The sun was already beginning to set when Bobby and Jubilee left the store.
The small town was enveloped in a hazy dusk light. Although many people
enjoyed the half hour or so of not-dark that came between the day and the
night, Jubilee wasn't one of them. She'd hated that period of the day for
as long as she could remember. Her eyes never fully seemed to adjust to
it, longing instead for either the bright daylight or the dark's heavy
veil. It was as if nature was being indecisive, and that thought always
bothered her. She pulled down her newly purchased sunglasses in an
attempt to fool her senses into believing that night had arrived.
On the ride to wherever they were going, Bobby tried to keep her entertained with stories of the X-men's exploits. She had to give him credit - somehow, his versions were always much more lively and humorous than Wolvie's retellings. Caught up in his tales, she forgot to pay attention to where they were going. Consequently, she was actually surprised when they arrived at their final destination.
"The park?" she asked, "You wanted to come to the park?"
The town's park took up several square miles. In addition to two children's play areas, it contained a decent sized lagoon, several long winding pathways and a miniature golf course. It also had three official parking areas, and several unofficial ones where teenagers could often be found after dark. Or so Jubilee had heard. Bobby was pulling into the largest of the paved lots now.
"Told you it would be a surprise," Bobby said, parking the car. "Don't worry, there's more."
She gave him a suspicious look, but said nothing more, for which Bobby was grateful. To tell the truth, he felt like a complete jerk for attacking her when she was only stating the obvious about his feelings toward Alex and Lorna's upcoming nuptials. More importantly than that, Bobby knew that Jubilee had just lost a good friend and was far more fragile than she was letting on. He was sure that his jab at her failed relationship with the boy who had been one of her best friends had done nothing to better the situation. All in all, Bobby was feeling guilty, and he could only think of one way to appease his conscience.
They walked side by side down one of the park's pathways. The pathway was one of the park's older ones, made of cobblestone. That in itself deterred most roller bladders and bikers, who preferred the asphalt smoothness of the many other paths and streets that the park boasted.
Although it had never been renovated, the cobblestones had been restored so that their path was relatively smooth. It had been a while since Bobby had traveled down this particular path and he hadn't noticed how romantic in was. Unconsciously, he reached for Jubilee's hand, and it wasn't until the last second when he realized who he was with and remembered that he hadn't had anyone's hand to hold like that for, well, a long time. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts instead, and willed them to stay there. Jubilee, still walking besides him, was oblivious to his near faux pas.
"Hey Jubes," he said, surprised that his voice could sound so normal when he felt so embarrassed.
"Yeah?" she asked, slowing down and turning to look at him. She was still wearing her sunglasses, although the last rays of sunshine had just disappeared and the moon shone brightly above them. He didn't mind, preferring at that moment to stare at his own skewed reflection than into her eyes.
"Why don't you sit down there," he said, indicating a nearby vacant park bench. "I'll bring the surprise to you."
"Oh, okay. Then I guess it's not bigger than a bread box," she teased.
"Got me there," he responded. "But, then, for all you know, it is a bread box."
"Oh, goody, just what I needed" she replied sarcastically, taking the seat that he had indicated. "Just don't be too long, alright?"
"No problemo. Sit tight." He headed further down the path, and she soon lost sight of him."
Sitting back, she took in her surroundings. In the time she had lived with the X-men, she had only been to this park twice. Both times were during the day, and she hadn't realized how beautiful it was at night. She heard rustling behind her, and turned around to see two squirrels searching the grass for food several feet away. Smiling, she reached into her pocket for the bag of sunflower seeds she couldn't resist buying at the checkout counter. It was still unopened. Not being one for elegance, she tore at the plastic with her teeth until she felt it give. She took out several seeds and tossed them in the squirrels' direction. At first, they were frightened; the smaller squirrel actually ran halfway up a tree. Then the older squirrel found a sunflower seed and began devouring it. His companion, hungry and curious, came down from his perch and quickly found his own meal. Jubilee threw several more seeds in their direction.
At first, preoccupied with her new friends, Jubilee didn't hear the cries. When they finally reached her ears, she managed to block them out, attributing them to children roughhousing. She didn't know when exactly she'd discerned the word, but suddenly, it was all she could hear. The angry cry of "Mutant!"
