Mutants
Somewhere deep between the trees of Westchester County lied a mansion that could only be described as a magnificent castle, filled with wonders one could only imagine. The acres of the property were riddled with youngsters who roamed around on nice sunny days. The place was a fantasy to those who had the luck to spot it.
To others, it was called home.
Outside of Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters, Jericho Kaur waited for her best friend to bring out the rundown yellow buggy that would drive them to the nearby town. She impatiently checked her watch. It was common for Kitty to always be late to everything, but there had to be some limit to her tardiness. Jericho could already feel sweat gathering on her face and she cursed Kitty for being so irresponsible. And just as Jericho turned to head back to her dorm, a speeding buggy pulled out of the driveway of the mansion. It screeched to a stop and through the dust, Jericho could see Kitty behind the wheel with a sheepish face. Jericho crossed her arms.
"You're late," she snapped.
"I know. It was hard to get the keys from Scott. He wanted to come too," Kitty excused as she pushed her hair back.
"Did you tell him it was a girl's day?"
"Yes, but he didn't believe me when he saw Bobby getting into the car too."
On cue, Bobby stuck his head out the window and grinned.
"I was the exception."
"No, you were the pesky man who froze our feet to the floor until we said you could come," Jericho said as she reached for the passengers' door. She glared at Bobby before the boy jumped out of the chair and into the back, knowing better than to fight Jericho over the front seat. He had lost too many times to her, he didn't want to add another.
And the three took off in a quick matter, Jericho suddenly wishing she had driven instead of reckless Kitty.
It was a supposed quick trip. Kitty only needed a new pair of sneakers while Jericho craved a churro from the local vendor in front of the movie theater. He carried the best churros. Bobby was simply a tag along so Jericho knew they weren't going to take long. She was wrong when Kitty spent over an hour trying to find the best shoes, and then going off track to find more decorations for their dorm. Jericho frowned when Kitty looked at a mini disco ball.
"No."
"But JiJi, we don't have one-"
"And we never will. We will not get a disco ball. John will never want to leave our room."
Kitty pouted and placed the glittery toy down. Her sad demeanor quickly diminished when she saw cute sunglasses and ran over to try them on. Bobby and Jericho trudged behind her. As Kitty showed them a yellow pair of glasses, Jericho's eyes trailed off to a small figurine in the shape of a wolf. The copper wolf was statued in mid-howl. Jericho fell in love with it. She eagerly skimmed through her wallet, only to frown when she realized she didn't have enough money for the figurine. She groaned and put the wolf back with a frown.
Bobby heard Jericho's familiar groan and found her still staring at the wolf. He neared her and nudged her shoulder.
"Get it. I'm sure Kitty will let you have it in your dorm, despite you ruining her dreams of having a disco ball," he said but Jericho shook her head.
"Can't afford it. I want the churro more than I want the wolf," she mumbled. Bobby then snatched it off the shelf.
"I'll get it then."
"No," Jericho immediately said. She hated it when Bobby insisted on buying everything for her. She didn't even realize he was doing it at first but after months of him spending crazy amounts of cash on her and Kitty, she told him to knock it off before she beat him to a pulp. Since then she only allowed him to buy her food when he lost bets.
"JiJi, just let me-"
"Walk away, Bobby, just walk away," Jericho said as she followed Kitty to the cashier. After leaving the store with four bags, they finally took a break at the cafeteria tables. Jericho let out a deep breath as she gave her aching feet a chance to recover from the pain of walking. Bobby launched into a deep tale of what he and John had been up to the past weekend. In a fit of giggles and laughs, Jericho glanced around at the crowded mall. Her small smile dropped when her eyes landed on a table littered with boys a little ways from them. They kept glancing over to her table with smirks. Jericho's face molded into stone and she turned her attention back to Bobby, who had finished his funny story.
"Hang tight, I have to go to the bathroom," Bobby said before running off to the facilities. Kitty and Jericho began to discuss whether they should sacrifice their lunch money for the disco ball and wolf figurine. As Kitty came up with ten different reasons why they should pitch their money together for the disco ball, Jericho saw the two of the boys that had been peering over at them heading over. She looked to Kitty with narrowed eyes.
"Heads up, desperate dicks at one o'clock," she whispered. Kitty's defenses were up. Without so much as an invitation, the two boys took a seat at the girl's table. The brunet boy smiled cockily and swung his arm over Jericho's chair.
