Notes: Thanks to my lovely reviewers, it'scurtainsforyou, LoveAroundEmbers and Evans Mary! The prompts for this one were to write about your main character's closest friend and tell how they met and to incorporate books somewhere. Reviews/comments/ideas are great!
Kitty made her way back inside, wondering what in the world inspired her to spill her darkest secret to John Allerdyce of all people. She hadn't even told her best friend! Of course, since her best friend was Laura Kinney, they didn't talk very much…but still!
She began to ponder her friendship with Laura as she walked. They weren't like most of the other girls in the mansion - they didn't go shopping, or eat ice cream or talk about boys, but they were close. The two girls often studied at the same table, and they frequented each other's rooms. They didn't talk all that much, but the silence was always amenable.
Kitty decided to search around for Laura - she needed some calm reassurance right now and that's what the younger girl tended to offer her. Her mind cast back to the first day that Laura arrived at the school a few months previous…
Professor Xavier had called Kitty to his office and upon entering the first thing she saw was a girl who looked as though she was about a two or three years younger than Kitty was. She was rather unkempt - her long dark hair hung in tangles to her waist, her clothes were dirty and the look in her eyes was feral.
"Kitty, this is Laura Kinney. I would like you to help her get settled in. She's got quite a bit of temper so I thought you would be a good person to get her accustomed to the school," the Professor said jovially - the unspoken because she can't touch you unless you let her hung in the air between them. "Here's her temporary room assignment," he continued, handing Kitty a slip of paper.
"All right," Kitty replied, smiling at the new girl. "Goodbye, Professor," she said, leading Laura from the room.
As she showed her around the mansion Laura replied only in grunts and Kitty began to wonder if there was something wrong with her that rendered her unable to speak.
"Do you have any luggage?" she asked kindly.
Laura shook her head.
"All right, well you look to be close to my size so I'm sure we can get you some things from my closet. First, though," she said, stopping in front of a door, "you should probably go in a take a bath. Everything you'll need is in there. When you're done come to my room, it's right there," she said, pointing two doors down the opposite side of the hall.
Once Laura disappeared into the bathroom Kitty practically flew to her room and began going through her closet pulling out things she had bought and never worn, or things that were still in good repair but she was tired of. She made sure they all still looked nice - she didn't want everyone thinking the new girl was a charity case or anything.
She had just finished when the door opened and Laura came in, wrapped in a bathrobe.
"I found you a lot of things. Most of these I've never even worn. Oh! Shoes!" Kitty cried, pulling one from her own foot and holding it to Laura. "There, see if you're my size."
Laura tried it on and seemed to ponder a moment before nodding.
"Okay…um…let's see…"Kitty replied, pulling a tote out from under her bed. She looked up to find Laura stroking the pile of clothes with one hand. "Are those okay?"
Laura nodded.
"Good! Well, if you want to pick out some shoes…"
Laura pawed through the box and came up with two pairs. Once she was dressed the two girls gathered up everything and trooped to Laura's new room. The staff had decided she should be alone for now until she adjusted.
After getting Laura's new clothes put away Kitty sat the girl down and brushed her hair out before braiding it to keep it out of her way.
"There! You're all set. I need to go study now but if you need anything I'm just four doors down the hall," Kitty said, smiling brightly.
The girl looked up at her thoughtfully, before opening her mouth and murmuring, "Thank you very much."
Kitty blinked in shock - apparently the girl could talk after all.
She found Laura in her room, sitting quietly on her bed doing what appeared to be an essay in French, and Kitty didn't hesitate to flop on the bed beside her. Laura looked over at her, raising one eyebrow, but the girl just shook her head, stole Laura's pillow, and curled around it, closing her eyes.
John Allerdyce, also known as Pyro, lounged in the library, tipping his chair back to rest on two legs like every authority figure in the world had told him not to do. John wasn't good with authority figures.
He currently occupied a table made for four and he took up every square inch of it all by himself. A French book was open directly in front of him, a chemistry book was just behind that and to either side were calculus and history books. Where there weren't books there were pencils and pens and notebooks and crumpled wads of paper. Just under the table, where no teacher who might be happening to pass by would notice them, were a soft drink, bag of chips and bag of chocolate candies.
At the sound of footsteps he let the front legs of his chair hit the ground with a bang and he quickly propped his feet up in the chair across from him, shoving his book bag in the third chair and a random literature book that he whipped from the depths of his bag in the forth so that no one would get any ideas about joining him. He was not in the mood for company. But then again, was he ever?
John bent over the French book and pulled a notebook close to him, idly conjugating the assigned verbs that were due the following morning. While his body was occupied his mind was focused on the secret that Kitty Pryde had divulged to him earlier in the day. Pyro found it hard to wrap his head around the fact that sweet, innocent, girly little Kitty Pryde had killed someone. Even harder to grasp was why she had told him about it. In his experience girls that go by things such as Kitty instead of more mature names like Katherine didn't tend to be killers. Of course, did one time make you a killer? She had said it was an accident.
Mutations often triggered accidents.
He scowled at that thought. Accidents were accidents and you couldn't change them. It wasn't his fault that the bonfire had leapt out at him and started a wildfire. It wasn't his fault that people (some of them his own family) had died and houses had been lost and hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages had been accrued. And it wasn't Kitty's fault that she killed her cousin.
Was it?
And how did this new knowledge change the way he looked at her?
He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure at all, and John Allerdyce didn't like being unsure of anything.
Sighing he flung his feet to the ground, slamming his books and notebooks shut and stacking them awkwardly. He grabbed up his backpack and hastily crammed everything into it. He was tired of pretending to study. He would finish the verbs later, after dinner.
After he got his mind off of her.
He wondered what other secrets the school, and that girl, held.