X-Man
by Babs Yerunkle
From the "X-Men Evolution" universe, beginning
after the end of the first season.
Chapter 19: Dating games
I (Angel that is) met Kitty outside, just after school. She
was scratching her head in puzzlement.
"Okay, who are you? I mean, like, in gym Rogue forgot
her combination, and I was thinking that now you're her and she's you, if that
makes any sense?"
I was still trying to squeeze myself back into the good-girl
persona of Angel Quinn, so I just clutched my backpack in front of me and
smiled at her. "Well, it's like this…"
"Uh huh…"
I looked around to make sure we were private. "I was
Angel this morning and up through gym, but when we got outside I *really*
wanted to run, and Rogue – or rather, Jackie –" I whispered that last part
"wasn't into running at all. I'm worried that she's ruining Rogue's image
–"
"Not that you've been any help keeping that up."
"Yeah, well, so I took over for Jackie, but just during
gym. She 'dropped out'. I don't know, she took off somewhere. We'll probably
do that every day. I found out that I really like running."
"Yeah, you always did," Kitty said, then knocked
herself on the head. "Geez! I can't believe I said that. After all, you
keep saying you aren't her, right?"
I gave her a real smile this time. "Yes, exactly! I'm
still trying to figure out who I am now. But anyway, before Lance gets here,
let me just tell you a couple of things. First, I really do owe you, Kitty, so
I want to help you have a good time tonight, okay?"
"Sure! But you don't have to…"
My feelings were still pretty messed up about Kitty. Was
she the beloved younger sister that I had to protect? Not quite. Was I
jealous that she was cute while Rogue was so unattractive? Not exactly. After
all, right now I was even more stunning than she was. Was I turned on by her
pubescent sexuality? The very thought made me feel terribly guilty. I hoped
that wasn't it. Did I have a crush on her? I didn't want to think about that
either. Was I looking for a friend? Definitely.
I finally said, "Look, you deserve it. Besides, you've
been really good to me, even while I tried to figure out my messed-up life.
Not that I'm quite done yet, but I'm feeling better about things."
She grinned at me. "You feeling secure enough to date
the Blob?"
"Freddy's okay. I think he's just misunderstood."
Kitty snickered. "Yeah, right. You should talk to
Jean sometime."
"I've heard the story. But that reminds me. Remember:
Lance and Freddy think that Jerry was actually Jackie Gavin. And yesterday I
told Freddy and Todd that I'd be taking off as Jerry but re-enrolling as a girl
and that'd I'd reveal myself by telling them that I'd heard so much about them
from Jean. I don't know if Freddy told that part to Lance. So Freddy doesn't
yet know that Angel is his friend Jerry, who he thinks is Jackie, and I
definitely don't want him to find out that this is really Rogue's body, got it?"
For a moment I thought Kitty's eyes were moving in little
spirals. "Oh, sure, what could be simpler? Maybe I should just let you
handle that part, okay?"
"Sure!" I tried to give a perky blonde smile,
since that's what I thought Angel Quinn would do. The girl I was trying to be
was smart, but somewhat innocent.
"Oh, yeah," I added. "One last thing. I'm
still a guy inside, okay? So the idea of doing anything…you know. Kissing or
anything like that is definitely out of the question. As far as I'm concerned,
this is just friends going someplace together. We're just pals, hanging around
together."
Kitty shrugged. "Cool with me. 'Course, they *are*
paying for us. A little peck on the cheek might not be too much for a
thank-you, you know?" She got a thoughtful look. "So, like, if
Lance tries anything…don't feel, like, obliged to come to my rescue, okay? I
mean, unless I'm really calling for help."
I gave her a puzzled frown. "Okay, but are you sure?
Lance?"
She tilted her head to the side and gave me a super-cute
smile. "Hey, don't spaz out on me, okay? I'm just testing the waters.
Okay, so sometimes he's a jerk. But he *is* a senior. And he's kind of cute.
And the attention's nice, you know?"
I sighed. "Yeah, I know." I closed my eyes,
imagining myself kissing someone male. Someone with the silkiest fur, who
loved me. I opened my eyes in sudden panic. "Whoa! None of that!"
I was a guy! Besides, he was my god-damned brother!
"None of what? For a minute you looked –"
"I don't want to talk about it!"
She gave me a evil little smile. "Maybe tonight, as we
go to bed."
"Uh…say, is that Lance?"
