Well, let's see. I don't own X-men: Evolution. If I did, I'd go and "get
rid of" the marketing executive in charge of Yu-Gi-Oh!, make it look like
an accident, and return our wayward teens to their rightful places. I also
don't own Batman. And for the record, I have no idea what the time
difference is between Hawaii and New York. But apparently, neither do the
writers on X-men: Evo. Okay? Okay.
Dedication: Do I really have to dedicate this one?
Flyby Stardancer: Well, I was your editor...
Niteflite: I didn't find you catching any of my continuity mess-ups.
FB: Like what?
NF: Like my past tense getting messed up with present tense.
FB: *pause* It did?
Oh well, I dedicate this to my idea-bouncer, semi-editor, and best friend, Flyby.
Alex
There's something almost sacred about the ocean when you surf. I can't really name it. Like when I'm just swimming, no board, it's nothing special. But give me a surfboard, and I'm out there all day. I only come out of the water when I can't see the swells at night.
Didn't stay out that late today, though. I'd promised Scott I wouldn't be late for another of our weekly webcammies. Hey, it's not everyday that I get to talk to my big bro. Just happens to be every week. But I love talking to him anyway. The whole scheduling thing, though, has got to be worked out! I mean, Bayville is on the East coast of the mainland. If he lived in Alaska, it'd be so much easier than where he is now.
I actually stopped surfing about four. I'd been out since dawn, and I needed to pay my adoring fans a visit before going home. I got onto the beach and there they were, lining the shore for about a mile. A crowd of bikini-clad blondes clustered around, and admired my bulging muscles, while photographers snapped my photo for the tabloids.
"No pictures!"
The throng now lifted me onto their shoulders, chanting, "Al-ex! Al-ex! Al-ex!"
"Do you always do that?"
Daydream? Every day. Why do you ask?
"Wha-?" I fell back to Earth with a thud as I realized that I actually had a welcoming committee. A one-person welcoming committee, but that's better than nothing. Especially 'cause the welcoming committee was decidedly female.
"Do you always surf?" She pushed a strand of hair behind one ear and waited for me to answer. Nice hair. Black, with green stripes. Pretty cool dye job.
"Yeah, every day." I kind of stammered out the next part. "You- I mean, you were watching me?"
She shrugged and her hair fell forward again. "For a while. You're good. At surfing, that is. My name's Lorna." I half-listened to what she was saying. I couldn't help comparing her to my blonde fantasies. Let's see, Lorna: cool hair, kinda short, fully clothed, and real. Blondes: long blond hair, really tall, string bikinis, and imaginary. Hmm... Real, imaginary, real, imaginary. Oh, I guess Lorna wins!
"Alex Mast-... Summers. Alex Summers," I said, holding out my hand to shake hers. Please don't blast her, please don't blast her. She shook my hand and except for a little bit of tingling that I swallowed pretty quickly, nothing happened. "So, where you from?" Please be a tourist, I don't want to sound stupid.
"Oregon. Pretty near Portland." She started walking when I did. Phew. Now I could get to the webcammie with Scott and not blow her off. "I'm here with my marching band."
"School trip?" When she nodded, I figured she was on one of those 'I'm here, better make the most of it' type of trips. Wait, didn't kids on field trips have a hotel and chaperone to contend with? She really couldn't go that far away from the tourist district. "Do you have to be somewhere? Or with a chaperone?"
She slapped her forehead. "Oh!" Huh. I do the same thing. Lorna turned around and waved. I guess she was waving at her chaperone 'cause some adult waved back. She pointed at her watch, then held up five fingers, and gestured at the hotel strip. I guess the guy figured out what she was doing when he gave a thumbs-up and turned away. I'm glad someone knew, 'cause I was officially weirded out, now.
"And?"
"Wanna go somewhere? I have to be back by five." If I hadn't been trying to act cool, I'd have slapped my forehead. Don't ask why. It's kind of a reaction thing.
Whoa! Hold on a sec! "Uh, last time I was on a field trip, it was to the Honolulu Zoo, and the chap wouldn't let me out of her sight. Don't you need to...? I mean, doesn't he...?"
