"Hello students. Today's announcements are as follows," Principal Darkholme
addressed the school. "Those of you involved in Forensics, don't forget that there is a
meet this coming Saturday in Ms. Hoppe's room at 7:00 sharp. Congratulations to the
girls soccer team for a resounding victory against Mapledale, led by Jean Grey with 11
goals. Those of you who are signed up for the trip to Washington D.C., that is five days
away so contact Mr. Wright if you have any last minute questions. Finally, don't forget to
dress warmly the temperatures are steadily dropping."
Scott made a mental note to congratulate Jean on the victory against Mapledale as
he withdrew the last of his materials from his locker. He walked to class quickly, saying
hi to some people.
When he arrived to P.E. that morning, he noticed that there was a new person in
the class. Betsy Braddock. He smiled involuntary when someone moved to the left,
giving him a clear line of sight. Betsy was cute alright, there was no denying that. She
was sitting on one of the bleachers, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing
an extra large T-shirt with Japanese symbols on both front and back and a pair of bike
shorts. She looked around briefly, her eyes pausing on him for a beat too long but she still
couldn't tell he was looking at her. That was the one thing he liked about having to wear
sunglasses. People couldn't tell if you were looking at them through your peripheral
vision.
Mrs. Meuler, the P.E. instructor walked among the group of students and cleared
her throat. "OK kids, listen up," she said once things had quieted down. "I know that we
were supposed to continue archery today but the Jr. High needed them today so instead
we'll be doing good ol' fashioned dodgeball. Since we have a fairly even number of boys
and girls, we will do this boys vs. girls." She looked up at the clock. "We have 35
minutes boys and girls. Make 'em count. Guys on one side of the half court line, girls on
the other."
Betsy jogged to the girls' side, her ponytail bouncing behind her. She took a
position at the front of the group where none of the other girl's were willing to go. On the
other side of the half court line, some of the guys were making muscles and joking about
how long it would take to 'kick some girly butt.' Betsy chuckled. Boy were they in for a
surprise.
Mrs. Meuler picked up the dodgeball and then pulled out a quarter. "Heads or
tails. Call it." She flicked it high into the air.
"Heads," one of the guys said.
The coin landed in Mrs. Mueler's hand and she looked at it. "Heads it is. Boys
start." She tossed the ball to Matt Emerson. Matt looked around, and then his eyes met
hers. He grinned, leaned back and then launched the dodgeball with all of his strength
straight at Betsy.
She caught it, absorbing he impact into her left leg. "Sorry Matt," she called. All
the girls laughed as Matt walked off the court, clearly embarrassed. One of the girls even
gave her a high five.
Betsy lifted the ball into the air, let it drop, and then lunged out with her foot,
hitting the ball with a sidekick.
Scott saw the ball coming, but were it not for his intensively honed reflexes he
would not have been able to dodge it. He leaped out of the way and it missed him by
scant inches but nailed the guy behind him so bad it knocked him flat on his back.
"Hey, she kicked it," one of the guys protested.
Mrs. Meuler shrugged. "So, you can launch the ball any way you want."
The rest of the game, Betsy kept hitting guy after guy. There was no talk of
whooping the girls now.
On the other hand, Scott seemed to be intangible. Whenever Betsy or anyone else
threw it at him, he would dodge at the last minute. Then he'd get the ball and the next
thing you know, another girl would bite the dust, having fallen victim to Scott's amazing
arm.
Soon, Scott and Neil were the only two guys left standing on the boy team and
Betsy was the only girl left on the girl team. It was the boys' ball.
"Hey Summers, let me throw," Neil said as Scott picked up the ball.
Scott raised an eyebrow. "You threw last time, and as I recall Betsy over there
dodged it no sweat."
"So. Gimme the ball."
Scott sighed, tossing the yellow dodgeball to Neil. "Fine. Try it again.
