Chapter 4
Nightcrawler:
I had followed Eric and his friends to the recreation room. When the door opened I saw that there were some balloons and decorations and the room was filled with students. They'd moved over all the pool and ping-pong tables to make room for dancing.
"Surprise!" they shouted as I came in.
"You guys did this for me?" I asked Eric and his friends. Eric smiled.
"Of course dude, what're friends for?" Then he turned to the rest of the students. "Well, now that guest of honor's here let's get this party started!" Everyone in the room hollered.
The party got started. There was punch, chips, sodas, candy, all sorts of junk food. At first people just stood around and talked, huddled around the food. Then Eric and some girl started dancing and everyone else joined in. I tore up the dance floor on the fast songs, but sat out all of the slow songs. The hours drifted away, and finally I got up the courage and asked a girl if she would dance with me. My pulse rose and my muscles tensed as I waited for her answer.
"Um," she said, biting her lip and looking around nervously, "I'm going with someone else. Sorry."
"That's okay," I said disappointed. More like crushed. I sat back down by the food.
Then I noticed a guy walk over to the girl I had just asked to dance. He was blushing and said something to her nervously. She smiled and nodded, then went with him to dance. I was shocked as I worked through what I just saw. Was that the guy she was already going with, or did he just ask her to dance? From what I'd seen it looked like the latter. I was angry and light-headed. I needed to get out.
zap- I teleported outside to a bench and sat there with my head in my hands.
Why had she said yes to him and no to me? Well, that's painfully obvious. Same reason I had been abandoned by my parents. Same reason I hated public places. It was stupid of me to think that no one noticed how I looked, to forget what I really was.
I looked at my hands. They were horribly deformed, three fingers covered in blue fur. I was a freak, an outcast, a mutant among mutants. Sure, they accepted me, but that didn't change the way I looked. I felt a hot tear run down my cheek, filled with hopelessness and loneliness. I quickly wiped it away. Why was I so messed up? Why couldn't I just be normal?
Just then I heard a motorcycle pulling up in the driveway a dozen yards behind me. I heard the engine stop and footsteps heading up towards the door. I thought for a moment about seeing who it was, but I didn't want to see anyone right now. Or anyone to see me. That brought me back to my appearance. I thought long and hard about the night's events, about the events of my life. They seemed to be filled with pain and loneliness, no one cared. Only, I knew that wasn't true. Professor Xavier, the X-Men, Sharon, all of them had ignored my appearance, didn't even seem to notice it once.
Yo, what's up? I heard Sharon's voice in my head. Just then a tawny bird of prey swooped down and landed on the railing of the bench.
"Oh, hi," I said, a little surprised at the sudden company.
So, how was the party? she said, her telepathic voice a little distant.
"Great," I said with the same distance and some sarcasm.
By that you mean not so great, she said. What happened?
"Nothing," I said. "I don't really want to talk about it."
That bad, huh?
"Yeah, I guess so." She took a deep breath (which isn't very deep for an eagle).
Look, she said, I'm sorry I wasn't there this afternoon. I wanted to go, I just…
"Had stuff to do," I said. I didn't mean for it to sound so harsh. I was thinking of the girl at the dance, how she'd rejected me because of how I looked. Sharon had never been like that; I knew she didn't ditch me because of how I looked. If anything, she'd helped me feel just fine about who I was.
No, she said, it's not that. She seemed uneasy, shifting her weight from talon to talon. It's just that, I don't know how to explain it, I just haven't been in to dances and parties since I ran away, since my parents and all. Guess you could say I try to leave it all in the past. I'd rather not talk about it. She stared into the distance with that fixed eagle's gaze. I had never known my parents at all, and I hadn't really thought about how hard it must have been for her to lose her parents until then.
So anyway, she said, Can't you tell me what happened tonight? Well, Sharon had opened up to me so it only seemed fair for me to open up a little too.
