Certh – The mutations normally show at puberty, right? But I kinda wanted Argus' eyes to form as a baby and then to come to the surface of his skin sooner than normal, so he wouldn't be blind for most of his life. I dunno. I just thought it was interesting. ;; And as for Suzy. . . Well, let's just leave it at you'll learn more about her later. Say, next chapter?
Aw. I'm getting attention, but only a few people are reviewing. C'mon guys. A few words?
Ant was walking through the halls with Owen, all too aware of the glances and stares she was attracting. Word traveled fast at Xavier's.
"Warren teaches Ethics." Owen said as he pushed open the door to the classroom. "There are less people in here, everyone wants to take Combat." He said, even though he knew that Ant wouldn't be able to hear him. The boy directed Ant to an empty table that sat two.
She pulled her chair towards her and sat down, sliding forward and taking a look around the classroom. It was simple; a few chalkboards, a teacher's desk, and a TV in the corner. Much different from the arena setting of Professor Susanna's class.
The bell rang and a few more stragglers came in. Most looked like they could blend in perfectly with other humans, and Ant wondered why they were here at all if they could just pretend to be normal. There were some that, like Argus, would never be able to be accepted into society.
There was a boy with two extra sets of arms who waved at Owen, ("He's my roommate, a funny guy, really.") another boy that had something like gills and long, webbed fingers, a girl with what seemed to be spines shooting down her back and forearms, then the green girl showed up, smiled at Ant and sat down next to a nerdy looking kid with bad acne.
Then she came in. Every head turned, save Owens. Ant didn't know what everyone was looking at, she was only feeling the music blaring through her headphones, but she twisted in her chair to get a better look at the object of everyone's concentration.
Ant's mouth dropped.
The most gorgeous woman she had ever seen had just come walking gracefully through the door. She had bright blonde hair, gray-green eyes, long lashes and plump lips that would make any boys heart melt. With long legs, high cheekbones and curves in all the right places, she strutted over to a table, obviously kept aside for her and her beau, an equally gorgeous boy with wavy brown hair, light brown, honey-colored eyes and a body that would make Michelangelo blush.
The boy smiled at the girl and pulled the chair next to him out for her. Ant was still staring when he glanced over at her and winked, a barely perceptible motion that made Ant start and turn back to the book that was placed on her table.
Owen pushed his chair closer to Ant's and their legs touched. Ant looked up at the blue eyed boy and pushed her headphones down to rest around her neck, then smiled slightly at Owen. The boy nodded and Warren walked through the door, holding onto a few books.
It was too bad that Ant couldn't feel some of the jealous glares a few girls sent her way. They all knew Owen's reputation, of course, but that didn't stop their resentment.
The professor sat down behind his chair, thought about it and then stood up again, turning to one of the boards. In big, bold, white letters he wrote, 'Identification.'
"We'll continue the discussion we had yesterday." Warren said, turning back to the class. "Is there any way to safely, privately and tastefully identify mutants? Is it wrong? Or is it a right for people to know that you are a homo superior? Should being a mutant be considered a disease and be treated as such? Confidentially?" He asked, sitting on his desk and staring out at the class.
"You made some good points on Friday, does anyone care to review?"
Ant thought that, like most classes she had been in, everyone would just stare at the ground awkwardly, waiting for someone else to say something. To her surprise, causing a vibrating feeling in both her and Owens fingertips, at least seven people out of the small class raised their hand. Hands, in some cases.
"Morgan?"
The green girl smiled. "Although being a mutant is a personal problem, certain other people do have a right to know whether or not you are a mutant. Policemen, for example. Teachers, parents of other students," That drew a few laughs from the crowd, "colleges, universities, even the person who hired you has a right to know whether or not you have powers others don't."
"Easy for you to say, everyone can tell you're a mutant anyway."
