Chapter Text
Waking up to AC/DC music blaring through her room was startling, but Francesca was used to it. She groaned and scrubbed her hands over her face, just as her door flew open.
“Rise and shine, Roo! Your mom is making breakfast.”
She glared at her dad standing in her doorway. “Is this really necessary?”
“Who doesn’t want to start their day with some AC/DC?” Tony replied, pulling open her curtains.
She squinted against the light streaming into her room. “At 7:00 in the morning? I’m pretty sure no one. Especially not at a decibel level high enough to kill a puppy.”
Tony grinned. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. It’s scientifically proven that AC/DC improves morning productivity.”
She rolled her eyes and let herself fall back against her pillows. “It is not. You just made that up.”
Tony shrugged. “Either way, it’s time to get up. Breakfast is almost done.”
She groaned and threw one of her pillows at him, which he caught.
“Violence before breakfast, very healthy. Aunt Nat would be proud.”
“Get out.”
“Love you too, Roo.” He tossed the pillow back onto her bed and disappeared into the hallway.
She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth.
“Love you too, Dad,” she mumbled under her breath.
She grabbed her phone off of her nightstand and took a second to check her notifications before forcing herself out of bed. She padded across the room and plopped down at her vanity.
Francesca stared at herself in the mirror. While she was sleeping, her curls had flattened on one side, the other somehow managing to develop a mind of its own.
“Great,” She mumbled, already grabbing her spray bottle and misting the worst of it. After a quick pass with the diffuser, she decided it was fine.
Not perfect. She didn’t have time for perfect, but good enough.
She quickly put on some mascara and lip gloss and threw on the outfit she had picked out the night before. She grabbed her backpack and examined herself in the mirror one last time before heading toward the elevator.
The elevator doors slid open, and Francesca stepped inside, barely looking up as she pressed the button for the common floor. This was the floor that housed the shared kitchen, dining room, and living room. The Stark family had their own private spaces, of course, but most days they preferred the chaos and camaraderie that came with sharing meals with whichever Avengers happened to be staying at the tower at the time.
When the doors opened, the smell of bacon immediately hit her.
She glanced into the kitchen where her mom was just beginning to plate up the food. Next to her were Steve and Tony, apparently arguing over something that had to do with the steaming pot of coffee sitting between them and the creamer in Tony’s hands. At the table, Bruce was already reading the morning newspaper, deliberately blocking out the bickering coming from the kitchen.
She took her seat at the table and put her head down, hoping to catch a few extra seconds of blissful sleep.
“Head up,” came her mom’s voice from behind her.
She listened, lifting her head and grabbing her plate from her mom’s hands. Her mood immediately brightened at the sight of blueberry waffles and bacon.
“Thanks, Mom!”
Pepper leaned down and placed a kiss on top of Francesca’s head. “You’re welcome, Roo.” She placed two more plates on the table and turned back toward the kitchen. “Tony it’s not going to kill you if he puts creamer in his own coffee. Stop arguing, both of you, and go eat your breakfast.”
“I know it won’t kill me, but how can I allow such lawlessness in my own home?” Tony argued back.
Pepper fixed him with a look. “Eat. Now.”
Tony grumbled but did as he was told, releasing the creamer and taking his own seat at the table beside Francesca.
Just as she lifted her fork to her mouth to take her first bite, she felt someone ruffle her hair from behind. “Morning, Chee Chee.”
She turned her head and fixed her brother with a glare. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”
“What, I can’t call you Cheech anymore but Mom and Dad can still call you Roo?”
Francesca simply rolled her eyes and shoved her fork in her mouth.
“Brooks, stop antagonizing your sister and sit down,” Pepper demanded, placing another plate on the table for him.
Brooks took a seat and began eating. He was already in his suit, which bothered Francesca for some reason. Apparently he was ready to save the world one boring board meeting at a time. Couldn’t risk being late to corporate heroics.
“How’s your calculus grade?” Tony asked from beside her.
“Fine,” she answered around a mouthful of bacon.
Tony gave her a suspicious look. “You know, ‘fine’ isn’t usually the word you use when you’re getting an A.”
“It’s the word I’m using now.”
“Roo-”
“Dad.”
Tony held his hands up in surrender. “Alright.”
Francesca returned her attention to her waffles, hoping that was the end of it.
For what it’s worth, Chess,” Steve said from across the table, “I think your dad’s just proud of you.”
She glanced up. “I know.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
She shrugged. “There isn’t one.”
Brooks snorted and raised an eyebrow. “That’s a lie.”
Francesca kicked him under the table.
“Ow, Cheech!”
“What?” she asked innocently.
“Nothing,” Brooks responded, wisely deciding to return his attention to his breakfast.
Tony glanced between them but decided to say nothing.
“You have that project today, right?” Bruce asked, expertly changing the subject.
Dang it, she had forgotten all about that.
“Yeah. Some stupid semester project. We’re finding out the details today,” she responded while pushing food around her plate.
“What class?” Steve asked.
“Physics.”
Tony raised an eyebrow. “Physics?”
Here we go again. “Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
Tony opened his mouth but thought better of it and returned to his breakfast.
“You know,” Brooks said, “most people would be happy to have a dad who actually cares about their grades.”
Francesca shot him a look. “Most people don’t have a dad who can turn a simple homework question into a twenty-minute lecture on quantum mechanics.”