"Can I offer you a pop?" The boy asked and Jericho growled at him.
"Go away and take your meathead friend with you. You weren't invited," Jericho snapped and pushed the boy away from her. The boy chuckled. Jericho noticed he didn't get the damn message to leave her alone.
"Come on, dollface, let me buy you a drink. I promise you'll have a good time," the guy continued and tried to near Jericho, but she quickly frightened him by letting out a slight animalistic growl. Her attention shifted to Kitty who was angrily muttering about women's rights. Jericho's she kicked the guy's leg as hard as she could. The blond bothering Kitty yelped and his startled eyes turned to Jericho and he was met with a glare.
"Leave her alone. She doesn't like you. And neither do I."
The blond frowned and was about to snap back when the brunet grabbed her arm.
"Let me go immediately before I rip it off and feed it to my pet turtle," Jericho threatened. The boy refused to let go and took her threat as a joke. Just as Jericho was about to show off what an angry mutant could do, a new presence joined the scene.
Jericho thought it was Bobby to the rescue but her prediction soon tanked when an unfamiliar voice filled her ears.
"I believe the little lady said she didn't want you to touch her, punk," the man said as he towered over the puny boys. Intimidated by the man, the boys left with their tails between their legs. Although Jericho was glad they had left, she was now faced with a new man who she definitely didn't want to interact with.
He was a strange one, Jericho thought. The man had a baseball hat covering his seemingly blond hair and wore dark sunglasses, even though they were inside. His figure was covered with an oversized hoodie but even Jericho could see the outline of his ridiculous sized muscles. Jericho's defenses stayed high as she looked over the man.
"Here to bother us as well? Just putting it out there but we're underage grandpa," Jericho hissed. Kitty moved over to Jericho's side and mirrored her glare as well, but the man only smiled warmly before shaking his head.
"Just trying to help, ma'am," he responded. He gave the girls a wave before taking off, Jericho watching him closely in case he turned back.
"I want to go back now. My day has been ruined," Kitty sighed and Jericho agreed. As soon as they found Bobby, who had gone back to buy both the disco ball and the wolf figurine for the girls. Not having enough patience to scold him for wasting money, the girls dragged him out to the buggy and drove back to the school.
Jericho took a deep breath once they returned to the mansion and felt as if a huge weight had been ripped off of her. Something about being out in public put her nerves on edge. She preferred to stay in the comfort of the mansion.
Ororo met them out front, taking the keys from Kitty's hand before the young mutant had a chance to sneak them into her pocket.
"How was your day?"
"Two guys tried to abuse us with the promise of free drinks and food," Kitty said dramatically while carrying her many shopping bags.
"Tragic," Ororo chuckled and turned to Jericho.
"Did you scare them off, JiJi?"
"No. Another guy popped up and decided to play hero for a day," Jericho mumbled. Ororo nodded before they all headed inside.
"The professor is in a meeting right now. Most students got sent to class-"
"It's Saturday..."
"-so try not to make too much ruckus until his meeting is over or else I will send the three of you to class as well," Ororo said before floating away. Kitty sighed and turned to her friend.
"I have to go drop these bags off. We should get some food afterward, seeing as our appetite was ruined at the mall," she said and Jericho nodded.
"I'll meet you in the kitchens."
Jericho said goodbye to Bobby as well. She watched as her friend ran off, probably to find John.
In the kitchens, she found her favorite mentor, lounging around and having a smoke. Jericho coughed slightly as smoke filled her lungs.
"The professor said you aren't supposed to smoke in here," Jericho teased.
Logan grunted and frowned at her.
"Do you see the professor anywhere near?"
"No."
"Then nose off, JiJi," he said.
"You're lucky I don't have asthma. I could've died just by getting a whiff of that. Then again, its never too late to get asthma," she said, trying to guilt Logan as much as she could. He grunted once more before putting out his cigar. Knowing she had won, Jericho took a seat next to him and Logan listened carefully as she began to tell him about her day. His eye twitched when she got to the part of the annoying boys who pestered her and Kitty.
"I should get you pepper spray. You're always getting into trouble," Logan said before taking a swing of his beer.
"Storm told me the professor is in a meeting right now. Do you happen to know who?" She questioned but Logan shook his head.
"Wouldn't be surprised if they came asking for help on missions or something," he gruffed. Jericho hummed before stuffing a pretzel into her mouth.
"Probably someone coming to ask about your weird superhero boyband."
*unedited*