Little Miss America

Chapter Four

BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Shut up, shut up, shut up" you thought, groaning as you rolled over to face your alarm clock.
7am was way too early for anyone to wake up, especially if they had been out all night. Which you had.
You sighed over dramatically as you swung your legs out of bed and stood up.
You had a slight headache, but you pushed past it as you headed for the bathroom.
It took a while to cleanse yourself of the smokey smell lingering around you, because of course in an orphanage where everything is shit, so are the soaps.
Finally, you emerged from the shower, smelling of the soap that you had thought was meant to be strawberry, and you hurried down the hallway back to your room.
You got to your room and dropped the towel, and began to rifle the monotonous drab clothes that were hung in your wardrobe.
You picked out a long black nun-length skirt, with a white blouse and black cardigan to match.
The skirt was way too long for your liking, so you rolled it up until it was a few inches above your knee.
It created such a build up of fabric around your waist that you unrolled it again and just tore it in half.
Much better.
You'd have to fix the hem later, but now, you wanted breakfast.
You grabbed your phone and skipped down the stairs.
"Y/n get off your phone! And what happened to your skirt? Your hair is a mess! No time for excuses, you're going to be late for breakfast!" Sister Margaret rambled in your face.
You rolled your eyes at the nun and pushed past her into the dining room.
There were only two seats left, and both of them were in the middle of large groups of young children.
You hid your disgust with a fake smile as you sat down between two girls that looked about five or six.
"Hello y/n" the children at the table greeted in unison.
They adored you; they thought 'you're awesome because your dad was Captain America'.
Privately, you wished you could eat alone, or you'd rather just not eat. But this was all part of the facade.
Pretend, for the benefit of everyone but yourself.
"Hey guys" you responded, with a look of cheerfulness that was utter bullshit. But it was enough to keep them happy.
You ate your breakfast pretty much in silence, only speaking when spoken to, because you didn't feel like telling stories right now.
About five minutes before breakfast was scheduled to end, Ethan slipped in through the door.
After scanning the room quickly, he saw the only other empty chair in the crowd of younger children, and decided against it. He made brief eye contact with you before sneaking through the door into the kitchen.
You waited a minute, then got up to join him.
He was sitting in a chair, with his feet kicked up onto the side, biting into an apple.
You put your plate down on the side, that hopped up to sit next to it, facing Ethan.
Without saying a word, you pulled out your phone and started playing a game.
"Y/n, what have I told you about that phone."
Convenient timing, Sister Margaret walked in.
You groaned and put it in your pocket once more.
Sister Margaret was by far your least favourite nun there.
"If I see it again, I'll have to confiscate it... what are you two doing in here?" she asked.
You looked at Ethan, hoping for him to answer.
"Privacy" he shrugged.
"You should eat with the other children. They enjoy your company."
"Whatever."
"Y/n, you need to sort out that outfit" she turned to face you.
"What's wrong with it?" you questioned, knowing full well that was wrong.
"It's inappropriate and unacceptable. You will need to be better presented when you meet out guests."
"What guests?"
"We have some people hoping to adopt coming in today to look around."
"Oh goodie" you cried sarcastically.
"You're classes are cancelled today. Be in the living room at 10am, and make sure you have done all your chores."
"Mmmhm."
"Ethan, feet off the table" Sister Margaret said as she walked out of the kitchen.
Ethan didn't bother to move, and you pulled out your phone once more.
Ethan watched as you held it up to your ear and it began to ring.
You ran your other hand through your hair, waiting patiently for an answer.
"Ugh!" you exclaimed when it went to voicemail the first time. "Never picks up the goddamn phone."
"Language" Ethan winked.
A smile flashed across your face, remembering that your dad always said that to you.
"You seem pissed" Ethan mentioned as the frown returned across your face.
"He didn't pick up."
"You called once."
"So?"
"Call him again?"
"Nope. He don't pick up, he don't get to talk to me."
"Who is it?"
"No one."
'No one' called you back a second later, and you smirked at his name on your phone.
"Are you gonna answer it?"
"Nope" you grinned and declined the call, then put your phone back in your pocket.
"I don't understand you" Ethan chuckled.
"Thank you?" you laughed back, jumping down off the side and heading out the door. "See you later."
"Bye y/n" Ethan shook his head in amusement at you.
You returned to your room, but didn't start your chores straight away.
You pushed open the window and sat on the windowsill, lighting a cigarette.
You inhaled, closed your eyes, and exhaled a puff of smoke smoothly.
Your worries about the day to come started to ease as you sat peacefully by the window.
Eventually, you threw the cigarette out onto the street and slipped the lighter away in your pocket.
You took out your phone to check your notifications.
"Everything okay princess?"
You smiled softly and unlocked it.
"All good Bucket."
A new message quickly popped up.
"R u sure?"
"Yes. I'll ttyl, gotta go meet some people that are hoping to adopt."
