Natalie's boarding school has burned down and she unexpectedly returns to her home, the Stark Tower. Her uncle Tony isn't waiting for her return at all and tries to hide her as much as possible from the outside world. But an unexpected romance with...
Ned nodded. "Yeah, but it wasn't that exciting. Don't tell Liz I said that!"
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," I winked at him.
We were wearing our yellow blazers and stood in front of the school bus, ready to go to DC for the Nationals of the academic decathlon. Ned kept looking at his watch.
"Are you waiting for someone?" I asked him.
"Yeah..." Ned mumbled.
"Hey, guys," Peter came walking towards us.
"Peter, what are you doing here?" I asked.
He cleared his throat. "I was hoping I could maybe rejoin the team."
"No," Flash walked towards him. "No way. You can't just quit on us, stroll up, and be welcomed back by everyone."
"Hey, welcome back, Peter," mister Harrison walked out of the bus. "Natalie, you're back into first alternate."
I shrugged, took off my blazer and handed it to Peter.
"What?!" Flash was outraged.
"And you're second alternate," mister Harrison spoke. "Now let's get on the bus, kids."
Ned sat down alone in the back of the bus while Peter sat down somewhere in the middle. Why were they not sitting together? Although it felt awkward, I sat down next to Peter.
Liz thought it was a good idea to quiz the team another time. We were all armed with a bell we could ring when we knew an answer. Peter was really good, he knew almost every answer. It felt right he took my place.
"Glad to have you back on the team," I whispered after he got another answer right.
"Glad to be back," he whispered back.
Then his phone buzzed. I tried to look on his phone screen. He moved it away from me, but I noticed the screen said 'Happy'. Why was Happy calling him? Peter walked to Ned's seat in the back of the bus to take it. It didn't take long before my phone buzzed as well. I got a text from Happy saying:
Happy
Is Peter really on a school trip?
Ah, Peter's tracker probably went off telling Happy he left New York. I texted him back:
Natalie
Yeah
Nationals, remember?
I'm there too
Happy
Keep an eye on him will ya?
Natalie
Sure
I put my phone away and focused on the quizzing again.
When we arrived in DC, we had to make pairs for the hotel rooms. Obviously, boys and girls weren't allowed on a room together. I was hoping for Liz to ask me, but she got a room with Betty.
"Alright, if I have to share a room, then I prefer someone who also doesn't have any friends," a girl spoke behind me.
I turned around to realize she was talking to me. "Sure," I chuckled. "I'm Natalie."
She nodded, not showing any emotion. "I know. My name is Michelle, but friends call me MJ."
"Nice to meet you, MJ." I held out my hand, which she shook solemnly.
We teamed up and got a room together. MJ claimed a bed by crashing down on it and grabbing a book.
"What are you reading?" I asked, trying to be polite.
She chuckled. "Of Human Bondage, one of my favorites. Please don't disturb too often, thank you."
I smiled and sat down on the other bed. Out of my bag I picked the book I brought with me for this trip. I saw MJ looking and smirking.
"Song of Achilles? Nice one," she said.
MJ's presence was pleasant. We spent the whole day reading. It was really peaceful. I could get my mind at ease and at the same time get distracted by the beautiful story I was reading. For a moment, I didn't have to think about Peter, or Ned, or the Nationals.
The next morning, things were really hectic. Peter and Ned didn't come out of their rooms. If they didn't hurry up, we were about to get late for the Nationals. Eventually, Ned came out and told us that Peter was having a stomachache. Because of the short time period we had, we decided to leave him at the hotel so he could take some rest and I would take his place since I was first alternate.
Because of my nervousness, I didn't do a great job. I got a few answers right, but most of the points were scored by the other members of the team. We made it to the final round. AND WE WON! Special thanks to MJ, who nailed the final question.
To celebrate our victory, mister Harrison decided it would be fun to visit the Washington Monument. MJ didn't want to go up with us, because the monument was built by slaves. I supported her but wanted to go up anyways, you're not every day spending at a national monument. She promised me not to worry about her, because she brought her book along.
Right before we went through the security-gates inside the building, Ned noticed he got a lot of missed phone calls from Peter. I made him to call Peter back to make sure he was okay, I suddenly got a weird feeling about this situation.
"Is he okay?" I asked as Ned started talking into his phone.
But before Ned could answer me, I was pushed through the gates.
When Ned also came through, already hung up on Peter, more people began to meddle in.
"Was that Peter?" Abraham asked.
"Peter really let us down, we were so lucky we won," Liz said.
"Thanks," I mumbled sarcastically.
Liz continued. "Ned, what is going on with him?"
"Oh," Ned mumbled. "He has something with his tummy, not feeling good, you know?"
Something was not quite right. Ned was lying, I knew him long enough to notice.
"Too bad for him," mister Harrison said. "But we won anyway, great job kids!"
We cheered.
As the doors of the elevator closed, Flash asked: "Mister Harrison, can I be the one to tell Peter he's expelled?"
I rolled my eyes as the elevator went up.
Not realizing it would be a hell of a ride.
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