We stand in the middle of a green field, the sound of kids echoing all around us. There's usually a lot of people out at this time, after all in thirty minutes it's gonna be curfew and they'll all have to get ready for bed. I've never really liked hanging around here when the suns getting ready to set. Sure, I somewhat have control over the voices now but...the memory of the noise still makes me want to hide. It's stupid, I know. Staying inside usually just seems easier than dealing with things though.
I brush that concept away with a sigh. No, right now I'm with Scott. He doesn't know me as who I was, who I am. He only sees who I want to be. Something about that makes me feel a little queasy, in a good way.
"Here you go." Hank breaks me out of my head as he hands a pair of red sunglasses to Scott. "The-uh, the lenses are made of some ruby quartz I had lying around. They should be able to refract your optic beams and keep them contained within their own vector fields."
I stare between the two for a moment, debating whether or not I should open my mouth.
In the end I just shake my head. "Um, Hank?"
"Yes?"
"I know you've been trying to teach me more sciency words but uh...English please?" I ask.
A look of recognition seems to flash against his eyes. "Oh, right. Pretty much, they should make it so you can open your eyes without lasers coming out, Scott."
"Thank gosh," Scott says with a grin. "I thought you were just trying to give me some janky costume."
I lightly laugh and Scotts smile seems to grow.
Hank looks to Scott. "Try them on."
Scott hesitates for a second, rubbing the tips of his fingers against the glasses. Eventually though he lets out a heavy breath and begins to unravel the thick bandages covering his eyes. As the cloth slowly falls down, I get my second real look at Scotts full face. He looks exactly the same as he did yesterday. Just an ordinary teenage boy with an extraordinary ability. Still, something inside of me won't allow myself to glance away. Maybe it's some sick sense of curiosity? Wanting to know if the glasses will actually work? I don't really know to be honest.
Finally he puts on the glasses. The red color is admittingly more intense than I originally thought, almost entirely hiding what's behind them. Still, if I stare very closely, closer than would probably be socially acceptable in any other situation, I can see the whisper of his closed eyelids.
"Okay," Hank exhales. "Go ahead."
Scott nods his head and begins to open his eyes. "All right-"
"Wait! Wait, sorry. No." Hank suddenly stops him, looking out at a few younger kids playing with a frisbee right across from us. He grabs Scott by the shoulders and turns him towards a more empty area. "Just get behind me Elle, and...Okay."
"Now?" Scott questions.
Hank double checks. "Yeah, um I think-"
"Just open your eyes Scott." I interrupt. "The worst thing you're going to do is singe a bird."
"What if I like birds?" He asks somewhat cockily.
I furrow a brow. "Do you?"
He takes a moment to respond. "Nah."
With that he opens his eyes. For a moment I tense in anticipation but after a solid ten seconds I allow myself to relax.
"Do they work?" Hank questions a silent Scott.
Scott doesn't speak for a while. He just stands still, letting his mouth fall in awe.
"Scott?" I ask.
"It's...Whoa. I-I can see." He exclaims as he looks up at the sky. "Thank you. Professor, thank you. You're a genius."
Hank shakes his head. "No, no I'm not a professor. I wish."
"Hey, so what if you're not a professor." I say. "You're still the smartest person I've ever met."
"Smarter than Charles?" Hank smiles.
I just smirk. "Don't tell him I said that."
Hank laughs and goes to say something else when suddenly Scott speaks up. "Hey. Whos that?"
I follow his sightline and look out into the distance. Sitting down against a tall tree is none other than Jean, doing some extra homework.
"I believe you two met," Hank starts. "That's Jean Grey."
He questions, "Jean..?"
"The girl you were talking about yesterday. The rare baseball card." I joke, watching my friend tuck a strand of red hair behind her ears.
"Wait, that's her?" He questions.
Hank nods. "Yeah."
I look up at Scott, a strange look plastered across his face. One that I can't quite pinpoint. It's odd in a way that I've never seen before, odd enough that I decide to listen into his thoughts and figure out what it means.
'Pretty.'
The single word seems so loud in his head. He's not wrong, Jean is very pretty. I mean, her long hair and striking eyes. Something about his statement though just feels wrong. It feels horrible, like something wonderful has suddenly been ripped away. It takes me a few more seconds to realize that I can't sense other people's feelings, that those must be my own. But...why? Why would such a silly word make me so upset? It doesn't make any sense, none at all.
"Maybe I should, uh, apologize." Scott suddenly says. "I did kinda bump into her the other day."
"She didn't seem too upset about it." I frown.
Hank sighs. "No, you were a little rude to her, Scott. I think she'd like an apology."
"Great-or I mean..." He starts walking in her direction. "Thank you again, Sir."
"You don't need to thank me, Scott." He says.
"And..." Scott trails off. "I liked hanging out with you, Elle. Thanks for showing me around."
I watch him walk away, not even taking a moment to hear my response.
"No problem." I murmur.
Once Scott reaches Jean, he immediately starts up an unheard conversation. Within only a few moments they're both smiling and looking like they're having a great time.
Hank places a hand on my shoulder. "That was nice of you to help out Scott today, does he seem like a good guy?"
