I have to apologize early for butchering Rahne's accent. I just cannot write Scottish accents. Oh, and LMN, you have a good point. I really shouldn't be asking for people's opinion when I haven't written much, but that "chapter" was more like a teaser. Anyway, if you're no longer reading, I wouldn't blame you. My stories are usually full of plot holes and have absolutely no direction. But as I was saying, here's the first real chapter…
~*~
Remy looked around the mansion, vaguely impressed. Nothing really compared to the house back home, but it's pretty nice for a school.
"Would you like to rest for a little bit or have a tour of the school?" the professor asked.
Although he was a tired, he decided he had enough energy to walk around. And, it would be nice to see what kind of people he was going to live with for the rest of the year. "De tour," he answered curtly.
"All right then, just put your bags down," the professor motioned towards the floor, "They'll be taken care of. I'm assuming you would rather have someone your age to show you around, correct?"
Remy gave a short nod as his response.
"Well then," the professor puffed out, looking out the window to see one of his pupils, "excuse me while I call someone."
Remy watched as the professor rolled out, disappearing around the corner. He wandered around the study, looking at the pictures all over the room. They were of teenage boys and girls, undoubtedly the students of the institute. In them, they were laughing or looking perfectly content, no sign of any dejection or misery. But he noticed one picture. The one picture that looked quite odd…
Before he got a chance to take a closer look at it, the professor had returned, and with him, brought a female student. "Remy," he said, "This is Katherine Pryde, other wise known as Kitty, your tour guide." She waved shyly, clutching a laptop tightly in one arm. "Kitty, this is Remy Lebeau."
"Pleasure t' meet y'," he replied, and in a sweeping motion, took her hand and kissed it lightly, causing her to blush a deep crimson.
"It's nice to meet you, too," she said softly, "Um…I guess we should start." She motioned her hand to let him know to follow. They walked down the hallway in a cloud of silence until Remy broke it, "Not much o' a talker, are y'?"
"Well," she paused, "I guess you could call me shy, but once I know someone a little better, I can't shut up." She looked at him timidly, "It's just that, you know, shy around new people sort of thing. Anyway," she turned her head towards the room in front of them, "This is the gathering room. It's where people sit around and talk." She shrugged her shoulders in the "who'd have thought" way.
He nodded, wanting her to just continue the tour. "And over here," she continued, "is the rec room. Over 200 channels and any game you can think of." As she turned to him, she could see that he was bored beyond belief. "Sorry if I'm boring you."
"Non, it's jus' dat I was hopin' t' meet de other students."
"We could do that," she began walking again, "I think most of them are outside." Trying to figure out some small talk, she asked, "So why are you here?"
"Scuse m'?"
"Oh! I didn't mean to sound that rude, I just meant, you know, you're here because…?"
"I'm here cuz I'm a master thief."
"Wow," she said wistfully, "That's pretty cool."
"How 'bout you?"
"I can…I can do some things with a computer."
Remy's eyebrows began to rise. "As in…?"
"I'm sort of a computer genius."
"So what can y' do? Hack int' whatever computer system y' wan' t'?"
"Yeah," she began slowly, "and send viruses, decode incrypted messages…stuff like that."
"Pretty cool if y' ask m'."
"I guess," she said, blushing slightly, "but the people here can do a ton of other stuff too." She opened a door, which led them to a beautiful garden with a small koi pond, surrounded by lush green grass and wild flowers. As they walked down a narrow path, a bunch of kids sitting on some benches began to come into view.
[1]"…and I wanted to throw that magazine across the room. I mean, it was a twelve year old, a friggin' twelve year old, trying to seduce a twenty two year old. Then, as "his" punishment, his sister had to be gang raped? That was the sickest thing I've ever read and to think it happened to other girls." The young girl's head turned around as she heard people approaching. "Oh, hi Kitty. Who's that?" she asked, nodding towards the tall Cajun following her.
"Guys, this is Remy Lebeau, the new student the professor talked about. Remy, this is Jubilee, Bobby, Sam, Kurt, and Rahne," she said while pointing to each individual student.
"Well, welcome," Jubilee said, apparently speaking for everyone, "What brings you here?"
"I'm a master thief," he answered, just short of sounding completely arrogant.
"Really," replied Bobby.
"Y' don' t'ink I am?" he asked, getting slightly annoyed.
"Dude, chill out, I'm not saying that you aren't. I mean, Kitty hacked into Yahoo! once and shut it down for about a day. I'm not doubting what you say by just saying 'really'."
"Don't mind him," Rahne said, elbowing Bobby, "He jest enjoys hearing himself talk. Best be tae ignore him."
"So," Remy continued, taking Rahne's advice and ignoring him, "what can you all do?"
"Karate expert," Jubilee made a slicing motion with her hand, "Being Bruce Lee's great-niece and all."
"I play ze piano," spoke up Kurt in a heavy German accent.
"Dat's all?" questioned Remy.
Kurt opened his mouth to say something, but Jubilee interrupted him. "He means to say that he's a world class pianist and has composed over 100 sonatas, concertos, preludes, and etudes. People are calling him the next Bach and Beethoven."
