A Lovers Feud

A Lovers Feud

By: Alex Destine

Chapter 2

           

"Stupid, Stupid!… STUPID!!!" The school day was over and everyone was getting ready to go home, however for  Pietro Maximoff a dark cloud had presented itself on his last class for the day. Because of that he was now having fun banging on a helpless locker door while Lance, Todd and Fred watched from a safe distance.

After a few moments of silence Todd dared ask what was on every ones minds.

"You think he's over it?"

"…..… STUPID!!!!!!" was screamed loud and clear across the hallway making a few of the students cringe.

"Not yet Todd, give him a few minutes." Lance was again leaning against the lockers as they waited for Pietro's temper to calm down. The young sophomore had received a less that pleasant grade on a test he had commented was a 'breeze' and being the perfectionist that he was the only solution to his problem was to beat up on a few lockers.

"Hey Lance, what grade did he get?" Fred was beginning to get worried about his friend.

"I don't know, he was banging lockers and cursing already when I got here."

"Think we should go and fetch him?"

"……… STUPID!!!!"

"Not quite yet…"

"But yo! Lance, we have to go! I have to study remember. I need to get home as soon as possible so I can learn what they've been talking about during the last two weeks."

"Todd, if you wanted to pass the class you shouldn't have waited till the last possible moment to study."

"My, my… aren't we getting responsible. Next thing you know you'll be telling me to brush my teeth before bed."

"Wouldn't kill ya either…" said Fred as he took a bit of some chocolate bar he had been saving.

"Shut up Freddy!"

"The two of you be quiet. What about me? I'm going to be late on my first day at my part time job! You think I want to be here. Now just wait a while to see if … did you hear that?"

Both Todd and Fred looked around carefully, not daring to move a muscle.

"What you hear Lance?"

"Nothing…"

"Huh, so that means…?"

"That Pietro stopped."

"HEY GUYS, WHAT YA DOING HUH?!!? LET ME JOIN! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS ARE UP TO!"

"And now he started again…" Todd didn't even bother to look at him, they all knew Pietro had mood swings that were as fast as he was.

            Lance placed himself in front of Pietro to make sure he had his teammate's complete attention.

"PIETRO, listen to me! Fred will be in detention for a while and I'm driving Todd back home and then heading to my job. What are you doing? You going back home with us?"

"Nah, are you kidding? I have to go to the practices for that play. Did you forget already?"

"Yeah I remember, the play without title…"

"IT'S GOT A TITLE!" Pietro crossed his arms over his chest as he defended his new hobby against Lance's criticisms. "… I just don't know it yet."

"Well good luck and whatever, now we have to go!" Todd was tugging at Lance's arm for him to move faster. He really needed to study.

"Ok ,ok… Todd let go of me! Watch yourself Pietro and try not to fight, huh? Not without me around."

"What's the matter Lance boy, think I can't handle myself?" Pietro smirked.

"Nope, not that at all… just watching out for the poor losers you fight against…. Ouch! Todd QUIT IT!… we're leaving now!"

"Bye bye!" Pietro waved as his two friends practically ran to the parking lot.

"Just the two of us now, hey Fat boy?"

"Yep, say Pietro, why were you so upset? I mean, you must've gotten a pretty BAD grade to be screaming and kicking like a baby the way you were back there… Pietro?… Pietro?!"

            Once in the parking lot Todd suddenly stopped dead on his tracks and slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. Lance just looked at him amused and smiled to himself.

"Did you forget something Todd, we can go back and pick it up if you want."

"No, it's not that. I forgot to remind Fred that he shouldn't talk about grades around Pietro for a while you know…"

"Come on, Freddy knows better then that."

Lance and Todd kept walking to the car when they suddenly heard a faint yet familiar sound.

"…. Stupid!!!…"

They simply looked at each other and ran the rest of the way to the car.

***********************************************************

Kitty Pryde was late for the audition, she simply couldn't find the right room. This whole play thing was a mystery to everyone she asked for directions. She finally found it though, a room full of cheerleaders and a few jocks, most of the guys there weren't on the football team but they were still popular one way or another.

She walked over to one of the girls to ask information about this play, it didn't go exactly as she had planned it.

