Irisa did the best she could to settle into classes. Kitty and Jubilee had become quite close with the new girl as had Rogue. Since Irisa's little discussion with Rogue about how their powers were different, there had been little to no tension in the room.
One thing Irisa couldn't shake was the look Rogue would give her whenever she was sitting next to or near John. The girl with the poison skin and the fire starter were becoming closer, she couldn't deny that. And with that friendship blooming there was some attraction there, she couldn't deny that either.
The poor girl couldn't stand the Danger Room sessions however. She and Rogue felt quite useless because their powers seemed to be less impressive and less effective than everyone else's. Instead the two girls relied simply on their combative skills, kicking and punching and dodging as best as they could until someone with 'real' powers came along to save them, and then they could move on.
Rogue had discovered Irisa's talent in the language arts, noticing that the girl could write entire essays in only half an hour. Of course they weren't perfect, but error was little to none. Irisa's roommates used this to their advantage, asking Irisa to write their English essays, and in return, do a favor for her.
Irisa honestly didn't ask for much. A few gossip sessions before lights out revealed a crush on John that everyone saw coming. So in return for Irisa's English papers, the girls would play spy and see if John felt the same for her. Things were cloudy, no one could quite tell for sure.
The alarm in the dorm room rang loudly, making each girl jump out of her skin. Irisa was closest to the alarm so she groaned, reaching over and slamming her open palm on the device, shutting it up effectively and rolling back over.
Rogue, perhaps the only morning person in the room, lithely got to her feet, pulling on her gloves before reaching to Jubilee and Kitty and shaking them awake. While the two were rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, Rogue hopped into the shower.
Irisa groaned as it became near impossible to fall back asleep. Kitty and Jubilee had turned on the light so that vision became better. Today was their fieldtrip to the museum and all the girls wanted to take this opportunity to sneak away from the teachers and hang out with their preferred boys away from prying eyes.
Irisa pulled herself up to a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Rogue had just come out of the shower and Jubilee leaped in to be the next one in. Reaching for her gloves Irisa pulled them on, afraid to even chance the possibility of touching someone, even by accident. She reached to her bedside table, contemplating on what to wear. Everyone was wearing these slightly dazzling outfits, just enough to show off their best features, but not enough to raise teacher suspicion.
"Wear your skinny jeans and tunic," Kitty said just as Jubilee came out of the shower. Today everyone was taking showers in record time. Luckily Irisa took a shower the night before.
She took out her skinny jeans and tunic and eyed them curiously. "I don't know…"
"Oh come on Irisa," Rogue said as she pulled a brush through her ebony locks. "John's eyes will just about bug out of his head when he sees you in that."
Irisa still looked quizzical, looking over at the chosen outfit once more. Shaking her head she put the tunic away and settled for a My Chemical Romance band tee shirt. This would suit her much better.
Rogue, who witnessed the switch in tops, couldn't help but smile. Irisa could be so innocent sometimes and it amused her. "Are you at least going to wear makeup?"
Irisa let out a chuckle that rumbled in her chest. "Yes I am. Honestly girls if John doesn't like me for who I am I don't think he's worth it."
"Spoken like a true diva," Kitty said, pulling her shirt over her head. "More power to ya. I wish I had confidence like that."
Irisa smiled as she pulled off her pajamas and began changing into her clothes for the day. "It's not confidence Kitty. I don't know what it is, but it isn't confidence. I don't have enough confidence to fill a soup bowl."
This made everyone laugh as they finished changing. Haley pulled on her converse all-stars high tops and laced them up before running the comb through her blue bangs and the rest of her ebony hair.
"Are you going to use eyeliner?" Jubilee asked, wearing the usual bright yellow ensemble and red earrings. "Am I right?"
Irisa laughed. Her roommates knew her well. Almost too well it seemed, but they knew her well nonetheless. "Yes," And black eye shadow, the usual Jubes. No need for experimentation right now."
All three sighed in disappointment. Irisa was always their favorite palate and they always loved playing with colors and styles. Of course this kind of activity was reserved for weekends only and today was just not the day to play.
"Can we do it this weekend?" Kitty asked hopefully. Irisa laughed and nodded, turning on a brighter light so that she could apply her makeup. Perfectly smudged black around her eyes gave her the allure of a vixen, according to Rogue.
Finally the trio was ready, standing facing each other in a small circle, waiting to get approval from the group. Irisa nodded at Rogue, who wore blue jeans and a black peasant top shirt, with her usual gloves and scarf. Her beautiful ivory skin was covered up as much as possible while still being tasteful.
Kitty nodded at Jubilee, who was wearing the usual bright yellow and red combination. There was no changing Jubilee's color coordination. She always wore yellow and red, no excuses. Kitty herself was wearing black jeans and a printed tee shirt, the word Paramore printed across her chest in colorful letters.
"Are we ready?" Rogue asked, adjusting her gloves on her arms. Everyone nodded and Irisa turned to open the door.
"Here we go."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
The bus ride to the museum was rather eventful. Her friends, cunning as they are, took up seats with someone else. John's friends did the same, apparently having some sort of ploy going on with the females. All that was left was John and Irisa without seats.
Sparing a death glare towards her friends Irisa slid into a seat on the bus, pulling her knees up close to her chest and leaning her head on the window, facing the bus and John.
"I think they're plotting against us," he said in a stage whisper, making sure they could hear. This made Irisa giggle, nodding her agreement.
"Though what could they possibly gain?" he continued, craning his neck to look back at his friends that were giggling just as madly.
"I have no idea," Irisa said, reaching a hand up and brushing her bangs out of her face.
Thus bus gave a huge roar as it started up, lurching forward dangerously. Everyone was rocked forward, their heads coming dangerously close to the backs of the seats in front of them. Except for Irisa, who merely jostled sideways. Her sitting position allowed little to no movement.
