left in the dark.

★

arabella let out a sigh as she trudged through the halls of midtown high, her eyelids felt heavy. she was eager for the loud ringing of the school bells so she could depart to her bed, taking a long awaited nap. none of this was out of the ordinary. in fact, that feeling of exhaustion usually set in for her mere minutes after she got up in the mornings.

aiming for her locker, she rolled her eyes at the sight of a large group of students, presumably surrounding a phone. she could only assume it was a video of a school fight, or something else completely ridiculous. when she attempted to dismiss the group, her friend, cindy moon, pulled her into it by forcefully grabbing her arm.

"what the-" arabella cut herself off, composing herself at the sight of her friend. "cindy? what's up?"

the straight-haired girl remained silent as she pointed to the screen ahead, her eyes wide. she urged arabella to look without uttering a word. she obliged to cindy's request unenthusiastically, directing her attention to the cellphone.

arabella felt her stomach drop. almost instantly, her exasperated expression shifted into one of worry. "is that?-"

"the avengers," cindy casually completed for arabella. "well, some of them."

seen on the screen was the newscast MSNBC LIVE headlining, 'AVENGERS INDICTMENT? WORLD REACTION TO VIOLENCE.'

reading the words to herself, the noise around arabella began to fade, drowned out by the volume of her mind. without a second thought, she pushed herself out of the crowd which had seemingly grown since she'd entered it.

"i'll see you later, cindy. i gotta go!"

"you don't wanna see what happens?" cindy questioned at a louder tone, wanting to be sure she could hear her over the sound of the chatter around them.

"not really!" arabella responded, walking off.

school would dismiss in a matter of minutes, though even with that fact, she couldn't stop checking the time. more and more worry settled in the pit of her stomach with every second that treaded by. time always seemed to move slower in times like these.

she leaned against her locker, anxiously tapping her foot on the ground as she waited. once the final bell rang, her foot rested on the ground comfortably. she grabbed her phone from her pocket and called her best friend, mj.

the line picked up, the soft voice of her best friend flooding her ears. "hey, bella. you good?"

arabella dodged the people that crowded her pathway to the school doors, holding her phone to her ear. "yeah, i'm fine. just, uh, just don't wait up for me, i'm going home already."

"what's wrong?"

"nothing's wrong, mj. i'm just really tired," she responded with a half truth. not an entire lie, which was morally sound in her eyes.

shuffling could be heard on mj's side of the line, indicating that she was packing up from her last class. "okay, well i'm hungry so, you want anything?"

"um," she paused, "whatever. whatever is fine."

"okay. i'll see you at home then."

"yeah, love you," arabella smiled slightly.

"love you too," mj responded, pressing the red button on her screen afterwards.

arabella shoved her phone back into her pocket, exiting the school. she pushed open the metal doors and hurried to the subway.

after a seven to eight minute drive on that terrible smelling, rat infested train, arabella was at her stop.
hopping off the train, she raced to her apartment on the second floor, which she shared with mj and her mother.

securing a permanent, affordable home in new york was nearly impossible. everyone she knew, including herself, resided in apartments. while the climb up the stairs might've been aggravating, especially on tiresome days, she appreciated that it kept her somewhat active when she'd missed a few training days.

reaching the last step, she unlocked the front door and entered into the familiar space. she instantly found herself on the couch, clicking on the news station in worry.

during a mission in lagos, nigeria, wanda maximoff contained an explosion with her powers in an attempt to save bystanders from the blast. unfortunately, it shifted out of wanda's control and into a nearby building, destroying it. the explosion killed numerous civilians, including eleven wakandan aid workers.

she continued watching as more information was shared. after all, she would be effected by what's decided for the avengers as an honorary member. though it wasn't long before her stomach churned at the vile, disrespectful things people were saying about them. it forced her to shut off the television.

arabella reached for her phone to call the woman she looked up to the most, natasha romanoff.

her and arabella both understood the pain from the mother wound, they'd both experienced it. she had taken on the role of a mother for arabella, and in turn, her a daughter for natasha.

her knee bounced relentlessly as she waited, the phone ringing in her ear until natasha finally answered the call.

