Chapter 5
!Warning – Casual nudity (someone takes a shower in an open shower room) and mention of a mildly inappropriate situation!
Classes start on Monday morning, so today I nervously gather my thoughts and supplies. I unpack and repack my bag, counting my pencils and notebooks until I'm sure I haven't made any mistakes. I'd hate not to be prepared.
Blanc looks a bit amused by my antics.
"I haven't been to a real school for two years," I explain, "And never a private school."
"Relax," she urges me, putting her hair into curlers for the evening.
She must be a bit tense too, though, because we both jump when there's knock at the door. Blanc pulls a robe over her spaghetti-strap. I'm still fully dressed.
"Who is it?" I call. Blossom enters without answering and closes the door behind her, a panicked expression on her face.
"What's wrong," Blanc asks, taking the robe off again. It's as if she thought a boy would be calling on us.
"I just met my roommate," she hisses.
"Oh no, is she awful?" I ask. We sit down in pretty much the same positions we were in the last time we talked.
"She seems ok..," blossom mutters, pulling up her legs and wrapping her arms tightly around them.
"Then what's the problem?" Blanc asks, gently patting Blossom's hair. Blossom doesn't seem to know how to handle this maternal gesture, and she jumps up and sits on my bed instead. I link arms with her and jostle her gently.
"Give us the scoop," I demand.
"Well, she came this morning before I woke up, so, naturally I was surprised when I opened my eyes and saw someone else's stuff around."
"Naturally," Blanc interrupts. I shush her silently.
"So, I got up and went to shower- by the way, there's someone with wings here now," she diverges, "Big red wings. She's gorgeous-"
"Don't change the subject," I scold.
"Ok. I got back to my room and she was there. She was so nice. Really friendly. I just felt really shy... because she's.., like... well..."
"Spit it out!" urges Blanc.
"She's me," she says. She watches our faces closely for a reaction.
"I'm not sure I get what you mean," I tell her, scooting away from her so I can face her.
"She's me. She explained it right away, she basically has a mental sort of force field that makes everyone see themselves when they look at her, but it's still really weird," she almost shudders.
"Like what, some kind of.., brainy mirror?" Blanc says. I laugh again at her use of the word 'brainy.'
"Yeah. Sure. It's not like I really know. She was still, like, wearing her own outfit, and her hair was much longer than mine is, but her face, skin, hands... totally me."
"That's crazy," I say, "When can we meet her?"
"Not tonight," she says, "Her parents pretty much dumped her here, so she went out with Storm and a few others to buy clothes and stuff."
"You'll have to introduce us before classes tomorrow," Blanc tells her, spraying her curlers with some kind of solution.
"I think," I say, standing, "that I'm going to the living room to socialize."
"I think," Blanc says, "that I need to introduce you to my sister."
"You have a sister?" we say.
She nods. "A year older than me," she says, "She started going here last year."
"Why didn't you tell us," Blossom asks suspiciously.
"We don't get along," she says with a shrug.
Her sister lives right down the hall. Blanc knocks on the door. "Oh, sissy!" she sing-songs.
A leggy girl with the same long blond hair as Blanc opens the door with an eyebrow raised.
"What is it, Christine," she asks with a forced friendliness.
"I told you yesterday, I want to be called Blanc now," she mutters, pushing her way in. Blossom and I follow.
"These are my friends," Blanc says, "They wanted to meet my wonderful and caring sister." She spreads sarcasm on thick.
Her sister sticks her tongue out at her, her smooth, tan, face wrinkling. Then she turns to us and she's all charm.
"I'm Elizabeth," she says, holding out a slender hand. Her fingernails are all perfectly rounded. I shake it like it's a ceramic figurine.
"Lapse," I say.
"Blossom," Blossom squeaks.
"Did my sister tell you what my powers are?" She says. She clears her throat, almost nervously, if she could be anything other than composed.
"No, Sissy," Blanc assures her, "I wouldn't do that."
Now, of course, I'm completely curious.
