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𝑮 𝑳 𝑰 𝑻 𝑪 𝑯
❝   𝙹𝙰𝚁𝚅𝙸𝚂, 𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚢!  ❞

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ㅤ𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄, Maria Stark actually woke up in a good mood. Just yesterday, her and her dad finally resolved their issues, and her dad also now knows about the existence of the wolves, which in turn made him less wary with her slowly developing relationship with Paul Lahote, La Push's resident hot-headed shapeshifter.

She pretty much grinned as she sat up from her bed, pushing her covers off her body before rushing to her on suite bathroom to get ready for the day. She peed, took a shower, and then brushed her teeth. She walked back into her room wrapped in a towel before she looked for her outfit of the day. But before she checked her closet for some ideas, she grabbed her phone off her nightstand and checked the temperatures for the day and realized she didn't need to cover up too much today. It was only going to drizzle, and she had an umbrella for that.

So, she grabbed a tight black shirt, and on top of it, a fitted white cardigan. Then, she pulled out black, high-waisted jeans, which she'll pair with classic white sneakers. She began putting on her undergarments before putting on her outfit; it was pretty basic, but it was enough. She walked towards her mirror to assess her outfit choice and did a few twirls and poses.

A laugh escaped her as became giddy, walking towards where her accessories sat with a spring on her step. She put on one of her watches, before snatching her camera and school bag off her table and rushed downstairs.

There, she saw her dad and Victoria talking to each other as they sat on the kitchen stools placed near the kitchen island. Her aunt was the first to notice her presence, and took note of her grin.

"Morning, ladybug," her Aunt Vic greeted, a soft smile on her face. "You seem to be chipper this morning. Anything to do with the fact that your dad seems to like Paul now?"

"Vic!" Tony whined childishly.

"Ooh," Maria teased, walking towards the two before sitting down with them, her father pushing a plate of pancakes towards her as she placed her bag and camera beside her. "Thanks, dad. And Aunt Vic, I did not know that, thank you very much."

"And it seems you guys aren't squabbling anymore because I swear, I can't handle any more angry Starks in my house," Victoria scoffed, raising her cup of coffee to her lips to take sip. "God only knows how Aunt Maria was able to handle both her husband and Tony, bless her soul."

Tony snorted. "Mom was an angel sent from heaven, that is a fact."

"Wish I could've met her," Maria smiled, before taking a bite out of her pancake.

Her father turned to her after she spoke, his eyes suspiciously watery. "She would've loved you, kiddo, and would absolutely gloat over the fact that I named you after her. God, I wouldn't have heard the end of it."

Maria gave her father another small smile, as she continued to devour her food. At the pace she was eating, both Tony and Victoria thought she was going to choke at some point, but she didn't.

"Any plans today?" Tony asked her.

"Well, I'm gonna be passing some extra credit stuff," she shrugged. "Then, I'm gonna take some pictures for the paper 'cause there's a game today. And then...after school I have a hair appointment at a salon I found in Seattle."

"Ooh, what color are we thinking of?" Victoria grinned. "Will you be getting rid of the bangs?"

"Absolutely not," Maria snorted. "The bangs stay. And I'm thinking of an ash brown, maybe?"

"Hun, you've had bangs since you were a child," Tony chuckled.

"And what about it?" She poked her tongue out. "Also, I've...received some of my college acceptance letters!"

Victoria gasped. "I completely forgot about those! Which schools did you apply to?"

"I may have applied to mostly schools on the East Coast," she shrugged. "'Cause, well, I applied a while ago, so."

"Would it be bad if I said I'm glad you're planning on moving to the East Coast?" Tony asked out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" Maria frowned. "I would've expected you to force me to stay in California or something."

"Well, I may have bought some property in Manhattan," her father shrugged, almost sheepishly. "Gonna be called 'Stark Tower,' and in case someone forgets I own it, I'm gonna have giant letters that spell my name right in the front."

Victoria chortled. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Dad really wanted to have his name in the sky," Maria laughed with her aunt. "Anyway, I may have been accepted to both my dream schools, and all the six schools—including my dream schools—that I applied to."

"That's my daughter!" Tony praised, a grin on his face. "Which schools?"

"Harvard, MIT--"

Victoria huffed in shock. "Good job! Bet those are your dream schools. Engineering, right?" Maria nodded.

"Following in her father's footsteps," Tony boasted. "Which engineering?"

"Maybe Electronic like you, or Mechanical, maybe both?" Maria shrugged. "And then I got into NYU, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and UC Berkeley."

"Great schools," Victoria noted. "Not that surprised to be honest, you've got Stark genes in you, you're bound to be intelligent as heck."

"Of course," Tony nodded, his arms crossed and his grin had turned into a smirk.

Maria rolled her eyes fondly. "Well, I'm gonna head off. I'll see you guys later!"

"Love you!" Tony and Victoria chorused, high-fiving each other with their synchronization. Maria shook her head at them, putting her knife and fork together before grabbing her stuff. She gave the two a wave goodbye before disappearing out the door.

Maria scoffed at the sight of Bella, Edward, and Jacob arguing in the middle of the parking lot as she stepped out of the car. She rolled her eyes as she shouldered her bag and had her camera in her hand as Bella suddenly hopped into Jacob's bike. Shaking her head, she locked her car before making her way inside the school. There, she was greeted by an excited Angela who skipped towards her.

"Hey, ready for the last game of the year?" Angela grinned.

"You're asking as if I'm actually gonna be playing," Maria chuckled.

