Looking Through Your Eyes
Chapter 2
Lance woke up the next morning to find Marie wearing nothing but his shirt and looking over his messy table top. Leaning over the bed, he searched for his boxers. He pulled them on and walked over to her.
"Morning," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her.
"Morning," she said back. "Another F, Lance? What am I supposed to do with you?"
"Nothing. Hornberry already threatened me with a tutor if I flunked the next test. Which is today, by the way," he added.
"Today?" Marie exclaimed, turning around in the seat. "If I'd known you'd have a test today, I wouldn't have allowed you to keep yourself up doing a total and completely useless thing!"
"Hey, it wasn't completely useless," he said, frowning slightly.
"Not the point," she said. "What're you going to do about the test?"
Lance just shrugged. "If I fail, I fail and in the process, get a tutor who'll suck the fun out of everything. If I pass, I don't get a tutor who'll suck the fun out of everything."
Marie just shook her head at his lack of focus. "I'm gonna go, okay? My mom is probably looking for me, if she hasn't already left. She's going away to Mississippi today. "
"Alright. I'll pick you up later," he said, giving her a deep kiss. "See you."
"Actually, you don't have to pick me up. I'll see you in school," she said. She pulled on her pants, her denim jacket, house keys and bounded out the door.
Lance stared at the closed door before heading towards his toilet to take a shower. When he was done, he quickly shoved his books into his bag. Taking a quick self-made breakfast before Allison could come down with Benedict, he left the house. He had a couple of minutes left before the first bell. As he walked to his locker, he saw Summers and Pryde with scowls on their faces. Summers had a bruise on his cheek from yesterday. Rolling his eyes, he went to English.
Lunch came and Lance was sitting at his usual table with Pietro Maximoff, Fred Dukes and Todd Tolansky with Marie, Jean Grey and Pietro's twin sister, Wanda. They were laughing at what Todd was saying when Summers appeared at the table.
"Yes?" Lance said, lazily holding a can of soda as he raised his eyes to look at him. "Was there something you wanted?"
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Scott?" Pryde asked.
"Stay out of this, Kitty," Summers said. "I'm extending a challenge to you, Alvers."
Lance's eyebrows furrowed and a frown marked his features. "Name your game, Summers."
"A basketball game. First one to get seven basket wins," he said.
"Hmm, should be a piece of cake," Lance said. "And what'll I get if I win, which, of course I will."
"Don't be so sure of that, Alvers. Remember who's point guard on the varsity team."
"Like I said, what will I get if I win?"
"My spot on the basketball team. I've already talked it out with Coach Howlett."
"Forget it, Summers," Lance said. "I could win that challenge with my hands tied behind my back. The only reason why I dropped out of try outs was 'cause I felt sorry for you. Come back to me when you can come up with a real challenge."
Summers narrowed his eyes at him and stalked off. Pryde just shot them a look as she went after him. Lance turned back to the people at the table.
"Unbelievable," Marie spat, stalking off.
"Marie!" Jean said, hurrying after her.
"What's her problem?" Lance asked the others.
"Maybe you should ask that yourself, man," Todd said.
As he watched her stalk off, he muttered what she had said earlier, "Unbelievable."
Lance was putting his morning session books back into his locker and was proceeding to pull out his afternoon session books when Summers once more appeared, this time without Pryde.
"Was there something you wanted?" he asked, repeating his earlier question, without even raising his face to look at the other boy.
"Midnight tonight. The old playground. We fight it out," Summers said.
"Look, man, I don't know why you're doing this. And frankly, I don't exactly care. 'Cause you know why? It's stupid. Sure, I pick fights all the time. But it's who I am. But that's not you, Summers."
"Winner gets Marie."
Lance felt his contort in anger. "I already have her. And if you lose?"
"I leave you and her alone, for real this time. For the rest of high school," he said.
Lance stared at his almost-empty locker. His eyes darted towards a picture of him and Marie together. They looked happy. And maybe they were. One thing he knew for sure, he wasn't going to lose Marie to that bastard.
"Fine," he said. "Not a word to Marie, you hear me, Summers? I'm warning you." He slammed his locker shut and stalked off towards his Geometry class.
"Hey, superstar!"
It was after school. Lance was sure he was going to get a tutor at the rate he was going. He turned around and found Jean Grey hurrying up to him.
"What is it? And don't call me 'superstar'."
She ignored his request. "I heard you and Scott are fighting tonight. Is it true?" Jean asked, already in her cheerleading uniform. Lance just ignored her. "It's all over school. Even Marie's heard about it. She doesn't want you to fight him tonight."
"She has?"
"Yeah. And I know she's pretty pissed at you at the moment but you really, really shouldn't fight Scott tonight. She still cares about you despite the fact that you keep biting her head off," Jean continued.
"Look, just tell Marie to stay out of it." Lance turned to walk away when he heard her speak.
"Our whole year is going to be there."