The stunning boy sitting next to Venus, (filing her nails and far to absorbed with herself to bother with class,) had spoken, leaning forward and staring at Morgan. "Think about this. No one knows I'm a mutant. I have a good job, lots of friends, a family, kids. No one knows I'm a mutant. Suddenly I have to ID myself and put myself and everyone around me in danger of discrimination, hatred, intolerance and bigotry just because I can change the channel of my TV and radio without the dials? Some mutant's powers are so below level one they don't even bother learning about them, they just try as hard as they can not to use them. Is it fair to ID all mutants, just for the sake of a few?"
"What about mutants that can hide their really powerful mutations." This time it was the boy with bad acne. "Like a psychic? A good psychic with even minimal training can get out of or into most things. Banks, minds, stuff like that. Wouldn't it be better if police had a surefire way of knowing what to look out for when dealing with a psychic?"
So the battle raged. It was split pretty evenly down the line, one half of the room against the other. The discussion ranged from doctor confidentiality to personal management of household matters. Everyone said something. Except two girls on opposite ends of the spectrum, Ant and Venus.
The discussion was drawing to a close, and Ant decided to say something, mostly to support Owen, who was doing a lot of talking himself.
"I think," Ant started, drawing the attention of the class to her. She blushed, but took a deep breath. "I think that because being a mutant is something you can't change without help from another person – from a team of doctors, more specifically, that it's not like shoes or hairstyles. It's uniquely you. It's something personal, it's your DNA. People shouldn't have access to your genetic code. It's inside every cell in your body. If your DNA isn't your own business, then I don't know what is. So because being a mutant is so ingrained into every part of you, and well, because it is so personal, it should be private, and should be at the mutants discretion whom to reveal their DNA to."
Morgan, a few tables over, was just about to reply when the bell rang. Warren stood up from his desk where he had been taking notes and adding in his own comments – for both sides of the argument. "Good job today class." He said as the students filed out. Owen and Ant waited for the rest of the class to leave before the girl put on her headphones. They waved to Warren, who nodded and went back to his notes.
"Well that was fun." Ant said, sighing. Owen nodded, knowing that even if he did say anything, it would be lost underneath Rancid and Trivium. He suddenly had a piece of paper in his hand, writing already on it. Damn his speed.
'B bck sn. C U in Mths.'
"Wai-" But he was already gone, a little blur and some wind where he had been. Ant sighed and dug into her back pocket for her schedule, pulling out the map along with it. She had stopped in the hallway, hanging out by a wooden pillar, as she tried to discern the scribbles that made up the map of Xaviers.
The paper Owen had written on slipped out of her hands and floated up into the air. Ant's eyes widened as it folded into itself, still floating in air. A few seconds later and the paper had become a small butterfly that fluttered around in front of her. She held out her hand and the paperfly settled onto her palm, flexing its fiber wings.
A hand on her shoulder turned her. A momentary flash of surprise on the boy's face and then he accepted the unnerving calmness that emancipated from Ant. Her eyes grew even larger and her face flushed. She pulled down her headphones, realizing the breathtaking boy from class was talking.
"-Wanted to say thank you. I was fighting a loosing battle, considering the support the government has shown for a mutant ID." He made as if to let go of Ant's shoulder, but she quickly grabbed his hand, the paperfly taking flight above her shoulder. She blushed again.
"Sorry. Just. . Just give me a second to put some music on." She muttered her face red. Mint enveloped their noses and mouths.
"Not necessary." The boy said, walking into the main stream of the hall. "I kinda like this situation." He smiled slightly, an action that didn't look normal on his chiseled face. "I'm Tyler."
"Ant."
"Nice name. Where're you headed?"
"Math class. With." A glance down at her schedule, "David Verdanns."
"Cool." Tyler said, leading her through the corridors. "I have Danny for mathematics too. I"ll walk you to him."
Ant opened her mouth to say something but then decided that it wasn't worth it. She didn't know where she was going. And after the constant feel of Owens leg against hers in Ethics the headphones had felt awfully empty in the short period in the hall. Jealous onlookers watched as this fairly drab girl was lead through the halls by Tyler DeMille.
First Owen and now Tyler? Was this girl Venus' protégé? This was not flying well for some of the girls in the school.
