Welcome to New York

Chapter 3

He got me a school.

Around nine o'clock I got a message from and unknown number saying:

Hey this is my new number. I found you a school in New York and you can start tomorrow. It's the Midtown School of Science and Technology. Tomorrow morning, I will lay some money on the counter so you can take the bus. -Tony

I was surprised he didn't get me another boarding school in England. This meant that I was going to spend the rest of the year in New York, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that yet. Maybe he did care a tiny little bit about me, a tiny little bit.

The next morning, he proved me wrong. Yes, there was some toast prepared, so I wouldn't starve. And on the counter was the promised money and a note next to it. I expected a 'Have fun', but I sighed in disappointment when I read the note.

I registered you as Natalie Jackson. Don't mention you're a relative of mine or that you live at the Tower. -Tony Stark.

I sighed again and asked Friday if she would upload a route description to the school to my phone.

The school itself was fine. In my first lesson, biology, I was introduced to the class by the headmaster. As expected, nobody was really interested, and I sat down next to a random guy. He didn't look at me at all and I didn't mind introducing me a next time. He already knew my name, that was enough.

When the lesson was done, I checked my schedule. But because I've never been inside this building before, I had no idea where I had to go.

The guy next to me had already packed his back when I tapped him on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, may I ask you something?" I asked as politely as possible and with a little bit of embarrassment.

He turned around and mumbled something that sounded like: "Yeah, sure."

"I really don't know how I get to my next class," I said.

"Oh," he replied with a bit of surprise in his voice. "Well, where do you need to go?"

"Physics in classroom 306"

"Oh, I have physics too, you can walk with me."

"Thank you so much," I grabbed my backpack and swung it over my shoulder. I held out my hand to introduce myself, he now gained my trust. "Let's introduce myself properly, I'm Natalie Jackson."

"Ned Leeds," he said while shaking my hand.

During Physics I also sat next to Ned, got some weird looks, but I didn't really mind at that moment.

Because I joined when the year had already started, I was a little bit confused, but Ned helped me. I didn't expect anyone to be so nice to me.

After Physics we had break, and Ned showed me the way to the cafeteria. I heard some people whispering while we passed them, pretty sure they were gossiping. I still ignored it, but it didn't give me a nice vibe.

We sat down in the cafeteria and I thanked Ned again for being so nice to me on my first day at Midtown.

"It's my pleasure," he replied with a smile on his face. "I'm really glad you don't throw my backpack in a trashcan or something."

I laughed. "What?"

"Yeah, I'm not like a popular guy here, you know. I don't know if you want to be seen with me."

He looked a bit sad when he told me that, and I felt sorry for him.

"Hey, at my former school people treated me like I was air, so I'm not interested in those popular-kid-shit," I smiled at him and he smiled back at me.

"Hey, Ned! Who's your girlfriend?" a guy asked while he dropped his butt on a chair next to Ned.

"Hey bro," Ned replied.

They did some secret handshake or something, so I knew this guy must be okay.

Ned pointed at me: "This, my dude, is a new kid. Her name... what was your name again?"

I chuckled. "Hi, I'm Natalie."

"Yeah, Natalie! Well, anyway, she's being super nice to me, which is really rare, so I thought you and I should show her around our fantastic, fabulous school."

"Sure," the guy answered while looking at me. "I'm Peter by the way."

"Pleasure to meet you Peter."