Duckling

Part 8

Despite them still having to get through a week of school before they were off for spring break, Shuri already had her bags packed. She'd rubbed how much fun she was going to have in her brother's face, since he was going to be stuck practicing lacrosse for the upcoming semi-finals.

T'Challa told her he hoped the Rogers' forget her in the desert, and she sent Peter a playful glare when he laughed in response.

The chatter died down when Natasha unexpectedly sat at their table, hardly looking up from her tray of food. They all turned to Peter, who looked even more confused than they did. Shuri's cousin, Erik, stood abruptly and left, followed by a couple of others, leaving their lunches behind.

Clint laughed nervously, pulling their food toward him. "More for me! Hey, Nat."

"Hey," she croaked.

It didn't go unnoticed by Peter how both she and Brock had dropped in popularity since their breakup. He did fail to notice, however, that they seemed to have fallen to the very bottom of the hierarchy. He realized she hardly went out anymore, and he couldn't even remember the last time he saw anyone speak to her.

"Shuri was just telling us that she's all set for our trip, weren't you?"

She picked up on his pleading tone, and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I'm looking forward to it!"

Little by little, the conversation picked back up. Peter kept glancing nervously at his sister, hoping she wouldn't be upset with him for forcing her inclusion. When she looked up at him, her lips twitching into a soft smile, he breathed a sigh of relief.

When the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch, Nat left without so much as a goodbye. Peter watched her leave, worry evident on his face. When he turned to look at the people who remained, they all turned away quickly.

After walking Shuri to her class, he headed toward his own, stopping when he heard Nat's name coming from somewhere ahead of him. He recognized the voices as belonging to Clint and Erik.

"You didn't have to be a dick about it!"

"I didn't see you rush to extend your hand in friendship after!" Erik hissed. "Brock's got a target on his back now, and-"

"Oh, come on!" Clint scoffed.

"AND so might she by association."

"You don't actually believe that crap, do you?"

"I believe what I know, and what I know is that anyone who crosses Hale ends up dead."

"You don't know that, that's ridiculous."

"Are you certain there's no truth in it?" Erik challenged, and Clint didn't respond. "Brock attacked his girl on that field. You know as well as I do it wasn't an accident." He shifted his backpack and walked away, Clint leaving soon after.

Instead of heading to class, Peter went to the nurse's office. He was feeling a bit faint, so he was given some water and told to lie down while the nurse called his mother.

Peggy was there in a minute, and after failing to get any answers from him other than 'I'm fine', she called Steve to pick him up and instructed him to stay rested for the rest of the day.

He told his father his head was hurting, only to keep him from asking the same questions the nurse and his mother had already asked. Instead, he thought about Nat. He wondered if that was why people seemed to be avoiding her, and if she knew. Did she think her days were numbered, just like Erik did? Should he say something?

As concerned as he was, he somehow thought that would only make everything worse. He knew his family would take it seriously, and Shuri said herself they were only rumors, and not everyone believed them.