"Nah, Jake's dad doesn't care. He kinda got roped into doing this. We tell him when we'll be back and he tells the teacher that we loved swimming." She walked a little closer to me, and I pretended that I didn't notice. I know how to play the game. "So," she said, looking kind of over her shoulder and under her eyelashes at the same time, "Where you going?"
"Home," I replied, trying to look like Humphrey Bogart. Dunno who that is, but Scott says that Jean really likes it when he pulls the look. Lorna just cracked up. "Hey! I'm gonna talk with my brother Scott."
Lorna considered this for a while. I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. "Can't you talk to him anytime?" Yup, I really confused her that time.
"Nah, he lives in New York. If I blow off another call, he promised to blow me up." I wish I were joking too.
"If looks could kill, right?" Lorna joked, once again an inch closer. The sun must've been playing tricks with me, 'cause you know how roots show on dyed hair after a while? I kind of expected her roots to be black, 'cause that's her hair color, but they were kinda green. Like I said, some really trippy sunlight.
"His can!" Did I just say that out loud? Judging from how she's now looking at me like I sprouted pink hair...yes. Gotta cover up. "Every time I do something wrong, he calls up and goes 'Alex!!!' " She cringed at my awesome Scott impression. "I swear, I've died at least five times."
She giggled again. Phew. I started walking up the stairs to the apartment and she followed. "Only five? What time is he going to call?"
I checked my watch. Cool watch, actually. Scott gave it to me for Christmas. It can be waterproof for up to fifty meters. Five's just enough for me. "Two minutes." I started scrambling for my keys. Lorna saw.
"You've got time."
"Scott is an early kind of dude." There they were! I jammed them into the door. Fit! Fit! Come on, keys! Yes! I finally turned the handle.
"Run for it!" Lorna shouted. Well, at least someone's having fun. Although, I've gotta admit, I had this enormous stupid grin on my face. I ran into my room and plopped myself in front of my computer just before Scott's face popped onto the screen. I live for moments like this. So does Lorna, apparently. She slid into the room seconds after I had, laughing like a maniac.
"Aloha, brahda!" It's so much fun putting on the accent for Scott. He can't stand 'em. Actually, that's pretty funny considering who he lives with.
"Hey, yourself, Alex." His body language screamed, 'No more accents!!!! I've had enough!' "What've you been up to?"
I leaned back in my chair. Always loved being the laid-back one. Must be the island air. "Not much. Found my fan club. Told ya I wasn't lying."
Scott smirked. Yeah, that's my bro. Arrogant to a fault. "Where is it, then?"
Before I could do anything, Lorna popped her face into the webcam's view. "Hello Scott. Alex Summers Fan Club present and accounted for. I've even got the official shirt." She waved one of my dirty aloha shirts like a Spanish bullfighter. Even behind those sunglasses, I knew Scott's eyes were hurting from her green stripes mixing with the orange sunset print on the shirt.
"Okay, okay, I stand corrected! Does the Alex Summers Fan Club have a name, or just an acronym?"
"Lorna Dane," she told him. Her voice kind of sounded like she was shaking his hand right then and there.
"Scott Summers," my bro replied, somehow returning the verbal handshake. "How long have you known my little brother?" He crossed his arms, and I just knew he was scanning her for any potential harm. As if harmful mutants are obvious at first glance.
But then, what about the roots of her hair? I hoped those red glasses make him colorblind! I really didn't want him spoiling my chance with the only girl with a similar sense of humor as me.
"About twenty minutes." I told Scott.
Lorna cut in almost immediately, saying, "More like fifteen." Scott's body language was obvious now. 'Darn, that boy moves fast.' Even in his head, Scott can't swear.
"So, how's everyone over there?" I figured that it was a good idea to change the subject, and fast.
Scott didn't really catch on, but he said, "Fine, everyone's fine," and launched into the latest non-powers anecdote he could think of. It was one I'd already heard last week, but Lorna enjoyed it. When Scott told me that Jean had remembered his birthday and given him a sweater, I couldn't help but make a mutant jab.
"Wow, Scott, just what you wanted. It's almost as if she could read your mind!"
The corners of his mouth had barely turned down when Kitty barged into his room. Both he and I winced, hoping Lorna hadn't heard the decided lack of opening and closing of any doors.
