Chapter 127: 122 Another Promise To Keep

I had to take three weeks off from both work at SHIELD and my company to prepare myself fully for the intense exams I would be taking at the end of June. They would also last for three weeks, because there was only one large auditorium for the students to write their exams and it was done by year.

It was going to be a hectic schedule and I really had to buckle down to learn everything I needed for all of the courses the high school had to offer. I had to start spending more and more extra time in the library with Gladys and I progressed much faster than she had expected. The intense looks she gave me when she thought I wasn't looking, inspired me to work even harder to keep that look on her face.

Shuri, Val, and Max did their best to help me as well. Having them available was a great resource and I liked surprising them by excelling in the subjects they were studying themselves. It made me feel that much better about everything, because I was going to succeed and I would do it years before I was supposed to.

On the Sunday before the exams were going to start, I took the day off and invited all of my friends out to Central Park to have a fun picnic day. To my surprise, everyone showed up, even Maria Hill, Tony, Pepper, Natasha and Clint. The day had turned into this whole reckless event and we all had fun, which was also a surprise.

We eventually ended up at Coney Island and rode on the rides, ate greasy foods, and played games at the stalls. We even relaxed on the beach afterwards and enjoyed talking about nothing and just hanging out. Who knew that being happy yourself would make other people happy by just being around you?

Before we called it a night, I had taken Natasha aside and told her about what I had planned for her sister and her friends that shared her codename. The shocked look on her face was worth keeping it a secret until now. I also handed her a USB with the things I had worked out and the orders that would be issued to take care of the people that ran the Red Room. The kiss she gave me was phenomenal, too.

The next day was the start of three weeks of exam writing hell.

I had to constantly hold in my laugh as I blew through most of my first year exams as if they were elementary school tests. A few were taxing, just because I didn't like the courses and had to learn the material anyway. I was sure I passed them with good marks, even if they weren't outstanding like the easier exams.

I spent the next weekend cramming and on that Monday started the second year exams. Since they were more specialized, the courses available were dependent on the ones passed in first year. I had spent a bit of time with both Gladys and Mary Strickland to work out my specialties and Mary had me focus specifically on the hard sciences like robotics, chemistry, and computers.

That decision let me drop the softer subjects like biology, languages, and geography, which gave me a bit of breathing room and I managed to pass the main course exams with great marks and four of the specialty courses with outstanding marks. Having someone inside the office to get me my marks as they came in instead of having to wait, really was a godsend and a relief.

The last two days of that second week and the first two days of the third week were for the third year exams and I sweated and worked hard. My hand was starting to cramp from all of the writing, since the more detailed course materials needed to be fully explained in the exam answers. I had even made myself custom ice pack gloves to wear between exams.

The last three days of the third week was for the fourth and final year of high school and the only students not surprised to see me taking them were Val and Max. Liz and Gina kept giving me furtive and apologetic looks, the same as when I had been in math class with them. I ignored them just like I did in class.

If they couldn't dig up the courage to actually talk to me and apologize, I wasn't going to waste time worrying about it.

I finished exam hell on Friday afternoon with the robotics final exam and Mr. Kinneson had a huge smile on his face when I passed the thing in an hour before the end of the set time. I whispered to him and said to look at the last essay answer about future plans before I left the auditorium. As I went through the door, I heard his surprised exclamation and his apology for the disturbance.

Yes, it was a bit of a spoiler to tell him I would be submitting my dissertation paper as soon as I graduated and his name would be in it; but, the man needed to know that I appreciated him giving me the chance to excel after our rocky start.

Jubadi stepped up beside me from where she waited in the hallway and I smiled and nodded to her. She smiled back and we left the building. I must have looked pleased, because there was a happy shout and Max jumped on me.

“I knew you'd ace it!” Max shouted, excitedly.

Val laughed and pulled her off of me. “We all have to wait for the official marks, even Ben.”

“We're graduating next week, Val. There's no way he's going to fail!” Max exclaimed.

Jubadi handed me my cell phone and Shuri was already on it.

“I recognize that smug look as well.” Shuri said. “I am proud of you, Ben.”

“Thank you, My Princess.” I said and bowed my head to her. “I couldn't have done it without your help.” I looked at Val and Max. “Without all of your help.”

“AWW!” Val and Max said and both hugged me tightly.

“Breathe! Can't breathe!” I fake wheezed and they laughed.

“We need to go celebrate!” Max said and let me go. “I need to call my mom, too!”

“I think she's a bit excited about not having to go to high school anymore.” I commented.

Max nodded and took out her cell phone. “Mom's going crazy about me wanting to board near the college with Val and the others.”

“Oh? Did they still agree to move in?” I asked as Max typed a text message. “I thought their plans were still undecided.”

“Gina was all over us when we told her we had already found a house to share in the fall.” Val said, a bit smugly.