She let out an grunt, unsure if she should get involved or stay put. It wasn't her fight. Not everything in the world that had to do with mutants dealt with her. She heard the cry again, louder this time. Fine! she thought. Fine! I'll go see what the ruckus is about. Probably just a couple of kids playing cops and mutants or something.
She dropped her bag of sunflower seeds next to the bench and made her way towards the sound.
She began to doubt her initial assessment as soon as she got closer.
"I'm not a mutant, I'm not! Please, leave me alone," cried one voice.
"Sure you're not. Riley here says he failed history because you jinxed him. Gave him the evil eye and all that stuff. Now he's gotta do time in summer school."
"Yeah, I hate summer school."
"It's not my fault you failed," the first voice insisted
"Oh yeah? Riley couldn't fail, he had the answer sheet. But somehow, Mrs. Millard changed the test. Did you tell her he had the answers?"
"No! I didn't even know he did."
"Then you jinxed him!"
"No! Really, you've got to believe me, I'm not a mutant."
The speaker was a young girl, who looked strangely familiar to Jubilee. Three boys who were about her age, although they were all taller, surrounded her. Upon closer inspection, Jubilee realized that it wasn't that the girl was the shortest; it was that she had fallen. Several books were strewn in front of her, and the boys had her surrounded.
Jubilee didn't need to hear any more. The classic case of someone making their enemy out to be a mutant just to have more reason to hate them and blame them for what otherwise couldn't be their fault.
"Alright guys," she said, approaching their circle, "Break it up."
"Who're you?" asked one of them, "The hall monitor?"
They all found this to be much funnier than it really was, and continued joking as she approached.
"A PO-lice woman?"
"A security guard?"
"An X-man? Are you here to save the mutie?"
She willed her face to remain expressionless. The closer she got, the more a few things became obvious. One: The kids were in their early teens, about the same age she was when she joined the X-men. Two: The boys were all taller than her. Three: They didn't seem to realize that she was a "grown-up"
"Leave her alone, dudes," she said calmly, having finally reached the center of the their circle.
"Sticking up for your mutant friend?" asked the one that appeared to be a leader. "That make you a mutant too?"
"I bet she is a mutant. Who wears sunglasses at night."
"Yeah! You're right. Hey mutie, you can't scare us."
"Yeah, my dad showed me how to kill a mutant."
Jubilee ignored their remarks, although it was difficult. She reminded didn't want to provoke them into a fight. It wasn't that she feared facing them. She just hoped it wasn't necessary. Also, she was worried about involving the young girl she was trying to save. Jubilee was unsure of her ability to watch out for both herself and the girl in a fight against three assailants. So, ignoring their jibes, she extended a hand to the girl on the ground, who had by this time, gathered together her scattered books. "Come on," said Jubilee, "I'll get you home."
As the girl reached up, Jubilee saw an expression pass between the two boys she had in her sight. Sure of what it meant, she turned and ducked just in time to avoid being tackled by the boy she knew was standing directly behind her. As he passed over her, Jubilee grabbed his arm and rolled into a crouch, changing his flight direction so that he crashed into one of his friends. Both boys fell to the ground.
"Ow, Justin!"
"Damn it, Riley! Get your butt off of me!"
Maintaining her crouch, Jubilee positioned herself in front of the now-standing girl. "Stay behind me," she whispered. The girl's only response was a small sob.
Louder, Jubilee said, "I'm not looking for trouble. Why don't you guys go home?"
Justin and Riley were still struggling to get up. One of them had a bloody nose, and it seemed that both boys were now scared of approaching her. Good. She turned her eyes onto their leader, who was still standing.
"What's your name?"
"What makes you think I'd tell you?"
"Derek," she heard muttered from behind her.
"Alright Derek, here's the deal. You and your friends back off, and my new friend here and I won't go around telling people you got beat up by a girl. Sound good?"
She saw Derek's brow furrow, and wasn't sure it that was because he was considering her proposal or trying to figure it out. Finally, a glint came to his eyes as he realized he had a third option.
"How about neither," he grinned, unsheathing a small knife.
Jubilee eyed the weapon warningly. It was small enough that she doubted he could do much damage with it. Just looking at how he held it, Jubilee could tell he had never used it as a weapon before. She could think of four ways to disarm him off the top of her head; if she had more time to ponder it, she could probably think of five more. Her biggest concerns were Justin and Riley, who were obviously less afraid of her now that there was a weapon to hide behind. She was hoping to only have to fight one bully. Now it looked like she might have to fight all three. Beating up kids was not really her idea of a good time. She could just scare them off with her powers. But, somehow, the idea of using her mutant powers against a few pretty much defenseless teenagers appealed to her even less.
