Choosing to be positive and having a grateful attitude is going to determine how you're going to live your life.
-Joel Osteen
°°°°°°
THE DUNCANS HAD MANY TRADITIONS AMONG THEMSELVES, most of them regarding food. Family dinners, the pumpkin meal, smoothie day, Sandwich Friday... As a child, Edith loved each and every one of them. Growing up, though, the blonde grew more and more tired as years went by. The blonde often invited Chance because he felt like family to her and he didn't really get along with his. The Blacks had no Thanksgiving, no Hannukkah, no dinners all together. Edith pitied her boyfriend and didn't mind having him over, he seemed to enjoy himself too.
Though it was weird. Joanna and Daniel were wary of Chance and Emily felt like he didn't like her. He probably didn't, Edith didn't know.
Since the incident in Sally's party, the blonde found herself feeling slightly anxious around Chance. He knew the truth, he could ruin her life. If Edith was honest, it was weird he didn't. If she didn't have her own abilities, she would be terrified of mutants. The thought of Chance being different sparked in her head. Was there something weird about him? Anything? Edith couldn't come up with anything suspicious enough.
"Em, if you didn't know about my magic," Edith asked her sister as they prepared for dinner. The younger was already done and waited patiently for her sister "would you find me suspicious?"
The brunette thought for a minute, humming in wonder.
"I don't know. Maybe. But I know you." Emily grinned cheekily "You do get really anxious when people mention mutants, though you're usually anxious so that's not really suspicious."
Edith rolled her eyes playfully "Gee, thanks."
"Did something happen?" Emily now looked worried.
The blonde realised she hadn't told her sister. Edith gaped, dropping her brush and sitting beside her sister on bed.
"Yes, actually." Edith tried to find the right words to explain. It was hard "I kind of used my powers on Chance."
Emily's eyes widened "What?!"
"I know..." the blonde whined "It was an accident. But I'm sure he knows."
"Oh, no. But what happened? You would never do that."
Edith bit her lip, deep in thought "We argued, it wasn't important."
Emily seemed hesitant to believe her sister but chose not to push it.
"I think Chance might be a mutant." Edith finally said, a serious look on her face.
Emily doubted it but if it put the blonde at ease, she would go with it.
°°°°°°
The seven teens sat quietly in Charles Xavier's office. Peter and Scott seemed completely sobered up and just looked embarrassed like all the others. Edith couldn't help but remember her old times in the cheer squad when she was getting in trouble constantly. Still, the thought of disappointing Charles made the blonde feel guilty and sad. Raven paced in front of Edith and her friends, going on about a rant about responsibility and just how mad she felt. The blonde wouldn't lie, she wasn't really listening.
"It's my fault. It was my idea," said Edith without really thinking, interrupting the blue woman. Raven turned towards her, eyes filled with anger.
Peter too fixed his gaze on her, silently asking what the hell she was doing. The blonde shrugged. Everyone looked so affected and disappointed, Edith wished she could wipe their frowns away. She was fine with being scolded, it was okay.
"You! Duncan, I'm not surprised to find you here." she hissed right to the teen's face. Edith flinched slightly "Since you got here you've been a horrible example for the kids. No responsibility. No discipline. You should feel ashamed."
Edith opened her mouth to answer, though Peter beat her to it.
"Raven, it's my fault. Don't take it out on her." his words were rushed and hard to understand. Edith wished Charles could say something. The two shared a glance as the Professor nodded slowly.
"Don't cover her." Raven accused, narrowing her eyes.
"You can all leave. Edith, stay behind." the Professor spoke for the first time, startling everyone. Though all the teens but the blonde complained, they ended up leaving her to Charles' calm demeanour and Raven's rage "I believe you owe an explanation."
Edith guessed she did.
"I'm not saying we did it out of selfless bullshit."
"Mind your fucking language." Raven rolled her eyes.
"Sorry. What I meant to say is that we had an idea to help Warren out of his room. It worked, I don't regret anything." she explained "Besides, we hurt nobody and we bothered nobody. You have to acknowledge that."
The blonde mumbled the last phrase looking directly at Raven.
"'We'? I thought you said it was your idea." Charles looked amused, which only seemed to anger Raven further "I trust your noble intentions but you should accept your means weren't the best."
Edith nodded slowly, looking down at her lap.
"You can't just let her go like that, Charles." Raven protested "Weren't you listening? No responsibility, no discipline. I demand her stupid free pass is lifted. Duncan needs a punishment."
The blue woman crossed her arms as Charles sighed. Edith tilted her head, wondering if she made a good choice taking the blame. The blonde realised she did as she remembered her friends' guilty faces. Besides, what would Raven possibly do?
"What kind of punishment?" she asked, accepting her fate.
Raven looked at her for a moment, an expression crossing over her eyes Edith couldn't quite describe. She then smirked.
"No more private room. No privileges. And I want to train her. No more experiments, no more stupid notes. She's finally going to learn something. This kid's education now relies on me." Edith was filled with anxiety as she realised she had no choice.
