How odd it was that mornings used to be so monotonous, never changing. But that was Jennifer's life, not Lark's. Jennifer had stumbled to the bathroom, to hide, gotten dressed and snuck out before David had seen her. Lark didn't have to sneak around or hide her powers or suffer being called 'Jenny' or Jennifer. Lark Owens could live her life as a mutant.
And today was her first day at Bayville High School. And absolutely nothing would have made her more nervous unless she had been asked to do an impromptu oral speech to the student body on the War of 1812. But she had to shove the nervousness aside and play it cool. Or at least fake it.
After waiting for about fifteen minutes for the shower to have a vacancy and taking the quickest shower ever recorded ( nine minutes, complete with conditioner and body wash), Lark became aware of how useful her mutant powers were. After drying off everything else but her hair, Lark turned on her own 'hair dryer', making the mini fire balls and wind gusts, blowing it dry in no time.
The last time she had done this was at home the day the X-men had found her. In fact, it was this small act that had tipped them off who and what she was. Two days before. It was so weird not to hear Amber singing in the shower or ducking into the bathroom or the kitchen in order to avoid David.
Lark sat on her bed, surveying her room. It was no doubt, a lot bigger than her room at home. It was also acrossed the hall from Kurt's, and that made her feel a lot more at ease. Kurt had become somewhat of a security blanket for her. Oh, everyone was nice and sweet to her, dealing with her awe of the whole mansion. After all, they had dealt with it too, at some time. But Kurt was more a relief to see in her sight, bamfing around here or there, with his playful grin on his face.
After braiding her waist length, honey coloured hair, Lark headed down stairs for breakfast, backpack in hand. She was dressed in a light blue t-shirt and jeans with her white canvas shoes. The jeans felt a little uncomfortable, hugging her hips. Casual but tasteful, or so Kitty had said the night before. It just felt weird to Lark. Almost everyone was down at the breakfast table already, save for Evan. Tomorrow would be her day to help with breakfast. 'Maybe I could make cinnamon pancakes.' she idly thought.
"Guten tag, kleiner Lerche vogel." a voice said, bringing her out of her thoughts. It was Kurt. Lark turned to him and smiled.
"Hi Kurt, good morning to you too. Um... what did you call me again?" she asked, rising a brow. Kurt's grin broadened.
"Kleiner Lerche vogel is German for 'little Lark bird'. It's actually in the diminutive, so it's little bird. Little Lark bird."
Lark smiled and laughed softly, getting a plate and some eggs on it. "That's sweet, thank you Kurt." Kitty looked up and rolled her eyes good naturally.
"He calls me Katzchen. Ugh." Lark grinned at Kurt's pretend hurt look, and swallowed a bite of her eggs as Kurt moved his plate next to Lark's. "So, are you, like, excited or nervous about your first day?" Kitty asked. Lark nodded, picking up her juice glass.
"Very. I don't know who to talk to or how to act about my mutant powers.... Can I just pretend I don't have them?"
Kitty nodded. "Yeah, that's, like, what we all do. We say we're, like, staying at the Xavier Institute for boarding reasons and leave it at that. Professor X says it's better that way." Lark returned the nod and picked at her eggs lightly, the butterflies in her chest turning to giant moths.
Would the other mutants at the school know what she was just by looking at her? Unlikely, but when they saw her hanging around with the X-Men, they'd probably guess. Unlike Jean, Lark didn't think she possessed the ability to fit in and make friends at Bayville High. More or less, it maybe better if she played out to be more like Rogue, and kept to herself. Maybe not dying the front of her hair white, but still, it may be best if she didn't try too hard to 'fit in'. However you did that.
Lark became absorbed in her thoughts so much, that Scott had to nudge her to get her out of seat. Grabbing her backpack, Lark headed out the door with the others, tossing her braid off of her shoulder. It was a tight squeeze into the convertible Scott had, but for today, he said he'd give everyone a ride to school in honor of Lark's first day at Bayville. Lark knew that Kitty, Rogue, and maybe even Jean had crushes on Scott, however small they may be, and she could see why.
But as for her, Scott was more of a big brother than David had ever been. David. Lark wondered briefly what he was doing these past two days and what lie he had made up to cover her absence from home. Lark didn't have very many friends, most people avoided her and she encouraged them to do so. Even if she could only do a little with her powers, they could still be dangerous. Professor X had calmly explained everything to Lark in the duration of the couple of days she had been there.
He had said that within time, a couple of her elemental control may drop off, leaving her with one, strong element or two. He had predicted she may be left with air and water with little to no use in earth and/or fire. Lark had agreed whole heartedly. Having chapped lips or being soaked was much better to recover from then being burned or buried with rocks and soil.
The drive to Bayville High wasn't very long, and Jean had promised to show Lark around. The group made plans to eat lunch together if they didn't meet sooner. This surprised Lark. She had thought that they would want to be discreet about being a 'group' but this wasn't so.
"Vhy not hang around together? Everyone already knows that ve live at the Institute and board there. Besides, the more the merrier, right?" Kurt said when Lark raised voice to the meeting. Lark smiled, somewhat shyly and looked down to her shoes.
"Very cool." she said. She sat in between Kurt and Evan with her violin case part-way on her lap and Kurt's.
Kurt had looked down and said, "Good thing you don't play the tuba, ja?" Lark had broke out into a grin and laughed along with him. She couldn't remember ever feeling this at ease before and it was quite an adjustment.
Another pleasant surprise; the Professor had managed to get Lark into Music Appreciation. He had explained that it was not band, she wouldn't have to march in school pep rallies (a relief to Lark. She had seen what the marching bands had to do and thought they all should get ROTC credits for doing push-ups with heavy instruments strapped to their backs). Instead, she could study the violin and be in a classical music course. And, if she proved herself to be as good as she was promising, she may be able to audition for Orchestra.
Orchestra! Lark had been so happy, she could have hugged even Logan. But she never thought she's look good with holes in her middle. And now, she was being pulled up to Bayville High. Scott parked and everyone got out. Lark stood and went to get out of the car, but felt herself be pulled down by the seat belt around her ankle. Just as she was bracing herself for impact, Lark felt something catch her by her shoulders and looked up to Kurt's face.
He smiled lightly and said, "Gotta vatch those seat belts, they can be murder." Lark flushed heavily but thanked him. Smooth. She wondered what else she would do today, dump her lunch all over her lap or trip up the teacher.
~*~*~*~*~
Lark walked side by side with Jean as the red-head pointed out the cafeteria, gym, upper class rooms, lower ones and office and nurse office. Lark looked at her schedule once more. First period was Algebra II. Well, good to get it out of the way. Math was never Lark's best subject. She hated it with a passion, and hoped it wouldn't be too brutal. Even though she was in the tenth grade, and only the tenth grade, Lark had calculated that most of her classes at Bayville were at the junior level of her old school.
That made her feel a little more optimistic about starting here. Second period would be English, and third would be French. "You'll have the same class period as Kurt." Jean remarked, scanning the paper. "And history with Evan. Well, at least you won't feel too alone." Jean gave her a comforting smile and Lark returned it.
Fourth period, right after lunch would be Music Appreciation. She gripped the case of her violin tighter. "I'm a little nervous about music. I haven't practiced my violin for five days."