They got to the class fine, and Ant saw that Owen was already there with a gray eyed girl who was dressed in Aeropostale and Hollister. Ant looked disappointed, assuming the girl was Yvonne.
"Seems like your friend is busy." Tyler said, pulling Ant towards another two-seater desk. "He won't mind if we sit together."
"But-"
"But what?" Tyler asked, raised an eyebrow. "Come on. What's he going to say?"
Ant shut her mouth and let herself sit next to Tyler, still holding his hand. She pushed her chair closer to his, and their legs touched. Ant dropped his hand and reached for the book on the table. She caught Owens eyes on her and she shrugged. What was he going to say?
The class went along fine, Dr. Danny, as the kids all called him, was good-natured, but boring as hell. He said hello to Ant, asked about her a little, took a hint, and then began teaching again, assigning Ant a text and workbook. He even gave her a small messenger bag for her books. It was old and faded, but Ant thanked him generously.
Tyler didn't say anything to Ant the entire class, and it drove the girl insane. She had no idea what he wanted or why he was indulging her need for contact. What was this boy's problem? She tried hard to keep her thoughts inside her own body, but it didn't work out as well as she had hoped. The two smelled bleach the entire class.
As soon as the bell rang, Ant jammed her headphones on her head and literally ran out the door, not caring how many other kids she touched, just glad to be out of that room and away from Tyler. The other mutants shied away from her as she accidentally bumped into them, spreading the chemical scent throughout the noses of anyone in her vicinity.
Owen caught up with her and steered her towards lunch.
"Won't Jamie be out on the terrace?" Ant asked Owen, pulling her headphones down after he grabbed her hand, .
"Yeah, but I can't stand the way she looks at Warren." Owen muttered, going into the kitchen and digging in the fridge.
"Why aren't we in line?" Ant asked as Owen reappeared, holding two bottles of beer.
"Logan needs his booze." Owen said, holding Ant's hand and the two beers in the other. "Here, put these in your bag."
Ant's eyes widened but she did what Owen said, and they made their way through the deserted halls towards Logan's classroom.
"What does he teach?"
"Whatever he feels like."
"Really Owen."
"English. Although I doubt he's ever read a book in his life." Owen said, turning another corner. "Today I'm guessing. . .he'll lecture us on knowledge. It's one of his favorite things to talk about."
"He doesn't seem one to talk at all." Ant said. "Grunting, growling and snarling seem to compromise the extent of his vocabulary."
Owen stopped and laughed. "Did the bug make a joke?" he asked, covering his mouth with his free hand. "Just don't let Logan hear you say that. He'll-"
"Don't let Logan hear what, fairyboy?" growled a deep voice from behind them.
Owen turned.
"Logan! Good to see you man!" Owen said, shaking the teacher's hand. "I got your beer-"
"Shut it." Logan said, reaching into Ant's bag to take his drinks. "Come in, but keep your trap shut."
Owen smiled and pulled Ant into the classroom after Logan. She looked around. It was much more laid back than the other teacher's rooms. No TV, cluttered desk. A few bottle caps lying around. It seemed like he slept here rather than taught a class.
"So Logan."
"Hm." The man growled, popping the cap of one of the beers and getting comfortable on the chair.
"I think I found something."
"What?" Logan sat up, his feet sliding off the desk. Ant put her headphones back on, but kept the music down lower than normal. It hurt, but Ant wanted to know what was going on. No one seemed to be telling her anything.
"I think that Xavier left something behind." Owen said, sitting on a desk in front of Logan. "I can't tell what though."
"What do you need?"
"Access into the Professors room."
"Done." Logan said, sitting back in his chair.
"Did you see the game last night?"
"Nope. Who won?"
That quickly, the subject changed and stayed away from the unfound object. The two men continued to talk in nearly monosyllables until the bell rang and students began to file into class. Owen sat in the seat next to Ant and Jamie came in with Morgan and took another dual desk next to Owen and Ant.
Ant settled down for this next class. She had a suspicious feeling that she wouldn't learn much. She looked over at Logan, who was finishing up his first beer.
Suspicions confirmed.