Recent Posts

”Yeah…we wait.” Riley said, curling her legs up so she could rest her chin on her knees. The elevator was small, and the last thing she needed was this chick trying to get friendly. She’d seen an episode of Archie Bunker like this, where the old racist had ended up in a multicultural conglomeration of an elevator. A woman had ended up delivering a baby. Riley looked at the blond. She was slender. Thank God.

So they waited. At least the other chick wasn’t panicking, Riley would have hated to add assault to the day’s list of activities, and a panicky Russian blonde was something that would definitely have skyrocketed its likelihood. Riley alternated leaning her head on her knees and leaning it back against the wall for a few minutes, until she got the distinct and uncomfortable feeling that she was being watched.

She looked with her eyes, not turning her head, yup. The blond was staring. Oh great… she said mentally. I’ve seen that look before. Riley knew what that meant, and she mentally thanked whatever god there was from the bottom of her heart that she was lucky enough to experience these things over and over again.

The woman reached out to poke her foot and Riley jerked it back, accomplishing nothing but kneeing herself in the chin. Even more lovely.

”You’re different too.” she said, mildly affronted by the tone of the other woman’s voice.

”Please don’t tell me you’re going to go blind or die or something. There’s really not much I can do to get more than four feet away from you, and I don’t have the patience to deal with the cops today. I really don’t.”

One of the things about New York that was just like where Riley had grown up in Chicago was Macy’s. The huge high rise department store, the glittering marble and shining lights, the display cases loaded with merchandise. It was beautiful, capitalism at its finest. Gucci, Prada, Coach, Channel, Tommy, INC, Donna Karen New York, Calvin Klein, Alfani, and so many more Riley couldn’t name.

Something else Macy’s in New York had in common with Macy’s in Chicago…Riley couldn’t afford a thing.

It used to be fun to window shop, when things had looked up and she’d thought that maybe one day she’d be able to waltz in here and hold two 400 dollar purses, trying to figure out which one she was going to take home. Maybe she’d even cave and buy both, waving a dismissive hand at the elegant woman behind the counter. ”I deserve it.” she croon.

That day was never going to come.

Jobs were few and far between right now, and for the third month in a row Riley was starting to wonder if she was actually going to be able to make her rent. Since she’d straightened out she’d never missed a payment. She needed another job.

Sure there were ‘help wanted’ signs hanging in retail shops all over the place, but cooperate shops never wanted to hire someone who had a record. Chain restaurants were similar, as were temp agencies and a fair number of private owned shops. That left a pool that Riley really didn’t want to fish in. She’d had to get out, get to somewhere she could think…maybe pretend a little. Pretend that all of that was someone else’s life, and that she didn’t deserve it.

Dinnerware and bedding were upstairs, along with appliances and furniture. Riley could look at those things and imagine them in her apartment. She went to the elevator. Tight places had never really been her thing, and especially now that being within 4 ft of her sent some people in to mild panic, they were even worse. People in New York simply didn’t take the stairs though. Riley was pretending to be one of those people, she hit the button.

A blond joined her on the elevator, with bags, and Riley resisted the urge to glare at the woman for simply existing and being able to shop. The doors started to close, and she took some solace in the fact that at least nobody else had joined them.

Up they went…until they didn’t.

The shudder, flicker, and jolt were enough to have come right out of that earthquake movie Riley had seen as a kid.

The blond, a foreigner by the Russian bride accent, asked if she’d stopped the thing. Were they really stuck? Riley pushed a button, then another, then two more.

”No…did you? Why would I stop an elevator in the middle of Macy’s?”

Riley shook her head as she walked, and smiled at her shoes even though she almost desperately wanted to kick them off and risk the barefoot walk down a busy New York street. This guy was a smooth talker, and a smooth talker with an accent. That probably got him real far with the ladies most of the time. A sliver tongue worked wonders in this city, and obviously this guy was used to getting what he wanted.

The conversation was entertaining enough, and since it was impossible to keep her secret from most mutants, Riley found herself not particularly caring one way or another what this particular one knew. He did want her name, though, and that was slightly more of a problem. A moment’s thought and a few feet further and Riley sighed, ”Sommers.” she said, ”I’m not a teacher or anyone’s mom though. If you have to, call me Riley.”

There was more to be said on the Brit’s previous comment, and a disbelieving laugh prefaced her words, ”And you just let me know the next time you meet a gentleman. I’ve known my fair share of men in New York, trust me, and all I can say is I prefer the ones who are simply jerks upfront…instead of blindsiding me with it later.”

Men aside, they moved on to her medical history and Riley found herself once again put-off by the conversation. What was he going to ask for next, vaccination records, a pedigree? He’d be SoL, Riley couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten a shot in a doctor’s office and she didn’t have any more clue who her dad was than her mom probably did.

”Of course I did.” she said. ”Still have the membership button the Church of Humanity gave me with my negative test, and the pamphlets they gave me on “X-gene Envy” after my third. I wasn’t taking chances during all of that registration nonsense. Dog collars don’t agree with me, unless the pay is real good and the photographer made himself a name.”

He asked if she’d met anyone with a similar condition and Riley shook her head, loose, dark curls bouncing around her shoulders, ”Apparently they exist though. Adapted…adaptoid…apparently they‘ve got a name for, ‘even freakier than all the other freaks‘ these days.”