Sure enough, Lance was arriving in a silver BMW sedan.
Kitty's eyes bugged out. For that matter, so did mine. Then I remembered that
I wasn't supposed to know anything about Lance. I chortled to myself. This
could be fun! I just reminded myself not to pull anything embarrassing on
them, since they'd eventually be figuring out who I really was.
Lance screeched to a halt and jumped out. On the other
side, the door opened and Freddy squeezed out, the car tipping and then
bouncing up as he exited.
"Hey, pretty Kitty, I'm here to pick you up in the
style you deserve."
"LANCE? Where the HELL did you get a BMW? This better
not be stolen!"
That one looked like it hurt. "Stolen? What do you
think I *am* Kitty? Some sort of cheap thief? Well if that's what you think…maybe
I shouldn't be forcing my affections on you." He turned away, tragically
heartbroken. I thought he was laying it on a bit thick, but Kitty seemed to
fall for it completely.
"Huh?" Freddy said. "We're leaving? But –"
"No, Freddy, I didn't come here to be insulted."
Kitty had her hands around his arm. "No, wait, Lance.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I was just surprised."
He was unmoved. "No, now I'm offended."
"Aw, Lance, come on."
"Well, I might forgive you…if you give me a kiss."
"What? You pig!" She thumped him with her fist.
Now the thing is, I've seen her in the Danger Room. I *know* she can hit
harder than that.
"Well, you can't blame a guy for trying."
Meanwhile, I approached Freddy. "Hello, you must be
Fredrick Dukes." I held my hand out to him.
"Uh, yeah. Call me Freddy. YOU'RE my date?"
I tried to give him my most devastating smile. "Well,
companion. This isn't exactly a *date*. But yes, that's correct. I'm Angel
Quinn." While he was holding my hand, I gave a little curtsey. "Pleased
to meet you."
He scowled for a moment. "This isn't some kind of
joke, is it?"
I frowned. Okay, Plan B. "Come here for a second,
Freddy." After pulling him aside, I spoke more privately to him. "No,
it's not a joke. Honestly, I don't really lean toward having boyfriends, if
you catch my drift." Well, except for daydreaming about Kurt and having
erotic dreams about Scott and – NO! That was not me. I was a guy! "So I
don't consider this a date, and I hope you don't get your hopes up in that
regard either. But I'd be perfectly happy to have you show me around the town,
provided that you understand that we're only friends, nothing more."
"You'd be willing to be seen with me? Last time I
asked a pretty girl out it didn't go so well."
I sighed and rolled my eyes. Okay, Plan C. "Yeah, I
know Freddy. I've heard all about that from my new friend Jean Grey."
Freddy's jaw dropped. "…Jerry?" he whispered.
"Yeah, it's me. But Lance doesn't know, so maybe we
can have some fun with him, okay?" Freddy nodded, dumbly. "He asked
Kitty out, but she wanted some backup, so I came along. So now you
understand. Remember, I'm really a guy inside, so no funny stuff, okay?"
"Sure don't look like a guy."
"Well, I mean that my *mind* is still male. Everything
else is very female." I demonstrated by giving a little wiggle. "Feels
kinda funny. Oh, and Freddy?" I reached up to push his jaw closed. "Tell
me when I go too far on the teasing, okay?"
He nodded, trying to put the pieces together. "So…you're
really Jerry, but a real girl, just not in your mind. And Lance doesn't know.
And you want to tease him. And you're willing to be seen going out with me?"
I gave him a bink on the nose. "Exactly!" I
giggled.
Lance had managed to slip his arm around Kitty's waist and
was leading her toward the car. "Hey, shall we hit the strip?" He
glanced up and saw me hugging Freddy's massive arm. "I don't believe it."
"Isn't he the greatest?" I squealed. "I
mean, he is just SO strong!"
"I don't believe it."
Kitty rolled her eyes. "Come on, Lance, let's go."
With Lance and Kitty in front, Freddy and I got in back.
Fortunately, Kitty's small, so she could push her seat all the way forward.
Freddy needed the room.
For the first stop on our tour, Lance drove us to…The Mall.
"The number one hangout," Lance explained. "The
place to be seen for all Bayville's teens. There are other spots I'd take you,
but I figured that inspiration point is kind of pushing it for right now."
"Definitely!" Kitty said, glaring at him.
