Rogue walked into school, late. Her head was throbbing, rain had wrecked most of her make-up and made her look like a clown, and at some point she'd realized that Jamie or Bobby one had managed to get syrup in her hair. Murder had never looked like such a good option but she walked into the principal's office, going straight to the receptionist.
"Ah need a slip foh class,"she said without any further greeting. She glared at the woman behind the counter, who quickly nodded and went to speak with Prinicipal Kelly. Rogue allowed herself to look around the office with it's crowd once she'd vanished into the office and shut the door.
It was full to the brim with students. Not normal students but new ones. One guy in a brown leather bomber jacket leaned against one wall, smoking a cigarette while a girl with short, green streaked hair and gothic clothing that resembled Toad sat nearby, telling him how bad it was for him. There was a guy with a cloak on but yellow eyes glittering from their depths; another girl in baggy, holey clothes who sat on the floor, flipping through some motorcycle magazine; another one of each, guy and girl, sat with their hands locked together while small, almost invisible lines of blood ran down their hands.. The girl wore jeans, a bright pink tank top, and a black sweatshirt tied around her waist while the guy wore a trenchcoat and combat boots. Another girl with spiked pink hair; a guy with his eyes glued to the computer screen; a guy faking interest in the clock. The last one was a woman, probably a new teacher, with red hair in a trenchcoat, jeans, and boots.
If these are the new students, Xavier ain't got nuthin' to worry 'bout, she thought with a smug smirk at being the first to meet them. The one girl was too much of a reminder of Jean unless one noticed the boots, sweatshirt, and black streaks through her hair. Ah wonder what Jean and Summers are gonna think of this lot...
The receptionist cleared her throat and held out the note on a yellow sheet of paper. Her gaze went to the students but it wasn't a polite look; it was more, what did I do to deserve this.
Rogue took the note, gave the woman her best death glare, then made her way from the room.
The guy in the cloak made a comment that stopped her in her tracks for a moment. "Fresh meat,"he said, quietly with a hiss to his voice.
She sent him a patented death glare and almost went to remove her glove. After a moment, she thought better of it and simply walked out, slamming the door hard enough to shatter the glass. Several curses came from the inner office along with a shout of "Principal Kelly".
"Works every tahm,"she said, satisfied then proceeded her way to class. She handed the note over, waited a moment, then slumped into her chair, ignoring Kitty's look and hand gesture. She took out a binder and pencil and opened the one, beginning to color in the margin until it started to turn gray.
"So good of you to finally join us, Rogue,"the teacher said, though her voice said she'd rather not teach mutants or anyone other than the model student. She went to the board and began to write across the screen with a piece of chalk; her handwriting stretched from one side to the other.
"Tha pleasure's all mahn,"Rogue answered, sarcastically but copied down the notes or at least what she considered important. She'd almost colored in the entire margin when the bell rang; all heads except hers shot up to look toward the disturbance.
Kitty's intake of breathe finally made her look up. "New students..."
Prinicipal Kelly stood there along with two of the students from the office. The guy that had been smoking, minus his cigarette, and the girl with spiked pink hair. Neither seemed interested in their surroundings; her eyes roamed the classroom while he stared down at his feet with a scowl.
The teacher took her place at the front again. "Class, we've recieved two new students. This is Landon Keller and Kellie Senethesis...I expect you wil make them feel welcome within our school,"she recited from memory without a breathe. After a moment she stepped back. "Landon, Kellie, tell us something about yourselves."
Landon went first, looking up to meet any eyes that would meet his. He lifted both hands as claws made of pure white bone slid forward and out then smiled. "I'm a mutant. Don't like it? That's not my problem,"he said before inserting them back into his hands. It took longer then Logan's to heal but they healed, none the less.
Rogue remembered something Xavier had said. Majority mutant. Ah, hell. We get all tha mutant kids that were rejected from tha other schools. Damn ya, Xavier.
I heard that, Rogue.
She shuddered at the thought then listened to Kellie. Kellie was less threatening but simply shrugged and mumbled,"I'm only here until my school's back."
