Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men: Evolution. There – are you happy now?
Chapter Eight –
Brianna didn't know if she could take this place much longer, what with the whole tension between her and Logan, and everyone thinking that she was a heartless monster for lashing out at Jamie.
It didn't help that everyone else was getting all fixed up for their Friday night plans. They all looked so nice – well, most of them, anyways – in their party clothes and nighttime make-up. And then there was her, looking very misplaced, in her cleaning outfit, which was a ridiculously oversized hoodie and the straight-legged jeans she had worn that day. Her hair was up in a long, long ponytail, so it wouldn't get in her face, and the bottom of her socks were very dirty from walking around in messes for about an hour.
"How do I look?" Kitty asked, twirling around in her brand new baby doll dress. "Be, like, totally honest!"
"Good," Brianna answered. This wasn't really fair, because Kitty looked more than 'good.' This was the best Brianna had ever seen her; with her hair all down in loose spirals and make-up that enhanced her facial features. The truth was that Brianna was jealous.
"Where are you going, anyway?" Brianna questioned.
"Oh, out to eat with… someone." Kitty giggled, trying to be secretive, but she couldn't keep anything from Brianna – her face gave it away instantly.
"Lance!" she shouted, grinning. "I knew you liked him again, didn't I? You do!"
"It doesn't mean, like, anything at all," Kitty said. "He's just taking me some place to eat. It's not like we're, like, getting back together or anything."
"Oh, just give it time." Brianna smirked. "Before you know it, he'll be trying to unzip your pants in the back of his car."
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Oh, please! You, like, know what, though? Pietro wanted to make it a, like, double date, but then I told him you were grounded, so he backed off. I guess some good things, like, come out of getting in trouble, huh?"
"I guess. Doesn't that creep get enough of me at school? I have to sit with him every day at lunch! All he does is flirt with all those stupid freshies."
"Like, watch it!" Kitty said. "I'm a freshie, and there's, like, nothing wrong with me, right? And, like, are you sure that you're not just, like, jealous?"
Brianna laughed. "Are you kidding me? Why would I be jealous of them? They didn't get asked to his house tonight at seven! Which reminds me… can I borrow some of your clothes? None of mine really fit the occasion."
"You're actually going to go?" Kitty's jaw was dropped in disbelief. "You're grounded, and, like, do you even know what he's gonna, like, try and do to you?"
"Like I'd let him pull that." Brianna began filing her nails, nonchalantly, stopping every few seconds to examine them. "Can I borrow some of your clothes or not?" She was rather lucky, having a best friend that was the same size as her.
"I guess." Kitty sighed, turning away from her reflection. "The more I look at myself, the more I hate it. Are you sure it looks okay?"
"Yes."
"Okay, well, like, I have a question… you can't find, like, one outfit to wear? You have, like, five hundred shirts, I swear!"
"Eh." Brianna cocked her head to inspect her nails from a new angle. "Well, I hope you have a wild night tonight."
"'Wild?'" Kitty repeated. "I hope it doesn't get, like, wild, but knowing Lance… it probably will."
"All right, all right, I think he's waiting," Brianna said, peeking out the window to see Lance's green Jeep.
"Bye!" Kitty said, jogging out of the room.
Brianna kept her eyes on the Jeep, and watched as Kitty greeted him with a kiss. She rolled her eyes at the sight… whatever happened to them 'not being back together?'
After the whole Wolverine incident, Brianna figured she deserved a boy in her life. The school year was coming to an end, and what was summer without romance?
That's why she started digging through Kitty's dresser drawers and closet. She didn't really like Kitty's taste in clothing, but there was one item of her friend's that could be of great use.
Finally, she found it. It was this long, knit tank top with spaghetti straps. The color was a bright yellow, and that was the reason she wanted to borrow it in the first place. She had read in the latest issue of 'Elle Girl' that yellow looked really good on a tan.
Kitty usually wore the top with something over it, but Brianna decided not to. There was nothing wrong with her skin, so why should she hide it?
She was gazing into her mirror, wondering where she could buy a shirt like this one. The tag read that it was from American Eagle, but Brianna wasn't going to be caught dead wearing something from an inexpensive store like that. It would be okay for her to wear it that night, but she wouldn't dare wear it to school.