"It'll be all right," Jean said, starting down the hallway to where Lark's math class would be. "What's the worse that could happen?"
"Well... I could start on my D string, yank my bow too hard and have it snap, and smack the teacher in the face with it."
Jean blinked. Lark tried to keep a straight face but eventually it broke into a big grin and Jean chuckled a little bit. The bell rang after the two girls had gained control and Lark walked into her class as Jean sprinted down the hall.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Math hadn't been too bad. Lark caught on after the first twenty minutes and it only took a little while to get the class calmed down from her name. It had gone as such: "Class, today we have a new student, Jennifer Owens."
Inwardly Lark cringed, but forced herself to smile to the class. About twenty pairs of eyes met her own, all staring right at her. Oi. "Oh, just call me Lark...if that's ok." a boy in the second row with brown hair started snickering.
"Tweet tweet." he said under his breath as the teacher raised her brows and made the change on the roll and assigned her to an empty desk. Lark shot the boy a look, but the teacher beat her to a retort.
"Courtney Willis, would you like to tell the class what's so funny?" Lark bit hard on her inner cheek, staring right at her desk. A couple of girls behind her tittered and the boy flushed and opened his text. The next half an hour went smoothly enough, and after Lark finished with her notes, she started on her work. A tap on her shoulder jerked her from a trinomial.
"Hey...hey, Lark, do you play?" Lark turned to see a sandy haired boy gesturing to her violin case. Quickly she nodded.
"Yes, I have music right after lunch." "Really? Me too. How long have you been a violinist." Lark had never considered herself a violinist, though Wolverine had started calling her 'Birdie'.
"Since I was about six, so roughly ten years." she answered. The boy let out a low whistle.
"That's a long time to be bowing on the same instrument. I play the recorder, have been for about three years." Lark was about to respond when the bell rang. The two of them packed up and turned in their work.
"By the way, I'm Rob. Oh, and don't worry about Will, he's always a jerk to all the new people." 'Oh, Will must be what everyone calls Courtney.' Lark thought to herself, that much obvious.
"Oh, he didn't bother me. Uh, see you fourth." she said as she walked out of the room. He smiled and nodded. Lark looked at her schedule and went up to Mrs. Morse's english room. Today wasn't turning out so badly after all. So far anyway.
~*~*~*~*~ "Wow. That's the Brotherhood?" Lark said, taking a seat at the lunch table. It was her first actual look at the Brotherhood of Mutants.
"Yeah, that's them." Scott said. Lark blinked in slight shock. It was a little obvious who the Blob was.
"They may not look like they can fight, but never underestimate your opponent." he finished, taking a bite of his hamburger. Lark had to admit, the food here was a lot better than at her old school. It actually looked like what it was supposed to. It seemed like her new life was really an improvement.
In English, she had been praised for her reading in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in French, she had been happy to be seated acrossed from Kurt who had helped her catch up. All in all, it had been a pretty good day.
Mrs, Morse seemed a little flighty, but overall nice. "How did your parents ever come up with such a unique nickname, Lark dear?" she had said. She was a plump woman with short blond hair and smiling blue eyes. It seemed the smile was surgically placed on her face, it never left. But it wasn't fake in the least.
Kurt took a seat acrossed to her, next to Scott and Kitty. Kitty was engrossed in a talk with Jean about something with the pep-rally. Evan leaned into Lark and asked, "Any of the Brotherhood come by you yet, Lark?" Lark shook her head, opening her carton of milk.
"Nope, none of them are in my classes." Although that doesn't mean there aren't jerks in my classes, she thought.
"Well, expect them to make their presence known, especially Mystique." Scott said. The principal, Lark had been told, was not Raven Darkholme, but rather Mystique, part of the head of the Brotherhood. It's like a soap opera at times, Lark thought. The rest of lunch went really well. They ate, and laughed, and joked and acted like...well, normal teenagers. Lark was surprised how easy it was to relax around them.
~*~*~*~*~
Todd looked behind him and snorted. "That the new X-freak? I swear they're like rabbits, yo."
Pietro looked over at Toad and rolled his eyes. "That was almost intelligent, Toad." he said, earning a derisive look from Todd.
"I say we drop in on the X-Geeks and make ourselves known to that new girl. Try to get her to the Brotherhood so Darkholme will get offa our case. She's been crabby since Rogue left."Lance said, leaning against a tree, looking over the table.
~*~*~*~*
By the end of lunch, a large shadow loomed over Lark's empty tray. She looked up to see none other than Freddy, Lance and the rest of the Brotherhood surrounding the table.
"Hey Summers, pretty cute new recruit ya got there. Keeping her as a pet or did you sucker her into joining your pathetic attempt of a team?" the one named Lance said, and Lark raised an eyebrow to him. She was rather good at lifting just her right eyebrow at people when she was annoyed.
"She's part of the team now Lance, it was her own free choice." Scott said. Lark inwardly thought what the big deal was with this free choice stuff. Of course she would have gone with the X-Men, what other choice would there have been?
"Free choice, huh? So what lies did you tell this one?" Before Scott could reply (And Lark could see he was getting angry from the way Jean had her arm around his shoulders to restrain him), Lark stood up and pushed her braid from over her shoulder.
"Well, it's been simply lovely meeting you all and I hope to see you again, but I am afraid that if we don't leave now, we'll be late. Thanks for such a warm welcome." Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but she said it in such warm, 'friendly' way that Kurt had to hide his grin behind a hand, and with that the rest of the X-Men took the hint and packed up and left.
'I hate it when people talk about me like I'm not even there.' Lark thought, but didn't say anything out loud. She could see Scott was tensed by the way his hands were shoved in his pockets and his rapidly decreasing neck from hunched shoulders. Why did he always have to be the responsible leader, not allowed to re-act the way normal people were? Wasn't that what they were striving for? A normal life? What other guy did he know that would--- Lark stopped, earning a questioning glance from Kurt who was walking near her. Those were not her thoughts. Or her feelings.
"They have to be Scott's." she murmured.
"Vas?" Kurt said, quirking a brow.
"What? Oh, nothing. Sorry Elfkin." That just popped out of no where.
"Elfkin, huh?" Kurt grinned his familiar grin and they said good bye to Jean and Scott as they broke off, and Evan went with Kitty and Rogue went off to English. "I kind of like that, little vogel." Lark smiled and Kurt showed her where the music room was and then headed off, lest he be late once again to Biology. "See you after school, meet everyone by Scott's car, Ja?' and jogged off. Lark smiled and shook her head and entered the room.
~*~*~*~*~
Lark poised her bow over the crafted instrument and launched into Danse Macabre. It was slow and slightly mournful, but Lark thought it was beautiful. The low notes, like a poetic dream, or a sensual moan, and the higher ones were so sweet with hope. It was amazing the scenes she could make in her mind, lost in the wonderful world of notes and scales, and no boundaries. No other better world could ever be created than this, in Lark's opinion. Free of racism, free of hate and pain. All the things her life and everyone else's at the institute's life had been based on. Cleaned away.
Lark was sorry to hear the last notes die away, but was overjoyed at the prospect that she didn't mess the entire thing up. She had been so nervous, she didn't know if she would remember the song that was requested to play, even if she had played it a million times before. She looked up to see her instructor, Miss Morgan, with a very proud smile on her face.