"Well wasn't that stimulating?"one of the guys joked, waving one hand in an applause attempt. The others around him laughed while Kitty rolled her eyes.
"Like what a loser,"she said before returning her attention to the front of the room. Landon and Kellie were taking seats. Odd part was that they sat on opposite sides of the room and never once glanced at each other; they didn't even speak.
"That's enough back there,"the teacher called then handed out several worksheets before making more notes on the board. The new students wrote MOST of their work down but some of it wasn't written; more often then not they faced taunting from other students.
Rogue felt a flash of sympathy toward them but covered it. This wasn't her fight; it was theirs. She had her own issues to maintain: no skin contact, keeping Lance informed on his work while he was suspended, and trying to avoid getting into too much trouble with the X-Men. That was a full plate and then some.
"Rogue, are you listening?" The sharp voice penetrated through her day dream and brought her out, rather abruptly.
She pasted on a look of interest that was quickly masked into one of irritation by her make-up. "Of course, sugah. Don't ah always listen in ya class?"
"Sarcasm isn't a paying job, miss."
"It seems to work well enough for you,"Landon pointed out, twirling a pen around on one finger by balancing the cap on the pad of his finger. It held for all of twenty seconds before one of the other guys knocked it off. He caught the guys hand and twisted until he leaned over the desk in pain..
The teacher stalked back to them and glared at the new student. "That's enough, Landon. I don't know what kind of deliquient behavior you're used to getting away with but I will not tolerate it in my classroom. There's the door if you must leave..."
He sat there a moment then shrugged and stood, gathering his things. "I'll go discuss it with Kelly. Thanks for your time." He obviously didn't mean the words.
Kellie remained silent even after he'd left the room, pulling the door shut quietly rather than slamming it like most students. She continued to stared down at her notebook.
"Would anyone else like to leave class?"their teacher demanded, glowering at her students while making her way to the front of the class. She leaned against her desk. "If you can't follow the rules, get out. That goes especially for mutant students who think they're too good for this course and it's students,"she said as her gaze leveled on Rogue.
Screw it, Rogue thought then stood, shoving her things into her bag. She made her way to the door and halfway out before speaking.
"This ain't a requirment. Screw you and screw this class,"she said pleasantly then slammed the door to the sound of kitty's "Rogue!"
"Jean, your hair looks fine." Scott Summers waited with what patience remained for her to stop checking her hair in his mirror and get out of the car. He played with the dial on his visor then stared up as if the perfect girlfriend would fall out of the car.
Jean Grey climbed out of the car, finally, brushing invisible dirt from her shirt then gave him a smile. "I just want to look good for our talk, Scott. It's good to present a stable, well-adjusted, well-mannered front when speaking to young people about being motivated,"she said, directly from the pamphlet Xavier had given them. The information was committed to memory.
"That's lovely, Jean. We were suppoused to start at eleven-thirty, it's....eleven-thirty-two." He held up his watch as though he expected some argument. He recieved none.
She tossed her hair once around her shoulders then started to walk inside. Scott rolled his eyes but followed her, locking his car and placing the keys in one of his pockets. There was little to no student traffic in the halls as there used to be unless one was to count the group of kids gathered around one of the lockers.
The leader, apparantly from his position, held a cigarette between two fingers while balancing a deck of cards in the other hand and cutting them as he went without burning himself. Combat boots and a black trenchcoat billowed around him with the air of power. Two girls stood with him but one seemed more interested in her magazine while the other was boredly thumbing through a novel. Another guy, this one in a brown leather-like bomber jacket, drew a card, stared a moment, then replaced it in the deck, giving another, shorter girl money.
"Hey, you there! Smoking is not allowed on school grounds,"Jean announced, going straight up to the group and crossing her arms while shaking her head disapprovingly. Her eyes went to the deck of cards. "Neither is betting."
