I'm back. I think. Read on!
***
The hair on the back of Marie's neck stood up and a chill ran down her spine. It had been months since
Aileen had come to school, and now that she had mysteriously returned, she had chosen to sit in Rogue's
aisle. Those coal-black eyes seemed to be burning holes into her neck, and she found herself nervous, like a
rat that knew a serpent was in striking distance.
Phobia had said nothing when she entered the room, her books held close to her flat chest and her eyes
wide with malevolent glee. There seemed to be something cocky now, as if she knew a secret that no one
else did.
Marie was relieved when the bell rang, and she hastily shoved her books into her backpack. When she
got to her locker, she warily watched Aileen, who was absorbed in sorting through her own books. As
Rogue was carefully pulling out her math notebook, she spotted Pietro and Todd heading toward Aileen,
who immediately shunned them. Fascinated, she watched avidly and strained her ears to listen.
"…sorry, Aileen. It wasn't whatcha think…"Todd was saying, gesturing with his clay-colored hands.
"Leave me alone," Phobia coolly replied.
"I can explain, if ya let me," he insisted, grabbing a hold of her baggy sleeve.
"Go to hell," she snarled, pushing him back.
Todd stepped back, hurt.
"Jeez man, just forget 'bout the bitch," Pietro said to his diminutive friend. Without warning, Aileen's
left hand flashed out, and Rogue saw the four jagged marks appear on Quicksilver's face. Instinctively he
grabbed at his face, his eyes burning with rage.
"You ugly whore," he gasped, voice laced with anger, "you're goin' down for that one."
"You're all talk, Pietro," she hissed.
Surely there would have been a fight, if Todd had not grabbed onto his buddy's shoulder and forcibly
dragged him away. Marie was surprised; last that she had known, Phobia was quite close with the
Brotherhood. Obviously something had gone bad in that relationship.
Aileen was staring at her, a smirk on her pale face. There was something truly wicked in those black
eyes, and it made Rogue shudder as she stepped past Phobia.
"…and then ze boy says, 'Mom?'" Kurt finished up his joke and rolled over laughing, while Scott rolled
his eyes.
"Kurt, warn us when you're gonna tell one of those jokes again," Evan groaned, shaking his head.
Kurt looked indignant.
"Vhat? Are you telling me that my jokes are not funny?" He demanded, puffing up like an annoyed
rooster.
"We're not tell-,"Scott started, then stopped when Marie came up to the table.
"Ah think there's something up with Aileen," she told them, jerking her thumb back at the girl who sat by
herself.
Scott craned his head to have a look.
"What do you mean?"
"Ah jus' saw her git into a fight with Todd Tolensky and Pietro Maximoff."
"So?"
"Ain't they her friends?"
" I guess." Scott looked again, and was able to see the older teen that walked straight up to Phobia and
sat down beside her. The guy looked much too handsome to be hanging out with one of the least attractive
girls at Bayville.
"Jeez," was all that Scott could manage.
"Who's that guy?" Evan wondered aloud.
"I dunno," Scott answered, watching as the blonde haired stranger bent down and firmly kissed Phobia on
her bluish lips.
"Oh, yuck," Evan said, gagging.
"Ah tol' y'all there was something up with Aileen," Marie said.
"There sure is," Scott agreed, as Phobia got up and left with the teen, "there sure is."
"Vould you stop repeating yourself?" Kurt asked, and then laughed again as Scott sighed.
"Bitch," Pietro murmured as he applied more ointment to the scratches on his face, " I can't figure out why
you dated her at all, man. She's uglier than a donkey's rear end."
Toad was silent.
Pietro screwed the cap back onto the tube of ointment and glanced into the bathroom's mirror, smoothing
back his spiky white hair as he did. The cuts on his face were crimson and swollen, and he sucked in his
breath as he fingered them.
"She's gonna pay for this," he growled.
Todd remained quiet, his yellow eyes following his thin friend as he paced. Tabitha also watched him from
the doorway of their tiny bathroom, a sneer on her face.
"You ain't gonna do nothing, Pietro," she told him, crossing her braceleted arms across her chest.
"'Course I will!"
