When Pepper had first met him, he wasn't some big shot. He was a quite kid, proud of what he did and all he ever wanted was for his dear old dad to think the same of him; Howard never gave his the attention he deserved as a kid. It wasn't that he was neglected as a kid, very far from it, he was handed his entire life and told to get on with it and that didn't pose well on his childhood. The kid had issues and trying to deal with issues when you don't have many friends can be a problem. Sure, he had friends, well, people that would claim to be his friends but, in truth, they only liked him because of the family he was born into. Stark Industries is a multi-billion dollar company. Pepper had met Tony Stark at St. Arion's boarding school, the place was more like a convent in their opinions. In truth, this was the place the stupidly rich sent their children when they became too old for wet nurses and nannies. This was school the heirs to these fortune 500 companies went to become bitter and distasteful people; you arrived at this school full of aspirations and the joys of childhood still lingering around you and you left with stone-carved facial expression, a cold hatred towards everything and a complete disregard for human companionship, unless, you know, you were fucking them.
Pepper had met Anthony at St. Arion's the day they both arrived. It was about a quarter way into term and the classes were already well on into their courses now, not that bothered Pepper. She'd come here with the intention of sticking to herself, getting her grades and spending as little time there as was humanly possible. But when she walked down the corridor towards the dreary looking reception and caught sight of possibly one of the most handsome guys she had ever laid eyes on, all plans went out of the window. The boy sat slouched in one of the arm chairs to the right of the reception desk, his face buried deep in a magazine from MIT, and she couldn't help but smile approvingly. Smart and gorgeous she thought to herself as she made her way towards the reception desk. The woman behind the desk looked almost as drab as the rest of the room did and when she sighed in annoyance, Pepper swore she could see the dust settling on her.
“Miss Potts, I'm assuming, hmm?” said the woman in a monotone voice. Pepper nodded once. “Mm, yes, I thought so. Mr McCrae is in a meeting right now and wasn't expecting you for another hour and a half so you will just have to wait patiently for his return. You are welcome to wait here,” she gestured half-heartedly towards the empty seat beside the boy, “if you wish. Either way, it's not my problem.” The woman huffed, settling back into her chair and picking up a tattered looking book. Pepper sighed, the hospitality here, she thought, isn't exactly welcoming. She stood a moment deciding on her course of action before finally giving up and taking the seat beside the boy. The boy hadn't even looked up since she had arrived, well, not that she had noticed anyway.
The truth was that the boy had been throwing her side glances since she had arrived, finding himself strangely attracted to the girl with the fiery hair. She had sat down beside him and now she was close that her perfume, Prada? No, it's got to be Chanel surely, attacked his senses. The sweet smell of her perfume invaded his nose and he couldn't help but breathe in. Who was this girl? Surely, she wasn't another prisoner in this hell hole. He just had to find out.
“What are you in for?” He prompted, expecting some stuttered reply about how she was here for the schooling because her parents had told her that the standards were truly excellent but was surprised when the girl never missed a beat in her response.
“Murder,” she stated. “What about you? Stab your butler in the leg with a pencil?” She questioned in a mocking tone. For a moment, he was stunned. This girl had just redirected his witty comment and it had totally backfired in his face. Never had that happened to Tony Stark before.
“My dad, actually, but gold star for effort.” He retorted and received a soft chuckle in reply. Tony raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her.
“You're one of those kids; daddy gave you everything you could want, everything except for that one thing you wanted; his love. You never got it and so- what you're about thirteen? - you built up a resentment for your old man and eventually daddy couldn't be bothered with the teenage mood swings and you ended up here.”
Wide-eyed and mildly weirded out, Tony replied, “Ah, stay out of my head! Seriously, that's some creepy stuff. That's what shrinks are for, are you going to become a shrink? I really hope not because those people scare the shit out of me,” Tony grimaced. The girl smirked and offered him her hand.
“Virginia Potts, but call me Pepper, it's so much less formal.”
Taking her soft hand in his, “Tony Stark.”
“Huh, didn't see that one coming. So how long are you here for? Are you new here too?” She asked him.
“I have to admit, you read me like an open book just there. Dad lost it with me last week and promised-” Tony caught himself before he said something he regretted. “That doesn't matter, I'm here now and I'm stuck her until I'm at least fifteen then I'm going to MIT. What's your story?”
“My parents wanted the best for me, apparently. Said that the 'state run school weren't going to get me anywhere and if I wanted to strive, I needed to have a more reliable place of education.” She rhymed off.
“Wow, sounds like you got that speech often,” Tony commented with a whistle.
“Like you wouldn't believe and my dad never let up until I decided to come to this place. I intend to get out of here as fast as I can with as little damage done as possible. I only need a couple of classes anyway.”
“You're a stay in right? You're going to be staying here?”
“Unfortunately, I live too far away to go home every night,” Pepper informed him with a look of pure disappointment.
“Then it's you and me stuck with all of these creeps. It's good to know that there is at least one person that isn't a snotty snob that's so far up themselves that they can't see straight. It's nice to meet you, Peps.”
“Yeah, you to Stark,” Pepper returned the pleasantries, and thought to herself, this might not be so bad after all.
