Gifted Youngster

Gifted Youngster

Old Fiat

Currently Listening: "Ring Ring" by Mika from his album, Life in Cartoon Motion.

ATTENTION! READ THIS NOTE!

In this chapter, I really near the high end of the T rating (for sexuality). It's mostly implied but if you feel uncomfortable with stuff like that, leave now.

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Chapter 8: "I Hate Tests"

"Hey, wake up."

Scott stirred slightly, scrunching up his face in an effort to hold on to the last remnants of his dream. Maybe whoever was trying to wake him up would stop.

"Com'mon, Scott. Get up."

Realizing he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, he tried to open his eyes.

Something was blocking them.

He brought his hands up to his eyes and something soft—something that wasn't skin. It was cotton. Why was there a strip of cotton cloth over his eyes?

All at once the events of the past couple of days came rushing back. He didn't know how he'd forgotten it all, but it came back so sharply that he jerked. He pulled on the cloth, trying to tear it away. He hadn't seen for over… He didn't even know how many days it was now!

"Woah, woah, woah… Calm down."

It was Jack. He remembered Jack. He flung out his hands, groping for the other boys face. Two hands grabbed his bony wrists and pressed them against his face. He felt the beaky nose and sharp features. His breathing began to slow down again.

"Jack…" he said, his entire body shaking with fear. "Jack…"

"Hey, I'm right here," said Jack, gripping Scott's hands and helping him out of the bed. "How about I take you around the room a couple times, okay."

Not waiting for a response, Jack led him around the perimeter of the room. After they had done it enough times that Scott had completely calmed down, Jack had him sit down at beside the bed.

"Okay," he said, picking up the battered copy of Pride and Prejudice. "We were at the point just after they met Darcy and Bingly, right?"

"Yeah," said Scott, nodding.

Jack read the chapter and they were about the start the next when Scott held up his hand for him to stop.

"Can you… can you teach me any math?"

Jack grinned. "What do you want to know?"

"We were doing stuff with F.O.I.L. when I was sent up here. It's just… Math is all I'm really good at…"

"Hey," said Jack, patting him lightly on the back. "I'm sure you're good at heaps of stuff. Look, it'll take me a while to get stuff ready to teach you so how about I read to you some more, okay?"

Jack got up and Scott could hear him rummaging in something before he sat back down again. "Right, you ready?"

"Uh-huh."

He began to read again and Scott leaned lazily against the wall. After a while of being read to, Scott began to feel his way around him for something to do with his hands while Jack read. His hand connected with a book.

He knew that book. It was the copy of Pride and Prejudice that had belonged to his mum. It was closed and sitting on the floor beside Jack, who was still spouting off the story, word for word.

"Why aren't you reading?" asked Scott, picking up the book.

Jack froze a moment then, in a sheepish tone, he muttered, "That's… what I can do…"

"What do you mean 'That's what I can do'?" demanded Scott, he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. He didn't know why he felt sort of betrayed, but the feeling still tugged inside of him.

"I can just… remember stuff," said Jack, running a finger along the spine of the book. "Like… everything. Every book I ever read or song I listened to or conversation I've had. I can just… remember it all. I confided it to one of my friends when he wanted to know how I'd gotten such a good mark on the history exam and he told Milbury and… yeah…" his voice trailed off.

"I think that's a cool power," said Scott, turning his face up towards him as though he was looking at him. "I wish I could do something like that."

Jack turned towards him, a little shocked. "You don't think I'm a… a cheat or something like that? I mean, it just happens, I can't do anything about it—"

"I really think it's cool, Jack," Scott said, grinning. "Now keep so-called "reading"."

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Soon after, Jack had all the things prepared for teaching Scott more about the F.O.I.L. method when there was a sharp knock at the door.

"It's test time," said Mildred through the slat. Scott could hear the door the door being unlocked.

"Come on," said Jack, helping him up.

"Test time?" asked Scott, slowly following the other boy.

"They're taking us to the Test Room," explained Jack, allowing Scott to grip on to his shirt sleeve. They bumbled against the other kids. Most of the body parts that brushed Scott were normal but he could've sworn that once he touched by something furry.

"What do they do in the test room?" he asked, knowing that his curiosity was about to be satisfied.

"Dr. Milbury considers us at "specimens"," Jacked stated, contempt flashing in his voice, "and likes to perform different physical and mental tests on us to see how we (1) react and (2) complete them." Scott could feel the tension in his new friend's arm. "Lord, I hate him…"

They continued down the flights of stairs surrounded by other people. They were packed right up against each other as they descended. Scott tried to work out how many flights of stairs they'd gone down but he lost track again.

"Can you tell me when we reach the third floor?" he asked, standing on toe to whisper in Jack's ear.

"If you want to talk to one of your friends we're not allowed to approach the other kids at the orphanage. It's forbidden."

"Why?"

"Because Milbury's a bastard."

That was a new voice. Scott jumped and 'looked' around for the speaker.

"Calm down, Scott," said Jack, putting a hand on his shoulder. "That's just Victor. He's a good friend of mine." Taking Scott's hand, Jack placed it in the rough grasp of another boy.

"It's nice to meet you Scott," said Victor, an interesting loose accent that Scott couldn't really place. "Can't you see? If that's what they crammed you up here for than Milbury's a lot more paranoid than he used to be."

"Scott shoots lasers from his eyes," explained Jack, trying to diffuse any awkward topic before it became too uncomfortable, "but he can't turn them off so they tied this thing over his eyes."

