Marjorie's POV

    "Hey, Marjorie," greeted Rei with a touch of surprise. "What brought this on?"

    Marjorie shrugged, pulling a wary Bucky down with her to sit at Rei's table. "Everyone already knew I was here, so I was giving Bucky a tour." And she needed to find him food... "Nice skirt."

    "Thanks, it's new," they glowed. Rei turned to glare at Blyke. "Who did you tell?" they demanded.

    Blyke shrunk under their gaze. "Why do you automatically assume that I told someone?"

    They raised their eyebrows.

    "A few people," he muttered. "It was an accident. I was talking to the drama kids and—Hey!"

    Marjorie tuned out Rei trying to light Blyke on fire, and refocused on Bucky.

    He was eyeing the cafeteria with suspicion. She agreed: the food was better than most schools (or so she heard) but there were probably close to two hundred students in it.

    Since lunch was an hour, and some students ate outside, not everyone was in the cafeteria at once. And the cafeteria was probably large enough to accommodate a thousand.

    But two hundred people was still a lot, and Marjorie was thankful Rei's table was in the corner so nobody could sneak up behind them.

    Riku slid Rei's barely touched food to Bucky. "They're not going to eat it," she explained.

    He glanced at Rei and Blyke, who had abandoned the table in a tangle of limbs. (Rei was doing most of the fighting, Blyke wasn't once for violence. That was probably why Blyke was reluctant to participate in Self Defense classes, causing a skill gap in Rei's favor.) Bucky shrugged. "Thanks, I think."

    "Hi, Marjorie!" exclaimed a new addition to Rei's table since she joined the Avengers. "It's nice to see you, again," she offered shyly.

    The girl was only an inch taller than Marjorie, clearly Mexican despite her lavender-tinted skin, and had thick, loose curls that almost reached her waist. Her face clicked; "Hey, Emmy," greeted Marjorie.

    Jessica Garcia—known as Emmy—was a bubbly girl with a power to create limited hallucinations. She was a decent painter, and used to follow around Marjorie, idolizing her—presumably for her artistic success.

    She was younger than Marjorie by a few months, and—with a jolt—she realized she missed her birthday in September. Emmy had always been on the outside of Rei's group (mainly because she hung out with the art kids) but maybe that had changed.

    "I like your hair," beamed Emmy. "Riku did mine a few months ago." She showed off the lavender streaks in her otherwise black hair that matched her complexion.

    Marjorie smiled back. She was such a cinnamon roll. "Thanks."

    "Are you going to stay here for a while? Are you still an Avenger? You didn't get kicked out, did you?"

    Marjorie's smile became a little more forced. She was starting to remember why Emmy had been on the outside. "Yeah, I'll probably stay here for a while." She didn't answer the others.

    "Are you going to apply for the X-Men again?" Emmy didn't mean any harm, but she seriously lacked tact.

    She ignored Bucky's eyes curiously shifting towards her. "I don't know, maybe."

     "So, are you—"

    "Hey, Emmy," interrupted Riku, "what are you working on in art, again?"

    Marjorie shot Riku a grateful look. This was why she brought books to read at the table, even back when she ate food. Social situations were her personal hell.

    She suppressed a sigh and opened A Court of Mist and Fury under the table. Now that Riku was deep into a conversation with Emmy, and Rei and Blyke were being pulled apart by Logan, (fights were not uncommon due to the unfortunate mixture of hormones and superpowers, and Marjorie knew that Logan would take them to detention; a place commonly frequented by her) she could start reading.

    And once she started reading... she could have an excuse for not talking to anyone! And she could pretend not to hear people if they said hi to her! MWAHAHA!!!

    Her phone vibrated; Marjorie checked it without closing her book.

Bucky (Burner 3)

    Marjorie bit her lip to keep from smiling. He was literally sitting next to her, and yet he had texted her. Bucky was adorable and perfect... somehow, he knew that she wouldn't—couldn't—answer truthfully with others around and had found a way around it.

