disclaimer: I do not own the X-Men, Marvel does. I do not expect any monetary benefit from this work of fiction which is intended for entertainment purposes only.


pre-note: Jenny may be in this one (haven't decided yet), and if so will be in a relationship or perhaps already married to Kurt and have Zelig. This story is not to be considered a sequel to "Human and the Demon". If the same characters are used it is just because I think of them as part of my X-Men worlds. It is possible that this will change and if so I will let you know, but right now, as I write it, they are not connected except that all these stories are by me.

Ordinary People
by Dizi

Chapter 1: An Ordinary Day

She looked up from her book when the electronic bell sounded on the door. 'Here comes the morning crowd,' she thought and called, "Good morning!"

In response, the single customer grunted at her. She was used to that. He was a regular. Though regular might not be the right word since none of the people from 'up the hill' came in at regular times.

She closed her book and put it in her bag, getting ready for end of shift. If her relief ever showed up.

"Okay, that's three large coffees." She made a mental note to make more. "Anything else, sir?"

He again grunted at her and she took that for a 'no' since he tossed money on the counter before she could give him the total and was out the door before she had the register open.

"Have a nice day," she muttered, thinking he was NOT a morning person. He was never talkative but he didn't look all the way awake and she had never seen him in the morning before.

The bell chimed again. 'Finally,' she thought, seeing her boss come in to relieve her. 'Only half an hour late today.'


"So, what was up with your grumpy friend this morning? He was not in a good mood and I'm really happy the coffee was fresh." She was lazily sweeping off the mats by the front door.

"Oh," he chuckled, pushing back the lock of hair that had fallen across his eyes. "The coffee maker broke yesterday afternoon and nobody remembered to get another one. We all hid until he got back. He probably wasn't as grumpy here as he was at the school. You had coffee for him."

"Hmm... maybe that explains the tip." She mused, rolling up the rug, getting ready to sweep and mop the whole store.

"Tip?"

"Yeah, he bought three large coffees, almost a whole pot, which is around six dollars with tax, and he threw a twenty at me and left before I could give him the change. I thought it might be a mistake and have the money put aside for him."

"Really? I'd just keep it, his mistake." His surprise was evident, but she also knew his thrifty ways. He was always trying to save a buck.

"Uh-huh, and what if he realizes his mistake and blames me for it?" She held the dust mop, ready to do the floor, but standing still and looking at him incredulously.

"Ah, yeah, good point." He looked around trying to figure out if there was something he'd forgotten. "You done with the outside?"

She nodded.

"The cooler?"

She nodded again.

"The bathrooms?"

She sighed in exasperation as she finished the third of four ailes. "Yes, yes, yes, all I have left is the floor. I will not need to leave the main room, or the panic button, before my morning relief comes in."

"Hey," he said seriously. "I can't help it, I worry about you. Granted, I don't watch the news much, but I've heard stories about people getting killed. I just don't want you going out in the dark alley and the fridge where you're vulnerable."

"And I wouldn't do anything that stupid." She smiled at him, reaching up to touch his face. He was so sweet. "Before you started staying with me, I locked the door while I was stocking the cooler and I just piled the trash on the end of the porch until morning."

"I know, I know, but I'm glad you're changing to the afternoon shift." He grinned and stepped out of her way so she could finish sweeping. "For more than one reason. You'll get off at ten and we'll be able to go to a late movie."

She grinned back. "That would be different, wouldn't it? Someplace where we could sit down and relax, instead of leaning against the counter."

"Can't wait."

"Me neither."

"Maybe two evenings to get used to the new schedule?"

"You're willing to wait that long?"

"I want you to be able to stay awake."

She smiled. "Sounds like a good idea."


"You're out of Dr. Pepper," 'Red-Glasses' said accusingly the next afternoon shortly after she began her new shift.

"Yes, sir." she said calmly. She had an explanation but didn't think he really wanted one.

"You don't have any bottles either," he continued.

"No, sir. I'm very sorry, sir," she responded apologetically.

