It was coming to an end. His life as a normal being playing on normal school grounds, over. The young boy could never believe it was so. The odds were one out of one hundred. And he was the one.
“Tim, it’s time to go,” a deep woman’s voice spoke, breaking his thoughts.
Tim Webster held his position. He sat at the far corner, his sad eyes staring outside and watching the other kids his age play. He had so many memories hanging on the bars or even hanging out with his buds in the alley no kid ever dared to go to.
“Tim Webster,” the woman called again.
Tim turned his head slightly to her. She was tall, had brown hair that was pulled tightly up in a bun. He sighed deeply, looking back at the kids. Tim felt his eyes tear up. He could feel the woman’s eyes burn through his head. Slowly, the boy stood. He slouched, jamming his hands into his baggy jean pockets.
“You will enjoy the high school I’ve enrolled you in,” she placed her hand on his shoulder, guiding the young sophomore out of the detention room.
Tim twisted his head back, glancing at the plaque above the room labeled Detention. He spent many hours there.
*~**~**~*
Kitty Pryde brushed her brown hair straight. “Up or down?” she asked herself. “I think I’ll wear it down today.” Kitty sprayed a tad of perfume on her wrist then made a last scan of face and hair before departing for school. She started heading out the door but stopped. Kitty ran back and slid her hair into a ponytail holder. “Up, most definitely,” she rolled her eyes.
“Come on Kitty!” Scott’s voice rang from down stairs. “Or you’ll be walking to school!”
“Com-ming!” She straightened her hair out and smiled wide. “My necklace!” Kitty dropped her bag and went digging in her drawer, looking for a necklace.
“Two minutes and I’m leaving!”
“No!” Kitty found a silver chain with purple hearts at the end. “Purr-fect,” she said, fastening it. Kitty made another examine look at herself. Her mouth dropped as she moved her face toward the mirror. “Is that a zit?” she asked, examining the red spot on her cheek.
“One minute!”
“Wait!” Kitty ran her finger over the small bump. “I need powder!” She opened her dresser drawer and dug wildly inside until a blue compact came to view. “Go away zit!” she demanded, covering it. The power did it’s job. “Gone.”
“Bye Kitty!”
“I’m coming!” She grabbed her bag and rushed downstairs in time to meet Scott. Her impact with him, caused them to sprawl toward the doors. “Ooh!”
“Good job Kit,” Scott teased, helping her up. “Let’s go before we’re late.”
*~**~**~*
Tim sat in the far corner of his classroom. He scanned the room more then once. Are they different, like me? He wondered. Or am I just weird? So many thoughts crossed his mind as he watched the girl in the very front squirm a bit.
“Ms. Pryde! You either have your homework or you don’t,” the teacher demanded.
Tim watched the girl squirm some more, continuing to make an exhausted search in her bag.
“I, uh, I like must have forgot it,” she whispered, obviously nervous from being put on the spot. She dropped her head as the teacher wrote her name on board in big chalk print. “Ooh,” she groaned.
*~*
At lunch, the young new teenaged boy slumped under a large tree far from the other kids. His eyes stared at the ground, taking a sudden interest in the grass. Tim clutched his growling stomach then bit his lip.
“And then, like, I got detention.”
That voice sounded familiar to him as he looked over to a nearby table. It couldn’t be that girl! Tim squinted, realizing that pretty young girl, Kitty Pryde was eating lunch near him. Tim turned in time to see a taller boy with dark hair that fell in his eyes, sit by him.
“I’m Lance,” he didn’t smile. Tim didn’t answer, but stared at him. Their eyes met. “You don’t talk?” he asked, pulling out a warm Twix bar. Tim still didn’t answer. Lance ripped the wrapper, handing one piece to him. “Hungry?”
Tim glanced at it, then back at the stranger who seemed to be warming up to him.
“Well, you’re just the stinkin silent type, aren’t you?” Lance demanded, biting off a piece. “That’s fine with me.” He ate his candy bar, staring straight ahead. “That’s Pietro Maximoff,” Lance pointed.
Tim blinked, not interested in Pietro or the Twix. Are you a mutant? He wanted to ask. Are you like me? But Tim kept quiet, taking a deep sigh. He watched as Lance pointed then wiped his hands on his dark pants with holes.
“Well kid, it was nice talking to you,” Lance lied, standing up.
*~**~**~
“That’s weird,” Jean suddenly said, taking a piece off her large cookie.
“Vat’s veird?” Kurt asked. He watched Jean place her hands at her temples and shut her eyes.
“I-I feel a mutant nearby.”