Tony looked offended. “It was ten minutes.”
She fixed him with a look that said, ‘You know I’m right’. “It was twenty.”
“Fifteen, at most.”
Pepper sighed. “Can we please make it through one breakfast without arguing?”
“We’re not arguing,” Tony and Francesca responded simultaneously.
Steve snorted into his coffee.
Just then, her phone lit up.
Happy: You’re late.
Francesca glanced at the clock and shoved the rest of the waffle in her mouth, chewing frantically. “Gotta go. Happy’s downstairs waiting for me. Love you guys, see you later,” she called as she grabbed her backpack and headed toward the elevator.
She climbed into the car on autopilot, responding to texts from the night before as she mumbled a greeting to Happy.
The drive was quick, and it seemed like they were pulling up to the school in record time.
“Your father specifically told me to make sure you weren’t late,” Happy told her, putting the car in park.
“I’m not late.”
Happy glanced at the clock. “You’re seven minutes late.”
She grinned. “That’s basically early,” she said, climbing out of the car. “See you later, Happy!”
Francesca adjusted her backpack and watched as Happy pulled away from the curb. She turned toward the school, slipped her phone into her pocket, and straightened her shoulders before walking through the doors.
She stopped by the office, got her late pass, and headed to her first class, English. It was boring and uneventful, but at least the work was easy enough.
After class, she headed toward her locker to grab her Physics book.
“Fran!”
She shut her locker and turned at the sound of her name and saw her friends waving from down the hallway.
“Hey!” she called back, falling into step beside them.
“Did you do the reading for physics?” Dylan asked.
“We had reading?”
“You’re impossible,” Maddie responded, rolling her eyes. “We all know you did it three days ago.”
“I had nothing better to do.”
Dylan stared at her. “You had nothing better to do than read a physics textbook? You live in a tower with the Avengers.”
“And?”
“And?” Dylan repeated incredulously. “You could literally hang out with Captain America.”
“Steve was working.”
Maddie snorted. “So you decided to read your physics textbook instead?”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“You’re such a nerd.”
“And yet you keep me around.” She grinned as they all took their seats.
Francesca pulled out her notebook and planner and glanced at the week. “Mads, can I borrow your top for the soccer game on Friday? You know, the one with the blue glitter on the numbers?”
“You literally have the same top with yellow glitter.”
“And the blue brings out my eyes better.”
“Why don’t we just trade then?”
Francesca looked up excitedly. “Can we really?”
Maddie rolled her eyes fondly. “You always take mine anyway. What difference would it make?”
“Best friend ever!” Francesca grinned, throwing her arms around Maddie. “Maddie is officially at the top of my pyramid for this week.”
Dylan gawked at her. “Really? All it takes is a shirt? I went across town to get you your favorite coffee last week.”
“And that’s why you were at the top of the pyramid last week.”
“No, I wasn’t! Owen was!”
She hummed thoughtfully. “You’re right. Better try harder this week.”
Dylan opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Mr. Callahan.
“All right, everyone, settle down.”
The room gradually quieted as the teacher stood up from his desk.
“Before we begin today, I want to talk about your semester project.”
Francesca sat a little straighter in her seat. Somehow, despite their conversation about it at breakfast, she had completely forgotten about the project.
Mr Callahan picked up a stack of papers from his desk. “As I mentioned last week, this project will be worth twenty-five percent of your final grade.”
A few students groaned.
“You’ll be working in pairs,” he continued. “I’ll be assigning your partners today.”
Fantastic.
Francesca would much rather work alone. Not because she couldn’t work with other people, but because she knew exactly how these things usually went. Eventually, her partner would realize that her last name wasn’t just a coincidence, and they would either dump all the work on her or refuse to shut up about her family the entire time.
Mr. Callahan began reading off the pairs.
“Maddie Lewis and Dylan Carter.”
Maddie and Dylan both grinned and high-fived.
Mr. Callahan continued down the list, eventually reaching her name.
“Francesca Stark and Peter Parker.”
Francesca’s stomach dropped. She didn’t know much about Peter, but from what she could tell, he was the kind of student who never said no to a teacher. Always raising his hand, following instructions, and looking terrified of getting in trouble.
A total pushover.
She glanced toward the back of the room, and a boy with messy brown hair looked up from his notebook, clearly just as surprised as she was.
Peter closed his notebook and slowly made his way toward her desk.
“Hey.”
Francesca glanced up at him, beginning a doodle in her notebook. “Hi.”
He shifted his backpack onto one shoulder. “I guess we’re partners.”
“Looks like it.”
There was an awkward pause.
“I’m Peter, by the way.”
“I know.”
“Right. Yeah. Obviously.” He paused again. “Sorry.”
She smirked slightly. “It’s fine. Have you started thinking about what we should do?”
“Not really.” He looked slightly relieved. “I was worried I was going to have to do everything myself.”
Francesca smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry. I’m very good at doing the bare minimum.”
“Uh okay,” he mumbled, his smile faltering for just a second. “When should we start?”
Francesca shrugged. “Tonight?”
Peter shook his head. “I can’t tonight. I’m starting my new internship.”
“So tomorrow, then.”
“Yeah, tomorrow works. In the meantime, do you want to start working on the research, and I’ll start working on the experimental design?”
Francesca nods. “Sure.”
“Cool. Then we can compare everything tomorrow.”
“Works for me.”
Peter nods. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”