"That bites," said Victor bluntly.

"What can you do?" asked Scott, trying to seem a bit more masculine in front of his Victor-guy who he felt was probably half a head taller than him.

"I can take knowledge from other people by just looking at them which is why I'm usually paired up with Jack during the tests. Also I'm good at soccer, football and lacrosse, but that has nothing to do with why I was sent up here." He grinned and Scott could almost hear it in his voice.

"We're almost there," said Jack, a tightness in his voice that Scott hadn't heard before.

"Are you okay?" he asked, still holding tightly on to his arm.

"I-I'm fine," said Jack, shaking slightly. "I… I just hate these tests, that's all…"

Victor slapped his friend on the back, making both him and Scott lurch forward.

"I'm with you there, Jack."

Finally, they reached the Test Room.

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Present

Scott snapped the book shut as Kitty walked into the kitchen.

"I guess we'll continue reading at… some point then," he said, standing up. "I'll see you later Hailey, Kitty."

He quickly left the kitchen leaving the two girls to talk among themselves. Jogging down the hallway, he went into the danger room where he was supposed to teach a class in about an hour. There was no harm in being early though.

After changing into his X-Man suit and replacing his glasses with the large visor, he caught sight of Logan at the other side of the room, pummeling a large punching bag. He went over to join him.

"Hello Logan," said Scott, watching the other man. Logan stopped and looked at him, a small grin on his sweaty face.

"Hiya Summers." He almost laughed the words, a little out of breath. "What'cha doing here?"

"I teach a class here with Storm in about an hour," he said, gazing vaguely at the punching bag. "We're doing tests with some of the kids today."

"So… no math class for you?" asked Logan, walking over to the duffel bag that rested in a nearby corner and pulling out a bottle of water.

"Nope," said Scott, cracking his neck before lashing out at the punching bag with a carefully aimed hit. "These are gonna take a while. They always do."

"I see," said Logan, taking a swig of water. "I think all you teachers have to be kind of sadists or something to actually enjoy giving these kids these tests."

"Oh no, Logan. You're very wrong about that," said Scott and knocked the sand-filled sac so hard that it swung upward before fall down again with a heavy clang. It swung lazily in front of him as he turned towards Logan. "I hate giving out tests."

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Back in the past—Omaha, Nebraska

Scott nervously followed Jack into the test room. It was so suddenly, shockingly cold that for a moment he couldn't move.

A voice boomed from seemingly nowhere.

"When your names are called out please step forward, join your partner and follow the doctor into one of the rooms. Tristan McIntyre and Stacy Pennings."

This went on for several minutes, names begin called out almost randomly. Jack held Scott's wrist tightly, letting him know he was there.

"John Kingston and Victor Davids."

"I have to go. I'm sorry," said Jack and walked away, leaving Scott trapped in a mass of people. More names were called out until it was only Scott with two other people. Three people. Was he going to be paired up with anyone?

"Megan Smith and Patricia Clark."

Obviously not.

An icy hand grabbed his wrist and tugged him roughly into one of the rooms. He was pushed down in a chair which felt a lot like the one at the dentist he once went to in Alaska. Despite the cool room, Scott still felt fairly warm.

"Scott Summers…"

Scott recognized that voice. It was the young man who had worked on him with Dr. Milbury the first time he was in the test room. It smooth and snake like, almost making him want to shiver.

"Don't worry. I'm sorry you weren't paired up with anyone but your powers… Well, they aren't the same as anyone else's at this orphanage."

"Who are you?" asked Scott, fear coursing through his veins.

"My name is Dr. Redding. Now just relax." His fingers dug into his back, rubbing small circles into his skin. "Scott, I've been told to ask you a couple questions before we go on to the physical end of things."

Scott nodded, hoping this meant the end of Dr. Redding's creepy massage.

"Listen carefully now—DEVIL is to LIVED at SAW is to…?"

"Huh?"

"Nevermind," said Dr. Redding, continuing to rub Scott's back. "You ready for the next question?"

"Yeah."

"What comes next in this sequence of numbers: 2, -4, 8, -16, 32, -64…?"

"128?"

"Exactly!" Dr. Redding gave him a pat on the shoulder but didn't cease his massage. "Alright…"

The questions continued for about hour. It was like they had stolen an intelligence test and given it to him in vocal form. He was bored stiff when Dr. Redding clapped his hands together, finishing his massage.

"Okay! That's the end of your psychological tests for today. Now for the physical."

Scott tried to stand up, but Dr. Redding pushed him back in the chair.

"Don't move just yet Scott," he said, his hand lingering on the teenager's shoulders. Shivers traveled up Scott's spine—some thing wasn't right here.

The doctor's hands felt down to the boy's chest and stomach—so light, so delicate. He could feel him shaking beneath his fingers, fear twisting his face.

His hands fell down even lower.

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Much later that evening, Mildred led Scott up the stairs. He was completely silent. When they finally reached the top floor, she walked him into his room.

"Jack is already in here. I hope the tests weren't too hard on you."

Scott stepped into the room, unbalanced and silent. The door shut softly behind him.

Jack jumped up from where he'd been sitting on the floor. Something was definitely wrong with Scott. Taking his hands, Jack led the younger to the bed and sat him down. The brunette's head hung down, his back slumping forward. He looked limp.

"Scott?" asked Jack, shaking him lightly. "Scott? You alright?"

And suddenly Scott burst into tears.

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Whoo! I've not written a chapter that long in a while. Wow. I hope you all liked (?) it.

-OFsI