Well, here it is! Chapter Ten. Oh, yeah. I hope this one's to your liking (enough so you'll review, *_* - by the way, that's my version of sad puppy eyes...yes, it's sad in itself, but oh well).
:)
***
Chapter Ten: School
***
Judging by the look on Greta's face, *she* didn't feel like she was ready for high school yet.
The entire group from the Institute had stopped right near the entrance to Bayville High, waiting for Greta. Kitty was speaking soft encouragement into the new girl's ear, while the rest of them stood around awkwardly, wondering what to do. Greta leaned her head back against the wall of the school, her heart pounding.
_That's it. I've had it. No more crowds for me._ Ororo had taught her how to deal with the quick shifts in pressure, but the *noise* and the *movement*...Greta hadn't been prepared for those. During her entire time on the street, she had steered clear of the big crowds, always. She supposed it had been a fear of being trampled. Or it could be just a fear of crowds...what had Hank mentioned about that? Something-phobia? She'd have to look it up when she got back to the Institute. _*If* I get back ta th'Institute._
"Greta, class is, like, going to start soon, do you want to, like, get going?" Greta looked once at the vast tide of people entering the school, then looked back to Kitty, her eyes wide.
"What do *you* think?"
"Look, you can't be, like, afraid forever. You have to, like, get this over, like, sometime, right? So why not do it now?" Greta thought this over and made her decision.
_On top of everythin' else, I can't be a *coward*._ She felt Kitty's arm guiding her toward and through the double-doors, and was surprised when nothing significant happened when she passed through the doors, like a nuclear bomb going off, or trumpets playing fanfare (Note: I know my grammar really sucked in that sentence, but oh well, you get the point). Peering around as her eyes adjusted to the lower light, she could see the many students leaning against their lockers, chattering. Surprisingly, all the voices echoed in the narrow hall.
"Well, I have to get to homeroom," said Scott, interrupting Greta's thoughts. "Kitty, you'll help Greta find her first class, won't you?"
"Like, sure! Actually, we, like, have the same homeroom." Scott nodded, smiling, and Greta watched, a little scared, as her friends parted and went their separate ways, leaving her alone with Kitty in middle of the crowded hallway. She managed a weak smile at her perky friend, who went on: "Chemistry's our first class, isn't that, like, cool? I think you'll, like, like chemistry. I mean, you, like, seemed to enjoy it when Beast was, like, teaching it to you, and our class is, like, studying pressure right now, so I think that'll, like, be right up your alley." Kitty's ponytail bounced as she spoke, and she was smiling brightly.
"So, uh...which way?" Greta was unused to speaking in such a loud place, and her words were almost lost amid the clamor.
"Like, this way, come on!" Grabbing Greta's arm, Kitty pulled her down the hallway and into a classroom. "After this, like, period ends, we can, like, find your locker, 'kay?" She sat down in a desk near the back, and Greta followed suit. "And you know, this class was, like, soooo much better when Mr. McCoy was, like, the teacher. We, like, made stink bombs and stuff, you know? But then, well, you know the story." Greta was about to correct and say that, no, actually, she didn't know the story, but then the teacher walked up to the front of the room and began the lesson. Greta would have been really interested, but, unfortunately, the lesson started with the teacher's:
"We have a new student in class today. I'd like you all to meet Greta." Greta spent the rest of the class trying to hide her blush and pay attention at the same time. She actually had it working quite well, but when she had just coaxed her cheeks to return to something resembling a normal color, the bell rang. Following Kitty, Greta made for the door as quickly as she could, hoping to avoid the words from the teacher that she knew were coming, the words she was dreading, please don't let her speak to me, please-
"Greta would you mind if we spoke for a minute?" She looked to Kitty, desperate for help.
"I'll, like, wait for you outside, 'kay, Greta?" And with an encouraging smile and a flick of her ponytail, Greta's only support was gone. Greta went stiff as a board and turned around the face the teacher, who looked stern.
