In Shades of Blue
Disclaimer: I own no characters or places that you recognize.
Chapter One: The Shape of a Shoe
She glanced around the store. Girls roamed the aisles, searching for dresses and shoes. She groaned at the idea of joining their ranks in just a few minutes. Stupid eighth grade dance, she thought.
"Raven? You ready? You do know this is the main event of the holiday season, don't you? We gotta move it; the good stuff ain't gonna last!" A voice in her ear hissed.
"Allyson Simmons. How many times have I told you that it's 'We have got to move it; the good stuff isn't going to last?'" Raven asked, her friend's bad grammar adding to her annoyance.
"Raven Darkholme," Allyson mimicked. "You know that grammar doesn't matter while shoe shopping, right? Besides, am I correct in saying that you've already gotten a boy to dance with?" She grinned impishly. Gossiping was one of Allyson's hobbies.
"Ally, please not now," hissed Raven; she hated discussing things like this in public. It was worse than shopping for the dance.
"Fine. Let's start, then," Allyson announced. Sighing, Raven agreed.
Ten or so minutes later, Raven wasn't so sure that shopping was better than talking about her love life. She'd already gotten horribly bored of watching Alyson's long blonde pony-tail bobbing in front of her. Her eyes kept straying to a rack of nice, long blue jeans in the corner of the store. Her longing for a chance to visit that part of the shop only intensified when Allyson happily told her that next on the list were the high heels.
"Do we have to? I mean, wouldn't sneakers work?" Raven muttered. "It's such a waste of time."
"I doubt that your dance date would agree with you," Allyson said cheerfully. "Try these pink ones. They look cool."
Groaning, she sat down on a bench, yanked off her old high-tops and jammed the pink heels on. She caught Allyson staring at her.
"What now, Allyson Simmons?" She asked, sounding dangerously annoyed.
"Raven, what size shoe do you wear?" Allyson inquired, suspiciously looking at Raven's foot. Raven paused.
"A…size seven-and-a-half…?" She said, thinking. "Why do you ask?"
"Because these things are a size five," Allyson told her, biting her lip. Raven couldn't see why she looked so worried.
"Ally? What's wrong?" The brunette searched her friend's pale blue eyes, trying to find a hidden answer.
"It's just…what…if…you are one of…Them?" Allyson said uncomfortably. Raven could see she was nervous; she was running her tongue over her pale pink braces, a sure sign that she was scared.
'Them?' What on earth is Allyson Simmons talking about? Thought Raven, utterly confused about why her best friend was acting so strangely. Suddenly, she understood. Allyson's parents were strong anti-mutant advocates. Allyson had been taught to fear these, as Mrs. Simmons often put it, 'genetic blemishes upon the human race.' 'Them' meant 'mutants.' Raven wasn't a strong mutant advocate but she didn't find it necessary to avoid the word.
"Oh, of course not, Ally! Shoe size is a relative thing, you know. And besides, try saying 'mutant' once in a while. It won't kill you," Raven said, smiling with relief.
"It won't kill me, but Mom might," Allyson huffed under her breath. To Raven, she said, "Alright. Try these, then." She handed her friend another box, this one containing a pair of lilac-colored shoes. These had a much higher heel than the previous ones. Raven gave an audible moan and jammed one onto her foot. It fit perfectly; she did not even wince.
"Uh…Raven?" asked Ally, eying the other girl who had managed to get to her feet and was making an attempt to walk. All she'd managed so far was to make a few wobbly movements and had been forced to grab onto a mirror to keep her balance.
"What?" she hissed, severely annoyed at the distraction. Allyson hesitated.
"Those shoes are, well, uh…" she stuttered and trailed off. Raven groaned.
"Go on, spit it out! It can't be worse than wearing these heels, anyway!"
"They're size 11," Allyson told her. At this news, Raven lost her stability and slid to the floor.
"What?" she stared at the other girl's still-bobbing blonde hair. "That's impossible!"
"Go on, try these," Allyson said bitterly as she stuffed another shoe box under Raven's nose. These were an infant size. Raven sighed at the prospect of more girly shoes, but, to her relief, these were bright orange booties. Smiling and ready to prove that she was a human, she yanked off the lilac ones and slipped on the orange shoes. To her utter horror, they fit. The world began to swirl.
"Ally? Ally! Answer me? What's happening?" Raven cried out, wishing that it was all a dream. Just a nightmare. Allyson did not answer for a while. Then she spoke.
"You're turning blue," she said. There was something about her voice that made it sound as though she didn't care about Raven anymore. The brunette (at least she hoped she was still a brunette. With all these recent events, she couldn't be sure) looked down at her hands. Her skin was, as Allyson had said, turning dark blue and scaly. She screamed in fear, which sent a worker running her way.
"How may I- ARGHHH!" the worker stopped mid-sentence and screamed. One look at Raven sent her to the phone, her fingers dialing 9-1-1 before her brain could even register what was happening.
"Hello? We're having a mutant attack. Please come quickly!" she shouted into the receiver. I'm not attacking you! Raven thought angrily.
"I don't like you anymore, creature," Allyson said coldly.
"Ally, please, my name is Raven," she pleaded, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "You know me. Don't you?"
"Do I? Let us see. Blue-skinned, scaly, and shape-shifting? No. sorry, doesn't ring a bell," Allyson smirked. What? Thought Raven, confused. She looked down at her body. She nearly screamed in shock when she did so; her once-pale skin was rough and scale-covered. What have I become? She heard sirens in the distance. Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she began to sob. Allyson watched her, showing no pity for the blue-skinned teenager before her.