Written by Darkstorm5000
Disclaimer: X-Men Evolution, the X-Men, and other related characters in their various incarnations are the property of Marvel Entertainment Group and Film Roman Productions, are used without permission and not for profit.
……………………………………………………………
Chapter 7- Crush On You
-The Xavier Institute: Bayville, New York
At 'Mutant Manor', as some of the Xavier Institute's own the residents have come to refer to their home, a new day has dawned. And with it, have come those early morning formalities that the Institute's residents have all grown accustomed to, no matter the length of time that they've actually been living here.
Which, was something that Angelica Jones could easily attest to, as this fairly recent transplant from New Jersey currently made her way back to her bedroom, following a somewhat extended wait in the morning bathroom line at the far-end corridor of the girls' wing of the upstairs student dormitories. This, in spite of the fact that an intentional change had been made to the mansion's original design blueprints to allow for an expansion of bathroom facilities, back when the mansion was being rebuilt, just for this very reason.
At any rate, as Angelica now approached the doorway to her bedroom, she was immediately met by a most unexpected occurrence. No, it wasn't from her hearing the radio on inside of her room, since Angelica had left her clock-radio on after the alarm went off earlier this morning to wake her up. Nor, was it from the angst-ridden wailings of Kelly Clarkson coming from said radio, as she sang about falling in love, its ups-and-downs, and the pain associated when those romantic feelings weren't equally reciprocated from the object of her affection.
Which, was a subject that Angelica herself had also fast become all too-familiar with from her own personal experiences, after having developed an unanticipated, but very intense, crush on a certain other resident of the Institute. Who, ironically enough in contrast to her own heat-generating abilities, himself had more of a predilection towards things of an icy-cold nature.
Still, it was an undeniable attraction that Angelica felt very deeply for him, for reasons even she had yet to fully understand since he appeared to be her complete and total opposite personality-wise. For these and other reasons, Angelica had decided to keep it a closely guarded secret from everyone else including, and most especially, from this arctically-inclined young man.
But, what had Angelica really feeling surprised at this moment, almost to the point of being in awe, was from the priceless sight of seeing her roommate singing and melodically humming along in perfect accompaniment to the former Idol-winner's Since U Been Gone.
"Never took you for a closet Kelly Clarkson fan, Laura?" Angelica cheerfully said, as she announced her presence to her roommate, and her return to their shared bedroom.
"Huh?" X-23 now uttered from over on the other side of their room. Who, since settling down in Bayville, had been living there under the assumed identity of Laura Logan, the recently relocated younger sister of one of the Xavier Institute's faculty-members.
And, who had also been nowhere in sight when Angelica had first awoken this morning. As it was, Angelica was just now starting to get herself accustomed to Laura's rather unusual, and sometimes unpredictable, behavior. Most notably, her roommate's bizarre sleeping habits, and general lack thereof.
One night right after Laura had first come to live at the Institute, Angelica first observed her new roommate experiencing one of her restless post-midnight episodes, as Laura thrashed about in her bed thanks to another in a seemingly endless string of nightmares. When Laura suddenly shot-up out of her bed, quickly throwing on a t-shirt and a pair of sweats before quickly exiting their room, a concerned Angelica immediately got up and followed Laura down the hallway to check on her and make sure that she was okay?
It was a few minutes later that Angelica found Laura downstairs, spotting her roommate through the glass paneling of the French double-doors that led outside into the Institute's beautiful exterior-garden. From her vantage-point on the inside of the closed door, Angelica observed that Laura was tranquilly perched in a crouched position on one of the garden's many concrete benches, and that she wasn't out there alone. With it being the middle of the night, Angelica could barely make out this other figure out there with Laura, but had a strong guess as to his identity.
It was from her managing to notice that, despite this shrouded moonlight, he appeared to have been out there wearing a simple muscle-shirt and jeans. And even more telling, was his calmly puffing on a lit cigar out there, while leisurely leaning up against a nearby tree in the shadowed-darkness. Angelica also observed that the pair seemed to be out there in silent communion with their outdoor surroundings together.
Or so she speculated, but truth be told, Angelica wasn't really sure what was going on out there? And after watching them for about a half-hour, and not seeing either of them really move or say anything at all, Angelica came to the conclusion that whatever nighttime peace that the two had sought out, that it had been found in their shared solitude out here. And that is how she left them, when she decided to go back to bed.
