Jean stared out of her bedroom window longingly. The leaves on all of the trees had transformed into blood reds, burnt oranges, and majestic yellows. The air was growing colder and more crisp. And a small frost had fallen over the Institute's many acres the night before, leaving a cold morning dew on everything. She could see it all but yet still found herself in bed. Not that she should be out of it — her head was pounding from the previous night's events. It was well in the middle of the day and the rest of the Institute's students were at school.
It's been so long since I've actually missed a day... She leaned back against her pillows and closed here eyes. I guess we all need our days off every once in a while.
"Ahh, Jean. You're awake," Ororo's tall, lean figure walked through the door with enviable grace and elegance, "I hope you're feeling better this morning?" Jean shrugged her shoulders and brought her hand to her head.
"I have a headache." Ororo chuckled softly and placed her hand on Jean's head.
"As to be expected," Ororo replied. She paused for a moment, apparently deep in thought. Jean tilted her head, curious as to what Ororo was thinking. Her telekinesis was too weak right now for her to hear thoughts. And her head certainly hurt too much for Jean to strain herself. "Can I ask what caused your mind to lose control last night, Jean?"
"I... I don't know." It was a blatant lie — of course Jean knew what was troubling her. The problem was admitting it. Especially to Ororo. And yet, Ororo was someone she definitely trusted.
"I just have a lot on my mind lately," Jean added, trying to recover from her obviously fake statement; Jean knew exactly what was bothering her. Ororo closed her eyes slowly and reopened them, hoping to make Jean feel more relaxed. She brought her hand to lift Jean's chin so that Jean would have direct, unwavering eye contact with her.
"If there's anything you want to talk about, just know you can always come to me." Jean's lips curled into a broad smile.
"Thank you, Ororo. Though I really am fine. I'm still training my mind anyways." Ororo stood up and swiftly moved over to the door. She gave one last smile to Jean and walked out, leaving the door ajar.
You're a terrible liar, Jean, Ororo thought to herself, letting a small chuckle escape her ruddy lips. Terrible.
With her legs curled up to her chest and her arms wrapped securely around them, Jean sat in solitude on the fountain's ledge that rested in the courtyard. Jean was waiting for everyone to get home from school; she found that being alone in the Institute with no one near her age was surprisingly boring. Dr. McCoy was off working on some new invention, Logan was too secretive and stiff to have a true conversation with (and it was impossible to have a conversation with him that excluded the degrading expressions "bub" or "kid" and his condescending tone). Jean had already talked to Ororo (who kept giving her a skeptical eye whenever their paths crossed) and to Jean's knowledge, the Professor was currently using Cerebro to find future recruits for the Institute. All in all, there was nothing to do and no one there to just "hang out" with.
"Ah! 'Ello Jean!" Kurt called out from the car that sped down the driveway not to far from where she was sitting. Kurt instantly bamfed next to her, sending her to jump backwards. A loud splash of cold water erupted from the aesthetic fountain. Kurt gasped loudly and brought one of his hands to his forehead.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Jean! I didn't mean to!" Kurt declared, reaching his hand into the fountain to help Jean out. Kitty, Rogue, Evan, and Scott had already started running over to see what was going on. Jean's hand found Kurt's quickly but instead of her being pulled out, she jerked him in. His fall in splashed everyone else with the frigid water. Jean flipped her sopping wet hair out of her face and grinned at Kurt.
"Apology accepted."
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
"Jean? Are you in there?" Scott shouted, his ear pressed faintly against her door to see if she was answering, "I'm coming in!" he proclaimed as a fair warning, "And you better be decent," he muttered under his breath as he opened the door. No one. Quietly, he stepped into her room and looked around with a little more effort. The door to her bathroom was ajar only slightly and he could hear something from inside.
"Have you ever seen such a beautiful night?
I could almost kiss the stars for shining so bright.
When I see you smiling I go 'Oh oh oh!'
I would never want to miss this
'Cause in my heart I know what this is.
This is what dreams are—"
The singing from inside stopped suddenly.
"Is someone there?" Jean questioned loudly. Scott froze, not making a sound. Instead he leaned his head through the door to see what Jean was doing. Through the clear, yet blurred plastic curtain, Scott could make out Jean's nude body inside the shower. He suddenly felt very lightheaded and stumbled backwards.
"Hello?" she asked again, even more loudly this time. Still Scott said nothing. He dashed to the door and closed it quietly behind him. Beads of sweat had begun to form on his head and his face was clearly flushed. He let off a harsh sigh and began walking away from her door.
