"Don’t count on it," countered Alison. "I’ve still got a chance to take you out."

"Wanna bet?" said Scott as a smile began to spread across his face. With a simple movement in his wrist, and a single push of a button, it was over.

"No! I don’t believe it!" cried Alison. "You beat me again!" Alison watched the replay, as characters on the fighting game played out the last few seconds of action, where Scott delivered the fatal blow. "You told me you hadn’t played this game before."

"Well, technically, I haven’t. This is Mutant Fighter IV, I’ve only mastered the first three," said Scott. He noticed a slight frown pop up on Alison’s face as she retreated from the large game console. "Hey, come on," pleaded Scott. "Here," said Scott, "you forgot this." She turned to find Scott presenting her with an extra large purple and blue panda bear that Scott had won by knocking over thirty-nine consecutive stacks of bottles. The man tending the booth had to beg Scott to leave.

Alison took the bear into her arms and smiled. She looked up at Scott, who seemed to be enjoying himself as well. "I want to thank you again," said Alison. "You have no idea what it means to me."

"Forget about it," said Scott. The pair of teens stepped out of the arcade and gazed upon the rest of the amusement park. "Okay, so what do you want to do next? Ride the roller coaster? Grab a bite to eat? Take the bumper cars for a spin?"

"I’ve got an idea! Come on!" cried Alison as she seized Scott’s hand. She pulled him through the crowd of people. As they raced through the people walking in the opposite direction, Scott found himself constantly apologizing to people for bumping into them and nearly knocking them over. "I want to ride this."

Scott’s mouth dropped open when he finally realized their destination. "I—I can’t," said Scott. He gazed at the sign to verify what he was seeing. She had actually brought him to the Tunnel of Love. "Uh, Alison," began Scott, "this is really for couples. I mean, we’re just friends."

"I know, Scott," said Alison. "I’m not expecting you to propose to me or anything. Lighten up." Scott felt a since of relief wash over him. "Truth be told, I’ve never been on a normal date, and chances are that I’ll never get the chance. So will you please humor me… after all, you just said you were my friend."

Scott sighed. "All right," said Scott. "Let’s go," and he allowed himself to be pulled into the line with Alison leading him by the wrist. After a few minutes, they finally found themselves being ushered into a boat shaped like a swan. After the attendant had made sure they were secure in the boat, they found themselves drifting into the heart-shaped cave. Once inside, both Alison and Scott stared at the decoration inside the cave. Their were figurines of cupid, artificial bushes of roses, there were even pictures of some of the most famous couples: Adam and Eve, Samson and Delilah. There were even modern displays of celebrities like Leonardo DiCarprio and Kate Winslett from Titanic and Reed and Sue Richards from the Fantastic Four.

"Thanks, Scott," said Alison, "for bringing me here… for letting me be a normal teenage girl for one night."

"Hey, you’re welcome," said Scott. Alison smiled and reached over to give Scott a hug. However, at that moment, there were a series of flashes and an eruption of people shouting. "Oh my God! It’s Dazzler!" "Dazzler! Dazzler this way!" "Dazzler! Is this you new beau?!" "Oh my God! What a hunk! I wish I were Dazzler!" "Isn’t that Freddie Prinze, Jr.?!" "Dazzler, can I have your autograph!"

As the bulbs continued to flash, and the mob proceeded to swarm around the boat, Scott and Alison found themselves shielding their eyes, and trying to avoid the hands of the fans. There were even television cameras swarming for a peek. "Stand back! Stand back, please!" pleaded Scott, but it was useless.

"Get back!" cried Alison. As she raised her hand, a bright flash of light erupted from it. The crowd’s prowling hands and flashing cameral bulbs all came to a stop. The people within the mob were now grabbing their eyes, rubbing them. The blinding flash of light had left them quite distracted. "Come on," cried Alison. Scott stood there dazzled by what he’d just seen. He had his suspicions, but he couldn’t believe it. He quickly climbed out of the boat and followed Alison as she raced through the mob as they rubbed their eyes.

After a brief run, the teens found themselves back at Scott’s car. Alison remained quiet for most of the ride, as the wind slowly danced about her hair hanging from underneath her baseball cap. "So, I saw what you did back there," said Scott. Alison turned to look at Scott, she had a slight look of disappointment on her face.

"Yeah, I know," said Alison. "I’ll understand if you don’t want to see me again. I… I just hope you can keep that between us. If the public found out that I was different…."

"Alison, calm down," said Scott. Alison gazed at Scott as they continued to race down the road. "Listen, I’m not going to tell anyone about your powers. Besides, you’re not the only one that’s different." Scott licked his lips slowly as he prepared to let her in on a secret of his own. "You see, I have special talents too."

"Well, come on Scott," said Alison, "I know being a complete video game freak is weird, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a talent."

Scott shook his head at her remark. "No, Alison. I’m not talking about the video games." He turned the car off at the exit she had instructed him to earlier. He found himself heading towards the hotel that Alison said she’d been staying, while on tour in New York. "Alison, what I’m trying to tell you is that I have powers too."

Alison looked at Scott in disbelief. "Yeah, right, Scott," she said. "Look it’s okay. I know I’m different, but you don’t have to go on teasing me about it."