She was a nice lady, with short, waved back brown hair, hazel eyes and a nice smile, though her mouth seemed a little too wide for her face and her nose a little too long and narrow, but over all, a firm but fair teacher. There was only one problem with her....
"Oh Jenny! That was simply marvelous! Brava!"
Lark inwardly cringed but smiled and said her thanks. "Thank you Miss Morgan."
"And you've been playing for...?"
"About ten years..." a low murmur went through the class. Some were impressed and some were just weirded out. "Yeah, I had a very lonely childhood" Lark said, and that stopped the murmur and turned it into a laugh at the obvious joke.
Rob was down in front, a flute placed in his hands, and he gave her a small wave. Lark smiled and waved back as Miss Morgan checked her list. "Ok, ten years, and good control and rhythm count, excellent feeling and accuracy... I think we can put you on Allegro."
Lark blinked. Allegro? Lark had been told the way the music classes were held. All in the same period, different teachers and different rooms. Allegro was one class away from Chamber, but that wasn't a class period, that was an after school group. Kind of like a club, but more... elite. Personally, Lark really didn't want to be in Chamber. A lot of small groups like that were rather snobby, and that took away from the music, making it hollow sounding, unreal.
"....and you'll take a place right between Maggie and Sean. I think it'll sound nicely there." Ms. Morgan's voice interrupted her thoughts and Lark nodded, picking up her violin and bow and case and music and moved to where she was assigned. She had been very relieved that hers wasn't the only instrument custom made. Maggie's violin had hippie peace flowers on the back and Sean's cello was made out of a red-brown varnish; very classy.
They both seemed nice, and really liked the ivy leaves on Lark's violin. The rest of the class flew by. Lark felt like she was floating on cloud nine, and as the final bell rang, she raced out of the school, towards Scott's car, already shouting the wonderful news to Evan and Rogue, who was there already, and Kurt was nearing. Nothing could go wrong today, absolutely nothing.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Raven watched the girl run acrossed the parking lot, shouting something she couldn't hear. And her son, walking up to hear whatever the stupid girl was vapidly talking about. Her Kurt. Darkholm turned to catch the rest of Morgan's excited speech.
"...really excellent Ms. Darkholm, I think she could make the school very proud. Didn't miss a note on her piece, and I wasn't able to play Danse Macabre till I was well into my freshman year into college. So I was wondering...."
"Yes, yes, you can put her into Allegro, free of charge. We'll find the extra uniform somewhere." she said, turning from the window. So it seems yet another of Charles' cares are 'gifted'. Damn him. Doesn't he ever get tired of that?
"Oh thank you Ms. Darkholm, thank you so much. I'll be sure to tell Jenny so she can thank you as well." Morgan gushed and then left the room at Raven's curt nod. As soon as the door closed, Mystique turned back to the window, watching Scott start up the engine and driving off.
"Stupid fools, they have no idea they're harboring the enemy." But they would understand very very soon enough. But by then, it would be too late.
~*~*~*~*~*~ The rest of the afternoon went quickly enough, much to Lark's surprise. She started her first training session in the Danger Room right after they got home from school. The Professor had asked her politely how it had been, and Lark had answered that it was fine and restrained herself from hugging him tightly and jumping up and down like a six year old. Although she felt like doing that. The Danger Room wasn't really what she expected it to be. Nor was the session. For the first half, it was just her, dodging and using her powers to the extreme.
It was a good work out, physically, mentally and talent wise. Mainly it went like this; Lark looked behind her and ducked a flying discus with sharp points on the end, but it wasn't to be averted. It circled around her and flew back. Lark concentrated with what little time she had left and drew a baseball sized ball of fire and aimed it at the discus. Wolverine stood by the controls and watched as his hands worked the machine. He smirked a bit as the fire had little effect on the discus, and Lark yelped and ducked again. This time the area around her became foggy with mist and eventually, her form became nothing but an outline of her in her new X-Men uniform.
It worked. The tracking device on the discus was confused, no longer to see her body heat to track her, so it never sensed it when she moved around to the side, long enough to blow a gust of air to propel it into the wall to shatter the inside mechanics. Mentally, she gave her self a small cheer. She was really happy she hadn't failed. Well, failed miserably. It took ten minutes of jumping around like an idiot to discover how to actually get the machine away from her. But it was ok, she was new and it was her first training session.
She liked the uniform she had as well. It was black, of course with purple trim around the collar, chest and waist, and a small X on her left shoulder. she wore black ankle boots, her hair in a single braid from her face. It proved very useful for fighting and dodging, which was proven even more in the group simulation. The rest of the team assembled around her.
The setting was in a forest, an easy one to begin with. Jean began by levitating some nearby rocks to her, sending Lark dodging behind some pine tress as they flew by. She ran, into the opposite direction, hearing a strange 'fffwthap' noise threw the air. Lark dropped just in time, barely missing getting her shoulder nicked by one of Spyke's spears. It went on this way, dodging and ducking behind tress, only seeing Cyclops once before throwing a small fire ball at him to get him to off his aim. It went on until she had only not encountered Kurt in some way.
She wondered what he would do in the simulation. A small laugh caught her attention, and she looked up, a woman with blue skin and red hair, and a small pinched nose. Mystique. There had been no secret of who Mystique was; her principal, leader of the Brotherhood, and Kurt's mother. Just then a bamfing noise was heard and Kurt went to tackle Lark, and the two of them fell through the hologram of Mystique. The lights went up and then the professor called off the battle simulation for the evening.
"Good work everyone, and always watch your back Lark. We won't be there for you everytime, but for your first simulation, you did well." the Professor said. Lark beamed inwardly and off they went to dinner.
"Do we do this every night, or what?" she murmured to Kurt as they walked to the dining room.
"Nein, but ve do it often. Just to keep in training, in case anything should happen. It does come in handy, especially when Mystique decides to try something." Kurt replied, although Lark noticed that his voice tightened when he mentioned Mystique.
It had to be hard, she realized, to have your own mother be your enemy, even if she did abandon you. She thought of her father for a brief, flitting moment, and wondered where he was. In all the years he'd been gone, he hadn't even sent a postcard to her, and as far as she knew, to David or Amber.
Lark didn't think Amber even remembered what he looked like. Even she had trouble sometimes. Although, when she thought hard enough, a murky figure with longish dark gold hair, and smiling eyes. He was tall, or had been when Lark had last seen him (but then she was barely three feet tall herself). And he had strong hands, meant for playing ball or engineering.
Certainly not music, but Lark had long known that she received her musical ability from her mother, Anne. Anne had played the piano and flute very well. She might have even been a pianist or flutist in her prime, and why she gave it up was beyond Lark. Lark knew that Anne had attended Juliard and had done very well.
She guessed when she met her father, she fell and love and would give anything up. Lark didn't think that would ever happen to her. When Anne met.... what was her father's name? It began with a C, she knew that. Cameron? Christopher?
"Charlie!" she murmured aloud after a moment of panic that she forgot her father's name. Kurt looked up, and she was so startled, she realized she was the only one who wasn't sitting down.
"Hmm? Vhat was that Lark-vogel?" Kurt asked as the food began to be passed around. Lark hurriedly took her seat, cheeks flushed.