"It says here that your name is just," she peered down at the clipboard. "'Greta'. Is this a misprint?"
Oh. So she was just looking for information about her *name*. Phew, that was a relief. "No, M-Miss, M-Miss...uh..."
"Turse. Mrs. Turse."
"Mrs. Turse." She laughed nervously. "Sorry. No, m'name's just Greta. I hope you're not offended?"
"I don't see why I would have any reason to be offended, Greta, I'm just confused. I just have one last question before you go, though."
Greta braced herself.
"Are you sure you're going to be able to do the homework?"
Relief flooded her body and her voice. "Uh, yeah, of course, Mrs. Turse. Chemistry's my..." she searched for the right word. "...my fav'rite subject. And I got what you were sayin' today, about the force times surface area and stuff?" She smiled. "It's no prob'."
"All right, if you're sure. Well, thank you, Greta, I'm glad we had this chat."
Following nearly all the classes that that Greta attended, the teachers performed the same ritual. Once she got through the first few, her conversations with teachers got a lot easier. The time flew by, and before she knew it, it was lunchtime.
"Hey, Spyke, man, snap out of it!"
"Yeah, dude, you've done nothin' all this time but stare at that girl! Don't you want to hear about this *awesome* new trick we came up with?"
"Huh? Did you guys say something?"
"Oh-ho, man! He's whipped!"
"Yeah, what's up with this, man? We thought you were cool."
"Yeah, we made a pact, dude! No goin' after girls 'till we quit 'boardin'!" The two exchanged a high five.
Not breaking his gaze, Evan muttered "I'm not going after her, I'm just lookin' at her." He had his chin cupped in his hand.
"Dude, look at this kid! He's hardly even blinkin'!"
"Why don't you just go sit with her, man?"
_Why don't I just go sit with her? 'Cause she's afraid of me,_ Evan thought, but all he said was "Dunno," with a shrug.
"Oh, man! He really likes her! Wait 'till the other guys hear about this!"
"Wait, dude. How do you know he really likes her?"
"Uh, I heard somewhere that if they don't really answer you when you ask 'em a question, then they...uh...then they really like the girl."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Hey, so should we tell the kids at the Institute? That oughta make Spyke here happy." He gave his friend a nudge. Evan didn't react. He just watched Greta eating her food and laughing shyly at his teammates' jokes.
Greta watched Kurt look up from his food for the first time since they had sat down. "Uh-oh, here comes trouble."
Everyone turned to see what he was looking at, and everyone but Greta immediately put up their guard when they saw (Note: Dun, dun, DUN!) the Brotherhood.
Lance was at the head of the group, and Pietro and Todd formed a triangle behind him. Fred was the backdrop. They advanced slowly, with quite a bit of arrogance in their strides (or hops). Scott stood up and was just about ready to say something to Lance (actually, he had something pretty rude in mind), but before he could speak, Evan was in front of the table.
"You got a problem, Alvers?" he asked, his face twisted up into something of a snarl.
"No problem," said Avalanche coolly. "Just want to talk to your lady friend, here." He gestured at Greta. At this Greta's eyes widened.
"Why?" Scott came up behind Evan, his arms crossed.
"Oh, no particular reason," Lance replied, running a hand through his hair. "She's just kinda cute. Thought I'd ask her on a date."
Behind the two X-Men, Greta blushed.
"She's not joining the Brotherhood, *Avalanche,* so you can just give it *up,*" Evan said through clenched teeth. His hands were balled into fists, and his eyes were narrowed. "Take a hike."
"Sure. No problem." He stole a glance at Greta. "Just remember, though: we wanted to talk to you. Give us a try." They walked away with the same confident stride, leaving the X-Men to calm themselves down.
"Who were those guys?"
Scott groaned. "It's a long story," he began...
