Lucky Me
Chapter 041
I couldn't find D-M anywhere in the house when I actually went to look for her, and he stayed with me on the hunt until Professor Xavier drove past us and left a little remark in our brains.
I had to talk with that girl. This was as startling but less deadly than Chris' Legacy Virus discovery. Not like I really discovered it, I just kind of learned about it. Anyway, I couldn't find her, and the only time I did see her was when she was leaving on Thursday to fly home. I wanted to ask her about what I read, but there was like, no way!
"We'll all drive you out there. Adam is going home for Thanksgiving, too" Bobby-Jerk commented, Stacey rolled her eyes and said she had to go back to the "X-Ranch" to get some things, Mr. Kurt and Mr. Warren went with her. So it was my team, Miss Rogue and Bobby-Jerk piling in a car to go drop off two off my teammates.
"This is so wicked, I get to go home and brag to my cousins about who I've been hanging out with for the past months." Adam sighed like he just got kissed, "Some of the top genetic researchers around."
Oh brother, Mr. Science strikes again.
"Why aren't you going home, Chris?" Adrian dared to ask Sparky, who for his part rolled his eyes.
"Why aren't you?"
"I'm from Canada." Heh, Chris' face was priceless as he apparently forgot that simple fact. "So?"
"Don't be so nosy, it's none of you business, Maple Leaf."
Happy-happy attitudes to go around.
"Ah'm glad to go home again! Ah get to see my family!" Daisy ever optimistic self butted in. Yeah, more than probably anyone knew.
"That was a complete waste of two hours," Mr. Smiley-Face Bradley remarked.
"I don't know if it was because of the distance or what, but it looked like you and little Miss Daisy were kissin' good-bye."
That comment made me squirm.
Chris went into denial and the rest of us rolled our eyes. The ride back was less noisy and no teen idol CDs were played, I didn't know how, but we always ended up listening to Justin Bieber or something as equally as teeny-boppish. It was my turn now; I had alternative blasting through the vehicle.
"Can we have music that doesn't involve some whiney chick or some love sick gay man?" Chris, what a charmer.
"Like yours is any better man, bang, bang, bang, yell, bang, bang, bang."
"Shove it, Drake," Chris growled. "I don't even have any good CDs now thanks to you and your dumb jokes!"
Yeah, even though I really wanted to make Bobby bleed for those tricks, I had to thank him later for destroying that so-called music of Bradley's.
"Oh no," Miss Rogue caught us all of guard. "Not again."
"What? What is it?" The car should have tipped over because of four people in the car pressed their faces to the glass. There was smoke in the sky, like a big black thundercloud hovering over-where the school was? Did someone set the woods on fire?
For anyone with a will to live, do not let Rogue drive. She might be invulnerable, but the rest of us sure the heck weren't! She floored it, and poor Adrian flew back over the first back seat and into the second back seat. And when she hit the brakes (no one was looking, we were all praying to survive) I ended up in his (his, his, I was in the front seat and was reaching over to turn the music down, and then wham!) lap!
Talk about an awkward moment!
But before either of us could think of a word to say, someone's voice cut in, "The mansion!"
"So things like that happen kind of often at this place?" Adrian jabbed another elbow into Chris' side. I was so happy to have the back backseat to myself because of my wings although I could have hugged them close enough to me to sit in the front seat.
"Too often, I was wondering when the place was going to get destroyed again. I guess the bad guys of the world were on vacation or something," Bobby-Jerk sighed.
"Just because the house went boom, we get stuck in Leave it to Beaver land with you and your family?" Chris grumbled.
"Would you rather be stuck cleaning and building for a whole week at the school?"
This was when I started talking; I didn't want to end up walking because Chris decided to short circuit something in the car. "But don't you think their timing sorta bites?"
"Yeah, they could have waited until a week that we did have school so we coulda got time off." Chris carried on about that. I didn't mean to make assumptions, but it seemed he was in a worse mood than he was when D-M was here. Maybe there was something going on between those two.
But it made my stomach twist to think of those two all lovey-dovey with each other.
"Bobby! I was so worried! You should have called if you were going to be late!" This woman with gray hair and an apron, bear hugged Bobby-Jerk. I was going to go out on a limb and say she was Mrs. Drake. "And look at the babies you brought with you!"
