Hey, this is a longer chapter for you all. It was originally much longer, but I decided to split it up into two chapters to preserve my sanity. Enjoy!
Waking with a small start from the noise of the alarm clock, it took Laurien a few moments to remember where she was before she recalled, hit the snooze blindly and rolled over, pushing her face deep into the blissfully fluffy pillow. After debating whether she could muster another five minutes, she promptly gave up and stretched her feet out towards the edge of the mattress, feeling her ankles crack loudly as she pointed her toes downwards like a prima ballerina.
For Laurien, one of the best feelings in the world was stretching out her body after a good long night's rest. The intake of breath as her muscles contract and pull, leaving her with a soft and satisfying burning sensation warming her core. It was a cherished perk of everyday life that was almost up there with her mother's hot peppermint tea on a winter's day, which nothing could ever top.
Feeling ready to at least make an attempt of getting up, Laurien kicked the covers off her body, and with a big sigh, she gingerly placed her feet on the floor and heaved herself up off the bed and towards the bathroom.
She cringed when her bare skin tread on the freezing tile of the bathroom floor when she scooped up her brush from the counter, making her wonder sleepily of how the penguins did it in the Antarctic as she hurried back to the safety of the carpet in the main room. With the clock telling her that it was a quarter to ten, she thought that the others must be already in the lounge eating breakfast before their group meeting. After hurriedly choosing an acceptable skirt and a dark blue long sleeve and walking briskly towards the lounge, she was greeted by a lone sleepy figure at the table.
A plaid pajama-clad Sean had visibly only just woken up as she had, but didn't seem to be dealing with it as well. His eyelids were drooping, his mouth was sagging with drool, and it seemed that the only reason his head was upright was because his hand was propping it up. He didn't seem to notice her, as she stood silently in the doorway observing him, he seemed to only have enough concentration to manage a repetitive motion of spooning cereal into his gaping mouth.
"Not a morning person I see." A voice chuckled from beside her, and she was pleased to see that Darwin and Angel had come to join her in her observation of the mysterious Banshee. They all bid each other good morning before the three of them continued into the room without so much as an acknowledging blink from Sean.
Alex came in soon after they had sat down, immediately grabbing up a piece of bread from the toast rack and administering a generous amount of peanut butter before moving over to the couch to eat his breakfast alone. Laurien had then wondered about him, why would a disgruntled young man find himself liking solitary confinement more than the company of others?
After a short time of deliberation, the answer seemed so ever clear to her that she was ashamed that she hadn't recognized it sooner, as she usually prided herself on being able to read people. It was the silence, she thought. With no other sounds or voices added to the melee, it was the silence that allowed one to find some proper solace with oneself. Laurien knew well of times where the conflicted voice in her head would grow so loud that she felt she might explode with the pressure it put on her brain, so the solitary and the silence that came with it was almost a gift.
Or, of course, it could be that she was blatantly over thinking it and the reason he preferred it might be because he hated people in general, which Laurien also found was oddly understandable from her experience out in the world. Good lord, she thought, Roosje was right, she was cynical.
The arrival of Hank and Raven broke her train of thought as they came bearing news of the whereabouts of Charles and Erik, who Laurien had just realized should have already been there for their group meeting.
"They what?" Alex exclaimed from his spot on the couch.
"They left yesterday for Russia." Hank replied coyly, avoiding eye contact with the intimidating other boy.
"Right after breaking up the party, the kill joys." Raven mumbled bitterly into her cereal.
Laurien couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sudden actions of their mentor mutants, leaving them alone in a base full of prejudiced CIA agents right after bringing them all there. What were they supposed to do while they waited for them to come back from some mysterious mission?
"Do you know what they left to Russia for?" She inquired from Raven. "Didn't Charles tell you anything before he left?"
The blonde shook her head, "Nope. Not a word."
