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poster: Amezri date: 17 July 2002, 4:41am EST It was loud, crowded, and the heat was stiffling. People were packed into the bar like sardines. Alison was in her element. The pumping beat of the music fed her powers and she took advantage of that, creating an emotion altering glow around herself. With all the guys swarming around her, one could easily guess which emotion she was manipulating. Cassandrea stirred her Pepsi with a thin, red straw. /How did I let them talk me into this?/ She sighed and sipped her soda. At least this place was cleaner than the last club they had dragged her into. Of course, the last bar was also a lot less crowded since it was only Happy Hour. "I thought you two said we were going bar-hopping!" Cassie shouted. Domino leaned in closer to her, motioning for her to speak louder. Cassie repeated herself. "You're sitting at a bar, aren't you?" Domino shouted back before rising from the barstool. A short, scantily clad brunette quickly slipped into the vacant seat. "Come on, we can't let Alison have all the fun!" A tipsy Domino grabbed Cassie by the hand and dragged her towards the dance floor
poster: Angelface date: 19 July 2002, 12:44am EST I ended up being early to defense class in my search for my package. Apparently Mr. Summers is substituting for Wolverine; the class would be a bit more bearable with a teacher who has manners. Annie's bizarre dress is worth something. By the time she got off all that jewelry we'd wasted a bit of time and then her barbaric defense... I should have expected as much. She hardly hard the decency to look sorry, she shrugged her shoulders at him and went back to the wall where she had left her things. Though I did notice many of the boys backing away from her slowly. Class wasn't too bad. Learning to fall isn't that tough and I managed not to break a sweat - or anything else in the process. I wanted to get out of there as soon as we were dismissed. I needed to practice, but I wanted my package as well which meant waiting for Mr. Summers to finish with Annie. "That...maneuver is effective but how would you follow it up?" "Like I said, I would run away. Brave people end up dead." "Living as a mutant requires bravery. You can't run forever." Annie paused, “Well, it’s worked so far, when it doesn't I'll think of something else." "We'll work on some other options. When the time comes, you might not have time to think." She just shrugged at him and went to pick up her stuff. I don't know how she can just brush off a teacher like that, she doesn't respect anyone. "Excuse me, Mr. Summers? I heard you had a package for me." "Yes, it’s in the office, if you'll come with me," he gestured towards the door at the end of the gym. "How did the symphony go, Angelica?" "I was second chair, I think for the holiday tour I have a shot at first," I replied. I love my violin; Mr. Summers is the only teacher who really acknowledges the fact that it is important to me beyond my mutation. "Congratulations, I know you've worked hard at that," he said opening the door. "And I hope it hasn't been to hard adapting to having a roommate." I did my best not to wrinkle my nose in disgust, "It's been...interesting." "I know you two probably don't have much in common but I'm sure in time you'll find some common ground. Ah, here it is," Mr. Summers passed me a relatively large package. “Maybe,” I agreed, / if she got a total makeover and some class./ “Thanks, Mr. Summers.” “No problem, have a nice afternoon.” I left
the gym, glad defense was my last class of the day; I could just go
back to my room and open my package, then start practicing.