“Where?” Scott jumped in, huddling nearer to her. Jean’s sweet scented perfume filled his nostrils, making him smile. “Can you detect where?”
“Hmm, not quite. Wait, I can. It’s a boy.” Jean rubbed her head, squinting harder.
“Is he cute?” Kitty asked, pushing her hardly eaten salad away.
“You gonna eat that?” Rogue asked, setting her book down.
“No.” Kitty passed her tray to Rogue then turned back to Jean who removed her hands.
“He’s nearby. Real close,” her voice faded, scanning the park. “But I don’t see him.” She scanned it again, concentrating on every person.
“Vhat about him?” Kurt asked, gesturing behind Jean. Jean twisted slowly to the boy who studied the grass. She concentrated hard.
“That’s him,” she said, turning back around. “Who wants to do the honors and invite our new friend to lunch?”
*~**~**~*
The flower he picked died quickly, limping over. Go figure.
“Like, you wanna join us?” the same voice he recognized from his class now echoed in front of him. He looked up, meeting her cheery hazel eyes. Tim stared a while longer then went back to studying the flower. He didn’t feel like talking. His life was ruined and no one knew what he was going through. He was different. He felt her still hovering over him. He looked back up, meeting her eyes again. She still smiled, showing her white perfect teeth.
“No thanks,” he said, looking back down.
“Well, like, okay. If you ever get lonely, you can like eat with us, okay?” Kitty flashed another smile then started to walk away. Tim smiled back, a weak smile, but still the same, a smile.
“Okay buddy boy, you gonna talk to us if you like it or not,” Lance’s voice came scared his attention away from Kitty. Rolling his eyes, Tim dropped the weed flower. To his side, was Lance and two other boys he didn’t want to meet. One looked like the boy Lance first pointed out, Pietro. Tim stood up, brushing the dirt off his jacket he was sitting on and started walking the opposite way.
“Yo! We didn’t say you could walk away!” the shorter boy called out.
“Cool it Todd,” Lance instructed. They followed Tim into the woods deeper.
Tim stopped suddenly, turning around. “What do you want?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Hey man! Don’t explode on us!” Pietro snapped.
“Look, we just wanna talk with ya. We know what you’re going through,” Lance spoke. Lance watched Tim’s narrow eyes become wide.
“No you don’t.”
“Watch,” Lance looked at Pietro and Todd.
*~**~**~*
“Do you think we oughta follow?” Rogue asked, still watching where the four disappeared. Jean moved closer to Scott, getting a better view of the area they disappeared.
“No. We can’t just follow them for no apparent reason.” Scott piled his tray with Kurt’s in the middle of the table.
“But ve have a reason!” Kurt protested, sliding beside Kitty. “Don’t ve?”
“Like sure we do Kurt. But Scott doesn’t want to do anything rash, you know?”
“Ja, I guess.”
Jean closed her eyes, getting the image of what Lance, Pietro, Todd, and the new boy were doing. “Hmm, I think we’re too late,” she muttered.
“What do you mean?” Scott became concerned.
Jean still had her eyes closed. “I think Lance got through to him. They’re talking like best friends now.” She opened her eyes. “Look away!” she whispered loudly. Scott, Kitty, and Kurt turned away, looking at the trays piled on the table. “Don’t make it so obvious,” Jean rolled her eyes.
*~**~**~*
Scott walked to his car at the end of school. He saw the boy slouched by the school wall.
“Hey Scott!” Jean called, behind him. Scott jumped, dropping his books and keys. Jean giggled.
“Thanks Jean,” he grunted, picking his keys up. “Look, it’s him.” Scott motioned to the boy sitting alone. Jean stepped closer to Scott, nearly breathing on his neck.
“I see him.” She placed her hand on his arm. “Why don’t you go talk to him. Maybe you can convince him not to visit us,” she threw her bag inside the car.
“It’s worth a shot,” Scott agreed, turning to the building. He walked up, standing beside the slouched boy. There was a silence as Scott rocked back and forth.
“How was your first day of school?” Lame question. Scott looked over at the him. “I’m Scott Summers.”
“Tim,” he said weakly.
“Are you okay?” Scott gave his full attention to Tim.
Tim nodded, not saying anything.
“Hey Tim, you want to hang out with me and Jean? We usually go to Burger-”
“Hey Tim!” a voice interrupted Scott’s invitation. Scott glanced over at Pietro who was jogging up to them. “Well, hello there Shades,” Pietro smirked. “Come on Tim.” Pietro put his arm around Tim’s shoulder and guided his away. “Later Summers!”