Neil drew back, ready to throw his hardest. This was hardball now; the Japanese
girl had practically single-handedly knocked off most of the team. She wouldn't get away
with it if he, or rather his pride, had anything to say about it. He drew back.and
launched.
The students on the bleachers who blinked missed it entirely as it zoomed towards
its mark. Surely Betsy couldn't have caught it.
She had. Betsy held up the ball, chuckling at the look of disbelief on Neil's face.
Her team was cheering for her now. Even some of the boys were rooting for her. Maybe
she was starting to fit in.
"Well," Mrs. Meuler said, "there are two kids left and one minute to go. May the
best man, or woman win."
Betsy hurled the ball at Scott, aiming for his legs. Scott leaped up into the air
though, the ball passing harmlessly underneath him. He retrieved the ball and launched it
back at Betsy who jumped to the side and out of harm's way.
This time, Betsy kicked the ball, using the back kick technique. Scott ducked but
it still grazed his head.
"Good shot," he called, his first spoken words to her that day, "but hitting me in
the head doesn't count." He threw the ball back and she naturally dodged.
"Ten seconds left," Mrs. Meuler called. "Make 'em count."
"I plan to," Betsy said to herself. She tossed the ball up into the air and spiked it at
Scott like one would spike a volleyball.
THWAP, once again, the dodgeball hit Scott in the head but this time, it knocked
his sunglasses off.
The ball rolled over to the bleacher but that was not what Scott was focusing on.
He immediately shut his eyes and sank to the ground, feeling around for his sunglasses.
"Are-are you alright?" Betsy asked.
"Yeah, I just need my shades."
Betsy jogged over to him. "Here," she said, picking the sunglasses of the ground.
They were strangely heavy for sunglasses.
"Thanks." Scott gratefully took his glasses and put them back on, finally able to
open his eyes. Betsy was kneeling in front of him, looking at him strangely.
"What?" he asked.
"You seem to have a very strong affection for those sunglasses. You looked like
you'd just dropped a wad of $100 bills."
"Oh. Uh.I got these sunglasses from my grandmother," Scott said, making up a
story. "She's, you know, dead now and they mean a lot to me." Scott abruptly stood up,
uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. A confused Betsy did so as well a few
moments later.
"Well, it looks like we have a draw," Mrs. Meuler announced. She clapped Scott
and Betsy on the shoulder. "Excellent playing you two. I don't think I've ever seen a
dodgeball display quite so.competitive."
During lunch, Betsy lunch, Betsy watched Scott like a hawk as she had ever since
P.E. Not once had she seen him without those sunglasses, something that intrigued her.
Scott Summers intrigued her. Betsy played around with the realization in her
head, not quite sure what it meant. Did it mean he fascinated her? Yeah, he did. Did that
mean she liked him? No, she decided. That wasn't the case. It took more than a brief
meeting and a dodgeball game for that, didn't it? Why, he probably hadn't spoken three
sentences to her since her move to Bayville. She poked a fork into her salad and began to
eat.
"Hey Scott, over here man." Scott looked around, finding Evan Daniels over at a
table waving.
"Hey Evan." Scott slid onto the seat in between Rogue and Kitty. He paused.
"Where's Jean?"
Kitty pointed over at a table way across the lunchroom. "Duncan 's table. I guess
he insisted she sit at the 'jock' table today."
"Oh." Scott tried to appear as if he did not care. "So, what's been happening with
you guys lately?"
"Kurt just discovered a new mutant ability," Rogue told him.
Scott looked at Kurt who was beaming. "Well, don't keep me waiting man, tell
me about it."
"OK, OK," Kurt said. He cleared his throat. "I can invisible."
"What?"
Rogue nodded. "He's not lying Scott. I saw him do it with my own eyes. Its like,
one minute he's there and the next he's not."
"You sure he wasn't just teleporting?"
"I wasn't teleporting," Kurt insisted.
Scott eyed Kurt a little warily. "Now Kurt, I know you can be a little bit of a joker
sometimes."