Irregardless, as Angelica now stood this morning in the doorway to her and Laura's room, she was dressed in a saffron-yellow blouse, which had ¾ length sleeves that were adorned with adjustable drawstrings at the cuff. Angelica also had on a pair of cobblestone-brown trousers that she accessorized with a pair of brown, close-backed clogs. Which Laura now noticed, after she suddenly looked up at Angelica from over on her own bed, herself dressed in a black scoopneck-tee underneath a full-length white tank, a stone-washed black denim mini, and a pair of black oversized combat boots.
Laura had been docilely sitting there cross-legged on the bed, before she turned her attention away from the magazine plopped down right in front of her on top of her bed's fuchsia-rose colored comforter. For those individuals who had just a cursory acquaintance with Laura, they would have probably assumed automatically that her choice of literature would have had to do with guns and ammo, the martial arts and related weapons techniques, or some other subject of an associatively violent nature.
But, they too would be just as surprised as to learn that the magazine currently holding Laura's attention was about nothing of the sort, and actually had to do with home decoration and other domestic sensibilities.
"What're you talking about?" Laura further inquired, as she paused her review of the reading material down in front of her to now focus up on her roommate, who was over underneath the bedroom's entranceway.
"I heard you from all the way out in the hallway. You were belting out some pretty major back-ups in here." Angelica now grinningly replied to Laura's question, as she leaned against the doorframe, gesturing over her right shoulder with her thumb and pointing back towards the hallway behind her, before coming into the room and going to sit down in front of a desk-mirror that was off in one corner of their shared bedroom.
"Wasnot!" Laura snapped in response to Angelica's astute observations, doing so with a very blunt and surly sentiment behind her tone, as she quickly turned her gaze back down to this copy of Martha Stewart Living opened up before her. Which, she had borrowed from off of the coffee table in the Institute's main living room downstairs.
Before being given such a harsh reply, Angelica was just about to compliment Laura on her apparent natural singing ability, thinking that her roommate did indeed have a beautiful voice. But, with Laura so very adamantly denying that she had even been singing along with the tune on the radio, possibly out of a sense of embarrassment, Angelica thought it best to just drop the subject all-together for the time being.
Laura in the interim had continued reading on, pushing her stylized dark-brunette hair from in front of her face and to the side, as she applied her near-photographic memory and a careful scrutiny to this homemaker's magazine before her, and to the articles that lay within. But, she remained curiously confused about the magazine publication, and was still unable to conclusively determine for herself whether these decorating hints and tips being dispensed were merely meant to be helpful to the reader, or if they were the contrivance of some conspiracy that was far more twisted?
Meanwhile, Angelica sat in front of the mirror and grabbed her hairbrush off of the desk, proceeding to stroke through her fire-red locks with it, all in an attempt to make herself presentable in enough time to be ready to head off for another trying day at Bayville High, along with their other classmates' at the Institute.
…………………………………………………………………
Minutes later, both Angelica and Laura left their bedroom, making their way now downstairs and down to the kitchen. Presently in there to welcome them were Professor Xavier, Dr. Ororo Munroe, and Dr. Henry McCoy, who were already seated at the extended rectangular dining table within. Along, with the noticeable scent permeating throughout the kitchen from the abundance of food items, which had been prepared and set-out on the table in numerous copper and silver serving-chafers to accommodate the Institute's widely-ranging tastes.
"Good morning." Angelica affably said, as she entered and spoke to the three adults currently occupying the kitchen, with them replying in kind as they briefly paused their conversation over their morning cups of coffee.
Angelica was then immediately followed into the kitchen by Laura, who in turn only offered each of her teachers' a cordial nod and a faint, partial-smile as a greeting. Which, after having spent enough time with her 'older brother' by now, especially in Ororo's and Professor Xavier's case, that they had become fairly accustomed to having such a modestly-sociable reception sent back at them to start the day off.
After exchanging early-morning pleasantries with their teachers, both girls' then went and took their seats at the table alongside them, before they were all soon joined by the rest of the junior-level students now trickling down into the kitchen, each coming down after having also spent these pre and post-dawn hours getting ready for another day at school, with Jubilee leading the way.
It might seem strange to learn that Jubilee was on the X-Men's junior-level team, considering the fact that she had been at the Institute well before some of the senior-level students? But, since Jubilee's parents had disenrolled her shortly after the existence of mutants' became public knowledge, and had only been allowed to come back to the Institute just a couple of months before Angelica and Laura had arrived, following the innumerable heartfelt pleas that she had made to her parents finally being considered by them.
