Okay. Let's see. Angel, Hank, Sean, Alex, Azazel, and Janos are acting the parts of the three groupies of each sides. Their positions in the group are static, but the role's they play are pretty fluid and mixed up between each of the characters. asjgnhsghaiujbuifdhgmalg Also, I hate writing Azazel and Janos so they won't do much. Hell, I don't even think Janos has been named this chapter. Raven's personality in this story is based more off her personality in the first three movies than it is First Class. Now that I'm done rambling, have at!
It's the first day back to school at X High and everyone is frantic with mixed emotions. Excitement, confusion, and even dread are filling the air with that familiar first day buzz as the front yard is amassed with students going every which way. There are those hunting down friends, those already swapping their schedule info, and some just gearing up to go to class. Off in the center you can find a small three person group slowly making their way to the front doors. They would possibly get there sooner if it wasn't for their messing around, or maybe not, seeing as they didn't seem the type to care for arriving early.
One dirty blonde and another with sleek black hair were teasing the third party of the group. It was just a quick grab at his lunch, a toss over the head, and a silly remark. Nothing but childish fun. Then they spotted only a few feet away the blonde haired, badass beauty of their group poking a jab at some lower chained nerd. "Hey, it's Raven!" one of them shouted and then repeated her name in a way to catch her attention. All three dashed over to her position, eagerly surrounding her like children waiting for a story.
"Where were you all summer?" the blonde boy questioned as soon as they were all settled into their huddle.
"What's it to you?" Raven fixed the collar of her tight leather jacket and the other boys smirked at this blatant reproach. The one who asked immediately had a change in attitude and the smile left his face. "I was just askin'."
"I was working, unlike any of you."
"Working?"
"That's right," she coolly crossed her arms across her chest and smiled smugly. "I'm saving up to get some wheels."
One of the three started to ask if she wanted to hear about his summer, but he was brushed off and instead pointed out the last member of their group standing nearby, the leader in fact. "There's Erik." Raven brightened at that and turned, waving him over, "Erik! Hey, Erik!"
The so-called turned around in their direction and started making his way over to them as they all called their greetings. Just as the three had done with Raven, all four gathered quickly around Erik into a close little cluster and someone asked the repeating question of the day, "What did you do all summer?"
Erik looked back and forth between all four of his companions, "Just swimming down at the beach. The usual." He shrugged slightly and moved his legs back and forth as if getting a little antsy. Raven eyed him suspiciously as she watched his uneasy dance, "Did you meet someone down there?"
That earned her a sharp look that was quickly softened and hidden away as he made out to answer the question. "I did," he stopped short for a moment, "I did meet some foreign guy. We chatted. He was decent."
Raven would have questioned him further, but the first bell of the day rang and Erik took off for the doors. The rest trailed behind like a pack, followed by a moving mob of students coming up behind them. Further behind, unbeknownst to the group who was just shuffling inside, was the exact person Erik had been speaking of.
"Do I look alright, Moira?"
The long, auburn haired girl walking beside him looked him up and down. He wore gray khakis with a baby blue button up shirt, the top two buttons undone to give a little neck room. One would probably think he was a teacher with how well-groomed he was. "You look fine."
"I have to say, I actually am a bit nervous," he looked up at the towering school and then around himself at fellow students. There were giggling girls and bulky jocks. There were the theatrical, the studious, and those who didn't quite fit under the usual label, but still had a group around them who were of similar style. "So this is X High?" he said ponderingly.
"You'll love it."
Then across the grass, all the way back at the parking lot, a trio of people were just arriving in their beat up car. A female shimmied out of the driver's seat. She swiped her silky black hair off her shoulder and removed the sunglasses she wore as the two boys who had been in the back seat came walking up behind her. "Here we are again," she sighed.
"Yes, but this time we're seniors," replied the tall, bespectacled boy to her left.
"And we're going to rule the school," she was absolutely smug in her demeanor as she threw on her jacket and began to walk with a more self-important air around her. The two beside her eyed each other wearily but followed her lead.
Back inside the school the staff is frantic with first of the day worries and problems. Teachers are getting together their class plans and gathering up rosters. The nurse is preparing for the rush of students bringing in prescribed meds. Then the principle and secretaries are rushing about trying to find missing papers and lost files. It doesn't help that the students are already piling in and going crazy in the hallways before class begins. It's amongst all this that Charles makes his way to the office counter. He sets his binder down in front of him and smiles cheerfully at the teachers around him.