Lance put his arm around Kitty's waist. I think I was
feeling a little overprotective of her, but she seemed to accept it, so I went
along with it, too. I thought about what to do with Freddy. I decided to hold
hands with him. To my mind, Freddy deserved a better image than he had. Maybe
being seen with an acceptable girl would give people second thoughts about
him. So I tried to hold his hand, but his hand engulfed mine. Heck, his hand
could have wrapped around my forearm. My tiny little hand vanished inside his
huge paw.
"Uh, sorry," he said, wincing. "I guess I'm
just too big for anyone normal."
"Being big isn't a bad thing, Freddy. It's just
different. You get to choose what you make of yourself." Oh, that was
good. Pure Angel Quinn.
"Uh, yeah, I guess." He reluctantly pulled his
hand away.
I debated for a moment. Was it going too far? I reached
over and took his hand, then wrapped it around my shoulder. I felt like I was
carrying a saddlebag filled with bricks. It bothered me, but not in a physical
sense. I had put a *man's* hand on my shoulder. I was letting him "hold"
me. I was a guy, and this was definitely pushing the limit of what I felt was
proper. I liked to think I was open-minded. During my tour in Europe, I'd
seen more than my share of shocking behavior. Certainly more than I'd ever
been exposed to in the states. I think I adapted pretty well, finally deciding
that it was none of my business what other people did on their own time
(provided that no one else was hurt by it). It didn't keep them from being a
mate, or me from sharing a foxhole with them.
But it's one thing to accept deviant sexual behavior in a
comrade. It's quite a different thing to exhibit such behavior *yourself*. I
was not, am not, never will be a homosexual. I'm interested in women only. I
am a man. End of story.
And yet…there were objections foaming in the back of my mind.
My feelings about a certain blue-furred fellow. Some dreams that were
difficult to explain. My time in the girls' showers when I had *not* been
turned on by the naked bodies around me. The fact that I had chosen to live in
an extremely female body. A body that reminded me with every step and movement
just how female I was at the moment. The fact that I was dressed in a sultry
and revealing style.
And the fact that I'd just draped a man's arm over my
shoulder.
As we walked from store to store, I'm sure I was quite stiff
under Freddy's hand, as I debated the issues in my head. After all, I'd had no
choice in becoming female – Charles had insisted and I had promised to obey.
And there was no shame in that, was there? It wasn't really more than playing
a role. There'd been a fine tradition of male actors playing female roles. It
had been common in Shakespeare's day. Actually, it had been common from
ancient times to nearly the present, and still enjoyed a vaudevillian popularity
in Britain. All I was doing was playing a role. There was nothing wrong in a
man playing a woman's role. I'd been open and honest about that to Freddy – he
knew I wasn't a woman. So there shouldn't be any issue. My placing of Freddy's
hand on my shoulder was just part of the role, nothing more.
That's what I told myself.
Fortunately, Freddy's hand steered me about during the
course of my internal debate. Ostensibly we were window-shopping. In
actuality, the main entertainment came from listening to Freddy and Lance talk
about their missing fellows.
"Too bad Todd isn't here. We usually wait at the
wishing fountain until no one's around, then he snags quarters for us to use at
the arcade," Freddy told me.
"That's pretty disgusting," I said, imagining
exactly how Todd would get the quarters.
"Hey Freddy," Lance called out, "remember
when we let Pietro have the Cinnabuns?"
Freddy snickered, causing his huge hand to quiver around me
like a spastic hug. "Yeah! He was completely wired on the sugar! He was
shaking so bad that you could barely see him!"
"That's right," Lance said, guffawing. "And
then he decided that we needed some DVDs, so he raided the video store and
picked up about fifty of them, and we don't even have a DVD player!"
I frowned at that. "Freddy, I don't approve of
shoplifting."
"Uh…"
"Hey," Lance said smoothly, "it's all just
fun. They aren't really hurt by it. It's like a game."
He'd turned around to face us, and I could see Kitty held in
his arm. She looked unhappy (I assumed with the idea of shoplifting, not Lance's
arm), but she seemed reluctant to say anything. I decided to prod her a
little.
"Neither of us think shoplifting is cool," I said,
looking at Kitty. "Do we?"
She shook her head, as if reluctant to call attention to
herself. "Not really, Lance. Only losers shoplift."
"Yeah, well, like I said, it was Pietro doing it, not
me." He quickly changed the subject. "Oh, look, Victoria's Secret!
