The Violet Hour (X-Men AU)

1: Asshole

       Her name was Janet. She had tan skin, freckles, was very tall, and had dirty-blonde hair that she wore in a perfect bun at the back of her head. She was secretary of the math club and we only talked in biology class and gym, but she told me what I needed to know and it was good to have at least one face in the hall to recognize and wave to. She was merely an acquaintance, maybe lesser.

      I made it through my first, second, and third classes, paying attention and filling out a word search shaped cleverly like a cat. Students chatted through it and I highlighted the word 'feline' and 'cougar'. Seemed educational enough and lasted me the day. There was no work left in the curriculum to discuss, so everything was laid back.

     I moved down the hall, ignoring the footsteps, lockers shutting, muted chatter, and laughter by focusing on the tiles that lined the walls (in places that were not damaged by the explosions). I shoved my things into my locker, got my binder and pencil for the fourth period, locked it again, and walked to my classroom. I was entering the room when in the hall, someone blared a megaphone alarm.

      I raised my hands to my ears and the megaphone sparked under my influence. I winced. It was the principal. She shook the thing out, blew on it, then talked into it again. "Emergency end-of-year assembly in the auditorium, all grades!" She pointed in the direction of the auditorium, the opposite way of my class. "And you!-" she began to chase after a few seniors who thought it would be funny to bomb an innocent freshman with rotten eggs. "You stop that right this instance!"

      She went after them, while I turned around begrudgingly and began to head to the auditorium, behind all of my fellow students that decided to stampede. That room would be loud, I knew it as I heard the clamor heading in. There would be yelling, throwing, catching, laughing, and the hum of the lights above us, not to mention the inevitable microphone feedback from the faulty microphone the school never bothered to fix or replace.

      I prepared myself. Ever since my powers began to manifest when I was twelve, I had never been in control of the times the power came into action. From what I knew, I could make things that made sound blow up, or using sound, I could blow other things up. I was sure there was more potential to it other than complete and utter chaos that ended up in injuries and fire, but it had been five years since and I still could not manipulate these things myself.

       Affirmations, I was told by my old psychiatrist. She didn't know by when I said 'power of disaster' I meant it literally. Repeating grounding affirmations would help me take control of my surroundings and grip on tight. I took a deep breath as I walked behind the crowd filing through the blue auditorium doors. "My name is Venus Green and I am in complete control of my power," I mumbled through both my lips and teeth. I took another deep breath in... then out again. "My name is Venus Green and I am entirely in control of my power."

       I was one of the last people in the auditorium, meaning I had to sit near the front. Trying to avoid an incident while heading into the already loud auditorium, I was being forced to sit near the new speakers the school got after my destruction. Funny they could afford those and not a new microphone. "I am Venus Green and I am entirely in control of my power." I repeated once more as I took the seat on the end of the third row from the front. I would be okay.

        I glanced at the student next to me. He was looking at me, I saw out of the corner of my eyes and as I put my binder under the seat, I could feel his eyes on me. I looked sideways when I sat back up, expecting to have to shoot him a friendly smile, but he had already looked elsewhere. I analyzed him as a distraction from the sound. He wore a leather jacket and a band shirt I couldn't read. Under the now-dimmed lighting, his hair looked sort of silvery. I recognized him- it took me a second to place, but he was in the year above me and held the door for me on the way into the exam. He seemed nice.