Even though all of her old friends' and Professor Xavier were certainly glad to have her back, he thought it best to place her with the current junior-squad to help her gain a higher level of battlefield proficiency with her powers, since by now she had fallen so far behind her old teammates' in that regard. Much like Laura, who was also placed on the junior-squad, although in her case it was not due to a lack of skills in the use of her mutant abilities, far from it.
After a careful assessment, Professor Xavier had unquestionably recognized that Laura's combat-expertise far surpassed that of the Institute's current senior-roster, as well as perhaps most of his graduate X-Men. Where Laura was found lacking was in the fact that her capabilities were for the most part individualistically-oriented, and that she needed considerable improvement in the area of teamwork, by learning how to work with and rely on others as a productive member of a cohesive unit.
"So P.G., you ready for that big biology quiz today? Hmmm…what am I sayin', of course you're ready! You should be, seein' how you spend all your time with your head buried in a book somewhere." Jubilation Lee, who was more aptly known as Jubilee said, as she announced her presence from the other side of the kitchen's swinging double-doors, and did so with her trademarked humorous barbs also in accompaniment.
"At least I actually read my books, and don't just use 'em as a substitute pillow." P.G., aka Paige Guthrie, aka Husk smirked and sassily shot back in response to being taunted about her vigorous study habits, as the ash-blonde came into the kitchen next through the open doors behind Jubilee.
"Not this again…" Jubilee sighed, as she shook her head at being reminded of 'the incident'.
"You brought it up, not me." Paige said, with a smile still very much evident on her face.
"Jubes can't help it. For a while there, she was bigger at Bayville High than that Star Wars kid." Everett Thomas, the erstwhile Synch added, as he entered the kitchen next, and also with a slight laugh.
"Whose side are you on anyways?" Jubilee now turned around and asked Everett point-blank, the perturbment in her tone obvious.
"I was just saying, that's all." Everett stopped dead in his tracks, as he held his hands up in a neutral position with both palms flat and replied, while he lessened the grin on his face considerably.
"Well, all I'm sayin' is, if I ever find out whoever put that video up on the school's website, they can cancel whatever they're post-graduation plans are!" Jubilee stated, doing so out loud and for the record.
As the kitchen doors swung close, there was one final entrant to come in with the group, who was more or less oblivious to the talk that was taking place among her peers. She seemed to be more wrapped up in her own world, engaged now in a one-on-one conversation.
"…I bet'cha you're hungry, aren't you? You hardly ate anything last night." Doreen Green said, who was appropriately enough also known as Squirrel Girl because of her squirrel-like appearance due to her mutant abilities. Which, included a bushy prehensile-tail, very noticeably large buck-teeth and short retractable claws, as well as her other more markedly-related instinctual tendencies.
Up on Doreen's right-shoulder as she walked into the kitchen was a brownish-gray squirrel, whom she had nick-named Monkey Joe and who seemed to be sitting there and comprehending every word that she was saying to him, while she caressingly ran her hand across the mane of his neck.
Not unlike another X-Woman, and her own adopted pet dragon.
While Doreen and Monkey Joe made their way over to one of the smaller covered trays on the table, which had hazelnuts warming inside for this pair specifically, the older occupants' in the kitchen now noticed that there was one missing from the group's number.
"Where is Jonothan?" Ororo asked, in reference to Jonothan Starsmore, the student also known as Chamber to his teammates'.
"Habn't theen him." Jubilee replied first, her mouth already half-full of food, as she put her plate down on the table in front of one of the seats.
"Jono was up and gone before I even woke up." Everett remarked next, as he took his seat at the table beside Jubilee.
"Probably just decided to skip breakfast, again. I mean, seein' as there really isn't much of a point, not in his case anyways." Paige added, as she too sat on the other side of Jubilee, across the table from Angelica, Laura, and Doreen, but made her comment with a more somber sensibility to it while looking down at her plate.
Nothing further was said amongst anyone in the kitchen regarding Jono and his absence this morning, knowing full well the difficulties the British-born mutant had experienced ever since that day when a powerful burst of energy first exploded from his body.
Literally.