I don't suppose you girls want to model anything for us?"
Kitty snorted. "In your dreams, Lance. In your
dreams."
"You got that right, pretty Kitty."
I was using the belly-button trick, so I didn't have to be
afraid of touching Freddy's skin. The buzzing wasn't annoying, it was just a
tiny little feeling in my head that was more comforting than irritating. And
as I unconsciously lay my head against Freddy's huge thumb, I thought about how
nice it was to be able to brush up against a boy's skin. It was just Freddy,
but somehow the skin-to-skin contact seemed to evoke a real rush of feeling
inside me. I had a brief impulse to hug him, before my higher brain kicked
in. *This is a ROLE, nothing more!* I forced myself to think of other things.
It was kind of interesting, walking along, waving at some of
the girls from the school. Every group reacted is much the same way. They
stared at us as if we were complete freaks, then waved weakly back to me. It
was odd. I almost expected the freakish stare, and the return wave felt
surprising. I'm not entirely sure why.
"Like, what is *with* those girls?" Kitty asked. "It's
not like we have anthrax or something."
"Yeah," I said. "I keep looking at my shirt
to see if I have a stain. Hey, Kitty, I don't have toilet paper on my shoe or
something, do I?"
"No."
"You don't have to pretend," Freddy said. "I
know I'm the freak here. The only girl that ever hung with us was Rogue. And
she didn't stay that long."
That hit me like a spike through the skull. "What did
you say?" I said, slowly.
"That I'm just a freak. Maybe I should'a joined the
circus or something."
"No, not that. And you're not a freak, Freddy. I
meant, what did you say about Rogue?"
"Oh, that. Yeah, Rogue was with us for a while. Couple
of weeks I guess. Sometimes all five of us would go places and hang out or
wander around. She wasn't exactly the friendliest chick, you know, but at
least she talked to us. Boy, she had a mouth to rival Mystique. Sometimes
she would tear a strip out of Lance or 'silver. Isn't that right, Lance?"
"Uh, yeah. Man, that girl had a sarcastic streak that
wouldn't quit. I kind of miss it. She *loved* to bug Pietro. I couldn't
figure out if she liked him or hated him. You had it easier, Blobbo. I mean,
she beat you up in your first meeting, didn't she? But after that she never
seemed to rag on you too much. Does that make any sense? And she treated Todd
like he was her favorite pet or something. You guys had it lucky. All me or
Pietro had to do was step out of line and BANG. She was yelling at us like we'd
killed her cat or something. I think that girl had permanent PMS." He
winced as Kitty kicked him, then he turned and looked at me. "Hey, you
know Rogue?"
Oops. I was still confused, trying to figure out how it is
that Rogue and I both had the same reactions to the four members of the
brotherhood. Maybe I was prejudiced, since I'd first heard about them during
the therapy sessions I'd had with Rogue, where she described them all to me.
That had to be it.
"I said," Lance repeated, "isn't today your
first day in Bayville? How do you know Rogue?"
Oops again. Time to 'fess up, I suppose. "We –"
I began.
"Uh oh," Kitty interrupted. "Jock alert."
Yep, dead ahead. Four jerks in their letter jackets, with
female entourage. My first impulse was to chamber a round, figuratively
speaking. In a more literal sense, I realized that I was checking and hefting
my purse. Since Angel didn't wear arm or leg bands, the purse is where I kept
my matter bank. It would take an extra couple of seconds to flow that across
my body into scale cloth, if needed. Then I mentally kicked myself. These
were just jocks. We were in a public spot. I didn't need to prepare for a war
here.
In retrospect, I wonder at my unquestioned attitudes. As a
boy, I'd never been very athletic, but I'd never had issue with the athletes,
either. Perhaps it was the superior attitude on the faces of the boys
approaching us.
"So, Alvers," the opening shot came from the
tallest and oldest jock, with the black hair. "I see you've stooped to
robbing the cradle. Couldn't get any fresh meat among the seniors, could you?"
"Taylor, don't make me look at that face of yours any
longer than I have to. I was hoping to eat, later."
To my scorekeeping, it was two heavy shots, but two misses.
Unfortunately, Mr. Taylor turned his attention to Freddy next, and I suspected
that Freddy wouldn't handle things nearly so well.
"Hey, Dukes. Are you molesting that girl? Cause I
know the only way you could ever convince a chick to get close to you is if
someone was paying her."
