"So you from around here?" One of the boys asked Rogue, Bobby, and Jubilee.
"Yeah." Jubilee answered shortly, skeptical of the reason why he was asking.
"I don't think I've seen you around Hamilton High?" The other boy asked.
"We go to Xavier's…School for the Gifted." Bobby replied.
The two boys looked at each other and then back at the trio.
"Oh, you mean that school for science experiments. At least that's the rumor we've been hearing." The first boy said point-blank.
"Why don't you just go back to your freak school?" The second one said to them.
"So, you going to do something about it if we don't?" Bobby replied to one of the boys as they stood outside in the mall parking lot. Bobby showed that he had no intention of backing down from them and was secretly icing one of his hands up behind his back, making it as solid as concrete.
"Yeah, me and my friend are going to kick your mutie-ass around this parking lot." One of the boys said.
"Then you'll have to do that with the odds three-against-two." Rogue told them.
"Fine by me. I don't have a problem hitting a girl, especially one that looks like she's from another planet." The second boy replied, making a comment about Rogue's hair.
"You're one to talk about the way somebody else looks, especially the way that you're dressed." Jubilee verbally struck back.
"Huh?" He replied.
"Oooh look at me, I totally think the Grunge-Look is still in." Jubilee said as she mocked the second boy.
"I changed my mind, I think I'll start with your big mouth!" The second boy said, as he was about to take a swing at Jubilee. Jubilee prepared to duck his punch and hit him back. But suddenly, fighting back became a moot point.
"It's not nice to hit a lady." A young man said as he grabbed the second boy from behind.
The other four teens saw another individual, who by first glance, was neither extraordinary looking nor very intimidating. But his greatest attribute wasn't something that could be seen visually. His heart.
"Ramsey, why don't you go back and play with your computer or something, before we decide to put geeks in the same category as mutants?" The second boy said to him, as he threw young Mr. Ramsey to the ground.
"How about you stop trying to bully people, just because they're different from you." He replied, as he slowly sat up on the asphalt.
"I can't believe your actually sticking up for these freaks!" The first boy stated.
"Believe it." He said simply.
"You can hang out with them if you want to, just don't be surprised when one of 'em ends up killing you and your family." The first boy said as he and the second one turned to leave.
"Who would have thought, a real-life knight in shining armor?" Jubilee said jokingly as she thanked the young man who had stuck up for her and her friends.
"It's no big deal. I saw those guys following you out here from inside the mall. They're always finding somebody to pick on at my school." He replied.
"Well, it is a big deal. And an easy way to get yourself hurt, especially considering the reason why they didn't like us." Bobby said to him.
"Just because you're mutants, doesn't give those jerks the right to make you feel like you're less than human." He told the trio.
"I wish everybody felt the same way you do." Rogue said as she held onto Bobby's hand with her own gloved-hand, "My name's Marie and this is my boyfriend Bobby."
"Nice to meet you, my name is Doug." He said to Rogue and Bobby. He then turned to the other young lady that was standing next to them. "And what's your name?"
"Me? My name's Jubilee." Jubilee replied non-chalantly.
"Nice to meet you Jubilee. You know, you have a pretty unusual name." Doug said as he gently shook her hand.
"I know. Of all the names out there, stupid 'rents had to name me Jubilation." Jubilee replied as she folded her arms across her body.
"Actually, I think it's a nice name. It's unique and different." Doug said to her.
"Really?" Jubilee responded, caught off guard by his compliment.
"Hey guys, we should probably head back to the school." Bobby said to the group.
"Mind if I tag along for part of the way? I don't think your school is very far from my house." Doug asked them.
"Sure, but you'd better buckle up. Rogue isn't what you'd call a conservative driver." Jubilee responded. She waited while Doug went back for a shopping bag that he had laid on the ground during the altercation. After he picked it up, they followed Bobby and Rogue to the car.
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Meanwhile back at the mansion…
Kitty had come downstairs to meet up with Peter, but he wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Where could he be?" She thought to herself. Kitty decided to go to the recreation area and see if maybe he was waiting for her in there.
"Have you guys seen Peter?" Kitty asked two of the students that were seated on the sofa watching TV.
"Ah think he went out to tha garden area." Samuel Guthrie replied.
"Thanks." Kitty replied as she walked toward the doors that led outside.
"No problem." Sam said as he turned his attention back to the TV, "Hey Jones, stop blinking for a second. Ah was watchin' that!"