A general growl of resentment rumbled through the group. I swear, I was getting younger with every week, first I was a kid, and then I was a baby!
"Uh, Mom, this is Chris," Chris did a fake-happy-hi thing, something that reminded me a lot of D-M. "and Adrian," Adrian's smile was at least genuine. As the 'baby boys' were introduced, they tucked away into the house. I, of course, was last. "And this is Kookie." Bobby-Jerk had the nerve to put his arm around my shoulders, which instead of making me want to hit him, made me blush...in front of his mother.
She saw that and made the comment, "Oh, Bobby, don't tell me you're trying to rob the cradle!" Mrs. Drake seemed like a nice woman, but did she really need to say that?
We walked in like that, but Bobby-jerk decided to add something, "Come on, Mom, there's no way, after all, didn't you just say she was a baby?"
"Doesn't mean you can't perceive her as a 'babe', Robert." Mrs. Drake turned and smiled, she and Bobby-Jerk had the same type of laughing smile. "Your father went to visit your uncle before you ask and won't be home until tomorrow."
He stopped touching me that very second. I kind of liked his mom; she stuck up for me, sort of. In a weird way.
This was the beginning of the Thanksgiving week stay at the Drakes' house.
"This is lame," Adrian complained as he rung out the mop. "I thought we were supposed to be guests, not maids."
"Stop complaining. You haven't had to clean in a few months," Chris said. Bobby-Jerk and I dropped our feather dusters. Chris was actually defending cleaning!
"You've got to be joking." I rolled my eyes, shook my head, and picked up my duster again.
"Yeah, Chris wanting something clean? Looking at his room you'd never think he was a Sammy Homemaker." Oh, wasn't he cute thinking of something to call the male half of the 'Suzy Homemaker' society. Bobby-Jerk smiled at Chris as the latter stuck his tongue out at the former.
"Kids," Again a grumble, even from Bobby-Jerk, "I'm going to go shopping before it gets too crowded at the stores, does anyone want to come?" Two of us jumped at the opportunity to get away from feather dusters, mops, and vacuums. We'd only been there a day, and all of us were woken up around ten to start cleaning (food would be given when the job was done).
The other two yawned and started new chores, he and I about killed each other getting to the garage and into the car.
"You're so eager to go to the store?" Mrs. Drake asked as she drove.
It was Sunday, and the place was quiet. Here I thought it would be more exciting considering we went to a bigger city. One thing I was grateful for was that I wouldn't have to put up with a touchy-feely-playboy-wannabe like Kenney. He never remembered anything that happened between us (not like anything besides me hitting in the head with my heel happened). I kept his car key around my neck and every time I thought about it, I couldn't help but smirk.
"I'm so glad that Bobby brought a girl home with him, Kookie." Mrs. Drake smiled into the rear view mirror so I could see it.
I felt my stomach shrivel up and my heart hit the roof. "It's not like-" I protested weakly.
"I would hate to be outnumbered four to one, one more female helps even things up a bit." The odds for what? House domination?
"One of those males is present." He pointed out; Mrs. Drake's smile seemed to, just for a moment, get a bit of a dark twist to it. She seemed like a real goody-two shoes, but maybe she had a prankster side to her as well?
One could only hope. Any embarrassing moments or facts about Bobby-Jerk or Mr. Drool-after Drake (almost all the girls talked about how 'cute' and 'sexy' the young teacher was. Yeah, cute and sexy until he opened his mouth!) would be helpful. It was decided (after the royal pounding we gave Drake) that Chris and I would stop at nothing to see the annoying prankster fall off his pedestal of his teenage fan club.
"So Kookie, any boyfriend?"
Beet red Kerry-er, Kookie, oh man, it's my thoughts and I should be able to call myself whatever I wanted! But this was my defense mechanism (thinking of something else or at the least confusing myself).
"And you," She eyed him next, "any girlfriend?"
"Nah, just one I got my eye on."
Why was he picking on me!
"But Taylor Swift's phone number isn't listed."
What a moron! What a jerk! Unfeeling, dumb—!
I was so flustered I couldn't even think of any decent names to call the idiot!
Then he had the nerve to smile at me!
Grrr! You didn't do that to a girl!