I felt Freddy's hand tense up (my shoulder *will* recover)
but before he could do anything I held my hand in front of his face, signaling
a halt.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Taylor, was it?" I took a deep
breath. *Remember to be nice. Angel Quinn is a nice girl.* "Today's my
first day at Bayville. Freddy here offered to show me around, didn't you,
Freddy? And I don't know if you realize this, but I think you just gave me a
rather nasty insult. Did you intend to do that?"
"Uh, I –"
His shadow jumped in, cutting him off. "We just wanted
to know how the hell DUKES ended up with a girl, much less a looker."
"Hmmm, maybe he had more class than any other guy I
could find." Whoops, tone it down. Angel is nice. That was my mantra.
Nice. "Or maybe I just have a soft spot for big naïve farm boys."
"Maybe you just fell prey to the Alvers charm,"
Lance squeezed in. "Remember, I'm the one who set this up."
That gave Taylor time to recover. "Hey, babe, wouldn't
you rather have a real man show you around? We're all starters on the Bayville
football offense. We can show you the real action in this burg."
"You shut your mouths!" Freddy started to bellow.
He began to move forward, but I pulled on his arm.
"Freddy, wait. Maybe they have a point." He
suddenly looked hurt. "He says he's a better man than you. But how could
I test that? Hmmm, how about a friendly test of strength? You could
arm-wrestle for me! I promise that whoever wins can finish showing me around
the town."
Freddy's distress had suddenly turned to glee. "Yeah,
that sounds good."
Taylor wasn't looking so sure, as he eyed Freddy's massive
arms. "Well, I don't want to embarrass him."
"Oh, don't worry," I said happily, "Freddy's
tough. Yeah, why don't you two arm wrestle over it? After all, Mr. Taylor is
a real man. And he's a starting offender on the football team."
Snicker. "I'm sure he'd be happy to show you the finer points of arm
wrestling, Freddy. That is, if you're willing."
Freddy's expression slowly cleared, and he gradually took on
a nasty smile.
Taylor was clearly eager to back off. "Yeah, I would,
but we have to meet some people –"
I sensed blood and moved in for the kill. "That's
okay. There's no shame in running away from someone like Freddy. He's pretty
big, isn't he? And pretty darned strong, too." I moved to grab one of
Freddy's gigantic arms and gave it a sexy little hug-squeeze. "There's
nothing wrong with backing down when you're obviously outclassed."
Freddy didn't say anything, but he was clearly eating this
up.
"Naw, I'm not afraid or anything, I just have better
things to be doing."
But I'd already let go of Freddy to motion to the jock
entourage. I pulled them aside and into a huddle (which seemed pretty appropriate).
"Girls," I said, "they're going to back down if we don't do
something. Here's the deal: I think you should all offer to kiss the winner."
They made gagging noises. "Kiss Dukes? Are you sick?"
"Oh, come on," I said. "He's not that bad.
Just a peck on the cheek. It's a win-win situation. If Mr. Football stud
wins, you can tell him you were supporting him all along. If he loses, you'll
deflate his ego a bit, and he'll spend the rest of the night trying to prove
what a great guy he is. How can you lose?"
Honestly, I didn't really expect them to buy my argument.
It was obvious to me that if the jock-jerk lost he'd be more insufferable than
ever. But maybe the girls of the entourage spent more time thinking about
makeup than boyfriend psychology, because they seemed almost convinced.
"She's right. And it could be fun."
"At the very least, it'll be a change from the same old
strut-n-brew."
"Let's do it!" the third announced with a giggle.
"But only if you join us!" she said, looking straight at me.
Gulp. Hoisted by my own petard. I had to remember: this
was a role. What did it matter if I gave another man a harmless peck on the
cheek? We both knew that I was a man, and this was just a role.
The girls broke with a round of synchronous giggles. In my
case, it was more than a bit forced, but the chorus drowned me out so that no
one really noticed.
Freddy had his arms folded and was smirking. Lance stood to
the side with his arm around Kitty. They both were looking on in interest.
Taylor was trying to gather his friends to leave, but they were in no rush.
"We've decided," the blonde bimbo announced (oops,
I guess I was a blonde too, so maybe I ought to be more charitable to the
sub-species), "We will all kiss whoever wins the arm-wrestling match."
Freddy's smirk got even wider, while Taylor started to
smolder in frustration. "Okay, if that's the way it's going to be, tubbo,
get ready to take a fall!"