"Who are you?" asked the girl who was apparently also the director.

"I'm Kitty Pryde. Heard you were doing a play and I wanted to try out."

"Sorry, full cast. Maybe next time sweetie."

"But how can you choose the cast if you haven't done auditions yet?"

"Listen kid, we're trying to work here, alright. Let me help you find someone that will guide you, ok? Duncan! A little help here!"

            The huge football player known as Duncan Matthews walked over to where Kitty was, he knew what to do. He had to get rid of the unwanted people.

~~ Oh great, I'm going to be pulled out by this huge gorilla! I don't think so. ~~

            As they walked to the door Kitty started to talk to him.

"So, hey… like, you're the famous Duncan! I'm like so happy to finally meet you!"

Duncan stopped for a while, surprised at Kitty's charming attitude toward the person who was throwing her out.

"How you know me?"

"Like, Jean talks about you all the time, you know!"

~~ I don't have to say it's usually followed by an insult, now do I? ~~

"Jean, Jean Grey? You're the freshman that always hangs around with her?"

"Yep, like that's me! You told Jean about this play didn't you? Jean was too busy so she told me to try out in her place. Like, Jean would be so happy if I at least got a small part on it you know."

"Right!… sure, let me just talk to one of those girls over there,… hey, does Jean really talk about me all the time?"

"Like totally! I feel like I already know you!"

"Right, right… let me see what I can do."

~~ Jean, may you one day forgive me… ~~

            Duncan was trying his best to convince the 'director' that Kitty would be a good choice. After much coaxing and simply just to get Duncan off her case, the girl named Claudia agreed to let the young freshman audition for a part.

"Let her be the female lead!" Duncan was glad he was finally getting his way.

"Are you insane? A freshman! Besides, Mallory is going to be our female lead!" said the director giving Duncan the evil eye. "Mallory! Come here please! … Our dear friend Duncan 'needs' this freshman on the play, he wants her to have the lead."

            Mallory's eyes grew wide for a moment, then they settled for the evil eye as well.

"Duncan, sweetie… what are you thinking?" Mallory placed her hands on her hips as she stared at the over-seized football player.

"Ok, ok! I can take a hint!… just give her something… please."

"I don't think I want this little girl in our play" said Mallory looking at their director.

Claudia didn't say anything for a while,  she had to figure out a way to make both Mallory and Duncan happy. After what seemed like forever Claudia finally came up with the perfect solution.

"Ok Duncan, we'll let her try out for the female lead. Now give the script to the little girl and tell her to be ready."

"Alright!" Duncan grabbed the pieces of paper and headed toward the now very nervous Kitty.

"Claudia! What did you just do?" Needless to say, Malloy was furious.

"Relax. We'll always choose you. She'll be your understudy, now go practice your lines!"

"Fine!…"

            Duncan walked over to Kitty to give her the good news.

"Like, NO WAY! The female lead? There most be some mistake…" Kitty was so happy right now, she could pop!

"Nope, Duncan Matthews always delivers. Make sure you tell Jean that."

"Oh, sure will! 'Duncan Matthews always delivers.' Yep, got it!" she couldn't believe it!

*******************************************************

            Now Pietro was really late and all because Fred had reminded him the reason why he was banging those lockers.

~~ Stupid Fat boy! … I was NOT screaming and kicking like a baby!! ~~ Pietro thought as he dash through Bayville's hallways.

Finally he got to the room where the play was being practiced. It was full of cheerleaders, no surprise there. A few jocks were there too but not too many, he figured most of the 'manly' football players wouldn't be caught dead in a play. However, of the few guys that were present he saw that most of them were what you'd call popular. Presidents of other clubs or all around rich little kids that made Pietro want to puke, still the fact that he had been asked here as well meant he was moving up in the Bayville High social scale.

And then he saw him, Duncan Matthews. Not his favorite person. It was always him who managed to find something insulting to say toward Lance or Fred; and the fact that he and his friends constantly picked on Todd was one of the main reasons he wanted to punch his lights out.

            But Pietro knew he had to find a way to control himself. If he fought Duncan here he couldn't be in the play and that meant going home after school to do his homework in 5 seconds and then sit on the couch and stare into the ever so slow moving clock as it ticked-tocked time and his sanity away.