"Ain't bettin',"the girl with the book said with a smirk before taking the guy's cigarette, rubbing the end between two fingers, and placing it in her mouth. She held the cigarette there and the smoke in for a moment then removed it, blowing out a somewhat misshapen ring. "It ain't even really nuthin' but Go Fish."
Her words dripped with sarcasm. The leader took his cigarette back, replacing it in his mouth after flicking a card at her. "Angel, what have I said about taking my cigarettes?"he asked, dropping the deck into the pocket of his trenchcoat. The money vanished into the shorter girl's pocket and after a moment the cigarette had been put out in the other guy's hand. None of them batted an eyelash at such a display..
Oh, gosh. A mutant problem. Normals were easier to face then mutant problems...
"Cards and cigarettes. Now." Jean held out her hand then waited. There was silence a moment followed by an exchanged look before the shorter girl spoke, ignoring the magazine reader's hit to her legs.
"Give her your cigarettes, Julius." He handed over the pack with a scowl. "And the cards..." He handed over those as well. "And now we'll go on to the gym, won't we?" Her voice held no room for arguement.
"Yes, Tara,"came the chorus of voices. Almost in unison, the group turned and began walking away. The slip of hand that exchanged the money and another package of cigarettes between them was lost to the two college students.
"Who are they?"Scott asked, coming up beside her just as she dumped the cigarettes and cards into the nearby garbage can. They hit the cushion of paper and other garbage. "I don't recognize any of them."
"I do." Jean dug around in her oversized purse a moment then pulled out the yearbook they'd been given. She flipped it open and pointed to several pictures. "Julius Kanteon. Landon Keller....before that, Angel Blade. Natasha Creed. After that, Tara Toynbee. They're some of the new students."
"Oh. Should their behavior be reported to Xavier? Smoking and betting aren't allowed on school grounds..."
She waved away the comment with one hand then resumed her walk to the gym. "I don't think so. Unless it's life or death, maybe we should just leave them alone. For the moment,"she said, opening the yearbook to the back. "I'm kind of intersted in some of them."
On the last page of the year book in bright red ink was printed a message.
Landon, you irritate the hell out of me. I think you need to get therapy for some things. Love, Angel
It was followed by an empty box with his name printed across in block letters. The rest of the page was blank since hers took up almost the entire thing.
Yeah, sounds like a great kid. 'You irritate the hell out of me'. Scott shook his head but followed her until they reached the gym. It was already packed with students from Bayville but almost one entire section was filled with strange faces, a few familiar from the hall. The leader was there, cigarette in hand.
Prinicipal Kelly strode forward once they were seated and spoke into a microphone. "Students, calm down. This assembly is to discuss getting you motivated for the real world. I'd also like to see more integration between the schools..." His gaze leveled on the new group of students then he motioned toward Katherine O'Brien. She came forward, casting a quick look toward her students.
"Ripley students, I expect you to behave within a resonable manner and show Prinicipal Kelly the right amount of respect." She didn't speak angrily or even with a raised voice but instantly the rowdy bunch settled down.
Their attention and ears came foward, replacing the previous, childish behavior, then. The magazine and novel were put up again, into someone's backpack and 'Angel', as the yearbook identified her, lifted her head from trying to sleep while 'Julius' put his cigarette out. The others turned forward, looking ashamed at this woman catching them behavior so badly; it took no time at all for them to straighten out.
Katherine stepped back and took her seat after a moment. Prinicipal Kelly came foward again, glancing briefly at the well behaved students that now sat before him.
"These students are only here for a few months until their school can be repaired. I fear some of them will be graduating with you,"he continued without ever looking away from the group. There was a chorus of yelling and commotion from the stands. One look from their own prinicipal and they were silent as the grave. Kelly held the un-met gazes before turning to the other students, students he had known for longer time. "That would be enough. I expect you to treat them all with respect even those not completely like you."
The mutant students and also faculty added the unmentioned word. Mutants. The words were a clear, forewarning that the new students weren't that normal. Kelly was automatically setting the standards; things couldn't end peaceful.