We moved over to the food court and prepared a table. I
studied the way the chief jock's bimbo clung to him, and tried to manage the
same thing for Freddy. After all, he needed moral support, too. Actually,
when Freddy sat down, he was at about the right height for me to wrap my arms
around his neck. It also caused a rather novel sensation where my breasts
pressed into his back. I ignored that and leaned forward to whisper in his
ear, "Try not to injure him, okay? The school does need him for the next
couple of football games. It wouldn't do to have the whole school unhappy with
you for losing the games."
"Yeah, okay," he mumbled back, reluctantly.
They sat down and Freddy put his arm up. Taylor's hand came
to Freddy's wrist, so Freddy scooted back to leave his arm at an angle, rather
than straight up and down. Even I knew that was giving the leverage advantage
to Taylor.
"Whenever you're ready," Freddy said.
I could see Taylor bunching his leg muscles, turning in the
seat to put his whole body into play. "Okay…GO!" Without warning,
he launched into an attack, hoping to catch Freddy by surprise. Freddy's arm
never even moved.
"Tell me when you're ready to start."
"Oh, you are *too* wicked," I whispered into
Freddy's ear. I still had my arms wrapped around his neck, since that made the
commentary and advice look like flirtation.
"Damn you!" Taylor squeezed out, as he strained to
move Freddy.
I let go of Freddy's arm to squeeze his bicep. "Hey,
girls!" I called. "Come here! You can feel the muscle underneath!"
It was true that Freddy had a thick layer of fat. In fact,
it was probably about an inch deep. It was also pretty strange fat, since it
was completely cushiony. But underneath that was a layer that felt like rock.
"Whoa!" the blonde said. "His skin is really
thick. But feel that muscle!"
"You're right! You know, the fat's not all gross like
I thought it would be. It's kind of like padding or something."
"Can I feel?" Kitty asked, coming up to join the
fray.
We moved aside to let her in. There were now six girls all
feeling Freddy's bicep. Meanwhile, Taylor still struggled to make headway.
"Hey," Freddy said. "Stop that! It tickles!"
We noticed that he'd lost ground, and was only about a handspan above the
table.
"Oops!" I said. "Sorry. Let's back off
girls, and let them finish."
"Okay," Freddy said, far too nicely. "I'm
going to do this real slow, so I don't hurt you. You can use both hands, if
you want. It won't make any difference."
Taylor, in desperation, took him up on it. He only had a
handspan to go, maybe he figured that he could say that he'd already won or
something. Unfortunately, even with both hands, Freddy didn't budge (now that
we weren't tickling him). With no sign of effort, he slowly brought his hand
up and around, gently pressing Taylor's hand against the table.
"Give?"
"Fuck you, asshole!"
Freddy frowned a little at that and seemed to press harder.
"Give?"
"Yes! Yes! Stop it!"
Hoping I had the mannerism right, I squealed and began to
clap. The other girls followed suit before the quite realized who they were
clapping for. Kitty just looked at me like I was an idiot.
Before he could stand up, each of the other girls came over
and gave Freddy a quick peck on the cheek. I moved to do the same, but Freddy
had figured the game out by then and he turned his head, meeting me full on the
lips. His lips were warm, and softer than I'd expected, and I kind of liked
the way they were gently moving, and I was kissing a GUY…
"Eep!" I jumped back. "Uh…I hadn't meant to
go quite that far." Oops, did I say that out loud? "I mean, this
isn't a date or anything – you're just showing me around."
Freddy didn't say anything, he just sat there with a goofy
grin.
I looked around. The entourage was giggling (of course),
the jocks were slapping their foreheads. Lance and Kitty were just staring at
me like I'd grown an extra head.
I just thought about it in horror. I had kissed another
GUY, even if it had been an accident. I felt my face go completely scarlet.
*****
Freddy was in a fine mood for the rest of the evening. I
guess he wasn't bothered with the idea of kissing another man. Well, this was
the twenty-first century after all. Kids had strange ideas these days.
We decided that nothing else at the mall could top Freddy's
adventure, so we headed off to eat. Lance claimed that he was still too
stunned to make an intelligent decision, so he left the restaurant choice to
Freddy.
"You know the answer to that!" Freddy roared.
Lance groaned and drove the BMW to a cheap looking place on the edge of town.
