CHAPTER SEVEN | 07.

GHOSTLY MISCHIEF MANAGED

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THE next day at school was a gloomy one. The morning started with rain and first class was physics. Morana hated physics.

However, what caught her off guard was that when she got in the class, she wasn't the first one this time. Peter Parker was there before her, dozing off in his seat. Eyes wide as saucers, nearly tripping over her own feet, she stumbled to her seat ignoring Tony's dramatic rant. He had figured out that as a ghost, he could not smell nor taste things anymore and frankly enough it was pissing him off since 'the scent of coffee was his lifeline'.

She nearly missed the moment he stopped blabbering.

She pretended that she wasn't peeking towards Peter after every twenty seconds. Her creepy tendencies were stopped by the class flooding with students, she nearly banged her head against the table.

It took her twice the time to understand things then others, and it was so humiliating when the teacher asked her to answer something in front of the whole class and she just didn't know the answer to that.

"Can you tell us the size of angle x Miss Lamia?"

Like in that moment for example, Mor had been too caught up with staring out in the rain to notice what the teacher had been talking about.

She looked up like a deer caught on headlights, feeling the redness rising to her cheeks as a couple of heads turned her way, most didn't care much, doodling away to their books but even those few eyes made her insides churn, especially the silence that followed after the teachers question.

"x is 145°." her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she stared at him.

Peter Parker had answered for her, Peter Parker knew she existed, and he knew her last name was Lamia. Or wait, did he?

"Thank you miss Lamia." the teacher said sternly, looking pointedly at dishevelled Peter who offered her a smile. A couple of students chuckled but Mor barely acknowledged it.

"Hold on."

Mor looked back down towards her notebook with a doodle of a raccoon. Tony jumped on the windowsill next to Mor, tangling his legs as he leaned towards her a little with a grin forming on his face.

"Are you crushing on Peter?"

"No" Mor hissed quietly, a bright glint appeared in his eyes, something that Mor didn't really like.

"That's- wow, it's so obvious! Well, why haven't you talked to him?!" Mor felt the redness cover her whole neck, was it obvious? Wait, she didn't even like Peter that way! He was just... handsome, yeah.

"Hellooo? I'm talking to you." He said in a sing-song voice, seeming way too happy about his wrong presumptions.

"It's not like that at all." she said into her shoulder, peeking up towards Tony with a glare that would make any sensible person back away. Mischief was written all over his smug face, as if a realization of the century dawned.

"Tony..." she whispered warningly, not liking the look on his face.

"Okay can we go over the whole 'Tony is half-alive' thing?"

She gave him a confused look. "Right now?"

"Yeah, why not? Besides, you're not learning anything in this class, you're way too caught up starting at the spi- Parker."

She narrowed her eyes, he was acting slightly fishy, so she decided it would be best to do what she did so often: ignore him.

"Oh come on, no compassion? I'm the dead one, kid. You ever been dead? It's so lonely, no one really to talk to, everyone just ignores you... It's a lonely existence." he said, doing his best to dug at her heartstrings.

She wasn't going to fall for it, whatever he was up to, it wasn't good. He slumped against the window, looking out into the rain dramatically.

"If only I could call my therapist or... Anyone..."

"We're in a class right now, can't it wait?" she asked quietly, peeking at the teacher and the classmates to make sure no one was starting at her yet.

"No."

"Fine, what do you want?"

"Can you remind me who I am again? I think being dead is juggling my memory."

She gave him an odd look, she'd never heard that spirits forget who they are, she would have to ask gran about it later.

"You're Tony, very annoying, you never shut up, what's your plan? You're up to something."

He rolled his eyes, "Me? Up to something? You're the chick seeing the dead and you think I'm being weird? Please."

He had a point, but Morana knew she was weird, it was no surprise.

"Okay so, tell me more about seeing the dead, you often see them?"

"I thought we were talking about you, not my experience with the spirits."

"It's called bonding, you should try it more often. Preferably with people at least half my age and bonus points if they're alive."

"Do you have something to share with the whole class?" her head perked up, staring at the teacher who looked pissed at her and the girl sitting next to her. It was Gracie West, a nerd who aimed for the stars and even she looked at Morana as though she had ran over her puppy.

"No ma'am, Morana is talking to herself again." Gracie said, sneering at her. The boy behind her coughed into her elbow and said freak quietly, making Mor wince.

She tucked her head, letting strands of dark hair fall over her eyes as she did her best to ignore fuming Tony and the chuckling people. The teacher continued her lesson.

"The last five answers you have are wrong actually." Tony muttered, clearing his throat as he went to stand behind Mor, walking her through the answers.

When the bell rung, scrubbing was up within a blink of an eye, collecting her things and rushing out of the classroom to the next one. She kept close to the wall as she headed towards her history class, she liked that one. Tony kept close to her, scrunching his nose up at most of the teens and their lingo.

But the whole day she felt as though there were eyes on her but she could never really tell who it was, it was like a sixth sense. She'd always had good senses, came with being a necromancer. Hence why she was so sensitive to any kind of attention.

"Hey Maleficent, have you ever had any friends at all?" she thought it was a very insensitive question, but she was getting used to his quirkiness.

"How do you know Peter?" she decided to ask him instead, twirling her pen and counting down the minutes of her last class of the day, English.

"He was my intern, a good one at that."

She nodded and kept quiet till the rest of the lesson, she felt as though there was more to it but Tony wasn't keen on sharing, which was unusual.

As the bell rung Mor nearly couldn't wait to get out of school. She would have to get some groceries and head home, she really wanted to sit down, watch a good romance movie and fall asleep.

