School loomed just over the horizon. After his tutoring and placement tests Jude would be entering the 9th grade at the tender age of 11 when he should have been entering 6th. It paid to have graduated from high school once already (in his dreams).

The boy was disappointed not to have retained enough knowledge to get him a GED. He would have loved to start at a university this year. As it was, that just wasn't going to happen. So... 9th grade. Was that high school in this country? He should ask someone.

A sock flew out his open room door followed by a basketball too flat to bounce and a dinosaur tee shirt. A dinosaur tee shirt? Really? Nothing he had was cool enough! This was his life now and he wanted to get the best friends out of this whole school deal. He hadn't quite done it right the first time, and not many people got second chances like this.

Sveta almost got hit by a T-shirt with a dinosaur on it.

She was getting used to being in danger, and having all kinds of creepers attacking her randomly; she was always alert and ready to run.
She did not expect dinosaur T-shirts.

"Jude?" she called out, peeking in through the open door to the boy's room. She'd never been in there since he showed her around the apartment on her first day. She respected privacy in general, especially when it came to people she liked. Bo had her own room for the first time in her life when they moved in with the Matchmaker, and she learned to keep out of it until she was invited.

"Jude, is dis yours?" she held up the shirt, arching an eyebrow at the boy. She was smiling. Of course it was his, he tossed it out just a moment ago. So much like Bo. She looked at the mess inside and around the room. "You look for something?"

"No. It'z not mine. It belongs to a ten year old. I don't think Ghost notized, but I am eleven." And he kept digging. He found a clip on tie that he tucked under his arm before diving in again.

> "You look for something?"

"My dignity." He threw his hands into his lap and sat back on his heels. "What do I wear to my first day of school, Svetty?" The cute-ification of Svetlana's name should have sounded ridiculous but, combined with the register of his voice and the complete seriousness of his situation, it sounded entirely plausible coming from Jude.

"I am small and new and everysing is all wrong for making friends. I want to make friends at the Mansion." He looked at her over his shoulder. "Help me? I need... how do you say? L'élégance." Svetlana was always dressed just so. Such a cool grown up. Not at all as lame as Sebastian tweed or Ghost's flowing skirts. None of that worked for him when it came to style. He needed... sophistication. Jude held up his clip on lamely as if it would sprout panache.

Sveta couldn't help but chuckle. For an eleven year old serious grown-up, Jude was still adorable. Especially when he was acting like that. Worried about the big problems in life.

>>"What do I wear to my first day of school, Svetty? I am small and new and everysing is all wrong for making friends. I want to make friends at the Mansion. Help me? I need... how do you say? L'élégance."

The Russian girl stopped chuckling, and her smile softened. She was very familiar with those questions. And feelings. She got into the whole thing already grown up; she knew it would be much more difficult for a kid. Fortunately enough, this was exactly what the Matchmaker had trained her for.

"I know dat feeling" she smiled, walking in and sitting down on his bed "Is like my first day here. But, people in de Mansion are very nice." she assured him "Like Maya and Sebastian, you know? I know you will make friends. Lots." she smiled at him "Now. Let's say, you show me what you have, and we pick, okay? And if you not have what you need, maybe we go and shop."

There. The fact that she'd never dressed up a guy (or a kid), didn't bother Sveta; the Matchmaker took the time to give her the basics of male style, just so she could tell stylish men apart from losers. Just in case. She was a wise, wise woman.

She had a point. People at the mansion were nice. To your face. It was the not to your face part that had him worried. He wanted people to like him right off the bat. To be suave and debonaire. Charm the ladies of the 9th grade like Fred Sinatra or Frank Estair.

> "Now. Let's say, you show me what you have..."

That sounded like a reasonable start. Jude tossed his limp tie aside and went back to digging in his closet. He produced a wrinkled sport jacket which Ghost had bought him to wear on Sundays when they had to visit church with Papa Swift. "Zis?" Maybe it was too old? He tossed it onto his rumpled bed and pulled out a long sleeved dress shirt with long, skinny stripes of different shades of blue. "Zis one." A short sleeved button up, a polo, a tee shirt with not writing, a tee shirt with a pattern, khaki pants, jeansbrowleathershoesredconverseblackpants-

"What do you sink?" By the end most of the pile on the floor had been relocated to the bed. What remained on the floor was mostly pajamas, sweaters and the occasional party hat left over from their quiet celebration of his eleventh birthday. He had plenty of clothes, perhaps too many. "Non sophistiqué. Not nearly charming enough, no?"