"A girl at the dance said she was already going out with someone when I asked her to dance, then went with another guy that asked her a few seconds later." It seemed kind of childish now that I said it out loud, but the sting of it was still there.
So the girl's a jerk, you can't help that, said Phorm. I sighed.
"I guess so, but I can't help but feel it has something to do with how I look."
What? Don't get down on yourself because of her. I'm sorry Kurt. I should have been there. I'd have morphed to water buffalo and set her straight. I laughed a bit, and she started to demorph back to herself.
"It's okay," I said, "and in that case I guess it was best you weren't there." I sat facing her and all my sad and lonely thoughts seemed to evaporate in the light of her cheerful smile.
"And if it makes you feel any better," she said, "I think you're kinda' cute." She looked away blushing, as did I. I'd been called a lot of things, but never cute.
"Thank you," I said. She sighed.
"Yeah, well don't let it go to your head, and let's get inside! It's chilly out here, and there's someone you gotta' meet." A smile lit up her face, and that infectious happiness returned. I was glad she was back, and the fact we were still friends was all that mattered to me right then.
Phorm:
Phew, was I glad we got that all patched up. I'd thought before that I could never tell Kurt why I didn't want to go because it sounded so stupid, but it had just sort of come out when I was trying to explain. I had been afraid that Kurt was angry at me, which was strange. I don't really care about what people think of me. Or I guess, I didn't before.
"So," said Kurt as we walked inside, "who's this person you want me to meet?"
"Just a friend I met while out flying," I said. Just then we turned a corner and there was Wolverine, what a ko-ink-ee-dink.
"What's up?" I said. He saw Kurt and I, and I felt Kurt tense up. I realized now how much Kurt's looks meant to him. I mean, never knowing whether someone you meet will scream or run or whatever has to be hard. Real hard.
"Oh, hey," said Wolverine. He looked once at Kurt but didn't make anything of it, which was good. "So, did you find anything?" His look became serious as he said this. Guess he and Sabertooth had a serious bone to pick.
"Some footprints leading down an old abandoned subway," I said. Then I did my best impression of a four-year old (which wasn't hard since I was always acting like a kid anyways), "But it was dawk and sca-wy." Wolverine laughed. Kurt looked very confused.
"Uh," he said, looking at me questioningly.
"Ah, right," I said. "Kurt, Wolverine. Wolverine, Kurt."
"Hello," said Kurt.
"Hey," said Wolverine. I brought Kurt up to speed on what had happened that day.
"We'd better tell the professor," I said at last, "can't leave Goldilocks wreaking havoc in the subway." A few chuckles from my audience.
"Yeah," said Wolverine. Then he looked across the hallway. Kurt and I looked in the same direction and there was Cyclops. He had seen Wolverine and was walking over quickly.
"Hi," I said. He ignored Kurt and me, but looked straight at Wolverine.
"Where's my bike?" Not exactly a hearty 'welcome back'.
"Relax," said Wolverine with a smile, "it's out front, and not a scratch on it." Cyclops looked out the window and seemed a little less tense at the sight of his motorcycle in one piece.
"Thanks," he said, "next time ask." Wow, Cyclops said thanks! So he could be a normal guy once in a while, but I knew that with me around that wouldn't last long. All I had to do was open my mouth and he'd turn back into Mr. Responsible; all scowls and disapproving looks.
"So you've met Phorm and Nightcrawler?" Cyclops said to Wolverine. I didn't like being talked about like I wasn't there.
"Yeah, we met," I jumped in. Yup, his smile faded instantly. I wanted to study the effects of annoying students on Cyclops's mood more, but I had some news to impart, and I know when to take things seriously. "And guess what we found?"
"What?" Cyclops asked indifferently.
"Sabertooth," answered Wolverine, with a hint of disgust.
"You mean he survived Liberty Island?"
"Yeah," said Wolverine, "and Goldilocks is as big, mean, and ugly as ever."
