"Papa! I'm goin' outside!" Remy called out as he pushed open the screen door and ran outside. Before his father could approve or disapprove, Remy was already past the mailbox at the end of the driveway and sprinting towards the lake to meet up with his brother Henri. It was a scorching hot summer day and Remy wanted nothing more than to hang out with his big brother and his friends at the lake. Remy was 13 years old, a good 5 years younger than his foster brother, but age never mattered between them. Henri and Remy interacted as if they were equals. That's just how it had always been ever since Jean Luc adopted Remy all those years ago.
Running with the grace and speed of a jaguar, Remy made it to the lake which was about 3 miles away within 10 minutes. An incredibly agile young man, Remy could run away from anything which was a good trait for a thief in training.
"Bonjour, Frère (Hello, Brother)! Ya come ta take a swim?" Henri smiled when he noticed his brother sprinting over to him.
"Oui, Remy's sweatin' his butt off." Remy replied through ragged breaths as he stopped in front of the taller young man.
"Ya shouldn' of ran den. Ya always so impatient, Remy." Henri chastised with a smirk as he reached over and tousled his brother's unruly auburn hair slightly damp with perspiration.
"Yea, yea..." Remy replied with a roll of his blood red and ebony eyes as he rid himself of his shirt and tossed it to the pile of clothes that were gathered by a large tree. As he was about to kick his sneakers off, Remy glanced up and noticed a young girl swimming with a group of other girls about the same age.
"Who's de fille?" Remy asked softly as he examined her. She was beautiful and couldn't have been more than 14 by the looks of her. She had long brown hair that was similar in hue to a bar of chocolate. He sighed to himself as he wondered what it smelled like.
"Who?" Henri asked as he followed his brothers line of vision over at the group of girls.
"De brunette. Remy never seen her here befo'." Remy said dreamily as he watched her and her friends splash about the water and laugh girlishly.
"She be Cynthia. She jus' moved here from New York City wit' her auntie. Why, homme? Do ya like her?" Henri smiled.
"Remy can't like her, Henri. He never met her." Remy replied as he looked away and kicked off his sneakers and pulled off his socks.
"Well dat can be remedied, c'mon." Henri grinned as he took his brothers wrist and pulled him along until they were by Cynthia and her friends. When Remy got closer he caught a glimmer of the bluest eyes he had ever seen in his life. They reminded him of diamonds...but only the rarest kind. The rarest and most precious diamonds cast a blue hue when the light hit it just right. Her eyes were just like that...rare and precious framed by long eyelashes.
"Good afternoon, Femmes." Henri crooned to the teenagers with a charming smile. Most of the girls swooned and said 'hello'.
"Ya come ta swim wit' us, Henri?" A blonde asked hopefully.
"Non, Henri be here on business. It has come ta my attention dat a certain younger brother has taken an interest in one o' you filles." Henri smiled teasingly at Remy who was now blushing in embarrassment. The girls swooned in excitement and started to giggle.
"Well, who is she?" A redhead asked with a smile.
"Cynthia, could ya come over here, Chere?" Henri replied as Remy struggled to get out of the grip his brother still had on his wrist. The brunette smiled and swam closer to the waters edge and looked up at Remy who couldn't help but smile back at her. Up close, she looked heavenly. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
"Hi." She said sweetly. Her voice was like warm honey.
"Bonjour..." Remy squeaked out shyly. Remy was never the awkward type or the shy type...but then again, he had never met a girl like this before. His stomach churned with butterflies as their eyes met...ice blue against fire red and black. She made his blood run cold.
"Do you have a name?" Cynthia grinned up at him.
"R-remy. My name's Remy." He stuttered.
"I'm Cynthia...everyone calls me Cyndi though. You coming in?" She smiled.
"Oui. I mean, yea...yes." Remy smirked shyly down at her as Henri released his grip on his brothers wrist and pushed him into the lake with a grin. With a gasp, Remy fell into the water and he popped out of the water moments later uttering swear words in French which he made sound more elegant than they really were. Cyndi laughed and swam over to Remy.
"Big brothers are a pain in the ass. I should know, I have two." She replied sympathetically. Remy smirked boyishly and treaded water as she came closer to him.
"So, what did Henri mean when he said you were interested in me?" She laughed softly.
"Remy jus' never seen a more belle femme in his life..." He admitted as he closed his eyes and mentally wished he hadn't just said all that. He opened his eyes again when he heard her chuckle.
"Thank you, that's so sweet." She smiled.
"Really?" Remy asked.
"Yea, I don't hear compliments like that often." She replied.
"Remy has a hard time believin' dat, Chere." He grinned, returning to his normal charming self. She blushed as Remy dipped his head under the water and swam closer to her, their bodies not more than a foot away now. She couldn't believe such a handsome boy was flirting with her, let alone interested in her. Back home, the boys were cruel to her mostly because of what she was...a mutant and that was partly the reason why she left New York. She had grown sick of being picked on for something she couldn't help. Her Aunt Diane thought the south would be just what she needed and so far, Cyndi was beginning to think she was right as she looked over the young Cajun in front of her.
