5/13
The next day, Scott woke up, put on his glasses, and saw the time: a minute before his alarm went off. How ironic. He closed his eyes and sixty seconds later, his clock buzzed. He slammed one hand forcefully on the button. He got up, ruffled his messy brown hair and proceeded to the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later, he was walking down the familiar halls to the kitchen. The usual morning people were already eating their breakfast, or rather, just drinking it. He scanned the room for Rogue, though he didn't know exactly what he would do when he found her. It's not like he was going over to her and strike up a conversation; he knew all too well that she would only be talking about Warren.
Huh. Strange, Rogue wasn't in the room. Does this mean that she's still not up? Scott took a seat in the dining table, helping himself to some eggs, with the thought, the sleep deprivation thing must really be getting to her.
And as if on cue, the object of his thoughts walked in, or sauntered in, her arm around Warren's. Of course, Scott thought savagely, Warren.
The whole room fell silent at the sight of their resident Goth talking animatedly with the newcomer. Scott wondered silently if the Professor forgot to announce that they had in their midst a perfect one, a noble one, a- he stopped when he realized what he was doing. Why was he being hostile against Warren again?
He jabbed at his egg and drank his coffee. By this time, the-dare he say it-couple had already taken their seats and started on their breakfast. The noise resumed, as the others couldn't really stare at Rogue and Warren any longer.
Warren cleared his throat, minutes later, capturing some of the people's attention. "I'm driving Rogue to school today, and there's plenty of room, so who's up for it?" he asked, his face lighting up with one of his smiles.
"What's your car, Mister . . .?" Evan so tactfully trailed off.
"Worthington," Warren supplied gracefully. "And my car is outside. Of course, it's just a standard white limo and my driver's on vacation so . . . " he trailed off.
Most people, namely Kitty, Kurt, Evan and even Jean, scrambled from their seats to the nearest window to take a look at the said vehicle parked in the curve outside. A chorus of 'cool's and 'wow's were heard, much to Scott's frustration. A minute later, the said people flocked around the newcomer and asked him questions about his car and his travels.
Scott cleared his throat but no one seemed to notice. Infuriated, he dropped down his fork, stood up and put his dirty dishes in the sink. Judging from the reactions on their astonished faces, no one was riding with him. Honestly, the way they were behaving was nothing short of falling down to their knees and worshipping Warren right then and there. Not that he was jealous or anything. Of course not.
He stormed off the room and headed towards the garage to take out his car. He glanced at Warren's car. Now Scott Summers was no fool, and he knew a valuable car when he saw one. It wasn't a stretched limousine as he had first thought, but rather an old-fashioned one, just like the ones in the movies that Scott had always had a soft spot for. The immaculate shade of white of the said vehicle gleamed beautifully under the sharp light of the morning sun. It took almost all of Scott's willpower not to reach out and touch it. He turned away, before he broke one of the unwritten rules of car ownership: Thou shalt not touch another's baby without the owner's permission.
He glanced at his watch and he saw that he had plenty of time before school actually starts. He figured that it would be wrong to start the day this way (angry and jealous at this time of the day!) and that a drive around the town would clear his mind.
He got in the car, turned up the radio and drove off. When he entered the road towards the town, he quickly wiped the idea out of his mind. Cars upon cars were already piled up on the road. He had forgotten about the early morning traffic jams that Bayville was famous for.
He made a sharp U-turn, an illegal one most probably, but no one called him for it so he drove on. He headed straight for school. Since it was still early, the parking area was practically empty. It was littered here and there by the occasional car, usually old and battered, that belonged to the early birds of the faculty staff. He parked on one of the spaces closest to the entrance.
He turned off the radio and killed the engine, but he made no motion to get out. He didn't really feel like associating with anyone yet, and even though the school was still empty, he didn't want to risk running into one of the teachers. Knowing them, they would only give you errands to run until the school bell rings.
It was Rogue's turn to wash the dishes today, so that would mean that the whole group would come in somewhat late. And before he could even follow up that thought, a blur of brown caught his line of vision heading towards the basketball court. That blur cleared up and it turned out to be Pietro holding a basketball. Following Pietro's gaze, he saw Toad and Lance walking towards the court.
It was obvious that Pietro felt somebody watching them because a moment later, his head whipped towards the general direction of the parking lot. He smirked when he saw Scott all alone.
Before the basketball even hit the ground, Pietro was leaning on the hood of Scott's car.
"So," he started. Scott noticed that Toad and Lance had already started the game without Pietro. "Where's your harem?"
"What?" Scott asked, terse. He didn't really want any scratches on his hood. Obviously, Pietro never had a car, which would be a shock if he did, on account of his mutation, and he was never acquainted with the rules.
"I meant the girls from your 'Institution' or whatever you call it," Pietro replied. "You, courageous chief, never go to school alone. What, they all found someone better to drive them?"
Scott resisted the urge to punch the stupid smirk off of his face. What has this guy been doing? Spying on him? Even though he hated to admit it, Pietro's somewhat innocent mockery hit a little too close to home.
"What do you care?" he said as he got out of his sports car after grabbing his books. Great. This was one of those rare days when he wanted to be alone but since irony always gives out large doses, this just had to be the one The Brotherhood decided to shoot some hoops.
"No particular reason," Pietro said, falling into step with Scott. "Just wanted to deliver a message to Rogue. From Mystique," He gave a satisfied smirk when he saw the rise in Scott's eyebrows. "But since she's not here, I guess you can give it to her,"
Scott grunted a reply as he continued to walk.
"Good," said Pietro, his features suddenly turning serious. "Tell Rogue that Mystique wants her to quit this stupidity that she's trying to do. Her power is a rare gift, and it would be nothing short of futility to try and change her destiny. Got that Summers?"
The man in question stopped dead in his tracks. "How did you find out about that?" he asked his voice dead serious. Was The Brotherhood really spying on them?
"We have our ways," Pietro replied. "Just be sure to give Rogue the message or Mystique will be forced to make an appearance. And we all know how messy that gets,"
Scott was left to stare at the spot Pietro was standing on. He was gone even before the last word reached Scott's ears. Scott looked at the basketball court, now occupied by the three male members of Magneto's Brotherhood.
He sighed and went inside the high school, still pondering how exactly the others knew about it. All the students inside the Institute didn't even know yet, as the Professor requested all the people involved to keep it to themselves, and the Brotherhood already knew? How did that happen?
Does that mean that Magneto already knew of Warren's unexpected visit at the Institution? Scott groaned. He really wasn't in the in the mood for another one of those brawls, and knowing Lance Alver's temper, he would be all too glad for another fight.
Scott found his Physics classroom and wasn't surprised to find it devoid of any living creature. He sat down at the very back of the room and stared outside the window, his head propped up by his hand. The view, thankfully, wasn't of Lance and the others playing basketball, but of the picnic tables under the trees.
He smiled to himself when he saw two of the younger teachers approach one of the tables and sit down. He recognized the male one to be his Logic professor, Mr. Douglas, and the other one was the new female teacher.
The girl teacher propped up a book and started to read, while Scott's Logic teacher opened up a bag of, presumably, their breakfast.
Scott didn't know that there was a love story between those two. But when Mr. Doug looked up at his female friend, an image, not unlike the one he was seeing right now, popped into Scott Summer's mind.
It seemed so long ago, when they first met. He hated to be like this but he couldn't quite stop himself.
Kate.
tbc