poster: Jen date: 19 July 2002, 2:15am EST I can’t sleep. Again. It gets harder to fall asleep each night. I can shove it aside; assert my humanity just so long before… I needed to get away from my animal, the huntress lurking just beneath the surface. She was getting stronger all the time, invading sleep now as she did my days. I don’t want to let her out. She’s become so strong. I’m afraid now in a way I’ve ever been. I need to make her quiet for a little while. Just a little while and I’ll be ok. They didn’t bother to change the lock. I guess after the example they made of us the last time, they didn’t expect anyone to try it again. I know I’ll just get myself in trouble, but I have to make it go away. It took a few swigs before I started to feel myself relax, for her to draw back. It wouldn’t last long, but a few minutes of peace were worth it. A sent caught my tongue as I brought the bottle to my lips again and I smiled around its mouth. I wonder if I’m projecting, or whatever that crap was called that Jean babbled about or if he’s just trying to quiet his own demons. “You’re up late, sir.” “As are you,” Xavier replied fixing himself a drink before turning to stare out a window of his own. I shrugged and turned back toward the window, the bottle still dangling in my hand. “Alcohol won’t solve your problem, Sarah.” “Didn’t expect it to, sir.” "I find," he said, "That communicating your troubles out aloud is more beneficial than keeping them locked up in your consciousness, so whether I know of it or not is of no consequence." He cradled the glass in his hands and stared out the window. “When I was a young man…” This is insane. I’m standing here in the living room, with a bottle of stolen whiskey in my hand and he’s telling me a story about his misguided youth. I don’t get it. I’m sure I will though. This bastard is sneaky. Lures you in and Wham! Out of left field it comes. Quiet and cultured and done with grace, but a slam nonetheless. Aha. There it is: ‘masking your problems only makes them seem bigger than they are’ with a chorus of ‘personal growth takes effort and determination’. Like I haven’t been trying. Trying is how I ended up here in the middle of the night. I watched him for a few minutes. He didn’t look at me, simply stared out the window and sipped his drink. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me sir, but you don’t understand – can’t understand. None of you know what it’s like to watch people pass in the hall and for the first thing to go through your head isn’t who they are or what they’re wearing or anything like that. It’s how best to attack. How to kill. You have no idea how much effort it takes for me to smile and walk away liked I’m expected to and then to have everything that helps me deal be stripped away. I’m sorry I violated your trust sir. This - this just makes it tolerable for a little while.” “I see. And later?” “I’ll deal with later later.” More nodding. I hate it when he does that. I don’t know what to expect. “I cannot simply let this pass.” Well I expected that much at least. Oh god no , not the finger steepling. That always precedes a bite in the ass. I’m sure it’ll be a doozy too since this is my second infraction concerning his liquor cabinet. “There must be a consequence fir such a serious offense even if we are partially to blame. For the next week, you will attend 2 extra practice sessions a day with whichever X-Men are available. Perhaps then, you will be too tired to consider breaking into anything.” That wasn’t a punishment. That was manna from heaven. At least I think it is.
poster: nacey date: 19 July 2002, 4:30am EST Cassie's scent was getting strong as we rolled into a city called Worcester, and Logan headed straight for the bars and clubs down-town. My nose agreed with his, she was down here, but it didn't make sense. "Cassie is really not the clubbing type," I said to him. "This is weird." Logan only grunted an affirmative. We finally pinned her scent down to a dive, made in an old warehouse, that obviously wanted to be something cool and hip. In bold letters was the name 'Above', and a huge line of scantily clad girls reeking of bad perfume wound to its door. Among them were men, dressed in shiny flashy outfits and with so much hair product in their hair I was surprised anyone thought they were straight. "Jesus," I said with a whistle, "What is Cassie doing in there?" "No idea," growled Logan. "But I smell mutants. Powerful ones. Let's go." "Wait." I grabbed Logan's arm. "How the hell are we going to get in there? I mean look at us, and look at those bouncers." There were two, and they were huge. Logan flicked out his claws without a bat of his eyelids. "Now look at these." I sighed, and clenched my teeth. "We're going to make a scene, aren't we?" Logan grinned. "Oh yeah. The best kind." "There's a lot to be said for subtlety you know," I said as we parked the car in a half-empty rocky lot. "Yeah, I reckon subtlety is overrated," he said. We parked the car, and then without further ado strolled over to the club. Logan walked straight to the head of the line. The bouncers