Jubilee

When I realized that I was most likely on my own for the rest of the day, with both my friends off in different corners of the mansion sulking, I tried to figure out how I could possibly use that to my advantage.

I considered having a horror movie fest by myself, but the younger kids were using the T.V in the rec room, and Rogue was probably moping upstairs. I thought about going for a swim, painting my nails, reading a book, or doing my English homework, but the first three weren't that appealing to me, and the fourth one scared me so much I asked Storm to check my temperature.

After that I wandered around the mansion for a while, looking for something to do. I ran in to Bobby and asked him if he wanted to do something, but he just shook his head and continued wandering down the hall, looking as if he'd lost his best friend. Wait, I guess he has.

Scott over heard me talking to Bobby. I hadn't seen Scott for a while. He dissapered for a bit after everyone got back from Washington, but he had reappeared recently and could ussually be found doing exactly what everyone else in this place had been doing lately; moping, sulking, and generaly looking pu-out. Difference was, it didn't bother me when he did it–he deserved it more than anyone else.

When he found me he asked me why I wasn't doing anything on a Saturday morning.

I told him that Logan was leaving.

"Ahh," He said. "Well, that explains Rogue, but where's Kitty?" I didn't answer him, and by the look on his face after a few seconds–a mixture of confusion, concern and worry–I think he understood.

"What is it with that guy?" He wondered out loud.

"Beats me," I said. "I think he's a dick." It seemed Scott would have agreed with me had their not been other students in the hall, but instead he told me to watch my language.

"Well, as long as your not doing anything, how about you and I take a little trip?"

"Where?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, I don't know," He said, a small smile creeping on to his face. "But I know there's a place in the mansion you've yet to break into."

"Are you serious? You're going to let me use the danger room?" This was way better than any horror movie fest. You had to be really good to be allowed into the danger room without being in training, and although my academic work isn't the best, everyone had told me that I was improving the most during talents and individual training classes.

"On several conditions: You do not have unlimited access to the room, only when one of the teachers feels it is a good idea, and you must always have one of us with you at all times in the danger room with you, as well as someone watching on the other side. Is that understood?"

I nodded, trying hard to remember that if I were to follow any rules in the school, it would be these ones. I didn't want to do anything to get this privilege revoked.

"Okay, good. Come on," He started walking down the hall and I scurried after him, exited.

This was turning out to be a damn good day after all.

When I returned to the room later, I collapsed on my bed, exhausted, but ecstatic. Kitty walked in and closed the door behind her. I gave a dramatic sigh of happiness.

Rogue looked up from her bed, where she was writing something in a notebook.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked. Rogue is the nicest person in the world, and I love her like a sister, but the two times you don't want to be near her are when she's mad at Logan and when she's hungry. By her voice I could tell that today it was both.

"Oh nothing," I said. "There's just nothing like kicking the shit out of simulated monsters to make you realize how special life really is."

"Hmmph," Kitty said, obviously in just as bad a mood as Rogue. "I guess you got to go in the danger room. Big deal. I've been in it."

"In it, not used it." I said. I stood up then, and walked over to a set of drawers against the wall and pulled out a chocolate bar, which I then tossed to Rogue.

"There," I said. "Eat something. I really don't want to find out that your looks can kill, too," I bolted out of there before she could hurt me, and I heard the thud of the chocolate bar against the door.

I then preceded to strut all the way down to dinner, where I planned to brag to Bobby and all the other guys that I had gotten to use the danger room before them. Nothing could ruin this day.

Kitty

"Jubilee can be such a bitch sometimes," I said to Rogue after she had left.

"Mmm..." she wasn't really agreeing with me. She had taken Jubilee's advice and eaten something, and now was starting to return to her normal self.

"She thinks we care that she got to go in the stupid danger room. Like we care," I said meanly.

"I don't know," Rogue said. Yep, almost completely normal Rogue. Wont talk about anyone behind their backs. I feel bad for being mad a Jubilee. I really should, but since the real person I want to be mad at was in this room, I felt I had to be mad at somebody.

I'm such a bad person. This isn't me, it really isn't. I shouldn't be mad at her, she's my best friend. I guess when you really want something, not much else seems to matter.

"You know what?" I said, standing up. "I'm going to..." Rogue wasn't listening. She was staring out the window and writing stuff in a notebook. I ran a hand through my hair. "...somewhere." I finished lamely. She looked up at me, and smiled. This was the Rogue I knew.

"Okay," she said. "See you later." I walked out of the room, feeling bad for all the bad thoughts I had about her.

I wandered down to the rec room, where I flopped down on the couch, hopping there was a good movie playing on T.V. There was. For the first time that day I relaxed, getting caught up in the movie.

A little while later I felt someone sit down on the couch next to me. I didn't look up until th spoke.

"Whatcha watching?" It was Logan.

"Dirty Dancing," I managed to say. To my ears it sounded like I was choking, but I guess he didn't notice. I tried to turn my head back to the movie, but when he looked at me I realized I had been staring.

"Uh...aren't you supposed to be leaving?"

"Why? You that eager to see me go?"

"No!" I exclaimed. "No, that's not what I meant," I tried to explain when he looked at me quizzically. I turned back to the movie, my cheeks flushed.

He didn't seem to need an exclamation, and after a few seconds of silence broken only by the music from the tv, he said: "Cyclops is fixing his bike. I can't leave until tomorrow night ."

"Oh." I said. We both watched the movie for a couple of minutes when he asked, "Who's that guy?"

"Who?" I said. "Patrick Swayze?"

"Bicep guy. Torso boy. Whatever you want to call him."