***
"So what did you think of high school?" Jean and Greta were strolling down the hallway from Greta's bedroom; they had just dropped off their books and were heading downstairs for an afternoon snack. Greta smiled.
"Well, the cafeteria food lived up to legend." Laughing, Jean replied:
"Yeah, well, I prefer the cafeteria food any day next to packed lunches. When we did *that*, we had to take turns packing them, and you would not *believe* what some people packed us. Just imagine: pure calories one day, celery the next." Greta laughed. "Hey, have you thought up a codename yet?"
"Actually, I had an idea for one today. In chemistry, we were talking about pressure, and-"
Just then, Kitty ran by looking pissed. The two in the hall watched, fascinated, as she ran into her room and slammed the door. They stood back, arms folded, as they listened to Kitty shriek with rage and throw things about her room. There was a moment of complete silence, then the sound of a 'phone being picked up and dialed.
"Hello, Lance? Like, hi! How's it, like, going? Really? Like, that good?"
The observers watched casually as a very dejected Kurt slumped by. A box of chocolates dangled at his side. A single rose (thorn-free, of course), was clutched in his tail. Without even acknowledging Jean's or Greta's existence, he heaved a great sigh and closed the door to his room softly.
Jean was the first to speak. "This is known, around here, as the 'Moonstruck Effect,'" she observed, as though diagnosing someone as having a head cold.
"'Moonstruck Effect'?" Greta repeated.
"It has to do with the movie 'Moonstruck.' I can't explain it unless you've seen it. Come on," she said, waving Greta downstairs. "We'll watch it. Want me to make popcorn?"
"Okay." Greta followed behind, dazed, but ready to watch this alleged 'Moonstruck.'
***
Yee-hoo! I finished it, I finished it! Hey, what do you think of my new title? Pretty spiffy, huh? Yeah, I know, it sucks, but I couldn't think of anything better. Anywho, review, please! I hope you liked it. To tell you the truth, I was kind of out of it tonight, but...I hope you liked it! (*Hopeful smile*) Please say you liked it? *_* Hee-hee, there are the puppy-dog eyes again!
:)
***
Chapter Ten: School
***
Judging by the look on Greta's face, *she* didn't feel like she was ready for high school yet.
The entire group from the Institute had stopped right near the entrance to Bayville High, waiting for Greta. Kitty was speaking soft encouragement into the new girl's ear, while the rest of them stood around awkwardly, wondering what to do. Greta leaned her head back against the wall of the school, her heart pounding.
_That's it. I've had it. No more crowds for me._ Ororo had taught her how to deal with the quick shifts in pressure, but the *noise* and the *movement*...Greta hadn't been prepared for those. During her entire time on the street, she had steered clear of the big crowds, always. She supposed it had been a fear of being trampled. Or it could be just a fear of crowds...what had Hank mentioned about that? Something-phobia? She'd have to look it up when she got back to the Institute. _*If* I get back ta th'Institute._
"Greta, class is, like, going to start soon, do you want to, like, get going?" Greta looked once at the vast tide of people entering the school, then looked back to Kitty, her eyes wide.
"What do *you* think?"
"Look, you can't be, like, afraid forever. You have to, like, get this over, like, sometime, right? So why not do it now?" Greta thought this over and made her decision.
_On top of everythin' else, I can't be a *coward*._ She felt Kitty's arm guiding her toward and through the double-doors, and was surprised when nothing significant happened when she passed through the doors, like a nuclear bomb going off, or trumpets playing fanfare (Note: I know my grammar really sucked in that sentence, but oh well, you get the point). Peering around as her eyes adjusted to the lower light, she could see the many students leaning against their lockers, chattering. Surprisingly, all the voices echoed in the narrow hall.
"Well, I have to get to homeroom," said Scott, interrupting Greta's thoughts. "Kitty, you'll help Greta find her first class, won't you?"
