Your Time Will Come
Walking down the hallway on her way back from her hour—long detention, Marie quickly turns the corner and enters the rec room. After making some popcorn and grabbing one of the DVDs from the large stash in the corner of the room, Marie quickly readies herself for a night on her own. The room is deserted for once, which is strangely unusual since the room is the general hot spot for every mutant student after school.
I wonder where everyone went,Marie thinks as she removes the popcorn from the microwave before returning to the couch where she casually drops the bag. After placing the DVD in the machine, Marie returns to her seat on the couch while opening the bag of popcorn. After an hour into the movie, Marie lazily lies down and closes her eyes for a moment. Not a minute later, the tired teen is fast asleep, the movie forgotten as well as the bag of popcorn, which falls from her tired hands onto the floor.
The room is bright but small, the light from the sun shining brightly through the big clean window. The faint smell of homemade cookies hangs in the air. The young girl sitting at the kitchen table is munching on one of the cookies, while her grandmother sits across from her watching her happily.
"Oh, my little sunshine, it's so nice to see you…it feels like ages since the last time you came over for a visit," the old woman says, with her smile still spread across her wrinkly features.
"I like coming here, Grandma…after all, I do get to eat all the wonderful cookies you make," the little girl responds after finishing the cookie at her mouth.
"That's nice, dear…you know how much I love to cook for my favorite grandchild," grandma avows with an even wider smile on her features.
"Grandma, can I have some more cookies?" the little girl, who smiled back at her grandma happily, asks.
"Of course you can, my dear!" grandma exclaims happily, quickly rising from her chair to get another plate full of cookies for the anticipating little girl. "Another glass of milk, dear..?" grandma asks, and waits for her grandchild to reply.
"Yes, please, Grandma. You can't have cookies without milk, Grandma, it's just not normal," the little girl replies, as grandma smiles at the younger girl's cute high-pitched voice.
"You're quiet right, my dear. We mustn't be without milk when we're eating cookies. Here you go," grandma replies as she places the plate with care in front of the little girl, who immediately begins to shove the cookies into her small mouth.
"Careful, love, what's the hurry?" grandma asks as she moves her skinny wrinkly hand to help remove a full-sized cookie from the young girl's mouth. "After all, you have all the time in the world," grandma adds, returning to her seat.
"Grandma?" the little girl asks.
"Yes, my little sunshine?" grandma replies, smiling at the little girl's look of confusion.
"What's so good about time? I mean…how important is it?" the little girl asks while her grandma smiles warmly at her.
"When the time is right, my dear, you will know how important time really is. One day you'll know, and when that day comes, my little ray of sunshine…time will be what makes you who you are. Time can change anything…even the things that weren't meant to be changed at all…" grandma finishes with a smile on her face, watching the still confused girl ponder her words.
"But daddy told me that time can only move forwards. Daddy told me that time can heal all wounds because eventually we'll get over being hurt," the little girl comments.
Grandma smiles brightly at the girl before asking, "And do you know what your father meant by what he said?"
The little girl pauses for a moment before simply replying, "No."
Grandma smiles once again at the little girl before replying, "There are things in life that we can control, my dear…and there are things that we can't control. But don't let that discourage you, my little ray of sunshine. You'll figure everything out. Be patient, Marie, your day will come."
Marie awoke with a jolt at the feel of a careful hand brushing away a strand of hair from her pale features. "I thought you would never wake up, Marie," the voice of Jean Grey, who smiles down at the young woman who was unknowingly resting her head on the teacher's lap, comments.
"Huh, shoot, I'm sorry, I'll move," Marie replies apologetically, forcing her dazed self to sit up.
"It's ok, Marie, you didn't have to move. I was comfortable," Jean replies, smirking at the younger woman's confused expression. "You were asleep for awhile…thought I'd have to carry you off to bed."
"What!" Marie exclaims in alarm, the words striking her like a slap to the face. What the hell does she mean by that? Marie thinks.