    She replied:

yes

just don't like talking 2 people

u?

Bucky (Burner 3)
i'm fine

don't like talking 2 people either

ikr

ugh people

    "Are you two texting each other when you're literally sitting next to each other?" interrupted Riku, pulling a face.

    Marjorie rolled her eyes. "What's it to you?"

    "I'm just saying," defended Riku. "It's kinda funny. You two are very antisocial."

    She sighed, and resumed reading.

~

    Riku pulled Marjorie through the hallway, with Bucky anxiously following them closely and Emmy lagging behind, trying to keep up. They were going to get Rei and Blyke from detention.

    "When did Emmy start hanging around with us?" whispered Marjorie.

    "Over the summer, her friends had a falling out and she started sitting with us at lunch," she replied in the same hushed tone. "Now she follows us around everywhere, but it's not so bad. She's cool once you get past the talkative-thing."

    She nodded in understandance. Emmy was nice and a decent artist, but kind of a motormouth and awkward.

    "We're here!" announced Riku loudly. "Detention!" This was probably for Bucky's benefit, as everyone else already knew where it was.

    "Are you sure we're allowed in?" asked Emmy hesitantly.

    "You should be more worried about whether they let us out," replied Marjorie in a spooky voice.

    She laughed nervously. "But are we—"

    "It's fine," soothed Riku. "I do this all the time." She dropped Marjorie's arm—Marjorie tucked her arm a little closer to her stomach than usual in relief (Riku was forever trying to help her "get over" her aversion to physical contact)—and threw open the door.

    She marched into detention, attracting a few bored glances, and strode over to Rei and Blyke. No one looked surprised; Riku did this often.

    Detention was occupied by 10 to 15 students, with varying degrees of boredom, and Logan propping up his feet on the desk. He looked tired and was drinking beer. Again.

    While Riku went over to check on her sibling and friend—Blyke sporting a few more bruises and scorch marks than Rei—Marjorie drifted over to Logan.

    "Hi," she greeted.

    "You're back," said Logan after a minute. "That's cool."

    Logan had always been one of the X-Men Marjorie wasn't as familiar with, because he had some grudge with Erik. (They had gotten over it—something to do with Logan's metal skeleton?) But he was pretty chill, she guessed. She had gotten more comfortable with him after an unfortunate incident with an annoying group of bullies and a locked closet when she was 11.

    Marjorie nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

    Logan nodded too. "You brought your boyfriend back."

    "Yeah."

    Behind her, Bucky inclined his head in acknowledgment. His shadow vapor was nervous, but he didn't seem to be too concerned about Logan; they must have never met before.

    "Erik was mad about not being allowed to kill you," observed Logan.

    Bucky nodded in acknowledgement.

    Logan narrowed his eyes at Bucky. "It's nice to meet you," he said deliberately. "I'm Logan."

    "Bucky," he said shortly.

    Marjorie glanced between the two. Logan was studying his face, and Bucky was doing the same. She frowned, Logan's shadow vapor did not like Bucky.

    But he seemed to accept that Bucky had no idea about whatever Logan's issue was, and said, "Alright, then. You two stay out of trouble, and keep the twins from burning anything else down for at least a week, please."

    Marjorie and Bucky joined Emmy, who had been hovering nervously at the door, Blyke, and the twins.

    "Are you sure this is allowed?" Emmy was asking.

    "Yes," reassured Riku. "I think Logan doesn't care enough to keep them–" she poked her sibling in the ribs "-in detention. I asked him once if I could steal Rei early, and we've been breaking the other out ever since. He's used to it."

AN: Please read my works on AO3! Shadows and Secrets is up to date on AO3 and free to read there, even without an account! My works will remain on Wattpad for now, however, the AO3 versions are much better edited and add bonus content. In the future I plan to post new works exclusively on AO3! All links are in my bio if the one below gives you trouble. I will continue to post the rest of Shadows and Secrets Book Three on Wattpad but please know the AO3 version is better while the Wattpad version is just a first draft.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanguismoon