A/N: Hey guys! So I've had a pretty hectic week, trying to get everything together before school starts again (in four days, sadly) and I haven't had that much time to write. I had the chapter finished yesterday, but didn't have time to edit and upload it. I guess this is probably what it's gonna be like once school starts. I might have to take a whole week to write the chapter :/

Anyway, so this chapter has a little time jump from the previous one which ended in a cliffhanger...oops. The last chapter was like the wrap up of Ultron and then like a post credits scene for the Blue Phantom: Dawn of Truth movie or part of the story or whatever we're calling it. This chapter is the start of Dawn of Truth and I definitely enjoyed writing it. Adie's back in school, high school now. Her birthday passed last month so now she's 14 years old, freshman in high school.

Well, there's not much else to say...

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"Grow a pair, Eugene."

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FIRST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL
SEPTEMBER 7, 2015

The line was painfully long and Adelaide could swear it had stopped moving. She sighed, shifting her weight to her other leg and hooking her thumb under her backpack strap. She ran her hand through her hair which was still damp from her shower this morning.

"...and then he did a complete flip and landed right side up on his skateboard! How cool is that!" Ned gushed about some skateboarder he'd seen on tv. Adelaide had learned to know when to tune them out. The teenager glanced back at the curly-haired girl behind them, hoping to get some conversation out of her.

"Hey Michelle," Adelaide greeted. The girl glanced up from her book in response before looking down again. Adelaide sighed, craning her neck to look at the line. It moved one step. At this rate, it was going to be late afternoon by the time they got their schedules.

Suddenly, Ned and Peter's conversation about skateboarding stopped and Adelaide followed their gaze to see why. She rolled her eyes when she saw the girl they were both gaping at. Adelaide smacked their heads.

"Ow!"

"What was that for!"

"You're going to creep the poor girl out," Adelaide said. Michelle glanced up from her book.

"She's right." And then she went back to reading.

"But it's Liz!" Ned whisper yelled. Adelaide raised an eyebrow

"And?"

"It's Liz Allan!" Peter said, as if that made it clearer.

"Yeah, we could do this all day," she muttered and Peter grinned.

"She's—We've—I've—" Adelaide hit Peter on the head again.

"I've had a crush on her since...since as long as I can remember," Peter said, "And now she's here!" The two began staring at her again and Adelaide rolled her eyes. It was getting annoying. For some reason, she really wanted Peter to just stop looking at her, but she couldn't pinpoint why.

"And staring at a girl is the best way to her heart," Adelaide said sarcastically, ignoring the little feeling in her chest. She glanced at Liz again, a flicker of anger sparking in her chest. She was by the lockers, laughing with her friends. Adelaide didn't have to look too far to see why Peter liked her so much. The line moved one step again and Adelaide had to practically drag the two boys ahead by their backpacks.

"She has a new hairstyle..." Ned said dreamily. Peter nodded.

"And she got a new pair of shoes..." Adelaide wrinkled her nose. He was being way too observant, on the borderline of stalker.

"Names?" Adelaide turned around, realizing they were at the front desk already. The lady behind the table looked impatient and Adelaide smacked the two boys on their heads again to make them turn away.

"Adelaide Rivers," she said. The lady flipped through a folder and then pulled out a white paper with Adelaide's name in the corner. Adelaide thanked her and stepped aside so the other two could get their schedules. Her eyes skimmed over the paper while she was waiting.

First thing in the morning she had Algebra 2, which was absolutely fantastic considering how much she hated that subject. After that, she had gym, lunch, Chemistry, and English. Once Algebra was over, the rest of her day didn't seem so terrible. Adelaide noticed Peter and Ned stepping out of the line with their schedules in hand.

"Let me see," Adelaide said, snatching Peter's schedule.

"Excuse me," the desk lady said, making the three of them turn around, "Please don't crowd around the line. The bell is about to ring in 5 minutes, begin making your way to your class." The three nodded and then headed off, talking as they were walking down the hall.

Adelaide read over Peter's schedule, frowning.

"Algebra 2 Honors? Nerd," she teased and Peter rolled his eyes, snatching the paper back from her hand.

"Jealous much?" he muttered.

"I'd rather not be in your nerdy math class."

"Besides math, I think we all have the same schedule," Peter said, scanning his paper.

