Lucky Me
Chapter 045
"Hide me!" I screamed, running into Adam's room, who woke up from the papers he was pretending to read. His glasses were off and he had one of the papers sticking to the side of his face, it would have been cute if I wasn't seriously distracted by something else.
"What's with you? Eat Rogue's ice cream again?" Adam asked, one eyebrow hiked up. I skirted past his bed, and tried to hide on the other side. His expression was priceless, in fact it was between 'she's gone crazy', and 'am I still dreaming?'.
"Worse!"
"That's impossible." Adam should know, he made that mistake before. Bunny Tracks was Miss Rouge's ice cream, eat it as if you eat your last meal. He peeled off the paper from his face and heard what I was running from.
"Ker-kitten! Where'd you go?" I heard Mr. Logan and Mr. Remy say something to her (separately of course, they aren't like Twiddle-Dee and Twiddle-Dum or something-although that makes for a very interesting mental picture). "Never mind honey! I found some things to keep me occupied."
Adam looked the door with curiosity; I looked at it with fear.
Grandma found me!
She flew up here to be with me!
"Who's that?" Adam asked, getting up to peek out the door.
I gave a short prayer of thanksgiving that my wing was steadily healing and that I was still on pain killers, though not nearly half as much as before because I took a chance and tackled the boy.
Yes, he was the second guy I ever tackled in my life, and in this house. Would he be the last? Who knew.
Too bad the thud gave me away.
I was on top of him (he turned around just in time to see me) and then the door opened.
"Whoa! No wonder you were running to get up here!" Grandma said, giving me a smile, "Honey, I was young once too, I understand those urges."
Shoot me again, and only this time aim for my head.
Adam, of course, tried to quickly get up, and because I was so stunned I didn't move quickly enough and we knocked heads.
"Ow," I muttered, and got up off of him (Adam) but he was standing behind my Grandma and gave me one of the nastiest looks I ever saw. Oh don't tell me he's jealous of Adam!
"Don't you know how to kiss properly?" Grandma said, helping me to my feet. "I guess that's one of the things I'm going to have to teach you, kitten."
I sighed in defeat and walked with her to my room where she'd be staying. I glanced back at him trying to get sympathy, but apparently he's the very jealous type and just stuck his nose up.
"I could give you a demonstration about how to do it right, if," she sauntered over to him, "this young man will help me."
It was his turn to get the look of death on his face and he looked at me to save him, and all I did was smirk, "Sure, Grandma, why not?"
"I-I have to go," he tried to escape and the other guys who appeared out of nowhere started to chuckle at his predicament.
"I'll follow."
"I have to go to the bathroom!" he tried, edging closer to the bathroom door.
"Even better." He laughed nervously; she grabbed him by the arm, "Come here hot boy!"
And she kissed him! I thought his eyes would pop out of his head! It was so funny, it sent the whole hall into shock and then into a roar of laughter.
"One hell of a granny you got there, kid," Mr. Logan told me smirking as he pushed her off of him and quickly made an exit.
"Maybe I should teach you how to kiss better, too!"
OH ouch! That had to hurt his pride!
This was going to be an interesting visit.
For me and for him.
"So what is she doin' here anyway?" Mr. Remy asked, leaning on the railing that looked over on the first floor. I watched the Professor playing 'nice' with Grandma or Arty as she loved to be called. If it was male and not wearing a ring, she was flirting and trying to make buddies with the man.
"She said that her 'kitten' was sick, where else was she going to go?" I replied lamely. He glared me (or tried to) into oblivion after she kissed him. "She's apparently staying for a bit."
"It's good dat some of your family gets to be here den." He smiled at me and started down the stairs. Although I couldn't see the Professor or 'Arty' anymore, I heard them.
"Mrs. D'mon!" Apparently my Grandma found the Professor attractive. The outburst stopped Mr. Remy in his tracks, as he gave a questioning look to me.
"Lock your doors." I warned and turned to go back to my room and hope she didn't bring her 'nursey' uniform.
It was a night later (after all the males were highly afraid to leave their rooms in just a towel after Grandma snatched away Mr. Bishop's, that guy ran faster than I thought possible into the bathroom) and I was lying awake with Arty (I figure if I didn't call her 'Grandma' I could pretend she wasn't related to me) on the cot beside my bed.
"So, kitten, anyone special in your life?"
"Stitch," I replied, keeping my eyes closed and curling into a ball underneath my Oreo cookie bed sheets.
"So there is," Arty smiled (okay so I peeked to find her staring back at me). "It's that young guy who kept looking at you over dinner, isn't it?"