"Good and evil don't exist." I stiffin. "But...he was okay. I guess."
"Well, I'm glad you're making some friends." Hank smiles.
I instantly brush him away. "Scott is not my friend."
"Oh, but I thought-"
"It's like you said." I start. "I was just helping him out."
My words come out harsher than I intend and end up leaving a bitter sting. They're the truth though. I've only known Scott for about two days. He doesn't mean anything to me and I don't mean anything to him. He just needed someone to show him around, to introduce him to the school. Now he can move on and meet people he actually likes. He doesn't have to stay stuck with me.
💙💙💙
"So you told him you were friends?" Jean questions from the end of my bed.
I shrug. "Well yeah, I guess."
"And then not even two hour later you...what? Changed your mind?" She asks.
I just sigh and continue rummaging through my backpack.
"I didn't change my mind. Scott was never my friend in the first place. I don't know why I told him he was, maybe I just wanted to be nice."
She sends me an unsure glance. "Or you were actually warming up to him and then he did something stupid."
"He didn't do anything." I bite my lip.
"Oh really?" She starts. "You know, you're a predictable person, Elle."
I look up from my bag. "Am not."
"Are too," she laughs. "I mean, ditching people is kinda your thing."
Her words perce into me like a sharpened knife, more so than she probably intended. I can't stop myself from thinking back to last year, to thinking back to...I shake my head. I don't want to think about my old friend. I won't let myself anymore. Everytime I do it just makes me want to run away, just for a day. To get a chance to actually say goodbye. The one thing I never wanted to say, the one thing I now wish more than anything I could.
Like an uncontrollable current, another distant face sprays across my memory. I think about my dad far more than I'd like. He even seems to be manifesting himself into my dreams now. My dad left me behind. He had every chance to stay, to make things work but he still left every time. Sometimes I play with the idea of ending up like him. I have to admit, it doesn't always immediately strike me as a terrible future. He's brave with strong beliefs...he's also stubborn though, stubborn and more often than not wrong. Those two elements never mix well. To even think that I could be carrying a semblance of his character...in this moment it leaves a bitter taste lingering in my mouth.
"I'm not leaving Scott," I say with a heavy breath. "If he wants to see me, he knows where I sleep. He's just...probably not going to talk to me anymore."
Jean leans back and looks me in the eyes. "Were you the one who did something stupid?"
"What? No." I quickly say. "Besides, you're making this all a way bigger deal than it actually is. Scotts nothing special, trust me."
She shrugs. "I don't know. He seemed pretty nice to me."
"Didn't he literally run into you yesterday?" I arch a brow.
"He apologized earlier." She says. "He actually was really kind about the whole thing."
I roll my eyes. "Scotts just another new student. He's lucky he had that whole innocent look going for him, with those bandages over his eyes and whatever sob story his brother told to Charles. The professor can never help himself when it comes to people who are...well, helpless."
"Yeah...You know, that's probably why he enrolled me. I'm the most helpless one here after all." Jean says, somewhat bitterly.
"I didn't mean you Jean...don't twist my words."
We stare at each other for a while, a layer of thick tension filling the air. For a moment it even seems like our feelings are manifesting into something real, something physical. A rough sound buzzes around us, like an electric fence. With a blink of an eye though...it's gone.
Jean leans back on her shoulders. "I'm sorry. Anyways, if it's worth anything to you, I really like Scott."
"You do?"
"I mean," she smiles, "he's funny, nice, and even you've gotta admit he's pretty hot."
I frown. "Like...he has a fever?"
Jean burst out into laughter. "You can't be serious."
"What?" I ask. "What's so funny?"
"I swear, you're only a year younger than me, right?" She asks.
I squint my eyes. "Why does that have anything to do with this?"
"Because I meant hot as in...You know, handsome."
My eyes go wide and I instantly am at a loss for words. "Oh."
"Do you not agree?" She smirks.
"He's fine, I guess." I say with a slight frown.
She doesnt stop smiling. "Well I think he looks like a movie star."
I tilt my head to the side. "Maybe a background actor."
"Really?" She insists. "You don't see anything in him at all?"
"I meant what I said. He's just another new student, nothing special." I say.
Jean sighs and lets out a breath. "Whatever you say."
I stare back down into my bag but despite my best wishes, I don't even make a single move to continue digging around through it. I just can't believe that Jean is so eager to stick up for Scott. Sure, he's a cool guy and...No, that's all he is. Just some cool new guy who's coming here and trying to change everything. Well thank you very much but I'm fine with how things are going. No ones in immediate danger, my biggest issue is getting sat next to some bratty girl in English. Things don't need to get complicated right now. If I've learned anything at all in my fourteen years of life, it's that once things get complicated...people get hurt, and then people die.
"-Elle, Estelle?" Jean calls, bringing me back to the present.
I frown, cursing myself for thinking so much of the past these last few days. It's a dangerous place to get stuck.
"Huh? I'm listening." I say quietly.
The corners of her mouth slightly droop downwards. "The math homework. I was asking if you found it yet."
I quickly look down and pull out my blue folder, opening it up and handing Jean a set of papers.
"Yeah, here you go."