"May I help you, dear?" the principle stops in her tracks, a stack of papers in hand.
"Yes, I'm a new student here and not really sure where I'm supposed to be."
The older woman pats him reassuringly on the shoulder, "Oh, well welcome to X High. First of all, you'll need to fill out a few of these forms." She starts picking up papers from several different stacks with her one free hand and piling them together for him. Then she eyes a tussle in the hallway and has to excuse herself, leaving Charles to himself and the papers he has to sign.
-
The bell for first period finally rings and everyone clambers into their assigned classrooms. An eerie quiet covers the hallways as they go completely desolate. That is, desolate except for the group of five that are idling by their lockers and starting up a loud conversation about their failed classes and the dislikable teachers whose classes they're returning to this year. One of them in particular starts going off about his new disregard for authority and the rest back away from him when they notice the head honcho standing outside her office.
"Alex," she calls out, stopping him mid laugh.
"Oh, hello m'am," he's suddenly polite and a lot more docile than he usually puts on. The rest of his group are standing off away from the action, watching his sad predicament with amusement in their eyes. He continues to rattle off "No, m'ams" and "Yes, m'ams" and in the end has a detention on his list of things to do after school. To worsen his situation, Erik makes sure to bring to light his inability to come through on his promises of independency. Then they leave it at that and start their way up the school's only flight of stairs, passing by a kid who all but Erik stop to taunt.
-
Back in the hallways Charles is rushing to get to his first class. Filling out those forms took longer than he expected and he also had to wait on a schedule. So he would be just barely making it into the first few minutes of his first class of the day. "Good morning students and welcome back to X High," the principles voice comes in over the intercom with a forced excitement. She starts listing off things deemed necessary for the students to be informed about. Elsewhere, Charles is dashing in through the door of a classroom, making more than enough ruckus, and finds himself smiling desperately at the turn of heads in his direction.
In the middle of the outdoor lunch room a guy with a luscious amount of orange hair on his head was sitting oddly hunched over his tray. It held doubles of everything and he didn't stop eating as he raised a hand to wave over the two he had been with this morning. "Saw Raven this morning," he slyly smirked in the other male's direction as he was sitting down. "She's looking mighty fine this year, huh, Hank?"
"Your point?" Hank pushed up the glasses on his noise, not so as to adjust them, but more in a manner to hide his discomfort towards the topic. He was utterly grateful when two more showed up to their table and he took the chance to get off the subject, "Hello, Moira."
Everyone said a hello to Moira and she told Charles to take a seat as she went on to introduce everyone. "This here is Charles Xavier," she tilted her head in his direction, "and that's Hank, Sean, and this is Angel."
"He just moved here from England," she continued on and each of the three glanced Charles' way. There was a bit of an awkward silence and Moira tried to cover it up by questioning Hank on his new pair of glasses. He started to go off in detail about how much better this pair was from the last but Angel cut him short with a sarcastic, "You still look like a nerd."
"How do you like the school so far, Charles?" Sean was sitting the closest to the new student so he took it upon himself to start conversation. He seemed a little more interested in his lunch though, turning his eyes away to take a few more bites.
Charles wasn't oblivious to this so he made his answer short and simple, "It's different, " and then busied his mouth with the drink he had bought. Usually Charles is the one to be initiating conversation, sometimes going on and on about a subject even if no one is truly listening. He was good at choosing the right moments though and judging what would be suitable talk according to who was listening. At this time he decided it better to listen and get to know the people he was getting himself acquainted with first.
-
On some other side of the school, where athletes were training themselves in their respective areas of expertise, a group of students were spending their free time on the bleachers. Five of these people were idly laid back in one corner, this being Erik and his loyal crew, and mocking the students who were below on the field. Only one of them was actually feeding himself even though it was lunch time.
"Hey," Raven interrupted their jeering remarks at one jock in particular, "any of you see that new guy at registration? I have to say, he was pretty attractive for what looks like a teacher's pet."
"Raven, do you sometimes forget you are the only female is this little group of ours?" one of the men pointed out, that man being Azazel. "To prove that point," he turned a disapproving eye towards Alex who was down a few steps from them. He was lying below one step in particular, directly under a couple of girls who were completely oblivious to his peering eyes. Azazel coughed loudly and venomously called out in his direction," Anytime you want to rejoin us, Alex."
The girls above Alex finally caught on due to Azazel's proclamation breaking them out of whatever it was they were so concentrated on. They spotted Alex looking up at them from below and almost screeched as they got up and stormed off to sit somewhere else. Alex only laughed.