"That's Johnny. He's a dancer at the resort where Baby and her family are staying." He seemed to accept this answer and nodded, before asking, "What kind of a name is Baby?"

I shrugged. "Her real name is Frances."

He looked at me quizzically. "How many times have you seen this movie?"

"Probably two or three times," I said. Times about a thousand. I looked back at the screen, my heart beating wildly. This couldn't actually be happening, could it? I had probably fallen asleep and was dreaming..This never happens in real life.

My fream seemed to be ending though, when he stood up and walked to the kitchen. He returned a couple of minutes later, though, with a beer in one hand, and a can of soda that he handed to me. He sat back on the couch, flinging one arm over the back, letting it rest dangerously close to my neck.

That's when I knew that this had to be a dream. Either that, or one of Jubilee's nightmares, as she can't stand Logan. I considered pinching myself, but that would have looked too obvious, so I settled for biting my tongue, which hurt a lot. I winced a little, and I think he noticed, but he never commented.

He then proceeded to ask questions through out the entire movie, about who that was, or why the hell was that guy being a dick. I tried to answer them as well as I could, but having his arm so close to me was distracting.

"Hey Kitty, can I ask you a question?" He said after a while. I thought he was going to ask me another question about the movie. I stopped feeling a rushing feeling in my head about 20 minutes ago, and I had finally started to relax and enjoy talking to Logan.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but I was wondering if you could just walk through walls, or if you can go through other things too." That question surprised me. I didn't think he even remembered most kids in the school's name, let alone what their talent was.

"Sure," I said. "Here, hold out your hand." I smiled nervously. He held it out, and I passed my hand through his.

He stared at his hand for a second. "Weird," He muttered. He must have seen the look on my face, because he quickly said, "No, not you. It's just a weird feeling, that's all." He looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped himself.

"What?"

"Can you put objects through other objects?" He asked.

I made a face. "I'm learning. It's pretty hard. I can doing if I'm phasing through thin objects. Here," I grabbed a magazine off of the table in front of me. "Give me your hand again." I grasped it, and concentrated hard, and both of our arms went through the magazine. When I pulled away, my arm felt like it was on fire, and it had nothing to do with going through the magazine, and everything to do with the fact that I had just been holding Logan's hand. I looked down at my lap. I think I was blushing, but I can never tell.

"When did you first know you could do that?" He asked me. He was staring at his arm now.

"What, put objects through things? Scott started teaching me a couple of weeks..."

"No, when did you first...realize you were different?"

"Ohhhh...," I said, understanding. "Oh, I really don't remember," I lied.

"Bullshit." I looked up at him in surprise. "You don't just forget a thing like that. Come on...tell me. I won't laugh." He looked like he really cared, and I found myself telling him the story.

"It was the summer before I was supposed to start high school and I was thirteen. I was at this party that I girl I didn't like very much was having. Everyone was...well, making out and stuff, and I was feeling really uncomfortable. I went outside and there was this guy–"

Logan cut me off. "You liked him, right?"

I fumbled for words. "I guess in the way that you like a guy when you're thirteen, I did. Anyway, we were both outside, and we started talking, and then he leaned over and just kissed me. I was so surprised, I just kinda...went through him.

"He started calling me a freak and yelling at me and everyone started to come out side and I just began to run home. A couple of weeks later, my parents allowed me to come up here."

I had finished my story, and I was looking at Logan for his reaction. He didn't say anything for a few minutes. I had expected him to come up with something like, "What is it about kissing us guys that makes you girls turn into mutants?"

But all he said was "Wow. I guess that must have been pretty tough."

I looked at him. "Are you kidding? Not compared to some of the kids here. Do you even know some of their stories? They're terrible. What I went through was nothing compared to them." I avoided his eyes after that. Because he knew exactly who I was talking about. And I didn't want to talk about Rogue right now, especially with Logan.

I think he wanted to say something, but instead he stood up and looked at the clock on the wall. He said something about how late it was, and darted out of the room, leaving me alone.

I looked around and realized that everyone must have gone up to bed. So I did the only thing that felt natural: I grabbed a pillow of the couch and cried.

I must have fallen asleep on the couch, because Bobby shook me awake later and asked me what was wrong. I sat up kind of confused and everything came back to me.

"Kitty? What's wrong?" Bobby's ice blue eyes looked concerned, and almost considered telling him everything, but I stopped myself.

"Nothing," I stood up. "What would anything be wrong?"

He looked at me doubtfully. "Your cheeks are all tear stained and you're sleeping on the couch. That give you any indication?"

"I guess I feel asleep here. I was watching a sad movie."

"Last time I saw you, you were watching Dirty Dancing with Logan."

"Better not let him hear you say that around other people." I looked around at the clock. "Wow!" I said surprised. "12 o'clock. Guess I better go to bed. 'Night Bobby," I smiled.

"Night Kitty," He said, obviously still unconvinced that nothing was wrong.

I walked back up to the room, fighting back tears. This was so frustrating. Why couldn't I have fallen in love with someone my own age? Someone I could flirt with, laugh with, be my normal self around? No, I had to fall in love with Logan, who could be older that my own grandfather, for all I knew.

And now he was going to be sticking around for another day. I wish he would just leave, because maybe then, I could try and hold on to whatever bit of normal life I had before he came into the picture.

I crept into the room, expecting everyone to be sleeping, but instead found Jubilee and Rogue watching T.V. When they noticed my presence, Rogue seemed to realize how late it was, and crawled into bed. I did the same, and Jubileestood staring at us for several minutes, sighed, and then did the same.