Title: "Tall Tale?"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: G
Summary: Jubilee always has an excuse for being late, but sometimes, they don't believe her.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, names, codenames, places, items, fandoms, titles, and etc. are always © & TM their respective owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Any and all original characters and everything else is © & TM the author and may not be reproduced in any way without the author's express, written permission. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: 244. That's the number of stories that were sitting on my hard drive collecting dust because I lack the energy and time to take care of them as I once did. My betaing pattern has always been to write, then type up if written on paper, the story, read it aloud to my beloved Jack and our children, editing as I go, and then finally format and post. Sadly, this part is simply taking too much of my time and energy, and my beloved Jack and I have too little time together in person these days to be able to keep up with my stories. So what to do? Give up writing? I actually considered it for a while, tried to make excuses to myself other than the large number of stories collecting cyber dust on my computer, as to why I lacked the energy and Muse to write new tales. And then, with the turn of the new year, I decided to stop running and face the problem. The problem is, quite frankly, that once one gets so bogged down in formatting and editing that writing is no longer a pleasure but the actual posting of those writings becomes a hassle and - egad! - work, it's time to cut something out, and that will never be the writing process. So, in short, yes, there will be mistakes in this tale. Yes, it's missing about half of the header information I usually include. But I wrote it for pleasure and am posting it in hopes of sharing that pleasure with others. Do with it as you will.
Jubilee was breathless by the time she reached the classroom. She slid in by the open door and slipped toward her desk, catching a brow-lowered glance from Sean and hoping Emma wouldn't turn around from the blackboard before she was safely settled.
Her scowling teacher neither turned nor even paused in the calculation she was writing as she announced, "Really, Jubilation, our classroom is not even a mile from your undoubtedly messy bed. Did you do this poorly at your California institute?"
Jubilee grinned. She had the perfect answer for that one! "I didn't go to school then, Miz Frost. I skipped every day and went to the mall," she bragged.
Emma shook her head. Jubilee tried not to notice the lost look on Sean's face as the morning sun filtering through the windows caught and dazzled on the harsh headmistress' blonde hair. "And just what far-fetched story do you have for us today, Jubilation, if I must ask?"
Jubilee started gushing, "I was on time this morning - really, I was - when I saw an enemy sneakin' around the school. Now I dunno what ya would want the newbies to do if they saw Sabertooth prowlin' 'bout, but he's an enemy o' Wolveroonie's and when I was with the X-Men and Wolvy, we never let him mess around. We always stopped him before he started killing people, if we could, so I followed him. But he smelled me and attacked, so I loaded his butt full o' fireworks." She paused to catch her breath.
"Really?" Sean asked, a single brow arched. "An' as ye're still standin', Jubilee, I take it ye were successful beatin' Sabertooth by yer wee self?"
Jubilee glared. "I'm alive, ain't I?" He would've believed her, Jubilee thought, before he'd fallen for the Ice Queen.
"Jubilee, sit down," Emma commanded coldly. "It's detention for you again today."
Jubilee's shoulders slumped. She practically fell into her desk. "Next time, I oughta let 'im kill ya in yer sleep," she muttered.
"Next time," Monet advised haughtily with a superior flip of her long, black hair, "choose a less formidable opponent for your imaginary tussle, some one you could actually stand a chance of fleeing from, like the Toad."
Everett chuckled; Jubilee's cheeks burned. "Silence," Emma almost barked. "Since you believe yourself to be so vastly intelligent, Monet, why don't you solve this equation for us?"
As Monet rattled off the answer with a tone of simplicity akin to that which one would use with a child, Angelo and Paige both leaned closer to Jubilee. "Cool story, chica," Angel approved while Paige mouthed, "Are you okay?" Jubilee sat back with a broad grin. Even if the others didn't believe her, her story was still appreciated.
Meanwhile, a vicious animal growled just outside the gates of Xavier's School as he tenderly rubbed his shaggy behind. Wolverine's little brat might think she'd gotten the best of him, but nobody kept a wild tiger down for long. He'd teach her that - and more - soon.
The End