My favorite part of the school day was honestly the lunch break we received, although, much like classes, it was easily divided. The school was famously split into two distinct factions: one was either an X-Man, elite and beloved, or a Brotherhood member, viewed as lower and untrusted by not only faculty and peers but the general public. It was especially visible in the common yard.
It was where everyone gathered to eat- a greenhouse built in the center of the institution. There was a pond and gazebos in the garden space built for the students. Typically, the elitists huddled in their masses by the gazebos and we, the cast off troublemakers, were left to the pond.
It wasn't an ideal situation, but we made due. By we, I meant my friends and I.
Allow me to briefly introduce them. First, is Nathaniel Essex the 7th. He suffered much like I in the name department. Stuck with the ancestry of a psychopath, he hailed from a long line of genetic experimentations created by the hand of Mr. Sinister himself. Granted, there hadn't been any experimental creations in his line for the past few generations, he still somehow managed to retain the sleek handsomeness that was programmed into his dna long ago. We had been friends since we were both young. We related to each other's family situations so well it just seemed destined. My own mother had walked out on my dad because she finally realized that she could not change him. She didn't care for me very much; I was his spawn. Nathaniel's dad left his mom after she had a torrid affair and he took his only child. Soon after the nasty divorce, his dad remarried and he had to deal with the problems that come from being an older brother.
His little sister was named Alex and she was a delight. Alex was sometimes a girl. We would then call her Alexandria. Sometimes Alex was a boy. We would then call him Alexander. And sometimes Alex was neither and would just be called that. Alex. We didn't care very much and that was perfectly fine. She took more after her mom then her dad and was equally as spunky. Cute and charming and downright fabulous as a girl, tough and sleek and cool as a boy, but fiery either way. I liked Alex. She was a good kid and an equally good sibling. Definitely quite the party during our lunch charades, but not as much as the twins.
Bastian and Abrielle LeBeau were one soul divided into two bodies. They loved the same things and were equally as passionate and fiery as the other. Bastian was tall and cunning and sly. Abrielle was short and elegant with a temper that was shorter and not so clean. They were descended from Gambit and Rogue, Remy LeBeau and Marie Ann. The Rogue's real name had been lost to time, but her style had not. The twins' parents had tried everything to shape them into little models of the fatefully doomed lovers. It was strange and they didn't exactly succeed. Both took lessons in French and were fluent in a dead language. Bastian learned card tricks and Brielle settled for a white ribbon in her own brown hair. She had it tied around her neck at school and up in her hair at home. They hated their parent's persistence almost as much as I hated mine.
Nathaniel and the twins were already at the pond by the time I arrived. Adrielle was curled up on the grass with a tablet in hand and a book on her lap. Bastian sat on the rocks fiddling with his deck of cards and Nathaniel was reading.
"Bonjour mon cher minou! Comment est notre Credo préféré aujourd'hui? Tu as l'air fatigué." Bastian curled his lips in a charming smile.
"Lebeau, you know I don't speak French."
He laughed and his sister just smiled. "He asked how you were."
"I'm fine. And I'm the only Creed you know."
Nathaniel laughed. "I thought you didn't speak French."
"It's called deduction. And he only calls me kitty every other sentence."
Bastian gasped, dramatically putting his hand over his heart. "I do not!"
"Yes, you do."
"You wish you were a kitty."
"Yeah, Kitty Pryde." They all burst out in laughter. I smiled and dropped my bag. "Oh look at me!" I began, mockingly. "I'm so special! I can walk through walls!" I rolled eyes and dropped the act. "I don't hate my heritage, only the stereotype that follows."
Their laughter dissolved into soft smiles.
"Hey guys!" We looked over to see our classmate and friend working his way over. "Hey Nathan!"
"Oh hey Alex. How's it going, brother?"
"Actually it's sister now."
"Okay, cool. Sorry, it's been a while since you've been my sister."
"Its okay." Alex smiled. She set her bag down in the grass and flounced down next to Nathaniel. "So what are you guys up to?"
"Nothing much." Nathaniel closed his book at set it down.
"Translation please?" Alex smiled up at me with her pretty little grin and twirled her hair in her fingers. I smiled back.
"We're talking shit on the X-nerds."
"Nice!" Alex smiled and held her hand out. Nathaniel pulled a spray bottle from his bag and handed it to her. She turned the knob and squirted the water in my face. "No swearing!"
Her smile was annoying. "I know, I know."
"Hey," Nathaniel took the bottle back. "You're the one that asked us to do this."
The twins laughed.
"Whatever." I say next to Abrielle and opened my backpack. "Do any of you guys have the notes I missed from history? She kicked me out."
"Again?" Abrielle set her tablet down. "When did she do that?"
"Oh about ten minutes into class."
Bastian snorted. "That must be a new record! Hey Nathaniel, what is her best time?"
"Well, let me see." Nathaniel turned on his tablet and opened a memo page. He scrolled through it. "34 minutes, 15, 27, 18. This is a long list give me a minute."
I shook my head and pulled out my own device. Abrielle touched my shoulder and showed me the class notes on her screen. "Thanks girly."
"No problem. We all have to stick together. Do you want me to sent it through the system mail or beam it through a signal link?"
"A signal link. My system nail has a mind of its own and deletes everything."
"Okay." She held her tablet to the back of mine and the file appeared on my screen. I got accept.
"It's a record!" Nathaniel smiled and typed the time down. "You are getting better and better at this. How do you do it?"
"Oh you know," I glanced over the assignment. "I was right, she was wrong, Miss Red Head got involved, and the rest is history."
"As always." Alex piped up. "You know, you could file a discrimination action against her."
"I've tried but you know, a Creed must be a pretty good liar."
"Did you talk to Dilly?" She asked. "He always listens to us."
I shook my head. "Not yet. I'm sure he doesn't want another complaint from me."
"That's not true!" Abrielle said. "He loves us."
I shrugged. "I mean, you're not wrong. But still."
"Okay, okay, enough of that." Bastian slid off the rock and tossed his cards on the ground. "Let's talk about happy things."
"Like?"
"Like the prep party we're totally crashing this weekend. It would be sacrilegious for us to not go!"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I have a scheduled evidence dig with the police station. We are going to try and find the body of Maria Campos."
"Your dad's old girlfriend?" Nathaniel raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. One of them. We've already found the remains of 27 of them. And who knows how many more are still out there." I looked down at my tablet and sighed. "Maybe if I get done a little early, then I'll come."
Abrielle out her hand on my knee. "Don't worry about it. I'll send you the address. We all know you're really busy trying to um oh what is the word I am looking for?."
"Fix?" Alex asked.
"Ah yes! That one! Trying to fix your dad's mistakes. You know that if you ever need help, we will be there for you."
"Thanks guys." I smiled and turned my tablet off. "You know, I wouldn't ask for anything else in the world besides you four."
Nathaniel smiled and looked at the group before moving over to me and giving me a hug. "We wouldn't trade you for anything in the whole universe. Except maybe a whole pizza. Anyone down for lunch at Tony's?"
We all smiled and gathered our things, chatting about the day and what we had planned that weekend. The X-Men glared at us from their table, but we didn't care. They weren't the ones going out for pizza.