"Grandma," It was natural, I had to work on the whole 'Arty' thing, "He was looking at you because you kept playing footsie with Mr. Jean-Paul." Who after the hundredth time of knocking her away shouted 'I am gay.'
She left him alone after that (actually she offered to help him go straight; we hadn't seen him since).
"Oh, I think there's more to this then you're letting on, Ker-Kitten." She gave me the 'you're hiding something' look.
"And who are you talking about? Everyone here is young to you, Grandma." She pouted, a fifty something year old lady pouted, "Except maybe the Professor."
"Charlie?" Arty's enthusiasm hit the roof. "Oh, hon, he's got it all. Money, a big house, a forehead I can see my reflection in…"
I cracked a smile, and couldn't help but laugh picturing my Grandma fixing up her hair in the shine of the Professor's bald head.
"So you goin' to tell, or do I have to start listing names?" Arty was really good with names, and that made me cringe. If she (like I know she was bound to do) said his name loudly, half the hall would wake up and then he would be in trouble because they'd think he snuck into my room or something.
"Uh," I started to think of ways to knock myself out when none came to mind. I shyly (almost inaudibly) said his name.
"I knew it!"
Darn hearing aids!
"Shhhhh!" I tried to get her to calm down, but she jumped up out of bed, flicked on the lights, started to rummage through her stuff, and then went to my closet. "Grandma, what are you doing? It's one in the morning!"
"I have a plan!" And I have a test tomorrow. "I'm goin' to see you two together if it's the last thing I do!"
This was when it started to get real interesting.
No, I take it back, it got interesting when she pulled out one of her black miniskirts and a tube top was when it started to really get interesting.
"You look like the walking dead."
Got to love Chris. Wait, no I didn't.
"Like looking in a mirror isn't it?" Alexis Mickle, she's got to be one of the funniest people I know. She's the one who saved me from the jock table, which Adrian took as a person offense. Her one major fault? She was 'in love' with Mr. Drake. I thought she would have taste.
We sat in Miss Reese's room while the teacher twirled her hair and got that 'I'm-thinking-about Bobby-Jerk' look in her eyes (translates into: students got a free hour).
"Stayed up too late?" Alexis asked.
"Yeah."
"With who?" She got a glint in her eyes.
I replied with all my Summers' dead-paniness I had, "My Grandmother."
That sent her for a loop, I felt I had better explain before her mind started going ninety to nothing, "She's staying with me for a little while, and decided I needed help, uh, pinning someone."
"Who?" I knew that question was coming. I really didn't want to say. "Come on, girl, you can tell me!"
"I could tell you," Chris' smirk was slapable. "But I won't."
I glared hard at him.
"He knows but I don't?" Alexis tried to look hurt, but the smile of interest totally messed up the effect.
"I walked in on them."
Die!
"What?" Alexis almost left her seat. "Oh my gosh! You have got to tell me now! And what do you mean get him when you've done got him?"
"Not like that!"
"Yeah, there was another person in the room after all."
He's referring back to the Medical Lab! What a-a-a boy! And trust me he didn't let it drop at that, he kept Alexis hanging on with half detailed sentences for the rest of the day.
There was one thing to be said about Grandma's, they knew the quickest and most efficient (a/k/a scarring) way to embarrass their grandkids.
As if it wasn't bad that Grandma 'Arty' took Darcy and I to the beach when we were ten-and wore a French-cut bikini, then this was bad. Bad as compared to a whole chocolate cake without a single glass of milk kind of bad (I'd been tortured by that yogurt commercial too much apparently).
Not only did she get it into her head that she was going to force me and him together because I was stupid enough to let it slip I sort in a way might actually like him though half the time I'd like to pass him through a wall, she told me her plan of execution. Any debate on my side was ignored and if I didn't wear the clothes she picked out for me this Friday, then she'd tie me up (hurt wing or not) and dress me herself—in the dreaded nurse costume.
Not that the outfit she had picked out was any better.
She told me, like it was a good thing, that after next Friday (the last day of school) we were going to New York. Not to shop (thank God) but to "go clubbin'" as she so happily put it. My heart about stopped when Arty said those words. I fought that I was only 16 and not able to get into any kind of club (I have no idea if that's true or not, but I was desperate!). She whipped out this card, which turned out to be a fake driver's license.
I couldn't believe this woman! She's the eternally 17 with wrinkles and dyed light brown hair!
"We are going to teach that young guy you like that he shouldn't play games, especially with us D'mon women." I pointed out I was a Summers now, she said I still had some D'mon in my blood and therefore look out him!
I began to mark down the days until Scott and Jean locked me in my room, kicked Grandma out, and swore that I was going to be shipped into a convent. The outfit and plan was that bad.
