Kitty Pryde
Over time, more people started to come in. I watched them enter, looking at their outfits. Some of the people came dressed rather… safe. They weren't bad outfits, but nothing that would make them standout. Some others really swung for the fences, wearing outfits with some unique patterns. Inside my head, I chuckled as I took it all in. I was in awe. I was really about to experience my first ever high school dance outside of the Xavier Institute. There must have been a huge smile on my face, because Craig nudged my shoulder with his and smiled at me when I looked up at him.
"How does it feel, Kitty?" he asked.
"It feels great, Craig," I replied as I looked back out at everyone. "I know it shouldn't be a big deal and all, but like…"I chuckled out and I felt myself shake with excitement. "I can't help but feeling like I'm getting to experience something I missed out on, you know?"
He chuckled. "Well, enjoy it. The only thing I want you to worry about is having a good time, a'ight?"
I looked at him and gave him a halfhearted glare with a smirk. "Same goes for you, you know?"
Craig quickly nodded. "Oh I will! I didn't drop all this money on this suit just to mope around, after all."
I nodded as I went back to people-watching. "Money well, spent, I'd say."
Once the food was ready, the six of us made a plate before we took a table for ourselves. We ate in silence. As we ate, I watched MJ and Peter for a bit. MJ was eating one of her chicken sliders while Peter was munching on one of his barbecue ribs. Out of nowhere, MJ tapped Peter's shoulder, getting his attention. She pointed past him. Peter looked to his left, and MJ took the opportunity to snag a rib off of his plate. Peter turned his attention back to MJ and gave her a halfhearted glare after seeing the rib on her plate. MJ smirked at him smugly before she held the sandwich she was holding to his mouth. Peter hesitated for a moment. He then took a bite out of it. As he chewed, he tried to hold back a smile… and failed. MJ chuckled heartily.
"They're so stinking cute, aren't they?" I whispered to Craig as I turned my head towards him.
"You know he can hear you, right?" Craig whispered back. My eyes went wide before I looked straight Peter. He looked back at me with a slight smile of embarrassment and a flushed face. MJ looked at Peter before she looked at me.
"What's up, Kitty?" MJ asked.
"Oh nothin'," Craig chimed in. "Peter just caught her doting on you two in 4K."
I gave Craig a glare. "I find them cute, sue me," I replied.
"We're adorable, actually," MJ retorted. I chuckled as I looked at her.
After we were done eating, we waited around for the dance itself to start, taking up a section of a wall for ourselves. As we did so, friends of Ned, Betty, and MJ came by and greeted them. The three of them turned around and introduced their friends to me and Craig and reintroduced them to Peter, with Peter doing his best to act like he never met them before. I wanted to feel sorry for the boy, but I remembered that he was in a much better place than before Craig and I met him. Still, I still wished he didn't have to go through that.
Then again, as I would soon realize, some people are better left in the past.
"MJ!" a voice called out.
All six of us turned our heads to see a boy walk up to us. He had black hair with tanned skin. I think he was Asian. I wasn't quite sure. He was wearing a maroon suit with no tie and a black and white plaid dress shirt. I looked at Betty, Ned, MJ, and Peter. I noticed the shift in their demeanor. I saw Ned let loose an annoyed sigh. I saw Betty put on a fake smile. I saw Peter's shoulders rise a little bit. I saw the neutral expression on MJ's face – the expression she puts on whenever she was trying to get a read on someone or trying to hide her disdain. Something told me it was the latter.
As soon as Brad was close enough, MJ spoke. "Hi Brad," she greeted with a certain tone as soon as he was close enough. "You look good. Got a date?"
Brad smiled. "Thanks," he replied. "You look great."
"Thank you."
"But, no I don't have a date. I decided to come by myself." Brad tilted his head. "How about you? You got a date."
Nah, I snarked internally. The boy standing next her is just there to fill wall space.
"Yes I do," MJ said matter-of-factly. She beckoned towards Peter, who stepped up. "This is Peter, my boyfriend." For a moment – just a moment – I saw the flash of disappointment on Brad's face. I started to piece things together. This Brad guy had quite the crush on MJ, and MJ knew it. No doubt she was introducing Peter to get him to back off. Would it work though? Well, hopefully it would. But if it didn't, well, if MJ gave me the go ahead…
"Pleased to meet you, Brad," Peter said as he stuck his hand out. I watched Brad carefully, putting on a small smile to hide my distrust. I saw the moment of smugness in his eyes as he took Peter's hand. He suddenly squeezed Peter's hand, but Peter didn't even flinch as he shook his hand.
"Pleasure is all mine," Brad grunted out as he pulled his hand away. "How long have you known MJ for?"