"I need Dr. Pepper," he said sounding a bit desperate.

"I'm very sorry, sir. Do you still want the lottery tickets?"

"I'm sure not going home without both. Having my wife upset with me is bad enough, having both her and the Professor mad at me at the same time would be just too much."


"Do these encompass the entire Twinkie supply currently available in your establishment?" the well-dressed well-mannered gentleman inquired.

"Yes, sir. We generally only keep two boxes on hand. They're delivered daily though, so we'll have more tomorrow." She advised helpfully. He didn't come in often at night but when he did he always bought out the Twinkies. This wasn't the first time he'd been given this information. Just the first time she'd given it to him in the light of day.

He frowned. "This is not a complete two boxes."

"Yes, sir. We must have sold a couple today." Quickly, she started ringing up the Twinkies, wincing when he looked pointedly at the fountain area.

"Your establishment is also devoid of Dr. Pepper."

"Yes, sir," she said apologetically. "I'm very sorry, sir."


"Ah thought we were goin' to the store for Dr. Pepper, why are we herah again?" The southern woman demanded irritably.

"As I explained, I need chocolate to settle my nerves." The tall black woman with the white hair said in exasperation.

"Ah'm pretty sure they have candy there, and only you would call that 'some'." She said it accusingly, crossing her arms. "It ain't nice of you to eat 'em in front of me. You neveah seem to gain weight while Ah have to work out an extra hour if Ah just look at that much candy."

Privately, she thought the woman had a point as the second woman dropped about twenty candybars on the counter. But a sale was a sale, and her job was to push merchandise and take money. Not that it was hard with this one. She was an impulse buyer.

Already opening a Snicker bar, the second woman said, "I did not wish to wait that long."

She put the candy in a bag with a smile and the two women started for the door, the first still grumbling. She called out before they left, "Have a good afternoon!"

The white haired African woman paused, her hand on the door. "You will have Dr. Pepper tomorrow, will you not?"

"I sincerely hope so, ma'am."


"Need two packs of Marlboro Reds."

"Would you like a lighter with that, sir?" she offered, knowing with him it was usually an easy sell.

He patted his pockets and swore. "Oui, always lose de lighters." He tilted down his sunglasses as he glanced back at the fountain area. "When-"

"We should have Dr. Pepper tomorrow, sir." she responded, hiding her exasperation.


"Why, hello," Betsy greeted her, leaning her hip against the counter. "How are you liking the new work schedule?"

"It's a lot busier than nights, but not as much cleaning." She thought the purple haired Asian woman was really cool, especially with that British accent. She was nice too.

"And you'll be able to see a certain someone in other environs." Betsy said suggestively, a twinkle in her eye.

"A late movie was mentioned for tomorrow night." She said coyly, blushing a bit, and changed the subject before the other woman got really personal, as she had a tendency to do. She really wasn't ready to talk that way about him when they hadn't even had a first date yet. "You going on a trip? To the city?"

"Yes, Warren has some meetings in the morning." Betsy wasn't fooled but allowed the subject change. "I'll do a bit of shopping, and we might be back tomorrow night. How's he doing with the petrol? Excuse me, gasoline. I still get it wrong, even though I've been in America for years now."

"Don't worry 'bout it, it's all the same thing." She looked at the monitor. "He's still going. Must have had an empty tank."

She nodded. "I hesitate to mention it, but I know about the Dr. Pepper problem. We all know about the Dr. Pepper problem. I'm so sorry it happened on your first day on the new schedule. What happened?"

"For some reason the vendor didn't show up and nobody bothered to find out why. I called when I came in and the manager on duty is looking into it, but morning is the soonest they'll be able to get us some. I'm really sorry, Betsy."

"Oh, I'm fine, Jean's the one driving everyone a bit insane." She said with a laugh.

"Don't I know it," she sighed. "I think everyone waited until I came in before coming to get any or they would have known sooner. I've had to apologize to eveyone from up the way."