"I don't have Chemistry with you two," Ned said, looking up from his paper.

"Oh? What do you have then?" Ned grinned.

"Computer." Adelaide laughed, knowing how much he loved anything related to computers.

They approached the Algebra class (the non-honors one because not everyone could be a genius at math) and Adelaide and Ned said goodbye to Peter as he rushed upstairs to his class, having only 2 minutes left before the late bell rang. As Adelaide was heading inside, she noticed Liz walking down the hall in her black skirt and Adelaide glanced down at the black jeans she was wearing, tugging at her leather jacket with a frown.

Then, the bell rang and Adelaide hurried inside.

"Math is an art, a very sharp piece if I'm being specific. There is an...elegance to the idea and a beauty underneath the hard surface. A diamond in the rough, if you will," Mr. Hans said. He was seemingly lost in another world and Adelaide wanted to puke. How could anyone possibly like math so much? She tensed, worrying about how she was going to spend the rest of the year with this math-obsessed teacher. She couldn't stand it and he was in love with it.

"So has Liz ever actually...said anything to Pe- you guys?" Adelaide whispered to Ned who was sitting beside her. He sighed dreamily.

"No..." he sighed, "but there was this one time she glanced at us...Oh! There was another time when she smiled at us and we thought we were going to die. It was amazing."

Adelaide wrinkled her nose, wondering why they liked her so much. She looked pretty average to Adelaide. So she asked him just that.

"Why do you guys like her so much anyway?" she whispered.

"Liz...she's funny...smart...talented...nice...pretty..."

"Okay, yeah I get it," Adelaide grumbled, sorry she asked. Ned turned his attention back to Mr. Hans and, as usual, her mind drifted. She thought about how Peter and Ned were so infatuated with Liz. She was girly. Liz didn't fight crime or worry about how many bullets were left in her gun. Liz was the head of the decathlon team and wore skirts. She lived such a normal life and Adelaide was jealous of that. If hadn't been for...for whatever caused her to lose her memories or if that man hadn't killed her parents, she could be living a normal life. Maybe Adelaide would be head of the decathlon team and wear skirts everyday.

Adelaide sighed, looking out the window. Like she could ever be normal. There wasn't one thing in her life that was normal. The teenager wondered if there was ever going to be an end to all this. An end where she finally had all the answers. An end where she was truly happy.

"Tick, tock, Miss Rivers. The assignment isn't going to do itself," Mr. Hans said and Adelaide looked away from the window. Ned pointed at the assignment written on the board and Mr. Hans raised an eyebrow. Trying not to roll her eyes, Adelaide pulled out her notebook and began writing, hoping this class would be over soon.

—————

Gym was hell.

Adelaide considered herself fairly fit. She ran at least 5 miles on the treadmill every morning and there was always a workout that followed. She was rarely out of breath so gym at school was never a problem for her. No, today, her problem was with the coach. Coach Graves. For some reason, every time she looked at him, she felt restless, as if something terrible was about to happen. Adelaide couldn't explain the feeling, but she hated it and she hated Coach Graves. Just the way he looked at her made her want to throw up in her mouth.

Last time she saw the man, she felt a sharp pain in her head and passed out. Everything had been a blur after that. The school had contacted Happy (who they knew as Harry) and he came to pick her up (wearing a disguise). Sometime during the car ride home, Adelaide woke up, but nothing was making any sense and her head felt like a ticking bomb. She rolled back into unconsciousness and then woke up the next day, in her bed at the Tower, sick with a high fever. It had taken 5 days for her fever to go away.

"Rivers, catch," Flash said, hurling a basketball at her. He had noticed that she wasn't paying attention and decided to throw the ball hard enough to embarrass her when she didn't catch it. Instead, Adelaide caught it without looking and tossed it back to him twice as hard. The ball hit his chest and Flash stumbled back a couple of steps before catching it.

"A little harder and I might have been lucky enough to break a rib," Adelaide said before turning away. Flash scowled, gripping the basketball. He had had enough with this girl. Who was she to embarrass him?

"I heard Mr. Hans is super strict," Peter said, dribbling his own basketball. He tossed it to Adelaide and she caught it. She raised an eyebrow at his statement.

"Pete, he gave us homework," she threw the ball to Ned, "On the first day."