John followed her example; only instead of sitting sideways he was sitting backwards. His back was propped up against the back of the seat in front of them and he crossed his legs in his lap, facing Bobby and Rogue, Kitty and Remy, and Jubilee and Colossus. Rogue was telling a story about her days down south and everyone laughed. The light that shone in everyone's eyes amazed Irisa and she wondered what memories they all had to share.
No, no she couldn't think that. Memories weren't hers to look at, it wasn't her place. Thoughts like these disturbed her, and she bit her lip while she tried to quell the urge. Curiosity did indeed kill the cat, and Irisa didn't want to risk anything and anyone.
John noticed her discomfort and reached for her gloved hand, taking it in his and holding it. "You okay?" he asked in a quiet voice that was unable to be carried through the roar of countless conversations.
"Fine," she lied. "Why?"
"Irisa you are a poor liar. What's the matter?"
She sighed, biting her lip once again. She was curious about his past too. He hardly shared any stories. What little he did share painted a picture of horror. His parents were simply horrible.
"Curiosity is a hard thing to squish," was all she said, taking her hand from his and using it to wrap around her knees along with her other arm, holding her knees even closer to her chest.
John said no more, only looking at her with clouded and confused eyes. She knew he probably didn't understand. He knew that using her power not only hurt the person she used them on, but hurt herself as well. Why would she be curious?
Because she could live through the pain, she could take it and shift it, almost ignore it. Sometimes it was too much and that she would admit. But most of the time she felt no pain, physically at least. She wanted to know everyone's story. But no one was honest with who they were when they've been persecuted for so long. They're hardly the same person. How was Irisa supposed to trust that who she saw was real?
She shook off these feelings and joined back into the conversation, just in time to catch the punch line of one of Bobby's jokes. A smile broke over her features and after a few moments, her dark moment was forgotten and the rest of the bus ride went smoothly.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Most of the students were good little boys and girls, following around Storm, Scott, Jean, and the Professor as they went around the museum, looking at exhibits and learning about the subjects. Storm took the younger students towards the primitive life exhibits, showing them Neanderthals and cavemen.
But Irisa, Rogue, Kitty, and Jubilee weren't good little girls. They sat in the cafeteria with John and Bobby and Colossus, interacting with some human boys about their age.
Irisa nervously fiddled with the elastic of her gloves as the humans began to get hostile.
"Why are you being such a dick?" one asked, with an unlit cigarette between his fingers as he looked at John with angry eyes.
"Yeah why are you being such a dick?" his friend parroted.
John, who was flicking his zippo open and closed smirked, evil and menacing that made the boy's eyes widen but other than that they gave no outward reaction.
"Because I can," John responded finally, flicking the zippo closed and looking at Irisa, catching her gaze in a wink.
The boy with the cigarette sighed, closing his eyes briefly before looking back at John once more.
"Once last time. Can I have a light?" he asked, annunciating each word.
"John why don't you stop showing off?" Bobby asked, looking at Rogue who looked uncomfortable. The boy's friend leered at her, obviously looking down her shirt. Rogue rolled her eyes.
"I can't help it if your girlfriend's getting excited."
"You're the one getting excited."
While Bobby and John were arguing John was flicking his lighter in the habit that he had. Irisa stopped fiddling with her gloves while she carefully watched the two boys. They were rather mean. Smoking in a museum wasn't allowed; the smoke would damage the exhibits.
She saw it happen before it did. The boy with the cigarette reached out, snatching the lighter from John's hand and using it to light up.
"That's real cute," John said, trying to get his lighter back but was blocked by the friend. Both boys smirked in triumph at snatching the cool zippo from John.
Then suddenly the cigarette ignited, a quick burst of flame catching the thief off guard and reeling backwards as his sleeve ignited. John began to laugh but Bobby stepped forward, sending a blast of ice at the boys sleeve putting out the flame.
Then everything froze.
People stopped moving right in their tracks, almost as if someone had pressed pause on their lives, freezing the action right where it was. The seven mutants looked about them, confused, as they were the only ones moving.
"Bobby what did you do?" Rogue asked, stepping forward and placing a gloved hand on his shoulder.
"I didn't do it," he said, almost in a whispered tone.
"No," boomed another voice, much deeper. The teenagers looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. Professor Xavier wheeled into view. "I did," he finished, looking at the group with disappointment.
"Next time you feel like showing off, don't."
They all blushed and looked at their feet. Even John, who loved showing off and did so whenever he could, looked ashamed. Then again maybe he was just that good of an actor.
Looking back up at the professor they saw his eyes distant, like he wasn't seeing them but something else. Curiously Irisa reached out for him but as she did his eyes turned back to focus.
"We have to leave now," he said, trying his best to sound calm but could not hide the slight panic in his voice.
The students were all rushed out of the museum as calmly as possible, taking their seats on the bus as it roared to life.
"I wonder what the professor's all worried about," Irisa said, no longer able to hold in her curiosity. Having the ability to see memories with just one touch gave her a curious nature. She hated hurting people but she was always so curious.
"Maybe it's something to do with Magneto," Rogue said, who then shuddered as the memory played before her eyes. "I had never experienced something so horrible ever before in my life. Not even when my powers activated."
"Yeah," Bobby agreed. "Knowing that his little blue friend could and has imitated me is just a little creepy."
Irisa looked at John, expecting him to have some sort of output too.
"I think Magneto has a point," he said in a quiet voice. "I mean, come on. Human's hate mutants and vice versa. Playing nice isn't going to get us what we want."
Everyone looked at him horrified. "Hurting people isn't going to get us what we want either," Irisa said in a small voice, speaking both to him and herself, just no one knew it.