"I knew her since late last year. We talked, we became friends, and we became a thing." I almost chuckled. It was technically true, I supposed. But it was far from the whole truth.
Brad tilted his head. "But MJ never talked about you before."
"I don't kiss and tell," MJ replied. After that, she grabbed Peter by the hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm a bit thirsty." She walked away, pulling Peter along. Brad watched them as they walked away. He then looked at Betty and Ned.
"You knew?" he asked her.
"We sure did," Betty replied coolly before she took a sip of her drink.
"How come you didn't say anything?"
"Because it wasn't our business to tell," Ned answered with just a bit of heat. "Just enjoy the dance and maybe go after someone who didn't come with a date. I'm sure there're plenty of girls like that here tonight."
"…I think I'll do that." Brad took in a breath. "Enjoy the rest of the night, guys." With that, he walked off.
I watched him leave. I then dropped the mask completely as I looked at Betty and Ned with a sneer. "How long has this guy been trying to get with MJ?" I asked.
"Since the first day of school after The Blip," Ned replied. "MJ's been curbing him like an old TV on trash day since then, but he's persistent."
"It sounds like low-level stalking to me," Craig grumbled out. And I couldn't help but agree. I made a note to keep an eye out on him. I had a feeling he was liable to do something stupid. I had no issue taking Brad out back to have a chat with him – especially with the few goodies I had tucked away on my person that I didn't tell Craig about.
"Don't worry about him," Betty said reassuringly. "He's not worth being concerned about."
I hoped so.
Eventually, the music that was playing at a low level faded. I looked towards DJ Veras, who was standing behind the turntables. She picked up a microphone and spoke into it.
"Good evening Midtown Tigers!" DJ Veras exclaimed. All of the students applauded as they hooted and hollered. Veras smiled as she looked around at everyone. After the cheering died down, she spoke again. "I'm your host for tonight, DJ Veras. Shout out to my number one gunner Craig Pierre Jr., who is also in the building!" I playfully shoved Craig's shoulder. He looked at me and smirked. "It's the Valentine's Day dance. And I understand your status for tonight may differ from person to person. Maybe you're with somebody. Maybe you're trying to leave with somebody. Maybe it's complicated. Maybe you're with your friends. Maybe you're just rollin' solo dolo. No matter the situation, I'm here to make sure you have a good time. That said, let's get this party started!"
She put the microphone away. She fiddled with the turntables for a few moments before the music started. As people took the dance floor, I tilted my head upward as I listened to the song. My mouth went ajar after I recognized it. I looked over at Craig, who gave me a sideways glance.
"You didn't," I huffed out as a wide smile took over my face.
"Like I said, I want you to have a good time," Craig replied. He then reached out and took my hand with his. "Shall we?"
I nodded. He smiled before he guided me onto the floor. After we found a spot, we started dancing.
Yo, listen up here's a story
About a little guy
That lives in a blue world
And all day and all night
And everything he sees is just blue
Like him inside and outside
The song, of course was Blue (Da Ba Dee) by Eiffel 65. But it wasn't the original version. It was the KNY Remix. It was my favorite song, and one I heard when I borrowed Craig's iPod after making fun of him for a few minutes for something so old. I went through his music and was surprised by the variety. When I landed on this song, I fell in love with it. And now I here I was, dancing to this song along with someone I looked at as my little brother at a high school dance. Already, the night was better than I expected. So as the song reached the chorus…
I'm blue
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
Da ba dee da ba di
…I sang along. I poked Craig in the shoulder, urging him to do the same. And sing he did. So far, this night was everything.
This night was mine.
After the song ended, I stepped forwards and hugged Craig. I felt his chest vibrate as he chuckled before he hugged me back. I sighed in contentment before I pulled away.
"You really know how to make a girl feel special," I complimented.
"Ay, you're my date," Craig pointed out. "You may not be my girl, but I'm still going to go all out for you, ya know?"
I blushed. "I appreciate that."
We continued to dance for a few more songs. After about the fifth song, I was ready to take a break.
"Let's rest our feet for a bit," I said. Craig nodded. I started to walk towards one of the empty seats with Craig in tow when I heard a shout.
"Oh shit, my bad man!" a voice sounded. I didn't know who the voice belonged to.
"It's okay, it's okay!" another voice replied. This one I did recognize – it was Peter's.
Being curious, I walked over, knifing through crowd. I looked over my shoulder to see Craig following me. When we reached Peter, he was holding part of his jacket while MJ looked at him in worry. On the part of the jacket that Peter was holding was a large stain. I cringed, baring my teeth as Craig and I closed in on him.
"Not the stain on the Dapper Dan!" Craig groaned out.