”What about you? What’s going to happen if you get too close?” she asked, casting a sideways glance and a smirk in the brown-haired man’s direction, ”Is your skin gonna fall off? Maybe you’ll melt? Please don’t tell me you’ll go blind and stupid. I’ve seen that before…so over it.”

At least the guy was thick skinned enough to handle a little bit of vinegar. He took her snipe in stride and simply continued walking near her. His comment made her stumble though, and it took a moment regain her footing and pace. That was fine, she needed the time to pull herself together and not make a spectacle in the middle of the street. Why did it make her so angry that people always reacted so strongly to what she could do?

Maybe curious wasn’t exactly the word, the Asian kid had been slightly less than curious and slightly more than irritated. Rupert had been way less than curious and way more than pissed off, hopefully he still had the bruise on the side of his smug, stupid, face to prove it. Lori had been secretly thrilled, but desperate to keep her glee a secret to her mutant pals. Not desperate enough to let Riley get away without standing in front of her shower for twenty minutes, but still.

This man, whoever he was, didn’t seem to be anything other than curious, but Riley still frowned as she walked. He also, she noticed, was careful to stay that magical distance away. Could he see what she could do?

He’d called what she had an aura. That definitely indicated something tangible. Riley realized she’d been silent for quite some time and glanced in the man’s direction. He was tall, and he was obviously misunderstanding.

”I’m not a mutant.” she said, and if she snapped just a little bit, it wasn’t her fault. ”And if I don’t move, I’m going to be late for work. You‘d better stay where you are, though. I made a kid blind a couple weeks ago.”

The more Riley walked, the more her feet hurt and the more aggravated with the whole process she became. It seemed like the distance to the address on the slip of paper in her hand was getting further away instead of closer and the hands on her watch were moving faster instead of slower. It’s just how things went lately, Riley couldn’t catch a break. She heaved a sigh and grumbled internally at the people in front of her who obviously didn’t have anywhere important to be.

Another glance at her watch told Riley that she probably wasn’t going to be late. In fact, she was probably going to be a little early, but she didn’t have time to mess around with people mall walking down the street in the middle of the business day. Around them she went, and if any of them thought anything of it, Riley had a suggestion for what they could do with their complaints.

There were actually only a few more small clusters of people clogging the streets now, and Riley quickly worked her way around them. Her feet were screaming in the shoes now and she spent each and every step imagining how she was going to rip them apart stitch by stitch when she got home. Maybe even stick the broken pieces in the garbage disposal. Or..maybe she’d stop at one of the discount stores on her way home and get cheap comfortable things that didn’t match her outfit at all. She’d be able to do that when she had cash…

The last crowd grew closer and closer and Riley sped up, squeezing between them and oncoming foot traffic to find herself on the open sidewalk. Now, if only she didn’t have what seemed like another 100 miles to walk, she’d be golden.

He just. Kept. Talking. Riley stared in slight disbelief as Rupert continued to run his stupid mouth. Did he realize what an absolute and utter moron he sounded like? Some of his comments hit a little too close to home and Riley found her already stinging palm itching to strike out again. Obviously it wouldn’t help.

Normal people would have just kept their mouths shut. It didn’t matter if Riley had been completely ignorant to the reaction she would get from Rupert when she blabbed her little secret. The smart thing to do would have been to keep her mouth shut.

”Are you completely ignorant? Or just deaf and stupid” she said, not bothering to raise her voice at the venom spouting maniac on the blanket with her.

Reaching out to the purse sitting next to her legs, Riley snapped it open while muttering to herself and grabbed the small stack of well-worn pieces of paper she always carried with her to jobs. Tests, from the Church of Humanity. Rupert was probably just the type of idiot who would think they were fake, though.

”Look for yourself, if you can read.” she said, throwing them at his stupid, smug face as she got to her feet and glared down.

”Best of luck finding another broad dumb enough to go home with you. Guess you should ask for the blood test first next time.” she said, voice cold and calm.

Off she walked through the graveyard, it really didn’t matter that she didn’t have a solitary clue where she was. She was angry, probably more angry than she’d been in quite some time. Why were people able to get under her skin so much recently? There was a road up ahead, and Riley figured if she walked along it long enough she’d find something familiar.

She didn’t cry, she didn’t yell, she didn’t even stomp her feet. Riley had been expecting this from the very beginning. It was the inevitable end, regardless of how sparkly things had seemed. Real life wasn’t like the stories. People like her didn’t get happy endings with acceptance and understanding. It was just a fact of life, and not worth getting upset over. Not anymore.

Half the sandwich was gone now, and Riley really wasn’t slowing down. It wasn’t that she was particularly hungry, just single-minded. When the sandwich was done and over with, she could move on to something else.

Rupert’s story about Maya was interesting. It seemed that he had a taste for taking in strays off the street. No amount of puppy dog eyes had encouraged Riley to be nice to the brat. Then again, Maya hadn’t lost Rupert a job. She smiled slightly as she worked the sandwich down to a quarter, ”I think you just like to cook for women. No matter how old they are.”

This conversation was going far too well. This whole situation was going far too well. The level of comfort was way too high, and she was enjoying herself way too much. This situation was bad. So Riley did the only thing she could.


”I didn’t do anything to make her like me. Apparently mutants who come within about four feet of me can’t use their powers anymore. She literally fell out of the mirror. Apparently that‘s what happens to her.”

Nobody could like someone like that, right?