"Anyway," Azazel continued on, "I want to hear about what Erik did at the beach."
There was a faint twitch in Erik's eye before he spoke, "Oh, it was nothing really." The hand he had wrapped around his other wrist tightened as the trio of guys egged him on, wondering if he did or saw anything interesting. As they did so Raven was watching ever so closely.
She smiled mischievously, "What about that boy you said you met? What was he like? Bet he was cute, huh?"
-
"What did you do this summer, Charles?" the question that had been going around vigorously from ear to ear all day was just now being targeted at the blue eyed foreigner. Moira figured it was a place to start in getting him involved with her small group of friends and she wondered why she hadn't thought to inquire sooner. Especially after she saw his whole face light up and a slight red tint rise to the surface of his skin as he thought about the answer.
"I spent most of it at the beach." He paused, somewhat to ponder whether the next bit was acceptable to announce, but more so for dramatic effect. His smile widened just a fraction, "I met a boy there."
The inflection in his voice and the way the muscles of his face moved told more than enough what he meant when he said that. Everyone's eyes were on him now, shocked and maybe a little baffled. Then they all moved closer and Hank whispered the question on everyone's minds, "Are you telling us you're homosexual?"
Charles chuckled at this reaction and leaned into the huddle they were seemingly forming. He too took up a hushed tone, "Not exactly." Then he sat back and let that short sentence process.
"What do you mean 'not exactly'?" Angel spat out in irritated confusion. "You either are or you aren't."
"No," Charles shook his head and then placed his chin in the palm of his hand as he rested his elbow on the table. His eyes distanced from where they were as he remembered the romantic trysts and he smiled warmly to himself. "He was special."
-
"Why would you want to hear about him? It's not like you'll ever meet him, Raven, and he wouldn't date you even if you did."
"How would you know he wouldn't date me?" Raven was almost presumptuous in the way she eyed him, head high and eyes staring down with a hard look that said she knew everything. Erik found himself shrinking under that stare.
He gulped down the air he had been holding in his throat and tries to sit up straighter, but only managing to look like he was fidgeting. He coughs into a fist-made hand and puts on his usual self-important guise, "I just know him. You're not his type. Now can we get off this subject? I'm sure you don't want to hear all these boring details."
"Tell me more."
Charles dished out his story easily and with much enthusiasm. He started his tale with the boring particulars on how he had come to vacation in this remote little area and finding the beach to be the only place he took interest in. The first run in he had with his mysterious lover was quickly recounted before diving into their actual meeting. He spoke of the way the man had apparently been showing off his swimming skills, but brushed over his incident involving him almost becoming one with the murky ocean and its creatures. It was from then on that he spoke almost inaudibly, with an increase in his anxious heartbeat, as he recalled all the sentimental moments leading up to their falling in love. His affection was visible across his entire self, from the way his eyes smiled to the dance his feet were doing under the table, as he talked about how charming and intelligent the other was. He laughed quietly into his hand though as he remembered how childlike his lover had been at times. Then he had to cover the flush in his face as he spoke of their last day together since the one thing on his mind was the one thing he wouldn't utter a word of. He wished to keep that one moment entirely to himself.
Erik, however, was less keen on verbalizing his activities from the summer to the four who surrounded him. His skin felt hot under his clothing as he embellished the story of himself saving a man from a watery demise. The long gazes, sweaty fingers entwined, sweet caresses, and all other romantic gestures they shared scattered throughout their limited days were completely erased from his telling. He talked of a man that he held captivating conversations with, someone who was intellectually on the same plane as him. This was someone who sounded like a passing ghost that only mattered when he needed a bit of companionship. As he spoke though Erik's eyes were saying something completely different. He was remembering those quaint silent walks vividly, that first time they looked at each other and suddenly understood what they were feeling, and all the things he couldn't bring himself to say aloud. No, the person he was talking of now was just a fleeting friend and it hurt to think of him that way.
-
"Hey, uh," the group from lunch were walking their way back to class now and Moira was questioning a detail left out of the story they were just told, "what was his name?"
Charles looked at her, looking almost positively delighted that she asked, "Erik. Erik Lensherr."
The two boys walking behind them suddenly started whispering furiously at each other and Angel and Moira were exchanging frantic glances before smacking the boys across their shoulders to get them to settle down. Charles looked back and forth among them in confusion.
Angel grabbed his attention and turned on a fake, pleasant smile," Maybe if you believe in miracles, Prince Charming will show up again someday… somewhere unexpected."