Mr. Poovey slammed his book shut, gave us his evil eye (normal look for him) and stated that the mid-term would kill each and every one of our grades. Since all of us were afraid to breathe because we'd probably end up in the principal's office, we just sat there like stone statues.
"That's right! I don't have a doubt in my head that all of you will be dropped one letter grade because none of you will study!" Again, silence, severe agitation and silence. "And as I'm sure you were told by those who were able to survive my class that my test questions are all essay. They are. You have to get the spelling correct and there will be no curve given. But,"
You may pay me lots of money and get out of this class with a D? Okay, so it's a bit farfetched, but hey, I was suffering in this class!
"If you will check the handout, for those that didn't make spit balls or paper planes out of them, you can see the clause in which you might pass the class with never taking a test, quiz, or writing a paper again."
This required further investigation, but knowing this twisted little man, it was probably going to be something like 'go take over the world, Alexander the Great did it, so you can, too'.
After we were let out of that horrible dungeon, Alexis rolled her eyes, "I swear that man is evil incarnate." Don't ask me why she hung around me, but anyone was better than Kenney. "Not to mention he needs himself a woman."
How does everything with her come back to boys and girls getting together?
"Kitten!"
"No…" I whispered, grabbing Alexis' arm, "Tell me that isn't some lady in stilettos and a short skirt."
"Okay then," Alexis said, "Then I'll tell you she's wearing pumps, a tank top, and skin tight jeans. Bye!" And the traitor took off!
I felt her hug me before I saw Grandma, "It took a lot of talking, but I got them to tell me where this school was! And look," she showed me a piece of paper, "That sweet little gray haired man gave me this so I can spend all day with you!"
Oh, goody.
"You really didn't have to Grandma." I started to slowly walk to my next class, which was P.E.-oh man, boys with their shirts off; Arty was going to have a field day!
"Sure, I did! You are my kitten, and I haven't seen you in next to forever! Charlie insisted upon it." Then she whispered closer to me as we made our way to the gym, "This will help me to see what kind of chemistry you two have when no one else is around."
Wasn't she in for a surprise.
There wasn't any chemistry going to go boom as long as three people were in the room (her, me, and him). Heck, most the time at school he completely forgot I existed since the whole K'Yo' ordeal was over and done with (Thank God).
I was relaxing (hiding) without Arty around; after I showed her where Professor Xavier sat to watch the people in the Danger Room they hadn't been able to pry her out of there. She insisted that she stay and see what kind of things they made me do when I was not being shot at. I think the real reason she wanted to stay was all the guys in their tight outfits.
At school, she was truly horrifying. In Miss Reese's class Arty took over and showed everyone how to do various-odd-things with hamburgers and the like. It was one of those things that you just had to be there. In P.E., that lady was more controlled then I thought
she'd be, she said she didn't look at 'babies' in that way. She wasn't an idiot as to go after jail bait, and then in Mr. Drake's class, she cut up right along with him, and dragged Adrian into it. Corbo used to be such a good kid. Then when I was in there later, I was basically left to myself why they took verbal pot shots at each other (Bobby-Jerk and Arty).
Now, after dinner and ditching my relative on Professor Xavier, I was relaxing by the lake (far far from the boathouse and mansion). Of
course, it was too good to last.
"Hey there, kitten." I opened an eye, not that I really needed to, I knew who it was. The one who in under a week was going to 'feel bad for stringing me along' according to Arty. "What're you doing out here all by yourself?"
I was laying on my stomach, my wings gently resting on the ground and on my back (it still hurt, but not nearly as bad as when the wound was new) with my arms crossed under my face as I relaxed on them.
"Running an experiment to see how long it would be before being disturbed."
He smirked. I told you, smirking seems to be a qualification for living at the mansion. He turned his back to me and picked up some rocks and attempted to make them skip on the lake's surface. One skip and then blub blub they went.
"So, when is your birthday?"
That was random.
"In a few days actually," I replied, shrugging, and then grimaced as my wing reminded me not to try to do that again when it was hurt. "On December 22nd."
"That's got to suck, having it so close to Christmas. I bet people jip you out of gifts."
"Only the cheap people," I shot. He turned around to question me about that remark with the other Xavier School trademark, the raised eyebrow.
"Why do I have a feeling that was a cheap shot at me?"
"How would I know?"
Then there was silence.
And then there was: "You don't like me much do you?"
His question caught me off guard, and if I hadn't been on the ground already I would have fallen on my face. What and why on earth would he think that? I should be the one asking, not him!