Lance stopped for a moment, muttering, "That bastard" before continuing to his car. He threw his bag into his jeep. When he got into the driver's seat, he spied Marie putting her stuff into her black mustang convertible. He attempted a smile but she just rolled her eyes and walked away, meeting with another member of the squad – Jubilee, was it? – and walked towards the field without a look back.
"Scott, I really don't think this is a good idea," Kitty said as she bustled around the café with him following her around later that evening. "And I'd, like, really appreciate it if you didn't follow me around. What if I dropped one of your mom's glasses?"
"You're way uptight about this, Kitty," he said. "And I thought I was supposed to be the one who was uptight? 'Sides, he accepted the challenge."
"Tell me this, Scott, how is it a challenge if you're fighting with your fists?" Kitty said as she went to the back room. She didn't give him a chance to answer. "You do realize you could get arrested for that right? And besides, what would you get out of it?"
"Marie," he mumbled.
In shock, Kitty nearly dropped the tray she was holding. "Okay, I know you were obsessed with her, but did I just hear you correctly? That if you won, you'd get Marie?"
"And Alvers' spotlight," he said.
"That's just stupid. Marie isn't a prize to be won," Kitty said, as she tucked her bangs behind her ear.
"I'd really appreciate it if you were there to support me, Kit," Scott said, leaning against the counter, watching her. "We've been supporting each other for loads of things before. Some even more stupid than this."
"I still think this whole thing is stupid," she said, not meeting his eyes. But Scott could tell, with the change of her posture, that she was going to be there for him.
"Marie! Oh, God, geez," Lance said in surprise when he walked into his room after dinner. "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough," she said. She was sitting on his bed, her arms crossed over the black shirt she was wearing. "I heard about the fight with Scott Summers you're planning on having in four hours."
"Yeah, so?"
"After yesterday, Lance? Do you want a repeat of that?"
"Look, he wouldn't stop bothering me about some stupid challenge or other. I finally accepted this one," he said.
"Oh, and what's that? A fight using only your fists? Fistfights can only get you so far, Lance. And if you're not lucky, you could actually get paralysed."
"Look, Summers a wuss."
"Lance, I don't want you to go."
"I've got no choice, Marie. He made an offer I couldn't refuse."
"Oh, yeah? And what was that?"
"You. And my position in the popularity ranks," he said.
Marie just stared at him in disbelief as he walked into the bathroom without a look back.
"Hey, Al. Um, is Lance here?"
"Tatiana. It's been a long time. Sure, come in. I think he's upstairs in his room," Allison said.
"Thanks," Tatiana said. Like her older brother, she didn't like her father's new wife. The long-haired brunette walked in and felt something tackle her knees. "Hey, there Benny."
"Tati!" Benedict said happily.
"Hey, you," she said, picking him up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. She spotted Marie coming down the stairs. "Darkholme, is my brother upstairs?"
Marie and Tatiana didn't get along much. In fact, they were hardly friends, despite the fact that they've been on the same squad for two years running now.
"He's in the shower," Marie said shortly. "Hey, Ben." She ruffled his hair. "Um, Mrs, Alvers, I'm gonna go now, okay?"
"Oh, sure, dear. Thanks for stopping by," Allison said.
Tatiana rolled her eyes behind the pair. She quickly went up the stairs, still carrying Benedict, singing for him.
"You know, I really don't see the point of taking a shower if you're gonna get dirty later anyway," she commented when she saw Lance coming out of the bathroom.
"Tati! Wait, what're you doing here?"
"To stop you from fighting Scott Summers tonight," she said simply. She put Benedict down. "Go downstairs to your mom, Ben. I need to have a talk with your brother."
"Okay!" Benedict said innocently as he went down the stairs, mindful to not trip and fall.
"Look, Tat, I got the talk from Marie already. I don't need it from you, too," he said, running a towel through his wet hair. "Why're you defending him anyway?"
Tatiana rolled his eyes. "Unless you've forgotten, I'm going out with his little brother."
"Oh, yeah," Lance scowled. "Remind me to give him a piece of my mind after I finish with his brother."
"Lance!"
"What, Tat? You know as well as the whole school knows that I don't like the Summers boys. Nor do I like his dad," Lance said.
"You have to give them a chance, Lance. Alex and Scott are really sweet if you just get to know them better."
"Like I wanna be chummy with the guy who wants my girlfriend."
"I heard about that too from Alex. He says the winner gets Marie. Does she know?"
"Oh, Marie knows alright. This fight doesn't matter anyway. She's gonna dump me for wagering her off in a fight," he said.
"And you don't care?"
Lance shrugged. "Don't know why I should."
"Does dad or Allison know about this? Does mom know about it?" Tatiana asked, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest.
"You're not telling them, Tat," he said sternly.
"Why shouldn't I? You know, mom would be so disappointed in you if she ever finds out that you're going through with this," she said.