>>"What do you sink? Non sophistiqué. Not nearly charming enough, no?"

Sveta sorted through the pile of clothes and tried to maintain a serious expression to show him she was paying attention; but she couldn't help but chuckle, the kid, in her opinion, was charming enough.

"Dis, we can work with" she muttered, setting one shirt aside "And this... and this too..."

In the end, there was a decent amout of clothes set aside that Sveta judged were good enough for Jude to build up his image in school.

"They need ironing, you know." she smirked as she folded them "I tell you, the M... my aunt, she tells me clothes is only half of getting people to like you. They will like you, because you are smart and funny." she mused over that for a few moments "... and, you have a French accents. Americans love dat." she winked at Jude. His accent, indeed, might just become his most powerful weapon...

"Off course ze will like me." His insecurities there were easily stuffed deep down inside of himself with the help of Svetlana's words.

He didn't touch Svetlana even though they were close now. He was always a perfect, tiny gentleman to his mutationally impaired friend. One of the few she could touch didn't mean she would want to. Yet.

"But I want them to like me, like me. Tutor says this saying twice is slang for man and woman liking. Do you know this? Liking, liking?" From the little bit of light in his eyes, he wasn't talking about knowing the phrasing.

Jude pulled the reject pile from the bed and waddled them over to his closet. Those he punched and kicked behind the door and then shoved it shut. There. Clean room and only useful clothes ready for the floor. "Is irunning hard?" He pulled a particularly wrinkly shirt out of the pile and smelled it. "Or washing?"

Sveta chuckled as Jude stuffed the pile of clothes away into the closet and made a mental note to warn Ghost about it later, before she happens to open it and get buried for good.

"Like you, like you" she nodded slowly with a smirk "I have heard that, before. So, you want girls to like you, yes?"

It only made sense. An adorable little guy like Jude, who's exactly in the age when they all think they are grown up. She remembered Bo going through that age. It was funny to watch.

"No, it is not that hard." she smiled, looking at the clothes. She had managed to figure out how to use American washing machines and even the dryer which she was not used to at first. "I can help you. And ironing too. Very easy."

Looking at Jude, she smiled. "Is clothes the only thing you have to prepare for school?"

> "So, you want girls to like you, yes?"

"How could zey not? With Svetty's help I will be the best dressed and most handsome." He grinned at Svetlana and gathered his things.

When he was older he had laundry service. In the orphanage they had to hang their laundry up to dry, but the matron washed it. Ghost had helped him when his room had gotten easier to swim through than walk through, but it left dirty and came back clean and folded. Like magic.

It was time to learn how it happened. "Where to?" He could waddle a couple steps with all those clothes, but he'd rather look silly and be a man than let Svetlana have to handle his grimy grungies.

>>"How could zey not? With Svetty's help I will be the best dressed and most handsome."

Sveta smiled a charming smile at Jude. She had a sudden urge to pinch his cheek, but she didn't; it was something only old women do (old women who never had children of their own, probably), and definiely not young mutant ladies who have a gift for making strange things happen by touching people. So, she just smiled.

"You don't need help with being handsome." she chuckled "But best dressed, you do. For now. Come with me."

Sveta lead Jude to the washing machine; she had learned how to use it, from Maya, and now she could pass the knowledge on to the kid. Maybe Gost would think it was too early to teach him things like that; but technically, she was the one doing everything. Half of the clothes went into the washing machine in their apartment; the other half went into the one in Sveta's.

"I think that is all" she sighed, resting her hands on her hips "You don't need to worry about looking good now. Do you need help with other things too?" she smiled "I am free all day."

Actually, she was free all day on most of the days.

When she smiled, Jude knew he was in. Oh he was so suave even now as an 11 year old to bag a hottie like Svetlana. Now he just had to seal the deal.

A load went in. Everything large, small, white, dark, colored and in between. He set it on hot, but Svetlana's long, beautiful arm reached out to turn the knob to cold. He was just her age had he been as old as he should have been. His dark hair fell forward as he looked down into the machine and the pieces started spazzing out in twitchy movements. He grinned at Sveta. Sveta grinned at him. This was so not romantic.

But that was okay because Svetlana wanted to spend the rest of the day with him too.

