choices

stark mansion, malibu

three days later

"m.i.t. is where my dad went. it's been a dream of mine to go there. it's best known for engineering, and sciences. i'm going to apply for a mechanical engineering course, and maybe an artificial intelligence course. stanford is much closer. only an hour by plane. it also has good courses for engineering. but m.i.t. is ranked higher for engineering courses. fuck, what should i do?" i muttered to myself.

"don't know! don't know!" uchello squawked.

i laughed through my nose

"okay then, let's make a pros and cons list," i muttered, picking my laptop up, and going downstairs to my dad's lab.

i typed the password and walked in. "J, clear a table for me." i ordered the a.i.

"whoa, whoa, whoa. what's going on?" my dad asked, getting up from his project.

"making a pros and cons list for my choices," i informed my dad.

"alright, J.A.R.V.I.S. can you pull up two t-charts? one labeled m.i.t. and one stanford." i asked my a.i. "take notes."

"okay, pros for m.i.t." i muttered, thinking.

"better engineering school, easier to get into, more noble laureates with the school, higher median starting salary, although that doesn't really matter to me, but whatever." i mumbled.

i began listing pros and cons for both of my options. it took a long time. pizza was ordered... and finished. (there was a short delay when my dad got a car stuck on the roof, and i had to help him get it down.)

finally, at 11:38 pm the two lists were finished. they were long.

"well..." i asked my dad, looking at the two lists.

"i think you know what to do." he told me.

looking between the two options, i nodded. "yeah. i do."

even though stanford was closer to home, i chose m.i.t. i didn't care if my dad went there, i was going to make my own name. for an engineering course, m.i.t. seemed like the better option.

filling out the forms, (i had to get my dad to sign some of them) i arranged an interview. it was two days from now. 

shutting my laptop, i sighed. this was something i was going to do. for the first time in my life, i'm doing something when i want to. 

last year, i got a lot of shit from obadiah 'obi' because i didn't start post-secondary, even though i could. he gave up on me. this time, i want to start. i want to actually go to school, instead of being taught by a billionaire with an ego problem, or an a.i. system.

for the first time, this was my choice.

a week later

"no, put this here." i scolded my dad.

"what? why — oohh. i see why." he muttered.

"mhmm."

my dad moved the piece he was holding, and placed it closer to the engine. we were working on one of his cars. i still hadn't got an answer from m.i.t. i was going to place an application in stanford if it didn't come by tomorrow.

"shine the light there?" i asked my dad.

i grabbed a screwdriver and leaned over. i was wearing a dark blue shirt (that was definitely smudged) and breathable leggings.

i moved the cover piece of one of the extensions my dad added into the car, and added a missing screw. twirling my screwdriver i pulled away.

"how did you even see that?" my dad asked me.

"i don't know, it just looked funny." i told him shrugging.

"it just looked fun — ugh." he scoffed.

i stuck my tongue out at him, and put the screwdriver away.

"hey, J.A.R.V.I.S. you up?" i asked my a.i.

"yes, miss stark." the a.i. called.

"can you order some cheeseburgers. and i want a sprite."

"me too." my dad yelled, from the car.

"sure thing miss. it will take a while, because most cheeseburger places are closed right now." the a.i. told me.

"closed?!" my dad exclaimed. "what time is it?"

"wait!" i yelled, before J.A.R.V.I.S. could answer.

"what?" my dad asked.

"i'll find out. pass the that trumpet, that's in the back." i told him.

he came back a minute later with a small harmonica. i raised an eyebrow and he shrugged.

"i couldn't find the trumpet. this was the closest thing," he handed it over to me.

i took a deep breath and shrugged.

"J., play this on the intercom all around the house." i ordered.

i took a deep breath and played a trumpet tune. it was 'the last post', from veterans day. the only thing i knew. i wasn't sure how it sounded on the harmonica, but i tried.

about five seconds in, i heard happy yell, "who the fuck is playing the — the — that thing at 2am!!"

"k, J. we're good. stop broadcasting."

i turned to my dad, "it's 2am." i told him in the most deadpan expression i could muster.

he stared at me for a few seconds, before he burst out laughing. pretty soon we were both cracking up.

3rd pov

imagine pepper's surprise when she came downstairs to give riley her m.i.t. letter, but found the girl sound asleep with her head on the table. 

her dad was a few tables down, also sleeping, with an oil cloth over his head. J.A.R.V.I.S. had turned off the lights so the father-daughter duo wouldn't be disturbed.

there were cheeseburger wrappers in the garbage, confirming pepper's suspicion of their midnight snack. they were both surrounded in half-filled coffee cups. 

both of them had this habit. they'd fill a cup of coffee, begin drinking, then forget about it. they'd go back, and fill another cup. this kept going, resulting in half-full coffee cups littered around the lab.

pepper walked over to the girl, and placed the envelope beside her. she cleaned up the cups, and emptied the leftover coffee. she moved riley's head, to make sure the girl didn't wake up with an ache.

leaving the lab, she closed the door softly. she wasn't sure how much sleep they got, and she didn't want to disturb them.

REY WRITES !

okay, the ending was cute !

thanks for reading !!