"Well, as photographers, we're pretty much gonna have to run around and chase the players like we're actually playing," Angela rolled her eyes, but her grin stayed. "Just to take the perfect shot."

"True," Maria couldn't help but agree, shrugging as she began walking, Angela following suit. "By the way, have you gotten acceptance letters?"

"Yes!" Angela gasped. "Got my Washington State acceptance letter, and I'm so excited!" Then she gasped. "You haven't even told anyone which schools you applied to! Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Ange," Maria couldn't help but coo over her friend's cuteness. "I will tell everyone on decision day, remember? We're all gonna be wearing school merch, and you'll be able to see mine."

"But that's in a few weeks!" Angela groaned. "Plus, you're the only one that everyone's actually curious about, 'cause most aren't even gonna leave Washington."

"Well, I'm gonna keep everyone guessing, because even my family don't know," Maria said. "Anyway, here's my class, I'll see you later!" She waved goodbye to Angela before spotting Jasper in his usual spot, right beside her chair. She walked closer to him, greeting him with a smile before sitting on her seat. "Can I just say, I love your hair like this, way better than the clown hair."

Jasper sighed. "Why is it always my hair?"

After school, Maria was quick to drive over to Seattle. Took a while, but she was able to arrive at the salon in time for her appointment. She had small talk with the hairstylist, before they both decided on ash brown, as well as chopping her waist-length hair.

A few hours later, Maria exited the salon with newly-dyed, shoulder-length hair. The stylist also decided on curling it a little, to give it a bit of a wavy look. Maria double checked herself in the mirror, admiring her new hair and how it fit her.

She had planned on setting an appointment for a while now; after having gone through so many things in a short amount of time, she figured she'd earned the right to do something for herself, for once. She couldn't help but giggle at her new look, before giving the stylist a smile.

"Thanks so much, Kelly," Maria gushed. "I love it!"

"Well, you chose a really flattering color," Kelly chuckled. "You've got great taste, honey. You're gonna make everyone swoon."

Maria giggled again. "Hopefully." She began to collect her things, but she wasn't in any hurry as she actually liked Kelly's company, the strawberry blonde, middle-aged woman has become a quick friend.

"Ah, so I assume you like someone?" Kelly teased. "He, she, they? Hm?"

"He," Maria smiled to herself. "And yeah, I'm pretty sure I like him. Anyway, I better head home, Kelly, family's expecting me back soon. Thanks for this!"

"Here," Kelly gave her a card that had a phone number on it. "It's mine. If you need another appointment, you can just set it up through me. You're an awesome customer."

"Aw, thanks," Maria gratefully took it. "I have the tendency to dye my hair a lot, just for fun, so this is gonna be handy. I guess I'll see you soon!"

She was quick to pay, but didn't really leave the salon before giving Kelly a hefty tip. She waved goodbye to the kind lady before heading out. She had to walk a few minutes to where she parked her car, as there were no nearby spaces when she arrived. She was looking for her keys in her bag when she was suddenly pulled into an alley by something she couldn't see.

With the speed that the attacker had, she hadn't noticed she dropped her bag, not until her back was against the side of a random building, and her attacker—a man, she realized—had a hand on her mouth. She would've been able to fend him off easily, having been taught a few self-defense lessons from Happy, but she was quick to realize that the man wasn't a man; his ice-cold hand revealed one thing: he was a vampire.

"You're a pretty thing, aren't you?" The man whispered into her ear, and she flinched at how his coldness radiated off of him. "Unfortunately, you're gonna be dead soon."

A tear slid down her eye as she forced her eyes shut as to not look at the man's red eyes. Her heartbeat had turned erratic, and she felt like she was going to die. But her eyes snapped open again when she remembered...

"HMMM!" She screamed into her attacker's hand, who shrugged.

"Might as well, not like anyone can save you," the man grinned maliciously before removing his hand off her mouth.

She didn't waste a second. "JARVIS, deploy!"

"What--"

The man cut himself off when a small box, the size of a compact mirror, suddenly flew from Maria's bag and quickly zoomed to her right hand. The box quickly attached to her hand, and right before their eyes, the box transformed into a glove, with a glowing circle right in the middle of her palm.

"You messed with the wrong girl, asshole," Maria spat, before pointed her hand directly at his face. She couldn't help but smile when she watched his head explode.

As soon as the vampire dropped down to the ground, Maria collapsed to her knees as she felt a panic attack surge from within her. She tried to control her breathing, forcing herself to inhale and exhale deeply to calm her heart. Her entire body shook with fear and the adrenaline that came with almost getting drained dry.

After a moment, she stood up on shaky knees and pointed her hand again towards the vampire. She wasn't sure how to kill one, but her anger overtook her rationality and she began firing at the body again and again until there was nothing but scorch marks on the ground.

She shakily grabbed her fallen belongings and ran towards her car. She took a second to calm herself some more, before deciding that the best thing to do was to tell the Cullens about it; vampires in Seattle, so close to where they resided wasn't good news. She sent a quick text to her dad, sending an excuse that she had to go to a classmate's house for a project that was due tomorrow for some finishing touches.

A sigh escaped her lips before she removed the glove from her hand, and finally started up her car. 

author's note: finally updated, my dudes! sorry it took a while, but it's mostly because i haven't had the best mental health. i'm recovering though, and i was able to whip this up for you guys.

don't forget to vote and comment any spelling or grammatical errors. also, please tell me what y'all thought of this chapter!