~~ Not happening! ~~

            And as if seeing him wasn't bad enough, he saw who he was with.

~~ No way… it can't be who I think it is. ~~

            'Hyperactive bouncy' light-brown ponytail, 'tooth-decaying sweet' pink sweater, and the annoying repetitive sounds of: 'like…' 'whatever…' & 'you know…'

~~ It's HER! … An X-freak! ~~

            Could Pietro Maximoff handle being in a room with those two and not let sarcasm or his temper get the best of him? … Not likely.

Luckily he hadn't made three steps into the room when he heard Mallory crying out to him.

"There you are! Finally our male lead has arrived." Mallory ran to his side and grabbed his arm as she pulled him toward Claudia. "He's here now, not to worry."

"Yeah, sorry I'm late. Couldn't find the place." Pietro was trying to get rid of the very tight grip this cheerleader had on him.

            Mallory pulled on his arm once more to signal him to get closer to her, as he did she placed her mouth very close to his ear and whispered the troubles she had to go through.

"You don't know how hard it was for me to convince Claudia to let you have the lead. There were like a million guys who wanted that role!"

            Pietro looked around and noticed that he was indeed getting dirty looks from most of the guys in that room.

~~ HA! Losers! I'm the best! Me! Meeeeee! ~~

"Pietro… PIETRO!" Claudia hit him on the head with the script.

"Hey! Oh sorry… spaced out. Well I'm here now right. That the important thing, I'm here and I'm going to play the LEAD!"

~~ Losers! HAHA! ~~

"Yeah well… learn your lines first Maximoff, then we'll talk." Claudia was still skeptical.

"I can memorize this whole script in five minutes… maybe less."

"Glad to hear it, cause both you and Mallory have a lot of lines together."

"Yeah, guess we'll have to practice a lot of hours after school, huh Pietro?" Mallory was practically clinging to his arm now.

"Yeah, guess we will." Oh, the looks of  death glares from most of the other guys in the room were enough to keep Pietro happy for a long while.

            Kitty Pryde was busy talking to Duncan,… of all people. For now he was the only one there who knew of her existence, but that was only because he saw her as a free ticket toward Jean.

"Like, I knew it was too good to be true. I mean, the understudy?! What are the chances of Mallory suddenly getting sick anyway!"

"Hey, your acting was pretty good. Most of the guys here say you were even better then Mallory." Duncan said as he played around with a football.

"Yeah but like, big surprise! Didn't get the part… guess understudy is like still good, right?"

"Of course it is, you still have to come to practices you know. In case something does happen you have to be just as prepared as Mallory will be. Say,… maybe Jean could come by too. You know, to help you practice here. I could help too you know!"

"Umh… right, of course. I'd have to ask her."

            Kitty Pryde then saw light invading the small air-conditioned room as the door was opened. A young boy walked in, he looked familiar but the light behind him didn't let her focus too much on him. Once the door closed she saw who it was.

 ~~ No way… it can't be who I think it is. ~~

            'Short white hair, except for those two annoying long bangs that were placed neatly on the back of his head. Good quality (you might even say expensive) brown shirt, and a pose that just screamed 'I'm way better then you, worship me now!'

~~ It's HIM! … From like, The BROTHERHOOD! ~~

            And he was looking directly at Kitty Pryde. That is until she heard Mallory scream his name and run up to him. She dragged him and pulled as if she had been desperate for something. It was clear on Pietro's face that he had not been expecting this type of welcome. He was then dragged over to the play-god Claudia and from there on it was easy to over hear.

~~ So like, HE's the male lead? Makes me glad I'm the understudy. ~~

            Pietro took a chance when Mallory was called by one of her fellow cheerleaders to place a bit of distance between them. That girl was starting to get to his nerves, but he thought he was masking it all rather well. He sat down and turned the page rapidly one after the other. To anyone else it might've seen as if he was bored and just playing with the papers, but he was in fact reading them. He could've read them faster, but the movement would've been too obvious.

            Once he was done reading the whole script  he went back to look for all the scenes where he had to appear.