"Nothing... just spaced out for a little while. Thinking about an English assignment, that's all. And math. I'm hopeless at it." she replied, hoping that would cover her. It seemed to suffice, and brought everyone back to their conversations. Kitty turned to her and said,
"You know, I could like, help tutor you and all. That is if you don't mind a freshman helping you." she added dryly, and Lark smiled.
"Kitty, you're in trigonometry. I am in Algebra two. I wouldn't care if you were ten years old, I defiantly need help in math." she said. Yeah, Kitty could be a little snobbish at times, she'd seen, and a little grating, but then again, Lark herself could be moody and just as frustrating. Oh lord, could she ever be.
Kitty smiled and Lark brightened, and the rest of the meal, she, Kitty and Kurt talked about a few things in school. Evan piped up and asked about Lark's violin. Even Scott looked interested. Lark blushed, she didn't like to be the center of attention unless she -had- her violin. So, she described her class and instructor, Miss Morgan, and the fact that she called Lark 'Jenny'. Ugh...
"Lark, would you play for us after dinner and homework?" Jean asked, and Lark was sure her face was redder than Jean's hair. But what could she do? Say no? Besides, she did have to practice....
"Sure, if you don't mind an amateur. I'm all right, but no where up to Juliard standard. Yet." she smiled a slow, budding smile. A strange fluttery feeling welled in her chest, but it felt nice. She had never practiced in front of David before, or Anne. Amber had heard her, but being eleven, her little sister didn't really grasp the concept of good playing and mediocre playing. She just saw her older sister playing something she herself couldn't, so it was easy to impress her by going up and down the scales. Lark smiled to herself as she thought of the summer nights she'd do that just to impress Amber, or playing 'You are my Sunshine'.
No, they hadn't always gotten along, they'd bickered and fought, but in the end, they loved each other just the same. And it was this thought that kept Lark's fingers from trembling as she tuned her violin and started the first warm up fingerings and began playing the first of Beethoven's Fifth....
The applause startled Lark out of her images that were always brought on by any piece she played. most of Beethoven's brought on a mash of colors more then images. Blues and purples and different hues went through her mind, rising and falling with the sound of the notes. She smiled, the heat to her cheeks let her know she was blushing. Again. She bowed a little and murmured a soft "Thank you", putting away her violin in her case. The one her father bought for her before he'd left. She found it when she was six, and began training immediately.
"Wow, that was thrashing, Lark." Evan said, genuine appreciation in his eyes. It had been a long time since she'd seen that.
Or heard Ororo's "It was lovely dear." The rest all put their compliments in, which were genuine and not gushy, or sappy. Yes, they could see that she needed improvement, but she was sixteen, and sounded wonderful for her age, and none of them could play the violin.
"Lark, you haf a reel talent. How do you play like that with your eyes so far away." Kurt said as they were going up to their rooms for the night. She bent her head slightly.
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"Your eyes. They're open, but it's like you're looking somewhere else, seeing something else."
"Oh...! I...I do see different things in my mind. With the music, different images come to my mind, and I focus on it. I think it's a stage-fright cure, or something like that. It just helps me focus a little bit." she answered, grateful she wasn't blushing this time.
"Vell, you sound...vunderbar, Lark-vogel. Iz that vhat you vant to be vhen you grow up? A violin player?"
"Yes.... I want to go to Juliard, and become a famous player. Solo or in a concerto, I don't care! As long as I can play. And...I'd like to be a mother too, I think." Lark said, but didn't add, "But I'm too much of a freak for anyone to want to marry me." How'd want a wife that had the potential to burn you as you slept?
"I think you'd do great as both." Kurt said, and this time they both blushed a little bit.
"Thank you... Well, good night Kurt. Sweet dreams, ok?"
"Ja, you too." And with that, they both went into they're rooms. Lark crawled into her new bed and soon was fast asleep.
*****
Lark turned a bit in her sleep, tossing in the bed until finally she sat up, gasping like a diver coming up for air. In fact, her lungs did feel airless, like she couldn't get enough air into them. The distant feeling of fear mixed with revulsion was strong, yet distant somehow. Like it was coming from somewhere else, but she could feel it. Well, how could she not, the air radiated it.
Moaning too, pain. Lark's sleep addled mind was slow to comprehend, but soon she realized that the moans were real, and coming from acrossed the hall. Kurt's room! Adrenaline pounded in her veins and woke her quickly. Lark dashed back the covers and ran to Kurt's room. Thankfully he hadn't locked the door. However, Lark could see herself running the door and then promptly smacking herself and landing on her butt.
She opened the door slowly and softly so as not to wake anyone else. Kurt lay in his bed, twisting and turning, moaning and crying out softly. He was sweaty and his face was pinched with pain. Lark's breath caught as she saw tears running down his face through clenched eyes.
"Kurt? Kurt, wake up a little, can you?" she whispered to him softly, shaking him as she kneeled by his bedside. "Kurt?"
He twisted, and Lark put a hand to his face, feeling the soft short fur there, which was damp from the sweat and tears. "Kurt, can you hear me?" He squirmed a little more, before his eyes opened, slowly, and then sat up quickly, as though he wasn't sure where he was.
"Lark?" he said, his voice hoarse. Lark nodded and helped him lean up against the bed board.
"Yeah, it's me Kurt. Are you ok? Are you sick, what's wrong?" her voice was soft and soothing, like her touch on his cheek, her eyes shone with worry.
Kurt looked up, and his face burned with embarrassment. It was only a dream, nothing could hurt him at all. But still.... It -had- hurt. It had hurt a lot; the ice and snow and cold water surrounding him. It was as if he were still a helpless baby and needed a mother, only to be shaken awake by the pretty new girl. Kurt wiped his eyes and face with his hands and said shakily, "Ja...I'm fine, I'm sorry I voke you up Lark, I'm sorry."
"Shhh... it's ok Kurt, it really is, I don't mind at all. Want to talk about it? Sometimes that helps." she said, looking around for a handkerchief and finally settling on using a corner of his quilt, dabbing his eyes gently. Kurt let out a soft breath and closed his eyes briefly.
"Nein...," he said softly, "I don't think I could talk about. Right now at least." He wanted to, he didn't want to shut her out. But the hurt mixed with these new feelings for Lark were confusing him, and he was so tired.... He didn't want to hurt Lark, but she seemed unfazed by it, and simply nodded, and laid him back in his bed, smoothing out the covers.
She then got a cup from the bathroom and filled it with cool water, without using any faucets, and bade him to drink. He did, and surprisingly felt a little better.
"Danke," he said quietly. He was still so embarrassed, he didn't want anyone to see his vunerable side. It was just so easy to hide the hurt, with a joke or a bamf.... Sure, he knew when to be serious, but that wasn't when he was hurt, and people knew he was hurt. The look of pity in people's eyes is what he squirmed under. Poor, poor Kurt. No father, evil 'mother', and the looks of something out of a children's storybook gone horribly wrong.
But here, after he had waken up, and felt Lark's cool palm on his cheek, and heard her hum the begginings of a soft lullaby, he saw no pity in her eyes, only concern. And concern wasn't pity, right? Of course not.... And if it was, he thought, as he began drifting off to the sounds of the verse 'sweet child of Nature, sleep now, don't cry....', he could always hide behind the truth. If anyone asked what happened, he -could- always lie. Wasn't life just a big lie, anyway?