"I mean, it's kind of obvious that you have it for someone," have it out for someone, yeah, had 'it' for someone, well genius, you tell me! "And I thought it was me, 'cause I've been working my butt off trying to get it that way, but hey, you can't control people right?"
Tell that to the telepaths.
And then! And then! The creep was just going to walk away! Turn tail and run back into the mansion!
"Where do you think you're going?" I asked, picking myself up slowly from the ground. I couldn't look at him or where he was if he was still here, I had to concentrate on not hitting my left wing and sitting up.
"You said you wanted to be alone."
So he was smart and stayed.
"You have all the audacity in the world!" I was learning big words (you spend the time I spent in the med. lab and see if you didn't start picking up on the ten dollar words)! After sitting up, and turning around (more like I fell back on my rear after lifting my body up, hard to describe basically I klutzed up and made it look natural). He stared back at me, leaned against a tree and had the whole 'aren't I cool' air about him.
"Do tell."
"Don't worry, I will!" I crossed my legs and gave my best glare. "You are the one who is confusing. One moment I think you -" blush coloring the face, "like me, and then you totally blow me off like you don't even know who I am!"
"Care to give an example."
"Sure! I'll make you a list," I fought, "Like, like-" oh man, all I could think about was the almost kisses, that's something I didn't want to bring up because I still wanted to-ACK! My mind was betraying me! "Like, the times you teased me when no one else was around."
"Tease you?" He knew what I was talking about; pushed himself off the tree and started to casually walk toward me. "What about
the way you 'tease' me?" Me? What the heck did I ever do? "All the times you let me get close, then something happens or someone
comes in, and you are suddenly a little kid again. You call me a tease, Kerry, there are a hundred different times I can think about where you've teased me."
Selfish! Self-centered! Table-turning twit!
"I do not do that! You're the one that always comes on strong and runs away laughing his head off." By this time he was right in front of me, just when I was about to spring to my feet and yell more at him (okay, so not spring, probably would have asked for his assistance to get up), he dropped down, leaned on one knee and rested an arm on the bended knee.
"If you don't tease," he continued, as if I wasn't fussing at him, "then what do you do?"
Wasn't he just the inquisitive one this evening (big word number 2!).
What could I do? Get severely annoyed with him when he acted like he was in junior high!
"I-I want you to stop being such a wimp!" Okay, with a remark like that, I should be the one going back to sixth grade. Oh man, pretty soon I was going to start that whole 'like-like' stuff again. I didn't even know where 'wimp' came from, I knew he was built to dole out black eyes, but sometimes the way he acted he hadn't the spine for it—just like I was not supposed to have a heart (according to the lovely gentlemen right in front of me).
"A wimp?" He seemed even shocked about this. "You think I'm weak?"
"No," I muttered, my own nervousness about him being so close coming out strong in my voice.
"That I'm stupid?"
"Sometimes."
He smiled in a way that made what was left of my brain throw up its hands in defeat, pack its bag and say 'so long'.
"That I'm—indecisive?"
Ding-ding! We had a winner.
"Uh-huh." I told you my brain went away, with every question he moved in a bit closer. I was sort of trapped, my wings were semi-spread because of the bandage on my left one (my right one was a 'monkey see-monkey do' type wing apparently) and I couldn't get up without us bumping. Not like I wanted to get up mind you.
As if the smile, the closeness, and the aloneness weren't doing wonders in making me the living jelly Kookie, then when he dropped his voice into this distinctly masculine, toe-curling timbre, it was more than enough.
"What do you want from me, Kerry?"
I shook my head, my heart was doing a square dance with my stomach and both seemed to be shrinking in size with ever step. He, in one quick motion, moved away and stood up. I was about to (my brain was called back when anger took over) shout at him, when he had extended a hand to help me up. I grumbled in my mind, accepted it, was hauled into a standing position, expecting him to smirk and walk away.
He didn't.
He didn't even let go.
Instead, he kept my hand in his, and bent it behind me, using both of our arms to get me closer to him. Where was his other hand? By its partner, on my lower back (no, not that low, I was not that kind of girl thankyouverymuch). If he thought that after having us being so close, that he was going to do that 'walk-away' bit, then he'd be in the Professor's wheelchair for the rest of his life. If I let him continue to breath.
"Is this what you want, Kerry?"
My brain was quietly eating popcorn in my skull watching the show through my eyes.
"For me to be with you like this?"
If he was waiting for an answer, he would have to-to-heck, there was going to be no answer. I couldn't formulate any coherent thoughts in my brain beside: 'he's close, warm, and very, very nice right now' and 'nice' covered the physical aspects and his attitude.
Don't ask me where I got enough sense to nod, but I did and he let my captive arm go but he kept his on my back.
And then he leaned down.
