own uniform.
Parker Luck must have rubbed off on her because the only uniform the teacher could find was two sizes too big. So she was forced to wear the uniform shirt and a pair of shorts that she brought with her.
Once out in the gym, the teacher forced the students to run laps around the gym without stopping as an endurance test. MJ dropped after taking the first few steps and instead, sat on the bleachers reading her book. Ned managed to keep up for four or so laps before he had to stop. Peter had to stop a few minutes after, opting out after 9 laps. Angela just jogged, focusing more on her thoughts than her burning lungs.
Peter and Ned cheered Angela on from the sidelines, watching as she ran lap after lap. The number of people dwindled down to just three. Angela, a kid named James, and Flash.
Peter watched as Flash taunted Angela as he ran next to her, spitting insults and curses. Angela however, didn't seem to notice him and instead, kept running. James quit after another lap and it was just Angela and Flash.
Funnily enough, Flash had to quit running because he spent too much energy calling Angela names.
After another lap, Angela stopped, hunched over breathing. Peter and Ned walked over to her and that was when Flash thought it would be a good idea to trip Peter. The poor boy was sent flying forward, his face connecting with the hardwood floor.
Angela rushed to his side, helping him stand on shaky legs. She glared at flash as she dragged her injured friend to the bleachers. Ned ran off to find the teacher while Angela fished out some tissues from an emergency bag the gym instructor kept against the wall.
"Here." She handed him the tissues. Peter leaned his head back and she quickly pushed it back down. "Lean forward. If you lean back, then you'll make yourself sick swallowing blood. Put pressure here." She moved his fingers up a bit to the bridge of his nose. "It'll help."
By the time Ned and the teacher returned, the bleeding had stopped and Peter was left with a bruised nose. Flash received a scolding for his actions and the rest of the period was spent playing a game of volleyball.
Peter and Ned sat out, choosing to watch instead of play. Angela however, actually enjoyed playing sports.
The teams were made and they were allowed to pretty much do whatever. They were separated out over the court into quadrants, the left side being competitive while the right was just.. whatever.
Angela chose the left side.
The ball was served several times before she finally got to hit it. Being the shortest on her team, her teammates didn't give her many openings. The person who served it had only played volleyball once or twice before, so they didn't have much control. So, when she hit it, the ball went flying to the right. No one wanted to go diving for it, but Angela did. When the ball came down, she slid on her knees and hit the ball into the air, almost smacking into the wall.
Ned and Peter's jaws dropped when she stood back up, and continued playing. The ball was hit to her side again, and this time, no one dared to stop her. She leapt into the air and brought her hand down hard onto the ball, spiking it.
"She looks happy." Ned commented.
"Yeah..." Peter mumbled, not looking away from Angela.
"You like her~" Ned teased.
"I do not!" He defended. "Besides, do you not remember what happened with Liz? I don't want another supervillain dad coming after me again."
"I don't know, dude." Ned crossed his arms. "She looks pretty normal to me."
Angela high fived one of her teammates and Peter looked at Ned. "Maybe."