he's my hero → t . stark ( ON HOLD )

Chapter 8

"Uh.... I can't do this."

"Zoza, yes you can. Now come on, we're here."

Steve was going to help get Zoza registered, and she was getting cold feet. Her backpack was on the seat beside her, and Steve reached for it. Taking a deep breath, Zoza climbed out of the car and took her bag from Steve. With his hand on her back, he guided her to the main entrance of the school, and she bit here lip. Steve pressed the intercom button, and one of the secretaries answered.

"Yes?" one woman asked, and Steve cleared his throat.

"I'm here to register my niece for school." Steve replied, and Zoza stared at him. Technically, he wasn't her biological uncle, but it was good enough for her. They were allowed in, and they went right to the main office. A few women were sitting at their desks, and one of them looked over and smiled.

"Hello! You said you needed to register her, correct?" the lady asked, and Steve nodded. Zoza stood beside him, and he set his hand on her shoulder. The lady smiled, and she went to go grab a few forms from the file cabinet by her desk.

"Alrighty, you'll just need to fill these out sir, and I'll get her her teacher and her schedule. Come with me sweetie." she motioned for Zoza to follow her, which she did, shyly.

"Now, how old are you?"

"I'm thirteen turning fourteen in January, ma'am." Zoza replied.

'What a strange registration process this school has...' Zoza found herself thinking as the secretary nodded.

"Okay... Just give me a second there sweetie... and done. It turns out you were given your teacher about two weeks ago, which is odd. Anyways, you're in Mr. Tuckson's homeroom, and here is your schedule."

Zoza took the paper from the woman, and on it was her schedule, locker number, and locker combination.

"But who could have gotten me set up halfway. I've only been here three weeks, since the last week of September." Zoza asked, and the lady checked.

"It says here that your official guardian, Pepper Potts, is it, set this up."

"Oh, that makes more sense. Okay, well, thank you. What should I tell my uncle?" Zoza shifted from side to side, and she heard Steve set something down. She and the secretary went back to the front, and he had finished filling out the forms.

"Well, it looks like you're all set. I'll be here to pick you up at 3:06, okay?" he asked, smiling down at her.

"Okay Uncle Steve, see you later!" she hugged him tightly, and another person entered the office.

"Excuse me? I'm here to take a.... Zoza Potts to Mr. Tuckson's homeroom. i'm her guide, David."

Zoza and Steve pulled back, and she stepped forward. Steve ruffled her hair gently before leaving, and the secretary went back to work.

"That'd be me that you're looking for." she smiled, and David smiled back. He had dark brown hair that covered his eyes, and when he fixed his hair, she saw that he had beautiful hazel eyes.

"Come on, our teacher's expecting us." he motioned for her to follow him, which she did. As they walked, David looked to her and started to talk.

"So, where'd you move from?"

"Oh, I came here from New Jersey."

"That's cool. I moved here from Vermont. I've been here since about second grade. Mr. Tuckson is eighth grade, by the way. then next year, high school." David chuckled, and Zoza whistled.

"I am so not ready, and it's only October." she smiled, and David chuckled.

"Yeah, I feel ya there Zoza. Can I see your schedule?" he asked, and she nodded, handing him the paper.

"Cool, we have the same classes. That makes it so much more convenient for me to show you to your classes. Hey, wanna sit me and my buddies at lunch today?" David asked as they neared their homeroom.

"Oh, uh, yeah, that'd be great. Thanks for the offer David." Zoza smiled, and they went into homeroom together.

***

At the end of the day, David caught Zoza by her locker as she was putting her books away.

"Hey Zoza, have a good first day?" he asked, his smile bright.

"Oh, yeah! Thanks for showing me around, and your friends are pretty cool. I gotta go, my uncle's waiting for me." Zoza shut her locker, and David nodded.

"Right, right. Hey, do you have a phone? I could give you my number, and we could talk later. That cool?"

"Yeah, that's cool. Here..." Zoza took his phone and entered her number, and he wrote down his for her. He watched as she put it in, and she double checked with him that it was correct.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Zoza. Or I'll text you tonight. You don't have phone restrictions, do you?"

"Only if I don't do what I'm supposed to do, so nope. Bye David, and thanks again!" Zoza smiled, and she weaved in and out of the growing crowd of middle schoolers to get to the main office, where Steve was waiting. 

***

When they got back to the tower, Zoza went up the elevator and stepped out, going to the kitchen.

"Hey kiddo, how was your first day?" Blossom asked, glancing up at Steve.

"It was actually a lot of fun. I finally have a friend here, who's actually my age!" she grinned, and she opened the refrigerator to grab a water.

"That's great. Who is it?" Bruce asked, entering the room with Cynthia. He pulled out a chair for her, and she sat down, smiling at him.

"His name is David, and he showed me around today. He even invited me to sit with him at lunch with his friends." she opened her water and took a small sip, and Clint entered the room.

"No boys." he said, and Zoza rolled her eyes.

"Oh boy....not this again..." she mumbled, and Blossom laughed.

"Just wait, you're like a daughter every single man in this room, so let the over protectiveness begin." she smirked, and Steve walked over, kissing her hair.

"Just call it instinct. So, Banner, what's the news?" Steve asked, and Zoza looked up at him before it hit her. Bruce was taking Cynthia to the doctor, and she remembered what the health teacher said during seventh grade health about what happens at about the eighteen week mark. She watched as Bruce held his wife's hand, and they smiled.

"It's a boy."

Zoza quickly stepped out of the way as the others crowded around to congratulate Cynthia and Bruce, but she bumped into Tony.

"Oh, sorry Uncle Tony..." she mumbled, fixing her glasses.

"It's fine. What's going on?" he asked her, not looking directly at her.

"Congratulating them on the baby." she muttered, and she left the room, grabbing her bag along the way.

"What did you say to her Tony?" Pepper whispered as she came up behind him.

"I didn't say anything, I swear. Now come on, we need to congratulate the happy couple." Tony sighed.