They all sat without saying anything for the longest time, the only sound to greet their ears was the grinding and crunching of them eating their breakfast. The mood was exceptionally distant from the outrageous fun they'd had the night previous, everyone displaying their powers to others like them without fear, feeling admittedly free for the first time in their lives.
Laurien suddenly felt a cool draft come over them and glanced around for the source, only to find that the window that Banshee had broken yesterday had still not been replaced, with many a CIA agent walking by it in confusion.
"You know what?" Alex called, getting up from the couch to wander over to the table with the unmistakable glint of rebellion in his eyes. "I'm tired of being cooped up in our part of the base, let's go out and explore this place."
Laurien's eyes glanced up at him, taken aback, before turning to meet Hank's horrified gaze. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from smiling at his expression that made it seem as if the idea was the damning piece of evidence that proved him guilty in a murder trial. The others similarly seemed a little spooked at the suggestion, and Laurien couldn't blame them. They were safe in their quarters, the lounge and their hallway. None of them had even considered going out and around the CIA base.
Darwin, thankfully, voiced their concerns. "Are we allowed to do that?"
"The Prof said nothing against it." Alex smirked.
It was quiet as they all deliberated the idea, and as Laurien looked around the table, it seemed as if they were all at different stages of if they wanted to do it.
"I'm in." Angel added, shrugging her leather clad shoulders. "Don't mind stretching my legs for a little bit."
Darwin nodded, and Alex's chest seemed to swell by the second as everyone gave his or her consent, although Hank gave his a tad apprehensively.
Alex seemed to notice. "Don't worry, Bigfoot. No one will beat you up when you're with the cool kids."
Hank kept his eyes fixed on his feet in embarrassment as Raven scowled at Alex with a look that Laurien made a quick mental note to never be on the receiving end of.
"What about Sean?" Laurien asked as the others got to their feet. "He doesn't seem to be fully awake yet."
It was true; during their conversation Sean had been still shoveling his cereal slowly into his mouth like a zombie, oblivious to the fact that he had finished his bowl over five minutes ago. Alex sighed impatiently and swept the hand that was propping Sean's head up out from under him, causing his head to fall forwards and hit the table.
With a start, Sean lifted his head with a small groan. "I'm coming, Mom."
Laurien raised an eyebrow before getting up out of her seat and following the others through the hallway, with a sleepy Sean trailing behind her. He stumbled every now and then but Laurien made sure to not let him run into any walls. Alex led the way towards the double doors that opened up to the main atrium of the building, a large high ceiling room with walkways and stairs leading in all directions.
Government agents passed by them without so much as a glance of acknowledgment as they hustled for their next important meeting. The professional looking women that were manning the phones at the front desk reminded Laurien of her of her recent days as a secretary at the legal office back in New York, grimacing at the reminder of how much she'd hated that job.
Alex then corralled them up one of the many stairways that led to some claustrophobically tiny rooms that were made even more cramped by the addition of two wobbly chairs and an ugly desk. Without anything interesting to see, they continued on to a tight hallway that led to many larger areas set up for meetings with a long polished wood table and many nicer chairs that pivoted smoothly around in circles when Sean tried it out.
They all eventually took a seat around the massive table in one of the many rooms with Alex at the end, looking high and mighty in his place of pretended authority.
"What do you mean that there's no more pudding in the cafeteria?" He demanded in a loud gruff voice to the laughs of the others as he imitated the older CIA agent that had coldly greeted them upon their arrival. "I must have my vanilla pudding at noon or else the safety of the world is at stake!"
He continued ranting on about pudding to the others as Raven swiveled her chair around to face Laurien who was seated beside her. "I forgot to ask yesterday, but I can tell from your accent that you're not originally from here."
"Yes, I was born in the town of Alkmaar in the Netherlands." Laurien responded, wincing as she heard her voice break as she said the name of her hometown.
Raven didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she chose to overlook it for Laurien's sake. "Where did you learn to speak English?"
