Queen of Random: I know I said that I could not do any more of these
stories for a while, but I managed to find time during a study break to
write the next chapters of a few stories. I can't promise that I will be
able to do it again, as my exams are quite important, as they will be
looked at when I apply next year to go to university, but I will try again
if I have the time, which is quite unlikely. Sorry if the next chapter is a
bit short, but, again, I am blaming it on exams. I hate them, but hey, they
are a fact of life. Sometimes I think I would rather go through having to
deal with a mutation than do any more exams!
Anyway, I have to go and study, but as I love getting your reviews and knowing how much you guys like my stories, I just had to write another bit of this story for you!
And here it is!
Beauty and the Beast
Chapter Thirteen: The Fight Begins
Hank stared at Jennifer in what appeared to be a state of shock. Finally he was able to speak. "You love me?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse with surprise.
Jennifer smiled, and nodded. "I do, Hank. I love you."
"You love me?" he repeated, not quite believing her.
Jennifer laughed quietly. "I. Love. You," she said, slowly, and carefully, drawing out each word, and making sure that he understood what she was saying.
Finally, Hank got it. And he laughed. "I love you, too."
Jennifer laughed, and kissed Hank. Then she laughed again, and he laughed, too.
Suddenly, Jennifer stopped laughing. "What is it?" asked Hank.
Jennifer let go of Hank's hand, and turned to face the door. "All right, you lot. I know you're out there."
Kitty's head appeared through the closed door. "Busted, huh?"
Both adults nodded, but they were smiling. "Yes," said Jennifer. Then she shook her head. "You have all got to get out of this bad habit. It will get you into trouble one of these days."
Kitty's head bounced up and down. "Okay, Ms Reed, Mr McCoy." Kitty's head retreated back through the door.
"We knew that we were never going to be able to keep this quiet," said Hank, laughing quietly.
Jennifer shrugged her shoulders. "At least it keeps things interesting. And at least it's not Principal Kelly who has been eavesdropping, that would not be a good thing."
"It would be interesting, though," laughed Hank, before kissing the woman he loved, and who loved him.
*
Jennifer hung the phone up with a click, sighing. "No luck?" asked Hank, who had been listening in to the conversation.
She shook her head. "Apparently, the board will not be able to see me until the end of the month."
"What about taking it to someone of higher authority?"
Jennifer shrugged her shoulders. "It might work, but I think I will wait and see what happens until then." She forced a smile. "I'll just consider this a holiday. It's not so bad."
"But-"
Jennifer saw Hank's frown and interrupted. "But nothing," she said firmly. "And don't worry, Hank. This is not your fault. For all we know, I could have lost my job later on down the track, because of the way I treat the students here. It was just a matter of time, so stop blaming yourself, Hank."
"I'm not blaming myself. I'm blaming Kelly."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, remember that I slapped him. It certainly is making me feel better thinking about it."
"I know that's a good thing," said Kurt coming into the room with Scott, "but we think that you should see this." He picked up the remote that was sitting on the table next to Hank, and switched on the television.
"Take a look," said Scott.
On the television that moment was a live press conference being held at the school. Principal Kelly was being interviewed by reporters from a number of different news crews.
"If you felt that Ms Reed was unsuitable as a teacher here at Bayville High," asked a reporter, "why did you wait so long to fire her?"
Kelly drew himself up to full height, and said, "Jennifer Reed was an excellent teacher but for one thing. She did not understand that mutants are dangerous! In fact, she was biased towards them!"
"But one could turn around and say that you are biased against mutants," said another reporter. "How can you fire her for just that?"
Kelly coughed. "Well, Ms Reed also became emotionally involved with a mutant I believe - no, I know - is capable of violence. In fact, he attacked me when I confronted Ms Reed about it."
"Liar!" said Jennifer. "He attacked me!"
"Really?" asked another reporter. "Which mutant is that?"
"Hank McCoy, another former teacher at this school. He is prone to violence, and I am afraid that Ms Reed is also capable of it as well. Before I had her fired, she attacked me for telling her the truth about McCoy. It sorrows me that such a good teacher like Ms Reed has such a poor sense of judgment."
