X-Treme X-Men: Reflections: Monet St. Croix

Monet's Room

Dear Monet,

Never in my life have I met a person like you. I am amazed by your beauty, your intelligence, and mainly, your personality. I never thought that when I joined Generation X, I would meet someone like. Others may think negative things of you, but I see you for the person that you are on the inside. If only the others would give you the chance like I have, they would see what a wonderful person you are.

The past few months, my feelings for you have grown, and I hope that yours have grown as well. Who knows what the future may bring, but I hope that in the future that I will be right by your side.

Yours Truly, Everett Thomas

"It seems like our future didn't turn out the way planned for us," Monet said to herself. "I miss you so much, Everett. Why did you have to leave?" Tears formed in Monet's eyes. It broke her heart the day that Everett died, to the point where she changed completely. Monet had so many feelings for him, feelings that she had never experienced before. She distanced herself from the team and wouldn't speak to anyone.

As Monet continued to think about her lost love, the tears began to pour. Crying was one of the things that no one would ever catch Monet doing. She never considered herself to be able to. If someone had a hint that she did, she would deny it and it would be left at that.

She had spent all her life trying to be the perfect one, the strong one. She was as hard as a rock, literally. No one would expect her to crack. She was invulnerable, resistant to any type of physical injury. But, there was one injury that her invulnerability couldn't protect her against: a broken heart.
It had been almost a year since the day she lost Everett, her first true love. He was her everything. He meant the world to her in more ways than one. She remembered their first kiss, their first date. Now all of that was nothing more than a memory, a forgotten past. A past that would never be experienced again.

It was hard for her to get over the pain. She would have numerous dreams about Everett, mainly bad ones. They always ended up the same, with him fading away and her waking up in a feverish sweat. She never mentioned her problem to others. It wasn't the way she handled things. She felt best to handle it on her own. But she realized that one day, she would have to open up, whether she liked it or not.

There was a knock on the door, which startled Monet. She quickly grabbed a tissue form her bedside table to wipe away any evidence of her crying. She knew that whoever it was would make a big scene about it later.

"Who is it?" Monet asked, checking to make sure her voice wasn't cracking. She realized that she left the letter on her bed. She folded it up and placed it in her drawer.

"Hey, girl, it's me, Jubilee. Can I come in?" Jubilee said from the other side of the door.

Monet really didn't want to be bothered by anyone, particularly Jubilee. But she figured that it wouldn't hurt. She was feeling kind of lonely at the moment.

"Sure, you can come in. I don't mind." Monet said. She got up to unlock the door. She opened the door and Jubilee bounced in.

"Are you alright, girl?" Jubilee asked Monet. She was being playful with her question, but she was concerned as well.

"Of course, I'm alright. Why would you ask such a thing?" Monet knew why but she decided to play dumb for the moment.

"Well usually, when I ask to come into your room, you tell me to get lost." Jubilee said. "What's wrong? Your eyes look a little read." Jubilee put her hands to her mouth. "Monet, you've been crying, haven't you?"

It was a very rare moment for anyone to catch Monet showing any type of emotion. Normally, Jubilee would have poked fun, but Monet didn't bother to argue. Jubilee could tell that it was serious.

"Monet, what's wrong? Are you doing alright?" Although the two of them really didn't get along, Jubilee still cared for the well being of Monet. No matter how much she got on her nerves.

Monet didn't say anything. She just walked over to her bed and sat. She held her head in her hands for a moment then she reached to her drawer. Her hand fumbled for the out of place letter. Hesitating, she unfolded the letter and handed it to Jubilee.

With a look of confusion, Jubilee took the letter and scanned over the near faded handwriting, which had belonged to that of a male. Taking her finger, she traced over the last lines of the letter as she read. Her eyes widened as she finished.

"Monet, this letter.it's from.Everett?" Jubilee couldn't believe that she was actually speaking his name. Jubilee knew Everett as well as Monet did. She now knew the reason behind Monet's crying. "How long have you had this letter?" It was amazing to Jubilee that Monet could be sentimental.

Monet took the letter back from Jubilee. She looked over it as she spoke. "I've had it ever since before he died." Monet turned to Jubilee, for once giving her undivided attention. "Do you know how long I have lived with this, Jubilee? A broken heart; probably unable to be healed." She tossed the letter on her bed. She wiped away a single tear then managed a slight chuckle. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."

"Because it's about time you let it all out and I just happen to be here in your time of need." Jubilee said. She couldn't believe that Monet had decided to open up to her, of all people. "I'm not here to judge. Keep going."

"My time of need? I'm not in need of anything, Jubilee! Why did you even come here, anyway?" Monet knew she was being unfair to her, but she didn't really know how to open up to people.