That's when it hit her. She was dressing up for Pietro. Maybe he wasn't that bad… but it was still mind-blowing, because she always thought of him as such an annoying person. She was probably just on the rebound, but she tried telling herself that she had always had a soft spot for him – she'd just ignored it until now.
After she finished touching up her make-up, and she threw on a pair of matching yellow flats, Brianna looked around for that crumpled up note Pietro had given her. It had their number on it.
When she found it, she grabbed her cell phone and dialed.
She couldn't believe she was doing this, but she didn't have enough time to talk herself out of it, because seconds after it began ringing, someone picked up.
"The Brotherhood!" Blob said on the other end.
"Is… uh, Pietro there?"
"Sure," he replied, and yelled right into the phone, making Brianna wince a little. "YOU WERE RIGHT, PIETRO – SHE DID CALL! PIETRO – THE PHONE!"
"Shut up, Blob!" she heard Pietro hiss.
There was a noise as Blob handed off the phone.
"Hello," Pietro said.
"Hi…" Brianna said unenthusiastically. She was really beginning to wish she hadn't made this phone call.
There was silence, but then Pietro broke it. "So, what do you want? I'm very busy tonight, you know. I've got dates that are waiting for me, so let's get down to business."
"Oh, if you have plans, then…"
He hadn't let her finish. "Wait, no! Let's say I cancelled those plans – then what?"
"Well, I was thinking that we could hang out or something… at your house, or wherever. I don't really care."
"I thought you were grounded," Pietro said, bitterly.
"They don't have to know, but, first, I need a ride. I can't just sneak out of here with no car, you know."
"We don't live that far away. Why don't you just walk?"
Brianna groaned.
"Fine, fine. I'll be over there in a sec."
Then, he hung up, so Brianna was left with time to think about how she was going to make her escape. There was always that window – that great, big window that took up a great portion of her wall space.
This was going to have to do, because she didn't have a chance to explore other possibilities. She could see that Pietro was already at the gates, pounding onto them like a patient at an insane asylum. What an idiot! He was going to get them caught.
Thankfully, he stopped the very second she slid open the window, as if he had been reading her thoughts or something like that.
Soon, she realized that she wasn't going to get anywhere with her bag all in the way, so she dropped it onto the ground. It landed rather softly, so she didn't think anyone would have heard it.
Brianna was pretty high up, so she took a second to enjoy the view before looking for a way to get down. She looked up at the sky – she wondered how far away those stars had to be.
She was fortunate, because there happened to be a fire escape latter a few rooms over. Cautiously, Brianna climbed down, but she soon learned that she would have to jump a ways down, because the latter didn't quite touch the ground.
She closed her eyes, counted to ten, and took a jump into the air, landing on her feet, roughly. They started pounding with pain, but that didn't stop her from scrambling to pick up her purse and then running towards the gate.
It opened as she ran up. It always let people leave without having to press any numbers or place their hand or anything, but to get in was a very different story. The Mansion was pretty high security.
"A bicycle?" Brianna spat in disgust as she saw what piece of garbage Pietro had come to pick her up in.
"It's got pegs," Pietro exclaimed, motioning to the back of the bike so she would get on. "Toad let me borrow it since Lance has his Jeep tonight. Now, get on."
"I'll just walk," she said, starting up the street. The gates had just closed, and if they didn't hurry up, someone might see them.
"Why don't you just get on?" Pietro whined. "This is going to take forever if you walk!"
"No, Pietro!" Brianna snapped. "I can't be seen on that thing – especially not on some stupid little pegs! What are we – seven? You can ride on it, but I'm walking, and that's it."
Pietro's eyes narrowed. He hated not getting what he wanted, just as Brianna hated not getting what she wanted. They were going to have to butt heads, because Pietro wasn't going to stand for this. He had other places to go – other chicks to be with, and he was forced to take this? "Get on the pegs or I'm leaving!"
When she realized he was being completely serious, she reluctantly hopped on. "Fine!"
He grinned at his accomplishment as he told her, "Hey, I need to go get my wallet and cancel those plans, so we'll have to go back to the house for a second."
"Okay…"
Next, they whizzed off. Pietro's legs were pumping the pedals at an incredible speed, and they were going at least fifty miles an hour. On a bike… that was just plain crazy. She squeezed onto his back for dear life.
