~ 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚 ~
Amara ignored Peter the entire way to Charles' office. She didn't listen to him taunt her, and she certainly didn't look anywhere in his direction as they turned down the hall and descended the main staircase.
They both stepped into the office and plopped down in the two chairs in front of Charles' desk, just like they had a hundred times before, and waited.
It wasn't long that they waited. Or, at least, it wouldn't have felt that way if Peter kept his mouth shut. But, of course, his blabbering continued on, and on, and on, until once again, Amara snapped.
"Do you ever shut up?"
"So she speaks!" he exclaimed.
"Of course I speak. Just not to you."
"Why not?"
"Because it infuriates me."
Peter shrugged, twirling the lollipop in his mouth. "Feeling's mutual."
Amara crossed her arms and kept her gaze straight ahead. The quicker this went by, the quicker it would end, and the quicker she could be alone.
She counted the minutes until the Professor came - and it was many more than she had previously suspected it would be. Except, when he did roll in, she heard the same disappointed sigh she did every time, and immediately couldn't wait for this to be over.
"Oh... children, this is the third time this month!"
"It's June eighth," Peter murmured with furrowed eyebrows, and Charles raised his own.
"Exactly my point!"
Amara watched in her peripherals as Charles closed the door and wheeled himself over to sit behind his desk. She could see Peter sitting comfortably with his arm resting over the back of his chair and his ankle resting on his knee as he bounced it away, and his ability to give less than two shits about getting into trouble seemed to only make her angrier.
Charles sighed again and rested his folded hands on his desk in front of him before giving Amara a disappointed look, then turned to Peter to give him the same.
"What happened this time?" he asked, and the both of them instantly leaned forward.
"He was being a fucking dick-"
"I was not!"
"Aya, the language, please."
"He did it to get me mad again because he enjoys getting on my last fucking nerve, and doesn't know when to just mind his own business and leave. People. Alone!"
"Why is it such a terrible idea for you to go out and enjoy a movie for a day?" he retorted, throwing his arms out. "You're not gonna get kidnapped or anything, you're too powerful for that!"
She glared at him. "Maybe some of us enjoy time with ourselves instead of having to deal with idiots-"
"Alright, alright," Charles sighed, putting his hands up. "Children, I have to admit I'm running out of options here! What am I to do to get you both to at least look at one another and not want to strangle each other's throats?!"
"Get him to move to Antarctica."
"Find a way to get rid of the stick up her ass."
Charles huffed, but his voice was slowly beginning to rise. "Do I have to treat you like five-year-olds? Put you in a timeout corner? You're both about to be eighteen years old, so it's about damn time you grow up, get past your differences, and move on! It's not hard!"
Amara's gaze was locked on the floor. She couldn't imagine a world where that was ever going to happen.
"Act like the adults you are - the X-Men you are!" Charles continued. "I shouldn't have to scold you like children! You! Stay away from her! And you! Control your emotions! You are here to learn to live with one another, in a kind way, because the rest of the damned world isn't going to let you! Do I make myself clear?!"
Silently, they both nodded their heads.
Charles nodded to himself and raised his hands. "Then off you go. I do not want this to happen again. Next time I see you together, it better be because you have become friends and you need help solving bloody world hunger!"
Amara stood up instantly. She didn't spare the two men another glance as she swung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the room, only to turn immediately for the stairs.
There were only twenty minutes until the end of the day, so there was no point in going back to Hank.
As quickly as she could (and invisibly because she didn't want to talk to anyone), Amara dashed up the stairs and turned down the hallway that led to her room. She was so ready to lock herself up and hide away for those two days. She was done.
Her footsteps quickened the closer she got to her door. She was so close to her personal freedom; so close to her mini escape.
But, like everything, the one thing that could ruin it showed up, in the form of that same stupid silver boy as he leaned his shoulder against her door and tilted his head.
An evil grin slowly spread on her face as she thought of opening the door so he would fall over. However, she knew his reflexes wouldn't allow him to fall, and that would also mean he went into her room (which was not an option).
So, she settled with huffing, turning the corners of her lips down, making herself visible, and walking up to him.
"Get lost, Maxie," she growled.
He ignored her. "Why won't you let me in?"
"Because you're going to take something-"
"No, I won't!"
She raised her eyebrows. "Really? The kleptomaniac isn't going to steal anything?"
"If I do, I'll give it back!" he argued, but she scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"No, thanks. Now move so I don't have to see you anymore."
Peter sighed and let his arms fall to his sides. "Aya-"
"No. I do not want to go out, so leave me alone!"
"Why are you so fucking stubborn?!"
"Why are you so fucking annoying?!"
He huffed out a laugh. "Aya, I'm just trying to-"
"Well, stop!" she finally screamed, throwing her hands out as his face fell. "Just stop trying! I don't want to see you, I know you don't want to see me, so just leave me alone!"
She ignored the look of anger that crossed his face as she opened her door and slammed it in his face, then rested her back against it and fell to the floor.