Landon Keller was not in the mood to play the game or suffer through endless chatter from the people he'd be spending the next few months with. He'd walked out of his first two classes after confrontations and then spent the others, silently, contemplating ways to get out of staying at a strange, new school.
"Penny for your thoughts," Tara said, looking away from the calculator she was busy playing with. She deleted something then pushed it away to study him.
He scowled. "My thoughts are worth more then a penny."
"Dollar for your thoughts?" Julius held out the dollar, smirking. His smirk vanished when it was taken and shredded right in front of him. "That ain't even cool, dude."
"I was just thinking of ways to get out of this place," he answered then poked at the items 'floating' around on his tray, literally. He poked a few french fries with his fork then looked toward the other end. Angel gave him a sunny smile which dropped at his scowl. "Put my food down." It hit the tray, splattering on several others down the table; he cringed.
"Your welcome."
"I hate yo---" He stopped in mid-speech when a couple of guys came up from the football team. Their leader was a blonde-haired guy with a letter jacket; he looked up and down the five of them for a moment before speaking.
"You the new students?" he asked with the air of someone that honestly didn't care.
Landon rose, used to the tone. "Yeah. You got a problem with it?"
That brightened a smile from the boy. "Of course not. We just wanted to meet you guys...I'm Duncan." He held out one hand. It was ignored.
"Landon. This is Tara, Russ, Julius, and Angel...." He hesitated to say anymore or return to his seat.
"So tell me...Landon, what's a freak school like?"
He started to move, intending to show him how they settled such comments there but he thought better and froze, waiting. As he'd thought Julius rose to his defense, releasing Angel's hand from his death grip; she slipped the bleeding hand into her jacket pocket, beginning to eat.
"Why doesn't he show you by playing a little game we 'muties' like to play? You win, we'll tell you all about Ripley. One of us wins, you go streaking through school. We'll explain the rules then let you pick an opponent from anyone sitting here, except Tara; she thinks it's stupid and a waste of time." Julius smirked, waiting for the challenge to be accepted or denied.
Duncan didn't disappoint; he accepted. Landon listened throughout the rules explanation. It was a simple game with no tightly except 'The Game'. Not many people played it, fluently, but their crowd did. More often then not it was between the ones seated there and Jax, since he'd developed a love for hurting others. The only rules were to lock hands with nails inverted toward the palms and squeeze until one person jerked away or lost feeling in their hand. It was simple unless you found someone able to cheat; cheating was outlawed once respect was earned. Ducan wouldn't be getting any.
"I get to pick my own opponent? Do I get to choose which hand, too?" Duncan looked up and down there row, settling several times on Russ then Angel. The two were the most harmless looking members that played; that was a mis-calculation.
"No," Russ interjected, pushing away his tray and standing after grabbing his single binder, book, and pen. He started off, offering only a brief mutter "i can't watch this" before dumping his tray and exiting the cafeteria.
Ducan thought a moment then smiled. "Who would you recommend, Landon?" he asked, making the name sound like a mocking taunt. It was ignored again. "The best player or weakest, whichever."
Landon pretend to think a moment then shrugged. "Julius holds half of the record, but he's still playing with Angel to break it. Angel's a fair player, Tara doesn't play, and I'm probably one of the weaker players...I don't play very often," he lied.
That made the decision.
"Okay, I'll play you, Landon. You're not like one of those ones that moves things with their minds are you?" he asked, taking a seat across from Landon once the others had moved down a seat or two.
"No, that's me," Angel said then proceeded to make the salt shaker hit him in the chest. She gave another sunny smile then turned back to Julius without a word.
"Uh-huh." Several of the guys that had come over with Duncan made noises or mumbled not so pleasant thoughts on it. "Ready to play, Landon?"
Landon didn't respond but locked their hands together, concentrating. He tightened his nails but felt nothing from Ducan's end. It wouldn't do much good since his hands could heal themselves. It was slow but still able to heal him.
"Do you cheat, Landon?"
"Not unless I have a reason..."