"Sounds good, have fun."
"I won't :)."
"Ly."
"Ly2. "
You chucked your phone onto your bed, and began your chores.
---
You opened your phone, hoping to find comfort to cheer you up after the depressing day you had just had.
"Hey" you messaged the avengers group chat, and stared at the screen until someone replied.
"Hey trouble, how are you?" - Sam
"Sup little Rogers" - Rhodes
"Hey bestie :)" - Peter
"Hi sweetie, how you doing?" - Wanda
"Hi honey" - Clint
"Hello y/n/n" - Bruce
Every message made you smile briefly. Then Bucky messaged, and you had to think about how to respond.
"How did it go today?" - Bucky
You paused long enough for the others to keep texting.
"What happened today?" - Sam
"How did what go?" - Clint
"I don't really wanna talk about it."
"Aw, did you have a bad day?" - Wanda
"What happened honey?" - Clint
"It's nothing."
More texts buzzed through, but you ignored them as one appeared at the top of the screen. You pressed onto it, opening the private chat with 'Bucket <3'.
"Scale of 1-10?"
"Negative six."
"Really that bad?"
"Hated every second."
"I'm sorry."
You were going to text back but 'my spidey' popped up and you changed to chat with Peter without replying to Bucky.
"I'm sorry I never checked in" his message read.
"It's okay."
"Why didn't you tell me where you were?"
"I didn't want to worry you."
"I was worried when you didn't show up at school and basically disappeared with no explanation."
"Sorry."
"No, I should've called."
"Same. I'm sorry."
"Stop apologising."
You were about to say sorry again, then quickly deleted it. You turned back onto the main group chat.
"Y/n!" - Sam
"Hello?" - Clint
"She disappeared off the face of the Earth." - Rhodes
"Lmao she blipped!" - Sam
"Wait, we're joking about that now?" - Clint
"No." - Bruce
"Y/n?" - Sam
"Anyone know what happened today?" - Clint
"I had an algebra test." - Peter
"I think he means with y/n." - Bruce
"Why is she not texting back?" - Wanda
"Did she die?" - Rhodes
"Aha I wish."
"Ayyy! There she is." - Sam
"Wait, no!" - Peter
"Why would you wish to die sweetie?" - Wanda
"Don't joke about that" - Bruce
"U gonna tell us what happened today?" - Sam
"No."
"Bucky knows, ask him" - Clint
"Yo Buck!" - Sam
"You can't call me that" - Bucky
"Whatever. What happened with y/n?" - Sam
"None of your business pigeon."
"Rude!" - Sam
"I just had a bad day, that's all."
"Why? What happened sweetie?" - Wanda
"Hm..."
"Tell us honey" - Clint
"It's really nothing. Can we talk about something else?"
Bucky messaged you privately again.
"Why don't you tell them?"
"Tell them what?"
"That people we're looking around today."
"It's not important."
You didn't want to tell them, because it would lead to questions that you didn't want to answer.
"I'll tell them."
"No please don't" the message only just sent as Bucky messaged the main group chat.
"There were people looking to adopt at the orphanage today" Bucky told them.
"That's wonderful!" - Wanda
"Meet anyone you like?" - Bruce
"Does this mean you get new parents soon?" - Peter
"Why was your day so bad then?" - Sam
"I hate you Bucky."
"What happens now?" - Rhodes
"Why did you have a bad day honey?" - Clint
"Did no one want you?" - Sam
"Ouch" - Peter
"There are better ways to phrase that Sam" - Clint
"Oh I'm sorry y/n" - Sam
"You're shitting me, right?"
"?" - Sam
"Think of who my dad is, you really think no one wanted me?"
"Well that's great news, right?" - Peter
"Someone's gonna adopt you?" - Rhodes
"You'll have a family" - Wanda
"I'm still confused" - Clint
"You're not happy?" - Clint
"Ffs no!"
"Y/n, what's wrong sweetie?" - Wanda
"You guys are my family!"
"Or you were, until you put me in this hell hole!"
"I never wanted that to change, now you're all so relieved that I can be someone else's burden."
"Today has been the worst day of my life."
"I don't want to replace my dad."
"Why can't any of you understand that?"
*y/n left the chat*
"Guys we fucked up" - Sam
"Big time" - Clint
"What do we do?" - Bruce
"I just tried to call her, it's not working" - Wanda
"She blocked my number" - Peter
"Same here" - Sam
"Bucky? What about you?" - Sam
Bucky had switched to private messages again.
"I'm sorry princess."
"Please pick up the phone."
"Y/n, I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Please call me."
His messages stopped going through.
"Are you okay hun?" someone asked.
"Yeah I'm fine" you smiled weakly, turning your phone off and putting it away in your pocket.
"Okay. Hungry?"
"No. All good, thank you" you lied, holding back tears as you looked out the moving car window.