ILLUSIONS | N.M. (on hold)

2.6

"Your schedule is separated into seven classes a day or periods as we call them. In between each period is a three-minute break to go to your locker and grab books. Your locker number and combination are at the bottom of your sheet."

Nadia nodded, glancing over her schedule. It seemed easy enough to remember. She just had to follow the numbers to each class.

"The lockers take some time to open, so you need to be careful that you're getting the numbers correctly."

Another nod.

"Your mother called the other day, she requested you share some classes with your friend Peter. I tried my best to fit you in as much as I could, unfortunately, I didn't get all of them." Principal Morita told her, leaning forward in his chair.

"That's okay, and uh, she's not really my mother. More like a foster parent." Nadia told him, quietly glancing at her schedule.

"My apologies."

"It's alright," Nadia replied, scanning her schedule. First period was math, seemed easy enough. When living in a compound with Tony Stark for the past two years, you start to pick up on math.

Second period was American History, Alright. Not Nadia's best, since she hated Americans until two years ago, but she'll try.

Third was the gym, alright. Training? She didn't know high schools had that.

Then lunch, then Physics and La, whatever that meant. Were they going to Los Angeles every class? That couldn't be right.

"Ah, Liz, come in." Nadia's head jerked up, realizing she spaced out. Principal Morita smiled behind her to another girl about her age.

"Nikki, this is Liz, she volunteered to help you get settled into school." Nadia smiled at her, getting up. "She'll take you to your homeroom, and if you have any questions please feel free to ask me."

"Thank you." Nadia nodded, following the other girl out of the office. "So, obviously, Hi, I'm Liz, your tutor. Principal Morita told me about how you've never been to a school before, but don't worry, I'll help!"

Nadia smiled, taking in all the information. This girl, Liz, spoke quickly, leading Nadia down the less crowded halls. Each wall was stilled with art and posters, drawing attention to themselves.

Liz continued on as Nadia looked back at her. She was very pretty and talked very very fast. She glanced at Nadia's schedule and lead her towards a locker. "Your locker, as on the paper, is this one!"

Nadia glanced at the numbers reading "1186" and the glanced down at her locker. Great. Locker combinations.

—•—

Liz has helped Nadia open her locker, after many, many tries and many laughing moments from both girls. Luckily, Liz had a few tips that got her locker open faster than Nadia would have by herself. And in time to get to 'homeroom.'

Liz kept talking, telling her about all the clubs and certain things she missed over the month. She told her about teachers who were good ones and ones who weren't as good. On their way, Nadia turned to see Peter with another kid.

She smiled at him causing him to smile back. Nadia then turned back to the conversation as the bell rang. "Oh, come on!" Liz exclaimed, pulling Nadia into another hallway and straight into a room.

The teacher seated at the desk looked up towards the two girls. Her expression changed when she saw Nadia. "You must be the new student." She smiled, getting up. Her expression was warm and welcoming, and Nadia couldn't help but smile back.

Students filed in, talking and walking to desks. "Liz, you can go back to your desk. Thank you. Nikki, stand here." Nadia nodded, another bell went off making the students become quiet.

They turned and looked at Nadia, who felt slightly uncomfortable. She met eyes with Peter, who smiled warmly towards her.

The teacher looked towards her class with a smile on her face, "Good Morning everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend, today, as many if you can see, we have a new student joining us!"

And again, all eyes rested onto her. "Nikki, where are you from?" Nadia had to take a deep breath to find her voice. "Sokovia." She answered, her accent was still fresh and it definitely stood out.

"That's nice, do you have any family in Sokovia?" Nadia almost felt like she was punched in the gut. She took a deep breath and shook her head. "No, I have a... small family. We all moved to America together."

Her teacher nodded, "Well Nikki, I'm so glad you have the chance to join us this year. Is there anything else you'd like to say?" The redhead smiled but shook her head. The bell rang as she did so, making her take a deep breath.

Only seven classes to go. Seemed easy enough.

—•—

"Okay, so how do we calculate linear acceleration between points A and B?" Nadia's physics teacher, Ms. Warren turned towards the class of students.

She pointed at a kid diagonal from Nadia, who was confidently holding up his hand. "Flash." So that was his name. Nadia recognized him as the one who almost hit her and Peter with his car.

"It's the product of sine of the angle and gravity divided by the mass." The kid answered, looking down at his notebook. Nadia shook her head, looking at her own.

"Nope." Mrs. Warren replied, picking on another student. Nadia began to sketch on the side of her notebook, bored with the equation.

"Peter? You still with us?" Her teacher asked Nadia, glanced right behind her to see Peter shutting his laptop. "Uh... Uh... Yeah, yeah."

It took a few moments as Peter glanced at the board. Nadia kept herself staring at the from of the class. "Uh... Mass cancels out, so it's just gravity times sine."

Ms. Warren nodded. "Right. See, Flash, being the fastest isn't always the best if you are wrong." The class bursts out in laughter and even Nadia cracked a smile. Flash turned in his seat and glared at Peter.

"You're dead." He whispered, making Nadia turn and frown at Peter who blew it off. With a small huff, Nadia turned to the front of the class.

If Steve every taught her one thing, it was to hate bullies.

im getting writers block... help!