Title is from Run Run Run by Celeste Buckingham
Chapter 1: Run, Run, Run
Domino had never fallen. She had never tripped on the stairs, slipped in the hall, stumbled over uneven ground; she's insanely lucky. Even socially and academically, she's never fallen, she has never failed a test, never made a massive fool of herself that's knocked her down the social ladder (which is surprising, considering her friendship with Wade). She always had the best parties, told the best jokes, even had the best food. Nobody had ever, not once, seen her fall (which is ironic, considering her nickname was Domino).
Which is why, when she caught her best friend making heart-eyes at the new girl, she was determined to give her friend the best shot at a date possible (and then plan the best, most awesomest wedding ever for them, but that would have to wait until after she had scored them a date).
It was the first day of the school year, and everyone was dragging their sorry butts through the halls of Xavier High School, already missing summer and counting down the minutes until the next holiday from the first second after the first bell signalled the start of the day (was that just their school? Or was it every school?).
Domino found herself caught in a stream of people, who were all hurrying towards the school auditorium to have first-day-back-announcements and all that other yadda yadda. She was wearing simple black shorts and a white t-shirt, with her signature leather jacket and an afro crowning her head. She had once been self-conscious of her features; the white patch over her left eye, the dark, frizzy hair and thick thighs, but she had come to accept herself over the years, and by the time she was in high school, she flaunted her appearance. Her unique look made her feel special, and she strutted down the hall with an air of confidence, eyes peeled for any signs of her friends.
They better not have skipped the first day back. It looked bad, and made the teachers keep an eye on you for the rest of the semester. So, she had given her friends the sage wisdom of sucking up to the teachers for the first few weeks of school, so the teachers skimmed over them for the rest of the semester while keeping an eye on the other trouble makers, while they did all kinds of shit right under their noses.
"Hey Domino! Over here!" Ah. At least one of them had taken her advice. Domino veered off of her current path to intercept the person who had called her name: her best friend Ellie Phimister. El was kind of a grump the first time they had met, but after some incessant prodding and poking, she had agreed to sit with her at lunch one day, and they had become best friends ever since.
Turns out, they both had similar interests; they both revelled in technology and pop culture, and had a very big appreciation of martial arts and science. Domino and El both took a martial arts class and they trained together every Tuesday and Thursday, making them very skilled at fighting and self-defence (skills that every woman should learn in today's society). Domino liked maths more than El did though, and in turn she liked music more than Domino did. Domino was extraverted while El was more introverted, Domino liked concerts while El liked movies, Domino liked extravagance while El had simpler tastes, and this conflicting set of interests led them to appreciate things that they normally wouldn't try, which made them a good pair. Opposites attract, people.
The two shared a quick embrace (Ellie wasn't that fond of hugs), and El stepped back, glancing around. She was wearing her usual black lipstick and dark, 'edgy' clothes as Domino liked to call them, although, she had shaved her head.
"I like your hair. Or well, lack thereof." She commented, gesturing to her new haircut. It suited her; she was always different too, although Domino would miss her flowing locks of dark brown hair that reached well past her shoulders. It was fun to braid, seeing as she couldn't braid her own hair. Ellie ducked her head in acknowledgement of her friend's compliment, running her hand over her shaven head.
"Yeah. I kind of just wanted a change, y'know?" She explained before asking: "You haven't seen V or the boys yet, have you?", scanning the crowd surging past them. Domino shook her head.
"Nah. But you know them, they're always late. Well. Maybe except Piotr. But we'll see him soon enough if he's here; you just don't miss a guy that big." Domino shrugged. "Do anything interesting this holiday? Meet any new… people?" Oh yeah. Best not to forget to mention that Ellie is 110% gay. Domino was just the only one she had trusted enough to tell, and even after that she had almost had a meltdown. Her family was incredibly homophobic, and so saying it aloud had brought with it quite a bit of panic. So tried to be as discreet as possible when asking her friend about her love life; Ellie had made it very clear she didn't want anyone else to know.
Ellie shook her head, looking slightly grateful at her friend's choice of words. She probably hadn't yet forgotten the time Domino had almost let her secret slip, and so seemed much more pleased at Domino's carefulness.
