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It was a quiet Monday evening, and both Alice and Kaitlyn were at their respective desks, doing their respective homework. Alice had a number of exams coming up that week, so she was trying her hardest to eliminate distraction. That meant avoiding idle chit chat with her roommate, ignoring her phone whenever it vibrated, and leaving all other forms of social media aside. In fact, she was so absorbed in her Biology homework that she nearly fell out of her seat when she heard a knocking at the door.

She tried not to get annoyed at the sudden intrusion and was grateful when Kaitlyn eagerly announced that she would get it. On the other side was a small blonde girl who looked to be around Kait’s age. Must be one of her friends, Alice thought, returning the wave and going back to her textbook.

She tried her best to ignore their discussion and concentrate on her homework, idly rolling her pencil between her fingers.

"Thank you. I will wear the heart proudly as the manliest of men!"

Alice couldn’t hold back her giggles, taking care to remove the paint brush from her teacher’s face before she slathered magenta all over his eyeballs in the middle of her laughing fit. When she was finished, she moved on to his forehead, using a cyan shade to color in a star-shaped pattern. As she painted safely away from his mouth, Mr. Holloway spoke.

"Really though, it ain't easy joining a school so late, so if you need any help with anything, you're certainly welcome to come to me or Mama T, or one of the other staffers here."

“Thank you,” she said, once again grateful for her teacher’s consideration. “But...um, who is Mama T?” she asked, unfamiliar with the moniker. It was likely she had come across “Mama T” at some point during the past few days but had simply forgotten in the craziness of settling in. It didn't help how horrible she was at remembering names.

Drugs? M? Alice shook her head at the query, cocking her head in even deeper confusion. She listened intently as Kaitlyn described the drug, how it was supposed to help mutantkind. The brunette did not know much about mutant-human relations, other than that they were pretty dour, but what her roommate was saying kind of made sense to her, however much it oversimplified what was likely a much more complex situation. She wasn’t sure if she particularly approved of the drug, though. Who would want the ability to poison people? Or burn them? Or hurt them in any other way? Sure, there were some “cool” mutations, but there were plenty of destructive ones too. But...she supposed that was besides the point Kaitlyn was making.

Alice gasped as someone rocketed past them in the hallway, just as the two girls made it onto the second floor landing. The rapidly retreating form waved in apology and called out a waning “Sorry!” as he turned a corner. She stared after him for a moment, heart still pounding and adrenaline still pumping, but Kaitlyn had no reaction whatsoever, and continued with her explanation as if a young boy had not just nearly collided with them at seventy-five miles per hour.

The fourteen-year-old struggled momentarily to catch up with what her roommate was saying―something about prejudice and jobs―and regained her bearings as Kaitlyn spoke about mutants making money by selling M, and how the cops and X-Men stopped them.

“So, basically, the X-Men are helping to make sure people keep hating mutants, and that most of the jobless mutants stay poor. And pretty much everyone at this school loves them.”

Kait had spoken so surely, as if there was no doubt what she knew was true, that Alice couldn’t help but feel a little outraged by the end of the speech.

“Those X-people are sneaky! Why does everyone here like them if they’re hurting mutants?” Really, who were the X-Men to take an honest living away from poor, discriminated mutants?

...But then she remembered that the “honest living” entailed selling drugs, illegal drugs. Now, she was no expert on narcotics, but she knew that some drugs became illegal for a reason, i.e. because they were/are bad. So didn’t that mean that M was bad for people? And that’s why it was no longer allowed?

Alice avoided her roommate’s gaze, unsure of how to question Kait without seeming argumentative. “But...maybe the drug was hurting people, and that’s why it was made illegal. People could have taken it and gotten bad mutations that made them hurt themselves or others,” she paused, gauging Kaitlyn’s reaction, “I mean, I want mutants to have nice jobs and stuff too, but maybe M just wasn’t the best way to do it...?”

Happy Christmas! (slash other holidays!)

I forgot to post here earlier, so my apologies for the late notice. Tomorrow I go on my yearly four-day retreat, which means no posting/internet for me! I'm sorry to those waiting on me. I'll be back on Saurday though!

Mr. Holloway gave his consent to move on to the next phase of the project, which she was grateful for. He seemed to calm down as she grabbed the paints and adjusted her position to directly face him. He kept still when she began to sweep a brush across his face, but the silence between them was uncomfortable. She did not know what to say, exactly. Should she thank him for helping her? Or would it be better to cease dwelling and forget the incident ever happened? As she dipped into a bright magenta color, the color the heart would be. She reconsidered painting it, hesitating for a brief moment, but decided to go ahead with it. Gunther was a jerk anyway.

...A jerk who may have labeled her a teacher's pet for the rest of the year. Nay, for the rest of her life...

"I hope you don't worry too much about Gunther. This is the third time he's written one of these for being a bully this semester. He needs to be reminded that bullying is not something I'm okay with in the classroom, so don't let yourself get worked up over this, okay?"

It was as if Mr. Holloway had read her mind. The fourteen-year-old eyes widened a bit, surprised at her teacher's insight, and she briefly wondered if he had some hidden telepathic mutation he had neglected to mention to her... "Oh...thank you. I won't." She did not know why she thanked him, but a part of her did feel grateful. For his correct intuition, perhaps? Or his overall kindness?

Suddenly, she became very conscious of the proximity between their faces. Her hands...had touched his face. She instantly blushed and scooted back just a bit, dipping her brush back into the magenta paint as an excuse.

"Oh, Mr. Holloway, if you could see your face now..." she joked, attempting to direct attention away from her embarrassment, "I must say, you pull off a heart very well. Very, uh, manly."

Wait... Did she just call him manly? Shoot. Me. Now.

For all of the younger Mansionites of the site:
A plot idea I had with CS here. Basically, the Junior X-Men are making a comeback in the name of altruism! To combat the tensions in the streets with charitable good will! If you are interested in having your character partake in such good deeds, please check the idea out. (It is not limited to people who want to be an X. You may remain neutral and still take part.)

Exploding buses...She-Hulks...bloodthirsty vampires... No big deal. ^_^;