"I won't disagree with you there," Rogue cut in, "but there was no smoke or
anything. Plus, when he did it he was holding a pencil and I could still see the pencil even
when he went invisible. It looked like the pencil was floating. Invisible I tell you."
"What pencil was floating?" Jean asked from behind them.
Scott whirled around. "Jean! I thought you were over at Duncan's table."
Jean shrugged, sitting down. "I left. I mean, Duncan IS my boyfriend and all and
he's a really sweet guy but when he's around his jock friends.it's like he's someone
else." Jean paused. "So why were we talking about floating pencils?"
Betsy's last class of the day was study hall, which she coincidentally had with
Scott. She had chosen a study hall because she'd expected an inundation of work but that
was not the case. In fact, the work was incredibly easy, much easier than back at her old,
private school.
As she'd found herself doing very often since coming to Bayville High, she
looked over at Scott. He was drawing something but exactly what, she couldn't tell.
Betsy stretched out her mind, exercising her psychic powers. She could sense the
minds of others and, even without trying, sense to some degree what they were thinking.
Except for Scott of course. What was with that mental barrier thing anyway? She
gave an inward sigh. There were so many things about Scott Summers that
were.puzzling. Why did he always wear sunglasses? Why was he so afraid of taking
them off? How did he learn how to shield his mind from telepaths? Betsy pressed a little
harder against his psychic shields, testing them a little.
From the way Scott reacted, he obviously didn't think it was just a little thing. He
whirled and looked straight at her with a confused look on his face, startling half the
class. "What are you doing?"
"Mr. Summers, Ms. Braddock is there a problem?" the study hall teacher asked.
Betsy could feel her cheeks flaming. She opened her mouth but no Scott spoke
first.
"Uh.nothing Mrs. Lansing," Scott said. He looked over at Betsy one more time
with the same look of confusion before returning to his work.
Betsy slumped her head down onto her arm, sending her shiny black hair
tumbling all over the desk. 'Great going Elizabeth,' she thought.
A/N as usual, review
-Godfather
addressed the school. "Those of you involved in Forensics, don't forget that there is a
meet this coming Saturday in Ms. Hoppe's room at 7:00 sharp. Congratulations to the
girls soccer team for a resounding victory against Mapledale, led by Jean Grey with 11
goals. Those of you who are signed up for the trip to Washington D.C., that is five days
away so contact Mr. Wright if you have any last minute questions. Finally, don't forget to
dress warmly the temperatures are steadily dropping."
Scott made a mental note to congratulate Jean on the victory against Mapledale as
he withdrew the last of his materials from his locker. He walked to class quickly, saying
hi to some people.
When he arrived to P.E. that morning, he noticed that there was a new person in
the class. Betsy Braddock. He smiled involuntary when someone moved to the left,
giving him a clear line of sight. Betsy was cute alright, there was no denying that. She
was sitting on one of the bleachers, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing
an extra large T-shirt with Japanese symbols on both front and back and a pair of bike
shorts. She looked around briefly, her eyes pausing on him for a beat too long but she still
couldn't tell he was looking at her. That was the one thing he liked about having to wear
sunglasses. People couldn't tell if you were looking at them through your peripheral
vision.
Mrs. Meuler, the P.E. instructor walked among the group of students and cleared
her throat. "OK kids, listen up," she said once things had quieted down. "I know that we
were supposed to continue archery today but the Jr. High needed them today so instead
we'll be doing good ol' fashioned dodgeball. Since we have a fairly even number of boys
and girls, we will do this boys vs. girls." She looked up at the clock. "We have 35
minutes boys and girls. Make 'em count. Guys on one side of the half court line, girls on
the other."
Betsy jogged to the girls' side, her ponytail bouncing behind her. She took a
position at the front of the group where none of the other girl's were willing to go. On the
other side of the half court line, some of the guys were making muscles and joking about
how long it would take to 'kick some girly butt.' Betsy chuckled. Boy were they in for a
surprise.