~~ I'm practically on every page! And so is Mallory… who wrote this crap! ~~

            The whole play basically consisted of the usual hackneyed idea of a young couple that fell in love but couldn't be together for whatever reason. Pietro had lost interest after the first nanosecond.

~~ You mean I have to act out all this romantic nonsense in front of an audience! An audience that would most likely have Mystique in it! She is the Principal, after all… no way! I don't think so. ~~

"There's no way I'm doing this stuff!"

"Like, thank god!"

            Pietro looked up. He realized he had said his last thoughts out loud, but who had answered them? And what did that person mean by 'thank god' anyway?!? He looked up and right into the blue eyes of one X-freak.

"You have something to say geek?"

"Umm, no like… never mind, ok?"

"Aww, not so tough without your gang to back you up?"

"Hey, I don't need to be with them all the time you know… I can handle myself."

"Really, you don't say? Well, you're doing a fine job of that right now, aren't you? Well, if you have something to say to me kitty-cat say it now, unless you want to wait till we meet with your babysitter to tell me."

            She was so mad! She was not a little kid and she could stand up to any Brotherhood member any day!

"Like, I said 'Thank God' because any play that doesn't have you in it is sure to go way better!"

            Pietro stopped what he was doing and looked at her for a while. He hadn't expected her to answer, but now that she did it meant he had to answer back.

"Have you read this stupid script? I couldn't even find a plot! I'm too good for this junk!

"Maybe like, the play needs some work, but that's not the problem. You just can't do it! You can't do this play!"

~~ What did she say?!? ~~

~~ What did I say?!? ~~

"WhatdoyoumeanIcan'tdothisstupidplay?!" Pietro was mad now.

Kitty blinked a few times.

"Huh?"

"What. Do. You. Mean. I. Can't. Do. This. Stupid. Play?!"

"Oh, now I understand you… like, how can you ask that? If you could do it you wouldn't be running away from it! Afraid your Brotherhood friends might laugh at you?"

            Pietro wanted so much to put his hands on that small delicate neck of hers and see just who was afraid. But he calmed himself. After all, he had just been issued a challenge.

"Fine, you little X-freak. I'll stay and prove to you that I'm better then anyone in this stupid play!"

"Like, whatever… do what you want."

            Just then Pietro felt his arm being tucked again. Oh yes, he had almost forgotten Mallory. The redhead was holding to Pietro and starring right into Kitty's soul.

"You don't need to be here anymore Freshman. You can practice your lines back in your place now."

"I'd rather practice here, thank you." As if anyone was going to tell Kitty Pryde to go!

"Come on Pietro! We should practice for a while."

"Yeah, we want this play to be PERFECT now, don't we?" as Mallory pulled Pietro back to the front of the room he turned around and shouted at Kitty.

"See you later, FRESHMAN!"

If looks could really kill, well… Kitty definitely wouldn't have been Pietro's first death.

~~ I hate him!! I'm leaving now, but I'll come back tomorrow and I'll prove I can do this better then Mallory ever could! ~~

            And with that a very angry Kitty Pryde walked out.

*******************************************************

 

            Pietro Maximoff was slouching off on his bed looking back on the day's events. He held the, as of right now, EVIL script and looked at its pages one more time. It didn't matter how many times he read it over it all still looked stupid. Definitely all those love scenes needed some re-writing.

~~ Most of my lines are completely stupid! If they were 'romantic' type of stupid, I wouldn't mind since that was the whole idea of this play, but it's not romantic at all… it's just… STUPID! ~~

            Pietro's thoughts were interrupted  by a loud knock on his door.

"There's no one here!" he yelled out.

"Ha ha! Very funny Pietro. May I come in?"

"Oh my… we're asking and everything now? How respectful! Whatever Lance, get in here already."

            Lance leaned against the door as he looked at the young speed-demon.

"Well you know, have to practice. Now that I have a job I just can't treat a customer the way I treat you losers around here."

"Ah! So your evil plan has been discovered. We're nothing more but your puppets and practice dummies!"

"That's right Pietro, that's about it."

"You need anything?"

"Just wondering why you're up here. You'd usually be teasing Todd or grabbing Fred's food right before he placed it in his mouth."