Mistaking her strategizing with hesitation, Derek proudly brandished his knife, raising it so that it caught the moonlight.
On the ride to wherever they were going, Bobby tried to keep her entertained with stories of the X-men's exploits. She had to give him credit - somehow, his versions were always much more lively and humorous than Wolvie's retellings. Caught up in his tales, she forgot to pay attention to where they were going. Consequently, she was actually surprised when they arrived at their final destination.
"The park?" she asked, "You wanted to come to the park?"
The town's park took up several square miles. In addition to two children's play areas, it contained a decent sized lagoon, several long winding pathways and a miniature golf course. It also had three official parking areas, and several unofficial ones where teenagers could often be found after dark. Or so Jubilee had heard. Bobby was pulling into the largest of the paved lots now.
"Told you it would be a surprise," Bobby said, parking the car. "Don't worry, there's more."
She gave him a suspicious look, but said nothing more, for which Bobby was grateful. To tell the truth, he felt like a complete jerk for attacking her when she was only stating the obvious about his feelings toward Alex and Lorna's upcoming nuptials. More importantly than that, Bobby knew that Jubilee had just lost a good friend and was far more fragile than she was letting on. He was sure that his jab at her failed relationship with the boy who had been one of her best friends had done nothing to better the situation. All in all, Bobby was feeling guilty, and he could only think of one way to appease his conscience.
They walked side by side down one of the park's pathways. The pathway was one of the park's older ones, made of cobblestone. That in itself deterred most roller bladders and bikers, who preferred the asphalt smoothness of the many other paths and streets that the park boasted.
Although it had never been renovated, the cobblestones had been restored so that their path was relatively smooth. It had been a while since Bobby had traveled down this particular path and he hadn't noticed how romantic in was. Unconsciously, he reached for Jubilee's hand, and it wasn't until the last second when he realized who he was with and remembered that he hadn't had anyone's hand to hold like that for, well, a long time. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts instead, and willed them to stay there. Jubilee, still walking besides him, was oblivious to his near faux pas.
"Hey Jubes," he said, surprised that his voice could sound so normal when he felt so embarrassed.
"Yeah?" she asked, slowing down and turning to look at him. She was still wearing her sunglasses, although the last rays of sunshine had just disappeared and the moon shone brightly above them. He didn't mind, preferring at that moment to stare at his own skewed reflection than into her eyes.
"Why don't you sit down there," he said, indicating a nearby vacant park bench. "I'll bring the surprise to you."
"Oh, okay. Then I guess it's not bigger than a bread box," she teased.
"Got me there," he responded. "But, then, for all you know, it is a bread box."
"Oh, goody, just what I needed" she replied sarcastically, taking the seat that he had indicated. "Just don't be too long, alright?"
"No problemo. Sit tight." He headed further down the path, and she soon lost sight of him."
Sitting back, she took in her surroundings. In the time she had lived with the X-men, she had only been to this park twice. Both times were during the day, and she hadn't realized how beautiful it was at night. She heard rustling behind her, and turned around to see two squirrels searching the grass for food several feet away. Smiling, she reached into her pocket for the bag of sunflower seeds she couldn't resist buying at the checkout counter. It was still unopened. Not being one for elegance, she tore at the plastic with her teeth until she felt it give. She took out several seeds and tossed them in the squirrels' direction. At first, they were frightened; the smaller squirrel actually ran halfway up a tree. Then the older squirrel found a sunflower seed and began devouring it. His companion, hungry and curious, came down from his perch and quickly found his own meal. Jubilee threw several more seeds in their direction.
At first, preoccupied with her new friends, Jubilee didn't hear the cries. When they finally reached her ears, she managed to block them out, attributing them to children roughhousing. She didn't know when exactly she'd discerned the word, but suddenly, it was all she could hear. The angry cry of "Mutant!"
She let out an grunt, unsure if she should get involved or stay put. It wasn't her fight. Not everything in the world that had to do with mutants dealt with her. She heard the cry again, louder this time. Fine! she thought. Fine! I'll go see what the ruckus is about. Probably just a couple of kids playing cops and mutants or something.
She dropped her bag of sunflower seeds next to the bench and made her way towards the sound.
She began to doubt her initial assessment as soon as she got closer.