Which left his chest and face with tremendous physical disfigurements, and Jono with an angry and withdrawn attitude towards rest of the world around him. It was something that Professor Xavier and the rest of the Institute's faculty were growing increasingly concerned about, as they had discussed amongst themselves the fact that Chamber had become more reclusive and isolated in his behavior as of late, even from the other residents living there.
In spite of any concern they may have had over Jono's absence, the rest of his junior-squad teammates assembled here in the kitchen didn't have the luxury of any continued debate about his whereabouts. They had to hurry and finish up with breakfast, so that they could make it outside in time enough to catch the school-bus before it ran its route and passed by the Institute. Which was in stark contrast to the senior-level students, whom a good number including Paige's older brother Sam had their driver's licenses, and therefore could leave for school much later.
The junior-level students didn't gripe too much about this situation, however, as one of the trade-offs was that Havok's Black-Team all had to run their Danger Room sessions before school, instead of after like the juniors', thus necessitating their having to wake-up very early in the morning to do so.
………………………………………………………………
-Bayville High School: Bayville, New York
Much like the dividing lines erected between individuals to separate both themselves and their social spheres from those, who were in some way different from them, high-school life often tended to mimic and pattern itself after these very same notions of exclusivity. And, in some cases, to take it one step beyond by identifying others through the use of broad, overlaying and over-generalizing terms.
Jocks and Cheerleaders.
Plastics and Preps.
Geeks and Losers.
A/V's and Gearheads.
Slackers and Burnouts.
The list could easily go on and on, with the names used to label and box people into these convenient little categories able to immediately evoke very specific images, both positive and negative, in the minds of those who have seen, or themselves have been, a part of one of these cliques. But, none of those above have sparked the level of debate and animosity as the most recent group to have gained this manner of distinction, in high school and in society as a whole.
Mutants.
And, for those teens born with unusual genetic gifts that have in turn granted them with even more extraordinary powers and abilities, being a part of this anomalous group felt as though it oddly enough ranked them on the social scale of high school popularity somewhere between the really cool kids, and having just joined a leper colony. Which, meant that while mutants were regarded as a bit of a quaint oddity, thanks to an overall curiosity about these strange and varied powers that they possessed, mutants at the same time were hated for being so different from the perceived 'norm' because of those very same powers, which seemed to generally scare and frighten the rest of the populace.
Which, is where Ms. Keyasha Hogarth came, or rather, was thrown in.
After Edward Kelly won his bid to become Bayville's next mayor by running on a staunch anti-mutant platform, it fell to Principal Hogarth as his successor to attempt to keep the peace at a high school in a town, which from the outside looking in, appeared at times as being on the verge of tearing itself apart over this mutant debate.
As Bayville High's first African-American principal, and only the second woman to hold this position following the mysterious and still unsolved disappearance of Raven Darkholme, Principal Hogarth seemed to have the odds stacked against her from the get-go. She was walking into a seemingly hostile environment where intolerance appeared to be quickly gaining a foothold, even if it was being ostensibly vented under the guise of public safety concerns.
Still, with years' worth of experience to back her up and a desire to fearlessly forge a new path ahead in this community, Principal Hogarth would prove that she was more than up to the task. And, would do so in a succinct and very convincing manner.
While she had taken a fairly objective stance on the mutant issue, pledging to make Bayville High into a place where all of its students would be safe and would feel welcomed, one of Principal Hogarth's first, and boldly stunning moves, was to go out and purposely add a mutant to the school's faculty. Doing so, in the name of staff-diversity.
After conferring with local resident and foremost expert in this area Professor Charles Xavier on her decision, an offer was initially made to Henry McCoy that would allow him return to his old teaching job as part of Bayville High's science department. But, enjoying the work that he was currently doing and feeling that his place now was at the Xavier Institute, Hank politely declined the offer.
It was then that Professor Xavier recalled seeing a report from a few weeks prior, which mentioned a teacher having recently been forced to resign her teaching position by a local school board in upstate Massachusetts. It was after her mutant-status was revealed and made known to the public, a fact that she certainly hadn't flaunted, but one that had still managed to come out. And, one that she had made no attempt to cover up either. Xavier then suggested to the new Bayville principal that she might want to consider contacting this recently-fired teacher, to see if she would consider a move to Bayville?
Which Principal Hogarth did, and which wound up being a windfall for the school. As evidenced by a good percentage of this new teacher's students', both mutant and non-mutant, some of whom had come to look-up to their new teacher as something of a role model, and with a number of the others at least managing to look past whatever extra-genes that she may have possessed, to respect her teaching ability…
"Who would like to explain to the rest of the class the differences between a first-person and a third-person narrative?" Was the question posed to this entire 2nd period English class by their teacher, who had been in Bayville for about a year now.