Random Line:
"Oh, look, mutant gang violence." Her voice held much more sarcasm then should have been legal in one sentence. She shook her head and started forward, intending to keep something stupid from happening.
"Ah need a slip foh class,"she said without any further greeting. She glared at the woman behind the counter, who quickly nodded and went to speak with Prinicipal Kelly. Rogue allowed herself to look around the office with it's crowd once she'd vanished into the office and shut the door.
It was full to the brim with students. Not normal students but new ones. One guy in a brown leather bomber jacket leaned against one wall, smoking a cigarette while a girl with short, green streaked hair and gothic clothing that resembled Toad sat nearby, telling him how bad it was for him. There was a guy with a cloak on but yellow eyes glittering from their depths; another girl in baggy, holey clothes who sat on the floor, flipping through some motorcycle magazine; another one of each, guy and girl, sat with their hands locked together while small, almost invisible lines of blood ran down their hands.. The girl wore jeans, a bright pink tank top, and a black sweatshirt tied around her waist while the guy wore a trenchcoat and combat boots. Another girl with spiked pink hair; a guy with his eyes glued to the computer screen; a guy faking interest in the clock. The last one was a woman, probably a new teacher, with red hair in a trenchcoat, jeans, and boots.
If these are the new students, Xavier ain't got nuthin' to worry 'bout, she thought with a smug smirk at being the first to meet them. The one girl was too much of a reminder of Jean unless one noticed the boots, sweatshirt, and black streaks through her hair. Ah wonder what Jean and Summers are gonna think of this lot...
The receptionist cleared her throat and held out the note on a yellow sheet of paper. Her gaze went to the students but it wasn't a polite look; it was more, what did I do to deserve this.
Rogue took the note, gave the woman her best death glare, then made her way from the room.
The guy in the cloak made a comment that stopped her in her tracks for a moment. "Fresh meat,"he said, quietly with a hiss to his voice.
She sent him a patented death glare and almost went to remove her glove. After a moment, she thought better of it and simply walked out, slamming the door hard enough to shatter the glass. Several curses came from the inner office along with a shout of "Principal Kelly".
"Works every tahm,"she said, satisfied then proceeded her way to class. She handed the note over, waited a moment, then slumped into her chair, ignoring Kitty's look and hand gesture. She took out a binder and pencil and opened the one, beginning to color in the margin until it started to turn gray.
"So good of you to finally join us, Rogue,"the teacher said, though her voice said she'd rather not teach mutants or anyone other than the model student. She went to the board and began to write across the screen with a piece of chalk; her handwriting stretched from one side to the other.
"Tha pleasure's all mahn,"Rogue answered, sarcastically but copied down the notes or at least what she considered important. She'd almost colored in the entire margin when the bell rang; all heads except hers shot up to look toward the disturbance.
Kitty's intake of breathe finally made her look up. "New students..."
Prinicipal Kelly stood there along with two of the students from the office. The guy that had been smoking, minus his cigarette, and the girl with spiked pink hair. Neither seemed interested in their surroundings; her eyes roamed the classroom while he stared down at his feet with a scowl.
The teacher took her place at the front again. "Class, we've recieved two new students. This is Landon Keller and Kellie Senethesis...I expect you wil make them feel welcome within our school,"she recited from memory without a breathe. After a moment she stepped back. "Landon, Kellie, tell us something about yourselves."
Landon went first, looking up to meet any eyes that would meet his. He lifted both hands as claws made of pure white bone slid forward and out then smiled. "I'm a mutant. Don't like it? That's not my problem,"he said before inserting them back into his hands. It took longer then Logan's to heal but they healed, none the less.
Rogue remembered something Xavier had said. Majority mutant. Ah, hell. We get all tha mutant kids that were rejected from tha other schools. Damn ya, Xavier.
I heard that, Rogue.
She shuddered at the thought then listened to Kellie. Kellie was less threatening but simply shrugged and mumbled,"I'm only here until my school's back."
"Well wasn't that stimulating?"one of the guys joked, waving one hand in an applause attempt. The others around him laughed while Kitty rolled her eyes.