A low growl escaped Hank's throat. "Calm down," said Jennifer. "Kurt?" she asked, turning to the boy. "Could you do me a favour?"
"Sure, Ms Reed. What is it?"
"Could you teleport me down to the school?"
Kurt did not answer. Instead, he took hold of his former teacher's arm, and they disappeared in a puff of smoke.
*
The woman coughed as she and her former student arrived after a few bursts of teleportation to get to the school. "I think I'll catch a bus on the way back, Kurt. I'm far too old for that sort of thing."
"But, you're not that old!" said Kurt. "Wait, how old are you?"
Jennifer coughed again. "Piece of advice, Kurt. Never ask a woman two things. One, how old she is, and two, how much she weighs. If you remember that, you will probably live to be a ripe old age."
Kurt nodded. "Okay." He looked around. They were not far from the front of the school, where the conference was being held. "Come on, let's go!" he said, taking off at a run.
Jennifer, still not recovered completely from her first experiences of teleporting, took off after him.
"So, was it at your suggestion that the board decided to terminate Ms Reed's contract?" asked yet another reporter. There seemed to be no end to the questions that were coming thick and fast from the crowd of reporters.
"I suppose so," said Jennifer, from a spot in the back of the crowd. No one had noticed her arrive, as they had all be focused on the lies of Principal Kelly.
The whole crowd turned around to face the speaker. "And who are you?" asked a reporter.
"A good teacher with a poor sense of judgment and a bias towards mutants, apparently."
"Excuse me?"
"My name is Jennifer Reed. I am the teacher Principal Kelly here has been kind enough to slander." She looked at Kelly. "At least you haven't resorted to libel, Edward. It would give me even more evidence that I am in the right when I take this to the highest level."
"Ms Reed! Ms Reed!" cried the reporters as they clambered to be the one to ask the questions. "What will you do now? Is it true that you are dating a mutant? Are you a mutant yourself?"
"I only have this to say: I will be fighting this unfair dismissal, and I will have Hank's support and love behind me, as well as the support of those at the Xavier Institute, even though I am human. Thank you." With that, she turned at walked away, a small smile on her face, ignoring the continuing barrage of questions that the reporters were hurling at her.
Anyway, I have to go and study, but as I love getting your reviews and knowing how much you guys like my stories, I just had to write another bit of this story for you!
And here it is!
Beauty and the Beast
Chapter Thirteen: The Fight Begins
Hank stared at Jennifer in what appeared to be a state of shock. Finally he was able to speak. "You love me?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse with surprise.
Jennifer smiled, and nodded. "I do, Hank. I love you."
"You love me?" he repeated, not quite believing her.
Jennifer laughed quietly. "I. Love. You," she said, slowly, and carefully, drawing out each word, and making sure that he understood what she was saying.
Finally, Hank got it. And he laughed. "I love you, too."
Jennifer laughed, and kissed Hank. Then she laughed again, and he laughed, too.
Suddenly, Jennifer stopped laughing. "What is it?" asked Hank.
Jennifer let go of Hank's hand, and turned to face the door. "All right, you lot. I know you're out there."
Kitty's head appeared through the closed door. "Busted, huh?"
Both adults nodded, but they were smiling. "Yes," said Jennifer. Then she shook her head. "You have all got to get out of this bad habit. It will get you into trouble one of these days."
Kitty's head bounced up and down. "Okay, Ms Reed, Mr McCoy." Kitty's head retreated back through the door.
"We knew that we were never going to be able to keep this quiet," said Hank, laughing quietly.
Jennifer shrugged her shoulders. "At least it keeps things interesting. And at least it's not Principal Kelly who has been eavesdropping, that would not be a good thing."
"It would be interesting, though," laughed Hank, before kissing the woman he loved, and who loved him.
*
Jennifer hung the phone up with a click, sighing. "No luck?" asked Hank, who had been listening in to the conversation.
She shook her head. "Apparently, the board will not be able to see me until the end of the month."