And, whose highly-formal timbre in her voice along with her very name seemed to perfectly complement her, at times, perceived chilly affinity with her students.
Particularly, with the ones' who made a habit out of coming to her class unprepared.
"Anyone? Don't all of you raise your hands at once!" She once again asked her entire class, this time her voice relaying a definite hint of acrimonious irritation to it, as her diamond-blue eyes peered out at her students' through the upper-half of her bifocal lenses, which were currently resting comfortably on the somewhat narrow bridge of her nose.
Then, one student finally rose to the challenge, raising her left-hand up from her seated position at her desk.
"I can, Miss Frost."
"Very well…" Emma Frost replied, as she nodded her head, while leaning ever so slightly up against the front-edge of her own rather broad desk behind her.
Miss Frost now stood at the front of her classroom attired in a fairly conservative outfit, which consisted of a loose-fitting white blouse with bell-cuff sleeves and a wrap-style enclosure at the front, a navy knee-length skirt, a pair of black ankle boots, and she had her platinum-blonde hair tied back into a tight, single bun.
"A first-person narrative is noted by its use of first-person pronouns, such as 'I' and 'We', and with the writer telling the story from the perspective of a character, usually the protagonist. A third-person narrative uses a far less personal approach, by telling a story without the author having to necessarily place himself within its actual context." This girl went on to meticulously explain, as she now stood up before her classmates' to address them and her teacher.
"I'm pleased to see that at least one of you did the assigned reading last night. Very good Monet, you may sit down now." Miss Frost told Monet, as her astute student quickly went and retook her seat. Miss Frost then repositioned the eyeglasses that she was wearing, before going around her desk at the front of the classroom to write on the sizable chalkboard behind her, and to continue with the day's lessons, "I want everyone to turn to page 129 of your text-books."
Meanwhile, Angelica had been among the classroom's observers who had served as audience to their classmate's flawless recitation, and in some ways, Angelica felt that it just wasn't fair. Not that Angelica felt that her classmate should be faulted in any way for being so knowledgeable and eloquent, it was just that Monet St. Croix seemed to be so absolutely and completely perfect in every way conceivable, and a small part of Angelica couldn't help but feel a little jealous because of it.
From her flawless figure and other physical features, to her steady stream of one-of-a-kind designer outfits, to the way that all the guys' seemed to flirt and fawn over her, it felt like things just seemed to always fall into place for Monet. But, as much as she wished that she could have that kind of luck, particularly when it came to the romance department, Angelica also knew that her own life really wasn't all that bad.
She was also well aware that things could have been much worse for her, especially after having heard about some of what the other kids' at the Institute had been through. Still, Angelica thought that for a boringly average-girl like herself, it'd be nice to luck out.
Just for a change, anyways…
………………………………………………
Later on in the day when lunch-period finally rolled around, all of the students were left free to congregate with one another and to catch up on the day's current events, along with making future plans for when school let out this afternoon. And with an almost intrinsic proclivity, they all broke off into their predetermined groups, which were drawn along the pre-existing lines that separated one clique from the next. These boundaries were clearly defined by whom you sat with at lunch, and were lines that generally weren't crossed as well.
For the most part, anyways.
With every rule there are the exceptions, as evidenced at two out of the myriad of outdoor lunch tables in the commons area of Bayville High. Which was also where music could be heard from yet another table not too far away from these two, coming from a radio boombox that somebody had snuck out there and had tuned to KBAY, Bayville's main Top 40 hip-hop/rock-mix radio station. But at the two tables in question, the overwhelming majority of those individuals seated there were from the Xavier Institute and were joined by one additional student, who himself happened to be of the non-mutant persuasion.
Sitting on one of the poly-lumber benches beside Amara Aquilla was Zack Nasif, who had been her steady boyfriend since the middle of last school year. And as a couple, Zack and Amara had endured numerous criticisms and had overcome the enormous obstacles tossed their way when they first started dating, because of their perceived vast differences.
Which surprised them both, particularly by the fact that these objections were, at times, coming at them from both sides. And, were being voiced for reasons that actually went beyond the mere fact that Amara, a native and citizen of the antiquitous civilization of Nova Roma, was herself a mutant. Eventually though, Amara and Zack were able to gain a commensurate level of acceptance from their friends, and from their families, regarding their relationship.