Kurt looked embarrassed as Jubilee rattled off the list of things about him.
"I swear," Remy remarked, "all y' guys have self confidence problems, 'cept you," he pointed at Jubilee.
"No," she pouted, "you should hear how Roberto and Evan talk about themselves. Even Amara. Blah blah blah, professional coaches were already looking at me when I was eight, Bon Appetit called me the greatest chef of the next century, I can do all these math problems and read all these books, you're so dumb." She rolled her eyes.
"What can dey all do?" he asked, interested.
"Roberto is this super jock. He can play any sport like a pro, even if he's only seen it and never played it. Evan is this master chef, but his food is hella good. And Amara is this child prodigy, like the ones you always read about in magazines, where they graduate college when they're ten and have an IQ of 200," she ticked off each name on her fingers.
"Dey can get into here jus' cuz dey can cook and play sports?"
"Yeah, but you have to be really good. And believe me, they're both really, really good in what they do." The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement. "Almost unnaturally good."
"What about de rest o' y'?"
"Well," Sam began, "Ah have photographic memory."
"What?"
"Ah have photographic memory," he repeated, "If ya give meh a picture or list or whatever and let meh look at it for a little bit, Ah can tell ya exactly what's on it after ya take it away from meh." He grinned slightly, "Ah guess Ah'm lahk Cam Jansen." [2]
"Who?"
"That girl in those children books. The one who keeps solving crimes with his photographic memory. Except Ah don't solve crime and Ah'm not a girl," he shrugged sheepishly.
"Never heard o' de books. Mind givin' a demonstration?" he asked.
"Sure, what have ya got?"
"Here," Rahne tossed him a book, "Ye can memorize the first page."
For about 10 seconds, he stared at it, almost as if entranced by it. Putting the book down, he closed his eyes and reeled off, "Lee Chong's grocery, while not a model of neatness, was a miracle supply. It was small and crowded but within its single room a man could find everything he needed…" [3] and went on for the next few minutes, reciting the first page of Cannery Row word for word, astonishing Remy completely.
When he finished, Remy asked, "How do y' know if you're jus' good at memorizin'?"
Sam shrugged, "Maybe Ah am, but Ah can also describe any picture if ya let me look at it for a second."
Remy just shook his head in amazement, "Non, I believe y'," he turned to Rahne, "How 'bout y'?"
"I kin solve any math problem ye throw at me," she said proudly.
"Mathematical genius?"
"Aye."
"And you?" he finally turned to Bobby.
"I can solve any puzzle."
"How'd y' figure dat out?"
"Well, when I was five…" he began, causing everyone to moan.
"Please, don't tell zhat story again," groaned Kurt, "you've told it to us a hundred times already."
"And deprive him of knowing?" asked Bobby in shocked mockery, "I should think not. Anyway, when I was five, my parents gave me a Rubric's puzzle for my birthday. They had even messed it up so I could try to solve it. An hour later, I did. I think they were pretty shocked to see that, so they screwed it up again to see whether or not it was a fluke. They even watched me solve it again. And again, and again, and again. It got to the point where they decided it wasn't an accident and decided that they had a semi genius son, which, by the way, I'm not, not really anyway," he added, "I just like puzzles, s'all."
"Y' can solve any puzzle?"
"To my knowledge, yes. But I especially like those Rain Tree puzzles."[4]
Shit, Xavier wasn't kidding when he said it was a school for "talented" people. "Is this all of you?"
"No, there are about, I think, 10 more, not including the teachers," replied Jubilee
"Who else?"
"Let's see, there's Roberto, Evan, and Amara, who we told you about, then there's Jean, Scott, Ray, Jamie, and Rogue. The teachers are the professor, Mr. Logan, Ms. Munroe, Mr. McCoy, and Mr. Worthington. I think that's it," she closed her eyes, trying to see if she forgot anyone. Her eyes popped out of her head, "Oh, wait, there's also Ms. Braddock, who visits occasionally. But we think that it's just because Mr. Worthington's her boyfriend."
"Anythin' I need t' know 'bout dem?"
"Okay," Jubilee smiled wickedly, while everyone just rolled their eyes. It wasn't a secret that she loved to gossip. "First, though they don't admit it, Jean and Scott both have a crush on one another, completely oblivious to the other's affection. Jamie is the youngest, so he can act like the kid sometimes. That's why we usually leave him out of stuff. I don't think he really minds though, he'd rather be by himself, anyways. Evan has this rivalry thing with this other kid at another school. Whenever they see each other they always get in a fight, no matter what. Ray has a really short temper. 'Nuff said. Roberto tries to act like he's all tough and shit, but he's really insecure. That's half the reason why he brags about himself, just to make himself feel better. Mr. Logan has this weird thing for alone time, but the rest of the teachers are pretty cool." She paused for a minute, trying to remember everything. "Did I miss anyone?"
"Yeah," smirked Bobby, "the one person who has PMS 24/7."
Jubilee snapped her fingers, "I knew I forgot someone." She let a long silence follow for effect.
