Chapter X: Opening Words
Harvey stared intently as the school's well-known headmaster, Mr. Uno, stood in front of the group of Freshman and began to speak. "Welcome, everyone! I'm hoping everyone here is sated from the gift baskets, but I'll try and make things brief anyways in case anyone hasn't eaten! You are all here because you have very special gifts, and many of you seek acceptance, refuge, and even help…" Beyond these words, Harvey had no idea what was being said, due to Ashley's loud chewing of her seemingly endless taco. If anything, she was chewing louder on purpose, but Harvey, always afraid to upset anyone, stayed silent, simply attempting to hear what was being said, to no avail.
Harvey looked wearily at Ashley, who's pale cheeks were bulging with the amount of the Mexican cuisine she had managed to cram inside it. 'Ashley seems to be enjoying that taco an awful lot…' Harvey thought to himself as he watched his new, overzealous acquaintance eat her meal. Her eyes were closed and she was leaning back in her chair, seemingly in total bliss. If Harvey had just met Ashley at this very moment, she would never assume how crass she was, although the piercings may have been any indication, Harvey was never one to judge on appearance.
"…And of course, McClintock is well known for its pro-mutant environment, both in class and in general, we have facilities for helping you hone and master your mutant abilities and, if you so desire to, you are able to join our illustrious X-Men program! you will receive certain missions (many quite dangerous) with predetermined teams! Furthermore, I firmly believe that in order for you to truly master your gifts, you must first push your boundaries and keep testing your limits!" Harvey, once again, missed part of Headmaster Uno's speech due to Harvey letting loose a spectacular belch. Harvey blushed furiously at Ashley's lack of manners, although nobody else seemed to notice, or bother to look at Ashley.
"Hot damn! That is some fine-ass food, I wonder if I can snag some more…" Ashley said thoughtfully. Harvey was shocked, the girl just devoured a taco the size of her head, and she still wanted more? Although Ashley wasn't wearing the most flattering clothes, it was still apparent that she was stick-thin.
'Either she has the best mutant metabolism on the planet, or she's not used to eating whatever she wants…' Harvey found himself subconsciously analyzing his new acquaintance for the second time in a matter of moments. Ashley turned to look at him, revealing a bit of taco sauce still smeared around her lips. "Uh…Ashley, you've got some…Um…" Harvey said, pointing to Ashley's face.
"Some what? Some shit on my face? Wait, that sounded gross…you know what I mean, right?" Ashley said, laughing at her crude joke, before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Oh…yeah, I guess that'll happen." She said, before further demonstrating any sort of lack of manners by just licking the back of her hand free of the sauce, then wiping it on her black sweatshirt. Upon seeing Harvey's look of disgust, Sam only replied, "What? It's only spit!"
Harvey just rolled his eyes and looked back up towards the stage, where Headmaster Uno appeared to be wrapping up his speech. "…And as always, let's have a complimentary round of applause for the staff! Hopefully, you'll all know a few of them by name by the end of the semester!" Headmaster Uno exclaimed, rousing all the new students from their seats and into a frenzy of applause. Harvey hopped up as well, wincing slightly at the feeling of his still full stomach, which was somehow not entirely full at the same time, before applauding. He had to admit, Headmaster Uno's enthusiasm was very contagious! Harvey looked beside him to see that Ashley had remained seated, one hand lightly rubbing her stomach underneath her black hoodie. Harvey was ready to say something when the applause died down and everyone took their seats. Deciding not to potentially start an argument with a girl he barely knew, Harvey just sat down as Headmaster Uno finished up his opening speech.
"I'm glad to see your enthusiasm! As we do every year, there is a special Freshman banquet, so hopefully, you're not all too full from earlier! I do encourage every one of you to at least try some of the dishes! I promise you'll not be disappointed! And so, you all have my sincere wishes that your first semester will be an amazing experience, and I hope to see many of you returning for another year! Enjoy the rest of your day, everyone!" And with a hearty wave, Headmaster Uno stepped away from the stage to yet another round of applause.
"Damn, finally! That took forever, Uncle Monty! C'mon Harvey, let's go grab some more grub…"
"I, um…" Harvey's quivering lips struggled to form shapes, sensing the possibility of confrontation should she say anything other than an agreement to Ashley's ridiculous request of more food, "I have to…get…"
"Some more of those tacos!" Ashley took the liberty of inadvertently finishing Harvey's sentence for him as she ogled the plate of another passerby whose plate was loaded with two of the sizeable Spanish slammers, "Sorry, Harvey, you say somethin'?"
"U-Uh n-no, I didn't…" the meek teen shrunk as his head slunk downwards. It was no use, he couldn't say anything to upset anyone these days, it was like it just wasn't in him anymore! Even to a girl like Ashley, who probably didn't care much either way what he did, Harvey didn't want any mutants here to think negatively of him, as Rachel had put it several times during their childhood, whenever he strayed WAY too far from his comfort zone, he might as well have gotten WELCOME tattooed on his back and laid down on the porch. Then of course Harvey shared her dislike for tattoos, Rachel shook her head, so on so forth.
"Good, I'm gonna go grab me some more." Ashley said with a stretch as she rose to her feet, "I say grab a frank while they're open, I snuck one; one hundred fucking percent beef. These ladies sure know how to treat people like us!"
"Haha, y-yeah…" Harvey added nervously, the mere notion of anything to crowd his stomach made him green around the gills, "I, uh, just remembered that I, um, have to…"
"Aw come on, it can wait!" Ashley urged him with a slap on her shoulder, "Don't miss out on all this grub, I heard some fat bitch whining that the freshmen get all the best grub." She said with a devious snicker.
"N-No, I-I have to be going." Harvey stammered, "M-My roommate and I, we were…um…"
"Save it." Ashley said with a roll of her eyes, "Go on, get outta here. Don't wanna put up with me, fine. We'll do lunch." The sarcasm dripped from her lips as she looked over at Harvey through the corner of her eyes. Harvey whimpered at the cold glare only to be whipped by some more of Ashley's colorful language, "Go on Mr. Prissy, go back to your room. More food for me anyway."
"Oh but, we can still do lunch sometime, right?"
Ashley chuckled at Harvey's naivete before rolling her eyes once more, "Yeah, sure, lunch." She said with some earnest amusement at the blonde's innocence, "I'll see you around, Prissy."