"You're too much of a wuss," she teased, even as Pietro became florid with anger.
"I ain't a wuss!" He practically was screaming. "And if you don't shut up, I'll do the same thing to you as
I'm going to do to her."
"And what's that, exactly?"
Pietro fiercely latched onto her arm, leaning forward close enough for Tabitha to see the smoldering hate
in his blue eyes. Her cheeks, she quickly found, became flushed, not with embarrassment or fear but with a
peculiar adoration for the white-haired guy. He was so cute when he was mad.
"I'll show you," he replied, leading her out of the bathroom. Toad hopped after them, looking worried.
"You ain't gonna hurt her, are ya, Pietro?" He spoke softly.
Pietro responded by grinning icily.
It was Saturday morning, and the only things awake were the birds and Aileen, who sat on her familiar
bench. The sun was just peeking above the horizon, spilling light onto her hands and journal as she
furiously wrote, feeling a kind of relief as her problems flowed from her mind onto the lined paper. So
observed was she in her writing that she didn't notice the two figures until Pietro spoke her name, voice
dripping with venom.
"You know," the silver-haired boy said, watching her with open hate, "I can't understand why we put
up with you. All you ever did was complain."
"What do you want?" Aileen asked, her eyes gleaming from within their cavernous sockets. Boom-
boom stepped out from behind Quicksilver, her manicured hands on her hips, her smile mocking.
"I wanted to pay you back for this." Furiously he pointed at his cheek, where the scratches still were a
dark red. Phobia just grinned unsympathetically, closing her notebook and standing up. Both Pietro and
Tabitha watched her carefully, cautious of the misshapen girl whose hideous features gave her a wild look.
"Leave me alone."
"Or what?" Pietro disappeared in a blur, appearing behind Phobia and shoving her onto the ground.
"You'll scare me?" She hit hard, her teeth biting into her tongue when her chin contacted with the earth.
Ignoring the throbbing in her mouth, she tried to pull herself up, only to be pushed down once more.
Tabitha laughed.
Frantically she reached out with her mind and plunged a dagger of terror into Pietro's brain. He
screamed at the top of his lungs, falling to his knees beside her on the grass. It felt good hearing him wail.
She was about to lash out at him, stronger this time, when she heard a voice.
"What's going on here?"
It was Fritz; Phobia was startled (to say the least) by his timing, and stared up at him stupidly until
Tabitha stepped forward.
"Who the heck are you?" She demanded, as he helped Aileen up. The psychic hold on Pietro had
dissipated, and now he also stood, dazed.
Fritz bowed sardonically.
"The name's Fritz, ma'am," he told her, grinning derisively.
"Yeah, well, better scram Fritz or I'll blow you to Kingdom Come," Tabitha told him, even as a pinkish
ball of explosive energy formed in her palm.
"I don't think so."
She didn't say anything, merely cocked back to hand to throw the ball of energy at Fritz…
…and, much to her dismay, found that it had vanished.
"What the fu-," she started, before she saw the expression on Fritz's tanned face. It was then that the girl
spotted the true danger, and slowly backed off. Pietro also watched him closely, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"What are you?" His voice was strained.
Fritz didn't say anything, although Aileen could see the arrogant smirk, so much like Pietro's, creep across
his face. Perhaps it was because of the fact that he had already felt the cold grip of Aileen's power once
today, or the fact that the blonde-haired guy had shorted out Tabitha's explosive ability, that Quicksilver
reluctantly ceased the attack.
When they had left, Aileen found herself studying Fritz through the corner of her black eye. He was so
cute, with those green eyes and blonde hair. For a split second, she felt a horrible doubt that spread through
her stomach and crawled through her legs as she considered the possibility of him betraying her. After all,
hadn't everyone else? She thought of her father as she stared into those sea-colored eyes, of how he always
got drunk and struck her without even a thought. Then there was Magneto, who had casually told her that
she wasn't "good enough for Asteroid M", and Toad who…who had been kissing that slut, Tabitha. They
all saw her as a nobody, an emotionless puppet that they could discard once they were finished using her.
Aileen ground her teeth togther, pushed the painful thoughts aside and allowed Fritz to kiss her gently on
the lips.
