Lucky Me
Chapter 037
I learned to completely ignore the blaring sirens and flashing red light that went off almost every other day in the mansion. Sure, it still woke me up, but at least I was used to it enough that I didn't fall out of bed clutching at my heart because I swore it stopped beating.
I also concluded I could roll over and go back to sleep, because for the most part, these things didn't concern me. I wasn't getting my hinny dragged out of bed to go kick some bad guys’ behind, that was their job.
As I rolled over to go back to sleep as I normally did in these cases, something unexpected happenedâ€"they changed the freakin' rules on me!
"Kookie, get dressed, we have to report to the Blackbird in two minutes." And that was all Mr. Warren said before running back out of my room. I turned to look at the open door and let my head hit the pillow. Maybe if I didn't show up, they'd get the hint that I was just dreaming Mr. Warren came to get me.
But what happened next made me spring from my bed (actually stagger) and search around for that stretchy black and red thing they had the nerve to call clothes.
/Kerry, this is no time for your antics, get here. Now./
Okay, I could trick myself into believing I was hallucinating, but someone shouting in my brain? That's a bit hard to fake, even living in this place for so long. Without thinking I started to change until I heard a noise from the hall once they cut the sirens off.
"And people usually have to pay for a strip show." Bobby-pervert commented as he stood there in the doorway watching me. My hands first went to protect whatever was exposed (which was nothing, but come on, who wouldn't be paranoid?) and then I realized he hadn't seen anything. My hands started to search for something to throw at his head.
Something heavy.
"Get out of here you pervert!" I screamed, ducked into my closet, and only left the door ajar. I didn't want to give him a peep show, but there was no other light save for the small source from the hallway.
"You're the one leaving her door open on the men’s wing, babe."
"You're the one looking in, perv."
After quickly stumbling around in my closet and nearly breaking my head on several things, I got out of the closet fully (ha-ha) dressed in my thong with sleeves (no, it wasn't really a thong, but it might as well have been).
"Not a morning person?" Bobby-Pervert questioned as I 'escorted' me down to the plane.
"Not a Bobby person."
"Ouch, Kookie, you're starting to hurt my feelings." Oh darn, I was just starting to? And this suit was hurting my fragile modesty! So we both had hurts. "But then again, you can't hurt much but yourself in that outfit."
I stopped dead in my tracks, and that child started to whistle but kept on walking. Scott pushed me forward a few seconds later, but I was still in shock.
Even though Robert said that as an insult, I wondered if he realized he just agreed with me on something. It was tragic that someone finally agreed with me about the uniform, and it was him.
Sheesh, what a life.
I didn’t know who's more twisted, them for doing this or us for being here at four in the morning trying to stop them. I mean, come on, they could have waited until it was daylight or something. But noooo, that would have been bad strategy according to the Fearless Guidance Counselor of all that was Good Strategy otherwise called Cyclops. I yawned for the fifth time in about two minutes and felt yet again an elbow jab to my side.
"Will you stop that?" I hissed at Bobby-Jerk, who somehow I got stuck beside. According to the Almighty Leader Scott, I was being brought on real missions to gain field experience, but I was supposed to stay in the plane. How the heck was I supposed to get field experience without ever being in the field?
I was to listen and watch the individual com-links and cam-links to see where everyone was, and what everyone was doing. Under no circumstances was I to ever leave the plane. Ever. So if the stupid thing was to catch fire I would be a fried turkey.
"Stop falling asleep and I might," Bobby-Jerk remarked, and I felt like jabbing him. Then I did jab him, and before it was elevated into a slap-scream-sissy fight, Wolverine (I was told not to call anyone mister or miss when in uniform and to always call them by their code names, no wonder some of these people had identity problems) growled at both of us. I wonder who spit in his coffee, oh wait; it's four in the morning! No one was pleasant at this time, and some were just more annoying than they normal, not mentioning any names, Bobby!
"Would you two grow up?" Mr. War-I mean, Angel (a guy named angel, how very weird, but then again the big white wings were too) griped at us. Bobby-Jerk kicked the back of his seat. "Robert." And Bobby-Big-Baby stuck out his tongue at the back of Angel's seat.
I smirked at him, "I get in trouble for doing that, so you need to set a good example for your student."
"You're not in school uniform, so I don't have to be any kind of example."