Alongside this happy couple seated here at the two bench-tables were a few members of the Institute's junior-level classmen, who were intermingled in with the older senior-level students. And who, at the moment, were all being treated to the comic regalery of one their own, Bobby Drake.
"…so, the horse stands up, turns around, and says to the cowboy, 'Look Mister, how's about I strap on those chaps myself and just smack you on the ass a few times instead, and we can call it even?'" Bobby said, as he stood before his classmates and delivered the punch line to his slightly dirty joke.
"That's a good one, Bobby!" Alex Summers laughingly responded, as he was the first to comment on Bobby's brief and comical cut-up.
Which, spoke volumes as to the current state of his and Bobby's ongoing feud, and to the fact that whatever animosity or rivalry they may have felt towards one another, that it obviously wasn't absolute.
Meanwhile Lorna Dane and Rahne Sinclair, who were both seated across their table from Amara, Zack, and Jubilee, were also giggling with most of the junior-squad girls' on both sides, but for a different reason. They had been paying a cursory attention to what Bobby had been saying, but their focus had been more so on their own conversation about the latest gossip that they had heard, which mostly had to do with 'who was going with who' to the rapidly upcoming back-to-school dance.
Over at the other table were Ray Crisp, Roberto Da Costa, Jamie Madrox, and Samuel Guthrie, who along with Everett, were now getting back to discussing the details of the previous night's X-cessive sports motor-cross challenge that was televised on TV. Which, was where world-famous superhero Johnny Storm had made a special guest-rider appearance, and had put on a charity exhibition performance for the crowd by incorporating his fantastic powers into his death-defying stunts.
With his friends' conversations now turning towards other subjects, Bobby silently stood there for a moment and did a quick survey of his formerly attentive audience, picking up on their various topics of discussion. Then, he realized that their small-circle was a few people short.
Already aware that Jono and Laura each usually had a habit of going off and doing their own thing, whatever and wherever that was, Bobby conducted a wider visual scan of the commons around them. In a matter of a few seconds Bobby spotted this other missing individual, locating Angelica sitting off by herself beneath the secluded shade of a willow tree. Which, was one of a great variety of trees that had been donated to Bayville High and had been planted on campus, following the most recent in a long string of necessitated reconstruction projects.
As Bobby began to make his way through the sea of identical outdoor tables across the commons, it was unbeknownst to Angelica, who was currently sitting there in her semi-sequestered hideaway and was completely engrossed in the latest romance novel published by best-selling author Johnny Burnes. But, Bobby's was a presence that could hardly be denied or ignored for very long, as Angelica was soon about to find out.
"So what's-uhhh, happenin', hot-stuff?" Bobby smirkingly said, as he walked over to and underneath this tree to join Angelica.
"Not that lame nickname, for starters." Angelica replied, as Bobby stood over and right beside her, her eyes still trained downward on the open pages of her book and her tone poised and not all that friendly towards him. Which, displayed just how hot and cold things between the two had been for a while now.
Ever since that evening out in the garden at the Institute, where Angelica felt that she had made a complete idiot out of herself by coming off as some sort of lovesick schoolgirl in front of Bobby during their first conservation, she had been purposely avoiding him. It was all in an intentional attempt on Angelica's part to keep from making herself look like an even bigger dork to him. Or even worse than that, by once again becoming the subject of ridicule by her peers', this time by Bobby and the other older kids', by being known as 'that clueless underclassman' who was totally crushing on 'the Iceman'.
Angelica had heard through the grapevine at the Institute that Bobby and Jubilee, while not an official couple, had been very close before Jubilee's parents had taken her back home to California. Whatever that may have meant, Angelica hadn't found this out until after she had finally gotten the courage up to go out and talk to Bobby that particular evening, and had wound up putting herself out on the line by somewhat pouring her heart out to him.
In the time since, through her own subtle observations of Bobby and Jubilee at school and around the Institute, Angelica had ascertained that the pair appeared now to just be good friends. Who, seemed to share a love of practical jokes, out-pranking each other, and just goofing-off in general together. But, it didn't seem like there was any conscious effort by either of them to rekindle or resume any kind of romantic relationship following Jubilee's return to the Institute, which had been just a couple of months prior to Angelica's own arrival in Bayville.
