Erica groaned as her eyes fluttered open to the sound of her alarm clock. She must have fallen asleep at the desk last night. "Ooh." Her joints popped as she stood up to turn the annoying beeping off.

"I hope you're awake!" Mom called as she banged on the door.

"Getting there." She glanced at the clock, "shit!" It was already eight thirty--that was the emergency alarm clock--class would start at nine.

She scrambled to throw on skinny jeans, that she could only hope were clean, a loose red sweatshirt, black leather jacket, and socks. Without even brushing her hair, she pulled it into a ponytail. She then put on mascara and foundation but there was no time for anything else. Slipping on her rainboots, she grabbed her backpack and umbrella then scurried into the living room.

"How late were you up?" Mom asked as they made their way to the elevator.

"Late enough."

The rushed drive to campus was quiet... almost too quiet for Erica's liking. She ended up turning the radio on. The sound of Paramore immediately lifted her spirits.

"Don't forget I work late tonight," mom reminds her as the car pulled up in front of the engineering building.

"It's Friday already?"

She laughed at her. "Yes. Now get out of the car I'm not paying your expensive tuition for you to be late."

"Technically S.H.I.E.L.D. is paying." Erica reminded, but got out of the car anyway. "Love you!"

"Love you too."

She entered the classroom and found her seat just as Dr. Ross began.

The day was long. Thankfully she no longer got nearly as many strange looks as she used to, but there were still a few of those obnoxious rich girls living off of daddy's credit card that thought it was funny to bother Erica.

She was done with all her classes by two, so she started making her to the high school. She took her time, knowing that they wouldn't be out until three.

The campus was oddly crowded for such a rainy day but she thought nothing of it as she walked to McDonald's. She shivered a little bit when she pulled the green umbrella down to get into the restaurant.

"Two double cheeseburgers, an apple pie, and a large Sprite to go, please." The short blonde girl smiled shyly as she took Erica's order. She looked down to her name tag. "Cool name. It's very unique." She complimented, handing the girl the money.

Cress blushed, "thanks. Your food should be out in a minute." She handed her the receipt and Erica stepped aside for the next person.

It didn't take long for her order to arrive and then she was out the door again. She made it to Monroe High School at 2:45, giving her fifteen minutes to kill.

She sat on a nearby bench with the umbrella hovering over her head. Pulling out her phone, she downloaded the decryption program and continued her search. She resisted the urge to dig into the bag of food that was shoved in her backpack, but couldn't help herself from taking sips of soda.

That looks interesting...

Erica squinted down at the screen. Classified was stamped in red ink over the title: Physical of Agent Sif.

Why would her physical be classified?

Before she could search anymore, the bell rang. Without second thought the program was deleted. But she sure as hell made a mental note to check into that later.

Someone poked her sides, forcing her to jump three feet high. "Damnit Liam!"

The tall brunet sophomore did nothing but laugh at Erica. He was already soaked head to toe from the rain.

She scowled at him. "That wasn't funny."

"Are you kidding me? You should have seen your face!" His laughter quickly dies down.

"Lets go." Erica grumbled. Since he was taller, she held the umbrella out for him to take. He grabbed it and wrapped a wet arm around her waist. She didn't complain because cold weather had never really bothered her, and it wasn't as if the water is leaking through the jacket anyway.

They made their way down the streets to the apartment building. "My place or yours?" She asked when they entered the building.

"Is your mom home?" He countered.

"Mine it it's then."

The elevator dropped them off on the fifth floor. Erica fumbled for her keys once they reached the door, finally managing to open it after setting down the soda.

They kicked off their shoes and landed on the couch with sighs. "I almost forgot," she pulled out the McDonald's bag from in her backpack and handed him a burger.

"Mm thanks."

"Anytime. Cheers to your date tonight."

Like the fools they were, they clashed the burgers together then took a large bite each .

"So how is the she-devil?"

"Erica..." Liam frowned. "I know you despise Chelsea but can you at least try to pretend you don't? For me?"

"Even her name is bitchy. I'm just warning you, okay? I have have a have a bad feeling about her."

"You can have as many superstitions as you want, but I'd like it if you kept them to yourself."

"Call it whatever you want but don't say I didn't warn you."

Erica got up to throw their garbage away in the kitchen and noticed a paper on the table.

Erica,

I've been sent on a mission to London for the week. I should should be home by Thursday. Clint was able to get off so ge will be coming over sometime tonight to watch you (even though I know you won't do anything irrational).

I'll be home soon,
Love Mom

She walked back into the living room and held up the note so Liam could see but not read it. "My mom's not gonna be home until Thursday. Apparently she has a last minute business trip."

His brown doe eyes cautiously scan Erica. "You're going to be home alone for a week? Do you want me to stay here with you? I'm sure sure my parents wouldn't mind."

She shook her head. "Nah. Clint is coming over later tonight to make sure I don't kill myself." She joked.

They sat around chatting and doing homework for the next two hours. By the time she helped him finish his advanced algebra homework, he had to leave for his date.

"Have fun!" Erica called.

"Will do." He grined. The door clicked shut behind him.

_______________________

I just saw Age of Ultron, so I decided to update another chapter because it was AWESOME!!! Please let me know if you've seen it so that I can talk to someone about it!