"Like what a loser,"she said before returning her attention to the front of the room. Landon and Kellie were taking seats. Odd part was that they sat on opposite sides of the room and never once glanced at each other; they didn't even speak.
"That's enough back there,"the teacher called then handed out several worksheets before making more notes on the board. The new students wrote MOST of their work down but some of it wasn't written; more often then not they faced taunting from other students.
Rogue felt a flash of sympathy toward them but covered it. This wasn't her fight; it was theirs. She had her own issues to maintain: no skin contact, keeping Lance informed on his work while he was suspended, and trying to avoid getting into too much trouble with the X-Men. That was a full plate and then some.
"Rogue, are you listening?" The sharp voice penetrated through her day dream and brought her out, rather abruptly.
She pasted on a look of interest that was quickly masked into one of irritation by her make-up. "Of course, sugah. Don't ah always listen in ya class?"
"Sarcasm isn't a paying job, miss."
"It seems to work well enough for you,"Landon pointed out, twirling a pen around on one finger by balancing the cap on the pad of his finger. It held for all of twenty seconds before one of the other guys knocked it off. He caught the guys hand and twisted until he leaned over the desk in pain..
The teacher stalked back to them and glared at the new student. "That's enough, Landon. I don't know what kind of deliquient behavior you're used to getting away with but I will not tolerate it in my classroom. There's the door if you must leave..."
He sat there a moment then shrugged and stood, gathering his things. "I'll go discuss it with Kelly. Thanks for your time." He obviously didn't mean the words.
Kellie remained silent even after he'd left the room, pulling the door shut quietly rather than slamming it like most students. She continued to stared down at her notebook.
"Would anyone else like to leave class?"their teacher demanded, glowering at her students while making her way to the front of the class. She leaned against her desk. "If you can't follow the rules, get out. That goes especially for mutant students who think they're too good for this course and it's students,"she said as her gaze leveled on Rogue.
Screw it, Rogue thought then stood, shoving her things into her bag. She made her way to the door and halfway out before speaking.
"This ain't a requirment. Screw you and screw this class,"she said pleasantly then slammed the door to the sound of kitty's "Rogue!"
"Jean, your hair looks fine." Scott Summers waited with what patience remained for her to stop checking her hair in his mirror and get out of the car. He played with the dial on his visor then stared up as if the perfect girlfriend would fall out of the car.
Jean Grey climbed out of the car, finally, brushing invisible dirt from her shirt then gave him a smile. "I just want to look good for our talk, Scott. It's good to present a stable, well-adjusted, well-mannered front when speaking to young people about being motivated,"she said, directly from the pamphlet Xavier had given them. The information was committed to memory.
"That's lovely, Jean. We were suppoused to start at eleven-thirty, it's....eleven-thirty-two." He held up his watch as though he expected some argument. He recieved none.
She tossed her hair once around her shoulders then started to walk inside. Scott rolled his eyes but followed her, locking his car and placing the keys in one of his pockets. There was little to no student traffic in the halls as there used to be unless one was to count the group of kids gathered around one of the lockers.
The leader, apparantly from his position, held a cigarette between two fingers while balancing a deck of cards in the other hand and cutting them as he went without burning himself. Combat boots and a black trenchcoat billowed around him with the air of power. Two girls stood with him but one seemed more interested in her magazine while the other was boredly thumbing through a novel. Another guy, this one in a brown leather-like bomber jacket, drew a card, stared a moment, then replaced it in the deck, giving another, shorter girl money.
"Hey, you there! Smoking is not allowed on school grounds,"Jean announced, going straight up to the group and crossing her arms while shaking her head disapprovingly. Her eyes went to the deck of cards. "Neither is betting."
"Ain't bettin',"the girl with the book said with a smirk before taking the guy's cigarette, rubbing the end between two fingers, and placing it in her mouth. She held the cigarette there and the smoke in for a moment then removed it, blowing out a somewhat misshapen ring. "It ain't even really nuthin' but Go Fish."