"That's a surprise." He gave me this 'whatever' look and rolled his eyes.
I was about to fall asleep if it hadn't been for the cursing from Mr. Jean-Paul's com-link. I guess someone annoyed him too much. Sco-er, Cyclops was barking off random things that I guess meant something if you were there, but I was stuck on the plane. And I was wondering why on Earth I had to get into this skin tight bathing suit with sleeves if I was going to sit in a plane and not be allowed to move.
I really didn't understand these people (I kinda liked it that way!).
By the time they finally got back, I had sung ever Disney song I could think of, and doodled all over the clipboard I was to be taking notes on or some stuff like that.
"That was fun," Bobby-Jerk grumbled, oh wait, Iceman-Jerk grumbled. Had to remember to use those codenames!
"Knock it off, Robert." Waaiit, why did I have to use codenames if they didn't? I guessed it's that seniority line again. "We got the information we wanted."
They got information by beating the life out of people? Oh that's ethical. I thought Xavier's School was all about tolerance but I think that was a cover up because 'Xavier's School of Bad Guy Behind Kicking' was too long to fit on the plaque.
"I hope you found something beneficial out of this excursion, Miss Blyt." Dr. Hank piped up. This guy was nice but so unnatural. I didn't think he slept all week and then he's happy all the time. What kind of stuff was he creating in that lab?
And could I have some?
"The next destination will be this X-Ranch," Sco-uh, Cyc-that guy (!) said.
"All right! Time for some ladies!"
"On their back," Nightcrawler added in a disgusted tone while wrinkling his nose. I remained quiet; I was kind of hoping they'd forget I was here. But another question hit me over the head: why was I stuck on a plane full of guys? Mrs. Jean said she was investigating some other leads and I should follow Cyclops around to learn from him.
Whatever she meant I didn’t know, but anything to keep me out of school was reason enough for me.
But honestly, I was here with Angel, Cyclops, Mr. Jean-Paul (Northstare? I had no clue), Dr. Hank, Nightcrawler, and Iceboy. Then there was me. Little itty bitty female me. And after that bought with Kenney I was a little uneasy. It didn't bother me before because I wasn't really awake before (it was four in the morning!).
"No. We will go later, right now, we need to get Blyt and Iceman back for school."
I could have just growled and groaned at the same time if I wasn't busy rolling my eyes and hitting my head with the clipboard in my hands. This bites! Ofcourse, Scott would remember a little thing like school and put it before saving the world.
What a goody-two-shoes! And he wanted me to be his kid? Legally? Right!
School went by with me falling asleep in Mr. Drake's class (if he said anything to me, I would have hit him upside the head with a desk). Finally back at the mansion, I headed for my beloved bed; I didn’t spend enough time with it nowadays if you asked me. But before I got there I was called down again, and Professor Xavier told me to get ready and to be at the runway in five minutes or I'd be left behind.
And that would make me want to go faster because…?
He must have picked up on my thoughts because he was about to go into another lecture about why I was here, and yadda yadda yadda. I smiled and said I wouldn't make it to the plane in time if I didn't get uniformed right away.
Professor looked like a mad Professor, but shook his head with a half smile and shoed me away.
So there I was back into my little uniform and back on the plane. But this time there were fewer people. Mr. Kurt, Bobby-jerk (in a white tux), Mr. Jean-Paul, and Mr. Warren were (including me) on this trip.
"What's with the sweat pants?" Mr. Playboy-Wanna-Be Bobby-Jerk asked.
"If all I'm doin' is sitting around, then I'm going to at least be comfortable." Mr. Kurt smiled, and 'bamfed' to his seat and I took mine. This was going to be fun. "Where are we going anyway?"
"Midwest."
What?
"What's with the flock?" Oh joy, another happy person to add to the ranks. This chick/barely clad woman (she made my outfit look conservative!) came fussing on the plane. Bobby, the perverted, immoral, and idiotic, smiled and popped a smart aleck remark over her words. She glared at him, and Mr. Warren shook his head and grumbled something about smart mules (I didn't say the other word!).
"Another happy camper let me break out the welcome banner." Bobby-the-idiot teased. Snake woman’s home just got blown to kingdom come for some reason. Something about a church group or something, I didn’t know really, I was too busy watching the house going up in flames.
She was the sole survivor.