looked at him like he was some form of mental patient. You know, I have to wonder. "Sir, get in line like everyone else," said the first bouncer. "Why bother?" said the other. "We have a strict dress code here at Above." "Oh, right." Logan nodded. He flicked loose his claws again and smiled. "These flashy enough?" The bouncers tried to be stoic, but fear was in their eyes. Sweat trickled down one guy's cheek. "Uh... sir..." "Listen," I said, stepping forward and in front of Logan, pulling off my gloves and stuffing them in my jacket pocket. I laid a clawed hand on his shoulder. "My buddy here isn't much for keeping his temper. He just wants to find a girl here that he's been looking for, ya know? We'll go in, have a look about, and then probably leave. There doesn't have to be trouble." The sweating bouncer glanced about himself and gulped. "Just hurry up, and if you don't we're callin' the cops, okay?" "Sure," I smiled, and slapped him on the shoulder with a pointed-toothed grin. Logan smiled at me as we wound our way inside, bodies pressed together like sardines and the music so loud it offended our sensitive ears most heinously. Logan's face screamed of bad attitude. What was worse is that I swear someone grabbed me on the ass. From the look on Logan's face, I think he was getting felt up too. "I see her," he growled into my ear. "She's at the bar." "Great," I cried back over the din. "Less time in here the better!" We wove our way over to the bar. There was a strange couple of girls with her, and one I recognised. "I know her!" I cried, before the girl bounced off into the crowd. "Her name's Dazzler!" "Great. I hope she had fun gettin' to know her." I sighed. I hope Logan didn't have any big ideas. He strolled over to the bar, and leant against it, right next to Cassie, where Dazzler had been. His elbow brushed up against hers. She whirled about with death in her eyes (and I silently prayed that she never looked at me with eyes like that). Spotting who it was they cooled, but lost none of their sharpness. She turned, shouting, "I'm not going back!" "Never asked you to!" he replied, "Just wanna talk." Cassie turned back to him. "What's there to talk about?" "Dunno," he roared back over the music, "But whatever we're gonna talk about, it's impossible in here!" Logan and I wove back outside, Logan giving a snotty look to the bouncers for good measure. After a moment or two, Cassie came outside, looking really pissed off. I was pissed off too. My fucking ears were ringing. She crossed her arms. God, she was so agro. "So... talking." Logan nodded, leaning against the wall of the club. "Is there a reason you ran off without telling anyone? We were worried sick about ya." She looked to the ground, kicking the wet pavement. "I didn't belong there anymore. If I told you, you would have stopped me. Which is why you're here now, isn't it? Trying to bring me back." Logan nodded, twisting his lips a moment. He looked away, rubbing his stubbly chin in thought. "Right, well, let's break that statement down piece by piece. A) You didn't belong there anymore? Well, I don't know what happened to change that, but all sorts belong at Xaviers, unless they got some urge to kill and maim and be generally evil. You got one of those?" Cassie gave him an unimpressed look. "Didn't think so. We're up to B now, which is no, of course we wouldn't have tried to stop you. Plenty a' kids have left there before. Xavier ain't no mind-controlling fascist, kid. I wouldn't be there if he was." He stood up, crossing his arms. "And I'm not here to drag ya off kickin' and screamin'. Neither is Max. We were sent to make sure ye were okay. Last time you went missin' there was some scary shit goin' on, so forgive us for bein' a little over-zealous in our care of you." Cassie shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder about him..." she said quietly to herself. I don't think she counted on the fact that Logan and I had hearing far better than hers. "Cassandrea, are you okay?" Both Logan and I turned to see this chick standing with us. Jeeeesus. She was white, pure white, and she had a black spot over her eye. Christ, I'm glad my mutation wasn't so - corny. At least I was a freak in a totally socially unacceptable way. Oh, I was being judgemental. Smack smack, bad Max. I guess I was just protective of Cassie. I didn't want her with these people, I had a bad feeling about them. "Yeah, Domino. I'm fine. Just having a friendly little chat with some old friends," she said. Domino stared at us both, probably sizing us up. By the look in her eyes and the adrenaline I could smell coming off her, I think she thought she could take us. Well, Logan's old school, and I'm a healer learning from the best. Should she put a foot out of place, I wish her luck. She stared at Logan for a moment longer and gave a cool thin smile. "Wolverine..." Logan narrowed his eyes, a laughing smirk of incredulity on his face. I don't think he could believe the woman was talking to him like that. "Do I know you?" "No, you don't," she said smiling again. She looked to Cassie, taking her hand, her brows