"Like, sure! Actually, we, like, have the same homeroom." Scott nodded, smiling, and Greta watched, a little scared, as her friends parted and went their separate ways, leaving her alone with Kitty in middle of the crowded hallway. She managed a weak smile at her perky friend, who went on: "Chemistry's our first class, isn't that, like, cool? I think you'll, like, like chemistry. I mean, you, like, seemed to enjoy it when Beast was, like, teaching it to you, and our class is, like, studying pressure right now, so I think that'll, like, be right up your alley." Kitty's ponytail bounced as she spoke, and she was smiling brightly.
"So, uh...which way?" Greta was unused to speaking in such a loud place, and her words were almost lost amid the clamor.
"Like, this way, come on!" Grabbing Greta's arm, Kitty pulled her down the hallway and into a classroom. "After this, like, period ends, we can, like, find your locker, 'kay?" She sat down in a desk near the back, and Greta followed suit. "And you know, this class was, like, soooo much better when Mr. McCoy was, like, the teacher. We, like, made stink bombs and stuff, you know? But then, well, you know the story." Greta was about to correct and say that, no, actually, she didn't know the story, but then the teacher walked up to the front of the room and began the lesson. Greta would have been really interested, but, unfortunately, the lesson started with the teacher's:
"We have a new student in class today. I'd like you all to meet Greta." Greta spent the rest of the class trying to hide her blush and pay attention at the same time. She actually had it working quite well, but when she had just coaxed her cheeks to return to something resembling a normal color, the bell rang. Following Kitty, Greta made for the door as quickly as she could, hoping to avoid the words from the teacher that she knew were coming, the words she was dreading, please don't let her speak to me, please-
"Greta would you mind if we spoke for a minute?" She looked to Kitty, desperate for help.
"I'll, like, wait for you outside, 'kay, Greta?" And with an encouraging smile and a flick of her ponytail, Greta's only support was gone. Greta went stiff as a board and turned around the face the teacher, who looked stern.
"It says here that your name is just," she peered down at the clipboard. "'Greta'. Is this a misprint?"
Oh. So she was just looking for information about her *name*. Phew, that was a relief. "No, M-Miss, M-Miss...uh..."
"Turse. Mrs. Turse."
"Mrs. Turse." She laughed nervously. "Sorry. No, m'name's just Greta. I hope you're not offended?"
"I don't see why I would have any reason to be offended, Greta, I'm just confused. I just have one last question before you go, though."
Greta braced herself.
"Are you sure you're going to be able to do the homework?"
Relief flooded her body and her voice. "Uh, yeah, of course, Mrs. Turse. Chemistry's my..." she searched for the right word. "...my fav'rite subject. And I got what you were sayin' today, about the force times surface area and stuff?" She smiled. "It's no prob'."
"All right, if you're sure. Well, thank you, Greta, I'm glad we had this chat."
Following nearly all the classes that that Greta attended, the teachers performed the same ritual. Once she got through the first few, her conversations with teachers got a lot easier. The time flew by, and before she knew it, it was lunchtime.
"Hey, Spyke, man, snap out of it!"
"Yeah, dude, you've done nothin' all this time but stare at that girl! Don't you want to hear about this *awesome* new trick we came up with?"
"Huh? Did you guys say something?"
"Oh-ho, man! He's whipped!"
"Yeah, what's up with this, man? We thought you were cool."
"Yeah, we made a pact, dude! No goin' after girls 'till we quit 'boardin'!" The two exchanged a high five.
Not breaking his gaze, Evan muttered "I'm not going after her, I'm just lookin' at her." He had his chin cupped in his hand.
"Dude, look at this kid! He's hardly even blinkin'!"
"Why don't you just go sit with her, man?"
_Why don't I just go sit with her? 'Cause she's afraid of me,_ Evan thought, but all he said was "Dunno," with a shrug.
"Oh, man! He really likes her! Wait 'till the other guys hear about this!"
"Wait, dude. How do you know he really likes her?"