Jean's alluring chuckle brings her away from her thoughts. "I meant, that I thought that I would have to carry you back to your bed or something…you were pretty far off into sleep, I did even wake you when I gave you a shake" Jean explained as she offered the girl a reassuring smile.
"Oh yeah…huh, sorry about that, I'm still half asleep," Marie explains, offering Jean a smile of her own.
"Must have been one interesting dream," Jean remarks, watching the girl intently.
"Oh? Was I talking in my sleep or something?" Marie asks. Oh my God, please do not tell me that I was talking in my sleep…how completely embarrassing! Marie thinks.
"Oh no, you were pretty quiet…but you did look like you were enjoying the dream," Jean replies innocently, glancing from Marie's face to the TV then back to Marie again. "I hope you won't mind…the movie you were watching was over, and since you were fast asleep, I thought you wouldn't mind if I watched something." Jean explains while Marie glances at the TV, trying to guess what movie it was.
After a few moments of trying to figure out what movie it was, Marie asks, "So which movie was it?"
Jean glances at the girl before returning her attention to the movie. "It's called, 'Loving Annabelle'…it's kind of a low key movie."
Marie nods her head in confirmation before asking, "What's it about?"
Jean glances at the younger women again before replying. "It's about a catholic school teacher falling in love with her seventeen year old student…hence, the title, 'Loving Annabelle'," Jean finishes, chuckling at Marie's awkward expression.
Ok, this is so not a good movie to watch with your female teacher who happens to be the highlight of your life,Marie muses, suddenly feeling the urge to move. "I think I should go…"
"Don't be silly…stay with me, watch this movie with me…I kind don't want to watch a movie all by myself, kinda depressing," Jean states, grabbing onto Marie's glove covered hand and pulling her back down to the couch to sit with her.
"Ok, sure thing," Marie replies, finding herself sitting right next to her taller teacher.
"Besides, Marie, it will give us time to really get to know each other. I don't see you so much anymore," the teacher utters, glancing at Marie for a moment.
"You would actually want to spend time with me?" Marie asks with a confused look on her young features.
"Well, of course, Marie…you are part of the team, as well as my favorite student," Jean Grey replies.
Why would she say such things…am I really her favorite student? Maybe that's why I woke up on her lap…I'm way too confused. Maybe I should ask her what I was doing on her lap.
"There wasn't enough room on the couch, Marie, so I had to move you in order to sit down. I didn't think you would mind if I let you rest your head on my lap…it's not a big deal," Jean explains, staring intently at the somewhat alarmed teen.
"You were reading my mind?" Marie asks in alarm.
Jean chuckles in response before replying, "I didn't have to…you were being obvious."
"Oh…uh…I'm sorry if I…offended you or something," Marie stammers in embarrassment.
Jean chuckles once again. "You didn't offend me, Marie…I shouldn't have done something like that without your permission. I'm sorry for that…I'll be more careful…"
"Don't be silly, Ms. Grey, it's totally fine with me," Marie interrupts. Oh crap, I shouldn't have interrupted her like that.
Jean chuckles once again at the teen's comical expression. "So you liked resting on my lap…that's very interesting," Jean comments, as Marie's jaw almost drops to the floor.
"Oh no…I mean…uh, I meant...that I…uh, I don't mind…I mean, I totally…I understand…" the struggling teen replies, her face taking to the color of her embarrassment.
"It's ok, Marie…I was just teasing you," Jean explains, chuckling at Marie's look of distress.
"Very funny, Ms. Grey," Marie responds earnestly, as Jean continues to smirk at Marie's amusing expression.
"Back to the film, I guess," Jean mutters, returning her gaze to the TV screen.
"Why won't you talk to me?" Annabelle, who now stands in front of the teacher's desk staring at the woman she is having an affair with, asks. The long pause seems to last forever since Simone refuses to look at the girl directly. "You haven't said a word to me in over two weeks," Annabelle states, keeping her sad eyes glued to Simone's, who still will not look at her, hunched—over form.
