They walk down the street. Hand in hand. Silver hair against brown. The girl is slightly smaller, her green eyes shinning in the sun. The boy is muttering under his breath in an unusual accent, the girl responds with the same accent as they walk though the large gates and towards the usual bench. The girl looks upset today. Dark circles are growing under her eyes. The boy however just looks extra protective.
"They're weird you have to admit"
"They've only been here for a week!"
"Where are they even from?"
"I don't know but their accents are weird"
"And that's why you think they're weird?"
"No..."
"You've got to admit the thing the girl did last Tuesday was creepy"
"It was obviously someone joking around"
"Oh so the textbook just landed on Leo's head then?"
"No..."
People mutter conversations like this all around them. New kids normally can fit in. Everyone wants to be friends with them. To show off. But for some reason these twins gave off a strange aura and nearly everyone stayed away from them. They just stared. And whispered.
"They're looking at us again"
"Don't swear at them again Pietro" the girl laughs under her breath.
"They deserved it!"
"I don't want to get in to any fights. You should know that"
"They deserved it Wanda" Pietro sighs
"Fighting only makes things worse and it just increases the chance of being found out. Please can you stay out of things? For my sake?"
She looks up at her brother, her eyes wide and worried.
"Fine" Pietro mutters "But if they get too carried away...so will I"
"Let's just get to English" Wanda sighs "And get a seat at the back. I hate this staring"
They get up and instantly people start to move out of the way. Pietro looks furious but Wanda squeezes his hand hard looking down at her feet.
Just before they enter the building a group of kids walk out, laughing in loud voices.
"Hey!" The dark brown haired one stops the twins in their tracks "Your the new kids aren't you?"
"Yes" Pietro says clenching his fist.
"Woah calm down grandpa hair!" The boy laughs "We don't want to hurt you"
"What did you just call me?" Pietro scowls
"Pietro" Wanda mutters under her breath "He isn't worth your time"
"Don't mind him. He's always like this" The smallest of the group,a skinny blonde boy with glinting blue eyes steps toward"I'm Steve"
Wanda smiles and nods but Pietro is still eying the brown haired boy up and down.
"And I'm Tony!" The boy grins "That's Thor" he gesters towards to a muscly blonde haired boy this time with long hair tied in a bun.
Pietro snorts.
"You think my name is funny do you?" The boy glares down at Pietro "Tony keep calling him grandpa hair it's fine with me"
Tony grins like an excited child.
"Okay grandpa hair" he continues "this is Bruce"
A shy looking boy with curly brown hair and glasses smiles at them before looking back down.
"He doesn't like people that much" Tony laughs "This is Natasha"
The only girl in the group smiles flirtatiously at the twins. She has short red hair and is wearing all black.
"And this is Clint"
"Not that anyone cares" the last boy retorts. He scowls at Tony.
"Anyway" Tony continues, ignoring Clint "We've seen that you're kinda struggling to fit in and so did we. So if you want to hang around with us at any time that's all cool I guess"
Wanda smiles and is about to respond when Pietro interrupts.
"Thank you" he smiles sarcastically "but no thank you"
And he grabs Wanda's hand and drags her inside.
"What!" Tony's voice echos down the corridor "but Steve I tried to be nice!"
"You just don't appeal"Steve laughs
"But I'm rich!"
"Exactly!"
"What was that for?"Wanda snaps pulling her hand away from Pietro's.
"I didn't like that Tony guy"
"All he did was joke about your hair!"
"No I recognize him" Pietro sighs "And not as someone good. I know him from somewhere but I don't know how"
"But the others seemed nice" Wanda jogs a little to catch up.
"That Thor guy is weird. Who calls their child Thor?"
"Who calls their child Wanda?"
"I didn't like that Clint guy's attitude" Pietro snaps.
"What is wrong with you today?" Wanda yells twisting her hand under her sleeve stopping Pietro in his tracks.
"And I thought we were avoiding being found out" Pietro laughs sarcastically
"You're suddenly judging people like they judge us"
"I know that Tony guy" Pietro mutters to himself frantically "common Pietro think!"
"Let's just get to English." Wanda sighs "we will talk then"
"Fine" Pietro laughs "Can you let me go please"
"Oh yeah"
*
"Pietro Maximoff?"
"Yes"
"Wanda Maximoff?"
"Yes"
Pietro scowls at Wanda from his desk. They had been moved. Pietro is now at the front. Wanda is still at the back but next to Tony who is playing with his ridiculously expensive phone.
Pietro leans back in his chair ruffling his hair and yawing very loudly.
"Your brother is an asshole" Tony grins
"He's my brother!"
"Still an asshole! I don't like his attitude"
"He doesn't like yours" Wanda mutters.
"Off course he doesn't" Tony laughs
"Tony Stark?"
"Very present"
Both of the twins freeze in Shock. Wanda clenches her pen hard, her hand shaking.Pietro's chair nearly falls back and he yelps loudly.