twitching down. "Come on, we gotta get back home. Alison's piss drunk." "We haven't finished our conversation," Logan said, sounding calm but an edge of force in his voice. Domino began to protest, but Cassie stopped her. "Go get Alison. Hail a cab. I'll be there in a minute." Domino nodded briefly and returned to the bar. "You want to know why I left? Because I didn't think I was getting enough training there. That.. thing happened and I couldn't handle it on my own. Do you have any idea how that feels?" Logan lifted a brow. "Sure I do. Why you think I spent 15 years on the road trying to forget how much I couldn't handle a particularly bad situation with my mutation?" Wow. Logan bearing his weaknesses. The only other people bared those to was Rogue and me. She flinched, and I think she must have forgotten about that. "Fine, so you know how it feels. But I'm getting training now - real training. I've learned more in the past few days than I ever did at the Institute. I'm not giving that up." "You don't have to," Logan said. "All I know is I had a look around before I settled at Xavier's. I wanted to know that Marie and I were gettin' the best deal, and trust me, we were." He stood up, meeting Cassie's eyes with that killer stare of his. "You can trust Xavier. He knows what he's doin' kid, with his trainin'. Better than you might think." He sighed then and shrugged. "But it's up to you. We can't change your mind, and we're not gonna try to if you've made you're decision." I couldn't believe that he was being so reasonable. I thought he'd throw her in the back of the car and drive off with her or something. She sat silent for a while, really thinking it over. "Yeah.... Yeah, I've made up my mind." "Miss Reina!" the weird assed lady called from the curb. Cassie suddenly rolled her eyes at that. "Miss Blaire decided it would be a good idea to throw up all over the dance floor. We're being kicked out." "All right, I'm coming!" Cassie turns to Logan. "Look, I'm fine. Really. I'm.. glad you came looking for me. Tell everyone that I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye. Max, thank Sarah for the heads up. Tell her I miss her." I nodded. The lady stalked up behind Cassie, looking very unimpressed. "Listen, boys. I have a very sick girl in that cab down there and we need to go. I don't care if you're done or not. If you are, lovely. Goodbye. If not, here's where we're gonna be." She hands them a business card. "Come by in the morning." She shepherded Cassie into the cab, and I heard Cassie ask her, "You always carry those things with you?" I looked to the card in Logan's hand, Logan fisting the other and shaking a little. "Hellfire Academy? What the hell is that?" "Bad news, Kid," he said, stuffing the card in his pocket. "We're getting a motel and phonin' the Professor. I'm putting you on a train tomorrow. There's nothin' more you can do here." I blinked. "You sure?" He glared at me. It was that kinda 'Do what's good for you stupid' stare. "Positive. Let's go." Somehow
I had the feeling that things weren't so great and calm, and that underneath
Wolverine's cool exterior was a whole lotta worry.
poster: Allison date: 19 July 2002, 8:51pm EST “Professional wrestling is entertaining,” I insisted. “It’s fake,” Cammo argued. “It is performance art at its best; it’s like a soap opera with spandex. That is entertainment.” “The moves are all done half assed, nobody actually gets hurt,” he said. “Yeah, don’t tell that to Bret Hart, his little brother died during a match. If not done properly, those moves can hurt like a bitch,” I was speaking from experience. Sarah nodded, “The pile driver.” Cameron groaned, “Not you too.” I grinned, “Welcome to America.” Sarah glanced up, “Mail’s here.” “Think he’s worked his way up to a PG-13?” I asked. "A girl can hope." I went back to picking at my food, while Mr. Summers passed out mail, I didn’t pay any attention, I never got mail. Which is why Sarah had to hit me to say, “Are you going to get it or not?” “Get what?” I asked. “Your mail,” she was giving me the stupid look again. I shrugged, and crossed the floor to Mr. Summers. He passed me a small envelope; I was ripping it apart as I walked back. When I sat down I dumped the contents on to the table, one piece of binder paper and a wallet sized photograph. I picked up the photo first, it was a senior portrait, the guy was in the basic tuxedo, and a familiar smile was frozen on his face. I turned it over, on the back there was a message; “For a good time call Ryan at (928) 636-9781.” I bit my lip and looked at the binder paper, no words other than, “Just in case you forgot.” “Shit,” I swore. Sarah picked up the photo and looked it over, “I don't think Xavier would approve of you calling for phone sex. Just a hunch." “His idea of a good time doesn’t include phone sex,” I replied, wringing the envelope in my hands. Ryan was the only one back home who knew where I was headed when I left. That night he gave me three hundred dollars and hug, and then he watched me go. I missed
him, I missed all of them, but I didn’t know if I could handle hearing
his voice.