What was he trying to do? Humiliate her? Bring her out in public, then make her explode in front of the entire world? Have her blow up and expose herself to the planet?
Her hand rose up to pull against her hair, and she clucked her tongue in annoyance.
No thanks.
With another huff, she stood up and threw her bag on her bed.
Her room, though it was small, was exactly the way she liked it. Contrary to the popular opinion of her room looking like a witch's dungeon with a cauldron and shelves of body parts and live bugs, Amara's private space was filled with many posters and fairy lights to give her room a homey feel.
Her bed, draped in white comforters and pillows, was tucked into the back corner, and her little TV that sat at the end of her bed served the purpose of giving her something to do to pass the time - play her video games.
A mini-fridge sat next to her nightstand so she could fill it with drinks and snacks for herself, her tapes and Walkman had their own little shelf on her bookcase (which was otherwise filled with books she liked to read or her textbooks), her dresser housed all of the clothing she wore - which was pretty much all black - and her desk was messy with papers and writing utensils she didn't have the care to put away properly.
It was simple, but it was perfect for Amara.
It didn't take her long to plop onto her bed and sigh to herself, then grab the remote and turn on her TV so she could fiddle around with Adventure. She first grabbed her Walkman and threw the headphones over her ears to listen to the random setlist she recorded for herself, then sat back down and began to play.
Amara knew this was a waste of her life. What the hell was she doing, sitting here in her bed? What, was she gonna mope around for the rest of her life?
Yes, she answered for herself. Yes, she was. And she was gonna have a damn good time doing it.
When Amara glanced at her clock, it read 3:34 p.m. That gave her the minute warning she needed before, just like every time this happened, Jean barged into her room, slammed the door shut, and aggressively threw her backpack onto Amara's lap.
"The notes are in there," Jean sighed, flipping her hair back before crawling into the bed and resting her head on Amara's shoulder.
"Thank you."
The silence was filled with the clicking of Amara's remote, and the soft breathing from both girls.
Amara was just waiting for Jean to bring it up, and she knew Jean was waiting for a time that Amara was less angry. Jean reached her hand into the bowl of M&Ms and tossed a few in her mouth, and as she sighed, Amara rolled her eyes.
"Listen, Aya-"
"I'm not going."
"Aya," Jean groaned, "you've been my best friend since we were six! It's my responsibility to make sure you get some sun in your life!"
"There is sun," Amara argued, pointing to the rays that were peeking through her window and warming up her body. "And it's actually quite nice."
"Just this one day, Aya-"
"I'd rather not."
Jean sat up slowly and sighed. Amara decided to focus on the game in front of her and not Jean's look of worry, but she involuntarily glanced at Jean as she tucked some of her flaming red hair behind her ear.
"Aya, nothing is going to happen if you go out."
Amara frowned. "I don't want to take that chance."
"You haven't had an accident in years, and you were a kid-"
"The Professor's right. I need to get my emotions under check."
"Aya, don't you see how much better you've gotten?" Jean asked, tilting her head while Amara stared at her comforter. "You helped us save the world against a stupid blue wannabe god, and nothing bad happened!"
"Yeah, cause you stopped me," she mumbled.
"No, I just helped you focus! All you did was good! You're under control of what you have-"
"Maybe on missions," Amara murmured, scratching her forehead. "When I have a reason to be out there."
"There's a reason for you to be out there tonight."
"What reason is that?"
Jean smiled softly. "To be the teenager you're allowed to be."
Amara chose not to respond.
Maybe Jean was right. But, even if she was, Amara didn't think she was ready. Not yet.
"Well, we're leaving around 4:30 if you change your mind. Movie starts at seven but we wanna grab a bite to eat first."
"Have fun," Amara said with a small smile, and Jean patted her knee.
"Won't be the same without you there."
She snorted. "It'll be better."
"Take it back!"
"No!"
"Now!"
"Goodbye!"
Jean gave her the finger as she shut the door to her room, leaving Amara once again to sit in her space - alone - to contemplate. There was no way she was going out. And that decision was final.
She only played around with Adventure for a few more minutes until she got the urge to finish the note from Hank's class, so she fished out Jean's notes as well as her own, then grabbed her pencil case to copy everything she missed.
Despite her efforts, however, her mind couldn't stop going back to Jean and the offer, which was interesting. Amara had never felt... bad about saying no before. She always stayed home for the safety, not of herself, but of everyone else around her. So what was the little pit sitting in her stomach as she pictured Jean's pleading expression?
Amara frowned as she looked down at her hand. Slowly, she ignited some of her power. She watched as the black energy wisped like smoke in the wind and faded into the air while the skin around her many rings began to darken. Her skin turned ashy and slowly showed marks as if it was crumbling, breaking away into nothing.
Oh, he's good, Kahuna.
*****
w/c: 2106
a/n: sorry for the wait, but i hope it was worth it!! what did you think? please let me know, and don't forget to vote, comment and share!! xx