Radioactive (An Avengers Fanfic)

Chapter 16: So Maybe My Dad Does Work at Aperature Science

Urm..... Not dead?

-Entry created on: 5/20/2013-

I could only go so fast flying on my own. It was difficult, and I had barely learned the basics. Luckily, Tony had given me a lift, of sorts.

With one hand solid enough to just barely wrap around Tony's ankle and an comm fitted in my ear, Tony and I flew over my former home town.

My town was a fair size. Two high schools, one middle school, five elementary schools, and a small Catholic school were included in it. Ava, as she could afford the extra money tuition costed, went to the Catholic school, and Matt and Devon went to the middle school. I used to go with Ava before I moved out to New York.

Before I go on, you have to understand this - money had never been something that had affected friendship in my town. Everyone hung out with everyone, regardless of business class or anything stupid like that. So, while Ava's parents were hospital executives and mine were scientists, Matt's were police officers and Devon's owned a restaurant in town. Growing up, it had never mattered to me that Ava's house was bigger than mine, or that I had an in-ground swimming pool while Matt didn't. No matter where we went, we had fun.

Anyways, the one school all four of us went to together was Bloomingdale Elementary. From Kindergarten to Fourth Grade, we were in the same class every single year. Ava lived right down the street, so we could spend as long as we wanted there, in the high school next door, or in the reservation just behind the building after school. We spent afternoons playing on the school playground, evenings listening to the high school band in Ava's front yard, and hot summer days swimming in Saugus River.

We loved every part of the school, but our favorite was the library. On the top floor, sunlight streamed through the huge circular windows, pillows lined benches and chairs for comfy reading, and books lined every wall. Ava and I spent entire school days behind the last shelf, reading the Harry Potter, the Little House, and the Narnia books. On the other end of the library, was the jungle.

The jungle wasn't really a jungle at all - instead, it was three sets of long, rug-covered stairs that had four square pillars rising from it. The pillars were topped with an open grid, a nicer version of the ones used in gardens to grow vines. The grid, in fact, was used to grow vines. In Kindergarten, we hung vine plants from each pillar, and by fourth grade, the grid was barely visible under the long, twisting vines. We brought in stuffed snakes, lizards, and leopards to finish if off, giving it the nickname 'The Jungle'.

It had become a meeting place for Ava, Devon, Matt, and I, even long after we left Bloomingdale.

In fact, it was what Ava had referred to in her message.

For that reason, after an explanation and a little prep, we were flying towards Bloomingdale and the rest of Saugus now.

The other Avengers, along with Sif, who Thor invited, and Grant, who had insisted on coming, were behind us in a quinjet. Tony and I's job was to make sure my friends were safe, and the others were to come as backup.

Coming up on the school, I let go of Tony's ankle and flew through the cracks of the big window into the library.

Silently, I turned back to a solid and I moved silently towards the Jungle to peek inside.

Tony crashed through the window, blowing my cover.

"Really?!" I whispered angrilly.

Tony, in his suit, shrugged.

"Lyla?" Matt poked his head around the corner.

Ava, Devon, Kaitlyn, and Joey followed suit. I studied their eyes carefully, finding only Ava's curious hazels, Devon and Kaitlyn's chocolatey browns, Matt's bluish grays, and Joey's vibrant greens.