poster: Amezri date: 20 July 2002, 1:40am EST Cassie poked at her lunch, ducking as a chunk of biscuit flew past her head. "Rhane, if you don't want to die, you'll stop throwing food at me." "Only if you stop being Miss Cranky-Pants" Rahne giggled, sticking her tongue out. Not really up to swallowing the bait, Cassie simply shrugged and continued to pick at her chicken. Last night had royally sucked. She was angry that they had actually done it; tracked her down because Xavier said so. She had told Sarah she was all right. Wasn't that good enough? Still, part of her - a very microscopic part - was glad they had found her and was disappointed that she wasn't being dragged kicking and screaming back to Westchester. Emma had summoned her to the main office very early in the morning. Apparently, Domino had woken Emma in the middle of the night and the two had been discussing the situation since. The current plan was to just wait and see what Xavier was up to. Cassandrea was assured that she would not be removed from the Academy against her will. "As long as you wish to remain with us, we will protect you," Callisto had promised her. The thing of it was, as she laid in her bed last night, unable to fall asleep, she tried as hard as she could not to think about everything Logan had said. She had told him that she had made her decision, but in the lonely dark of her room, she started to doubt herself. When morning came, she worried that Logan and Max would show up at the Academy. /I can't believe Domino gave Logan a card with our *address* on it,/ she fumed. She didn't know if she could take another round of Logan's Logical Lecture. Ducking another chunk of lunch, Cassie finishe the last bite of her meal. "I'm going to the training room," she announced as she rose from her seat. Routine was all she had right now, and there was no way she was giving that up.
poster: cammogirl date: 24 July 2002, 12:41am EST I ripped open a care-parcel from Mum and Dad, and my sister. Pictures of little cousins, and some drawings they did. A few newspaper clippings of football news, a CD full of photos and letters from family members and some avi videos of the family. Chocolate bars you can't get here in America; Violet Crumble, Cherry Ripe, breakaway... some snacks that are also regional; round bacon-ball cheetos, Samboy chips and twisties. I glanced up, thinking perhaps I could share some of the crap with Annie. That's when I spotted the photo in her hand, and the letter. She looked - I dunno. The photo had stirred her. I narrowed my eyes, focusing on the picture. I couldn't see clearly, cause it was a small picture, but it was of a guy. She looked like she missed him. I stuffed my care package away and got up off the floor. I don't know why, but I was all - burning up in my chest. Get a hold of yourself, Cam, I thought. Whatever was wrong with me, I stuffed it down deep into my heart, and taking my stuff I went back to my room. I pulled out the letter from my family and read it. I missed them. Christ, I missed them so much. I missed Perth, and I missed my old friends. I sighed, wrapping my head in my arms. This was stupid. I was being over-emotional over a stupid photo, and it was mightily stupid. I had to pull myself together or something. Especially since there was a knock on the door.
poster: nacey date: 24 July 2002, 12:48am EST Logan was true to his word. He woke me up early the next morning and drove me to the station. I would have complained, cause being on a mission was something new for me, but my urge to go back to Sarah was stronger. I missed her like hell, and the thought of going back to her was more like a dream. He ruffled my hair, shoved some cash in my hand for breakfast, and told me to say hi to Rogue for him. I bought a salad roll from the station deli after buying a ticket on my mission Am-Ex, and with the change I bought a phone-card. There was plenty of money on it, so I could tell Sarah the good news. I dialled up the line that was silent, the number shared with families and friends of the students, and waited. "Hey, Xavier's School for the Criminally Insane." I laughed. "Hey Jubes." "Maxie my love!" she cried, "Oh it's so quiet and unfurry around here without you." I think that was a compliment. "Any luck with Cassie? Poor Kurt is sooooo worried about her." "Yeah, she's fine," I said. "She's staying at a different kinda - Academy place. Called Hellfire or something." "Oh my God..." There was a weird pause. Jubes sounded like - serious. Weird. "You okay?" I asked her. "What? Sure, uhm... Wow... I gotta talk to the Professor..." "He knows," I said. "He does?! And you guys are coming HOME?! He's just going to leave her there?!" "Oh no," I said. "No... Logan's staying. Keepin' an eye on her." "Right." Annoyed pause. "Hmm. Well - I'll get Sarah for you." "Thanks," I said, and waited for my girl to get on the phone. I was worried now. I wasn't before, but now I was. It took a big thing to make Jubes lose her humour.