"I didn't see him there," the boy that was apparently responsible for the stain said. I looked over at the boy. What did MJ say his name was again? Jason? Yeah, it was Jason. "I was just trying to bring a drink to my date and – "
"I can handle this," I said. "Don't worry about it." I took Peter by the hand before I looked over at MJ. "We'll be back." After MJ nodded, I pulled Peter along. Once we were out of the gym, I looked over my shoulder at Peter as I let him go. "Do you know where the nearest bathroom is?"
"Uh, yeah," Peter replied.
I beckoned forward. "Lead the way."
I followed Peter as he led me to a bathroom. I grabbed his hand and pulled him inside of the boy's bathroom. I ignored his protests. It wasn't like we were going to be there long anyway,
"I need you to stand very still for me," I ordered after I let go of his hand.
"What are you going to do?" Peter asked as I grabbed his jacket.
"I'm going to phase the stain out."
"You can do that?"
"I can do a lot of things. I just need you to be quiet and let me do my thing." I unbuttoned his jacket. I then grabbed the bottom of the stained side with my left hand and pulled, making that side of his jacket taut. I then raised my right hand placed two fingers on the stain. "Okay, focus Kitty, focus." I took in a breath and focused on the stain. I then slowly brought my fingers downward. Slowly, but surely, the stain traveled downward until it eventually dripped out of from the bottom of the jacket and onto the floor. I looked down at the liquid. I then looked up at Peter, who was looking down in awe. He looked up at me and smiled.
"Kitty!" he huffed. "You're amazing!"
"One could even say I'm astonishing," I replied smugly before I winked at him. "Seriously, I couldn't have you looking bad during your date with MJ, especially when I've been rooting for you guys for a long time."
"I really do appreciate it." Peter stepped forward and hugged me. I smiled as I hugged him back tightly. "I'm glad I met you, Craig, and Scott. You do know that, right?"
"I know, Pete. I know. And in case you didn't know, we're glad we met you, too."
It was such a feel good moment, right? So, of course something came along to ruin it.
Or rather, someone.
I saw a quick flash of light out of the corner of my eye. I quickly pulled away from Peter and turned to the right, just in time to see the door close.
"…What was that?" I asked.
"Um… let's see…" Peter mumbled out as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. I recognized them – those glasses housed E.D.I.T.H. He put the glasses on and spoke again. "Hey, Edith, would you kindly patch me into the camera systems of this school." He paused for a few moments. He then smiled. "Thank you." He went quiet again. The smile faded from his face, replaced by a sneer. "…Oh no, not again."
"Not again?" I tilted my head. "What?"
Peter took his glasses off in disgust and put them back into his jacket. "It's Brad. I just saw him rushing back towards the dance!" He shook his head. "Back in Europe, before the spell, he took a picture of me and a SHIELD operative in a bathroom. It looked really bad out of context. Anyway, he tried to show that picture to MJ to make me look like scumbag. Fortunately, Edith erased it before he could show MJ. Anyway, I think he's trying to do the same thing now."
I stared at Peter for a few moments. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath before I let it loose. After that, I reached behind my back and pulled out my two sai. As Peter's went wide, I twirled them in my hands.
"Yeah, I'm going to have a talk with him," I whispered.
"Kitty, no!" Peter barked out.
"Kitty, fucking yes!"
"Kitty, think about this for a moment."
I glared at him. "Um, let's see. Brad took a picture of us in the bathroom. He's making his way back to the dance, and most likely going to seek out MJ, show her the picture, and make you look like an unfaithful scumbag and make me look like a backstabbing jezebel. I thought about it. I'm going to have a talk with him."
"Kitty…" Peter took in a breath as he closed his eyes. "You're not wrong… at all… but think about this even more. One, you'll end up banned from this school for life."
"Not a student here, so I can live with that," I quipped.
"Two, you will turn a lot of colleges off from admitting you."
"Pepper has influence."
"Three, Craig and Scott would be very disappointed in you."
That actually gave me pause. I quickly shook my head. "They would understand, I think."
"Four, you might end up ruining the night for the rest of The American Idiots."
"…I… Well…" I was faltering. Angry Kitty was losing ground to the normal, more logical Kitty.
"Lastly, you'll likely expose your extracurricular activities."
I went quiet. As much as I tried to, I couldn't think of a counterpoint for that one. I sighed in defeat. "…I hate you." I didn't mean it, and judging by his smirk, Peter knew it. Reluctantly, I put my sai away. "So what do we do about Brad?"
"We just have to find him and talk to him… non-violently." He said the last part through a clenched jaw.
I smirked at him. "Why do you sound like you want to kick him in the dick?"
"Because I do. Now let's go."
"Yes sir," I snarked as I followed him out.
Seriously, fuck Brad!