Charles seemed to think about it for a moment "Fine."
Edith was screwed.
°°°°°°
Moving into one of the main female rooms was odd and Edith found herself missing her old bedroom deeply. Charles was kind enough to give her a spot in Jean and Ororo's, though he didn't spare her the torture of having Raven as her teacher. The blonde met Jubilee once again. The teen seemed happy to see Edith and welcomed her warmly.
Though she did miss her old room, the blonde guessed everything would be okay.
The very first day of sleeping there, Edith experienced one of her weird natural mutations once again. It reminded her of the unconscious way the force field came to her, or how she lifted a book for the first time years ago. Somehow, she still felt confused and scared. Maybe it was stress from the whole Raven thing, the blonde wouldn't know. Reality came crashing down on Edith as she hit the ground with a painful thud. Between curses, the teen turned and realised she was under her new bed (it was clean, unlike her old one). The blonde frowned, tired and confused, sticking her hand up to touch the mattress.
Edith woke up completely when her hand passed through the cushion as it hadn't been there at all. The teen quickly rolled out of the bed, eyes wide as she realised she could go right through solid objects.
"Jean," the blonde whined. She tried to nudge the other teen but failed miserably as her hand went right through her shoulder "Jean I can't touch stuff. Help."
The redhead lifted her head sleepily, narrowing her eyes and reading Edith's mind briefly. Jean closed her eyed as the blonde was filled with a calming sense of peace and tranquillity. Once her anxiety washed away, Edith could place her hand on the wall without going through.
An hour later she was sitting in front of the Professor, Hank taking notes and commenting from time to time. Raven sat beside her, looking bored. The blue woman seemed to be taking training her seriously.
"So you can walk through walls." Charles pondered out loud.
"I can fall off my bed and be scared shitless, but yeah I guess."
"This is more than we ever expected." Hank said excitedly "Now when we say you could do anything, we mean anything. We could actually give a name to your abilities."
Edith felt overwhelmed but excited.
°°°°°°
Training with Raven was as bad as Edith had expected it to be. They made use of the bunker instead of the Danger Room (according to the blue woman, Edith wasn't ready yet) and Raven made Edith exercise for hours. She argued that the teen's muscle mass was too low and she was too out of shape. So the blonde spent hours running around, doing simple flips, sit ups and push ups. Edith used none of her abilities, though her limbs hurt all over and she just wished to sink on her bed and sleep forever.
Her friends seemed to have a different idea as they all looked up at her, immediately quieting up once she walked into the living room. It was suspicious, but she was too tired to care.
"Hey, I'm alive." she teased, letting herself fall into Kurt's lap on the main couch "What are you all doing here? I thought you had class."
The blue male rubbed her shoulders gently, noticing how tense her back was.
"We didn't think it was fair that you took the blame for all of us." Ororo explained, "So we wanted to thank you."
Edith tilted her head "You don't have to, though. Raven treats me like shit but I doubt she would've been fine with my free pass much longer. She just used the whole party thing as an excuse, don't worry."
They didn't seem convinced.
"Don't be annoying, kid." Warren interrupted. The winged man had a couch just for himself and looked uncomfortable about having to thank Edith "Let us make it up to you."
The blonde smiled gently and nodded silently, wondering what they had in store for her.
°°°°°°
The teen realised for the first time that New York was so much different to Minnesota. In a good way. It made Edith feel slightly homesick, though she knew she couldn't return just like that. Maybe she was destined to be there. Maybe, as Daniel said, she was born to do whatever she wanted. It was the first time Edith went outside the mansion grounds and she looked around with wonder and awe, loving every minute of it.
There was no time for the teen to grow sad or upset as she was practically dragged to a mysterious location. The teens drove in two different cars, divided into groups. Loud music played in the one where Edith sat (not The Who, because Peter complained. Not Pink Floyd, because Edith complained). The Beatles, because it was Warren driving and he didn't want to deal with any of them arguing. Kurt was surprisingly sleeping peacefully, unaware of the music. His head was leaning on Edith's shoulder as she tried very hard not to move. He looked adorable, relaxed, his tail wrapped around the blonde's waist, pulling her a little closer. Hank made a device For Kurt so he could disguise in a 'more human' form. Edith sneaked glances at his face (pale. And his eyes, hidden behind closed eyelids, a honey-like colour Edith really liked) from time to time. Though it wasn't the same, she liked his real features better. Peter made sure to turn around in his seat from time to time, sending smirks and wiggling his eyebrows. Edith flipped him off every time, growing annoyed.
Warren looked bothered but Edith didn't really mind. Maybe it was because his wings were strapped tight on his back, the bulge hidden under a huge jacket. She was happy he was finally going out of his room though.
"What are you exactly planning?" she asked, ignoring Peter the best she could.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know." Warren rolled his eyes.
"I would."
"Well, you're not finding out until we get there so shut up."