'Scott, can you help me? I, like, can't get this math problem." Scott motioned to the computer with his head, frantically trying to signal to Kitty that he was busy.
"He looks like a mime with a neck injury," Lorna whispered in my ear. While I was laughing at this, Kitty finally realized what Scott was throwing his neck out of alignment for.
"Oh, hi Alex! How's the surf?" I shrugged. I never really clicked with Kitty. For the longest time, I thought she was from California, with the whole 'like, as if!' thing, and here she is from Illinois. Didn't really trust her from then on.
She also saw Lorna, who was still holding my shirt, and wrinkled her nose. "Who's your friend?" Why'd she do that? Oh, the colors. Guess she's taking over from Jean as Color-Coordinating Critic. Color Girl, I guess. The whole Shadowcat thing never really suited her anyway.
"Lorna," we all told her. Guess she was getting on a lot of people's bad sides today. She'd already made us all pretty annoyed with a few sentences. I checked my watch, hoping for something I'd put off until the last minute. 4:45. Wasn't there something I'd planned to do before five? Laundry? Nah. Oh yeah! Now I remember!
"Look bro, gotta go. Lorna's gotta be back at her place by five, and I promised to take her." Okay, so I hadn't actually gotten around to promising her that, but I guess she'll have to accept my offer now. "Anyway, better go before Kurt or Jean show up." That'd get him. No one wants a blue fuzzy elf bamfing in on a conversation, and I've never been one for discretion around Jean. Maybe it's 'cause from this distance, she can't read my mind, but I'm always my most obnoxious around her.
Scott nodded back. "Same time?"
Time for an old TV reference that Scott won't get! "Same bat-time, same bat-channel."
"What?"
Does he never watch the best Batman TV show of all time? "Same time next week. Aloooooooooooooooooooha, brahda!" I waited just long enough to see him grimace before breaking off the connection. I turned to Lorna, who had a completely innocent look. Something was up. "What?"
She answered, "Holy fish sticks, Batman, you watch classics too?"
I grinned. How awesome is that? "Come Robin!" I whirled my whole body around since Batman can't turn his head. "To the hotel!" I grabbed her hand and whooshed out of the apartment (locking the door, of course). I didn't do all of the whooshing, though. Lorna was the one who actually said, "Whoosh!"
Dedication: Do I really have to dedicate this one?
Flyby Stardancer: Well, I was your editor...
Niteflite: I didn't find you catching any of my continuity mess-ups.
FB: Like what?
NF: Like my past tense getting messed up with present tense.
FB: *pause* It did?
Oh well, I dedicate this to my idea-bouncer, semi-editor, and best friend, Flyby.
Alex
There's something almost sacred about the ocean when you surf. I can't really name it. Like when I'm just swimming, no board, it's nothing special. But give me a surfboard, and I'm out there all day. I only come out of the water when I can't see the swells at night.
Didn't stay out that late today, though. I'd promised Scott I wouldn't be late for another of our weekly webcammies. Hey, it's not everyday that I get to talk to my big bro. Just happens to be every week. But I love talking to him anyway. The whole scheduling thing, though, has got to be worked out! I mean, Bayville is on the East coast of the mainland. If he lived in Alaska, it'd be so much easier than where he is now.
I actually stopped surfing about four. I'd been out since dawn, and I needed to pay my adoring fans a visit before going home. I got onto the beach and there they were, lining the shore for about a mile. A crowd of bikini-clad blondes clustered around, and admired my bulging muscles, while photographers snapped my photo for the tabloids.
"No pictures!"
The throng now lifted me onto their shoulders, chanting, "Al-ex! Al-ex! Al-ex!"
"Do you always do that?"
Daydream? Every day. Why do you ask?
"Wha-?" I fell back to Earth with a thud as I realized that I actually had a welcoming committee. A one-person welcoming committee, but that's better than nothing. Especially 'cause the welcoming committee was decidedly female.
"Do you always surf?" She pushed a strand of hair behind one ear and waited for me to answer. Nice hair. Black, with green stripes. Pretty cool dye job.
"Yeah, every day." I kind of stammered out the next part. "You- I mean, you were watching me?"