"Thought I'd make you guys sufferer without my presence for a while. But if you really miss me…"

"Everything ok at that play?"

"Well, as 'ok' as that stupid thing is ever going to get."

"You don't like it?"

" It's amazing my lack of vocabulary when I have to describe that play. The only word that comes to mind is STUPID. Nothing else does it justice."

"Then quit."

"Aaaaaahh…Not that simple Lance boy. It's personal now."

"… Because?"

"Someone said I couldn't do it, and I must prove that someone wrong!"

"And that someone is?…"

"Umh,… no one!" Pietro immediately got up and headed toward the kitchen.

"Hey, wait up. Who was it Pietro?" Lance ran down the stairs to catch up to his teammate who was already making himself a sandwich.

"No one important!" he needed to distract Lance from this subject. If he told Lance that there was an X-freak involved he'd want to do something about it that would involve the entire Brotherhood. He was going to finish that stupid play by himself! He turned to Todd who was still busy studying for his test.

"Hey Todd, guess what? You can hang around Bayville after school for a while. Turns out Duncan is involved with this whole play thing. He'll be busy for at least a few weeks."

"Hum… what?" he looked up from the book he was practically falling a sleep on. "Ok, good Pietro."

"Oh God, you're not still studying, are you?… here, let me help you."

            Pietro took the book from a very sleepy Todd and read it over in three seconds.

"This stuff is easy! I'll write you a summery so you'll study only that. It'll be easier for you."

"Sure  ~yawn~ whatever you say…"

"So was it Duncan?" Lance was still standing near the stairs waiting for Pietro to answer him.

"What?"

"Did Duncan say you couldn't do the play?" the patience Lance had developed for these three was surely going to get him a place in heaven.

"Yeah… yeah it was Duncan. Stupid Duncan. I'll show him, don't worry." He finished the summery for Todd and then took his sandwich and headed to his room again.

"I have homework!" he screamed so no one would bother him.

            As he shut his door and locked it he realized he had some re-writing to do.

*******************************************************

"Who wrote this stuff?" Rogue asked as she and Kitty headed toward where they were going to practice the play. Rogue looked over the pages one more time and made a very disgusted face.

"I know it was supposed to be low-budget but this is ridiculous."

"I know, it's like someone had to be PAYED to write that bad."

"You sure you still want to do this?"

"Sure, it's not like I'll be 'doing' anything anyway. I'm the understudy, remember? I just want to be there, you know. Let them get to know me as more then just 'the freshman'."

"Whatever, sounds like a waste of time to me. I mean, who's going to go to that stupid play?"

"Guess anyone whose got a crush on any of the cheerleaders, or anyone the jocks threaten to kill if they don't go." Kitty just shrugged as she said this, that's the way things worked with them.

"I see, they got their bases covered. Sneaky monsters."

"Well, like here we are. Thanks for walking with me Rogue, I'll call to the mansion for Kurt to come pick me up, alright?"

"Don't you want me to be with you?"

"Nah, it's ok. I'm like totally fine. Besides, I don't think you want to stay and listen to them practicing this, cause it's either that or they'll talk endlessly about nail polish."

"Well, that explains it, now we know what they've been inhaling." Rogue handed her back the script. "Good luck." And with that Rogue turned around and left Kitty in the empty hallway.

~~ Like no way I want her in here. If she saw Pietro she'd like, tell Scott and Jean and they'd never let me stay. ~~

            As Kitty opened the door she noticed there were a lot less people today. Once the lead male had been chosen it seemed most of the guys stopped being interested.

Duncan was still there though, when he saw her come in he immediately flashed her a warm smile, but he kept looking behind her. When he realized Jean wasn't coming along with the young freshman his smile faded and he sat back down.

~~ Gee, how friendly… oh well. ~~

            Kitty sat down and started to read over the script once more.

~~ Like GOD!… this is so stupid! ~~

            She noticed Claudia was keeping busy giving instructions for the stage, Duncan was just sitting there and Pietro was sitting as far away from her as possible also reading his script. She knew he was posing, with his speed he could've had all that memorized in a flash. After a while she saw him get up and walk toward Claudia who looked ready to murder the poor person in charge of effects. She couldn't hear what he said, but she heard what she answered him.

