Chapter 11

The day was going by painfully slow.

The monotonous tone of the teacher was heard and it was painful to listen to while it explained the concept of Euclidian and Non-Euclidian Geometry. Nami was tempted to stab herself in the eye with the pencil she was relentlessly tapping on her desk, if only so that she could have something to get the adrenaline going., because at this point, she will be asleep before the unit started. But she held off on that urge.

It appeared that her fellow classmates weren't having an easier time that she was.

Some were doodling in their notebooks that were reserved for notes, others were listening to music discreetly while others were playing on their phone not as discreetly. About a handful were either dozing or already fast asleep. Nami caught the sound of a light snore that sounded distinctly like a kitten mewing (strange) and spotted a kid two rows in front of her laying in a pool of his own drool.

Gross.

She sighed again as she refocused on the teacher's words, scribbling down some words in her notes. Time seemed to go by faster that way, as Nami's mind was taken off the task of counting down the seconds, and was placed on the task of trying to get every single word the teacher said. When she glanced up from her three paged notes towards the clock, she sighed in relief when she saw that they only had five minutes left in that class. Others seemed to realize this as well, as the class went from being so quiet you could hear a pin dropping, to exploding in sound, going to the chaotic rustling of paper being stuffed away and backpacks being zipped and unzipped.

All the while the teacher was still talking.

Nami waited until the two-minute mark before smoothly and swiftly placing all her things inside her backpack. She stood, swinging her bag onto her back as easily as she swung a sword, as the bell rang, announcing the end of class.

However, she felt eyes on her as she exited the classroom, the fine hairs on her neck standing razor straight as her instincts exploded and her heart started to pump, as though preparing her for a fight. As discreetly as she could, Nami glanced back into the classroom, making it seem like she was checking make sure she didn't leave anything. There were a couple students that were lingering back, as though they were waiting for the crazy stampede that was the hallway to die down a bit before leaving. Nami recognized who they were almost immediately.

Scott Summers, her mentor and advisor.

Kurt Wagner, Adelina's mentor and the closest thing the young girl had to a father-figure.

Nami didn't recognize the red head that was talking with them, except from maybe one of her classes, history maybe. She didn't particularly care enough to remember her name, only that she was hanging out with two of the X-Men that she had known all her life. And there was a possibility, since all there were whispering and pointing to her on occasion, that they were talking about her.

She needed to find Adelina.

Thankfully, their lockers were right next to each other so she would be able to talk to the young girl as soon as she arrived to change out her books.

Nami merged into the chaotic, cramped space known as the hallway, weaving through the teens that stunk of Axe Body Wash, hormones and hair gel until she came to her locker. With expert fingers, Nami twisted the lock until there was a very light click. The door swung open with ease and Nami quickly replaced her books, grabbing her English and algebra book as she did so. Someone to her right, a very familiar someone, opened her locker as well.

"Nami." Adelina greeted lowly as she made a show of flipping through her notebooks for a brief moment.

"Ade." Nami greeted back. "How goes your classes?"

"Alright I guess."

"Are you excited about the archery tryouts?"

"I think I'm more nervous than anything."

"What? But you're the best archer I know!"

"I'm the only archer you know. Remember the time Wolverine wanted to skin me alive after I showed interest in something that wasn't a machine gun or hand to hand combat?"

Nami shook her head, remembering the event clearly. Although Wolverine's reaction wasn't quite as dramatic as Adelina remembered, there was a disappointment to the elder mutant since some of the mutants employed by Phoenix were either too fast or too cunning for a bow and arrow. He had always wanted to teach them something that would allow them to protect themselves efficiently and while Adelina was pretty quick with a bow, she still wasn't fast enough in his mind.

"You're going to be fine, Adelina."

"If you say so…."

"I know so. And hey, if it doesn't turn out as great as you thought, then we always have our nightly escapades."

That was true.