And today was her first day at Bayville High School. And absolutely nothing would have made her more nervous unless she had been asked to do an impromptu oral speech to the student body on the War of 1812. But she had to shove the nervousness aside and play it cool. Or at least fake it.
After waiting for about fifteen minutes for the shower to have a vacancy and taking the quickest shower ever recorded ( nine minutes, complete with conditioner and body wash), Lark became aware of how useful her mutant powers were. After drying off everything else but her hair, Lark turned on her own 'hair dryer', making the mini fire balls and wind gusts, blowing it dry in no time.
The last time she had done this was at home the day the X-men had found her. In fact, it was this small act that had tipped them off who and what she was. Two days before. It was so weird not to hear Amber singing in the shower or ducking into the bathroom or the kitchen in order to avoid David.
Lark sat on her bed, surveying her room. It was no doubt, a lot bigger than her room at home. It was also acrossed the hall from Kurt's, and that made her feel a lot more at ease. Kurt had become somewhat of a security blanket for her. Oh, everyone was nice and sweet to her, dealing with her awe of the whole mansion. After all, they had dealt with it too, at some time. But Kurt was more a relief to see in her sight, bamfing around here or there, with his playful grin on his face.
After braiding her waist length, honey coloured hair, Lark headed down stairs for breakfast, backpack in hand. She was dressed in a light blue t-shirt and jeans with her white canvas shoes. The jeans felt a little uncomfortable, hugging her hips. Casual but tasteful, or so Kitty had said the night before. It just felt weird to Lark. Almost everyone was down at the breakfast table already, save for Evan. Tomorrow would be her day to help with breakfast. 'Maybe I could make cinnamon pancakes.' she idly thought.
"Guten tag, kleiner Lerche vogel." a voice said, bringing her out of her thoughts. It was Kurt. Lark turned to him and smiled.
"Hi Kurt, good morning to you too. Um... what did you call me again?" she asked, rising a brow. Kurt's grin broadened.
"Kleiner Lerche vogel is German for 'little Lark bird'. It's actually in the diminutive, so it's little bird. Little Lark bird."
Lark smiled and laughed softly, getting a plate and some eggs on it. "That's sweet, thank you Kurt." Kitty looked up and rolled her eyes good naturally.
"He calls me Katzchen. Ugh." Lark grinned at Kurt's pretend hurt look, and swallowed a bite of her eggs as Kurt moved his plate next to Lark's. "So, are you, like, excited or nervous about your first day?" Kitty asked. Lark nodded, picking up her juice glass.
"Very. I don't know who to talk to or how to act about my mutant powers.... Can I just pretend I don't have them?"
Kitty nodded. "Yeah, that's, like, what we all do. We say we're, like, staying at the Xavier Institute for boarding reasons and leave it at that. Professor X says it's better that way." Lark returned the nod and picked at her eggs lightly, the butterflies in her chest turning to giant moths.
Would the other mutants at the school know what she was just by looking at her? Unlikely, but when they saw her hanging around with the X-Men, they'd probably guess. Unlike Jean, Lark didn't think she possessed the ability to fit in and make friends at Bayville High. More or less, it maybe better if she played out to be more like Rogue, and kept to herself. Maybe not dying the front of her hair white, but still, it may be best if she didn't try too hard to 'fit in'. However you did that.
Lark became absorbed in her thoughts so much, that Scott had to nudge her to get her out of seat. Grabbing her backpack, Lark headed out the door with the others, tossing her braid off of her shoulder. It was a tight squeeze into the convertible Scott had, but for today, he said he'd give everyone a ride to school in honor of Lark's first day at Bayville. Lark knew that Kitty, Rogue, and maybe even Jean had crushes on Scott, however small they may be, and she could see why.
But as for her, Scott was more of a big brother than David had ever been. David. Lark wondered briefly what he was doing these past two days and what lie he had made up to cover her absence from home. Lark didn't have very many friends, most people avoided her and she encouraged them to do so. Even if she could only do a little with her powers, they could still be dangerous. Professor X had calmly explained everything to Lark in the duration of the couple of days she had been there.
He had said that within time, a couple of her elemental control may drop off, leaving her with one, strong element or two. He had predicted she may be left with air and water with little to no use in earth and/or fire. Lark had agreed whole heartedly. Having chapped lips or being soaked was much better to recover from then being burned or buried with rocks and soil.
The drive to Bayville High wasn't very long, and Jean had promised to show Lark around. The group made plans to eat lunch together if they didn't meet sooner. This surprised Lark. She had thought that they would want to be discreet about being a 'group' but this wasn't so.
"Vhy not hang around together? Everyone already knows that ve live at the Institute and board there. Besides, the more the merrier, right?" Kurt said when Lark raised voice to the meeting. Lark smiled, somewhat shyly and looked down to her shoes.
"Very cool." she said. She sat in between Kurt and Evan with her violin case part-way on her lap and Kurt's.
Kurt had looked down and said, "Good thing you don't play the tuba, ja?" Lark had broke out into a grin and laughed along with him. She couldn't remember ever feeling this at ease before and it was quite an adjustment.
Another pleasant surprise; the Professor had managed to get Lark into Music Appreciation. He had explained that it was not band, she wouldn't have to march in school pep rallies (a relief to Lark. She had seen what the marching bands had to do and thought they all should get ROTC credits for doing push-ups with heavy instruments strapped to their backs). Instead, she could study the violin and be in a classical music course. And, if she proved herself to be as good as she was promising, she may be able to audition for Orchestra.
Orchestra! Lark had been so happy, she could have hugged even Logan. But she never thought she's look good with holes in her middle. And now, she was being pulled up to Bayville High. Scott parked and everyone got out. Lark stood and went to get out of the car, but felt herself be pulled down by the seat belt around her ankle. Just as she was bracing herself for impact, Lark felt something catch her by her shoulders and looked up to Kurt's face.
He smiled lightly and said, "Gotta vatch those seat belts, they can be murder." Lark flushed heavily but thanked him. Smooth. She wondered what else she would do today, dump her lunch all over her lap or trip up the teacher.
~*~*~*~*~
Lark walked side by side with Jean as the red-head pointed out the cafeteria, gym, upper class rooms, lower ones and office and nurse office. Lark looked at her schedule once more. First period was Algebra II. Well, good to get it out of the way. Math was never Lark's best subject. She hated it with a passion, and hoped it wouldn't be too brutal. Even though she was in the tenth grade, and only the tenth grade, Lark had calculated that most of her classes at Bayville were at the junior level of her old school.
That made her feel a little more optimistic about starting here. Second period would be English, and third would be French. "You'll have the same class period as Kurt." Jean remarked, scanning the paper. "And history with Evan. Well, at least you won't feel too alone." Jean gave her a comforting smile and Lark returned it.
Fourth period, right after lunch would be Music Appreciation. She gripped the case of her violin tighter. "I'm a little nervous about music. I haven't practiced my violin for five days."
"It'll be all right," Jean said, starting down the hallway to where Lark's math class would be. "What's the worse that could happen?"