"Fine, just so long as it goes with the story. Make sure you give a copy to the understudy."

Pietro was looking at Kitty now. They stared at each other for a while, then she saw him sigh as if in defeat and walked toward her. She quickly looked down at her script as if it were the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen.

"Hey…"

"Yeah, like what do you want?" she said a bit scarred to look up.

"Don't they teach you X-geeks some manners? The least you could do is look at me."

            Kitty stopped playing with her script and looked up at Pietro's blue eyes.

"What is it?"

"Heard you were Mallory's understudy. That's right?"

"Yeah, so what?" she didn't like talking to Pietro much, he made her feel nervous.

"Well, I was reading over this script and basically… it sucks! And if I'm going to be in this play then there're some changes I'm going to have to do."

            Kitty just looked at him in surprise and blinked a few times.

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Most of the play goes around the main characters dialogues, I'm changing all that. Claudia said that as the understudy you had to learn the new version as well."

            Pietro grabbed the script Kitty had on her lap and sat down next to her and began writing his new version of the play.

"Hey! Like, wait a minute! Who gave you permission to just re-do the play? You're going to change everything."

"Would you hold on a minute. It's still the same romantic nonsense you girls seem to love so much, but give me a break, did you even READ the whole script? Most of the time it wasn't even coherent!"

~~ He's right, it's like a three year old written it. ~~

"You would think they PAYED for someone to write that bad." Pietro said as he kept writing at lighting speed on her script.

Kitty looked at him for a while, "Yeah, I thought about that…" she smiled at him then, not that she was expecting him to return the same gesture but it surprised her when he stopped writing and just looked at her. She was wondering if he was going to say something when suddenly Claudia's loud director voice was heard all over the place. Most of the students jumped a bit in surprise but Pietro almost leaped twice as far.

"What?!… What?"

"Relax Maximoff,… listen up! We have to start rehearsing now. Mallory will be late since we have a basketball game this weekend and the cheerleaders have to practice their routine."

"And how are we supposed to rehearse then?!" Pietro stood crossing his arms around his chest. Claudia just looked at him.

"With the understudy Pietro." She took her copy of the script and rolled it to make it into a megaphone and screamed at him again. "THE UNDERSTUDY!!!!"

            Pietro pretended to clear his hears for a while.

"Would you mind repeating that, don't think Darkholme heard you."

            Kitty had to smile. It was all rather funny, most of the people in the room who were working on the stage also laughed a bit.

"Maximoff, Pryde! Get here now!" Claudia was all business.

            As they walked toward Claudia, Kitty was starting to feel a bit nervous again. It wasn't just the acting but the fact that Pietro was the one acting with her. Now she was definitely glad Rogue wasn't with her, she could just imagine her friend sitting at the edge of her seat starring at them,… how embarrassing!

            Pietro didn't like this. He was feeling weird. He had never felt like that before, he suddenly realized he was nervous! Why was he nervous?! As if acting was that hard! But he knew that practically every scene that had both lead roles together were romantic and somehow doing that… even if it WAS pretending, with an X-men! He couldn't quite deal with that.

"Ok, let's start with the first scene where your characters meet, ok? That'd be in page three."

"Umh, ok."

"Sure."

~~ What in the world am I doing? Why am I nervous over this stupid thing!? Honestly Maximoff! Get it together! ~~ Pietro was only glad Kitty wasn't a telepath.

He took a big breath and turned around facing Kitty. He took her hands in his and started reciting the lines he knew by now.

"What a charming and beautiful woman you are… I could not stay still much longer from where I was…because I needed to know if you would give me the honor of knowing your name… Or perhaps that should remain a mystery to me, oh angel that has come down from the heavens."

            Pietro was standing very close to Kitty now, both starring at each other's blue eyes. She felt Pietro's grip on her hands tighten, almost like he was trying to show her how much he meant those words, the way true lovers do in the movies.

            She felt him hold her hands slightly tighter now, his stare deepening as he stepped closer to her. Was Pietro going to KISS her?! She could feel his warm breath on her neck as he was about to whisper more sweet words of love close to her ear.