A sign proudly proclaimed, "Gator Bob's Fish Fry and BBQ – all you can eat."
Kitty groaned. "Do they have anything here without
meat?"
"Yeah, I think so," Freddy said, with more
eagerness than actual knowledge.
Inside, I peered over the menu and tried to find something
interesting. "Don't they have anything that isn't fried?" I finally
picked the blackened catfish. The gum-chewing 'waiter' informed me that
although blackened was still technically fried, it was dry-fried and not deep
fried.
Kitty ordered sides of grits and hush puppies. I decided to
copy her with the grits, since I'd always been curious about them.
Freddy, of course, got the all-you-can-eat ribs.
The food arrived almost instantly (except for my fish),
proving that they weren't cooking to order. The thought of our food sitting in
back under banks of heat lamps did nothing for my appetite.
"Well, Blob, I've got to hand it to you," Lance
drawled. "You really took home the prize. Man, the look on Taylor's
face!"
"Yeah" Freddy said, "I'm almost sorry that
Mystique wouldn't let me join the football team. Then I could'a creamed all of
'em, every day." With that, he launched into his first plate of ribs.
His technique was to pick up a rib and stick the whole thing in his mouth,
withdrawing a clean bone a moment later.
At the mention of Mystique, Lance stared at me, as if
waiting for a reaction.
I stared back. "What?"
"You aren't a student up at Xavier's or anything, are
you?"
I batted my eyelashes at him. "I'm sure I don't know
what you're talking about."
"You are!" He grabbed his hair in both hands. "Argg!
All this time I was being on my best behavior, and for no reason!" He
glared at Kitty. "You! You knew!"
"Well, duh. She is, like, my roommate."
It was mildly amusing watching his double-takes. I
pretended to devote myself to eating. It turns out that grits aren't too bad.
Kind of like good old Cream of Wheat. They left me with a rather happy,
nostalgic feeling. A food from my childhood.
"Wait a minute! I thought you were rooming with Rogue?"
Kitty had a momentary look of panic on her face, before
figuring it out. "Oh, right. For the time being, I'm rooming with both
Rogue and Jackie."
"Jackie?" Lance looked at me. "Jackie
Gavin? All this time…? Blob, you knew!"
"Good ribs. I need some more."
I decided to "borrow" one of Kitty's hush puppies
while she wasn't looking. It wasn't bad, despite the grease.
Lance was holding his head in his hands. "Okay, okay,
play me for the fool." His head shot up and he looked at Kitty. "Maybe
there's something you don't know. 'Jackie' here is really a guy. Did you know
that you've been rooming with a guy?" He leered. "If that's how you
feel, maybe I can make you a better offer."
Kitty picked at her food, pushing the plate of greasy hush
puppies away. "Dream on, Lance. Angel here may *think* she's a guy, but
I can tell you she's not." She flashed me a nasty grin. "And
certainly no one in the girls' locker room thought she was a guy."
Lance reached out to take my hand in mock sympathy. I had a
moment of panic before realizing that the comforting buzz was still present in
the back of my head. I was still holding my belly-button in place, so Rogue's
absorption powers were blocked. Only *then* did I realize that I was letting a
guy hold my hand.
"Oh, Jackie, baby…"
"Angel. The name's Angel," I corrected him.
"Yeah, whatever. I can tell you're suffering from some
serious trauma," Lance said. "Why don't you let kindly Dr. Alvers
help you with this problem. You can recline on my couch while you tell me all
about the girls' locker room."
I snatched my hand back while Kitty started to pummel on
Lance with both fists. "You jerk!" she yelled. "First of all,
Angel is a girl – no matter what *she* thinks – and there's no way any of us is
going to rat on the rest of the girls, or the forbidden secrets of the girls'
locker room! And second, I'M YOUR DATE TONIGHT, so don't go holding anyone
else's hands! And last, you better not be hearing stuff like that from anyone
else but ME, got it?" As her voice dropped, she said, "And it better
be a lot more romantic than that whole couch business and that 'Dr. Alvers'
garbage!"
Lance held up his hands in a futile attempt at self
defense. "Uh, Freddy? A little help here?"
"Yeah, I would," Freddy got up, "but I have
to get a refill on ribs, first."
Lance looked to me for sympathy. "Is she this fierce
when you're beating up on the bad guys?"