"What about taking it to someone of higher authority?"
Jennifer shrugged her shoulders. "It might work, but I think I will wait and see what happens until then." She forced a smile. "I'll just consider this a holiday. It's not so bad."
"But-"
Jennifer saw Hank's frown and interrupted. "But nothing," she said firmly. "And don't worry, Hank. This is not your fault. For all we know, I could have lost my job later on down the track, because of the way I treat the students here. It was just a matter of time, so stop blaming yourself, Hank."
"I'm not blaming myself. I'm blaming Kelly."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, remember that I slapped him. It certainly is making me feel better thinking about it."
"I know that's a good thing," said Kurt coming into the room with Scott, "but we think that you should see this." He picked up the remote that was sitting on the table next to Hank, and switched on the television.
"Take a look," said Scott.
On the television that moment was a live press conference being held at the school. Principal Kelly was being interviewed by reporters from a number of different news crews.
"If you felt that Ms Reed was unsuitable as a teacher here at Bayville High," asked a reporter, "why did you wait so long to fire her?"
Kelly drew himself up to full height, and said, "Jennifer Reed was an excellent teacher but for one thing. She did not understand that mutants are dangerous! In fact, she was biased towards them!"
"But one could turn around and say that you are biased against mutants," said another reporter. "How can you fire her for just that?"
Kelly coughed. "Well, Ms Reed also became emotionally involved with a mutant I believe - no, I know - is capable of violence. In fact, he attacked me when I confronted Ms Reed about it."
"Liar!" said Jennifer. "He attacked me!"
"Really?" asked another reporter. "Which mutant is that?"
"Hank McCoy, another former teacher at this school. He is prone to violence, and I am afraid that Ms Reed is also capable of it as well. Before I had her fired, she attacked me for telling her the truth about McCoy. It sorrows me that such a good teacher like Ms Reed has such a poor sense of judgment."
A low growl escaped Hank's throat. "Calm down," said Jennifer. "Kurt?" she asked, turning to the boy. "Could you do me a favour?"
"Sure, Ms Reed. What is it?"
"Could you teleport me down to the school?"
Kurt did not answer. Instead, he took hold of his former teacher's arm, and they disappeared in a puff of smoke.
*
The woman coughed as she and her former student arrived after a few bursts of teleportation to get to the school. "I think I'll catch a bus on the way back, Kurt. I'm far too old for that sort of thing."
"But, you're not that old!" said Kurt. "Wait, how old are you?"
Jennifer coughed again. "Piece of advice, Kurt. Never ask a woman two things. One, how old she is, and two, how much she weighs. If you remember that, you will probably live to be a ripe old age."
Kurt nodded. "Okay." He looked around. They were not far from the front of the school, where the conference was being held. "Come on, let's go!" he said, taking off at a run.
Jennifer, still not recovered completely from her first experiences of teleporting, took off after him.
"So, was it at your suggestion that the board decided to terminate Ms Reed's contract?" asked yet another reporter. There seemed to be no end to the questions that were coming thick and fast from the crowd of reporters.
"I suppose so," said Jennifer, from a spot in the back of the crowd. No one had noticed her arrive, as they had all be focused on the lies of Principal Kelly.
The whole crowd turned around to face the speaker. "And who are you?" asked a reporter.
"A good teacher with a poor sense of judgment and a bias towards mutants, apparently."
"Excuse me?"
"My name is Jennifer Reed. I am the teacher Principal Kelly here has been kind enough to slander." She looked at Kelly. "At least you haven't resorted to libel, Edward. It would give me even more evidence that I am in the right when I take this to the highest level."
"Ms Reed! Ms Reed!" cried the reporters as they clambered to be the one to ask the questions. "What will you do now? Is it true that you are dating a mutant? Are you a mutant yourself?"
"I only have this to say: I will be fighting this unfair dismissal, and I will have Hank's support and love behind me, as well as the support of those at the Xavier Institute, even though I am human. Thank you." With that, she turned at walked away, a small smile on her face, ignoring the continuing barrage of questions that the reporters were hurling at her.