They had come to an abrupt halt. Brianna hadn't been able to see the scenery that passed them, because they were going so fast, but they were now parked in front of the Brotherhood dump.
"You didn't have to do that!" she hissed as they walked on up to the door. "You're such a jerk, sometimes, you know that? I could've been killed!"
"Well, at least you weren't seen on the pegs, right?" Pietro then burst open the door.
Toad was waiting for them, all crouched up on the staircase. "Pietro, is my bike okay or did —" He stopped when he saw the girl Pietro had brought to the house. He had seen her around school, and always wanted to talk to her, but never had the nerve. Now, she was on his turf, so he would be able to. "Hey, baby cakes!" He flinged himself off of the stairs and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug as she entered their home.
Before Brianna could wail out in pure terror, Pietro grabbed Toad off of his date.
"Listen, Toad!" He poked Toad with much force as he said this. "You stay away from here, you hear me? Now, I've got to go upstairs and make a few calls, so just stay in the kitchen. We got more Hello Kitty fruit snacks, you know."
"Oh, man!" Toad raced for the kitchen, Pietro walked up the stairs, and Brianna looked around for a place to sit. She discovered a couch, and after making sure there was nothing wrong with it, she sat. Brianna had never been to such a terrible place in her life! The paint was peeling, there were numerous cracks in the walls, and it smelled of cheese that had been left out in the sun for too long. Plus, she found a slimy, green splat on one of the walls, which was dripping down, about ready to touch the carpet.
She had been studying it when she heard Toad trying to sound seductive. "Baby girl, where have you been all my life? And, by the way, you can call me Todd."
Brianna looked up. He had a package of Hello Kitty fruit snacks in one hand, and a single red rose in the other. But, he was quick to shove the stem of the rose in between his funky teeth; impersonating some type of Latin hunk he had seen on television.
This couldn't be happening. She turned away from the hideous guy, trying to listen for Pietro's voice. Wasn't he done yet? How many dates did he have to cancel?
The walls were so paper thin that she could hear him with ease. "Something just came up," he was saying into the phone. "No, Alicia – of course I don't think you're ugly. Uh-huh, uh-huh – oh, shut up! I don't want to hear another one of your sob stories! I need to go!"
That's when she felt someone jump onto her back, and start licking her ear. Ew! She knew whose tongue that had to be… and he had probably caught plenty of insects with it that very day.
"That's enough!" she shouted, forcing Toad off of her and then stomping up the stairs.
She found Pietro in his room, with his door wide open. He was lying on his bed, talking on that phone of his.
When he saw the look on her face, he said so quickly that it was extremely hard to understand, "Got to go. Bye."
"We're leaving," Brianna informed him, snatching his wrist and leading him out of the house.
"Where do you want to go?" Pietro asked, getting back on the bike.
"The movies," she mumbled. "But there's no way I'm riding on that thing again."
The reason Brianna had chose the movies was because there, she didn't have to talk to him. She didn't really feel like talking to Pietro at all, because he was making her extremely mad. Sure – she could just go home, but she wasn't really ready to deal with the Professor just yet. So, the movies sounded just perfect.
"Well, what do you suggest we take then, hmm?" he asked her, sourly.
"You told me you know how to hotwire cars," Brianna recalled.
Then they started a journey down the street, looking for a car. Pietro had picked quite a few, but Brianna had refused to ride in every single one of them. She couldn't be seen riding around in just anything, now, could she? They had been bickering up until the moment Brianna laid her eyes on a sleek, new sports car.
"That's it!" she squealed. Adrenaline was pumping through her system rapidly – she couldn't believe this was actually happening. She was actually going to break into a car – and a real nice one, at that.
She served as a look out as Pietro walked into the Target parking lot and opened the driver's door. It had been unlocked. People were so careless these days.
"Come over here!" Pietro whispered. "I need your help!"
Brianna took another look around, to make sure no one else had been watching, and made her way over to the car.
"I just need you to tie these two together, and I'll turn over the engine."
Before either of them knew it, the car had begun vibrating, starting up.
Brianna laughed uncontrollably as she scooted over to the passenger's seat. She couldn't remember a single time before that her heart had been beating that fast.
