Chapter 10 : an uncomfortable competition
A week later:
"We should go see something tomorrow," Josh said from the couch, where he was stretched out on his back.
"See what?" Santo asked, jabbing at the controller with his thumb. It was Saturday morning, and he was playing a combat game in
player versus player mode, against Julian. And winning.
"Fuck!" Julian said as his avatar died.
"I don't want to see that, dude! Reminds me of what I can't do anymore!" Santo.
"Pfft. Like you ever have." Julian.
"I can think of someone who's hoping to get some, though," Josh grinned.
Julian glared at him sharply. He'd been dropping hints all morning, skirting dangerously close to the fact that he knew about the Laura-thing;
and if Santo found out, he'd never hear the end of it.
Santo hated Laura, with a passion.
"Go see a movie. Like normal kids," Josh added, picking up the original thought again. "There's a theatre on Main."
"I hear Hostel's out," Julian said.
"Dude, why would we want to go see a slasher film when we got the star in our school?" Santo said. "You know who I mean. X! God! I wish they'd kick
her out of this place! She's the cause of the whole attack, y'know! She probably organized it! Remind me why we're letting her stay again?!"
Julian curled his lip at Santo. "Same reason we let Wither stay. Same reason we're letting you stay, you big freak."
Santo dropped his controller. "Did you just-are you defending the creepazoid?"
Julian looked away, flushing slightly.
"HEY!" Santo pointed at him. "You're one of their evil clones, aren't you!"
"Hah," Josh said from the couch. "Who would clone him...I think one's enough."
"Imitation is the highest form of flattery," Julian said.
Josh pointed at Julian too. "You didn't know, Santo? Catch up with the times,
jeez. He's had a change of heart-he's all ooey gooey over the clone. Why don't you tell him what you bought?" Josh grinned at his friend.
Julian's eyes widened. "You wouldn't-"
"He bought rubbers," Josh said.
Silence.
"EWWWW!" Santo looked disgusted. "DUDE! That is Wolverine's CLONE! You...I...oh my GOD...I'd puke if I could! WRONG WRONG WRONG!"
"She's not-"
"Hairy? Smelly? Old? Doesn't smoke like a chimney? What's you're excuse?"
Josh asked. Santo stared at the target.
"I hate both of you!" Julian snarled.
"I can't believe you! You're such a sell-out!" Santo shouted. "You know I hate her! She makes all the little hairs on my body stand up and
I don't have any!"
"Santo-" Julian.
"I have nothing more to say to you!" Santo snapped, getting up. He stomped out of the rec room, mumbling to himself.
"Thanks. Thanks a lot," Julian hissed at Josh, standing up himself. "What the hell was that for?"
"You've got some 'laundry' you need to 'air'," Josh said, raising his eyebrows.
"..." Julian stared at him. "What are you talking about? Did Cess-"
"I have my own ears," Josh replied.
"Grr! Listen, I'm not seeing her, I told you. She's too weird to be anyone's girlfriend. I-"
Josh sat up. "Yeah, you keep saying that. So either take a crap or get off the throne, man. I have my own opinions on her."
Julian's eyes narrowed. "Well..." he had nothing.
The two boys glared at each other for a while. Then Julian left the room.
...
Julian was becoming annoyed. And was going insane. He couldn't figure out what his feelings about the whole Laura subject were-did she repulse or attract him?
Whatever reaction he was feeling was very strong, like the rule of positive and negative attraction forces.
For a while, he'd been able to stave it off, clearing his mind to concentrate on homework and other more important enterprises, but now even that was becoming
impossible. He'd been right; that tiny slip-up, the kiss, was going to unravel his sanity. It had been the whole reason he'd tried to resist it in the first place-now he
craved more. He went to sleep wanting it, he dreamed of satisfying the urge, and he woke up wanting it, in an endless cycle.
He'd thought (perhaps) that he'd be able to take care of this himself, having her corset in his room, but he had been wrong. While it smelled like Laura, it wasn't
enough; he lacked whatever mystical sensory powers she had that allowed her to be satisfied with an article of clothing.