After a moment, Simone finally finds the courage to look Annabelle in the eye and say, "I can't do this."
The words hang in the air for a moment before Annabelle speaks. "We're not doing anything wrong." She tries to sound convincing and prays that Simone will believe her. But as Simone's next words hit her, Annabelle knew it was coming.
"I can't do this," Simone states once again, with more certainty in her voice.
Annabelle keeps her eyes glued on Simone, who can't seem to tear her eyes away from the beautiful young woman she has fallen for so badly. The air in the room is noticeably intense, and after a moment more, it is Annabelle who breaks the mood when she walks away from her heart and leaves the room, leaving a distressed Simone alone in her classroom still standing behind her desk.
"So how do you like the movie so far, Marie?" Jean asks.
Marie turns her attention away from the screen to answer her teacher. "I like it, I guess…it's different," she replies.
Jean smiles warmly at the girl before replying. "Indeed it is…wait, why is it so cold in here?" Jean asks when she notices Marie shaking.
"I don't know. Maybe the heater's busted or something," Marie replies with a shrug, as she begins to hold herself tightly in the hopes to stop the shaking.
"Are you going to be ok? You want to get a sweater or something…it's getting colder by the second!" Jean exclaims beginning to shiver.
"No, I'll be ok, I guess," Marie replies, trying to stop shaking.
"Wait, there's a blanket somewhere around here. Let me go get it," Jean suggests, moving from her position on the couch to search for the blanket. After a few minutes, Jean returns to the couch with a large, thick blanket in her hands. "Here we go, found the warmest one," Jean announces, sitting back down on the couch while spreading the blanket over herself and Marie. "This should keep us warm enough until the movie is over," she states, moving her hands under the blanket. "You want to move closer? I mean, we'll be warmer if we're closer together…if you want to, of course," Jean asks, and waits for Marie to reply.
"Sure, I don't mind…it's really getting colder…it's almost as if Bobbi's fooling around with his powers again," Marie says as she moves to sit closer to her teacher. Oh my God! I'm sitting way too close to Jean! What's going on with her? She's been flirting with me all day…not to mention right now,Marie thinks as she tries not to jump at the feel of Jean's hand brushing up against hers.
In an attempt to avoid the awkward silence, Marie asks, "So when is this movie over?"
Jean glances at Marie before replying, "Not long…I'd say there's about twenty more minutes left."
Marie nods her head in acknowledgment before asking, "So you've seen this movie before?"
Jean shrugs her shoulders. "A friend of mine recommended this film…I'd never even heard of it before yesterday."
"Cool," Marie states, struggling not to squirm when she feels Jean's hand molding into hers.
"Your hands are still warm," is all Jean says before flashing Marie a strange grin.
"How can you tell that I have warm hands when I'm wearing my gloves?" Marie asks.
Jean turns her head to glance at the girl before replying, "I don't really know for sure…I guess there's only one way to find out." Just then, Jean suddenly takes the girl's gloved hand in her own and begins to remove the glove from the small hand.
"Jean, don't! I don't want to hurt you!" Marie exclaims while trying to jerk her hand away from the telekinetic.
"Trust me, Marie…I've wanted to do this for so long."
"What do you mean?" Marie interrupts just as the glove from her hand slips off and lands somewhere.
"I want to show you something, Marie. I've been practicing a new method to my telekinesis…I wanted to try it out on you and see if it works," Jean explain, as she tries to grab hold of Marie's hand, but is unsuccessful.
"I don't think that would be a very good idea. Please, don't touch my hand, I don't want to hurt you," Marie pleads while struggling to move off the couch, but suddenly finds herself stuck in one spot. "Jean, let me go," Marie continues to plead as Jean raises her hand to hold Marie down with telekinesis.
"Shhhh…don't be alarmed. I want to give you hope," Jean soothes as she moves to sit closer to the immobile teen.
