Toxicity in a Small Town
By Chyna Rose
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men Evolution. Anastasia was borrowed from Gargoyles, and being what she is, will be returned unharmed. I'm also borrowing one of the Canmore brothers. Although he may be a little harmed by the time he goes back. Don't worry, it won't be anything that won't heal.
A/N: It is still better not to ask. Right now, there is no slash, but that could change in the future. I'm basing Morgan's old school on my old high school.
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Chapter Three
Morgan stood in front of her open locker. In her old school, the only lockers they had were in the gym locker room. And even there, you hade a separate lock to them plus you had to take the lock with you after gym class. She knew she should put some of her stuff away in it, but it felt weird not to have everything with her, and she hadn't gotten the textbooks she needed for classes yet. In the end, she just closed her empty locker. It wasn't as if anyone would notice her long enough to label her as new.
Walking to class, she paid attention to the paper where the place she was supposed to be by eight was written, and the numbers on the doors. She had arrived early in order to get her bearings as she figured no one would be willing to help her. It was just one of those aspects of human nature she had seen. And it didn't bother her. Not really. It was simply the way life was.
As Morgan began to chase down that rather depressing line of thought, she faltered on being fully Aware of her surroundings. She failed to notice the boy hurriedly making his way towards her. The hassled boy, for his part, was too concerned with what was behind him than what lay ahead. He ended up colliding with Megan; sending both of them to the floor. A pack of jocks pushed their way past the somewhat entangled duo; ignoring them even though they seemed to be looking for someone.
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For one of the few times in his short life, Todd was early. This was not a necessarily good thing. For one thing, being early did not go will with his Delinquent image. For another, there was the Duncan Factor.
You see, Duncan Matthews had a Mission in life. (Actually, he had a few, but the others really weren't all that important.) Duncan's Mission was to make Todd Tolensky's life a Living Hell by Whatever Means Necessary. This meant that every minute Todd spent on school grounds was one in which Todd risked a run-in with the older jock.
But, Todd had to get to school early. Both Pietro and Fred were down with food poisoning. Lance had been laid low with a stomach virus. Or at least, that's what he was claiming since he had not eaten the 'poisonous' (Pietro's words) salad. Although Todd couldn't dispute the fact that Lance was sick, he was a tad doubtful about the cause. But that really didn't matter.
Todd had to go to school early. The rest of his housemates were sick. Graphically, and often violently, sick. If Todd had stayed home any longer, he would have been rendered violently ill himself.
Which, thanks to 20/20 hindsight, would have turned out to be infinitely better than getting to school early. It was a feat worthy of any pack predator. With the help of friends, teammates, and other associated sycophants, Duncan set up an ambush at Todd's locker. It had nearly worked too. Todd had not sensed anything amiss until he spotted Duncan and two of his goons about to strike. And once he realized the approaching danger, Todd did what he felt was the best course of action. He bolted.
He ran through the hall; dodging other students as he went along. His pursuers just pushed their way past. Todd didn't really care where he went, as long as it kept distance between him and Duncan. Who, when he looked back to check, was apparently gaining on him. Had he been looking forward rather than back, he would have noticed the girl walking in his path. Todd ended up colliding with the girl; sending both of them to the floor. Duncan and co pushed their way passed the somewhat entangled duo; ignoring them even though their quarry was sprawled right in front of them.
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"Oh. I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." Morgan said as she and Todd regained their footing.
"Naw, it's cool. I wasn't exactly watchin where I was goin either yo." Todd replied, a little stunned. He wasn't used to people being actually nice to him. Any one who knew him would tell him it was his fault and to go away. Well, almost anyone.
Then again, maybe she didn't know him. She apparently wasn't aware of the Bayville who's who. He certainly hadn't heard about her, and he always made sure to keep an ear to the mill. Todd wasn't really a coward, he just had a high survival instinct.
The two just stood there, looking at each other. Todd was trying to deal with the fact that she was not acting hostile towards him. Morgan was just amazed that he even noticed her.
"So who were you running from?"
"Running? Oh. Running. That was Duncan. He sort of has this grudge against me."
"What did you ever do to him?"
"I existed."
"Ah."
They lapsed into an uneasy silence. Morgan shifted her books, and Todd began to scuffle his foot unconsciously. Their gazes met briefly, and then quickly fell elsewhere.
"I better be getting to class."
"Uh, hey, you dropped this." Todd said as he handed her the schedule she had dropped.
"Uh, thanks…"
"Todd. Todd Tolensky."
"Thanks Todd." She said with a brilliant (or at least that's what Todd thought) smile that lit up her entire face, and left. Todd stayed where he was for a few minutes more before hurrying to his on class.