Julian was quite acutely aware that Laura was experiencing the same thing towards him. While he lacked the aforementioned sensory powers, he still had instincts,
and they pretty much screamed in his ear every time he saw her nose move. It was driving him quite insane.
And now there was outside pressure on the situation.
He finally came to the conclusion (at three AM, after another failed attempt to shut his mind down, and memories of Cessily's earlier advice to him), that he wasn't
sure what would make him happy-but at this point, he did know that Josh dating Laura certainly would not.
...
Footsteps. Laura inhaled and walked faster; she was on her way to her room, to pull out her bag again, and force herself to pack, regardless of the fresh t-shirt
on her bed, with the added, delicious scent.
"Laura..."
She closed her eyes and stopped. Turned. She couldn't ignore a direct address; he knew she could hear.
"Yes?" she tilted her head.
Julian cleared his throat. "I...uh..." his voice was soft, uncertain. He finally cleared his throat. "A bunch of us are going to see a movie...and...I, uh, wondered if
you wanted to come with me. I mean, us."
Laura looked down. This wasn't helping-dangling temptations under her nose. She felt some sort of inner thrill at the thought of spending more time with him-after
that night, a week ago-and after the balcony. "Julian-"
"Cessily will be there," he said quickly, in his normal voice. "So will Sooraya. And Josh. So it's not like a date. Don't make a big deal out of this. Just-you know-friends."
Laura paused. "Okay," she said.
...
Emma watched from the window, her lips pursed, as a group of her students left the mansion and walked down the driveway, towards the road, with X-23. She
had been distracted-she was on the phone, in a very important conference call.
Unfortunately, it wasn't curfew yet-she couldn't really send anyone after them without explaining-and that would alert Scott.
She closed her eyes. "Uh huh. Uh huh. No, 30.9% is not acceptable at all. Fix this...or heads are going to roll." Emma arched her eyebrows and tapped a nail on her desk;
she'd just decided that she was going to take care of this problem for once and for all, in the morning.
Let them have their fun for one evening.
...
There was a lot going on as they headed towards the theatre. Cessily was keeping the conversation flowing with Sooraya. Julian kept glancing at Laura-and
occasionally glaring at Josh-and vice versa. Meanwhile Laura trailed at the back, trying to make up her mind, and occasionally watching the interplay between
the two boys, frowning. Weren't they friends? They seemed so angry.
Laura was also anticipating the movie. She liked movies-she liked popcorn, and soda, and watching violence on the large screen without being involved. She'd
gone to many of them while with her cousin in San Francisco, some of her more pleasant memories.
She followed the other teens down the street, returning smiles given to her by some of the younger (and not-so-young) men that passed her. She was used to
attention by now (especially after her previous employment, as a nightwalker). While she understood the connection between attraction and sex, she did not
understand how or why women occasionally played games with men; this was because Laura was open and honest, naïve to the emotional sides of attraction.
They reached the theatre, and, entering the lobby, saw six large billboards advertising films playing. Laura inhaled, and smiled slightly. A little of her earlier
apprehension eased away; at this moment, she was glad she had come, if only to smell this, Julian, amongst popcorn. It was quite satisfying.
"Ohmigod! Marie Antoinette is on!" Cessily said, excited.
"No way. I want to see Spider Man 3," Josh said.
"Hostel," Julian said firmly.
"I don't want to see a slasher movie!" Cessily protested. "Laura? Sooraya? You wanna see Marie Antoinette with me?"
"I will go with you," Sooraya said.
Julian was annoyed. "We're watching a movie together," he said.
"Weird, coz I'm watching Spiderman, and you're watching Hostel," Josh grinned. "Laura-you should come with me. It'll be awesome, the special effects are the best ever.
The first two were great."
"..." Julian folded his arms. "Your pick, Laura."
Laura looked at the two boys, and sensed something was going on-something more than a choice between movies. She was impartial, as far as the films were
concerned-any movie was good to her.
"I will go with Cessily and Sooraya," she said.
"But-you're not all girly girl!" Julian protested. "You'll hate it."
"Don't tell her what she can or can't like!" Josh snapped.