However, she suddenly slammed against a locker, hitting her head against the surface with a hiss.

"Look, stop being weird, Loser. I'm not going to get a detention because you keep talking to yourself. Grow up, idiot." Gracie West growled at her, looking down at her as she was a good five inches taller then Morana.

Dumfounded, she just nodded, clutching her abdomen anxiously.

"Tell her to go fuck herself."

Gracie sneered at her and walked away.

"Incompetent, stuck-up little brat!" he yelled at her, although Gracie West was completely oblivious that Tony Stark was cursing her to hell and back.

"Morana Lamia?" she looked down the hall where their headmaster was calling her. She cleared her throat, a couple of students looking curiously. It wasn't often that she was getting into trouble.

"Please, if you have a moment I would like to speak with you."

Morana nodded, rubbing the side of her face, flinching at the pain as she headed into Mr Randall's office. The office itself was almost empty, except for a few diplomas and books on the shelves.

"Have a seat."

"Why doesn't he go after the other girl? Didn't he see the assault?!"

"Have I done anything wrong?" she asked, sitting down on a chair and hugging her backpack close to her chest.

"No, no, I just wanted to speak to you."

"Suspicious, old man."

"Some of your teachers have shown concern, they say you keep interacting with other students during lessons, going as far as talking to yourself, is this true?" His soft, dark eyes kept her grounded. He wasn't accusing, or threatened to give her detention.

"Well, I, uhm. Find it hard to understand some topics, so I try to ask help from my classmates or walk myself through the task, I'm sorry, it won't be happening again, sir."

He hummed, scratching his silver beard thoughtfully.

"Would you be okay with a tutor? I think it would do you and your grades some good. You could start next week once we find you someone suitable."

"Now that isn't a bad idea at all."

Mor almost forgot how to breathe. "A tutor? Like, another student?" she piped out, clutching her bag tighter.

Mr Randall smiled, Tony snickering next to her.

"Yes, like another student. Also, I have been informed of your rather unfortunate past." he had taken a more serious undertone.

Mor didn't like it. When she didn't answer, he continued.

"I know sometimes it isn't easy to talk about personal things, that's why I would like to suggest you our school psychologist. You can try one session with her, and if you don't like it, no one forces you to go."

"I like this old man, he's pretty sensible isn't he. Say yes."

"I think I'll have to refuse."

Tony sighed.

"Alright, but I would still like to assign you a tutor who would meet up with you at least twice a week. The schedule will be up to you two. The first meeting would be next Monday after classes."

She didn't like it much, but she knew she actually needed a tutor, she just hoped it was someone who didn't care much about rumours. Or Gracie West, gods help her if it was Gracie.

"Yes, I guess that would work." her throat was dry, would it work though?

"Excellent. I expect to see your grades going up rather soon!" he said, letting her know that it'll be all. As she stood up to leave, he stopped her briefly.

"I expect you to know that we don't tolerate bullying in this school, miss Lamia. I would hope you turn to us if anyone gives you any trouble."

She looked at her confused, why was he telling her this?

"Of course." he nodded, she bid him goodbye and left. Feeling as though she could breathe easier now.

"Why didn't you tell him?"

She looked up at him, raising a quizzical eyebrow. Why didn't she tell him what exactly?

"Why didn't you tell him the nerd chick literally pushed you against the lockers?" he asked seriously, something that was once again rather unusual of him. The hallways were empty now, so she didn't mind speaking to him that much.

"Oh. It was nothing, definitely not bullying. I understand that people get mad at me for talking to you all the time." she brushed it off, adjusting the straps of her backpack as she started her trek down the long hallways. It was rather eerie when there were no students around, exactly as she liked it.

"Look, kiddo. You're denying bullying behaviour, this is not okay. Kids like her test the waters at first, and if you don't bite back, they'll only get worse. Don't let her, don't let them walk all over you. Morana, tell someone-"

"Stop it! I get it Tony, you're dead." he flinched at her harsh words, but she didn't notice, continuing her angry rant. "You're... you're too stubborn to accept the fact that you're no longer alive. Just because you don't want to face your unfinished business, doesn't mean you have to stick your nose where it doesn't belong." she took a deep breath in, letting it out with her frustration, her shoulders dropping as she neared the front door.

"Death is... death is not a bad thing, even for heroes like yourself. You've done enough, Stark. Look after yourself now." she gave him a look, realizing he wasn't really affected by her outburst.

"Half-dead." He muttered, a grin stretching over his face.

"What?"

"As you said before, kiddo, I'm half-alive. And as long as I'm even half-alive, I will continue doing what I've always done." he said, floating by her to stand next to the doors. So he's figured out how to float, great.

"And what's that?" Mor grumbled, placing her hand on the golden doorhandle, before something caught her eye.

Peter Parker was standing a little down the hall on her left, his locker open and seemingly in the middle of putting books back or taking them with him. He was frozen on his spot, eyes wide as he stared at Morana a little distance away.

There was no way he could have heard all of their conversation. She realized she was frozen as well, staring at him with mouth agape and eyes wide as saucers. She felt like a deer on headlights.

"Sticking my nose in other peoples business." Tony finally answered after a dramatic pause, cackling like a madman as he phased through the school doors to wait for Morana outside. Mor let out an odd whining sound from the back of her throat and bolted out of the doors, she felt humiliated.

Peter Parker on the other hand, wasn't completely sure what exactly he had just witnessed. He'd always known that Morana Lamia was a little different, her constant whispering in the class a distraction to his heightened hearing. But now his curiosity peaked after hearing his deceased mentors name.

Peter Parker had questions, and everyone who knew the boy would know that he wouldn't rest unless he got some answers.