"What are you going to do?" Marie asks, noticing that Jean seems to have abandoned her plan of holding her hand and is now staring at her with a strange expression on her face.
"Trust me," Jean replies, moving closer to the girl.
"What are going to do to me?" Marie inquires, as Jean's lips move even closer to hers.
Exactly what you want me to do…I guess I have to work on the lingerie fetish thing, but I think we can work that out later,Jean replies through the telekinetic link she emplaced in Marie's mind.
"Holy shit…how did you know about that?" Marie asks out loud.
Jean smirks at Marie's response. "I read minds, remember…and evil sexual grins too,"
Jean replies jokingly, before pressing her lips against Marie's in a gentle kiss.
After a moment, Marie feels Jean's tongue brush up against her bottom lip, and she is more than willing to let her teacher enter her now parted lips. The kiss is slow and sensual and a low moan escapes Marie's throat when she feels Jean's tongue brush up against hers. When the kiss begins to deepen, the pace quickens, as hands begin to roam over clothing, and moans of approval as well as the sound of lips crashing against lips continue for another moment before Jean pulls away with a gasp.
"Ms. Grey, are you ok?" Marie asks, panting, as she watches her teacher trying to catch her breath.
"I'm fine. Marie…I just held on longer than I should have," Jean replies, grinning at the young teen, who smiles in relief.
"How did we do that? We were like…in contact for over a minute. I've never done that before!" Marie exclaims in excitement, while Jean watches the girl in amusement.
"It's a new trick I learned. I guess my powers have become stronger over the years. I had no idea that I could build such a strong telekinetic barrier," Jean partly explains while Marie sits back and listens.
"So you made a telekinetic barrier that shielded you from my powers?" Marie struggles to understand.
"That's right…it's just basically me using the telekinesis like a magnet, like two positive magnets instead of the positive and negative charges…forcing objects away from me like a shield," Jean tries to explain.
"But how were we able to touch then?" Marie asks.
"We can touch and feel each other…but the energy that comes from your powers won't touch me, they'll repel…like the effects of using two negative magnets together or two positives together. The attraction between our life sources will not be completely in contact with each other…kinda complicated, isn't it?" Jean finishes her explanation.
Marie nods her head in agreement. "So I can touch you for long periods of time?" Marie asks.
Jean's flushed face begins to go back to it's natural color. "No, I'm not strong enough to keep the barrier open for long. The longest that I can hold you for is just over a minute. I can probably lengthen the time period with more practice…"
"That's awesome!" Marie exclaims.
Jean chuckles at the girl's response. "I'm glad you think you…what's wrong, Marie?"
Jean asks when the expression on Marie's face changes dramatically.
"It's nothing…"
"No it's not, Marie. Tell me," Jean entreats, and waits for the teen to respond.
"What do you feel for me?" Marie finally asks in a rush, her gaze falling to the floor, afraid of the response she might get from her teacher.
"I feel for you as Annabelle feels for Simone," Jean replies, grabbing hold of Marie's hand and holding it tightly.
"Really..?" Marie asks with a smile on her face.
"Of course…you think I flirt with all my students for the hell of it? Believe me, when I found out about your feelings towards me, I wanted more than anything to express the same to you," Jean explains with a smile on her face.
"If you knew that I like you, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Marie inquires as Jean continues to smile at the younger girl.
"Because I like to tease you," Jean replies jokingly.
Marie flashes Jean a confused look as she laughs in amusement. She stars at Jean for a moment, as if trying to decipher that mysterious grin on Jean's lips, and that look of promise in her eyes that makes Marie feel as though the future as something special in store for her, and for Jean as well…
Authors Note:I hope I didn't confuse anyone with the explanation of how Jean and Marie were able to touch for so long. I tried to explain it as best as I could. Basically, they can touch because Jean's powers are strengthening (she's starting to gain some of phoenixes powers) and now Jean's managed to find a way to build a barrier that would allow her and Marie to touch, although only for a limited time.