"Well... I could start on my D string, yank my bow too hard and have it snap, and smack the teacher in the face with it."
Jean blinked. Lark tried to keep a straight face but eventually it broke into a big grin and Jean chuckled a little bit. The bell rang after the two girls had gained control and Lark walked into her class as Jean sprinted down the hall.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Math hadn't been too bad. Lark caught on after the first twenty minutes and it only took a little while to get the class calmed down from her name. It had gone as such: "Class, today we have a new student, Jennifer Owens."
Inwardly Lark cringed, but forced herself to smile to the class. About twenty pairs of eyes met her own, all staring right at her. Oi. "Oh, just call me Lark...if that's ok." a boy in the second row with brown hair started snickering.
"Tweet tweet." he said under his breath as the teacher raised her brows and made the change on the roll and assigned her to an empty desk. Lark shot the boy a look, but the teacher beat her to a retort.
"Courtney Willis, would you like to tell the class what's so funny?" Lark bit hard on her inner cheek, staring right at her desk. A couple of girls behind her tittered and the boy flushed and opened his text. The next half an hour went smoothly enough, and after Lark finished with her notes, she started on her work. A tap on her shoulder jerked her from a trinomial.
"Hey...hey, Lark, do you play?" Lark turned to see a sandy haired boy gesturing to her violin case. Quickly she nodded.
"Yes, I have music right after lunch." "Really? Me too. How long have you been a violinist." Lark had never considered herself a violinist, though Wolverine had started calling her 'Birdie'.
"Since I was about six, so roughly ten years." she answered. The boy let out a low whistle.
"That's a long time to be bowing on the same instrument. I play the recorder, have been for about three years." Lark was about to respond when the bell rang. The two of them packed up and turned in their work.
"By the way, I'm Rob. Oh, and don't worry about Will, he's always a jerk to all the new people." 'Oh, Will must be what everyone calls Courtney.' Lark thought to herself, that much obvious.
"Oh, he didn't bother me. Uh, see you fourth." she said as she walked out of the room. He smiled and nodded. Lark looked at her schedule and went up to Mrs. Morse's english room. Today wasn't turning out so badly after all. So far anyway.
~*~*~*~*~ "Wow. That's the Brotherhood?" Lark said, taking a seat at the lunch table. It was her first actual look at the Brotherhood of Mutants.
"Yeah, that's them." Scott said. Lark blinked in slight shock. It was a little obvious who the Blob was.
"They may not look like they can fight, but never underestimate your opponent." he finished, taking a bite of his hamburger. Lark had to admit, the food here was a lot better than at her old school. It actually looked like what it was supposed to. It seemed like her new life was really an improvement.
In English, she had been praised for her reading in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in French, she had been happy to be seated acrossed from Kurt who had helped her catch up. All in all, it had been a pretty good day.
Mrs, Morse seemed a little flighty, but overall nice. "How did your parents ever come up with such a unique nickname, Lark dear?" she had said. She was a plump woman with short blond hair and smiling blue eyes. It seemed the smile was surgically placed on her face, it never left. But it wasn't fake in the least.
Kurt took a seat acrossed to her, next to Scott and Kitty. Kitty was engrossed in a talk with Jean about something with the pep-rally. Evan leaned into Lark and asked, "Any of the Brotherhood come by you yet, Lark?" Lark shook her head, opening her carton of milk.
"Nope, none of them are in my classes." Although that doesn't mean there aren't jerks in my classes, she thought.
"Well, expect them to make their presence known, especially Mystique." Scott said. The principal, Lark had been told, was not Raven Darkholme, but rather Mystique, part of the head of the Brotherhood. It's like a soap opera at times, Lark thought. The rest of lunch went really well. They ate, and laughed, and joked and acted like...well, normal teenagers. Lark was surprised how easy it was to relax around them.
~*~*~*~*~
Todd looked behind him and snorted. "That the new X-freak? I swear they're like rabbits, yo."
Pietro looked over at Toad and rolled his eyes. "That was almost intelligent, Toad." he said, earning a derisive look from Todd.
"I say we drop in on the X-Geeks and make ourselves known to that new girl. Try to get her to the Brotherhood so Darkholme will get offa our case. She's been crabby since Rogue left."Lance said, leaning against a tree, looking over the table.
~*~*~*~*
By the end of lunch, a large shadow loomed over Lark's empty tray. She looked up to see none other than Freddy, Lance and the rest of the Brotherhood surrounding the table.
"Hey Summers, pretty cute new recruit ya got there. Keeping her as a pet or did you sucker her into joining your pathetic attempt of a team?" the one named Lance said, and Lark raised an eyebrow to him. She was rather good at lifting just her right eyebrow at people when she was annoyed.
"She's part of the team now Lance, it was her own free choice." Scott said. Lark inwardly thought what the big deal was with this free choice stuff. Of course she would have gone with the X-Men, what other choice would there have been?
"Free choice, huh? So what lies did you tell this one?" Before Scott could reply (And Lark could see he was getting angry from the way Jean had her arm around his shoulders to restrain him), Lark stood up and pushed her braid from over her shoulder.
"Well, it's been simply lovely meeting you all and I hope to see you again, but I am afraid that if we don't leave now, we'll be late. Thanks for such a warm welcome." Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but she said it in such warm, 'friendly' way that Kurt had to hide his grin behind a hand, and with that the rest of the X-Men took the hint and packed up and left.
'I hate it when people talk about me like I'm not even there.' Lark thought, but didn't say anything out loud. She could see Scott was tensed by the way his hands were shoved in his pockets and his rapidly decreasing neck from hunched shoulders. Why did he always have to be the responsible leader, not allowed to re-act the way normal people were? Wasn't that what they were striving for? A normal life? What other guy did he know that would--- Lark stopped, earning a questioning glance from Kurt who was walking near her. Those were not her thoughts. Or her feelings.
"They have to be Scott's." she murmured.
"Vas?" Kurt said, quirking a brow.
"What? Oh, nothing. Sorry Elfkin." That just popped out of no where.
"Elfkin, huh?" Kurt grinned his familiar grin and they said good bye to Jean and Scott as they broke off, and Evan went with Kitty and Rogue went off to English. "I kind of like that, little vogel." Lark smiled and Kurt showed her where the music room was and then headed off, lest he be late once again to Biology. "See you after school, meet everyone by Scott's car, Ja?' and jogged off. Lark smiled and shook her head and entered the room.
~*~*~*~*~
Lark poised her bow over the crafted instrument and launched into Danse Macabre. It was slow and slightly mournful, but Lark thought it was beautiful. The low notes, like a poetic dream, or a sensual moan, and the higher ones were so sweet with hope. It was amazing the scenes she could make in her mind, lost in the wonderful world of notes and scales, and no boundaries. No other better world could ever be created than this, in Lark's opinion. Free of racism, free of hate and pain. All the things her life and everyone else's at the institute's life had been based on. Cleaned away.
Lark was sorry to hear the last notes die away, but was overjoyed at the prospect that she didn't mess the entire thing up. She had been so nervous, she didn't know if she would remember the song that was requested to play, even if she had played it a million times before. She looked up to see her instructor, Miss Morgan, with a very proud smile on her face.
