Chapter 6
I moved through the halls, storing everything I saw away to think about later. Walking around, I got more than my fair share of stares. God, being the new kid sucks! I glared at those I caught staring too long. Or staring at all, for that matter. I picked up the pace, trying to find the way back to my room. At least I could be alone in there. I quickly rounded a corner and slammed into someone. I fell backwards, knocking out my breath for a second. Shaking my head, I glanced up to see who I had struck.
Gambit flipped himself back up to his feet. He brushed off his duster before fixing me with his strange eyes. Smirking, he offered me a hand. I took it, allowing him to help me back to my feet. Gambit cleaned off my shirt and arched an eyebrow.
"Always make dis kind of first impression, homme?"
His voice was coated with a Cajun accent. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before. I took a step away from him and shook my head.
"'Course not. 'Sides, we've already had a first impression. In the lunch room."
He scoffed and leaned on the wall. "Righ'. Dat wasn' an impression, mon ami, dat was a sizin'-up glance. First impressions include words."
"Oh . . . "
I don't know what I looked like, but it must have been good, 'cause he started laughing. When he could finally breathe again, Gambit swept his arms back into a bow.
"I'm Gambit, by de way. Who you?"
"John."
"John? What kinda name is dat? What's your power?"
"I . . . I control fire."
"Ah . . . dat's tricky . . . don't really strike me as a Blaze or Spark . . . how 'bout Pyro? Bon?"
"Pyro?"
"Oui, Pyro."
I like the sound of that. It's like I could go off at any minute. "Okay."
"Trés bon. You stayin'?"
"Think so."
"Wonderful. I look forward to seeing you around, Pyro. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You might need dis."
With that he flipped a small, glinting object at me. I caught it and opened my hand to see my lighter. I snapped my head up to lock eyes with him. Gambit smirked and winked.
"Auvoir, mon ami."
I watched him walk away. Maybe it won't be so bad. I just made a friend, I think . . . Yeah, I think so. Maybe he can teach me how to do that. I'll ask next time I see 'im.
And I was right. I had made a friend. Seemed every time I turned around, Gambit was there. Giving me tips, teaching me little tricks, making me laugh. And I returned the favor, as much as I could. At least I could always get him laughing. He was the only one I really felt comfortable around, despite (or maybe because of) Rogue's many attempts. Classes sucked! I couldn't catch on or keep up. Most of the time I didn't even go. Gambit and I would go off into the woods together. He taught me how to fight with a staff, pickpocket, and even speak a little French.
I remembered all to well how bad school was before. So, rather than humiliate myself like I did back home, I just didn't go. The mansion and grounds were huge, so it was fairly easy to avoid getting caught. Gambit went most of the time, but he was older and didn't have as many classes to go to. Besides, he could show up only on test days and still pull off good grades. I hated him for that and told him so on many occasions.
He would just chuckle and shove my shoulder. It was fun. I would hang out with Gambit all day and work on my power in the evening. I had to meet with the Professor to do so, just in case the fire got out of hand. I learned quickly: calling fire to me, putting it out, and even forming it into different things. Pretty soon I could build things out of the flame if I concentrated enough.
During one session, I had just finished creating a fire clone of Professor Xavier when Storm busted in. I jumped as the door flew open and lost control of the flames. I struggled to control it, forming it into a huge ball and then extinguishing it. A large circle of carpet was charred black. I glared at the woman and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Whadda you want?" I demanded, angry that she had ruined my creation.
"St. John, be respectful. What can I do for you, Storm?" Xavier rotated his chair to study his friend.
"Charles, I need to speak with you. Alone." She gave me a pointed look.
Throwing my hands up into the air, I stormed out of the room. I could barely keep myself from lighting her head on fire. Going to my room, I stayed up for several more hours, making miniature as well as life size people before falling asleep.