***
The hair on the back of Marie's neck stood up and a chill ran down her spine. It had been months since
Aileen had come to school, and now that she had mysteriously returned, she had chosen to sit in Rogue's
aisle. Those coal-black eyes seemed to be burning holes into her neck, and she found herself nervous, like a
rat that knew a serpent was in striking distance.
Phobia had said nothing when she entered the room, her books held close to her flat chest and her eyes
wide with malevolent glee. There seemed to be something cocky now, as if she knew a secret that no one
else did.
Marie was relieved when the bell rang, and she hastily shoved her books into her backpack. When she
got to her locker, she warily watched Aileen, who was absorbed in sorting through her own books. As
Rogue was carefully pulling out her math notebook, she spotted Pietro and Todd heading toward Aileen,
who immediately shunned them. Fascinated, she watched avidly and strained her ears to listen.
"…sorry, Aileen. It wasn't whatcha think…"Todd was saying, gesturing with his clay-colored hands.
"Leave me alone," Phobia coolly replied.
"I can explain, if ya let me," he insisted, grabbing a hold of her baggy sleeve.
"Go to hell," she snarled, pushing him back.
Todd stepped back, hurt.
"Jeez man, just forget 'bout the bitch," Pietro said to his diminutive friend. Without warning, Aileen's
left hand flashed out, and Rogue saw the four jagged marks appear on Quicksilver's face. Instinctively he
grabbed at his face, his eyes burning with rage.
"You ugly whore," he gasped, voice laced with anger, "you're goin' down for that one."
"You're all talk, Pietro," she hissed.
Surely there would have been a fight, if Todd had not grabbed onto his buddy's shoulder and forcibly
dragged him away. Marie was surprised; last that she had known, Phobia was quite close with the
Brotherhood. Obviously something had gone bad in that relationship.
Aileen was staring at her, a smirk on her pale face. There was something truly wicked in those black
eyes, and it made Rogue shudder as she stepped past Phobia.
"…and then ze boy says, 'Mom?'" Kurt finished up his joke and rolled over laughing, while Scott rolled
his eyes.
"Kurt, warn us when you're gonna tell one of those jokes again," Evan groaned, shaking his head.
Kurt looked indignant.
"Vhat? Are you telling me that my jokes are not funny?" He demanded, puffing up like an annoyed
rooster.
"We're not tell-,"Scott started, then stopped when Marie came up to the table.
"Ah think there's something up with Aileen," she told them, jerking her thumb back at the girl who sat by
herself.
Scott craned his head to have a look.
"What do you mean?"
"Ah jus' saw her git into a fight with Todd Tolensky and Pietro Maximoff."
"So?"
"Ain't they her friends?"
" I guess." Scott looked again, and was able to see the older teen that walked straight up to Phobia and
sat down beside her. The guy looked much too handsome to be hanging out with one of the least attractive
girls at Bayville.
"Jeez," was all that Scott could manage.
"Who's that guy?" Evan wondered aloud.
"I dunno," Scott answered, watching as the blonde haired stranger bent down and firmly kissed Phobia on
her bluish lips.
"Oh, yuck," Evan said, gagging.
"Ah tol' y'all there was something up with Aileen," Marie said.
"There sure is," Scott agreed, as Phobia got up and left with the teen, "there sure is."
"Vould you stop repeating yourself?" Kurt asked, and then laughed again as Scott sighed.
"Bitch," Pietro murmured as he applied more ointment to the scratches on his face, " I can't figure out why
you dated her at all, man. She's uglier than a donkey's rear end."
Toad was silent.
Pietro screwed the cap back onto the tube of ointment and glanced into the bathroom's mirror, smoothing
back his spiky white hair as he did. The cuts on his face were crimson and swollen, and he sucked in his
breath as he fingered them.
"She's gonna pay for this," he growled.
Todd remained quiet, his yellow eyes following his thin friend as he paced. Tabitha also watched him from
the doorway of their tiny bathroom, a sneer on her face.
"You ain't gonna do nothing, Pietro," she told him, crossing her braceleted arms across her chest.
"'Course I will!"
"You're too much of a wuss," she teased, even as Pietro became florid with anger.