"Pack those up, and we'll be right back." Mrs. Drake grabbed my arm and dragged me off to another, smaller store. He grumbled about being slave labor and glared at us.
I didn't hate grocery shopping with Mrs. Drake because she was one of those 'who needs a list' type person. She did a pick-and-grab thing, this meant any type of cookies, cakes, and sugary stuff I wanted. And man! I wanted it all!
"Where are we going?"
"To my favorite place," she giggled about it, like a regular school girl, "the Chocolate shop."
I loved this woman!
"And who are you?" I could only guess that this was Mr. Drake. He looked at me like I was a dog begging for scrapes. "Another mutie friend of my son's no doubt."
"Dad," Bobby-Jerk attempted to butt in. "Leave her alone."
"And what's your power? You like sparky here? Or what about metal boy?" His look made me gain about twenty pounds it was so heavy. But if there was something I remembered from the past few months, it was do not under any circumstances, back down. So I did my best to not shake, but I did turn off my image inducer to let him see my wings.
"My goodness," was Mrs. Drake's reaction, and Mr. Drake looked at them funny. What, like he has never seen a girl with wings before?
"Heh, at least you got a spine. More than I can say for my kid."
"Hey! Leave me out of this!" Bobby-Jerk shouted, Adrian and Chris burst out laughing, and Mrs. Drake just tsked him about it.
"I thought this was going to be another cat fight." Bobby-Jerk sighed, unloading another bag.
"Another?" Chris must be bored, here they didn't have seven hundred plus channels, they only have about twenty because the dad didn't like to spend money.
"He means that the two girls he's brought home ended up the brunt of a fight between his father and the girl."
"Thanks, Mom."
"Kookie, could you help me in the kitchen for a bit?" Yeah right. She might say a bit, but a bit meant the rest of the afternoon. For some reason it was always the female part of a group who had to cook all day for the male part of a group. I felt like getting a poodle skirt and poofing my hair, complete with a bow in it, and tell everyone to call me Kookie-Sue.
"Sure thing." I wasn't too thrilled about it, but it was her house and I was merely a guest in her house. Although for the time we'd been here (it was now Tuesday) he hadn't made any moves or anything. Not that, you know, I minded or anything. Just a little observation was all.
"Yes, Mrs. Drake?" I'd been saying this since Saturday..
"There's a phone call for you."
I didn't even here the dang thing ring. Picking up the receiver, I would have hung it up if Mrs. Drake and Bobby-Jerk hadn't been in the room.
"Ker-kitten! It took me forever to get that old guy at your new school to give me this number!"
"G-grandma, what a—surprise, again." I began to wonder if this lady was part blood hound or something.
"I was going to come and hunt," that made my blood go cold, "you down for the holidays, but your new dad said not to. I can't believe I'm listening to someone who sounds like he walks around with a carrot stuck up his butt."
Now I remembered why I didn't like having Grandma around, she was so embarrassingly outspoken and with no restraints. But this was something everyone probably knew.
"What is it Ker-Kitten? Not happy to hear from Grammy-Arty?"
"It's not that, it's just that," I couldn't think of anything to tell her. It wasn't like I totally hated my Grandma, in fact I used to really like her…before Grandpa died and she went nutso with telling everyone everything on her mind.
"She was trying to get away from her demon-possessed family, new and old."
"Chris?" I hissed low, but harsh enough for him to get my unhappy drift, "Get off thephone!"
"Find me to make me," Chris challenged, and then in a high-pitched whiney voice added, "Ker-kitten."
"I am going to kill you," I shouted.
"Kookie!" Mrs. Drake exclaimed, "That is no way to speak to your Grandmother!"
"I wasn't- I was talking to-!" I tried to defend myself; I didn't need for Mrs. Drake to think I was some kind of goblin in girl's skin! I wouldn't get anymore cookies if that happened!
I heard Chris laughing so hard I figured it wouldn't take me too long to find him after he wet himself. I thought we were in this revenge thing together, what the heck was it with him and switching sides?
"Ker-Kitten, I'm going to hang up." Grandma took in a deep breath, "But I want you to find that little boy and knock the hell out of him."
Chris stopped laughing, and with a quick "Yes ma'am!" and good-bye, I hung up the phone and took off to find my victim.
"Kookie," I felt my shoulder shake, "come on get up, Kookie!" Naturally, as anyone who was like me feels inclined to do, I did something that would get my annoying little mutant alarm clock away from me.