She shrugged and her hair fell forward again. "For a while. You're good. At surfing, that is. My name's Lorna." I half-listened to what she was saying. I couldn't help comparing her to my blonde fantasies. Let's see, Lorna: cool hair, kinda short, fully clothed, and real. Blondes: long blond hair, really tall, string bikinis, and imaginary. Hmm... Real, imaginary, real, imaginary. Oh, I guess Lorna wins!
"Alex Mast-... Summers. Alex Summers," I said, holding out my hand to shake hers. Please don't blast her, please don't blast her. She shook my hand and except for a little bit of tingling that I swallowed pretty quickly, nothing happened. "So, where you from?" Please be a tourist, I don't want to sound stupid.
"Oregon. Pretty near Portland." She started walking when I did. Phew. Now I could get to the webcammie with Scott and not blow her off. "I'm here with my marching band."
"School trip?" When she nodded, I figured she was on one of those 'I'm here, better make the most of it' type of trips. Wait, didn't kids on field trips have a hotel and chaperone to contend with? She really couldn't go that far away from the tourist district. "Do you have to be somewhere? Or with a chaperone?"
She slapped her forehead. "Oh!" Huh. I do the same thing. Lorna turned around and waved. I guess she was waving at her chaperone 'cause some adult waved back. She pointed at her watch, then held up five fingers, and gestured at the hotel strip. I guess the guy figured out what she was doing when he gave a thumbs-up and turned away. I'm glad someone knew, 'cause I was officially weirded out, now.
"And?"
"Wanna go somewhere? I have to be back by five." If I hadn't been trying to act cool, I'd have slapped my forehead. Don't ask why. It's kind of a reaction thing.
Whoa! Hold on a sec! "Uh, last time I was on a field trip, it was to the Honolulu Zoo, and the chap wouldn't let me out of her sight. Don't you need to...? I mean, doesn't he...?"
"Nah, Jake's dad doesn't care. He kinda got roped into doing this. We tell him when we'll be back and he tells the teacher that we loved swimming." She walked a little closer to me, and I pretended that I didn't notice. I know how to play the game. "So," she said, looking kind of over her shoulder and under her eyelashes at the same time, "Where you going?"
"Home," I replied, trying to look like Humphrey Bogart. Dunno who that is, but Scott says that Jean really likes it when he pulls the look. Lorna just cracked up. "Hey! I'm gonna talk with my brother Scott."
Lorna considered this for a while. I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. "Can't you talk to him anytime?" Yup, I really confused her that time.
"Nah, he lives in New York. If I blow off another call, he promised to blow me up." I wish I were joking too.
"If looks could kill, right?" Lorna joked, once again an inch closer. The sun must've been playing tricks with me, 'cause you know how roots show on dyed hair after a while? I kind of expected her roots to be black, 'cause that's her hair color, but they were kinda green. Like I said, some really trippy sunlight.
"His can!" Did I just say that out loud? Judging from how she's now looking at me like I sprouted pink hair...yes. Gotta cover up. "Every time I do something wrong, he calls up and goes 'Alex!!!' " She cringed at my awesome Scott impression. "I swear, I've died at least five times."
She giggled again. Phew. I started walking up the stairs to the apartment and she followed. "Only five? What time is he going to call?"
I checked my watch. Cool watch, actually. Scott gave it to me for Christmas. It can be waterproof for up to fifty meters. Five's just enough for me. "Two minutes." I started scrambling for my keys. Lorna saw.
"You've got time."
"Scott is an early kind of dude." There they were! I jammed them into the door. Fit! Fit! Come on, keys! Yes! I finally turned the handle.
"Run for it!" Lorna shouted. Well, at least someone's having fun. Although, I've gotta admit, I had this enormous stupid grin on my face. I ran into my room and plopped myself in front of my computer just before Scott's face popped onto the screen. I live for moments like this. So does Lorna, apparently. She slid into the room seconds after I had, laughing like a maniac.
"Aloha, brahda!" It's so much fun putting on the accent for Scott. He can't stand 'em. Actually, that's pretty funny considering who he lives with.
"Hey, yourself, Alex." His body language screamed, 'No more accents!!!! I've had enough!' "What've you been up to?"