Edith wished she was brave enough to ask if there was something shoved up his ass. Fortunately, she kept quiet. Raven wanting to kill her was already all the torture she needed. The blonde shuddered remembering the harsh training and wondering what the blue woman had in store for her.
Before Edith could realise it, Warren's car came to a halt. It was harsh and the sudden movement gave the blonde a headache, though her main worry was Kurt as he woke up suddenly, startled and looking around scaredly. Edith put a hand on his shoulder, patting his head affectionately with a little smile.
"We've arrived!" Peter rushed out of the car. Jean, Ororo and Scott were already waiting for them.
Warren turned towards Kurt and Edith, scoffed quietly and got out as well, leaving them alone.
"What's his deal?" the blonde snorted.
"No idea." Kurt shrugged, thinking his words over carefully "I hope you have fun today, dear girl."
He turned to look at her, eyes intense for a moment before pecking her cheek quickly and shyly before getting out of the car. Edith blushed, smiling widely as she followed him.
°°°°°°
The blonde teen sipped quietly on her smoothie as she trailed after Jean, who knew her way around much better than Edith. They both complained about not having enough clothes for the summer and decided to go alone towards a rather cheap store.
"If you think about it, we're kinda like The Breakfast Club." Jean snorted at Edith's words "I'm serious!"
The redhead looked Edith's way, watching as she thought over the movie they had just watched.
"I mean we're all like a different weird clique. But we work it out, we're friends." she explained lamely "It's nice. My old friends were... not like you."
Jean nodded, understanding.
"We should do this more often." the redhead commented "Not the party bit. Going out, I mean. It's good for the team."
Jean thought quietly to herself as she kept talking "You're probably going to become an X-Men once you figure out what your mutation is. So try hard to impress everyone."
Edith smiled with excitement before she deflated visibly.
"With Raven training me it's probably going to take years until she's satisfied."
Jean chuckled "I think it's an improvement. You should start thinking of a nickname, we all have one of those."
Edith snorted, grabbing a pale blue dress she liked.
"I think it's torture." the blonde followed her friend as she made her way towards the fitting room "What's it like, going on missions and being an X-Men?"
"It's great. The feeling of helping people, saving the world. It's so hard to explain, really but once you're one of us for real, you'll understand."
Edith hoped she was right.
"Shit, I don't have any money." the blonde realised once she was actually wearing the dress. It was disappointing, she really liked it "How do I make money?"
"We mainly ask our parents." Jean answered, pulling her new shirt and checking Edith out "I'll buy it for you."
The blonde's eyes brightened with delight, hugging her friend tightly and thanking her.
"Kurt's going to love it." Jean whispered teasingly "He thinks you look amazing in blue."
Edith blushed, stuttering and wondering how to answer.
"No way." she finally said.
"Yes way." Jean laughed "I know you two are still getting to know each other but take care of him, okay?"
Edith avoided the redhead's eyes as she nodded embarrassingly.
°°°°°°
The seven teens met again in a burger where Edith cringed at the strong meat scent and remembered her awful diets from her cheerleader years. It was almost sickening how the whole team obsessed over their weight until they basically neglected their nutrition. Edith was a new person but she still couldn't bear the thought of greasy food (just greasy, sugary was okay. Curse her sweet tooth).
As the blonde stood in line with Kurt by her side, she couldn't help but notice how weird it was to not see his real face. The German's sweet voice was there, so were his features. Still, it felt like a completely different person standing right beside her. Avoiding his curious eyes (though they weren't his. Maybe that was what she missed the most, the yellow calming colour she adored) Edith noticed their friends whispering among themselves in a table. It looked like they were up to no good, which was suspicious and worrying.
"Hey, Eddie. We're leaving. Don't ask questions. Have fun!" Peter rushed to her side and left without allowing her to answer. Waving goodbye, everyone left, yelling out lame excuses and leaving Kurt and Edith by themselves.
"That was weird," Kurt mumbled.
The blonde agreed.
Both teens sat side by side in the booth, a hamburger for him and a salad for her. The diner was practically empty and Edith couldn't help but enjoy the solitude. It was Kurt and her. Alone. Maybe that made her feel a little nervous as she remembered their kiss.
"Y'know," she broke the silence, clearing her throat "I like your real you better."
Kurt seemed surprised and nervous as he answered in German "Was? Warum?"
Edith blinked slowly as she barely understood.
"Why? Oh, I mean. Its what I'm used to seeing of you, and I already liked the way you looked." she explained vaguely, trying not to embarrass herself too much "I think you're really handsome."
Kurt looked at her with a serious expression, trying to read her eyes. He didn't seem like he believed Edith and seemed to be struggling to find her real feelings through her gaze. The blonde held it and watched as a small smile made its way into his features. Kurt chuckled then, hesitantly brushing Edith's hands. She smirked and intertwined their fingers.
"I'm serious." she insisted.
Kurt nodded slowly, kissing the top of her head and making her heart speed up.
Edith wondered if they looked like a couple.