I know some of you are waiting on my other story called "Loki's Unknown Servant." I hit a road block on that one and I'm hoping this story will help unclog my writer's block.

Hope you enjoy this one!

Natasha Romanoff and school didn't mix. She wasn't a social butterfly. She'd always thought of herself as a wallflower. So when Ms. Gray came to the room of the orphanage she lived at and told her an anonymous donor was paying for a scholarship? Well, 16-year-old Natasha wasn't thrilled. She'd tried to refuse, but Ms. Gray insisted she take advantage of the opportunity.

So that's where she found herself this breezy, rainy Monday morning; standing on the front steps of Nicolas F. Avenge High with a black messenger bag slung over her shoulder. She pushed a strand of long, curly auburn hair behind her ear and blew out a slow, collected breath. This was going to be easy. What was harder than walking into a crowd of kids her age? She could always bust out her karate if need be.

"Come on, Rogers! I'm going long!"

Natasha was rammed into from behind by a boy a little taller than she was. If she'd been anyone else she would have done a faceplant right where she was standing. "Watch where you're going, idiot," she snapped at him.

The boy flipped his unruly dark brown hair out of his eyes and fixed his chocolate colored gaze on her. "Watch where you're standing."

She glared at him, her emerald green eyes narrowed. "I didn't know there was a law that said I have to stand in a certain place in order to stay on my feet."

The boy smirked and was abruptly smacked in the head with a football, landing on his butt. "Okay, ow!"

Another boy, this one a bit taller, ran over. "Sorry, Tony. It was an accident."

He blinked sorrowful blue eyes at his friend and offered a hand to help him up.

Tony (since that was apparently his name) accepted the aid. "No big. I was distracted by Miss Grouchy here."

Natasha rolled her eyes briefly. "My name's Natasha."

The taller boy smiled shyly and said, "I'm Steve."

"And I'm Tony. But you knew that," Tony said, dusting his jeans off and straightening his red t-shirt that had gold print letters reading, "Too cool for you."

Natasha merely sighed. This was turning into a great start (notice the sarcasm). She'd managed to nearly embarrass herself within the first five minutes.

"Say, are you new here?" Tony asked, peering at her with a sideways look that reminded her of a chicken. "I think I'd remember if you weren't."

Steve elbowed his friend, shooting him a look that read, "Be polite."

Natasha nodded. "I just transferred this morning." The lie was easy to make. In reality, she hadn't gone to school since the sixth grade. Fortunately, she was an expert at teaching herself.

"Do you need help finding your way around?" Steve asked, brushing a single strand of blonde hair off his forehead and back into his neat haircut.

"Yeah, I kind of own this school," Tony said with a cocky tilt to his head. "Oh, and Steve, too. But he's my sidekick."

Steve just shook his head, not bothering to argue.

Natasha found herself smiling. Even if it was only a small one. "I might need a tour."

"Then you've come to the right place." Tony slung his arm around Steve's shoulders. "Because the Stark & Rogers Touring Company just got an open slot."

Steve half smiled, shrugging Tony's arm off. "Ignore him."

"Already doing it," Natasha informed with a mischievous smirk.

Tony looked mock hurt. "I'm wounded. Now, you ready to look around or what?"

She nodded once and followed the two through the front doors. Maybe school wouldn't turn out to be so bad after all.

So what did you think? I've written a couple of the Avengers as high schoolers before and I thought it would be fun to give it a shot at publishing.

Reviews always welcome!