"We were taught a bit in school, but I learned most of it when I lived in London for a couple of years."
At the mention of London, Raven's eyes lit up. "No way, you lived in London? How was it? I've always wanted to go. Charles' family is from there, but we've never gone."
Laurien found herself smiling at Raven's enthusiasm, she reminded her of someone she once knew, but she couldn't for the life of her put her finger on who it was. She opened her mouth to reply when a booming voice startled her.
"What do you think you are doing in here?"
She spun around sharply in her chair to see three male government agents in the doorway staring daggers at them. The one who the voice belonged to was wearing an expensive dark blue suit that made him look very important compared to the others, his face was screwed up in annoyance that quickly changed to mean spirited amusement as he took in all the kids in front of him.
"You're the so called mutants, aren't you?" He sneered at them, a mean glint so obvious in his eyes. He then turned to the men beside him, "They're the freaks that the guy at the head of the circus recruited for his team of misfits. Look at this guy." He pointed at Hank, who seemed to shrink into his seat a bit. "He's got feet like a damned monkey. Come on, freak, show us."
Laurien stiffened at his words. Even if it wasn't her he was making fun of, she knew very well that if you humiliated one mutant, you humiliated them all. She got to her feet, anger rising in her chest as she stared the man directly in his face. "Leave him alone, jij eigenwijze klootzak."
The man frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "What did you call me, freak?"
"She called you a pig-headed bastard, which is exactly what you are." Raven said, standing up next to her.
"Yeah," Alex voiced from the end of the table. "Nobody makes fun of Bigfoot, except me."
To her amusement, the man looked taken aback at their boldness, and spluttered out his angry words. "Get out, all of you, now!"
The rest of them stood up, Alex bumping him with his shoulder as they left, making him spill his coffee on his expensive suit. They heard his cry of anger from inside the room as they hastily made their way back down the hallway from whence they came.
"I didn't know that you spoke Dutch." Laurien prompted, as she fell into line next to Raven.
She blushed. "I don't actually, one of the cleaning ladies at home who was Dutch swore a lot when she thought we weren't around, so I picked up on a few choice words."
Laurien nodded. "I'm trying to get better swearing in English." She admitted, as they returned into the atrium. "But the words just feel strange and unnatural on my tongue, and I can't get them to come out in the heat of the moment, you know? I keep accidentally reverting back to Dutch and confusing whoever I'm arguing with."
"It will come with time." Raven stated, before suddenly snorting, "And practice."
"Of course." Laurien laughed with her. "But 'shit' is easy. I can do that one without issue."
Their conversation abruptly faded away as they walked across the big room, all of them suddenly noticing all the stares they received from passers by.
Laurien would glance to left and see the ladies at the phones that she'd passed by earlier, she could feel them staring at her with unabashed eyes, searching her up and down for any oddity or abnormality they could find. Feeling self conscious, she quickly crossed her arms over her chest and hurried after the others as they headed back to their quarters.
"Why are we heading back so quickly?" Angel asked from behind her.
"I've had enough of this place already." Alex responded stiffly, leaving it at that. They all took the hint and continued on in silence. Once they passed back through the double doors, Hank disappeared immediately into his room without so much as a word to the rest of them. Laurien followed suit as the others did the same, and as she opened the door to enter her room, she realized that she was not alone in the hallway.
She turned her head to find a very eager looking Raven and Angel waiting patiently behind her.
"Hello."
"Hello." They said back, their little grins still plastered on their faces.
Wondering desperately if she'd forgotten something important, Laurien searched her mind for something in Raven's face to give her a clue, but alas, she didn't find anything.
"Would you like to come in?" She asked tentatively.
They nodded quickly, scooting past her into the room as Laurien stared after them, utterly bewildered. She found that she didn't quite know what to do in this situation, of all the multitudes of scenarios she had run and rerun through her mind late at night, this was never something she had thought would be a problem.