"What happens if date? What would I do then? You should show me. Let's go!" He kid of stuffed his dirty clothes out of the walking way and then was ready to sprint toward the door and hold it open for Svetlana. Yes. He would be a true gentleman and take care of his Svetty.

>>"What happens if date? What would I do then? You should show me. Let's go!"

Sveta blinked, and before she could open her mouth, Jude was already at the door, looking at her like a puppy waiting for a walk in the park. Date? Did she just hear that right?

The Russian bride snickered, and walked after him.

"Jude, I do not think... um." how to tell a kid who spent time in his own future that he was far too young to date? Huh. "I did not date much." she admitted "My sister, she is fourteen, and she don't date yet. So, I am not sure I am a good person for advice."

I am probably the worst person you could ask.

"And, I can't go far with you. It is not safe." she added, very seriously. Last thing she wanted was getting the boy into trouble. She looked at him for a few moments, then sighed.

"We can go down the street, and get ice cream." she gave in "Sound good?"

"How could you not have dated much?" Clearly this puzzled the boy. "At le orphelinat it was boys only so I suppose this kept us from dating until older, no? I think zis is time lost. I want to be good at dating before I am old!" And 14 was a long way off already. How could he possibly wait that long and more?

She baulked at the idea of going far. To be honest going far was a bad idea for wither of them. Ghost's head would explode if Jude stole Svetty away to Hawaii or something. "Ice cream iz not so far az to be bad. I will protect you." He would protect her with his utter confidence and roguish, freckled looks since that was all he had. Underestimated weapons, if you were to ask Jude.

He made a quirky little bow reminiscent of a musketeer or member of the French court. "What flavors are you liking?" The 11 year old balanced his way down the skinny wooden stairway that would let them avoid going through the clinic. No doubt Sebastian would have something to say about them going out to get fresh air, but that was an opinion Jude could do without for now.

"J'adore crème de framboise."

>>"At le orphelinat it was boys only so I suppose this kept us from dating until older, no? I think zis is time lost. I want to be good at dating before I am old!"

Sveta chuckled, and didn't answer the question. Truth is, it could have been said she'd dated a lot, but that kind of dating was definitely not for kids. It was not for anyone, really. Also.

"I tink you have plenty of time, before you get old." she winked, patting his shoulder as they started down the stairs.

>>"Ice cream iz not so far az to be bad. I will protect you."

Again. The kid was too adorable for his own good. Sveta had heard that sentence a lot lately; it was a thing guys said all the time. She'd never heard it from an 11-year-old though. She was pretty sure if someone attacked them, she would be the one doing the protecting. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

>>"What flavors are you liking?"

Then he spoke French. Sveta didn't understand a word of it, but she could guess the topic. She smiled.

"I like, um. Vanilla? And lemons."

And a few other things, but since the Matchmaker never bothered to teach her the names of ice cream flavors, she just left it at that.

She walked down the street with Jude, making sure to keep an eye out for suspicious people, and look around before they crossed. She looked down at her companion, and a thought occurred to her.

"So, you did live in the future too, like Maya and, um, Garrett?"

Vanilla? Jude wrinkled his nose at what was possibly the least helpful of the personality identifying flavors. Vanilla was just so, so... plain. At least Lemon told him something.

The ice cream shop was everything he had hoped it would be. Not a drop of soy milk in sight. Without Sebastian's dietary restrictions, he could gobble down a whole cone or pint or gallon! The little four-foot French boy put his hands and nose up against the glass and looked down into the cups of flavor.

Red and white swirls of fruity deliciousness, brown and nut spotted, white and black, orange and pink and yellows. They were all here. All his favorites and he wanted to try every one at least once. The man behind the counter limited him to trying three. He went for the decadent brown, dark brown and white spotted one in the end: Java mocha marshmallow.

Jude waited by the cashier for Svetty with some crumpled bills and an unusual amount of dirty coins stacked on the counter. Maybe enough to cover both their ice cream choices.

"Of course I know them. Zat is how Ghost found me. She remembered from ze future where I would be and how much I wished I had not lived there. She rescue me, you know. And Sebastian rescue her." There was a very logical flow of how their family worked and the pecking order that he had established in his mind. As for Garrett? Well, Ghost said to remain silent when he could not say nice things about people.

"Were you in zat future?" The man behind the counter was too busy wrinkling his nose at the state of his pay, or at least knew this was a conversation he could not join.