Mrs. Meuler picked up the dodgeball and then pulled out a quarter. "Heads or
tails. Call it." She flicked it high into the air.
"Heads," one of the guys said.
The coin landed in Mrs. Mueler's hand and she looked at it. "Heads it is. Boys
start." She tossed the ball to Matt Emerson. Matt looked around, and then his eyes met
hers. He grinned, leaned back and then launched the dodgeball with all of his strength
straight at Betsy.
She caught it, absorbing he impact into her left leg. "Sorry Matt," she called. All
the girls laughed as Matt walked off the court, clearly embarrassed. One of the girls even
gave her a high five.
Betsy lifted the ball into the air, let it drop, and then lunged out with her foot,
hitting the ball with a sidekick.
Scott saw the ball coming, but were it not for his intensively honed reflexes he
would not have been able to dodge it. He leaped out of the way and it missed him by
scant inches but nailed the guy behind him so bad it knocked him flat on his back.
"Hey, she kicked it," one of the guys protested.
Mrs. Meuler shrugged. "So, you can launch the ball any way you want."
The rest of the game, Betsy kept hitting guy after guy. There was no talk of
whooping the girls now.
On the other hand, Scott seemed to be intangible. Whenever Betsy or anyone else
threw it at him, he would dodge at the last minute. Then he'd get the ball and the next
thing you know, another girl would bite the dust, having fallen victim to Scott's amazing
arm.
Soon, Scott and Neil were the only two guys left standing on the boy team and
Betsy was the only girl left on the girl team. It was the boys' ball.
"Hey Summers, let me throw," Neil said as Scott picked up the ball.
Scott raised an eyebrow. "You threw last time, and as I recall Betsy over there
dodged it no sweat."
"So. Gimme the ball."
Scott sighed, tossing the yellow dodgeball to Neil. "Fine. Try it again.
Neil drew back, ready to throw his hardest. This was hardball now; the Japanese
girl had practically single-handedly knocked off most of the team. She wouldn't get away
with it if he, or rather his pride, had anything to say about it. He drew back.and
launched.
The students on the bleachers who blinked missed it entirely as it zoomed towards
its mark. Surely Betsy couldn't have caught it.
She had. Betsy held up the ball, chuckling at the look of disbelief on Neil's face.
Her team was cheering for her now. Even some of the boys were rooting for her. Maybe
she was starting to fit in.
"Well," Mrs. Meuler said, "there are two kids left and one minute to go. May the
best man, or woman win."
Betsy hurled the ball at Scott, aiming for his legs. Scott leaped up into the air
though, the ball passing harmlessly underneath him. He retrieved the ball and launched it
back at Betsy who jumped to the side and out of harm's way.
This time, Betsy kicked the ball, using the back kick technique. Scott ducked but
it still grazed his head.
"Good shot," he called, his first spoken words to her that day, "but hitting me in
the head doesn't count." He threw the ball back and she naturally dodged.
"Ten seconds left," Mrs. Meuler called. "Make 'em count."
"I plan to," Betsy said to herself. She tossed the ball up into the air and spiked it at
Scott like one would spike a volleyball.
THWAP, once again, the dodgeball hit Scott in the head but this time, it knocked
his sunglasses off.
The ball rolled over to the bleacher but that was not what Scott was focusing on.
He immediately shut his eyes and sank to the ground, feeling around for his sunglasses.
"Are-are you alright?" Betsy asked.
"Yeah, I just need my shades."
Betsy jogged over to him. "Here," she said, picking the sunglasses of the ground.
They were strangely heavy for sunglasses.
"Thanks." Scott gratefully took his glasses and put them back on, finally able to
open his eyes. Betsy was kneeling in front of him, looking at him strangely.
"What?" he asked.
"You seem to have a very strong affection for those sunglasses. You looked like
you'd just dropped a wad of $100 bills."