They were speeding off for Harkins Movie Theater, with the windows down so the wind violently made a mess of their hair. Brianna still hadn't finished her giggling – she was so excited, and she felt so free.
Pietro had parked rather sloppily, but it was good enough for him, so they got out, slamming the doors behind themselves. It wasn't like it was their car, anyways.
With all of the excitement that came with breaking the law, Brianna had forgot all about how livid she had been at Pietro. She even let him hold onto her hand, lacing his fingers with her's. When she looked down at their hands, she realized how dark she was compared to Pietro. The whiteness of his skin made her tan appear to be even deeper – she could get used to hanging around Pietro.
"What do you want to see?" he asked her as they moved up in the line to get their tickets.
"I don't care," she replied, pushing her bangs behind her ear with her free hand.
"Well, I wanna see The Omen," Pietro said. He didn't really want to watch that movie – honestly, he'd rather see Nacho Libre, but he knew how girls got at scary movies. They got all scared and held onto him for 'protection.'
"Okay, but isn't it rated R?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah – but you can make it look like we're old enough to get in, can't you? Just make the person think we're in our forties or something."
"And what if they ask for ID?" Brianna didn't think this was such a bright idea.
"Well." Pietro paused. "You can take care of that, too. I mean, you know what a driver's license looks like, don't you?"
"Yeah, but why can't we just buy tickets to a different movie and then sneak into The Omen from there? It's easier."
"Oh, c'mon!" Pietro pleaded. "It'll be more fun this way. Plus, I need to see exactly what you can do. I'm interested."
"All right, all right." Brianna rolled her eyes. "Speaking of which, I didn't think you knew my power."
"Kitty told Lance, and Lance told me. Illusions – that's pretty cool."
"Shh!" Brianna said, putting a finger to his lips. She didn't want the whole world to know.
"I can help whoever's next!" called a girl at the window, who was clad in a very masculine uniform that was identical to the rest of the Harkins employees'.
"That's us." Brianna nudged him to move forward, but then grabbed his arm so he would stop. "Wait – my eyes."
She grabbed a pair of huge sunglasses from her purse. People probably wouldn't react the same if they caught a glimpse of her eyes turning pitch black.
"I said that I can help whoever's next!" she roared again, obnoxiously.
They moved on up to the window, and Pietro said, glancing over to Brianna, "Two for The Omen."
"May I see your driver's license, please?" she asked, cheerfully. This girl had to have about twenty personalities in her – one second she was impatient with them, and the next she looked almost happy to see them.
Brianna felt her eyes change underneath the sunglasses – it was a tingly sensation, as if she had just got some shampoo in her eye. It wasn't strong enough to make her cry – but it did distract her a little bit.
Pietro fumbled with his wallet, stalling for time, but then whipped out a Blockbuster Membership card,
Brianna had ignored the stinging of her eyes long enough so that this Blockbuster card seemed to be a driver's license that clearly stated that Pietro was born in nineteen eighty-two, making him twenty-four years of age.
"Okay," the employee said, handing them their tickets.
Brianna was glad when Pietro stuffed the card back into his wallet, because the pain in her eyes could finally stop.
"What'd you make me look like?" Pietro asked her as she took off the sunglasses. "Did I have a beard?"
"No," she retorted. "We can pass for twenty, can't we? Making you appear to be older would just be a waste."
"Ah," Pietro said, disappointed.
Turns out, Brianna wasn't like the other girls Pietro had taken to the movies previously, and didn't get all worked up at all the scary scenes.
When Pietro asked her why she wasn't pulling her hair out in fright, she answered in a rather simple manner, "I'm used to it. I've made scarier illusions before – trust me."
After the movie finished, Pietro was beating himself up about not trying to kiss her. It was so perfect – why didn't he go for it?
"Pietro?" Briana said as they drove off for something quick to eat. She had noticed that he looked somewhat strained. He hadn't even bothered to pass the speed limit.
"Yeah?"
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing," he lied. " I was thinking about something, though. Why'd you decide to sit with me at lunch? You could've sat anywhere else."
"Oh, well…" Brianna started.
"You've always liked me!" he accused.
She was saved by the flashing of red and blue lights that passed them by, because Pietro had panicked.
"We have to get out of the car – right now!" Pietro blubbered. "This is a stolen vehicle – I wouldn't be surprised if they were coming after us!"