"No, not this time," She replied with a shrug of her own. "I didn't go out all that much. I watched a shit-tonne of movies though." Domino rolled her eyes. Of course she had. Oh well, she still had time before she was doomed to a life of loneliness with her 23 cats. El watched the students flow past her.
"C'mon, let's go before we're late for announcements." She declared, stepping forwards without waiting for an answer, leaving Domino to scramble after her. El was very… efficient. But that sometimes made her unapproachable by other students, who were all slightly unnerved by her brusque and blunt nature.
The two quickly joined the mass of people and were instantly swallowed by the crowd that flooded into the large auditorium, before taking their places on the stands at the edges of the hall. The announcements were boring as usual, welcoming the students back to school and so on, and so Domino preoccupied herself with examining the mass of students that filled the room with them, trying to pick out her friends in the haze of faces.
She found Piotr almost immediately, of course, it was hard to miss him when he was over six feet tall. Next to him on his right side, sure enough, looking just as bored as she felt, was Wade Wilson and Vanessa Carlysle. On his other side stood Nathan Summers (but he preferred to be called Cable), looking sullen and none too keen to be back at school. Wow! They had all come to school this time! A momentous occasion indeed. They should celebrate, she decided. 'First time and probably the LAST they had ALL managed to come to school on the first day'! Huffing with amusement, she turned her attention back to the Principal, who was still speaking on his podium.
The announcements went on, and on, and on, and on (like seriously, how long were these things supposed to be?), and finished with Principal Xavier introducing five new students: three girls and two boys. One of the girls was to be in their year, apparently, and Domino examined her with interest. She was very… bright. Her hair was long and dark, with pastel pink streaks running through it. She wasn't that tall, maybe around El's height, and was wearing a fashionable gray and pink sweater and a pair of denim jeans. She gave the crowd a warm smile when her name was called: Yukio Kutsuna ('Hmmm Japanese maybe?' Domino wondered, gazing down at the girl). All in all, she was quite attractive and looked like a very warm, sweet girl. Huh. Domino might just like someone outside of her friendship circle for once (everyone else here was pretty crappy. They all had rich parents, but that made some people very entitled and snobby). Perhaps she should talk to her and convince her to sit with their group, before some jerks snatched her up and turned her evil or something.
Domino leaned over to Ellie and was about to ask her opinion on the matter when she noticed her friend's face. Her eyes were wide, and her lips were parted slightly as she gazed down at the new girl with an expression that could only be described as dreamlike, and oh, yeah, she was definitely getting this girl to sit with them at lunch.
She supressed a snigger at Ellie's hazy appearance and gently elbowed her friend's side, making her snap back to attention and shoot Domino a wide-eyed look. Upon seeing her friend's amused face and teasing glint in her eyes, she frowned and looked down in embarrassment at being caught gawking at the pretty girl, a blush forming on her cheeks. Uh-huh. This girl was not going anywhere.
And so, that is why she approached the girl at the end of announcements, despite Ellie's dismayed protest of "What are you doing? Are you going up to her? NO! Stop it!", and offered her a spot with them at lunch. Ellie positively growled behind them, but Yukio's eyes lit up and she happily agreed to meet her again at lunch time, before waving at them pleasantly and strolling off. Domino grinned triumphantly, watching her leave. Ellie didn't seem too pleased though, and punched her in the arm hard, eyes filled with annoyance.
Domino rubbed her arm, shooting her friend a wounded look. "What was that for?"
Ellie looked furious, if not a little upset. "You KNOW what it was for! How could you do that? Why would you-? AGH!" Ellie threw her hands up in frustration and stormed off, leaving Domino standing alone to gaze after her in confusion. What just happened? All she had done was ask Yukio to sit with them at lunch. Yeah, sure it was because this was the first time she had ever seen El take an interest in someone, but the new girl needed friends too. Surely there was no harm in that. Domino frowned, watching her friend disappear around a corner.
"OI! Domino! Over here!" Wade's voice cut through her thoughts, and Domino rolled her eyes with a small smile as she turned to greet her other friends, El's outburst momentarily forgotten.