But Bobby-jerk got to have a "good time" with her before the attack. And I got to hear it all. Oh yeah for me!
Gross!
Was this a business or pleasure trip? And why was I forced to listen to it!
"Clam it up, kids." Mr. Warren ordered, and I tried to hide. Wasn't doing too well either, because Snake chick sat right beside me after I buckled in.
"If you don't have anywhere to go, Stacey, you're more than welcomed to come back with us to Xavier's." That brought about a lovely shout fest of its own, and it was all one sided. Basically she said she’d go.
Half-way back (I was so tired) Snake chick looked over at me and asked, "So is he your old man or something?"
I gave my best ice glare, "No."
She made a face at me that clearly stated 'well ex-cuse me!'.
I flinched. I didn't need another not friendly person after me. So I nervously smiled, and continued, "No he's not. We just sort of have the same-uh, gift?"
She just nodded and I sighed and shook my head. This was so pointless.
"Hey, Kookie, let me introduce you to someone very interesting." Bobby-Jerk popped over the top of the seat like an annoying two-year-old on an eight hour flight. Yeah, I knew he knew her extremely well already, and I was trying to find it in my heart to not hit him like I did the other pervert and feel sorry for this, uh, Stecky? At the same time. "Stacey 'X' this is Kookie 'D'."
"We've met," I smirked and kicked the seat (hard) in front of me (the one he peeking over).
Bobby-Jerk moaned and slid down his seat, apparently I kicked him a bit too hard in hisâ€"stomach (ha-ha, I bet you thought I was going to say something else)!
"Girl with attitude," Stacey observed, "Maybe you aren't so bad after all, kid."
Kid? Kid? Gah! She called me a kid!
I was probably going to get grounded for that little kick and she was calling me a kid?
But then again only kids got grounded. Or adults who still acted like a kid.
It was Wednesday and if I heard one more remark about being a prostitute or earning a living on their back I was going to need to get tested for STD's. Stacey was okay, as long as you didn't listen to her and her I'm-woman,-hear-me-brag speeches and screams. All you had to do was look at her and she'd start being all defensive.
I was so glad I lived on the other side of the house, and not the women's side. Though I must admit their bathrooms were much cleaner. I swear I saw someone's boxer shorts crawl across the floor one night.
Back in the safety of my room, I locked my door and looked around for something to do. My study session with Bobby-Pervert, Adrian, and Chris was done and I needed some 'Kookie' time before I got burnt.
Not to mention, at the end of the week I had to give my decision on whether I wanted to be part of the 'Summer's clan' or not. It was a huge choice to make.
The distraction I found was in the boxes my sister left me. It was better than homework at least.
After ripping the tape off, and opening up one of them, I wished I left it shut.
"This is a dangerous place to meet." He must have had a radar on me or something, no matter where I was, he found me. I was walking along the shore of the lake when he appeared out of the forest like an elf or something (not like Mr. Kurt who was called Fuzzy Elf, but that's beside the point).
"Then don't come down here," I replied, not having any real get-away-or-I'll-throw-you-in-the-lake kind of sound to my words, he started to follow me. "And it's not like I asked you to meet me here anyway. And how on earth did you find me?"
"Daisy." He shrugged, standing right beside me. After that almost-kiss thing, I wasn't as relaxed around him as I once had been, it was more like a one-sided tension. What a not nice guy to let a girl suffer like this (what a selfish girl to think up a thought like that)!
"You were talking to Daisy?" What a playboy, he sure didn’t act like it most of the time. And I was not jealous. I was not. I wasn't jealous about any of the girls who were drooling after him at school either. He was a fashion trend that would go out of style next season.
"Don't sound so amazed that I talk to her," he seemed to think about it, then tacked on, "Or so jealous."
"Oh, don't even start that again!" I picked up my pace to try to get away from him (but come on, who would really wanted to-Oh my sanity-did I just think that?). Not to mention the last time we got on the subject of jealousy, we almostâ€"but I didn’t want to think about that! It had been a distraction long enough! He’s been a distraction long enough!
"Okay then, let's talk about Kenney." I froze in my tracks; I felt an internal shake start to rattle my bones. Mrs. Jean was the only one who knew anything about that, so how did he..? "What did he do to you, Kerry?"