She was a nice lady, with short, waved back brown hair, hazel eyes and a nice smile, though her mouth seemed a little too wide for her face and her nose a little too long and narrow, but over all, a firm but fair teacher. There was only one problem with her....
"Oh Jenny! That was simply marvelous! Brava!"
Lark inwardly cringed but smiled and said her thanks. "Thank you Miss Morgan."
"And you've been playing for...?"
"About ten years..." a low murmur went through the class. Some were impressed and some were just weirded out. "Yeah, I had a very lonely childhood" Lark said, and that stopped the murmur and turned it into a laugh at the obvious joke.
Rob was down in front, a flute placed in his hands, and he gave her a small wave. Lark smiled and waved back as Miss Morgan checked her list. "Ok, ten years, and good control and rhythm count, excellent feeling and accuracy... I think we can put you on Allegro."
Lark blinked. Allegro? Lark had been told the way the music classes were held. All in the same period, different teachers and different rooms. Allegro was one class away from Chamber, but that wasn't a class period, that was an after school group. Kind of like a club, but more... elite. Personally, Lark really didn't want to be in Chamber. A lot of small groups like that were rather snobby, and that took away from the music, making it hollow sounding, unreal.
"....and you'll take a place right between Maggie and Sean. I think it'll sound nicely there." Ms. Morgan's voice interrupted her thoughts and Lark nodded, picking up her violin and bow and case and music and moved to where she was assigned. She had been very relieved that hers wasn't the only instrument custom made. Maggie's violin had hippie peace flowers on the back and Sean's cello was made out of a red-brown varnish; very classy.
They both seemed nice, and really liked the ivy leaves on Lark's violin. The rest of the class flew by. Lark felt like she was floating on cloud nine, and as the final bell rang, she raced out of the school, towards Scott's car, already shouting the wonderful news to Evan and Rogue, who was there already, and Kurt was nearing. Nothing could go wrong today, absolutely nothing.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Raven watched the girl run acrossed the parking lot, shouting something she couldn't hear. And her son, walking up to hear whatever the stupid girl was vapidly talking about. Her Kurt. Darkholm turned to catch the rest of Morgan's excited speech.
"...really excellent Ms. Darkholm, I think she could make the school very proud. Didn't miss a note on her piece, and I wasn't able to play Danse Macabre till I was well into my freshman year into college. So I was wondering...."
"Yes, yes, you can put her into Allegro, free of charge. We'll find the extra uniform somewhere." she said, turning from the window. So it seems yet another of Charles' cares are 'gifted'. Damn him. Doesn't he ever get tired of that?
"Oh thank you Ms. Darkholm, thank you so much. I'll be sure to tell Jenny so she can thank you as well." Morgan gushed and then left the room at Raven's curt nod. As soon as the door closed, Mystique turned back to the window, watching Scott start up the engine and driving off.
"Stupid fools, they have no idea they're harboring the enemy." But they would understand very very soon enough. But by then, it would be too late.
~*~*~*~*~*~ The rest of the afternoon went quickly enough, much to Lark's surprise. She started her first training session in the Danger Room right after they got home from school. The Professor had asked her politely how it had been, and Lark had answered that it was fine and restrained herself from hugging him tightly and jumping up and down like a six year old. Although she felt like doing that. The Danger Room wasn't really what she expected it to be. Nor was the session. For the first half, it was just her, dodging and using her powers to the extreme.
It was a good work out, physically, mentally and talent wise. Mainly it went like this; Lark looked behind her and ducked a flying discus with sharp points on the end, but it wasn't to be averted. It circled around her and flew back. Lark concentrated with what little time she had left and drew a baseball sized ball of fire and aimed it at the discus. Wolverine stood by the controls and watched as his hands worked the machine. He smirked a bit as the fire had little effect on the discus, and Lark yelped and ducked again. This time the area around her became foggy with mist and eventually, her form became nothing but an outline of her in her new X-Men uniform.
It worked. The tracking device on the discus was confused, no longer to see her body heat to track her, so it never sensed it when she moved around to the side, long enough to blow a gust of air to propel it into the wall to shatter the inside mechanics. Mentally, she gave her self a small cheer. She was really happy she hadn't failed. Well, failed miserably. It took ten minutes of jumping around like an idiot to discover how to actually get the machine away from her. But it was ok, she was new and it was her first training session.
She liked the uniform she had as well. It was black, of course with purple trim around the collar, chest and waist, and a small X on her left shoulder. she wore black ankle boots, her hair in a single braid from her face. It proved very useful for fighting and dodging, which was proven even more in the group simulation. The rest of the team assembled around her.
The setting was in a forest, an easy one to begin with. Jean began by levitating some nearby rocks to her, sending Lark dodging behind some pine tress as they flew by. She ran, into the opposite direction, hearing a strange 'fffwthap' noise threw the air. Lark dropped just in time, barely missing getting her shoulder nicked by one of Spyke's spears. It went on this way, dodging and ducking behind tress, only seeing Cyclops once before throwing a small fire ball at him to get him to off his aim. It went on until she had only not encountered Kurt in some way.
She wondered what he would do in the simulation. A small laugh caught her attention, and she looked up, a woman with blue skin and red hair, and a small pinched nose. Mystique. There had been no secret of who Mystique was; her principal, leader of the Brotherhood, and Kurt's mother. Just then a bamfing noise was heard and Kurt went to tackle Lark, and the two of them fell through the hologram of Mystique. The lights went up and then the professor called off the battle simulation for the evening.
"Good work everyone, and always watch your back Lark. We won't be there for you everytime, but for your first simulation, you did well." the Professor said. Lark beamed inwardly and off they went to dinner.
"Do we do this every night, or what?" she murmured to Kurt as they walked to the dining room.
"Nein, but ve do it often. Just to keep in training, in case anything should happen. It does come in handy, especially when Mystique decides to try something." Kurt replied, although Lark noticed that his voice tightened when he mentioned Mystique.
It had to be hard, she realized, to have your own mother be your enemy, even if she did abandon you. She thought of her father for a brief, flitting moment, and wondered where he was. In all the years he'd been gone, he hadn't even sent a postcard to her, and as far as she knew, to David or Amber.
Lark didn't think Amber even remembered what he looked like. Even she had trouble sometimes. Although, when she thought hard enough, a murky figure with longish dark gold hair, and smiling eyes. He was tall, or had been when Lark had last seen him (but then she was barely three feet tall herself). And he had strong hands, meant for playing ball or engineering.
Certainly not music, but Lark had long known that she received her musical ability from her mother, Anne. Anne had played the piano and flute very well. She might have even been a pianist or flutist in her prime, and why she gave it up was beyond Lark. Lark knew that Anne had attended Juliard and had done very well.
She guessed when she met her father, she fell and love and would give anything up. Lark didn't think that would ever happen to her. When Anne met.... what was her father's name? It began with a C, she knew that. Cameron? Christopher?
"Charlie!" she murmured aloud after a moment of panic that she forgot her father's name. Kurt looked up, and she was so startled, she realized she was the only one who wasn't sitting down.
"Hmm? Vhat was that Lark-vogel?" Kurt asked as the food began to be passed around. Lark hurriedly took her seat, cheeks flushed.