Whamp!
One of my wings snapped open and had the intrusive person smashed against a wall, dazed enough to let me go back to sleep.
That was, until he decided to use his powers on me.
"Ah!" I was nearly on the ceiling as my bed was lightly iced over. "Bobby!"
"Shut-up!" Bobby screamed moving his hands up and down as if I didn't understand the words. "Do you want to wake everyone up?"
Glaring at the clock from where I now, in a disheveled heap, sat by the bed, and saw the time.
"This might be your old room, but that doesn't give you the right to come in here at two twenty," check the exact minute, "four in the morning!"
He gave me a bored, yet heavily annoyed look, "Fine then, I'll wait until two twenty FIVE to come in here and wake you up." Bobby-Jerk paused, "And didn't we have this conversation before?"
I just gave him my best explain-or-be-castrated look (hey, when you spent almost every stinking Saturday morning with Mr. Logan, you learned a lot more than martial arts).
"Get into your uniform, Scott and the others will be here in about five minutes to pick us up."
"Us? What about the other two?"
"This is for your field experience, the others are still asleep." Again, Bobby-Jerk paused as he was leaving out the door, "But then again, Kookie, your big mouth might have woken them up, not to mention half the block."
I felt like smashing an ice cube. So I did the next best thing to it, I kicked the bed.
The bed that was now solid ice.
I spent the next five minutes hopping around on one foot and wiping tears from my eyes while trying to get my throbbing foot from, well, throbbing.
The genius struck again!
"Blyt, your job is to pick up Beast once he's out of the complex," Oh great, they woke me up this early to be an air taxi? But I guess I couldn't really complain, it was my choice (in a warped sort of pre-decided way) to be at the mansion, and if this was the only way rent was paid, then so much the better.
My room, for the most part, was intact, except for some weird twist of fate, Chris' room was gutted and the wall that split our rooms was now missing. Oh goody. The box which Darcy gave me was safe under my bed where it had been since I was silly enough to open it.
I should have known my sister would put all sorts of pictures in there. I couldn't cope with seeing my dad in them, although I respected him a lot, and couldn't love him more; it was just the fact I was what I was. He never said anything about liking or hating mutants, so I wonder if he would have pushed me away. Of course, I tried to think my dad wouldn't do that to me; instead he would love me, regardless of my tyrannical ex-mom. That sounded funny, 'ex-mom' like it was being a mom was supposed to be a temporary thing.
"Blyt, you need to keep your mind focused." Mrs.-wait, uh, Detroit? Arizona? Phoebus? What the heck was her codename? It was some city-oh yeah! Phoenix!
All was quiet on the Western Front.
Okay, so the bad joke couldn't be stopped. But really, they had me jump off (basically pushed me off the plane, but that's another story for a psychiatrist) the plane and fly to a "perch" as Iceman so nicely put it, about a quarter of a mile away from the doorway where I was supposed to pick up Dr. Hank after he was done doing his half.
I had been here about an hour, in my black form, I wasn't even sure they had made it into the compound until their signature sound rung throughout the night.
That, of course, was a big boom followed by gunshots and a ton of cursing heard over the comm-links, and then the guys with the guns.
"Blyt! Now!" I was temporarily frozen, I mean, what kind of maniac goes toward gunfire? Then something in my mind took over, and before I knew it I was flying to where Dr. Hank and Stacey were booking it across a lawn. The mysterious pressure on my mind lifted, and I knew I would have to have a few words with Mrs. Jean later on.
Diving down, I reached out my hands and like a perfectly executed practice exercise I picked them up, and thankfully my stupid super strength kicked in and even though it was unplanned, I could manage Stacey as well.
"Took you long enough!" She barked at me.
"I could drop you."
"Dead-pan humor, my dear Miss Kookie, I do believe you are becoming more of a Summers every day." Dr. Hank smiled at me, and I was gaining altitude, but not distance.
"No offense, but if you don't stop squirming Dr. Hank, I don't think I'll be able to keep you from falling."
Just as I began to do what Mr. Warr-er, Angel had told me to do in our multiple practices, I started to glide. Maybe my new mutation would include eyes in the back of my head.
Because maybe next time I wouldn't get shot.