“All over you, huh?” I asked with a wiggle of my eyebrows.

Val laughed and smacked me. “Not like that, you horny bastard.”

“Aww.” I pouted and she hugged me and kissed my cheek. “I did catch them staring at me a few times during this morning's exams.”

“I would say that was a mix of confusion and disbelief.” Shuri said. “You should have only taken the fourth year math exam.”

I smiled. “They probably didn't know that I had to take the math exams for each year to qualify to take the same one as them.”

“Yes, skipping so many free credits would have been a waste.” Shuri agreed. “Do not forget to thank Miss Strickland for the idea and for implementing it on your behalf.”

“Don't worry, Shuri. I'll make sure that she knows exactly what it means to me.” I said and checked the time. “You better go. It's getting late.”

“I really should.” Shuri said, a bit sadly.

“Don't worry, My Princess. Aunt May and I are going on vacation for only a week and then I'm all yours for the rest of the summer.”

Shuri's sad face changed to a beaming smile. “I really can't wait.”

“You know I would have taken you with us if you didn't have royal things to do.”

Shuri nodded. “I only regret that you can't be here for it as well.”

I chuckled. “I have no problem making your people faint from shock and laughter.”

Shuri laughed and Jubadi covered her mouth to hide her grin. “I do not understand how you can look like a flopping fish when you try to do our traditional tribal dance.”

“I'm not perfect at everything, My Princess.” I said. “The rhythm throws me off for some reason.”

“I am sure you will get it eventually.” Jubadi said. “You have not had a lot of spare time to practice.”

“Spare time? What the hell is that?” I asked and gave her a really confused face.

Shuri laughed, as did Val and Max.

I winked at Jubadi and looked back at my cell phone. “Have a good night, Shuri.” I said and blew her a kiss.

“Goodnight, Ben.” Shuri said. “Jubadi, Val, Max.”

“Princess.” Jubadi and Val said at the same time.

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“Bye, Shuri!” Max said.

Shuri hung up and I put the phone away.

“So, since we're celebrating, who wants deep dish pizza?” I asked.

“ME!” Max shouted and Val grinned and nodded.

The four of us left the school grounds and it would be the last time I would be there as a student. It was a little sad to realize that and also a bit scary. My life was going to change significantly after I graduated and I kind of didn't really have a direction for it to take. I hadn't even really thought about it, either. I was too busy dealing with everything else to contemplate what I was going to do.

Should I go to college, either full time or part time? Should I work exclusively at my company? Or should I work for SHIELD full time and my company on the side? They were all valid career paths and I really did need to sit down with May and talk to her about it. It was a good thing we were taking off to get away from everything for a week. We had some important decisions to make.

*

June 27, 2012 was a Wednesday. I wore my slightly oversized graduation gown and stood in line with the other graduating students as Aunt May cheered me on. She wasn't going to be my aunt for much longer, though. As a graduation present, she would officially adopt me and would become my mother in truth. It had touched me deeply and my love and respect for her grew to outrageous proportions.

Principal Morita made the traditional speech about excellence in the current crop of graduates and that like every year, there were always a few that stood out among the throng. I was only half-listening as he droned on and on before he said my name.

I thought that was odd, considering I was still standing in line and no one else in front of me had been called. I looked around and everyone was clapping, so I turned and saw the principal waving me forward. I went over to the stage and went up the steps.

“Here he is, our youngest graduate this decade, Benjamin Parker!” Principal Morita said and clapped as some people in the crowd cheered. “Go ahead and say a few words, Ben.”

I blinked my eyes for a moment and sighed internally. I hadn't really been listening, so I had no real idea what title he had given me or even if he did give me one. My marks were quite high for my chosen subjects and only above average for the miscellaneous courses I had to take to earn the right amount of credits to graduate.

I stepped to the podium and looked out over the crowd. A few of them were there for me and I didn't want to disappoint them by not saying something absolutely profound.

“Most speeches like this start out with a traditional joke.” I said and nearly everyone smiled. “A doctor, a ventriloquist, and a horse walk into a bar...”

A bunch of people burst out laughing.

“Dammit, you know that one?” I asked and they hollered the rest of the joke. “Thanks for the assist!”

“You're welcome!” Most of them responded and laughed some more.

“Here comes the serious part.” I said and the laughter lessened. “Blah, blah, blah this to make sure you blah, blah, blah! I can't stress that enough!” I shouted and the laughter picked up. “Now, you don't have to take my word for it. Blah, blah, blah is very important! It's the sole key to blah, blah, blah!”

Everyone has smiles on their faces and a bunch of the students laughed.

I sighed loudly and pretended to wipe sweat from my forehead. “I'm really glad I got that off of my chest. You all really needed to know!”

Some of the adults let out laughs, too.