Jubilee and Monet had somewhat of a weird friendship. They were friends but they were also enemies. Even when they first met, they were always done each other's throat. After the Massachusetts Academy had closed down, they had seemingly patched things up. But at times they still got on each other's nerves.

"I came here because I'm your friend; that's what they're for. They're there to help you when you feeling down." Jubilee stated. "Besides, I know what it's like to lose someone close to you." Jubilee had her fair share of losses in her life. She, just like Monet, very seldom talked to others about it.

"For once Jubilee, you are starting to sound like a mature adult." Monet said. Monet always used some witty or sarcastic remark to hide her true feelings. Opening was harder than it sounded. She thought back to Jubilee's comment about losing someone close to her. "You mean your parents?"

Jubilee nodded her head. "Yeah, it was hard for me. It was a case of mistaken identity." Jubilee turned towards Monet. "I remember I want to go after the people who didn't and just kill them." Jubilee shook her head. "But I found out that wasn't the way to go. It would just make me as bad as them."

Monet was interested in Jubilee's story. She focused her attention to her. "What did you do? You just let them go?" Monet knew what it was like to lose a parent, her mother in particular. But it was even harder for Jubilee; she had lost both of her parents.

"What else could I do? I confronted them and I made my peace. That's how I got over it." Jubilee grabbed the letter from Monet. She was surprised that she put up a struggle. "It's alright for you to hold on to the past, M. But you also have to learn how to let go and enjoy the future."

Jubilee ran over the letter again. "I admit, I had feelings for Everett. When the two of you hooked up, I just gave up and moved on." She shifted her position on the bed and smiled. "I wouldn't admit it to anyone, but I was happy for the two of you. You deserved each other." Giving a big sigh, she folded up the letter. "But I was crushed when he died. He was such a good guy; he wouldn't hurt a fly."

Looking at Monet, she noticed that she was crying. "Monet, don't cry." Jubilee had never seen Monet look so fragile before. She looked like a little child who had lost her favorite pet. "The past is what it is Monet, the past. You just have to learn to let go, like I said before."

Jubilee grabbed a few tissues from the table next to Monet's bed. She handed her the tissues. "Here, take these and wipe your face." Jubilee was at a loss for words. Catching Monet in this way had caught her off guard. "Just trust me, will you? Everything will be alright, ok?"

Monet realized that this was the first time that the two of them had ever sat down to discuss anything. They had never taken the time to be actual friends. This was a very rare moment for the both of them. It seems that the two of us are as much alike as we are different, she thought to herself.

"Jubilee, I just want to say thank you." She smiled at Jubilee. "I never thought that the two of us would ever sit down to talk about this, let alone anything else."

Jubilee wiped one of the tears from Monet's eye. "That's what friends are for, Monet. I know we don't see eye to eye on most things. But if it's one thing that we can agree on, it's the fact that you can come and talk to me whenever you need to, ok?"

Not knowing how she would react, Jubilee reached over and gave Monet a hug. The move caught the both of them of guard, as neither one of them had seen it coming. It was a small hug at first, but Monet responded by returning the hug.

"What was that for?" Monet asked.

"The hug means that you have a promise. It was also a sign for the both of to move on." Jubilee said. "You don't have to go through this alone; we can go through this together."

"That.sounds like a good idea." Monet wiped the rest of the tears that were on her face. Tossing the tissues in the trash, she got up from the bed. "So, where do we go from here, Jubilee?"

"Well, we need to go to the kitchen because I am starving. Or we can go out somewhere to get something to eat." Jubilee answered.

Monet laughed at Jubilee. She was always the jokester. The two of them had never spent any time alone as friends. Monet figured that this could be the first step. "That sounds like a plan. Is there anywhere specific you want to eat? I'll treat."

"Oh, I know you will. Why did you think I mentioned the idea?" She said. "I could go for some pizza though."

Monet walked to her closet to grab her jacket. "Pizza it is."

Jubilee noticed that Monet still had the letter in her hand. "Uh, Monet, you do know that you still have the letter in your hand, don't you?"

Monet looked down at the letter. "I know. What else was I going to do with?"

Jubilee was puzzled. Maybe it would take her longer to get over it than she thought it would. "I thought that you were going to-"

"Throw it away?" Monet asked. "Of course I was. How else did you expect me to move one?"

Jubilee smiled. "Girl, you had me worried. Let's go already!" She hopped up from the bed to follow Monet out the door.

"Wait, there's one thing I have to do." Monet said.

"What's that?" Jubilee asked.

Monet lifted the hand that contained the letter. Taking her other hand, she ripped the letter in half. She tossed the shredded pieces of paper in the trash.

"That's my girl!" Jubilee said.

Monet rolled her eyes. "Let's go before I change my mind about the pizza."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Jubilee said as she ran out the door.

Monet waited for a moment. Then she looked to the picture on her table. "Goodbye, Everett," she said as she closed the door.