"And you better not open your big trap, then," he said. "Now get out of my room. I need to get ready."
And with that, he slammed the door in her face, with her looking indignant at it.
"Scott, I still think this is stupid," Kitty said at a half hour to midnight. They were at Scott's house in his room with Alex.
"Whether you lose or not, bro, I'm still behind you one hundred per cent," Alex said which caused Kitty to glare at him.
"Don't encourage him, Alex!" Kitty snapped.
"Hey, look, Tatiana's going over to his house to make sure he chickens out of it, anyway," Alex said.
"She what!"
"But you know him. Just as stubborn as you are, bro. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two had a lot more in common than you know," Alex commented.
"Don't," Scott said angrily, "say that. Me and him are nothing alike."
Kitty and Alex exchanged sceptical glances at each other.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Rick asked. He had caught Lance trying to sneak out of the house as he was working in his office.
"Out," Lance said shortly, putting on his shoes.
"Where?"
"You know what, dad? Stop trying to be Mister Dad to me, alright? You stopped doing that when you divorced mom," he said.
"It wasn't my fault that your mother and I just fell out, Lance," Rick said.
"Oh, and how about Allison? She just happened to be there when you and mom started having problems?" Lance asked angrily. "I know you and Allison were having sex before the divorce became final. And I know that she was two months pregnant just before the wedding but had a miscarriage when she got into that accident five months later."
"You could try giving her and Benedict a chance, you know," Rick said wearily.
"I'll give Ben a chance and that's only 'cause he's a kid and doesn't know that I hate his mom," Lance said, grabbing his keys and headed for the door.
"Lance, if you walk out that door-"
"Forget it, dad," Lance said, slamming the door behind him.
"I thought you said this whole thing was stupid?" Lance asked as he saw Marie leaning against a tree with Jean by her side.
"Well, I have to be here, don't I? After all, I was wagered in this ridiculous challenge," Marie spat, glaring at him.
"Look, Marie-"
"Forget it, Lance," she said. "We're over."
"You do realize that when I win this thing I'll still get you, right?"
"What's your point? I'll just dump you again," Marie said crossly.
Lance just glared at her but turned around when he heard mild cheering from the other end of the playground, signalling that Summers and his posse had probably arrived.
"You ready?" Summers said.
Lance just glared at him. Dumped twice in two days. It wasn't helping his mood, especially after that short talk with his dad before he left.
"You start when midnight strikes-" Kurt Wagner, one of Scott's friends said, but was cut off when someone's wristwatch went off. "Start!"
Lance wasted no time as he charged at Summers with his fist. Summers easily dodged it as he veered to the side, giving a blow to Lance's stomach in retaliation. He grimaced slightly in pain, as he brought his foot up to kick him in the chest. Pryde gasped as she saw him coughing. Lance was about land another punch in his face when he whirled around and kicked him back firmly in the chest. Marie had half a mind to run over to him to make sure he was okay.
"That the best you got, Summers?" Lance choked.
"No," he said shortly before lunging forwards and gave Lance another punch in the jaw, causing him to fall back. A trickle of blood appeared at the edge of his lip.
"No, Pietro," Wanda said, holding her twin back. Nevertheless, the albino continued to struggle against his sister's hold.
Summers stood over Lance, thinking that the boy was unconscious. He looked up to smile at Marie but yelped when Lance flipped him over. Apparently, Lance was conscious, and was mega pissed.
But Summers was quick. He managed to kick and punch Lance twice. Clearly, Lance had underestimated his strength.
"I told that idiot," Tatiana muttered to Kitty and Alex. "I told him not to go. Now he's gonna end up embarrassing himself."
"I think he's embarrassed himself enough," Kitty said. "Scott, stop it!" She ran forwards in between them and unfortunately, was in the way of an incoming punch by her best friend. It got her on the cheek, and she gasped as was flung back towards Tatiana and Alex.
"I think," Marie said icily, as she stepped forwards, "it's time for you two to stop fighting. Now." She stalked off in a huff, while Jean did her best to glare at the both of them, both of who, were quite bloody.
Summers and Lance just stared at each other as the result of their actions finally sunk in.
To Scott, Kitty would most likely never talk to him again. Same goes to Alex and Tatiana, both of whom he was on good terms with. And at this rate, he wasn't going to get Marie after all. He had, after all, treated her as though she was a prize.
To Lance, he not only lost Marie, but most likely his popularity for not finishing Summers off. It didn't matter anyway. But looking at his opponent, he felt disgusted. He would never, ever dream of hitting his own best friend. Even if it was an accident. His eyes betrayed his mind as they sought out Katherine Pryde's hunched form, clutching her cheek as his sister and her boyfriend attempted to calm her down. She was cursing at everything and everyone she could think of. A thin trail of blood was issuing from her mouth.
Lance couldn't help but feel that he was slightly responsible for it.
A/N: One word: Review!