"nat, hey. i heard about what happened. is everything okay?" she asked through a worried tone, standing from the couch and walking to the bathroom as natasha began to speak.

"yeah, everything's okay. so far, only a few of us have decided to sign." natasha sounded annoyed on the other end of the line.

"sign? sign what?"

"i guess the news is barely getting out." natasha let out a sigh. "the united nations have come up with 'the sokovia accords.' the government will have control over the avengers, decide whether or not we can go on mission somewhere and things like that."

"oh, wow." sliding her back down the wall, arabella sat on the bathroom floor. "that's not to be taken lightly."

"yeah, they're ratifying the accords in three days. but, i don't think we'll get through to steve."

arabella nodded, aware of the stubbornness that the man carries. "he's against it, isn't he?"

"you guessed it. what about you?"

"well, i'm for it, but you know that i can't reveal who i am." she shook her head, shuddering at the thought. "it'll jeopardize everything."

natasha sighed. "you're right, bella. i don't know why that even crossed my mind."

"what about mr. stark?"

"actually, he's the one really fighting for this. he feels guilty for a kid who died in sokovia. about, four or five years older than you, i would assume."

"oh wow." arabella brought her knees to her chest. "i would hug him the next time i see him, but, y'know, he doesn't let me hug him anymore."

a deeper, masculine voice was heard from the background of natasha's line, "i have to go."

she overheard and furrowed her brows. "was that steve? what happened?"

"i'm not sure, i have to go check. i'll call you later."

"yeah, of course. love you."

"love you too, bella."

arabella rested her arms on her knees, her phone still in hand after they hung up. she threw her head back onto the wall and let out a sigh. an ultimate feeling of relief enveloped her, knowing that everyone was okay, at least physically.

though, she couldn't help but experience a major frustration. the avengers had saved countless lives, but that never seemed to stop the media from labeling them as 'murders' or 'monsters.' arabella had been labeled as such before; feared for her powers at the start of her heroine journey, similarly to wanda's current situation.

she wished to console wanda, or even to be there for steve or tony. but she would always be bound to school and home, apart from the action.

she spent a few moments in thought before hearing the front door open. pushing her arms down on the floor beneath her, she stood and exited the bathroom.

"hey," she greeted mj, watching as she sat a bag down on the kitchen counter. "what'd you end up getting?"

with a shrug, mj removed her jacket and hung it on the coat rack. "what i could afford."

arabella walked over to the counter where the bag was placed and opened it up, revealing a wide, styrofoam box. she took the box out of the bag and lifted the covering to see two burgers and fries.

with her mouth already watering at the actually very cheap plate of food, she nodded in excitement. "what you could afford is apparently gold, mj." arabella smiled and grabbed a fry.

she placed it in her mouth but as she began chewing it, her smile faded and a look of disgust gradually appeared. her jaw hung open, showing the chewed up fry in her mouth. "ew, what's up with this fry?"

mj laughed and pointed at her. "you ate from the wrong side, moron."

arabella looked at the plate and examined the side of fries she ate from. she quickly realized that she had just eaten a sweet potato fry—there was very few things she didn't enjoy eating, and sweet potatoes were one of them.

her curly-haired friend continued laughing as she watched arabella run to get a drink of water. she found a half empty water bottle sitting on the table in the living room. she grabbed it and chugged, drowning the nasty flavor of the fry away.

she brought the now empty plastic bottle down from her mouth, gasping for air. "a warning next time, thanks." arabella walked back into the kitchen, and threw the bottle in the trash.

mj, still stifling a laugh, grabbed an empty paper plate from their cupboard and began separating the food. "sorry, bella." she grabbed one of the burgers and placed it on the paper plate, as well as the sweet potato fries.

"you got me normal fries, right?" arabella questioned in worry as she watched.