Still, Angelica wasn't one hundred percent sure about Bobby and Jubilee's relationship status? And this time, she was determined not to get herself caught up in another situation like those ugly incidents that she had experienced back home in New Jersey with a girl named Bonnie, by competing with someone else over a guy who might turn out to not even interested in her. So Angelica had, ironically enough, been playing it cool with Bobby by pretending not to have the 'hots' for him.
Which, was just as well.
Considering the fact that, until just now, Bobby hadn't said a single word to her at all, not since that night out in the garden anyways. And, it had given Angelica a pretty good guess as to what Bobby's feelings towards her really were, since she certainly wasn't keen on getting hurt again, and especially on a 'thing' that might turn out not to be.
"So, why're you sitting over here all by yourself?" Bobby asked Angelica after an awkward period of silence between them, his hands now tucked into his front jeans-pockets and his posture-stance very relaxed and casual.
"I just wanted some time alone. Last I checked, there's no law against that." Angelica abruptly replied, this time placing a pink and blue book-mark in between the pages of the novel that she was reading, before very forcefully closing it.
Angelica then actually turned her focus to look up at Bobby, first glancing over the blue and gray-striped shirt that he had on with her honeydew-green eyes, before they met and locked onto his brown ones, "Besides, I'm surprised you even noticed I wasn't around, in between cracking joke after joke over there?"
"Guess I'm just observant that way. Must be from all that time hangin' out with Logan, finally starting to rub off on me?" Bobby sarcastically remarked, as he stood there and began to nervously fidget a little, "Pretty soon, I guess I'll be fightin' and swearin' all the time, drinkin' beer and smokin' cigars like it's goin' out of style, and uncontrollably callin' anyone and everyone 'Bub'?"
With his last quip, Bobby used his powers to create three small blade-like claws on his right hand. And he was, at last, able to draw a smile from the previously sullen countenance on Angelica's face, who despite her own best attempts to keep from lightly giggling at Bobby's slap-stick antics about Mr. Logan.
And, deciding not to give this now more inviting mood of Angelica's an opportunity to fade, Bobby immediately knelt down to take a seat on the grass beside her. As he did, Angelica amicably slid over a little, and surprisingly offered a beckoning gesture towards Bobby.
"So, since we're on the subject of folks that have a short-fuse, what's it been like having to room with X-2…um, Laura?" Bobby now asked Angelica, as he immediately caught and tried to cover his unintentional slip of the tongue.
Bobby knew that he and his teammates had been told to refrain, as much as was possible while out in public, from using any of their fellow X-Men's codenames when not on a mission. And, given her tumultuous past, the Professor had instructed all of his X-Men to be even more sensitive about this when it came to Laura especially.
"Okay, I guess. What makes you ask?" Angelica uneasily replied to this inquiry about her and Laura's compatibility as roommates, unsure of why Bobby had posed this particular question to her in the first-place.
"You do know she flipped out and attacked us all the first time she showed up at the Institute?" Bobby raised an eyebrow and revealed to her, and the fact that what had happened was still fresh in his memory. Although, Bobby was unaware that Angelica and Laura had already discussed that particular incident.
Along, with a few other things from her past that Laura had briefly talked about, most of which had to do with why Laura actually felt uncomfortable at times being at the Institute now, and around the other residents there as well. Angelica thought that these were things that had been told to her by Laura in confidence, which she had no intention of bringing up or discussing right now.
"Well, if she decides to do it again, I'm sure you'll be the first to know." Angelica sarcastically remarked to Bobby's statement about Laura's prior invasion of the Institute, as she opened her book up again and looked down onto the pages before her, with a slight smirk on her face.
It took a few moments, before Bobby caught the drift of Angelica's statement, and he almost started to ask her if she really knew something that she wasn't telling him? But, Bobby decided to save that query for another time. He felt that now was the perfect chance to ask Angelica something that he had been wanting to for a while now, and that he definitely shouldn't waste it.
"Say, Angelica. You know about the big dance that's coming up, right?" Bobby asked Angelica, as he sat beside her and looked down at his white sneakers in front of him, and began to slowly and anxiously rub his hands in a small circular fashion across the front pant-legs of his jeans.
"Uh-huh." Angelica replied, her tone sounding a bit disinterested, as she continued reading her book and was hurrying to finish this chapter that she was on before their next class-period started.