She smiles, dazzling white teeth all in a perfectly straight row. "Good! Then I believe our conversation is over! My new roommate will be here any minute and I don't want you in here when she is," she says with a clap of her hands. She shoos us out.
"Wow," I mutter, "I think I understand when people say I'm lucky to be an only child!"
Blossom looks slightly pained, but she says nothing as we walk back down the hallway.
"But, seriously, Blanc," I whisper, "What's your sister's power?"
She smirks and hurries us into the room.
"My sister," she says conspiratorially, "Can change her gender!"
We both look at her.
"That's not really a big deal," Blossom says, "What does she look like when she's a he?"
"That's the thing," she tries not to laugh, "It's only her, erm, equipment, that changes."
I burst into laughter. Blossom looks a bit disturbed.
"How did she find out?" she asks.
"There was a dance in secondary school," she starts, sitting down and patting two spaces beside her on the bed.
We sit down.
"It was a girl's choice, so she asked her boyfriend and it was all going well. Her dress was perfect, his tux was perfect, they both looked absolutely perfect." She fakes a gag and rolls her eyes. "The dance itself went by without a hitch. Then he asked if she wanted to get out of there. I'm sure it was all very exciting. Two fourteen-year-olds, running off for a snog. Trying to keep out of the eyes of the chaperons.
"They got to the love tree that's out by the school's gymnasium building and he pulled out a pocket knife and carved a little heart with E+J in it, because his name was Jared. Then he kissed her and she got all flustered," She grins, "It was so interesting to see my perfect sister flustered, and-"
"Wait," I interrupt, "See your sister flustered? You're making all these details up, you weren't there."
She taps her temple with a smug smile.
"I erase memories remember? Or I guess you could say I steal them. When she found out what I could do, she begged to take this story away, and so now I'm the only one who knows it," she says, "Anyway, he decided to take a grope because he wasn't a gentleman, and in her excitement she had activated her mutation. Jared got a lot more than he bargained for."
At this point Blossom and I are laughing, partly because Jared got what was coming to him, pulling a move like that.
Blanc looks pleased for making us laugh so hard. One curler just above her left ear unfastens and she fixes it before it unrolls. I need a shower. The group shower thing is not exactly new to me, but because I was such a late bloomer, only really developing when I turned fourteen, I never felt awkward about it in middle school.
This is a different story. I'm sixteen now. It's more shameful somehow. I gather my clothes and my toiletries and nearly slink down the hallway.
I'm happy to hear only one other shower running. I grab a towel and put it on the shelf outside a shower, quickly undressing and folding my clothes.
I feel self-conscious as I hear other people walking in and out of the shower rooms. Then I can feel someone watching me. It doesn't help that the showers face each other. And that there aren't curtains. It's a bit stark and jail-like, to be honest.
I can't shake the feeling that eyes are on my naked back, and it's giving me the serious creeps. I peek at the shower across from me and see the girl in it quickly turn her head. Her wet black hair slaps against her shoulder as if to solidify what I had seen.
I try to shake it off, but I can't, so I snap my fingers and catch her watching me. She's quite young, and her face is more perplexed than anything. I quickly sift through her pile of stuff.
There's a small pink wallet in the pocket of her jeans. I feel bad as I open it, but I'm not disappointed. Her library card tells me her name; Charlee Dacker. A business card advertises Dacker and Becker, Mutants at law. A receipt says she bought her suitcase recently. An aged Chuck-E-Cheese picture tells me she turned five in 2006. Some quick math, and I figure she's fifteen, not as young as I thought.
Nothing, though, tells me what her powers are. Or why she'd be looking at me with such confusion.
I step back into the shell the water of my shower has made, and snap my fingers again. Her pair of jeans falls off the shelf. Her belt makes a loud clattering sound on the floor. Everyone looks towards the sound except her.
She stares at me and slightly, only slightly, nods.
This is getting intense, hey? I have to admit, I had no idea any of this was going to happen until it did. I love filling the school with new characters, and I'd adore hearing about any OCs you have for me! This isn't guaranteeing I'll use them, but I'd be delighted!
-flutterbye