"Mr Maximoff is there something wrong?"
"No" Pietro puts his head in his hands as the whole class start to laugh.
"Nice save grandpa hair!" Tony yells.
When the teacher turns to the board Pietro immediately turns around and mouths the word "Stark?"
Wanda sits shocked in her seat as Tony continues to play on his phone. Tony Stark. Stark. Of course Pietro recognized him. He looks exactly like his father. The father who killed the twins' parents.
"You know us don't you?" She mutters "That's why you talked to us. You recognized us"
"You're smart Wanda" Tony smiles down at his phone "not as smart as me but smart enough"
"How can you be so self centered?"
"Oh being an obnoxious asshole is kinda of my thing"
"Your dad killed my parents" Wanda could feel the anger building up inside her. Oh not now please not now.
"Ah you shouldn't blame my dad entirely" Tony points his pen at Wanda "yes he created the wepon but he didn't set it off."
"He told someone to set it off"
"Would you shut up here please I'm trying to sugar coat this for your desperate little mind"
Suddenly all the anger building up in Wanda exploaded and she stood up angrily not realizing that Tony had fallen off his chair and that the whole class was laughing again.
"Nice fall Stark!" Yells Pietro "Wait Wanda where are you going?"
Wanda sprinted out of the room, tears streaming down her cheeks, she could feel her eyes burning. Were they red yet?
"Wanda!"
Pietro's voice echoed at the back of her mind.
"Wanda come back!"
But she kept running. Her face soaking wet, her surroundings blurry. She suddenly collapsed against a wall and fell to her knees, sobbing.
"Wanda?" she kept her eyes shut. She knew they were red and she knew that this was not Pietro's voice
"Miss Maximoff are you okay?" It was the English teacher. The old man. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Your brother has gone to get the nurse."
"I don't need a nurse" she mutters in to her hands "I'm not insane"
"Miss Maximoff who said your insane?" The teacher says softly
"Everyone!" She screams, turning around suddenly a bright jet of red light shooting out of her hands. It hits the man right in the chest. A look of shock and terror on his face, he is thrown in to a shelf of books and falls on to the ground with a smash.
The noise is heard. People start to come out of their classrooms. Start to stare.
"No!" Wanda screams crawling towards the man "No I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Blood starts to leak out of the man's head and Wanda starts to scream louder than she had in ages. And everyone still just stares. Pain surges through Wanda's body as she struggles to hide her blazing red eyes. And everyone still just stares.
"Wanda?"
It's Pietro. And of what Wanda could see. The school nurse.
"Pietro what have I done?"
"It's not your fault" his voice is smooth and reassuring "would all you assholes stop gawping at my sister and go back to your education. I don't see how it's going to help though the only thing you've learnt to do is gossip!"
Everyone quickly rushes back to their classrooms.
"I'm a monster" Wanda sobs in to her brother's shoulder "look what I did Pietro!"
"You're not a monster Wanda" Pietro whispers rubbing her back "you're just suffering."
"It was that Stark. You were right. His dad killed our parents!"
She starts to sob again as they hear the sirens of an ambulance.
"They're here" the nurse says "Pietro you take your sister to the medical room. I'll be there in ten minutes"
"Come on I'll help you up" Pietro mutters holding on to Wanda's back as her shaking legs stand her up "you got it come on."
*
WANDA'S POV
I sit looking out at the benches in the courtyard. A few teachers sit there drinking coffee and staring as the English teacher is being lifted in to the ambulance. I see a bandage on his head but blood is still seeping out. Oh god what have I done.
"You really shouldn't look at him" Pietro sighs, twisting his hands in his lap.
"I can handle it Pietro"
"I don't want you to" he says "come here"
He puts his arm around me and I put my head in to his chest. He smells of the soap he stole this morning. Like lavender. It suits him.
"Now listen" he mutters in to my ear, making me jump"I need to talk to you but there is CCTV in here and I can't afford them hearing. Can you turn it off?"
Instantly I turn my hand up at the camera and as the red substance shoots out, it explodes.
"Thanks" he smiles "Now listen we don't have much time. The nurse she's going to take you to the hospital. To the mental health ward"
"I knew it" I sigh "I knew it."
"But there's no way I'm letting my sister be a mental patient!" He laughs sarcastically "we're going to escape. They think we live in the local care home. They will go there"
"Pietro they'll find out..." I gulp. I never liked to admit it "they'll find out we're homeless."
"That doesn't mean they will find us" Pietro says hurriedly "just trust me on this one? I am not letting you go to that hospital. We're going to go to the edge of those woods and you're going to change the memories of everyone her. Just try okay? And trust me."
"When have I never trusted you?" I laugh.
Pietro stands up and let's out a nervous laugh.
"She's coming" he says "we need to go. And I know we're not five any more but I need to carry you"
He lifts me up and just as the door opens he shoots out and then out of the school. We did it. We escaped. But it's nowhere near over yet.