Raven and Angel swiftly made themselves at home by leaping backwards onto her still freshly made bed as Laurien closed the door behind them, her expression still looking beyond puzzled.
Raven giggled as she gazed at her face. "You haven't had much contact with people before coming here, have you?"
Laurien blushed. "Is it that obvious?"
"Well, yes." Angel replied plainly.
She sighed deeply, feeling her heart beating loudly against her chest as she reminded herself to be careful of what she said. "I didn't make it my prime directive to search out for friends after I moved to New York."
"And why's that?" Raven inquired, her fingers playing with the fringe of the covers as she gazed up at Laurien intently.
"Didn't feel the need to, thought I was going to move again sooner or later, so there was no point in getting attached."
"Why did you leave London anyways?" Angel wondered, rolling over onto her back to look at the ceiling. "I wouldn't trade London for anything."
Laurien mentally cursed. Did people usually ask this many questions? She tried thinking up a quick white lie to divert her, but upon looking into Raven's kind face, she found herself resisting the urge to lie. Of all the people she'd met, she suddenly realized that Raven was the one she trusted the most, and she desperately didn't want to be dishonest with her.
With Angel on the other hand, she wasn't quite sure. She couldn't help but feel a nagging sensation in her gut that told her to be wary of the girl, and so far her gut had been right about other things. But honestly, she still had yet to get to know many of these people, and she sure as hell couldn't allow herself to judge them before she knew them.
Swallowing her constant fear, she replied weakly. "I got into a little bit of trouble."
Raven sat up abruptly at the mention of the word, looking concerned, but visibly excited. "What kind of trouble?"
Laurien could feel her heart racing faster and saw her vision flash blue as she realized the path they were headed down with the conversation and tried her utmost to stop it in its tracks. "Look, it's a long, dull story, and I've been feeling so much better since I've arrived here that I honestly don't want to–"
Raven interrupted her, putting a calming hand on Laurien's arm to halt her rambling. "It's all right, you don't have to tell us anything if you're not comfortable with it." She smiled understandingly, reminding Laurien even more of whoever it was that she couldn't quite remember.
"Thanks." She let out a deep breath, feeling herself relaxing bit by bit as her eyesight returned to normal.
"Your eyes are amazing." Angel gushed, changing the subject. "Have you had them your whole life?"
"My eyes, yes, I was born with them." She joked, but it went right over their heads, as did most of her attempts at jokes, so she hastily continued. "The color changing aspects, no. They arrived around the time when I was turning nine or ten. That was consequentially when I started to adopt sunglasses as part of my everyday outfit."
"Must have been hard to hide it without them."
"Well, yes I suppose so. My parents were quite all right with them actually. They could never complain about me not expressing my emotions enough. But then I soon realized the fact that it was difficult to hide my feelings when they just seemed to be broadcasted out there without my permission. My siblings could always tell when they were annoying me with their antics."
She sat down next to the other girls on the bed. "I remember complaining to my father one night about being an open book." She sighed, her heart aching. "He merely shrugged and told me that some books were harder to read than others. He said that most people can be read like a newspaper by less observant folks, but if I worked hard enough, I would become a Dickens."
They both frowned, but Laurien quickly explained. "He meant that only specific people can read a Dickens novel and appreciate it for what it is. So, I needed to become as hard to read as 'A Tale of Two Cities' or 'Great Expectations' and allow only those who are worthy to truly read me. And I guess I still need to work on it a bit." She said, her cheeks blushing as she suddenly realized the caliber of the memory she had just shared with the two of them.
"Did you ever read them, the books?" Raven asked.
"Ironically, no. I didn't." Laurien laughed, finding to her surprise that she was enjoying herself.
See, she thought, maybe it wasn't so bad opening up to people after all.
This is where I thought to end it, hope it wasn't too abrupt. I'm hoping you can all give me some constructive criticism so I can make this better for all of you. I have big plans for this story that I can't wait to show you. So please review!