Chapter 46: Discrimination

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The racket of the teenagers echoing in the large hallways pounded against Max's eardrums the next morning as he pushed his way through the crowd. His eyes burned, his head pounded and the bagel he had eaten for breakfast threatened to exit his stomach if he were not careful. Max had experienced hangovers before but this one topped them all. Every noise felt like glass slicing through his head, every new degree of light sent more tears to his eyes. Max shoved his way through the crowd despite the curses and insults that were thrown at him as a result. As he reached his first period class all thoughts of crashing down into his desk for a fifty-minute nap dissipated when he saw…

Her.

He felt the muscles in his jaw bunch up and his eyes narrow. She stood in a corner surrounded by a group of guys and when she saw Max she smiled and waved her fingers at him. Max stomped in her direction and shoved the nearest boy out of the way. By the look on his face and his size, they new better than to object.


"Hiya cowboy, what can I do ya for?" Lilly asked.


"Thought you might want your belt back," he said throwing the black piece of leather at her. It bounced off and fell to the floor.


"Oh so I guess one of the hotel maids heard you crying like a baby and came to your rescue huh Max?" Lilly bent down to pick up her belt. She bent in such a way that Max could see clear down her white shirt. He wanted her even more.


"Look Lilly, I don't know why you did what you did." He stopped and turned to the guys who stood staring at them. Max pointed a finger at their feet and sent electric shocks under them. "Run along!" He yelled as they ran down the hallway, towards Principal Kelly's office. "Now I don't know why you did what you did, Lilly, but it wasn't nice."


"Ooo, stinger," Lilly said smiling. She leaned into his ear. "But you know it turned you on."


"Despite that factor," Max said, trying to stay angry. "It was still mean."


"Gosh I'm sorry Max, I will repent of all my evil way," Lilly said.


Max rolled his eyes. "Okay, what I do is bad, but what you did is worse," he said. "You lead me on and I didn't even get the pleasure of sleeping with you."


"I was very well informed of your reputation before I met you," Lilly said. "I wasn't going to let you get any that easy."


"Tabitha," Max growled.


"You see the fact of the matter is Max, you're the kind of guy girls play around with, you don't take them home to mom. I toyed with you, left you tied to a bed, and I'm not takin' you home to mom."


Max grinned to hide the pain she had just inflicted on him. Those words cut deeper than the embarrassment of being tied to a hotel bed and being saved by a Swedish maid. He knew that what she said was true, he wasn't the kind of guy girls want to stay with, he was the one-nightstand guy.


No one wanted to grow old with him, because he never let them get past the hotel room. But he hid behind his grin and tried to ignore the pain. "So I suppose that a night with you is a privilege," Max said.


"Like the hat," Lilly said.


"Like the hat. So, how do I earn this privilege?" Max asked.


"There he is!"


Max and Lilly turned to see the boys Max had run off earlier standing behind Principal Kelly. Max rolled his eyes, fully aware of what was to come next.


"You," Principal Kelly said with disgust.


"You," Max mocked. "Can I help you Mr. Kelly? Can I restart your car again? Or can I fix the computers that short circuited again?"


"You can come with me to my office," he said.


"Why?" Max asked. "Because these two lame brains can't mind their own business?"


"Max, I don't want to have to call security. Duncan and Roger say that you used your powers to start a fight, now come with me to my office."


"Do you see a fight here?" Max asked. "No, didn't think so. All I see are to little cry babies who had to run to the principal for help."


At this Duncan yelled and sent a punch at Max's face. Max caught his hand and sent an electric shock through it. Duncan yelped and stumbled backwards right into the massive security guard. The other on put a hand on Max's shoulder.


Max glared up at the giant man. "You wanna take your hands off me Godzilla?"


"Come on Max, let's not make a scene," the man said.


Max sighed. His head felt like it would pop it hurt so bad, and at this point he really did not feel like arguing, but he also did not feel like sitting in Principal Kelly's office enduring a long speech about the scummy mutants destroying his school. Max flicked the guard's oversized hand from his shoulder and walked past Principal Kelly. "Lead the way
chief," he said. "And somebody better get Duncan a band aid, he might have broken a nail."


Air rushed over his hot face as he shoved open the door to the principal's office. Some of the plaques on the wall rotated as Principal Kelly slammed it shut and stomped behind his desk. Max fell into the chair across from him and folded his arms over his chest.


Principal Kelly put his hands on the thick table and leaned forward to stare at Max. His two caterpillar eyebrows formed a "V" over his dark eyes. Gravity had taken over the corners of his mouth and his whole face sagged down with it.


"What in the name of all that is holy possessed you to act that way, Trask?" His voice quivered. "I don't even know why all you mutants continue to come to this school, you're not welcome! If it were up to me I'd have you all locked up, or sent off to live on some distant planet, away from us!"


"Gosh," Max said. "I thought we ended segregation."


"This is a very different situation."


"Like heck it is," Max said.


"Regardless, you're suspended," Principal Kelly said.


"Why? Because I sent a few volts of electricity at the star quarterback's feet? A few volts that didn't even touch his feet just the floor?"


"I'm not going to argue with you Trask, you have three days suspension."

"Fantastic."