poster: Allison date: 24 July 2002, 3:00am EST There was a quiz in history but as soon as it was over, I asked to go to the bathroom. I ended up taking a detour to the kitchen and after grabbing a bag of Cheetos and a large jug of apple juice; I made my way to Cammo’s room. My hands were full so I had to kick the door with my foot as a simplistic knock. He opened the door a minute later with a quiet, “Hey.” I offered a small smile and he ushered me inside, he tried to paste on his normal smile, but it vanished a moment later. Honestly, that worked for me, I had brought my deep thought snacks, and I wasn’t in the mood for smiling. I looked around his room, it was reasonably neat, a couple of movie posters on the wall, Matrix and the Sixth Sense. Above his bed was a pin-up board with pictures from his family printed and stuck there. On one wall there was a little time-table filled in with training times and rosters and a small desk in front of it, rather neat, there was an opened package sitting on top of it. Directly across from me was a long poster on the other wall with a surfer in a tube and underneath it is the words, "PERTH - WA". Randomly placed around his room were pictures of swimmers, some from the Olympics, judging by the medals around their necks. I sat down on the bed after surveying his room, I almost squashed a worn out bear with a flowery bow tie. I picked him up and straightened his tie, looking at Cameron questioningly. “That’s Mr. Boofhead, had him since I was born,” he explained sitting next to me. I gave the bear a hug, “Well you’re a regular war veteran aren’t you?” “He’s something familiar, you know?” “I couldn’t bring Woofy; he got an ear torn off a week before I left. He was still being repaired.” “Poor dog,” he said sympathetically. ”Actually he’s my elephant, but Danny thought he looked like a dog and I was too little to debate it,” I explained. I sighed, thinking of my brother and the rest of our friends for the umpteenth time since I opened my letter. I missed the insults, the empty threats and summer campout outs on a giant trampoline. I missed the sensation of being surrounded by people who knew everything about me. I started to sniffle, I couldn’t help it. Cameron put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his chest, I started to tear up, “I'm such a wimp.” He brushed at my hair, "You're not a wimp, you just miss your family." I grabbed his hand, "But what if they don't miss me? Maybe Ryan is the only one. What if I call and some one else answers, what if Kevin answers, he hates me now." He squeezed my hand gently, "I think anyone that really loved you back home couldn't possibly not miss you." It was cheesy and corny but at that minute, it was exactly what I needed to hear.
poster: cammogirl date: 24 July 2002, 4:57am EST Annie was quiet a moment, arms wrapped around me, gazing forlornly at her packet of cheetos. I squeezed her a bit, and the question that had been burning me the whole time she'd been talking about what had been bothering her fell out of my mouth. "Uhm..." I blushed, I knew I was blushing. "Who's Ryan?" "He's..." she paused thoughtfully. "He's my best friend, he's the one who knows me inside and out. There just aren't quite enough words for him." "Oh..." I swallowed, some irrational part of me broiling uncomfortably. "That's- that's nice." I shrugged. "It's nice to have someone like that in your life." I tilted my brows a little. "I guess." "He's a year older than me, but that never bothered us, unless we were forced to be on different campuses for school. Those were always rotten years, when we couldn't swap lunches, or just hang out between classes." "Guess..." I felt a frown on my face. "Guess you liked being together a lot." I knew there was another question burning on my tongue. That one slipped out too. "Did you two ever-" I felt suddenly reaaaaally stupid. "Never mind." She shifted,
looked up at me and raised her eyebrows, "We decided to have it
stricken from the record, and never to drink that much rum again."