"Uh, I heard somewhere that if they don't really answer you when you ask 'em a question, then they...uh...then they really like the girl."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Hey, so should we tell the kids at the Institute? That oughta make Spyke here happy." He gave his friend a nudge. Evan didn't react. He just watched Greta eating her food and laughing shyly at his teammates' jokes.
Greta watched Kurt look up from his food for the first time since they had sat down. "Uh-oh, here comes trouble."
Everyone turned to see what he was looking at, and everyone but Greta immediately put up their guard when they saw (Note: Dun, dun, DUN!) the Brotherhood.
Lance was at the head of the group, and Pietro and Todd formed a triangle behind him. Fred was the backdrop. They advanced slowly, with quite a bit of arrogance in their strides (or hops). Scott stood up and was just about ready to say something to Lance (actually, he had something pretty rude in mind), but before he could speak, Evan was in front of the table.
"You got a problem, Alvers?" he asked, his face twisted up into something of a snarl.
"No problem," said Avalanche coolly. "Just want to talk to your lady friend, here." He gestured at Greta. At this Greta's eyes widened.
"Why?" Scott came up behind Evan, his arms crossed.
"Oh, no particular reason," Lance replied, running a hand through his hair. "She's just kinda cute. Thought I'd ask her on a date."
Behind the two X-Men, Greta blushed.
"She's not joining the Brotherhood, *Avalanche,* so you can just give it *up,*" Evan said through clenched teeth. His hands were balled into fists, and his eyes were narrowed. "Take a hike."
"Sure. No problem." He stole a glance at Greta. "Just remember, though: we wanted to talk to you. Give us a try." They walked away with the same confident stride, leaving the X-Men to calm themselves down.
"Who were those guys?"
Scott groaned. "It's a long story," he began...
***
"So what did you think of high school?" Jean and Greta were strolling down the hallway from Greta's bedroom; they had just dropped off their books and were heading downstairs for an afternoon snack. Greta smiled.
"Well, the cafeteria food lived up to legend." Laughing, Jean replied:
"Yeah, well, I prefer the cafeteria food any day next to packed lunches. When we did *that*, we had to take turns packing them, and you would not *believe* what some people packed us. Just imagine: pure calories one day, celery the next." Greta laughed. "Hey, have you thought up a codename yet?"
"Actually, I had an idea for one today. In chemistry, we were talking about pressure, and-"
Just then, Kitty ran by looking pissed. The two in the hall watched, fascinated, as she ran into her room and slammed the door. They stood back, arms folded, as they listened to Kitty shriek with rage and throw things about her room. There was a moment of complete silence, then the sound of a 'phone being picked up and dialed.
"Hello, Lance? Like, hi! How's it, like, going? Really? Like, that good?"
The observers watched casually as a very dejected Kurt slumped by. A box of chocolates dangled at his side. A single rose (thorn-free, of course), was clutched in his tail. Without even acknowledging Jean's or Greta's existence, he heaved a great sigh and closed the door to his room softly.
Jean was the first to speak. "This is known, around here, as the 'Moonstruck Effect,'" she observed, as though diagnosing someone as having a head cold.
"'Moonstruck Effect'?" Greta repeated.
"It has to do with the movie 'Moonstruck.' I can't explain it unless you've seen it. Come on," she said, waving Greta downstairs. "We'll watch it. Want me to make popcorn?"
"Okay." Greta followed behind, dazed, but ready to watch this alleged 'Moonstruck.'
***
Yee-hoo! I finished it, I finished it! Hey, what do you think of my new title? Pretty spiffy, huh? Yeah, I know, it sucks, but I couldn't think of anything better. Anywho, review, please! I hope you liked it. To tell you the truth, I was kind of out of it tonight, but...I hope you liked it! (*Hopeful smile*) Please say you liked it? *_* Hee-hee, there are the puppy-dog eyes again!