"I ain't a wuss!" He practically was screaming. "And if you don't shut up, I'll do the same thing to you as
I'm going to do to her."
"And what's that, exactly?"
Pietro fiercely latched onto her arm, leaning forward close enough for Tabitha to see the smoldering hate
in his blue eyes. Her cheeks, she quickly found, became flushed, not with embarrassment or fear but with a
peculiar adoration for the white-haired guy. He was so cute when he was mad.
"I'll show you," he replied, leading her out of the bathroom. Toad hopped after them, looking worried.
"You ain't gonna hurt her, are ya, Pietro?" He spoke softly.
Pietro responded by grinning icily.
It was Saturday morning, and the only things awake were the birds and Aileen, who sat on her familiar
bench. The sun was just peeking above the horizon, spilling light onto her hands and journal as she
furiously wrote, feeling a kind of relief as her problems flowed from her mind onto the lined paper. So
observed was she in her writing that she didn't notice the two figures until Pietro spoke her name, voice
dripping with venom.
"You know," the silver-haired boy said, watching her with open hate, "I can't understand why we put
up with you. All you ever did was complain."
"What do you want?" Aileen asked, her eyes gleaming from within their cavernous sockets. Boom-
boom stepped out from behind Quicksilver, her manicured hands on her hips, her smile mocking.
"I wanted to pay you back for this." Furiously he pointed at his cheek, where the scratches still were a
dark red. Phobia just grinned unsympathetically, closing her notebook and standing up. Both Pietro and
Tabitha watched her carefully, cautious of the misshapen girl whose hideous features gave her a wild look.
"Leave me alone."
"Or what?" Pietro disappeared in a blur, appearing behind Phobia and shoving her onto the ground.
"You'll scare me?" She hit hard, her teeth biting into her tongue when her chin contacted with the earth.
Ignoring the throbbing in her mouth, she tried to pull herself up, only to be pushed down once more.
Tabitha laughed.
Frantically she reached out with her mind and plunged a dagger of terror into Pietro's brain. He
screamed at the top of his lungs, falling to his knees beside her on the grass. It felt good hearing him wail.
She was about to lash out at him, stronger this time, when she heard a voice.
"What's going on here?"
It was Fritz; Phobia was startled (to say the least) by his timing, and stared up at him stupidly until
Tabitha stepped forward.
"Who the heck are you?" She demanded, as he helped Aileen up. The psychic hold on Pietro had
dissipated, and now he also stood, dazed.
Fritz bowed sardonically.
"The name's Fritz, ma'am," he told her, grinning derisively.
"Yeah, well, better scram Fritz or I'll blow you to Kingdom Come," Tabitha told him, even as a pinkish
ball of explosive energy formed in her palm.
"I don't think so."
She didn't say anything, merely cocked back to hand to throw the ball of energy at Fritz…
…and, much to her dismay, found that it had vanished.
"What the fu-," she started, before she saw the expression on Fritz's tanned face. It was then that the girl
spotted the true danger, and slowly backed off. Pietro also watched him closely, his eyes narrowed to slits.
"What are you?" His voice was strained.
Fritz didn't say anything, although Aileen could see the arrogant smirk, so much like Pietro's, creep across
his face. Perhaps it was because of the fact that he had already felt the cold grip of Aileen's power once
today, or the fact that the blonde-haired guy had shorted out Tabitha's explosive ability, that Quicksilver
reluctantly ceased the attack.
When they had left, Aileen found herself studying Fritz through the corner of her black eye. He was so
cute, with those green eyes and blonde hair. For a split second, she felt a horrible doubt that spread through
her stomach and crawled through her legs as she considered the possibility of him betraying her. After all,
hadn't everyone else? She thought of her father as she stared into those sea-colored eyes, of how he always
got drunk and struck her without even a thought. Then there was Magneto, who had casually told her that
she wasn't "good enough for Asteroid M", and Toad who…who had been kissing that slut, Tabitha. They
all saw her as a nobody, an emotionless puppet that they could discard once they were finished using her.
Aileen ground her teeth togther, pushed the painful thoughts aside and allowed Fritz to kiss her gently on
the lips.