"yes, i did," mj responded, handing the box to her. "even though watching you in misery can be fun, i'm not that mean."

arabella made a mocking face at her friend, her tongue stuck out and nose scrunched while grabbing her plate. mj returned the look and they both laughed, walking to the couch.

they both sat down and mj grabbed the controller to pick a movie for them to watch. arabella though, felt too hungry to let her food sit there any longer. she grabbed the burger in her hands and took a large bite, grease covering her fingers and palms.

the two girls settled on a movie after a minute or two and mj began eating as well.

arabella grabbed a fry—a normal fry—and popped it into her mouth. when she chewed she looked over at mj. "did you finally cave, or is that a veggie burger?"

mj covered her mouth to hide her chewing, her response muffled from her occupied mouth, "of course it is." she chewed and swallowed her food which allowed her to finish her previous statement, "never in a million years would i willingly eat a cow."

"i would," arabella responded, taking another bite of her burger.

𖤐

a few hours go by, and the two girls had fallen asleep on the couch. mj was laid out, her long legs in arabella's lap. arabella fell asleep sitting up, her head hung back onto a pillow. in front of them was a once clean table. filling it was their now empty plates, their jackets, textbooks, journals, water bottles, and much more clutter that had piled up over the week. that would be a pain to clean.

they were abruptly awaken by the sound of the front door opening and shutting. arabella jumped up in instinct, with her hands balled up into fists, but it turns out it was just mj's mother. mj woke up, bothered, but when she saw her mother, she looked pleasantly surprised.

"mom!"

"hi, sweetheart." the older woman smiled at her daughter. mj stood up and walked to her, the both of them engulfing each other in a hug.

"we didn't expect you to be home at this time," mj said, still hugging her mother.

"i was able to get off a few hours early." she smiled and released from the hug, holding her daughters forearms. "i know it's still late, but i don't have to go back in until eight tomorrow night. it's just me and you, and we can do whatever you want."

mj's eyes widened slightly and she quickly looked back at her friend. "um, what about arabella?"

the older woman's eyes darted to the figure on the couch. "oh, arabella! i didn't see you there."

arabella pressed her lips together in annoyance and waved slightly, remaining silent.

mj looked to her mother. "i don't want her to be here alone."

arabella shook her head and stood up. "no, it's fine. i'm tired anyway." she rubbed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

mj turned around to look at the girl, her and her mother standing side by side. "are you sure, bella?"

"go ahead. i'm fine." arabella smiled tiredly at her best friend, causing mj to nod.

"okay then! let's go!" her mother said excitedly as she ran to the door, pulling mj along with her. mj waved at arabella before closing the door and leaving her alone in the apartment.

arabella sighed and walked to the restroom to do her nighttime skincare. as she took off her makeup and did everything else she needed to, she couldn't help but be bothered by what had just occurred.

she was happy that her best friend got to spend time with her mom, especially since they don't see each other often. it warmed her heart to see her happy, but she wanted that too.

it definitely didn't help when her mom didn't care to acknowledge arabella. it made her feel unwanted, and she hated it. she hated that it bothered her and she hated that she wasn't used to it by now. this is how it's been since she was nine, so why was she still upset?

she has natasha, so she shouldn't feel this way, right? with every second that passed, more and more thoughts continued to flow through her mind, completely unsolicited. she tried to subdue it, and when they didn't, she chose to ignore it. that's all she could do.

after completing every step in her small skincare routine, she walked to her room. she changed into a pair of comfortable pants, in place of her jeans, then played music from her phone in hopes that they'd be louder than her thoughts. 

lying in her bed, she looked up at the ceiling and sang along to the music. as she progressively fell asleep, her voice shifted to a hum, then to a snore.

★

authors note:

first chapter, check. cool.

i included mj's mom even though she's never mentioned in the movies, i hope that's alright. it just doesn't make sense that the girls wouldn't have an adult living with them— plus it could add some drama. i literally have a whole plot with the parental situation ready to go too bc as of rn we don't know much abt her parents so why not just make it up?

any guesses as to what song she fell asleep to? comment your guesses for a cookie.

pls pls pls vote , it'll give me motivation !
i hope you liked the beginning of this book, love ya <33.

— lyn

word count: 2,502