Scott slowed his car and pulled to a stop just short of the hotel. Scott looked around, made sure the coast was clear. He pointed up to a billboard, which displayed the face of a cowboy with a cigarette on the end. "Watch this," said Scott. Then, after making sure no one was looking at the time, Scott lowered his glasses to the bridge of his nose, and fired and optic blast at the edge of the cigarette. After the beam made contact, the end of the cigarette was smoking.

Alison couldn’t believe what she was seeing. "You do have powers," she said. Alison seemed to be amazed by the notion that she wasn’t alone. Scott smiled, seeing her happy actually gave him a feeling of delight. Scott started the car once again and pulled in front of the lobby. The attendant immediately came and opened the door. Before Alison got out of the car, she turned to face Scott.

"Here," said Alison. "This is my private cell number." She grabbed Scott’s hand and placed the number in it. "Good night, Scott," she said as she closed his hand (trapping the number between his fingers and his palm.) Alison looked into Scott’s eyes, the smile she had had on her face was gone. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against Scott’s. Scott accepted the kiss, brought his hand towards his face and caressed her hair, knocking the Yankees cap off of her head. After a few seconds, which seemed to last an eternity, they managed to pull themselves apart.

Alison stepped out of the car, and the attendant shut the door. Scott noticed her Yankees cap in the passenger’s seat. "Alison, your cap," he called after her. She stopped turned and smiled.

"Keep it," she said. "That way I have a reason to see you later." With that, Alison disappeared into the hotel. When the doors closed behind her, Scott started his engine and began to head for home.

Scott walked through the front door, and found something he definitely didn’t expect. Every last person that lived in the house was waiting for him to arrive. The minute Scott stepped into the house, he found himself trapped by gazes of astonishment, but no voices. Scott looked at all of them, confused by their reaction. Scott headed towards the TV room, but found Professor Xavier and Ororo standing just in front of the entrance to the room.

"Hi, Professor," began Scott. "Sorry, I’m so late, but I can explain."

"There’s no need for that, Scott," said the Professor. "I know exactly where you were, and so does everyone else." The professor lifted his hand and gestured for Scott to enter the TV room. Scott bewildered by the Professor’s comment. He stepped into the room, and the sight on the screen explained it all. Alison was on the screen, and Scott saw himself standing right next to her. It was the incident from the amusement park. Scott couldn’t believe it made the 11 o’clock news so quickly.

"Scott," began the Professor, "I understand that I’ve encouraged you not to allow your mutant abilities to affect your private life, but this is on a completely different scale." The Professor seemed somewhat reluctant to continue, but he knew it had to be said. "Scott, this relationship is placing a lot of people in jeopardy. Not only yourself, but the other students of this school will be under a microscope." The Professor wheeled himself closer to Scott, and came to a stop. "Listen, Scott, I cannot tell you how to live you life, but I have to ask you to consider the consequences of this relationship. Not only to yourself and the school, but to Miss Blaire as well. It could ruin her career if the public found out you were a mutant… and it could ruin your life as well." Sensing that he’d said enough, the Professor decided to call it a night. "We’ll continue this discussion later, Scott. For now, just consider what I’ve said."

The Professor and Ororo bid Scott good night, and left him alone in the TV room. He stared at the news report for a while, then decided to shut it off. Was the Professor actually asking him to end his relationship with Alison before it even got started. Scott shook his head, he’d handle it in the morning. Scott walked out of the TV room, and was met a series of cheers and questions from his friends.

"Scott, why didn’t you tell us, you knew Dazzler?" asked Evan.

"Scott, can you get us into the next concert?" cried Kitty.

The cheers continued, and Scott received numerous pats on the back. However, after the brief display, Scott convinced everyone that it was time to turn in. And with several departing shouts of applause and pleas for tickets, Scott found himself alone. He shook his head, finding the previous display by his friends humorous.

As Scott began to ascend the stairs, he noticed someone standing at the top staring at him. Scott paused on the stairs and looked at figure more closely. "Jean?" said Scott. It was her, but something was wrong. Scott took a few steps closer, and then he realized Jean hadn’t been downstairs with the rest of them. In fact, she hadn’t been anywhere in sight. Scott took a few steps towards Jean and stopped. She wasn’t moving, but still staring at him. "Jean, listen…." However, Jean didn’t listen. Just as Scott began to speak, Jean turned on a heel, and quickly ran to her room.

Scott hung his head. He sighed and continued to the top of the stairs, where he saw something on the floor. Scott kneeled down and picked it up. His eyebrows arched in disbelief as he stared at the object. "I can’t believe she still has this," said Scott.

It was an old ripped piece of cloth that used to belong to one of Scott’s shirts. One day, during their first Danger Room session together, Jean had barely avoided one of the obstacles. A swing blade would have ripped her arm off, but Scott was there to catch her in time. The blade only managed to scratch her arm, it hadn’t even left a scar. Still, Scott ripped his own uniform and wrapped the wound before they headed to the infirmary. Scott had always been there to catch Jean… until now.

Scott held the cloth in his hand. It felt moist. The stains of dried blood were still there, she had never washed it. However, Scott knew that the moisture wasn’t from water… it was from tears. "Aw, Jean…" said Scott as he clenched the cloth tightly in his hand. He sighed and stared around the empty house. It was now more obvious than ever that Scott had a decision to make. However, it would have to be made in the morning. Scott stood straight, and began to walk towards his room, the cloth still held tightly in his hand.