I swiped another of Kitty's hush puppies and considered
that. "Well, I haven't really fought with the team yet. But, uh, aren't
*you* supposed to be the bad guys? If so, then the answer's obviously 'yes.'"
"But – ow – but I haven't done anything *bad* yet!"
I swiped another hush puppy. Honestly, they weren't too
bad. "Maybe that's your problem," I said.
Lance smirked at Kitty for a moment, the suddenly reached
out and grabbed her. Of course, Kitty's power allows her to 'phase' through
any form of solid matter. She could have escaped Lance's grip at any time. I
knew it, Lance knew it, and Kitty would have known it too, if her mind had been
working. Instead, she just stared at him, dumbfounded. Lance planted a
delicate kiss on her lips and then let her go again. I hate to say it, but the
whole scene was halfway heartwarming and halfway hot. At least, I was getting
hot. From the flush on her face, Kitty was rather hot too.
She sat there stunned, a blush covering her face. Slowly
her hand reached up to her lips. There was a look of wonder in her face, and
the ghost of a surprised smile on her lips. She sat like that, frozen, for a
moment. Lance and I looked at each other and shrugged.
Slowly Kitty make a fist and reached over to punch Lance in
the upper arm.
"Ow! What was that for!"
"That's – oh! That's for taking advantage of a girl
without asking!" In a quieter voice, she said, "Besides, it worked
last time."
For a moment Lance pulled on his hair. "ARGGG! You
drive me mad! All right. *May* I kiss you?"
Suddenly Kitty looked immensely vulnerable. Hell, she
practically had *me* wanting to mother her, all of a sudden.
"I…I don't know," she said, shyly. "I mean,
I just barely turned fifteen – do you think I'm, like, too young?"
"Argg!" Lance fumed again, and then wrapped his
arms around her. "Yes, of course you're too damn young! So sue me! I
feel like breaking some rules, okay?" He paused for a moment, looking in
Kitty's frightened eyes. Never breaking eye contact, Lance brushed his thumb
across her cheek and then slowly brought his lips to touch hers. Kitty looked
like she might try to struggle for a moment, then her eyes went wide. The she
slowly closed them again. I suspected that she wanted to devote all her
concentration to her lips.
"Huh," Freddy grunted eloquently, as he came
back. "That was fast. See? It's good for everyone when I go get
refills." He sat down heavily. "'Bout time, though. He's only been
moping over her since I got here."
"Really?"
"Uh huh." Freddy looked toward their side of the
table with sudden interest. "Hey, you think she's going to eat that last
hush puppy?"
Freddy was strong, but not too quick. My arm flashed out. "No,"
I said around the delicious mouthfull. "I don't think so."
"Damn. This is no better than eating with Rogue."
I sat up straight at that. "What?"
"She used to steal everyone's hush puppies, too."
*****
"But Angel…" Kitty whined.
"No!" I said. I glared at Lance, but my invisible
eye-beams must have bounced off the back of his head. "And keep driving.
How can you not know where the mansion is? You've invaded it, what? Two or
three times, I'm sure!"
"Yeah, but I wasn't driving!"
I threw my hands up, hoping for divine intervention. "Okay,
Kitty, what time did you promise we'd be back?"
"Um… like, 'nine-ish'."
"What? It's almost *eleven*!"
"Well I said nine-ISH. Like, what exactly does that
mean? Within a couple of hours, I figure."
I tried to glare at her, too, but she wisely kept her head
turned away. "I am making it my life's work to make sure you NEVER get
out of the house without a chaperone."
"Hey," Freddy asked, "does this mean that I
do or don't get a good-night kiss?"
"Freddy," I explained again, "I'm a GUY. You
know that. I don't kiss other guys, okay?"
"Oh. Wanna take a shower, then?"
"Argg! Next time, I'm coming with Todd, I swear!"
Kitty was suddenly turned around in her seat looking
gleefully at me. "Oh, thank you, thank you! You really are an Angel, you
know!"
I tried to cross my arms over my chest, had some momentary
problems with that, and then crossed them *under*. "Yeah, I know. But if
I hear one more comment about the 'earth moving,' I'm outta here."
"Found it," Lance announced. "Oh, wait, that's
Clairmont Drive. That's not even *in* Bayville, is it?"
"Maybe you should ask at the next gas station,"
Kitty suggested.
I just wept in frustration.
Continued in Chapter 20, " Angel out in the field " appearing NEXT Week!
since 06/10/03