Betsy laughed again. "We all try to keep her in Dr. Pepper. It makes life easier that way. She used to be a model, you know. I think the driving need for it is left over from when she wasn't allowed to have any."

"I didn't realize all that time everyone was buying it for someone else. Figured everyone up there just preferred Dr. Pepper." She glanced at the monitor as it beeped. "He's finished. Do you need anything else?"

"Not today." She ran the credit card and when Betsy finished signing with a flourish she said on the way out, "Get some rest, luv, you look tired. You want to be wide awake for tomorrow night."

She rolled her eyes. "Bye, Betsy!"


She looked up from the shelves she was straightening to see the guy who had ended her morning the day before, and called out, "Good evening, sir! If you want coffee, let me know. I just cleaned the pot and haven't made more yet."

He just shook he head and went to the cooler, going for the beer this time. So she would wait to make coffee. There wasn't much call for it at this time of the evening, anyway.

At the register he gestured behind the counter and she added a pack of his usual cigars to the total. "You left your change yesterday. I still have it, if you want to use it to pay for this," she offered.

"Keep it," he said with what sounded like might have been a growl, and she wasn't going to argue. He tossed a twenty and scowled at her for a moment while she got his change. "Ain't ya usually here later in the night?"

"Yes, sir. I'm changing shifts." She smiled bravely at him.

"Huh."


"Why are you still here?" He asked with a frown.

Her shoulders slumped. "The new night guy called in."

"So you're working all night after getting off at six this morning and coming back at two this afternoon?" he asked incredulously.

"It's worse than that," she said despondently.

"How worse?"

"He didn't call in sick, he called in to quit. Which means I'm working nights again until my boss hires someone else and Nicole gets back from vacation." She leaned over the counter and propped her head on one hand.

He did the same, mirroring her stance, his face inches from hers. "Which means we're not going out tomorrow night."

"Yeah."

"Maggie?" He waited for her to look up at him. "It doesn't change anything. We'll just have to wait a little longer."

She sighed. "You've been so patient, Bobby. I just feel bad about it."

He tugged on the blue streak in her hair. "You'll just have to come to the school and hang out sometime soon instead. There's nothing like playing video games on a big screen TV."

"Don't tempt me now, I have to sleep sometime." Maggie laughed. "But it sounds like a new plan."

"So, we'll keep it loose. I'll still come see you and hang out here until things settle down. Then we'll make more definite plans again."

"Sure you won't get tired of waiting? I'd understand, we've been trying to find time to go out for three weeks now."

"Where else will I find someone who likes video games as much as I do?" Bobby teased.

"They're out there." Maggie's eyes started dancing. "Besides, I don't think you'll like it so much when I start kicking your butt."

Straightening up, he said seriously, "I'll take that chance." Then he grinned. "And I might just end up kidnapping you so we can find out."

Maggie laughed.

to be continued


note:
Okay, this chapter may be a little confusing. I believe if you think about it you'll see why I did it this way. I further believe if you think about it you'll also see the big significance of the way it was written. If not you will with the next chapter, I think. The rest of the story will pretty much read normally, but this one was kinda to make a point. If enough people (reviews everyone!) tell me they didn't get it after that I'll explain more thoroughly in another note. Also if this chapter put you off, please give it a chance with the next chapter which will, as I said before, be more normal. I think you'll really like Maggie if you give her a chance.

Like many others, I have taken a few liberties and made Jean a model in the past. At the time I got Jean and Betsy confused, just remembering one of them had been. Oops. But I like it this way, so left it. It's AU anyway as just about any story with an OC has to be (I know having an OC doesn't mean it has to be AU but it usually does) and due to each author's perception of the characters making little changes (or big ones). I do try not to change the characters so much as enhance them so hope you will forgive the little mistakes of this nature.

I know I said I would post every Wednesday, but I'm going to every other Wednesday until I get a bit further along. Sorry, but I'm writing too many stories at once and don't want to post them all and confuse everyone (including myself). Especially since I don't know where I'm going with most of them. Of course finding out is most of the fun.

Thanks for reading and the support,
Dizi