"Kitty, your line…"

~That didn't sound very romantic~ 

"Huh? …"

"Kitty, say your line…"

Kitty, who was still in a daze, simply blinked a few times.

"What?…"

"You gotta say your lines Kitty!" cried an exasperated Pietro

"CUT!!!!!!" Claudia screamed using her fabulous 'rolled-script' Megaphone.

"You know Pryde, this is about the time when you say your lines…"

            Kitty's face flushed a bright crimson as she realized they were all expecting her to say something. She had been caught so off guard by Pietro. He was a great actor, she almost believed what he was saying was for real.

"Umh, … I haven't read the new script yet!" ~~ Yeah… YEAH! That's right. They can't blame me! ~~

"That's why you were supposed to READ from it…" Pietro was standing before her with an 'I'm-not-amused' look on his face and his arms crossed across his chest. Kitty now named that pose the 'I'm annoyed stance'. Seemed Pietro was rather good at it too.

"Like, sorry… I'll read from it now."

"Ok, from the top! Try to act it out Pryde." Claudia said as she stepped back.

            Kitty was reading the lines she was supposed to say when the room filled with light again thanks to the opened door. A group of cheerleaders walked in, among them Mallory.

"Rehearsing already? You know Claudia, you should wait until your Female Lead arrives to do that."

"You were late! And Pietro could've practiced with the understudy." Claudia wasn't going to take Mallory's comments seriously; she had a play to run here.

            Mallory walked over to Pietro and grabbed his arm smiling innocently at him.

"You can sit down now Freshman, Pietro and I will take it from here" she said sounding all sweetness.

"Like, whatever…" Kitty sat down and watched as Pietro let out a sigh of relief.

~~ Like, I wasn't THAT bad! ~~

            She heard as Pietro explained his new version of the play and handed the new copy to Mallory. She didn't look very pleased.

"Pietro, sweetie… there're a lot more lines to memorize now…"

"Yeah well, they sound better then what was written on that script originally."

"What was wrong with the first script?!"

~~ Don't tell me SHE wrote it!?! ~~  amazingly both Pietro & Kitty thought the exact same thing.

"Umh... nothing! There was nothing wrong with the first script. It's just that, it needed a few corrections here and there you know. Nothing important."

"You changed practically every line."

            Pietro was loosing his patience with this retard of a girl.

"Listen, it's just better now! Ok! Let's just practice."

"Fine, but I hope you know this means we'll have to put up extra hours of rehearsal… together" said Mallory as she got closer to Pietro. 

"Yeah fine… whatever. Can we just begin already? We have a lot to do."

            For the rest of the hour Kitty watched as Pietro and Mallory practiced one love scene after another. She realized the new script was rather good. It was very romantic; she had to give him credit for that. She wondered if he wrote it himself or if he had help.

            After what looked like forever Kitty saw that Pietro was starting to get tired. They had decided to call it quits for the day and they would meet same time tomorrow. What surprised her though was that instead of running out the door and away from Mallory like he did last time, he was walking straight for her.

~~ What does he want now? ~~

"Hey…" he said standing in front of her seat.

"Yeah?"

"What you think of the play now?" he asked placing his hands behind his head as he looked down at her.

"It looks ok. Better then what they had before" she smiled at him.

~~ Now maybe he'll go away? ~~ she kept thinking

"Of course it's better then the piece of junk they had before. But come on! It's gotta be better then 'ok', I mean, I wrote it for crying out loud! It's a Masterpiece!"

~~ Getting a little ahead of ourselves huh? ~~

"Fine Pietro, like whatever… it was a good play."

"See, told ya I'm better then anyone around here!"

"Is that what you want me to say? Like, no way! You wrote a good play but it's not over yet."

~~ Like, this guy is just TOO full of himself! No wonder Evan can't stand him! ~~

"Fine you little X-geek. But once this is over you have to admit that I AM better then anyone around here!"

"Only if you prove it Maximoff!" Kitty was not amused any more with the large ego this boy seemed to have.

            After that Pietro simply turned around and walked away as quickly as he could without using his powers.

~~ Little brat! I'll show you who's the best! ~~

End Chapter 2

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Hope you guys like it… let me know what you think!  =^_^=