"I'm not a mutant, I'm not! Please, leave me alone," cried one voice.
"Sure you're not. Riley here says he failed history because you jinxed him. Gave him the evil eye and all that stuff. Now he's gotta do time in summer school."
"Yeah, I hate summer school."
"It's not my fault you failed," the first voice insisted
"Oh yeah? Riley couldn't fail, he had the answer sheet. But somehow, Mrs. Millard changed the test. Did you tell her he had the answers?"
"No! I didn't even know he did."
"Then you jinxed him!"
"No! Really, you've got to believe me, I'm not a mutant."
The speaker was a young girl, who looked strangely familiar to Jubilee. Three boys who were about her age, although they were all taller, surrounded her. Upon closer inspection, Jubilee realized that it wasn't that the girl was the shortest; it was that she had fallen. Several books were strewn in front of her, and the boys had her surrounded.
Jubilee didn't need to hear any more. The classic case of someone making their enemy out to be a mutant just to have more reason to hate them and blame them for what otherwise couldn't be their fault.
"Alright guys," she said, approaching their circle, "Break it up."
"Who're you?" asked one of them, "The hall monitor?"
They all found this to be much funnier than it really was, and continued joking as she approached.
"A PO-lice woman?"
"A security guard?"
"An X-man? Are you here to save the mutie?"
She willed her face to remain expressionless. The closer she got, the more a few things became obvious. One: The kids were in their early teens, about the same age she was when she joined the X-men. Two: The boys were all taller than her. Three: They didn't seem to realize that she was a "grown-up"
"Leave her alone, dudes," she said calmly, having finally reached the center of the their circle.
"Sticking up for your mutant friend?" asked the one that appeared to be a leader. "That make you a mutant too?"
"I bet she is a mutant. Who wears sunglasses at night."
"Yeah! You're right. Hey mutie, you can't scare us."
"Yeah, my dad showed me how to kill a mutant."
Jubilee ignored their remarks, although it was difficult. She reminded didn't want to provoke them into a fight. It wasn't that she feared facing them. She just hoped it wasn't necessary. Also, she was worried about involving the young girl she was trying to save. Jubilee was unsure of her ability to watch out for both herself and the girl in a fight against three assailants. So, ignoring their jibes, she extended a hand to the girl on the ground, who had by this time, gathered together her scattered books. "Come on," said Jubilee, "I'll get you home."
As the girl reached up, Jubilee saw an expression pass between the two boys she had in her sight. Sure of what it meant, she turned and ducked just in time to avoid being tackled by the boy she knew was standing directly behind her. As he passed over her, Jubilee grabbed his arm and rolled into a crouch, changing his flight direction so that he crashed into one of his friends. Both boys fell to the ground.
"Ow, Justin!"
"Damn it, Riley! Get your butt off of me!"
Maintaining her crouch, Jubilee positioned herself in front of the now-standing girl. "Stay behind me," she whispered. The girl's only response was a small sob.
Louder, Jubilee said, "I'm not looking for trouble. Why don't you guys go home?"
Justin and Riley were still struggling to get up. One of them had a bloody nose, and it seemed that both boys were now scared of approaching her. Good. She turned her eyes onto their leader, who was still standing.
"What's your name?"
"What makes you think I'd tell you?"
"Derek," she heard muttered from behind her.
"Alright Derek, here's the deal. You and your friends back off, and my new friend here and I won't go around telling people you got beat up by a girl. Sound good?"
She saw Derek's brow furrow, and wasn't sure it that was because he was considering her proposal or trying to figure it out. Finally, a glint came to his eyes as he realized he had a third option.
"How about neither," he grinned, unsheathing a small knife.
Jubilee eyed the weapon warningly. It was small enough that she doubted he could do much damage with it. Just looking at how he held it, Jubilee could tell he had never used it as a weapon before. She could think of four ways to disarm him off the top of her head; if she had more time to ponder it, she could probably think of five more. Her biggest concerns were Justin and Riley, who were obviously less afraid of her now that there was a weapon to hide behind. She was hoping to only have to fight one bully. Now it looked like she might have to fight all three. Beating up kids was not really her idea of a good time. She could just scare them off with her powers. But, somehow, the idea of using her mutant powers against a few pretty much defenseless teenagers appealed to her even less.
Mistaking her strategizing with hesitation, Derek proudly brandished his knife, raising it so that it caught the moonlight.