Peter laughed, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Come on, he can't be that bad," Peter said, catching the ball.

"Then man's crazy," Ned said, bending over to tie his shoelaces.

"Crazy in love with math," Adelaide said and Ned nodded, looking up. Suddenly, Coach Graves blew his whistle and everyone gathered around him, except Michelle who was sitting on the bleachers with a book in hand. Graves blew his whistle in her direction and she glanced up from her book.

"Do you need a special invitation?" he asked snarkily and Adelaide had the sudden urge to punch out his teeth. Michelle audibly groaned and then stuffed her book in her backpack and stomped down the bleachers. Graves watched her for a second before shaking his head.

"Alright, today we're gonna be practicing some martial arts moves," he said, rubbing his hands together, "Any questions?" Adelaide stared at the ground, refusing to look up. Graves cleared his throat.

"Eyes up here please," he mumbled and Adelaide glared at him. What was his deal? Did he have a problem with specifically her or was he like this with everyone? He smiled, satisfied.

"Let's get going, then."

Soon, they had the mats laid out and then Graves began pairing up people. Adelaide stood with her arms crossed, a sour expression on her face. She just wanted for this class to be over.

"...Leeds, you're with Book Lover over here. Parker, go with Lee," Graves said, walking down the line. He approached Adelaide with the permanent smirk that he always carried. It irritated her to the ends of the Earth.

"Adelaide, with Flash," he said and then walked past her. She resisted the urge to tackle him to the ground as Flash made his way over to her. He smirked, opening his mouth.

"Don't," she muttered and he rolled his eyes.

"Everyone, line up with your partners!" Graves said and Adelaide walked over to the closest mat with Flash trailing behind. She noticed that Peter was at the mat to her left and Ned was to her right with Michelle. Coach Graves stood in front of everyone with a mat of his own as his eyes scanned the class. He pointed to Lee, Peter's partner and gestured for him to come over. Lee gulped, nervously glancing at Peter before slowly making his way to Coach Graves. He stood on the mat, his hands shaking at his sides. Adelaide didn't blame him. Graves was easily scary-looking with his eyepatch and constant know-it-all smirk.

"Watch," he said to the class before facing Lee. In slow motion, Coach Graves grabbed Lee's arm, twisted it behind his back and then pinned the teenager to the ground. Adelaide winced. It didn't look like Graves was really hurting Lee, but Adelaide was suddenly reminded of the first time she met Tony. She had his arm pinned behind his back like he was some doll. She shook her head. That was different. She was different. Adelaide had promised herself to stop thinking about her past. She had to focus on the present.

Graves got off of Lee and the teenager stood up slowly, brushing his shorts off. He walked back to his mat and Peter patted his shoulder understandingly.

"Any questions?" Coach Graves asked.

Flash raised his hand. "Um, Coach?"

"No questions? Great, let's get going." Flash dropped his hand, glancing at Adelaide. She rolled her eyes and positioned herself on the mat.

"Tallest goes first," Graves said and then blew his whistle. Adelaide had Flash's arm twisted behind him before he had even caught up with the action. She smirked, pinning him down and pulling his arm a little more than necessary. Flash grunted.

"Alright, now get off," he grumbled. She rolled her eyes and stepped off. He stood up, stumbling away from her as he glared. Coach Graves blew his whistle again, turning his attention to him again.

"Now switch," he said, making a flipping gesture with his fingers. Adelaide caught Flash's eye. He had a knowing smirk on his face. Coach Graves blew his whistle again and Adelaide got into position. This time, Flash grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back rather clumsily. She rolled her eyes as he pinned her to the ground. Flash grinned and leaned down to her ear.

"What you're not going to faint again this time?" he asked. Adelaide's jaw tightened. "I always knew you were faint-hearted, weak, pathetic –"

Adelaide used her elbow and shoved it into his chest making him roll over. She stood up, pulling him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Don't pick a fight with me," she hissed and then she shoved his chest, causing him to stumble backwards. Adelaide watched him with disgust, turning around. He had no idea what she'd been through. Who the hell was he to call her weak and pathetic? Suddenly, her arm was twisted behind her. Adelaide shook her head before knocking her head back, making him release his grip on her arm. He grinned at her.

"Pathetic."