The next morning, I was up and dressed, getting ready to set out with Gambit when a knock sounded at my door. I glanced at the clock in surprise. He's never on time, let alone early. Who the heck could that be? I moved over and opened the door. A girl stood there, hand raised to knock again. She lowered it and crossed her arms over her chest. Raven black hair fell to her waist and deep brown eyes sparked with frustration. I furrowed my brow in confusion.
"Can I help you?"
"Are you Pyro?" She demanded, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Yeah. Who are you?"
"You're coming with me." She stepped out of the doorway, completely ignoring my question, and stared expectantly at me.
"No, I ain't." I moved to close the door, but she stopped it with a hand.
"Yes. You are. You can walk or I can drag you, the former probably being much more dignified. Now move."
"Who the heck are you? Where are you gonna take me?" I jumped away from the door she forced open and snatched the lighter from my back pocket.
"My name is Blade. And we're going to a study room downstairs."
Click, clack. Click, clack. Click, clack. "Why?"
"Because I said so."
Click, clack. Click, clack. Click, clack. "Your point?"
"That would be a perfectly good reason if you knew any better."
Click, clack. Click, clack. Click, clack. "So give me another one."
Exhaling loudly in frustration, Blade sprang forward, snatched my lighter, and danced out of reach. "If you keep doing that, I'm really gonna get irritated. Now do us all a grand favor and shut up. Let's go."
I just stood there, shocked. Who the heck does she think she is?!? No one takes my lighter. No one! I spun around, grabbed a staff Gambit made me, and went into attack position. I gritted my teeth and glared at the woman.
"Oh, this is cute." She commented dryly.
I swung at her as hard as I could. She twisted away. Then, a dagger sprang out of her sleeve and she cut the staff in half. Spinning, she side- kicked me into the wall and laid the knife to rest at the base of my throat. I froze, swallowing hard.
"Now listen up." She growled, moving in close to my face. "When I tell you to do something, you do it. Following me was a reasonable request, I think. Shouldn't have been that hard to do. And if you ever attack me again, I swear you'll end up losing a limb. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am." I managed to choke the words out after a second.
"Let's. Go."
I moved through the halls, storing everything I saw away to think about later. Walking around, I got more than my fair share of stares. God, being the new kid sucks! I glared at those I caught staring too long. Or staring at all, for that matter. I picked up the pace, trying to find the way back to my room. At least I could be alone in there. I quickly rounded a corner and slammed into someone. I fell backwards, knocking out my breath for a second. Shaking my head, I glanced up to see who I had struck.
Gambit flipped himself back up to his feet. He brushed off his duster before fixing me with his strange eyes. Smirking, he offered me a hand. I took it, allowing him to help me back to my feet. Gambit cleaned off my shirt and arched an eyebrow.
"Always make dis kind of first impression, homme?"
His voice was coated with a Cajun accent. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before. I took a step away from him and shook my head.
"'Course not. 'Sides, we've already had a first impression. In the lunch room."
He scoffed and leaned on the wall. "Righ'. Dat wasn' an impression, mon ami, dat was a sizin'-up glance. First impressions include words."
"Oh . . . "
I don't know what I looked like, but it must have been good, 'cause he started laughing. When he could finally breathe again, Gambit swept his arms back into a bow.
"I'm Gambit, by de way. Who you?"
"John."
"John? What kinda name is dat? What's your power?"
"I . . . I control fire."
"Ah . . . dat's tricky . . . don't really strike me as a Blaze or Spark . . . how 'bout Pyro? Bon?"
"Pyro?"
"Oui, Pyro."
I like the sound of that. It's like I could go off at any minute. "Okay."
"Trés bon. You stayin'?"
"Think so."
"Wonderful. I look forward to seeing you around, Pyro. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. You might need dis."
With that he flipped a small, glinting object at me. I caught it and opened my hand to see my lighter. I snapped my head up to lock eyes with him. Gambit smirked and winked.
"Auvoir, mon ami."
I watched him walk away. Maybe it won't be so bad. I just made a friend, I think . . . Yeah, I think so. Maybe he can teach me how to do that. I'll ask next time I see 'im.