"Right now? Oh, but I though you were the fearless Quicksilver!"
"Just get out!" He swiveled into a dirt lot and jumped out of the car as if it was infested with a swarm of wasps.
"Now how do we get home?" Brianna asked. Pietro should've planned this out if he was going to be a baby about everything.
"There's a pay phone over there," he replied, referring to the one just outside of the nearby Burger King.
Brianna then realized that this was a really, really bad part of town. Everything that surrounded them was either beat up of it had been covered in graffiti, so she kept close by Pietro.
"Who are we going to call?" she whispered, as she gave him a quarter.
"Why don't you call Scott?" Pietro suggested.
"Are you kidding me – he'll have my head, and probably tell the Professor, too. Call Lance!"
"But he's on a date – what if he has his phone turned off?"
"Well, let's hope it isn't!" she hissed, popping the quarter in the slot.
When Pietro began dialing, she realized that she had left her cell phone in the car. "Oh, wait, Pietro… my cell phone's in the car! We can call them on that."
The only problem was that when they turned around to walk back to the car they had abandoned, it was getting vandalized by a group of thugs. One was smashing the windshield with a large metal bat, sending glass in all directions, and the others were busy tagging it with gang signs and logos.
Pietro yelped, and turned back to the pay phone. "I need another quarter!"
"Hurry up!" Brianna said as she handed him an additional twenty-five cents.
Brianna listened to Pietro as he gave Lance directions to the Burger King. She had been clutching onto his arm so hard that he had to tell her to stop because she was cutting off his circulation.
When Pietro hung up, they exchanged worried glances and then darted off into the Burger King without even saying a word.
The Burger King was also filled with gangsters, so they decided to take cover in the restrooms.
"Let's go in the Mens'," Pietro said, not wanting to look like a pansy for going into the ladies' room.
"Do you really want to do that?" she asked as a couple of guys five times his sized filed out of the mens' restroom.
"All right – whatever." He zipped off into the Girls' room, leaving her all alone for a second.
"Don't you ever do that again!" she demanded. "Do you know how scary that was for me?"
She then found him in a stall, so she joined him, latching the door.
"You know how much trouble we'll be in if they find out we're the ones who stole the car?" he said. "They'll think we did all of that stuff to it!"
"Settle down, and take a few deep breaths," Brianna advised.
When he finished doing so, he said, "What are we doing in here? We're mutants! We can take them. They don't stand a chance against us. I'm gonna go fight them, and you should, too!"
"We can't just go around using our powers for everything, you know! I'm staying in here."
"So, whaddya want to do?" Pietro was easily bored, and he searched the stall for something that might amuse them.
She stood on her toes and kissed him. Of course, he kissed back, his hands running up her shirt.
Around fifteen minutes later, Lance and Kitty arrived at the fast food place.
"Where are they?" Lance said, irritated. "He said they'd be waiting in here."
"Ew, I hate these places," Kitty complained. "Can you believe all the poor animals that, like, died to run this place?"
Lance was getting tired of Kitty's vegetarianism. She had even lectured him out of ordering a steak that night.
"Lance, like, I've got to go to the bathroom," she said. "I'll be, like, right back."
When she pranced into the bathroom, the first thing she noticed was the odor, but the second thing she noticed was noises coming from one of the stalls.
"Is, like, anyone there?" she asked, and when no one replied, she decided to investigate.
She noticed a familiar pair of yellow flats at the bottom of the stall that had all the noises coming from it. Those were Brianna's shoes! She remembered that pair because she thought they were the most hideous things she'd ever seen. Those had to be Brianna's! No one else in the world would be stupid enough to buy those things. And there was a pair of feet next to her's. Those were Pietro's shoes – Pietro was raping Brianna!
"Brianna, are you okay?" Kitty said. "Don't worry!"
Kitty phased through the bright green door, only to find that Brianna was pinned against the stall with her head thrown back, and Pietro was at her neck. When she took another look, stunned, she could see that Brianna had a rather large hickey, stretching from her chin to the middle of her neck. Brianna – a hickey? Kitty remembered Brianna saying how 'tasteless' hickeys were, and how she'd never let a guy give her one. This was all just too weird.
"OH, MY GOSH!" Kitty could be heard shrieking.