Remy, tired of waiting, asked, "And that would be…?"
"Rogue. Trust me, and everyone else, avoid her at all costs. All she does around here is sulk, and when someone tries to talk to her, she gets all bitchy. No idea why." A satisfying crack! of her gum could be heard.
"But in her defense," Kitty spoke up, "she's not as bad as all of you think she is."
"Puh-leeze, that girl is crazy. I don't even know how you even put up with her, being her room mate and all."
"To you, she is, but then again, maybe it's because you act like a brat. It's no wonder she can't stand you. I don't even know why we even put up with you."
"Great!" Bobby exclaimed excitedly, "Catfight!"
"Bobby, shut up," glowered Kitty, "And to you," she turned to Jubilee, "you've never given her a chance. You've always assumed, ever since you came, that she's a loser since she never talks to anyone."
"And that," Jubilee snorted, "is correct."
"You're prejudging her. You don't know her. Hell, I didn't know you, and given the information about you was that you were this rich little daddy's girl who grew up in Beverly Hills, I had my doubts about you too. But when we finally met you, you weren't that bad. Sure, you were bratty at times, but you were ok. Well, tolerable." Kitty's normally soft, brown eyes turned cold and glaring.
Bobby couldn't resist but comment, again, "Oooh, and the drama unfolds…"
"Bobby," hollered Kitty, "SHUT UP!" And she promptly shoved him into the pond, causing everyone to jump and get out of the way, avoiding the beads of water.
He began to paddle and splash his way to the top, sending water flying everywhere in the process. "Fuck, Kitty," he gasped, running his hand over his eyes, "you didn't have to do that."
But she had already left, mumbling about unwashed miscreants that roamed the earth, leaving everyone surrounding a soaking wet Bobby to burst out laughing.
~*~
From a window high above, a young girl watched the group of teens laughing at Bobby. She smirked, a change from her trademark scowl. Well, whatever you did, you probably deserved it. Her fingers glided smoothly across a chess board, moving the black pieces, imagining a commendable opponent. Nobody in this school could prove themselves worthy, so she'd often play by herself. Some may call her a sociopath, but she didn't care. She had learned the hard way to never trust people, the unfortunate reality that the people out there didn't give two shits about her. The game of chess was all she had and that, that was something she would never let anyone take away.
~*~
Blue. His favorite color was blue. Blues with hints of red, with a slight hue of green, any blue. He used the brush to stroke, stroking it to blend the colors together. It was amazing how much solace he found in painting. It was the only way to release his emotions, feelings and share them with others. And besides, it was fun.
~*~
All he needed to do was melt the two wires together and then he would be done. With careful precision and caution, the smoky, burnt smell of rubber and metal ran around his nose. His eyes watered as he tried to hold in his cough, lungs ready to burst. Finally, the two pieces were made into one and he was given the freedom to release into a fit of hacking coughs. Flushed, he turned to the latest thing he created, a miniature radio, about the size of the nail of his big toe. He even made sealed ear phones, that way, no one would be able to here the sound coming out. It was perfect, absolutely perfect for Mr. McCoy's occasional boring lectures.
~*~
Tapping his pencil impatiently, a young man waited to be "inspired". He just wanted something to write about, anything. His hand ran over the unevenness of frame in front of him, taking in the bumps and grooves. It sickened him. His whole life was filled with bumps, making him want to scream with frustration. They were so much a part of his life, that he just wanted to be rid of them, never to feel them ever again.
Unfortunately for him, this could not be the case. He depended on them, constantly, which only irritated him even more. They only made him feel trapped, becoming a prisoner of them, which, in his mind, was pretty stupid, considering they were only bumps. But at that moment, he found what he was looking for, an object to angst over. And so he began to write…
~*~
She began to shuffle and reshuffle the cards in front of her. Neatly placing them on the desk, she pulled the first five cards from the deck. Two fours, two nines, and a king. Not bad. She stared into the mirror directly in front of her, poker face in place. She couldn't help but grin. I would have even fooled myself, but I can't get too cocky, she quickly thought. The smile faded away immediately and was replaced by a bland eyed stare. Much better.
~*~
Can you believe you actually finished a chapter? Congratulate yourselves. Constructive criticism is always welcomed. Don't be afraid to say you hate it, but then again, if you hate it, you probably don't want to put any effort into saying you hate it.
Hope you guys didn't mind me making Jubilee talk for most of it. She always did seem like a loudmouth. For some of the people, I got their talents from the media, such as Sam with Cam Jansen. Also, I got the others from the Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and This American Life with Ira Glass, the NPR radio show. That isn't plagiarizing, is it?
[1] I actually read about this in Newsweek and it disgusted me beyond belief. Call me naïve, but I seriously cannot believe that stuff like this is still going on. To make matters worse, the people living in that town were surprised that the media forced police to arrest one of the men that gang raped that woman.
[2] I read the Cam Jansen series a looong time ago. I think the books are by David Adler.
[3] That was an excerpt from, what else, Cannery Row by John Steinbeck.
[4] Rain Tree Puzzles are a whole collection of puzzles, which, in my opinion, are pretty cool.