The flower garden was the most beautiful section of the school and Kitty didn't have to wonder why Peter would want to go out there. As she reached the entrance, Kitty expected to find him sitting and waiting for her. But instead, he was busy working on a new portrait.
"So, what's your latest masterpiece?" Kitty asked him.
"I'm trying to paint the landscape as the sun is setting," Peter replied as he continued to work with the canvas, "but I can't seem to get it right."
"Seems simple, draw a big orange circle and some yellow rays around it." Kitty said.
"If it were only that easy," Peter replied with a small laugh, "I want to capture the essence of the sunset, to express what it means to me."
"I guess that's a little more complicated." Kitty responded.
"I keep looking at it and looking at it. My painting almost looks like the scene that I have in my mind, but it just is not saying what I want it to." Peter said as he stood stoically in front of his artwork.
"It looks really good to me. But then again, I'm no art expert." Kitty said as she stood next to Peter.
Kitty placed one hand on Peter's shoulder and leaned against him, looking at the beautiful expression he had put onto the canvas. Peter could feel a tingling sensation go through his body from her touch. Peter realized that she was phasing the both of them and it seemed as though Kitty was completely unaware that she was even doing it. Peter didn't say anything about it, because it actually felt kind of nice. He wasn't sure if it was because of the fact that the molecules in his body were being displaced and he felt lighter from the phasing effect, or just the fact that Kitty was standing so close to him.
"Have you always liked painting?" Kitty asked him, breaking the silence.
"I've been doing it as a hobby for the last few years. I didn't even start until I came to this school from my home in Siberia." Peter answered. He decided to take a break from his work and they both walked over to a nearby bench to sit down.
"You never talk about your home country, don't you miss it?" Kitty inquired.
"Yes, but not as much as when I first arrived here."
"It must've been strange to be in another country, with a whole new language to learn."
"The language part wasn't that difficult. The Professor helped me overcome my language barrier with his telepathic guidance, and I did some extra work on my own." Peter said to her.
"Do you think you can still speak Russian as well as you did before you came here?"
"Of course! It is like riding a bicycle, you don't forget how. Here's an example, 'Privet Katya'!" Peter said to her.
"What does that mean?" Kitty asked as she gazed at Peter.
"It means 'Hello Kitty'!"
"So my name in Russian is Katya?" She replied.
"Yes, I think it has a wonderful ring to it. As a matter of fact, my real name is Piotr, but I figured Peter would be a lot easier for most of the students here to pronounce." Peter said.
"Okay, say something else." Kitty asked him.
"Katya, Vy ochen'krasivy." Peter said to her.
"I guess that means 'Kitty, you are a very slow learner'." Kitty said with a small laugh.
"No. Actually it means 'Kitty, you are very beautiful'." Peter said as he translated for her.
"Oh." Kitty said as she smiled and started to blush.
The pair didn't say anything else to each other for a while. Instead, they sat there and watched a beautiful sight as the sun started to set. Eventually, Peter spoke again.
"So, what of your family?"
"Well, my family is typical suburbia. My parents both have successful careers. My Dad happens to work for one of the largest banks in Chicago. I guess it's too bad my powers kept me from being the perfect daughter, in their otherwise, picture-perfect family." Kitty told him.
"My parents were anxious when I left home to come here. How did your parents feel when you left?" Peter inquired.
"At first they were hesitant, but they knew it was the best place for me to learn to control my ability. The first time my powers worked, I was asleep in my bed one night. The next thing I knew, I was downstairs in our living room. As time passed, I started having more and more episodes like that, and I didn't know how to stop myself from occasionally walking through walls or furniture. I was getting really scared because I didn't know what was happening to me. Then one day, the Professor and Dr. Grey showed up and explained everything to me and my family. When she told me about being a mutant and that I wasn't totally alone, it was like such a huge relief. I guess that's the one thing I'm never going to forget about her, they way she could comfort you with only a few words." Kitty revealed to him.
"Indeed." Peter agreed.
Peter and Kitty sat there and continued to talk to each other about their lives until it was late in the evening, neither one really wanting their conversation to come to an end.
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Next Chapter: Somebody's got a boyfriend…
A/N: Special Thanks to www.dating-world.net for the Russian phrases I used in this chapter. (Yes I realize the irony, pick up lines in Russian. But they had a pretty good list of other Russian phrases as well.)