That night was going to be the first night they would take to the rooftops as Tsunami and Gargoyle. Nami had the outfits that she had finished the previous night in her bag, folded into two nice little squares at the very bottom. They would have to figure out the weapon situation later on, especially for Adelina since she was the only one out of the two who didn't have a certain type of power to speak up.

Adelina nodded in agreement, before looking down and her face scrunching up uncomfortably. "They've been watching us."

"I noticed."

"Do you think…. think they know?"

"I think they suspect that we're mutants, but I think that's the extent of it." Nami turned around and leaned up against the lockers, her eyes scanning the students' faces that passed by her. "We don't make contact with the civilian part of their lives until we find some hint at where and when Phoenix will rise."

"What if they find out and they make the first contact?"

"Don't initiate the contact." Nami ordered. "Just act confused and walk away."

"Got it."

"Good." Nami nodded, her eyes darting up to the clock that was in the hallway. "Well, have a great time in your class. I'll be watching you at your tryouts."

All she got was a nod from the girl before the two separated and headed towards their next classes. Nami rolled her shoulders before making her way through the crowded halls.

Only to be stopped by an arm that blocked her path.

"Hey there, babe."

Nami's furrowed brow rose to meet that of a young man, maybe a little older than she was. The young man had dark eyes that glinted mischievously, and the smirk that graced his features told the young queen that he was the 'bad boy' of the school.

She didn't want any trouble from him.

"Excuse me. You're blocking my way." The young queen removed his arm out of the way and continued onward. However, she only got three steps before a hand snapped out and grabbed hold of her shoulder tightly. "Ow!"

"I'm talking to you!"

Not wanting to show her skill in a hallway full of kids, and not wanting to hurt a normal teenage douchebag, Nami managed to twist out of his grip with apparent trouble, slamming herself against the lockers in an attempt to draw attention to the situation. As much as she hated being the damsel in distress, right now the situation called for it.

And thankfully, it worked.

Three of the X-Men, Scott, Kurt and Kitty, rushed towards them. Nami shivered at the darkened expression on her former (future) mentor's face.

"Lance!" Kitty shouted. "Like, what the heck are you doing?!"

"Just givin' the new transfer the typical Bayville Welcome." The kid harassing her, Lance, sneered. Nami so wanted to deck him in the face.

"Let her go, Lance. She doesn't vant to talk to you!" Kurt said.

"Why doesn't she just tell me herself?"

"I did!" Nami bit back, using a little bit of her battle prowess to get out of the corner that he had backed her into. "You were just too busy listening to your little man to hear me!"

The three X-Men gave a chuckle, with Scott almost choking on his laugh.

Lance didn't' like that one bit. "Why you little-"

"Mr. Alvers!"

The entire group froze as Principal Kelly made his way through the crowd that had gathered around them.

Huh. I wonder when that happened.

The principal approached them, his face set in a stony expression of disappointment. "Mr. Alveres…. what did I say about picking on the new students?"

"But I-"

"That's enough!" The older man exclaimed, cutting the boy off. "My office! Now! The rest of you, get to class!"

Lance shot her a death glare that wasn't hard to read, before skulking off behind Mr. Kelly. While the two walked off towards the principal's office, the crowd that had gathered around to see a beat-down scattered like cockroaches in the light. Nami sighed a bit in relief.

"Thanks for your help." She said to the hidden mutants.

"Totally!" Kitty assured her. "I'm sorry about Lance. He can be a jerk sometimes but he's really sweet."

"Yeah, he's downright charming." Nami commented dryly. She shook her head. "I've gotta get to class. But…. thanks again."

She scurried off without bothering to wait for their reply. Nami entered the classroom right as the final bell rang. Her teacher gave her a slight stink eye as she slid into her seat. In one smooth movement, Nami placed her notebook paper on her desk and started to take notes as the lecture started.

Fifteen minutes later, she was counting down the minutes until the end of class.

The day still dragged on slowly.