"Ya like de bayou so far, Chere?" Remy asked.
"It's different." Cyndi said gently.
"Different bad or different good?" He asked.
"I dunno yet." She chuckled, her eyes catching the sun looking almost white in the light.
"Ya'll like it. It jus' takes gettin' used ta. Remy bet dat chya used ta big buildings an' lotsa noise, non?" He smiled softly.
"Yea. Last week I was walking past the Empire State Building...now I'm swimming in a lake in Louisiana." She chuckled.
"Well, Remy hope dat ya like it. He's lookin' forward ta seein ya around mo' often." He replied charmingly.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me." She grinned.
"Who says I'm not?" He smirked with a wink. For a boy of 13, he sure did know his way around a woman.
"Then I'd say I'm in trouble..." She chuckled as she swam back over to her friends. Remy bit his lip and watched her for a moment before swimming to the other side where Henri was. He had to get to know this girl. He just had to. By the end of the summer, he was convinced that she would be his if all went accordingly.
That night...
There was to be neighborhood barbeque that everyone was invited to, so hoping Cyndi would be there; Remy showered, dressed and put on his best cologne. He needed to look exceptional to impress her. He could tell she was the type that didn't fall for the standard pick-up lines and routines...not that he was EVER tacky enough to use tricks like that. He was Remy LeBeau...ladies man...man about town. He was above using tactless tricks, his charm spoke for itself.
Besides, Cyndi was a city girl. City girls were sophisticated. He would need to be sophisticated for her.
"Hot date, Lil brother?" Henri asked with a smirk as he watched Remy come bounding down the stairs dressed just a little nicer.
"Non...can't a homme look nice? Sheesh. An' t'anks fo' tossin' Remy in de lake...dat was real sweet." Remy replied as he reached the foot of the stairs and shoved the older boy into the wall.
"Easy dere! It got ya talkin', didn' it?" He asked.
"Well, oui. But dat was embarrassin'. Ya never do stuff like dat." Remy whined.
"Remy...it was a conversation starter...ya should be t'ankin' me." Henri smirked as he walked away. Remy shook his head in annoyance and headed outside where there were picnic tables set up and hoards of people chatting and laughing. He loved when the summer came, everyone seemed to come together. After wandering for a while, he came across Cyndi dressed in a pair of baggy jeans, work boots and a tight black tank top. Very hip-hop inspired, very cool. Very New York City. He gave his own attire the once over before walking over to her and her Aunt with a confident smile.
"Hey, Remy." She smiled once she saw him.
"Hey. Knew I'd see ya around." He smiled casually. Her Aunt a woman in her mid fourties smiled over at the teenaged boy and nudged her niece for an introduction.
"This is my Aunt Di. Aunt Di, this is Remy. We met today at the lake." Cyndi replied as her Aunt stuck out her hand and Remy shook it politely.
"It's a pleasure. You made quite an impression on my niece...she talked about you from the time she got home till we got here." Aunt Di smiled. Cyndi blushed and turned her pretty face away. Briefly, Remy mourned the loss.
"Ya niece made quite de impression on Remy, Madame." He smiled which made Cyndi look back at him and smile shyly at the young Cajun.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone. Don't get into too much trouble, Cyn." Aunt Di warned playfully as she walked away.
"A day doesn't go by where that woman doesn't embarrass me in front of someone..." Cyndi groaned after the coast was clear. Remy laughed, his unique eyes glittering as his face lit up.
"You think I'm kidding?" She smirked as she perched a hand on her hip. He shook his head and smiled.
"Non, ya jus' make Remy laugh, Chere." He replied honestly.
"You wanna take a walk or something?" She asked, her New York accent thick but still endearingly cute.
"Oui. Ya can tell Remy 'bout de big city." He smiled as they started to walk down the dirt road not too far away from the party.
XXXXXXXXX
"My friend Sabrina, she knows this guy who breakdances at Penn Station...we went to see him perform one day before I left. It was wicked cool." Cyndi replied excitedly as she rammbled on and on about where she was from and Remy couldn't get enough of it. He simply listened and smiled. He had never seen a girl's eyes light up so much when she spoke.
"I can't believe you've never been up North. You'd love it. You don't seem like everyone else down here." Cyndi smiled over at Remy.
"Why's dat?" He asked with a smirk.
"You don't strike me as a small town kind of boy. Something tells me you'll move on to bigger and better things once you get out of school." She smiled.
"Like wha'?" He chuckled amused.
"I don't know...Las Vegas...Los Angeles...you don't belong down here. It's too slow. You look like you need some excitement." She replied.
"Remy always wanted ta see does places. Maybe we go dere together, Chere." He smirked.
"You never know. Maybe we will." She smiled as they walked along.