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Everyone else at the Hall of Gems and Minerals seemed fascinated by the exhibits, but Jubilation Lee found herself bored, hungry, and cold. She zipped her canary yellow jacket closed over her Dazzler T-Shirt, wondering why everyone else was reading the information on the exhibits with such ease when she had so much trouble, forcibly ignoring a nasty suspicion in the back of her mind.

"Yo, chica," Jubilee said, nudging her closest friend with her elbow.

"Hmmm?" Kitty Pryde glanced up from the explanatory plaque she was reading on amethyst geodes.

Jubilee glanced at her just long enough to read her face and then studied her nails. "What's that movie you wanted to see? The one with Leonardo DiCaprio in it?"

Immediately, Jubilee had her full attention. "Inception," Kitty said without missing a beat. "Why?"

Strategically keeping her voice casual in hopes of being able to persuade her friend, Jubilee said nonchalantly, "Oh, I just noticed that it was playing in a theater a couple of blocks from here. We passed it on the bus."

Kitty nodded, her eyes returning to scan the hall, her interest waning now that her hopes were dashed.

Carefully, Jubilee measured her tone, keeping her voice level, not allowing excitement or desperation to slip through. "It's the one you didn't get a chance to see while it was still in Salem Center, right?" Jubilee prompted, knowing that a good sales pitch required reminding people of what they wanted.

"Yeah," Kitty sighed.

"So let's go see it now," Jubilee suggested.

Kitty's eyes widened. "What?"

"We get out of here, and go there," Jubilee explained briefly.

Kitty was shocked. "You mean, you want to just leave the museum and walk to the theater?"

Jubilee shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because it's dangerous," Kitty said without deliberation. "Because we'd be breaking so many rules. Because we'd be in so much trouble if we got caught."

"We won't get caught," Jubilee assured her. "We'll go to the theater, hang around until the next showing of Inception, maybe get something to eat while we're waiting, then we'll wait till five o'clock, watching the buses at the museum, and then we'll board the bus with everyone else."

Kitty hesitated. "That sounds pretty risky. There's a lot of room for that plan to go wrong."

"This is your last chance to see the movie in theaters," Jubilee wheedled.

Exhaling slowly, Kitty crossed her arms over her chest, covered by her purple, puffy marshmallow jacket, the expression on her face conflicted.

"Come on, Kit Kat," Jubilee cajoled, invoking the nickname she had given her best friend in hopes of convincing her. "This will be so much fun . . ."

Kitty wavered. "Fine," she said, swallowing. "Let's go."

A/N: Reviews and input are always appreciated. Next chapter: Rogue decides to ditch or not.

And kudos to anyone who gets the joke about Kitty wanting to watch Inception.