But, Angelica was more than well-aware of the upcoming dance. She would literally have had to have been living in a hole somewhere not to, since that's all the other girls' at the Institute seemed to be talking about the closer that they got to the night of this major function.
"Well, I was wondering if…well if you weren't busy, if you'd like to go? With me?" Bobby now asked, as he turned to look at Angelica and finally said aloud the question that he had building and working up towards for the last few weeks.
It had taken him this long because when Bobby would see her alone, he felt that either the timing was wrong, or more often he was just plain unable to get up the courage to go up and ask Angelica. Until now, that is.
Regardless, Angelica definitely heard Bobby loud and clear. Which, was further evidenced by the fact that her book and jaw seemed to drop and hit the ground at about the same time, as a blank and stunned expression quickly swept over Angelica's face.
"Are…you asking me to the dance? Like, as in a date?" Angelica now asked Bobby, wanting to clarify that she had heard him right, before she even thought about giving him any kind of a reply.
"Yeah, I guess you could call it a date, sure." Bobby confirmed, as he sat there and anxiously awaited her answer.
Meanwhile, a genuine smile came to Angelica's face at the prospect of her getting asked to go to the dance, and that Bobby actually wanted to go there with her. Then, just as swiftly, insecurity began to creep into Angelica's mind as another thought caused her ecstatic mood to suddenly become dead-serious.
"Wait, this isn't another one of your stupid practical jokes, that you and the other guys' came up with? 'Cause if it is, I swear I'll show you exactly what they mean about fire and ice not mixing!" Angelica loudly asked Bobby, as she leveled her inquisition at him with volume behind it, driven by her deep-rooted fear of being made the butt of somebody else's cruel prank ever again. That, and the perception of Bobby being that everything in life to him was just one big joke.
Then, because of her now very heightened emotional state, Angelica began to glow with a slight energy aura that surrounded her entire body, a side-effect of her mutant radiation-based powers being subconsciously triggered.
"Just calm down, I'm not trying to pull some joke on you. Honest." Bobby told Angelica, doing so with his palms held up flat and a straight-faced expression, all in the hopes that it would persuade Angelica from unleashing one of her simmering heat-blasts at him, "I asked you because I really do want to take you to the dance."
And with those words, Bobby was able to convince Angelica of the sincerity behind them, as she quickly powered herself down and the energies surging through her body now began to rapidly dissipate.
"Well, in that case, I think that I'd LOVE to go with you!" Angelica excitedly said to Bobby, as they sat there together and she accepted his offer with a huge beaming smile on her face, which clearly displayed the pure elation that she was currently feeling.
"Cool." Was Bobby's one-word exclamation point to their conversation, but not to the mutually-shared attraction that Bobby and Angelica seemed to share for one another. For that, this was perhaps just the beginning for the pair.
But, as Bobby and Angelica were sitting there under the tree together, smilingly gazing at one another with a newfound fascination for the other, another individual passing by off in the distance now decided to make his feelings about one of them known as well.
Not with actual words, but rather he announced his presence through a creepy, tingling sensation that shot up Bobby's spine to his brain and made his skin crawl. Having experienced this form of neural stimulus once before, even though this current jolt had hit him at an extremely low-level, Bobby knew that there was only one person in the world who could be responsible, one with whom there was certainly no love lost between either of them.
"He'd better be glad the Professor said he wanted us to play nice from now on with those jerk-offs from the Kinross Academy, after we all wound up trashin' the school. Else, I'd be all over his stuck-up ass right now!" Bobby said to Angelica, with tremendous acerbation in his voice, as he rebounded from this physical agitation, shaking off its after-effects while taking great offense at this deliberate attempt to provoke him into another fight.
Bobby and Angelica both sat and looked out across the commons, only to be met by the sneering visage of one Manuel de la Rocha being returned in their direction. Who, just happened to be passing by now on his way to his next period class and decided to play his own twisted-idea of a practical joke on Bobby. Manuel had used his mutant empathic and emotion-altering powers at their most base-form, like a neurologically-charged joy buzzer, he then turned loose on Bobby. It was a trick, which Manuel had learned and then co-opted from one of his own more psi-inclined teammates.
As he eyed Manuel intensely and watched as this young man from the rival academy continued on without further incident, this was one joke whose punch line Bobby certainly didn't get, or even found in the least bit funny. But, it was one that Bobby had every intention of paying back in full, and at some point in the near future…
………………………………………………………………
Next Chapter: Red & Slim, out and about…