He used my real name, not Kookie (which I figured was my permanent name whether I liked it or not, but it could’ve been so much worse) that meant he was serious. This was when I felt extremely uncomfortable being alone with him, even if it was him, it was a guy and the last two times I was alone with a guyâ€"they wanted to touch. One I minded a great deal, the other one not so much, but it didn't mean I wanted to talk about it.
"What are you talking about?" I tried to play it off, but I wasn’t an actress.
"People talk. Guys talk at school. I know he tried to pull something with you. He’d been bragging about it right before Homecoming. I want to know what it was." He did that dangerous thing people do when they are dead serious; they drop their voices as low as they could. It wasn't like the knee-melting one, it was the freaky tone.
"Why should I? It's not like you're going to do anything about it." Like I was going to be nice to this guy at this moment.
After about two seconds with no response, I didn't hear him say anything or even move. I looked over my shoulder to see him gazing at the lake. I normally didn’t pay attention, but with the sun going down behind him, who couldn't help but notice he looked good. I didn’t mean the typical watch-the-guy-walk-by type good; I was talking about Godiva chocolate type good. And I felt myself blush at thinking about him in that way.
"You really think I'm that much of a wimp?" He asked, never looking at me.
There was no way to answer that question honestly and still keep him as a friend, but then, again, we had other little fights. The one when he said I didn't have a heart. And that's when it hit me; I had to answer a not-safe-to-answer question with another not-safe-to-answer question!
"You really think I'm that heartless?" His head snapped around so fast that I thought it was going to come off his shoulders and roll away.
One point for the heartless Kerry-Kookie.
"You never say my name," Well, that was an unexpected change of subject.
"Yeah, I do." I started to walk closer without really thinking about it. "I say it to you whenever you are around."
"Not when we're alone like this." I felt that stupid blush start to creep up my face. It was the way he said 'alone' that made me do it! I swear! "Don't start being all weird or anything, it's just an observation."
"How observant of you?" I was such a moron. One little smile and my brain was Kookie Dough, man! This was going to be annoying if it wasn't in some small insignificant way-enjoyable.
He smiled. I did not need him to do that. I was in trouble
"Forget it," he came to where I stood, looking at the lake. I sat down on the closest rock, and he did the same (different rock though, okay, duh?). "Why are you out here?"
"Thinking."
"About me?" He smiled a shy smile as he picked at the sand.
"Oh yeah, right." I shook my head, "I was thinking about Da-" Oh great, I was about to cry. "About someone back home."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Why does everyone ask that?" I started to rant. Anything to prevent me from crying. "If I wanted to talk about it, I'd talk about it."
"Whoa Whoa! Didn't mean to get you stirred up!" He cleared his throat and semi-switched topics, "Have you thought about Jean and Scott's offer any?"
"Yeah," Now it was my turn to pick at the sand. I was probably going to have half the beach in my jeans (you know how sand was, you touch it and it like grew on you for the next two days). "I don't know. I mean they told me that if I didn't, the state would most likely take me away, and I'd be stuck in an orphanage and all. And I guess it wouldn't be such a big deal because my mother made it obvious she doesn't want me, but I still feel like I would be-"
Oh! He's tricky! He almost got me to talk about the thing I didn't want to talk about (one of the many things I didn't want to talk about).
"Would be-? What?" He prodded, but I had had enough. When put to the test, run (or fly if you were like me and had wings). So I shrugged him off and jumped to my feet and took to the air. He shouted my names a few times, but I flew faster every time he said it.
I couldn't tell him because he couldn't understand.
"He thought I was what?" Adrian about busted my ear drums.
"Gay. He thought you were gay." I repeated, trying to scoot further away from him in the bus seat we shared (yes, we got demoted to the bus). Daisy-Mae tilted her head to the side, and Chris was Chris and busted out laughing. I thought he was going to wet his pants.
"She can be mini-Scott, and you can be mini-Jean-Paul!" Chris got out between fits of laughter.
"Shut up!" Adrian barked, rising up in his seat as if he was going to hit the other boy. "I am not."
"I know!" I tried to keep him from hurting me, too. It wasn't like I thought he was funny or anything, just kinda complacent. "Sit down, people are starting to stare."
Adrian, for his part, glowered and thumped down into the poorly padded seat. "I'm going to prove to him I'm not gay."
I would never have guessed the way he was going to do it either.
Woe to me.
Literally!