"Yeah, I would say he was like a brother, but I liked him more often than my own." We'd been sitting there for what felt like ages in each other's arms, and I suddenly realised how close we were against each other. I think my palms started to sweat a little. I cleared my throat, trying to shake the feeling that was swamping me. "Well! You feeling better then?" I slapped on one of those smiles again. "Yeah, mopey Annie has gone back to her cave, without the aid of my snacks. Congratulations you are now on the same level as Frito-Lay and Treetop," she grinned. "I feel so special," I said, a nervous look no doubt on my face, since I hadn't been able to peel it off since she got the stupid innocent letter. "You should," glances at his family pictures thing, "You really should." I didn't know what to say to that. I didn't know what to say to anything. Presently I was embarrassed as hell and just wanted to hide. Annie had soon had her fill of hugs, and she grabbed the cheetos, grinning brightly. "So, wanna go rent some dvds with me? The girls wanted to watch a few after going to the mall." I sighed, smiling a little. I'd been hanging out with the 'girls' a little too often lately. "Naah," I said. "I gotta go see Cyke about some stuff anyways." "Okay," she said. She looked about herself, then to me. "Thanks, Cam." I shook my head, waving a hand. "Don't worry about it." With a final smile she left, and I sighed, burying my face in my hands. It wasn't a total fib. I did need to see Cyke about something. It just wan't official X-Men business. Not really anyways. I found our Fearless Leader tinkering with his motorcycle in the X-Men garage, Smashing Pumpkins blaring from a stereo. I laughed to myself quietly. Most people figure Cyke for a total dag, but he wasn't so bad, and his taste in music was pretty cool. He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Hey Cam, what's up?" I sat down on the canvas he'd laid out, crossing my legs and picking at the soles of my shoes. "I think I'm in trouble." "Oh?" Scott sat up, concern in the curve of his lips. "What's wrong?" Oh dear. He was taking me seriously. "Uhm. When did you know you really... uhm - really liked Jean?" A smile suddenly cracked on Scott's face, and he leant back on the car behind him, chuckling. "Oh, I see. That kind of trouble." "Yeah," I nodded. "Listen dude, I'm 18, turning 19, and I don't think I should be feeling this full on so soon." "Why do I suddenly feel like I'm watching the Sound of Music?" laughed Scott. Bastard. "Sorry. Uhm, I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, Cameron," he said, leaning into to gaze at the guts of his bike. "I was 16 when I met Jean, and I knew the second I saw her that we were gonna get married one day. Just knew it." I groaned, burying my face in my hands again. "Oh man... Dude... this is messed up." "Uhm - who are we talking about anyways?" I blushed brightly. "You'll laugh." He shook his head. "Nup. When Rogue told me she had feelings for Logan and asked whether I'd break his neck or not - I laughed then." I blowed a sigh out through my cheeks. "Annie." "Thought as much," he said. "Then why did you ask?" "I wanted to see you get all embarrassed," he sniggered. "You're a jerk-off, Summers." He laughed again. "Thanks." "Seriously though," I said, "This is lame. I've only known her for something like, a month or so, and already I'm getting all - short breathed and shit - when I see her." I blushed again. I didn't usually talk about this stuff. "Logan knew Rogue a day and he was facing 7ft mutants for her. A week later and he was scaling the Statue of Liberty-" "Yeah I heard that one," I said with a groan. "And of course there's Max and Sarah," he added, "I mean, you need a frickin' crow-bar to seperate those two half the time-" "Are you trying to freak me out here?" He looked to me and smiled. "I'm an admitted hopeless romantic, Cameron. If you wanted to be convinced that you're not in love, you came to the wrong guy." Those words, 'in love', hit me, and I think I nearly threw up. "I don't know if I'd use the word 'love', as such. Love is a strong word." "Tell me about it," Scott said. "But you think that is bad, there are plenty of other one's that are stronger." "Don't talk to me about them," I said, getting up. "I don't wanna know. I'm going to wait till Logan comes back. I'm going to get him drunk. He always talks deep when he's drunk. And I'm going to talk to him, cause unlike you, he's got sense!" I tapped the side of my head and stomped out of there. Love? No way. That's just ridiculous. I scowled, plodding down the shiny hall of the underground level, into the elevator, up to the ground floor, through the foyer, and then past the common room. I heard a laugh, a familiar laugh, and I looked to see what was going on. Annie was with Sarah, the latter with a cool look of amusement on her face. They were looking through the school's DVD collection, I think. Either way, they looked like they were having a nice time. Then I realised I'd been staring at her for a good while. I slapped myself and stomped down the hall. Did I mention this was stupid? Cause I certainly felt that way.
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