"Nothing... just spaced out for a little while. Thinking about an English assignment, that's all. And math. I'm hopeless at it." she replied, hoping that would cover her. It seemed to suffice, and brought everyone back to their conversations. Kitty turned to her and said,
"You know, I could like, help tutor you and all. That is if you don't mind a freshman helping you." she added dryly, and Lark smiled.
"Kitty, you're in trigonometry. I am in Algebra two. I wouldn't care if you were ten years old, I defiantly need help in math." she said. Yeah, Kitty could be a little snobbish at times, she'd seen, and a little grating, but then again, Lark herself could be moody and just as frustrating. Oh lord, could she ever be.
Kitty smiled and Lark brightened, and the rest of the meal, she, Kitty and Kurt talked about a few things in school. Evan piped up and asked about Lark's violin. Even Scott looked interested. Lark blushed, she didn't like to be the center of attention unless she -had- her violin. So, she described her class and instructor, Miss Morgan, and the fact that she called Lark 'Jenny'. Ugh...
"Lark, would you play for us after dinner and homework?" Jean asked, and Lark was sure her face was redder than Jean's hair. But what could she do? Say no? Besides, she did have to practice....
"Sure, if you don't mind an amateur. I'm all right, but no where up to Juliard standard. Yet." she smiled a slow, budding smile. A strange fluttery feeling welled in her chest, but it felt nice. She had never practiced in front of David before, or Anne. Amber had heard her, but being eleven, her little sister didn't really grasp the concept of good playing and mediocre playing. She just saw her older sister playing something she herself couldn't, so it was easy to impress her by going up and down the scales. Lark smiled to herself as she thought of the summer nights she'd do that just to impress Amber, or playing 'You are my Sunshine'.
No, they hadn't always gotten along, they'd bickered and fought, but in the end, they loved each other just the same. And it was this thought that kept Lark's fingers from trembling as she tuned her violin and started the first warm up fingerings and began playing the first of Beethoven's Fifth....
The applause startled Lark out of her images that were always brought on by any piece she played. most of Beethoven's brought on a mash of colors more then images. Blues and purples and different hues went through her mind, rising and falling with the sound of the notes. She smiled, the heat to her cheeks let her know she was blushing. Again. She bowed a little and murmured a soft "Thank you", putting away her violin in her case. The one her father bought for her before he'd left. She found it when she was six, and began training immediately.
"Wow, that was thrashing, Lark." Evan said, genuine appreciation in his eyes. It had been a long time since she'd seen that.
Or heard Ororo's "It was lovely dear." The rest all put their compliments in, which were genuine and not gushy, or sappy. Yes, they could see that she needed improvement, but she was sixteen, and sounded wonderful for her age, and none of them could play the violin.
"Lark, you haf a reel talent. How do you play like that with your eyes so far away." Kurt said as they were going up to their rooms for the night. She bent her head slightly.
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"Your eyes. They're open, but it's like you're looking somewhere else, seeing something else."
"Oh...! I...I do see different things in my mind. With the music, different images come to my mind, and I focus on it. I think it's a stage-fright cure, or something like that. It just helps me focus a little bit." she answered, grateful she wasn't blushing this time.
"Vell, you sound...vunderbar, Lark-vogel. Iz that vhat you vant to be vhen you grow up? A violin player?"
"Yes.... I want to go to Juliard, and become a famous player. Solo or in a concerto, I don't care! As long as I can play. And...I'd like to be a mother too, I think." Lark said, but didn't add, "But I'm too much of a freak for anyone to want to marry me." How'd want a wife that had the potential to burn you as you slept?
"I think you'd do great as both." Kurt said, and this time they both blushed a little bit.
"Thank you... Well, good night Kurt. Sweet dreams, ok?"
"Ja, you too." And with that, they both went into they're rooms. Lark crawled into her new bed and soon was fast asleep.
*****
Lark turned a bit in her sleep, tossing in the bed until finally she sat up, gasping like a diver coming up for air. In fact, her lungs did feel airless, like she couldn't get enough air into them. The distant feeling of fear mixed with revulsion was strong, yet distant somehow. Like it was coming from somewhere else, but she could feel it. Well, how could she not, the air radiated it.
Moaning too, pain. Lark's sleep addled mind was slow to comprehend, but soon she realized that the moans were real, and coming from acrossed the hall. Kurt's room! Adrenaline pounded in her veins and woke her quickly. Lark dashed back the covers and ran to Kurt's room. Thankfully he hadn't locked the door. However, Lark could see herself running the door and then promptly smacking herself and landing on her butt.
She opened the door slowly and softly so as not to wake anyone else. Kurt lay in his bed, twisting and turning, moaning and crying out softly. He was sweaty and his face was pinched with pain. Lark's breath caught as she saw tears running down his face through clenched eyes.
"Kurt? Kurt, wake up a little, can you?" she whispered to him softly, shaking him as she kneeled by his bedside. "Kurt?"
He twisted, and Lark put a hand to his face, feeling the soft short fur there, which was damp from the sweat and tears. "Kurt, can you hear me?" He squirmed a little more, before his eyes opened, slowly, and then sat up quickly, as though he wasn't sure where he was.
"Lark?" he said, his voice hoarse. Lark nodded and helped him lean up against the bed board.
"Yeah, it's me Kurt. Are you ok? Are you sick, what's wrong?" her voice was soft and soothing, like her touch on his cheek, her eyes shone with worry.
Kurt looked up, and his face burned with embarrassment. It was only a dream, nothing could hurt him at all. But still.... It -had- hurt. It had hurt a lot; the ice and snow and cold water surrounding him. It was as if he were still a helpless baby and needed a mother, only to be shaken awake by the pretty new girl. Kurt wiped his eyes and face with his hands and said shakily, "Ja...I'm fine, I'm sorry I voke you up Lark, I'm sorry."
"Shhh... it's ok Kurt, it really is, I don't mind at all. Want to talk about it? Sometimes that helps." she said, looking around for a handkerchief and finally settling on using a corner of his quilt, dabbing his eyes gently. Kurt let out a soft breath and closed his eyes briefly.
"Nein...," he said softly, "I don't think I could talk about. Right now at least." He wanted to, he didn't want to shut her out. But the hurt mixed with these new feelings for Lark were confusing him, and he was so tired.... He didn't want to hurt Lark, but she seemed unfazed by it, and simply nodded, and laid him back in his bed, smoothing out the covers.
She then got a cup from the bathroom and filled it with cool water, without using any faucets, and bade him to drink. He did, and surprisingly felt a little better.
"Danke," he said quietly. He was still so embarrassed, he didn't want anyone to see his vunerable side. It was just so easy to hide the hurt, with a joke or a bamf.... Sure, he knew when to be serious, but that wasn't when he was hurt, and people knew he was hurt. The look of pity in people's eyes is what he squirmed under. Poor, poor Kurt. No father, evil 'mother', and the looks of something out of a children's storybook gone horribly wrong.
But here, after he had waken up, and felt Lark's cool palm on his cheek, and heard her hum the begginings of a soft lullaby, he saw no pity in her eyes, only concern. And concern wasn't pity, right? Of course not.... And if it was, he thought, as he began drifting off to the sounds of the verse 'sweet child of Nature, sleep now, don't cry....', he could always hide behind the truth. If anyone asked what happened, he -could- always lie. Wasn't life just a big lie, anyway?