A/N: Hello! Here's my attempt at writing a story based on the X-men movie trilogy. I haven't watched the movies recently, so forgive me if some aspects are not as accurate as they should be. Also, I'm not familiar with the American education system, so I look for info on high school subjects in the Complete List of High School Subjects from the American School website. Other than that, I hope you enjoy this first chapter :)
"All I Ask Of You" is a song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, and it's taken from the musical "The Phantom Of The Opera".
For explanation on the dashes, please visit my profile.
All I Ask Of You.
Chapter I: Normal.
It was just another boring day at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, at least for John. Since Bobby and Marie had started dating, he often found himself alone in his bedroom or anywhere else away from them. He didn't really have anything against their new relationship, but it made him feel uncomfortable sometimes. So, today he was spending his free morning in the garden and it didn't make him feel any better. John Allerdyce had few friends and that fact alone reminded him of how empty his life was. In fact, his life didn't exist beyond the school gates: he considered himself a person with no family, prejudice and sometimes hate were all society had ever given him and he had no dreams for his future.
As he watched his schoolmates studying and socializing, the teenage mutant wondered if any of them expected to live a normal life once they weren't protected by Professor Xavier anymore. He didn't. All he wanted was to remain in the school until he figured out what he was going to do with his very troubled life. John didn't plan to join the X-men nor did he want to adapt himself to society, but that was everything he knew about himself as a mutant.
His closest friend, the Zippo lighter, was lying in the palm of his hand to constantly remind him of those invisible chains which tried to dominate and destroy the most important and powerful thing genetics had given him: his ability to control fire. Even though Xavier and Storm tried to teach their students how to control their special gifts and use them for good purposes, John felt he could not follow that path because fire only meant destruction to him. That's why he couldn't understand Marie, for example. Her mutation made her slowly kill every living being she touched and, yet, she had been able to find joy in her life. But John didn't search for joy and he didn't even want to know what it felt like, because he was sure that, sooner or later, it would only bring him disappointment.
Walking back to the school, he tried to remember the day he had decided not to expect anything good from life, but he couldn't. He felt his existence had been emptied the very moment he was born; everything else seemed to belong to another life.
***
Anya felt frustrated as she walked away from the school. She had spent the entire weekend studying for that important Biology test and now it had been postponed. Apparently, someone wasn't in the mood for a test on a Monday morning and had decided to cause the so typical explosion in the Chemistry laboratory. But, unfortunately, it hadn't been a small explosion like the person had certainly intended it to be and, once the fire alarms detected the smoke, it didn't take long before the entire building was waterlogged. The result was total chaos which only ended when a very nervous group of teachers told the students to go home.
School wasn't exactly the center of Anya's world, but the fact that someone had not respected her efforts to keep her good grades irritated her. She had spent several sleepless nights worrying about that test because Biology wasn't her best subject and now she would have to wait two more days to take it, which meant she would have to bear the weight of anxiety on her shoulders for forty-eight hours.
Her worries made her catch the first bus that stopped a few feet away from the school without confirming its destination. Sitting down on a vacant seat, she leaned against the window to close her eyes for a moment. Only then Anya realized how tired she was and how much she needed to sleep. But, before she could fall asleep, she opened her eyes again to realize she wasn't going home. She hurried out of the bus as soon as it stopped and, after looking at her surroundings, she felt relieved for not being completely lost. She barely recognized the street, having been there once or twice, and decided to walk back to the previous bus stop, hoping there was at least one route that would take her home.
As she walked down the street, Anya noticed a rather big mansion with a vast front yard, all behind iron black gates. Then, she noticed the discreet golden plate on the wall, right next to the gate, which read Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. She was almost sure she had heard that name before and thought it was probably a place where only kids with an extraordinary intelligence studied. Shrugging her shoulders, she continued walking down the street and had already forgotten about that school when she reached the bus stop. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long for her bus and soon was on her way home.
***
He had intended to burn those photographs several times, but had never really done it; his power could not overcome the memories he so desperately tried to forget. Seeing himself and his siblings as children in those images almost made him want to believe everything could have been different, but he would only be fooling himself: their home was already broken before the rejection.
-You still have those photos, uh? –he heard Bobby ask and looked up to see him standing in the doorway.
-I should burn them. –John stated, feeling his repressed hatred rise as he looked at the photos one last time before throwing them in the bottom drawer of his bedside table.
-Maybe some other day. –Bobby replied, knowing that looking at those pictures was his best friend's way of torturing himself.
-Yeah, maybe… -were John's words to drop the subject. –Where's your girlfriend?
-In her room with Kitty. They kicked me out to talk about girl stuff, I guess. –the other boy answered, looking rather embarrassed. Then he remembered Kitty's more-than-a-crush on John. –How's everything with you and Kitty?
-There's nothing between me and her. You know that. –his friend answered clearly annoyed.
-Come on, John. Why don't you go out with her just once and give her a chance? –Bobby insisted as he felt guilty for John' absence almost every time he was with Marie.
-Because I don't like her! –John stated, feeling frustrated. –Not everyone wants what you have. –he continued. Bobby knew that Kitty and sharing personal feelings were aspects John wasn't interested in, but he only tried to take his friend out of his misery.
-Ok, John. I'm sorry. –he said but the only reply he heard was silence and he left the bedroom, knowing it was time to leave him alone… again.
***
She had decided to clean her bedroom since she had no homework that day and was home alone. As she looked inside every box, reading small excerpts of diaries and letters, she found a photo album she hadn't seen in years. Opening it, Anya smiled as she saw pictures of her childhood until the birth of her younger brother, Ryan. Her favorite photograph was the one in which she was holding the baby, who was just a few days old back then. Today, Ryan was seven and she was nine years older.
Anya heard the front door being open and closed, followed by a pair of feet going upstairs and, seconds later, Susan was entering the room.
-Hi, mom. –Anya said, looking away from the photo.
-Your teacher called and said there was an accident in the school but that you were alright. –Susan said, looking rather confused.
-Some idiot decided to blow up the lab so we couldn't take the Biology test… -the daughter replied, rolling her eyes.
-I wanted to come right away, but I had a surgery and there was no one to replace me. –her mother stated, annoyed. Susan was a surgery nurse and had little time to do anything else besides her work. The last time Anya remembered seeing her mother not working was when Ryan was born.
-No problem. Everyone's fine. –she said, looking at the picture in her hand. –Remember the day we took this picture, mom?
-Of course I do. –Susan answered, smiling as she saw her two children in the photo. –It was taken the day Ryan and I returned from the hospital.
Mother and daughter spent the rest of the morning looking through old photos and remembering old times. Anya Mathews often felt happy for being so close to her family, knowing there were many people who couldn't say the same about their own families; she had friends whose parents were divorced and a schoolmate or two who didn't even know their mother or father…