Marvel High: Scene #1

[tsukinofaerii]

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Warnings: No Warnings yet
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Senior year at Marvel High is just getting started, and the shenanigans are about to roll.

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[tsukinofaerii]

Everyone and their boyfriend crowded around the bulletin board on the hallway of Marvel High, even though the warning bell for the end of lunch had already rang. From the pretty girls who could not even keep a beat, to the loners who pretended not to care, everyone had shown. Natasha hung back, not allowing herself to get lost in the crush. The results of cheer squad try outs hadn't even been posted yet. Of course, football, baseball and soccer results would go up at the same time, but the only results that mattered were for cheer. That was where the power was. Marvel's sports teams were a joke, but the cheer squad had been repeatedly ranked among the best in the country.

Visible through the small pane of glass in his office door, Principal Fury was speaking earnestly with two students—Steve Rogers and Janet van Dyne. Janet would be Captain, everyone knew that, but Natasha didn't know why the transfer boy would be there. Maybe he was the football Captain. He looked big enough for it. Regardless, as soon as they finished, Natasha knew, the results would be posted. It was worth risking detention for. With so many late to class, she might even be pardoned.

Squeals started near the front of the crowd as Fury stood. He looked stern as always, but Natasha took no note of it. Counting the moments that Principal Fury looked pleased, that would be something worth doing. The noise died when he opened the door and looked around. His one eye sent a chill down even Natasha's spine. The ever-nebulous "they" said that he had lost it battling a tiger at the zoo, or fighting a bear in the nude, or perhaps it simply combusted from the force of his glare.

She could believe it.

Students shoved to get out of his way as he made his way to the bulletin board with a handful of sheets. One by one, he posted them up in neat rows. Then, glaring around once more, he returned to his office. The bulletin board shuddered as he slammed the door.

The gathered student held their collective breath, waiting to see if he would return. Natasha used the pause, slipping through tiny spaces to make her way to the front. Too many bodies pressed together made it difficult. She managed, twisting and turning to squeeze through even the smallest of gaps.

Then, the crush began again. Natasha stumbledas she was forced forward. Someone's elbow dug into her ribs, trying to force her back. She retaliated with a shove and a kick to the shins. The collective force of the pushing students slammed her forward, until her knees knocked against the wall. There were more sheets than last year — a new team? — but she could clearly make out the first-string roster.

1. Janet van Dyne — Co-Captain
   
2. Steve Rogers — Co-Captain
   
3. Wanda Lehnsherr
   
4. Pietro Lehnsherr
   
5. Natasha Romanov
   
6. Jean Grey
   
7. Jessica Drew
   
8. Sharon Carter
   
9. Ororo Munroe
   
10. Betsy Ross

She was in!

Wait. Her eyes skimmed down the list again.

Steve Rogers? Co-Captain? Natasha frowned, then jammed her fist backwards when someone shoved her. Time to worry about it after she was free. Squirming, she fought her way out of the crowd, using her elbows and knees as needed. Groans and whoops of delight filled the air. Stifling heat gave way to a breath of something slightly-less fetid. She straightened her skirt, brushing off imaginary dirt that had gotten on it.

"You look happy," a sour voice said behind her. "Guess you got in, huh?"

She turned, raising her eyebrows at the boy lurking along the edge of the mob. "Hello, Tony."

[jazzypom]

"Natasha." somehow, Tony managed to make the syllables in her name sound like a snarl. If they had still been an item, Natasha might have cared more.

"What brings you here? I thought you were... how do you say? 'Too cool for school?'" she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, raised her face just so. Natasha had spent enough time in the mirror to know her best angles, and pose number three, her haughtiest, had never let her down yet. A cool stare, with her eyes bored, as if she were under great sufferance. When the corners of Tony's mouth tightened, she allowed herself a cool smile.

"Just curious," Tony placed his hands in the pockets of his slacks, and rocked back on his heels. Even though Marvel high was a state school, Tony dressed as if he still attended Hawthorne Academy. Clad in a lightweight suit jacket, dress shirt, dark slacks and shiny shoes. Even in the crush of the corridor, the students hurried past them, running pell mell to their respective classes, clearing the area in quick time, leaving Tony and Natasha alone in the middle of the passage. "You know what they say, Natasha. A new year, new... talent."

"But still the same old, Tony. With the same old game." Natasha started to walk in the direction of her class. According to her newly memorised timetable, she had AP Physics with Professor Richards, and the Physics lab was definitely more than a stone's throw away. Tony might have been fun to bait, but it wouldn't do to be late for the first class. Tony had stopped being her priority months ago.

"It worked on you." Tony fell into step with her, as they turned the corridor, passed the wall of gun metal grey lockers belong to the juniors. Some partially dented, others daubed with the thick spatters of spray paint.

"I was bored."

"You wound me," Tony splayed his hand across his chest with typical melodrama. "Right here."

Natasha tripped up the stairs, her shoes with their little heels making a sharp click clock sound on the concrete. Tony stayed in step with her, and she hoped that they didn't get the eye of the hall monitor, because Wade Wilson brought the crazy. Their footsteps slowed as they drew nearer to the physics lab, hearing the scream and scraping of chairs against the floor, and the hum of students as they made their way around the room.

"I know you, Tony. Half the school still doesn't trust you just because, and the other half can't stand you, and the cheer leading team is no different."

"Details," Tony shrugged. "To know me is to be dazzled - and I'm not talking about Twilight."

"You still stand by that ridiculous boast? About being able to get any cheer leader on the squad?"

"Easily."

Natasha did a slow, measured pirouette, as she turned to face Tony, holding her pose as if she were the principal dancer under lights at the Met. She knew the picture she made, with a snug pink jumper, short tartan skirt, and knee high boots, her arms held just so.

"Prove it."

"Without a wager? I can't say I'm interested."

"If you lose, I get your car."

"And when I win?"

Natasha laughed, ignoring Tony's question. "Steve Rogers. Cheer leading co Captain. He's new."

"And male?"

"Details, comrade Stark. Any cheerleader on the squad, remember? You in, or out?"

"Your icon for my Austin Martin."

Natasha carefully kept her face blank, whilst wincing inwardly. She knew Tony had a hankering for the highly ornate icon of Mary that she kept in her room, with the riza of gilt on its surface, so heavily worked in filigree, it seemed otherworldly. Natasha had no claims on religion, but the icon meant more than that and for a moment she faltered. Sensing weakness, Tony leaned in, his nose against her neck. Natasha felt the gust of warm air from his nostrils, smelt the sharp, dark notes of his cologne as he started clucking in her ear, like a ... chicken.

"Done. My icon for your car."


Tony stepped back, his eyes lit with laughter, as he pushed the door open to hear Professor Richards calling out the names from the register.

"Pym, Hank."

"Here."

Oh, good, Professor Richards was still on the P's, so they weren't late for class. Natasha strolled past Tony, not able to move away fast enough as he said, "I'm so glad that we agreed on a blond. Red heads do clash with my car."

Natasha had been in America long enough to know the value of the middle finger, and gave him a vicious salute as she made to find a seat.

[valtyr]

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