Every day she gets dropped off precisely 15 minutes until the first bell in an unmarked black SUV by a SHIELD agent that looks completely unimpressed by this assignment as Ava hops out with her bag full of books and gives a small wave of acknowledgment as the same instruction to return to this exact spot is grunted at her. It's a strict schedule she adheres to very closely, because she knows being able to attend school at all is a privilege that can just as easily be revoked if she starts breaking any rules or causing problems.
Ava doesn't like breaking rules. Not yet. Her life is laid out for her and if she follows along and is good, they're going to help cure her. She still very much believes that promise they string her along with, so much so that she eagerly studies between all the breaks in her training and visits to the lab, trying to figure out what she can possibly do with her future once she's completely cured. Something other than that whole killing people thing they're teaching her to do in the evenings. She thinks she likes history one week, realizes most of it seems like a lie, and decides the next maybe she likes her English class better because the stories are at least more enjoyable.
It's easy enough to hide her condition these days, having practiced her control extensively and her body not quite ready to fail her yet. She can take notes fairly reliably, although her teachers still complain about the way her handwriting sometimes gets a bit twitchy. She blames the pencil. But overall things are working out okay after a month of attending, at least her grades seem to be, they tell the agent that pretends to be her mother during the conferences. The reports get sent back to her handler. Nobody seems disappointed in her progress, but nobody praises her either. So she works harder. Her dad would have been proud, she thinks.
She's watched the other students closely, although most of them barely notice her at all. Quiet at the back of the room, she hasn't managed to make any friends yet. Doesn't seem to have anything in common other than the same school uniform. But she's luckily managed to escape the attention of the bullies too. It's funny how even when she isn't invisible, she still feels that way, no idea how to engage with the other kids. But it's for the best, as she overhears one girl invite another over for an after school party. Ava knows she can't attend anything like that.
She fiddles with her locker between classes, struggling to quite get her fingers to cooperate with the lock. Spins the dial back to 10... forward to 23... they slip again, and she sighs, starts over. And notices a boy a couple over that she's never seen before, eyes narrowing a bit suspiciously. 10... 23...
high school au
Ava doesn't like breaking rules. Not yet. Her life is laid out for her and if she follows along and is good, they're going to help cure her. She still very much believes that promise they string her along with, so much so that she eagerly studies between all the breaks in her training and visits to the lab, trying to figure out what she can possibly do with her future once she's completely cured. Something other than that whole killing people thing they're teaching her to do in the evenings. She thinks she likes history one week, realizes most of it seems like a lie, and decides the next maybe she likes her English class better because the stories are at least more enjoyable.
It's easy enough to hide her condition these days, having practiced her control extensively and her body not quite ready to fail her yet. She can take notes fairly reliably, although her teachers still complain about the way her handwriting sometimes gets a bit twitchy. She blames the pencil. But overall things are working out okay after a month of attending, at least her grades seem to be, they tell the agent that pretends to be her mother during the conferences. The reports get sent back to her handler. Nobody seems disappointed in her progress, but nobody praises her either. So she works harder. Her dad would have been proud, she thinks.
She's watched the other students closely, although most of them barely notice her at all. Quiet at the back of the room, she hasn't managed to make any friends yet. Doesn't seem to have anything in common other than the same school uniform. But she's luckily managed to escape the attention of the bullies too. It's funny how even when she isn't invisible, she still feels that way, no idea how to engage with the other kids. But it's for the best, as she overhears one girl invite another over for an after school party. Ava knows she can't attend anything like that.
She fiddles with her locker between classes, struggling to quite get her fingers to cooperate with the lock. Spins the dial back to 10... forward to 23... they slip again, and she sighs, starts over. And notices a boy a couple over that she's never seen before, eyes narrowing a bit suspiciously. 10... 23...