I leaned back in my chair. Always loved being the laid-back one. Must be the island air. "Not much. Found my fan club. Told ya I wasn't lying."
Scott smirked. Yeah, that's my bro. Arrogant to a fault. "Where is it, then?"
Before I could do anything, Lorna popped her face into the webcam's view. "Hello Scott. Alex Summers Fan Club present and accounted for. I've even got the official shirt." She waved one of my dirty aloha shirts like a Spanish bullfighter. Even behind those sunglasses, I knew Scott's eyes were hurting from her green stripes mixing with the orange sunset print on the shirt.
"Okay, okay, I stand corrected! Does the Alex Summers Fan Club have a name, or just an acronym?"
"Lorna Dane," she told him. Her voice kind of sounded like she was shaking his hand right then and there.
"Scott Summers," my bro replied, somehow returning the verbal handshake. "How long have you known my little brother?" He crossed his arms, and I just knew he was scanning her for any potential harm. As if harmful mutants are obvious at first glance.
But then, what about the roots of her hair? I hoped those red glasses make him colorblind! I really didn't want him spoiling my chance with the only girl with a similar sense of humor as me.
"About twenty minutes." I told Scott.
Lorna cut in almost immediately, saying, "More like fifteen." Scott's body language was obvious now. 'Darn, that boy moves fast.' Even in his head, Scott can't swear.
"So, how's everyone over there?" I figured that it was a good idea to change the subject, and fast.
Scott didn't really catch on, but he said, "Fine, everyone's fine," and launched into the latest non-powers anecdote he could think of. It was one I'd already heard last week, but Lorna enjoyed it. When Scott told me that Jean had remembered his birthday and given him a sweater, I couldn't help but make a mutant jab.
"Wow, Scott, just what you wanted. It's almost as if she could read your mind!"
The corners of his mouth had barely turned down when Kitty barged into his room. Both he and I winced, hoping Lorna hadn't heard the decided lack of opening and closing of any doors.
'Scott, can you help me? I, like, can't get this math problem." Scott motioned to the computer with his head, frantically trying to signal to Kitty that he was busy.
"He looks like a mime with a neck injury," Lorna whispered in my ear. While I was laughing at this, Kitty finally realized what Scott was throwing his neck out of alignment for.
"Oh, hi Alex! How's the surf?" I shrugged. I never really clicked with Kitty. For the longest time, I thought she was from California, with the whole 'like, as if!' thing, and here she is from Illinois. Didn't really trust her from then on.
She also saw Lorna, who was still holding my shirt, and wrinkled her nose. "Who's your friend?" Why'd she do that? Oh, the colors. Guess she's taking over from Jean as Color-Coordinating Critic. Color Girl, I guess. The whole Shadowcat thing never really suited her anyway.
"Lorna," we all told her. Guess she was getting on a lot of people's bad sides today. She'd already made us all pretty annoyed with a few sentences. I checked my watch, hoping for something I'd put off until the last minute. 4:45. Wasn't there something I'd planned to do before five? Laundry? Nah. Oh yeah! Now I remember!
"Look bro, gotta go. Lorna's gotta be back at her place by five, and I promised to take her." Okay, so I hadn't actually gotten around to promising her that, but I guess she'll have to accept my offer now. "Anyway, better go before Kurt or Jean show up." That'd get him. No one wants a blue fuzzy elf bamfing in on a conversation, and I've never been one for discretion around Jean. Maybe it's 'cause from this distance, she can't read my mind, but I'm always my most obnoxious around her.
Scott nodded back. "Same time?"
Time for an old TV reference that Scott won't get! "Same bat-time, same bat-channel."
"What?"
Does he never watch the best Batman TV show of all time? "Same time next week. Aloooooooooooooooooooha, brahda!" I waited just long enough to see him grimace before breaking off the connection. I turned to Lorna, who had a completely innocent look. Something was up. "What?"
She answered, "Holy fish sticks, Batman, you watch classics too?"
I grinned. How awesome is that? "Come Robin!" I whirled my whole body around since Batman can't turn his head. "To the hotel!" I grabbed her hand and whooshed out of the apartment (locking the door, of course). I didn't do all of the whooshing, though. Lorna was the one who actually said, "Whoosh!"