"Scott! Like, Scott come back here!" Kitty yelled to him. He paused to turn his head to look at her, hoping that he didn't look as lightheaded and flushed as he felt.
"Were you like, just in Jean's room?"
"Yeah, so?" he retorted, trying to look casual and disinterested.
"So like, you do know that she was in the shower?!"
"Yeah but that's because I head the shower running. I didn't actually go—"
"Like, just totally save it, Summers! You perv!" she shrieked, sneering at him as she walked by. He exhaled sharply and brought his hand to his face.
What a day.
"Hurry up, Grey!" Evan bellowed from the foyer, "I've got a math test first period, man! I can't be late!" Rogue tried to stifle her laughter with little effort.
"And since when do you care about tests and school?" she questioned, knowing that she — in fact — was right. Evan grinned.
"Since seeing Jean in a rush became amusing." Just then, Jean came rushing down the stairs, failing horribly at keeping her balance. Rogue glared at her condescendingly while Evan widened his eyes in amusement. Jean stopped on the last step and shifted her books in her arms.
"I don't have an excuse for being late so I won't bother making one," she said bluntly with a grin. Rogue rolled her eyes.
"Let's just go. We'll be lucky if Scott, Kurt and Kitty are still here." Evan mounted his skateboard and headed outside.
"I doubt Scott would leave us behind!" he called back as he zoomed towards the garage. Jean glanced at Rogue who immediately blew her off and ran out the door. Even though she was overwhelmed, Jean ran outside with confidence. Because today was the day where she'd finally be free of it all.
Scott slammed his locker shut and twirled the lock between his fingers. He turned quickly, leaning against the line of lockers that inhabited Bayville High's hallways. It was hard for him to focus on Kitty, who was ranting endlessly in front of him over his "perverted" invasion of Jean's privacy last night. He couldn't keep his eyes off Jean, who had unfortunately found her way over to Duncan. Or perhaps Duncan had found his way over to her. Either way, Jean wasn't with Scott. And that meant everything. And currently meant that there was nothing.
What does she see in him? He didn't want to think about it. Thinking about what he couldn't change tore him up inside. But maybe he could change it. Maybe not. But he couldn't help but feel so enraged to see her with him.
"Like, thanks for even listening to me!" Kitty shouted, having to strain her neck to look up at Scott's tall figure. Before he could even react to her, she stormed off muttering words (that were rather juvenile at that) under her breath.
"Oops.." Scott answered out loud, too late for it to even matter, of course. He let out a sigh between his lips and started walking down the hall to the quad where he'd get to eat his lunch in peace, in hopes to get his mind off things.
"Leave me alone, Duncan! I'm telling you it's over!" Jean cried out, pushing her way passed him. Before she could evade his grasp, Duncan latched onto her arm tightly and viciously glared at her, smirking all the while. She tried to wriggle free but he was far too strong. Scott turned around, only to see Duncan plant a forceful, undesired kiss upon Jean's lips. She immediately spat on him and used her telekinesis to release his firm grasp from around her arm. Scott ran over and pulled Jean aside, just in time to keep Duncan's hand for slapping her across the face.
"Well well well. If it isn't the King of the Freaks, Scott Summers." Duncan proclaimed coyly, hoping to inflict as much damage onto Scott as he could. Scott hardly flinched in reply; his gaze on Duncan strong and unshakable. "What's the matter, Summers? Your glasses blinding you from seeing Jean and me having a discussion?" He then focused his attention on Jean.
"You were a complete waste of time," he shot out, causing her to cower backwards into Scott's muscular frame, "If only you could have realized why I was in it from the start. Too bad I overestimated what a prude, worthless bitch like you was willing to do."
Jean sank to the floor, shielding her face with one of her hands, her hair dangling weakly in front of her face. Scott tried to put his hands on her shoulders, only causing her to jerk backwards. He looked from side to side suspiciously, discovering a undesirably large crowd had formed around them. Desperately, he tried one more time to place his hands over her defeated body.
Jean. It's alright. It's me. I won't leave you.
Jean pressed her hands hard against the chilled tile floor, now moist with her tears. With all her strength, she stood up and turned away from Duncan, whose eyes were hungrily waiting for some petty reply that she wouldn't sink to say.
"Please take me home, Scott." Her voice sounded desperate — inconsolable. Scott nodded calmly, only to immediately shoot a menacing glare at Duncan. Jean marched forward, not letting her anger consume her. The crowd around them parted as she walked by; their voices whispering wildly with the new gossip that was aching to be spread, their eyes darting violently in hopes to catch every detail of the moment. Scott trailed closely behind her, hoping that he'd somehow be able to take care of her despairing heart.