She pulled her fist back and punched his nose. His hands flew up covering his nose, but the blood still flowed down his chin. Adelaide tilted her head to the side.

"Loser," she said.

Adelaide turned around, noticing that everyone had been watching the little fight of theirs. Including Coach Graves. Adelaide stared back at Coach Graves as he smirked at her. Adelaide squinted. Was he...smiling?

"Coach, I think she broke my nose," Flash said, his voice muffled by the hand he had covered over it. Graves didn't look away from Adelaide, still grinning brightly.

"Grow a pair, Eugene."

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An hour later, Adelaide was still confused why Graves hadn't punished her. She broke Flash's nose, that was definitely punishable. Although, another coach, Coach Harris had noticed the whole thing and gave Adelaide a detention, Adelaide still couldn't understand why Coach Graves looked so...happy about it. What was it with that guy? He creeped her out.

"Everyone, find a partner," Mr. Danson, the Chemistry teacher, said. Adelaide scooted her stool closer to Peter's, her mind still elsewhere.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked, noticing the frown on his friend's face.

"It's just the detention," she lied, waving her hand. Peter chuckled.

"No it's not. You couldn't care less about detention. What's really wrong?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. She glanced at his hand and then back at him. He pulled it away, resting it in his lap. For some reason, she was suddenly reminded that Peter liked Liz. She shook her head. What did that have to do with anything right now?

"Open your textbooks to page 367 and conduct the experiment as it is written. Be careful of your measurements," Mr. Danson instructed. Peter flipped his textbook to the page, eyes skimming over the experiment. He grabbed a beaker and Adelaide absentmindedly grabbed the dishwashing soap.

"Come on, you can tell me," he said. Adelaide sighed.

"Didn't you find it weird how Coach Graves didn't get angry when I broke Flash's nose?" she asked, fiddling with the dishwashing soap in her hand. She picked at the loose paper on the side.

"Well, yeah, it was weird, but I think he was just trying to be funny," Peter said, pouring some colored chemical mixture into the beaker. He grinned, looking at her through his goggles. "Plus, Flash's face was hilarious."

"I don't know..." she said, opening the dishwashing soap bottle. Peter grabbed a pencil, writing something down in his notebook.

"Don't worry about it, Ada. If it wasn't for Harris, you would've gotten away with it," Peter said, glancing at the beaker. Adelaide sighed, resting her chin on her arm. He was right. Maybe Graves was just trying to be funny. Not many people liked him in the first place and maybe he was just trying to change that by being funny. People did that, right? Adelaide sighed again, pouring the dishwashing soap into the beaker absentmindedly.

"You're right," she mumbled. Peter grinned at her.

"See? I told you–Ada no!" She followed his wide-eyed gaze to the beaker which was now overflowing with foam and soaking all of their papers and making a mess on the table. Adelaide glanced at Mr. Danson who looked very angry. She winced, biting her tongue.

Adelaide caught Peter's eye who was holding back a laugh. She pulled her lips in, trying to do the same.

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"What!" Adelaide and Tony winced, trying to shield their ears from Pepper's high-pitched voice.

"Adelaide, it was the first day of high school. How in the world did you get detention?" She shrugged, trying to hide smile by looking down.

"I broke a guy's nose," she mumbled.

"You what?!" Tony laughed, holding his hand up for Adelaide to high-five. She clapped his hand, grinning before she caught the expression on Pepper's face. Adelaide and Tony both dropped their smile, clearing their throats.

"Adelaide, why did you break his nose?" Pepper asked, sighing. Adelaide shrugged.

"He was asking for it," she said.

"That is not acceptable. I'm talking to —"

"Honey, she said he was asking for it. I'm sure he was, right Adie?" Adelaide nodded fast, looking at Pepper. Pepper looked between the two, sighing for the third time.

"That's it," she said, "I can't win with you two." She began walking away, mumbling about how they always team up on her. Tony winked at her, patting her shoulder.

"Good job," he said and then rushed off to Pepper, trying to calm her down. Adelaide laughed to herself, walking over to the fridge to grab a coke. As she was popping it open, her mind drifted to Graves' reaction. She knew Peter believed he was just trying to be funny, but Adelaide couldn't help but think there was something more to it.

Even though he'd given her detention, Adelaide felt like