Her words dripped with sarcasm. The leader took his cigarette back, replacing it in his mouth after flicking a card at her. "Angel, what have I said about taking my cigarettes?"he asked, dropping the deck into the pocket of his trenchcoat. The money vanished into the shorter girl's pocket and after a moment the cigarette had been put out in the other guy's hand. None of them batted an eyelash at such a display..
Oh, gosh. A mutant problem. Normals were easier to face then mutant problems...
"Cards and cigarettes. Now." Jean held out her hand then waited. There was silence a moment followed by an exchanged look before the shorter girl spoke, ignoring the magazine reader's hit to her legs.
"Give her your cigarettes, Julius." He handed over the pack with a scowl. "And the cards..." He handed over those as well. "And now we'll go on to the gym, won't we?" Her voice held no room for arguement.
"Yes, Tara,"came the chorus of voices. Almost in unison, the group turned and began walking away. The slip of hand that exchanged the money and another package of cigarettes between them was lost to the two college students.
"Who are they?"Scott asked, coming up beside her just as she dumped the cigarettes and cards into the nearby garbage can. They hit the cushion of paper and other garbage. "I don't recognize any of them."
"I do." Jean dug around in her oversized purse a moment then pulled out the yearbook they'd been given. She flipped it open and pointed to several pictures. "Julius Kanteon. Landon Keller....before that, Angel Blade. Natasha Creed. After that, Tara Toynbee. They're some of the new students."
"Oh. Should their behavior be reported to Xavier? Smoking and betting aren't allowed on school grounds..."
She waved away the comment with one hand then resumed her walk to the gym. "I don't think so. Unless it's life or death, maybe we should just leave them alone. For the moment,"she said, opening the yearbook to the back. "I'm kind of intersted in some of them."
On the last page of the year book in bright red ink was printed a message.
Landon, you irritate the hell out of me. I think you need to get therapy for some things. Love, Angel
It was followed by an empty box with his name printed across in block letters. The rest of the page was blank since hers took up almost the entire thing.
Yeah, sounds like a great kid. 'You irritate the hell out of me'. Scott shook his head but followed her until they reached the gym. It was already packed with students from Bayville but almost one entire section was filled with strange faces, a few familiar from the hall. The leader was there, cigarette in hand.
Prinicipal Kelly strode forward once they were seated and spoke into a microphone. "Students, calm down. This assembly is to discuss getting you motivated for the real world. I'd also like to see more integration between the schools..." His gaze leveled on the new group of students then he motioned toward Katherine O'Brien. She came forward, casting a quick look toward her students.
"Ripley students, I expect you to behave within a resonable manner and show Prinicipal Kelly the right amount of respect." She didn't speak angrily or even with a raised voice but instantly the rowdy bunch settled down.
Their attention and ears came foward, replacing the previous, childish behavior, then. The magazine and novel were put up again, into someone's backpack and 'Angel', as the yearbook identified her, lifted her head from trying to sleep while 'Julius' put his cigarette out. The others turned forward, looking ashamed at this woman catching them behavior so badly; it took no time at all for them to straighten out.
Katherine stepped back and took her seat after a moment. Prinicipal Kelly came foward again, glancing briefly at the well behaved students that now sat before him.
"These students are only here for a few months until their school can be repaired. I fear some of them will be graduating with you,"he continued without ever looking away from the group. There was a chorus of yelling and commotion from the stands. One look from their own prinicipal and they were silent as the grave. Kelly held the un-met gazes before turning to the other students, students he had known for longer time. "That would be enough. I expect you to treat them all with respect even those not completely like you."
The mutant students and also faculty added the unmentioned word. Mutants. The words were a clear, forewarning that the new students weren't that normal. Kelly was automatically setting the standards; things couldn't end peaceful.
Landon Keller was not in the mood to play the game or suffer through endless chatter from the people he'd be spending the next few months with. He'd walked out of his first two classes after confrontations and then spent the others, silently, contemplating ways to get out of staying at a strange, new school.