Nightcrawler:
I had followed Eric and his friends to the recreation room. When the door opened I saw that there were some balloons and decorations and the room was filled with students. They'd moved over all the pool and ping-pong tables to make room for dancing.
"Surprise!" they shouted as I came in.
"You guys did this for me?" I asked Eric and his friends. Eric smiled.
"Of course dude, what're friends for?" Then he turned to the rest of the students. "Well, now that guest of honor's here let's get this party started!" Everyone in the room hollered.
The party got started. There was punch, chips, sodas, candy, all sorts of junk food. At first people just stood around and talked, huddled around the food. Then Eric and some girl started dancing and everyone else joined in. I tore up the dance floor on the fast songs, but sat out all of the slow songs. The hours drifted away, and finally I got up the courage and asked a girl if she would dance with me. My pulse rose and my muscles tensed as I waited for her answer.
"Um," she said, biting her lip and looking around nervously, "I'm going with someone else. Sorry."
"That's okay," I said disappointed. More like crushed. I sat back down by the food.
Then I noticed a guy walk over to the girl I had just asked to dance. He was blushing and said something to her nervously. She smiled and nodded, then went with him to dance. I was shocked as I worked through what I just saw. Was that the guy she was already going with, or did he just ask her to dance? From what I'd seen it looked like the latter. I was angry and light-headed. I needed to get out.
zap- I teleported outside to a bench and sat there with my head in my hands.
Why had she said yes to him and no to me? Well, that's painfully obvious. Same reason I had been abandoned by my parents. Same reason I hated public places. It was stupid of me to think that no one noticed how I looked, to forget what I really was.
I looked at my hands. They were horribly deformed, three fingers covered in blue fur. I was a freak, an outcast, a mutant among mutants. Sure, they accepted me, but that didn't change the way I looked. I felt a hot tear run down my cheek, filled with hopelessness and loneliness. I quickly wiped it away. Why was I so messed up? Why couldn't I just be normal?
Just then I heard a motorcycle pulling up in the driveway a dozen yards behind me. I heard the engine stop and footsteps heading up towards the door. I thought for a moment about seeing who it was, but I didn't want to see anyone right now. Or anyone to see me. That brought me back to my appearance. I thought long and hard about the night's events, about the events of my life. They seemed to be filled with pain and loneliness, no one cared. Only, I knew that wasn't true. Professor Xavier, the X-Men, Sharon, all of them had ignored my appearance, didn't even seem to notice it once.
Yo, what's up? I heard Sharon's voice in my head. Just then a tawny bird of prey swooped down and landed on the railing of the bench.
"Oh, hi," I said, a little surprised at the sudden company.
So, how was the party? she said, her telepathic voice a little distant.
"Great," I said with the same distance and some sarcasm.
By that you mean not so great, she said. What happened?
"Nothing," I said. "I don't really want to talk about it."
That bad, huh?
"Yeah, I guess so." She took a deep breath (which isn't very deep for an eagle).
Look, she said, I'm sorry I wasn't there this afternoon. I wanted to go, I just…
"Had stuff to do," I said. I didn't mean for it to sound so harsh. I was thinking of the girl at the dance, how she'd rejected me because of how I looked. Sharon had never been like that; I knew she didn't ditch me because of how I looked. If anything, she'd helped me feel just fine about who I was.
No, she said, it's not that. She seemed uneasy, shifting her weight from talon to talon. It's just that, I don't know how to explain it, I just haven't been in to dances and parties since I ran away, since my parents and all. Guess you could say I try to leave it all in the past. I'd rather not talk about it. She stared into the distance with that fixed eagle's gaze. I had never known my parents at all, and I hadn't really thought about how hard it must have been for her to lose her parents until then.
So anyway, she said, Can't you tell me what happened tonight? Well, Sharon had opened up to me so it only seemed fair for me to open up a little too.