Cessily and Sooraya traded glances.
"I know her better," Julian said firmly.
"I will go with Cessily and Sooraya," Laura repeated.
"This is stupid, guys. We're here as a group...three of us want to see the same movie...just come with us," Cessily said, her voice tired.
The boys glared at each other. "Fine," they said at the same time.
...
After a small argument over who would pay for Laura (and the girls, after an outraged protest from Cessily about being excluded) that ended with everyone paying for
themselves, they headed upstairs, towards the concession area.
"Do you want anything?" Julian asked Laura, seeing Josh about to open his mouth. He'd be damned if the golden boy was going to beat him to being considerate.
"Popcorn," Laura said decisively.
"Twizzlers," Cessily said, even though nobody had asked her.
Julian and Cessily went to the stand to get the food, while the other three teens leaned against the condiments counter.
Josh sidled up to Laura. "Why are you wasting your time on a sleezeball like Keller, anyway?" he asked.
Laura frowned. "Sleezeball?"
"Idiot. Egocentric. Self-centered. Whatever you want to call it," Josh grinned.
Sooraya watched them warily. "He's a good friend, but..."
"I do not think Julian is an idiot," Laura said, frowning.
Josh was about to respond but the two returned, carrying the purchases.
"Here you go," Julian said, handing her a large bag of popcorn. "I only had money for one, so we have to share."
This ensured they would sit together.
"Thank you," Laura said, oblivious.
Josh shot him a sharp glance, Julian grinned.
"That's fighting dirty," he hissed after his friend as the group headed towards theatre 6.
...
Julian was bored out of his mind, leaning back and watching what seemed like an endless movie about dresses; the only good thing was that Laura had sat
beside Cessily-and he'd grabbed the next seat, on the aisle corner, leaving Josh to sit with Sooraya, out of range.
Cessily kept whispering about how pretty things were-she'd been shushed several times-and Sooraya seemed to like the fabrics as well. Laura withheld comment,
her neck craned to see the screen. Julian found himself watching her, and patting himself on the back for the popcorn move. It was awkward at the same time-he
didn't feel comfortable about being so close to Laura-and yet-he didn't think he could've stood to see Josh with her.
Watching the screen, he reached for the bag-and got a handful of something distinctly different. Laura turned her head and stared at him; he let go, embarrassed.
Although it wasn't really his fault. They were right there...and she wore such low cut tops...and they were really firm...he straightened in his seat and watched the
screen, cursing himself.
...
"That was fun!" Cessily said, excited. "That shoe scene was awesome. I wish I had a collection like that! But I have to wear X-boots all the time, ugh."
Sooraya didn't comment. In her country, simple sandals were the standard, and she believed in modesty. But the costumes had been interesting to watch.
"I want ice cream!" Cessily announced.
"You can't eat," Julian grumbled.
"I still want it," she said. "Being inhuman doesn't mean I don't want things. I'd settle for watching everyone else eat it."
Laura smiled slightly in the background. She'd thought it odd, too, that the girl continued to purchase foods, until she'd finally asked. Cessily had explained that
it made her feel less different; apparently she had been human once-a cheerleader-and she missed it.
"You're so weird, Cess," Julian said.
"I wouldn't mind some," Josh agreed. "Maybe you need to loose a few pounds, but I could replace a few of the calories I burned constantly healing you last week."
"Shut up," Julian said sharply. "Or did you forget about what I was doing when I got hurt? That's right...saving your ass."
" Guys-please stop fighting," Cessily said in desperation. "I'm already upset that Santo didn't want to come without you making things more uncomfortable.
Why are you being such pains?"
" I'm not, he is," Josh said.
Julian folded his arms. "Fine-we'll both stop," he said. "I'm getting tired of it anyway. Let's get something to eat and go home."
...
Sunday morning. Late.
X-23, please see me, Emma said telepathically, waking the girl from where she'd fallen asleep, on the bed, with her bag half-packed beside her. She hadn't understood
the tension amongst the children last night, but she'd come to feel that she had caused it somehow-and it was just another reason to go.
She rubbed her eyes, then got off the bed and headed to the headmistress's office.