“This is supposed to be the fun part of the speech.” I said and they all looked interested. “My life significantly changed last November and I was completely lost. I couldn't remember anything about my life and had to rebuild everything almost from nothing. School work, friendships, relationships, and even work relationships.”

“That doesn't sound fun!” The guy I had given a sub sandwich to yelled.

“I'm getting to that part, Greg!” I said and shook my fist at him to make him laugh. “There was some resistance, because you all know trying to start over anywhere is going to have speed bumps and difficulties. That's just the nature of how things work.”

A lot of people nodded.

“However, I had some really great people in my corner and they helped me immensely, even when they didn't really have to do more than point me in the right direction. They went above and beyond any reasonable requirements and I will be forever grateful to them for it.” I said and saw several blushing faces. “One of them is my new mom, Maybelle Parker.”

Claps and cheers rang out at the announcement and May blushed hard as she stood briefly. The wolf whistles had her shake her head and she sat down again.

“She supported me and made me strive to be the best me I could be, even if I didn't remember who that was supposed to be.” I said and she blew me a kiss. “It didn't matter to her if I had become someone else after my accident. We were still family and we would always be there for each other.”

“AWW!” Some of the girls shouted.

“The second person to help me a lot more than anyone had any right to expect...” I started to say.

“You're not embarrassing me like that, Ben!” Mary Strickland called out and everyone turned to look at her. “Oh, damn.”

That set everyone to laughing again and I waved to her.

“As you just heard, she volunteered to help me a lot to adjust and it was her help that was pivotal in building my new life. She smoothed things out for me a lot during my rough start and she maintained her professionalism, despite my excessive flirting and shameless self-promotion.”

“He became really good at that really fast.” Val said and a bunch of the girls nodded.

“The next person to...” I barely had out of my mouth when Gladys made a distressed sound. “Perhaps I'll skip over her massive amount of help, personal study guides, and encouragement that carried me from nothing, to on par with my peers in barely a month, to excelling past my normal curriculum and to take on the entire four years in barely six months.”

“Oh, god.” Gladys whispered.

“After her was a man I respect deeply, because he gave an ignorant kid a chance to prove himself, to improve himself, and to earn some money while doing it.” I said and nodded at Adrian Toomes. “His trust gave me the chance to help my mom when I really had no means to and our lives changed because of that.”

“Geez, kid. You're really laying it on thick.” Adrian said.

“Hey, I did say this was the fun part of the speech. I didn't say for who.” I responded and a few people laughed. “After him were the teachers that also trusted an unknown and let me show them that helping me wasn't going to be a waste of their time.”

I mentioned the ones I wanted to mention and also mentioned the computer sciences teacher, because if she hadn't kicked me out of the course, I wouldn't have studied so hard to rub it in her face. That had everyone except her and her husband laughing, because I had aced her exams for all four years.

“I also wanted to thank my bosses and coworkers at the data centre for hiring and accepting me when my other job Petered out.” I said and nearly everyone got the reference. They knew Peter couldn't have done the job and I had excelled at it. “Lastly, I wanted to thank Miss Pepper Potts for the opportunities that knowing her gave me. It was an eye opener and a lot of what I've achieved up until now has stemmed from that.”

Pepper didn't say anything and just blushed and nodded.

“In fact, if it wasn't for my friends and family, I wouldn't be where I am today.” I said and stood up to my full height of six feet. It should have only been five foot ten inches and I had been surprised that my growth spurt hadn't stopped until after a month had passed and not the week I had assumed. “So, from the bottom of my heart, I sincerely thank all of you for being there for me when I needed you... and especially when I didn't and you were there anyway.”

A bunch of people applauded and I waved them down.

“I only have one last thing to say. To you the audience, to the graduates, and to everyone else. This is your life. What you have around you, what you have in front of you, and what you have ahead of you. You can't expect good things to happen to you, just because you believe you deserve it. You need to work for it. You need to fight for it. You need to do everything you can to protect it.”

Complete silence met my words.

“No one else can do as much for you as you can do for yourself. If you're not willing to do everything you can for the people you love, then you have no right to expect them to do the same for you.” I said and then beamed a smile at everyone. “I consider myself very lucky and privileged to have found a great group of people that I feel that way about. I just wanted you all to know that you're mine now. Anytime. Anyplace. If you need me, I'll be there.”

Val had tears in her eyes and started clapping. Max cried and clapped as well. Aunt May stood and started clapping hard and smiled with her own tears. Soon everyone stood and the applause almost shook the building. I thanked them and Principal Morita for allowing me to speak, gave the audience a formal bow and added in the crossed arms for Wakanda, and went back to my spot in line.

“You're getting fucked so hard tonight.” Val whispered as I passed her.

I gave her a wink and a nod. That was going to be an easy promise for her to keep. My eyes went across the staff on the stage and my eyes met Mary's. She wiped at her face and blushed. I smiled warmly at her, because I had a promise to keep as well.

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