"Oh. Uh.I got these sunglasses from my grandmother," Scott said, making up a
story. "She's, you know, dead now and they mean a lot to me." Scott abruptly stood up,
uncomfortable with the topic of conversation. A confused Betsy did so as well a few
moments later.
"Well, it looks like we have a draw," Mrs. Meuler announced. She clapped Scott
and Betsy on the shoulder. "Excellent playing you two. I don't think I've ever seen a
dodgeball display quite so.competitive."
During lunch, Betsy lunch, Betsy watched Scott like a hawk as she had ever since
P.E. Not once had she seen him without those sunglasses, something that intrigued her.
Scott Summers intrigued her. Betsy played around with the realization in her
head, not quite sure what it meant. Did it mean he fascinated her? Yeah, he did. Did that
mean she liked him? No, she decided. That wasn't the case. It took more than a brief
meeting and a dodgeball game for that, didn't it? Why, he probably hadn't spoken three
sentences to her since her move to Bayville. She poked a fork into her salad and began to
eat.
"Hey Scott, over here man." Scott looked around, finding Evan Daniels over at a
table waving.
"Hey Evan." Scott slid onto the seat in between Rogue and Kitty. He paused.
"Where's Jean?"
Kitty pointed over at a table way across the lunchroom. "Duncan 's table. I guess
he insisted she sit at the 'jock' table today."
"Oh." Scott tried to appear as if he did not care. "So, what's been happening with
you guys lately?"
"Kurt just discovered a new mutant ability," Rogue told him.
Scott looked at Kurt who was beaming. "Well, don't keep me waiting man, tell
me about it."
"OK, OK," Kurt said. He cleared his throat. "I can invisible."
"What?"
Rogue nodded. "He's not lying Scott. I saw him do it with my own eyes. Its like,
one minute he's there and the next he's not."
"You sure he wasn't just teleporting?"
"I wasn't teleporting," Kurt insisted.
Scott eyed Kurt a little warily. "Now Kurt, I know you can be a little bit of a joker
sometimes."
"I won't disagree with you there," Rogue cut in, "but there was no smoke or
anything. Plus, when he did it he was holding a pencil and I could still see the pencil even
when he went invisible. It looked like the pencil was floating. Invisible I tell you."
"What pencil was floating?" Jean asked from behind them.
Scott whirled around. "Jean! I thought you were over at Duncan's table."
Jean shrugged, sitting down. "I left. I mean, Duncan IS my boyfriend and all and
he's a really sweet guy but when he's around his jock friends.it's like he's someone
else." Jean paused. "So why were we talking about floating pencils?"
Betsy's last class of the day was study hall, which she coincidentally had with
Scott. She had chosen a study hall because she'd expected an inundation of work but that
was not the case. In fact, the work was incredibly easy, much easier than back at her old,
private school.
As she'd found herself doing very often since coming to Bayville High, she
looked over at Scott. He was drawing something but exactly what, she couldn't tell.
Betsy stretched out her mind, exercising her psychic powers. She could sense the
minds of others and, even without trying, sense to some degree what they were thinking.
Except for Scott of course. What was with that mental barrier thing anyway? She
gave an inward sigh. There were so many things about Scott Summers that
were.puzzling. Why did he always wear sunglasses? Why was he so afraid of taking
them off? How did he learn how to shield his mind from telepaths? Betsy pressed a little
harder against his psychic shields, testing them a little.
From the way Scott reacted, he obviously didn't think it was just a little thing. He
whirled and looked straight at her with a confused look on his face, startling half the
class. "What are you doing?"
"Mr. Summers, Ms. Braddock is there a problem?" the study hall teacher asked.
Betsy could feel her cheeks flaming. She opened her mouth but no Scott spoke
first.
"Uh.nothing Mrs. Lansing," Scott said. He looked over at Betsy one more time
with the same look of confusion before returning to his work.
Betsy slumped her head down onto her arm, sending her shiny black hair
tumbling all over the desk. 'Great going Elizabeth,' she thought.
A/N as usual, review
-Godfather