"A girl at the dance said she was already going out with someone when I asked her to dance, then went with another guy that asked her a few seconds later." It seemed kind of childish now that I said it out loud, but the sting of it was still there.
So the girl's a jerk, you can't help that, said Phorm. I sighed.
"I guess so, but I can't help but feel it has something to do with how I look."
What? Don't get down on yourself because of her. I'm sorry Kurt. I should have been there. I'd have morphed to water buffalo and set her straight. I laughed a bit, and she started to demorph back to herself.
"It's okay," I said, "and in that case I guess it was best you weren't there." I sat facing her and all my sad and lonely thoughts seemed to evaporate in the light of her cheerful smile.
"And if it makes you feel any better," she said, "I think you're kinda' cute." She looked away blushing, as did I. I'd been called a lot of things, but never cute.
"Thank you," I said. She sighed.
"Yeah, well don't let it go to your head, and let's get inside! It's chilly out here, and there's someone you gotta' meet." A smile lit up her face, and that infectious happiness returned. I was glad she was back, and the fact we were still friends was all that mattered to me right then.
Phorm:
Phew, was I glad we got that all patched up. I'd thought before that I could never tell Kurt why I didn't want to go because it sounded so stupid, but it had just sort of come out when I was trying to explain. I had been afraid that Kurt was angry at me, which was strange. I don't really care about what people think of me. Or I guess, I didn't before.
"So," said Kurt as we walked inside, "who's this person you want me to meet?"
"Just a friend I met while out flying," I said. Just then we turned a corner and there was Wolverine, what a ko-ink-ee-dink.
"What's up?" I said. He saw Kurt and I, and I felt Kurt tense up. I realized now how much Kurt's looks meant to him. I mean, never knowing whether someone you meet will scream or run or whatever has to be hard. Real hard.
"Oh, hey," said Wolverine. He looked once at Kurt but didn't make anything of it, which was good. "So, did you find anything?" His look became serious as he said this. Guess he and Sabertooth had a serious bone to pick.
"Some footprints leading down an old abandoned subway," I said. Then I did my best impression of a four-year old (which wasn't hard since I was always acting like a kid anyways), "But it was dawk and sca-wy." Wolverine laughed. Kurt looked very confused.
"Uh," he said, looking at me questioningly.
"Ah, right," I said. "Kurt, Wolverine. Wolverine, Kurt."
"Hello," said Kurt.
"Hey," said Wolverine. I brought Kurt up to speed on what had happened that day.
"We'd better tell the professor," I said at last, "can't leave Goldilocks wreaking havoc in the subway." A few chuckles from my audience.
"Yeah," said Wolverine. Then he looked across the hallway. Kurt and I looked in the same direction and there was Cyclops. He had seen Wolverine and was walking over quickly.
"Hi," I said. He ignored Kurt and me, but looked straight at Wolverine.
"Where's my bike?" Not exactly a hearty 'welcome back'.
"Relax," said Wolverine with a smile, "it's out front, and not a scratch on it." Cyclops looked out the window and seemed a little less tense at the sight of his motorcycle in one piece.
"Thanks," he said, "next time ask." Wow, Cyclops said thanks! So he could be a normal guy once in a while, but I knew that with me around that wouldn't last long. All I had to do was open my mouth and he'd turn back into Mr. Responsible; all scowls and disapproving looks.
"So you've met Phorm and Nightcrawler?" Cyclops said to Wolverine. I didn't like being talked about like I wasn't there.
"Yeah, we met," I jumped in. Yup, his smile faded instantly. I wanted to study the effects of annoying students on Cyclops's mood more, but I had some news to impart, and I know when to take things seriously. "And guess what we found?"
"What?" Cyclops asked indifferently.
"Sabertooth," answered Wolverine, with a hint of disgust.
"You mean he survived Liberty Island?"
"Yeah," said Wolverine, "and Goldilocks is as big, mean, and ugly as ever."