And I was right. I had made a friend. Seemed every time I turned around, Gambit was there. Giving me tips, teaching me little tricks, making me laugh. And I returned the favor, as much as I could. At least I could always get him laughing. He was the only one I really felt comfortable around, despite (or maybe because of) Rogue's many attempts. Classes sucked! I couldn't catch on or keep up. Most of the time I didn't even go. Gambit and I would go off into the woods together. He taught me how to fight with a staff, pickpocket, and even speak a little French.
I remembered all to well how bad school was before. So, rather than humiliate myself like I did back home, I just didn't go. The mansion and grounds were huge, so it was fairly easy to avoid getting caught. Gambit went most of the time, but he was older and didn't have as many classes to go to. Besides, he could show up only on test days and still pull off good grades. I hated him for that and told him so on many occasions.
He would just chuckle and shove my shoulder. It was fun. I would hang out with Gambit all day and work on my power in the evening. I had to meet with the Professor to do so, just in case the fire got out of hand. I learned quickly: calling fire to me, putting it out, and even forming it into different things. Pretty soon I could build things out of the flame if I concentrated enough.
During one session, I had just finished creating a fire clone of Professor Xavier when Storm busted in. I jumped as the door flew open and lost control of the flames. I struggled to control it, forming it into a huge ball and then extinguishing it. A large circle of carpet was charred black. I glared at the woman and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Whadda you want?" I demanded, angry that she had ruined my creation.
"St. John, be respectful. What can I do for you, Storm?" Xavier rotated his chair to study his friend.
"Charles, I need to speak with you. Alone." She gave me a pointed look.
Throwing my hands up into the air, I stormed out of the room. I could barely keep myself from lighting her head on fire. Going to my room, I stayed up for several more hours, making miniature as well as life size people before falling asleep.
The next morning, I was up and dressed, getting ready to set out with Gambit when a knock sounded at my door. I glanced at the clock in surprise. He's never on time, let alone early. Who the heck could that be? I moved over and opened the door. A girl stood there, hand raised to knock again. She lowered it and crossed her arms over her chest. Raven black hair fell to her waist and deep brown eyes sparked with frustration. I furrowed my brow in confusion.
"Can I help you?"
"Are you Pyro?" She demanded, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Yeah. Who are you?"
"You're coming with me." She stepped out of the doorway, completely ignoring my question, and stared expectantly at me.
"No, I ain't." I moved to close the door, but she stopped it with a hand.
"Yes. You are. You can walk or I can drag you, the former probably being much more dignified. Now move."
"Who the heck are you? Where are you gonna take me?" I jumped away from the door she forced open and snatched the lighter from my back pocket.
"My name is Blade. And we're going to a study room downstairs."
Click, clack. Click, clack. Click, clack. "Why?"
"Because I said so."
Click, clack. Click, clack. Click, clack. "Your point?"
"That would be a perfectly good reason if you knew any better."
Click, clack. Click, clack. Click, clack. "So give me another one."
Exhaling loudly in frustration, Blade sprang forward, snatched my lighter, and danced out of reach. "If you keep doing that, I'm really gonna get irritated. Now do us all a grand favor and shut up. Let's go."
I just stood there, shocked. Who the heck does she think she is?!? No one takes my lighter. No one! I spun around, grabbed a staff Gambit made me, and went into attack position. I gritted my teeth and glared at the woman.
"Oh, this is cute." She commented dryly.
I swung at her as hard as I could. She twisted away. Then, a dagger sprang out of her sleeve and she cut the staff in half. Spinning, she side- kicked me into the wall and laid the knife to rest at the base of my throat. I froze, swallowing hard.
"Now listen up." She growled, moving in close to my face. "When I tell you to do something, you do it. Following me was a reasonable request, I think. Shouldn't have been that hard to do. And if you ever attack me again, I swear you'll end up losing a limb. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am." I managed to choke the words out after a second.
"Let's. Go."