"Penny for your thoughts," Tara said, looking away from the calculator she was busy playing with. She deleted something then pushed it away to study him.
He scowled. "My thoughts are worth more then a penny."
"Dollar for your thoughts?" Julius held out the dollar, smirking. His smirk vanished when it was taken and shredded right in front of him. "That ain't even cool, dude."
"I was just thinking of ways to get out of this place," he answered then poked at the items 'floating' around on his tray, literally. He poked a few french fries with his fork then looked toward the other end. Angel gave him a sunny smile which dropped at his scowl. "Put my food down." It hit the tray, splattering on several others down the table; he cringed.
"Your welcome."
"I hate yo---" He stopped in mid-speech when a couple of guys came up from the football team. Their leader was a blonde-haired guy with a letter jacket; he looked up and down the five of them for a moment before speaking.
"You the new students?" he asked with the air of someone that honestly didn't care.
Landon rose, used to the tone. "Yeah. You got a problem with it?"
That brightened a smile from the boy. "Of course not. We just wanted to meet you guys...I'm Duncan." He held out one hand. It was ignored.
"Landon. This is Tara, Russ, Julius, and Angel...." He hesitated to say anymore or return to his seat.
"So tell me...Landon, what's a freak school like?"
He started to move, intending to show him how they settled such comments there but he thought better and froze, waiting. As he'd thought Julius rose to his defense, releasing Angel's hand from his death grip; she slipped the bleeding hand into her jacket pocket, beginning to eat.
"Why doesn't he show you by playing a little game we 'muties' like to play? You win, we'll tell you all about Ripley. One of us wins, you go streaking through school. We'll explain the rules then let you pick an opponent from anyone sitting here, except Tara; she thinks it's stupid and a waste of time." Julius smirked, waiting for the challenge to be accepted or denied.
Duncan didn't disappoint; he accepted. Landon listened throughout the rules explanation. It was a simple game with no tightly except 'The Game'. Not many people played it, fluently, but their crowd did. More often then not it was between the ones seated there and Jax, since he'd developed a love for hurting others. The only rules were to lock hands with nails inverted toward the palms and squeeze until one person jerked away or lost feeling in their hand. It was simple unless you found someone able to cheat; cheating was outlawed once respect was earned. Ducan wouldn't be getting any.
"I get to pick my own opponent? Do I get to choose which hand, too?" Duncan looked up and down there row, settling several times on Russ then Angel. The two were the most harmless looking members that played; that was a mis-calculation.
"No," Russ interjected, pushing away his tray and standing after grabbing his single binder, book, and pen. He started off, offering only a brief mutter "i can't watch this" before dumping his tray and exiting the cafeteria.
Ducan thought a moment then smiled. "Who would you recommend, Landon?" he asked, making the name sound like a mocking taunt. It was ignored again. "The best player or weakest, whichever."
Landon pretend to think a moment then shrugged. "Julius holds half of the record, but he's still playing with Angel to break it. Angel's a fair player, Tara doesn't play, and I'm probably one of the weaker players...I don't play very often," he lied.
That made the decision.
"Okay, I'll play you, Landon. You're not like one of those ones that moves things with their minds are you?" he asked, taking a seat across from Landon once the others had moved down a seat or two.
"No, that's me," Angel said then proceeded to make the salt shaker hit him in the chest. She gave another sunny smile then turned back to Julius without a word.
"Uh-huh." Several of the guys that had come over with Duncan made noises or mumbled not so pleasant thoughts on it. "Ready to play, Landon?"
Landon didn't respond but locked their hands together, concentrating. He tightened his nails but felt nothing from Ducan's end. It wouldn't do much good since his hands could heal themselves. It was slow but still able to heal him.
"Do you cheat, Landon?"
"Not unless I have a reason..."
Random Line:
"Oh, look, mutant gang violence." Her voice held much more sarcasm then should have been legal in one sentence. She shook her head and started forward, intending to keep something stupid from happening.