I was incredibly nervous for my second day at school, not knowing how the kids would treat me after I'd thrown Flash Thompson, the most popular guy in school, to the ground.
Tony agreed with me that it would be safer if Happy dropped me off at school instead of taking the bus. I didn't know if Happy liked the idea of playing 'my uncle Jackson', but he had to. He had already shown his face at the headmaster's office, so there was no turning back for him.
I got out of the car, backpack over my shoulder, and I sighed deeply. When I looked up, I say two familiar faces on the stairs in front of the school's central entrance. It made me smile and I ran up to them.
"There is our hero," Ned yelled when he saw me.
Peter waved at me until I was standing next to them. He crossed his arms and looked at me at bit concerned. "How did your talk with the headmaster go?"
"Just a warning, no big deal," I reassured him.
I sigh of relieve left Peter's mouth.
"Well, thank you for standing up for this dude," Ned said. "Believe me, Peter has got some muscles, but he's just too good for this world to ever use them."
"Ned!" Peter yelled.
I had to laugh. "No thanks. That guy was being a dick, he deserved it."
The school day was not too bad. People were staring at me, of course, but they didn't dare to say anything mean to me or the boys. Only Flash had the audacity to say one thing while he was sitting behind me in class.
"It's such a pity that such a beautiful girl chooses the wrong friends."
I sighed, turned around in my chair, raised my eyebrows, and said: "Do you want your balls to suffer again?" I turned back to force the front of the classroom again and heard Flash swallow behind me.
I wasn't looking for confrontation. Now they knew I can bite made them leave us alone in peace. It's better to be treated like air than being bullied.
Peter and I were in the same chemistry class and the teacher introduced an assignment we had to do in pairs. Obviously, Peter and I decided to work together.
"I think it's for the best if we start this right away," I suggested.
"Yeah, sure. We can work on it after school."
I nodded. But then I remembered that I couldn't suggest working at my house. "Oh, but my uncle is very busy with his job and he doesn't want me to invite people to come over," I improvised
"You live with your uncle?"
"Yeah."
"I live with my aunt to."
We awkwardly high-fived and then fell into silence.
He probably remembered that we were talking about meeting up after school, because he quickly said: "Well, friends are always welcome at my place."
Then he stuttered: "We're friends, right?"
I had to laugh. "After I almost got detention for kicking someone in the nuts for you, we better be."
Peter had to laugh as well.
The bell rang, it was our last class so we both walked out of the classroom. In the hallway we bumped into Ned, who still had another class. We wished him well when he entered his last classroom, and he waved dramatically at us.
"So, where do you live?" I asked Peter.
"Queens," he replied while we walked out of the school, in the direction of the train station.
"On an adventure to Queens then."
I let out a little "Woohoo!" a bit too loud and people started staring at me. Peter erupted in laughter.
"You really are someone, Natalie."
He smiled at me, and I smiled back.
The way he smiled at me gave me a weird feeling in my stomach, a feeling I couldn't describe. But it was definitely a nice feeling.