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"I don't wanna watch this." I complained, disgusted with the complete lack of intelligent programming on whatever channel it was that we had been watching for the past hour. I was lying on the couch in the rec room, still freezing despite the mound of blankets that I had managed to pile on top of myself in an apparently futile attempt to stay warm. This was not fun, I decided. Very not fun.
"Well, neither do I." Angelo shot back from the other side of the couch, where he was similarly lying underneath a pile of blankets and pillows, drinking a can of Mountain Dew and looking just as sick as I must have at the moment. The rest of the student body of the Massachusetts Academy had gone out and left Angelo and me behind, due to our extremely non-well and overall pathetic conditions. In other words, we were too sick to go anywhere, and felt crappy enough that we didn't really care at the moment. The only other person on campus at the moment was Mr. Cassidy, who was probably in his office shopping on the internet or something. Whatever. Maybe he's buy something cool this time…
"So change the channel." I said, hoping that something better than the French drag racing we were currently watching was on. Anything would be better than this - well, almost anything. I wasn't quite to the "anything" stage yet, but I was fast heading down that road.
"Can't." came the reply. "The remote's on the table."
"So?"
"So, I don't wanna get it. I'm too sick. Comprende?"
"Si, you lapiz." I told him. I looked over at the table on which the remote sat; it must have been miles away from the couch, and I most definitely did not feel like traversing the all-too-vast distance between my pile of (practically ineffective) blankets and the coffee table. "Well, neither do I. You stretch - you get it. You won't even have to get up." I reasoned.
"Too sick to stretch."
"What?" The boy was just lazy, if you asked me.
"You heard me - I'm too sick. I don't feel like it. You have telekinesis. You get it." he countered.
"Telekinesis? I don't even really have it, and even if I could get it I don't know how to make it work!" I complained.
"Well then, I guess we're just gonna sit here and -"
"Saints preserve us - what happened to all the Mountain Dew?! I just bought a new case for Jubilee this mornin'…"
Angelo and I glanced at each other and quickly shoved the pile of empty pop cans underneath the couch as best we could as Sean entered the room, looking flustered.
"Do either of ye know what happened to all the Mountain Dew?" he asked, hands on hips.
"Um… no." I answered.
"Sorry, didn't even know you bought any. We're too sick to drink it anyway." Angelo added.
Sean nodded and sighed, seeming to believe for the time being that there actually existed a state in which one was too sick to drink Mountain Dew. Poor, misguided soul…
"All right." he said, walking around us to the table and picking up the remote. "Since neither 'o ye appears to be watchin' anything, I hope ye won't mind if I watch something else?" he asked, indicating the cars racing through mud on the screen.
"No." Angelo and I both answered in unison. Sean turned to the TV and changed the channel, switching to a more mundane station to watch…
"I love Law & Order." he stated happily, sitting down in one of the huge armchairs off to the side and turning the volume up a notch.
"I hate law and order." Angelo and I noted, in unison once more, as I contemplated all possible routes of escape. Sean just looked at us, but after regarding us for a brief moment, he shrugged and turned back to his stupid show. As much as I didn't want to, I slipped out from underneath my warm haven and grabbed the topmost blanket, wrapping it around my pajama-clad body and heading for the kitchen. Maybe I could escape the evil lawyers in there. Angelo followed suit after a moment, and we left Sean to watch his prized Law & Order alone in the rec room while we were forced to sit pitifully in the kitchen and suffer.
I sighed. As crappy and cold and achy and terrible and downright sick as I felt, it appeared that Angelo felt just as - if not more so - sick as I did. Neither of us was having any fun, especially not after having to evacuate the rec room due to our mutual total aversion to Sean's show, and although he hadn't said or shown a thing, he still seemed rather amused with the fact we both hated it.
So we sat there in the kitchen, each at our respective chairs across from each other at the table, looking at the walls, ceiling, fridge, radio…
Radio - I remembered that my tape had been in there from a couple of days ago; maybe no one had changed it. I slowly got up and traversed the cold kitchen floor to the boom box sitting on the counter, and hit the EJECT button. Sure enough, my tape was still in there. Good. Angelo eyed me suspiciously, and even I was beginning to doubt my actions at the moment.
I mean, I had only gotten up on this whim - this totally illogical, fanciful caprice that had popped into my head, and even now I didn't know why I was doing what I was doing. You know how you always ask people why they do things, and they say they can't tell you, that they don't know why, and you never believe them? Well, I didn't know why I was doing this, but somehow I did it all the same.
I swear, whatever happened next was not my fault. Perhaps it was just something to do; maybe it was my way of trying to cheer Angelo up. I couldn't explain it. It just happened. I hit the PLAY button and Mr. Jones began, filling the kitchen with its captivating harmony. I made my way over to the table, and thrust my hand in Angelo's face, sure I was already turning red from doing I still knew not what.
"Hunh?" he asked incoherently, looking at me like I was crazy as the music continued to pick up in the background.
"Come on." I heard myself saying. "Get up, dance."
When he took my hand and used me to heave himself up into a standing position, I think he was almost as surprised as I was.
"I was down at the New Amsterdam, staring at this yellow-haired girl…"
We made our way clumsily around the kitchen, and finally began laughing as we both realized how completely pathetic we had to have looked right then. I thanked God that there was no one else home, save Sean who was in the rec room watching his stupid law show and who probably would've thought the sight was equally as funny as we both did. Angelo whirled me around as we danced our crazy movements to the music, just letting go and somehow living in the moment.
"Well you know, grey is my favorite color…"
I laughed and twirled again, watching the room spin crazily. This was kind of fun, even if I didn't know the meaning of it and I didn't know what was going to happen as soon as the music stopped or what was going to happen later or tomorrow or the day after that. But somehow that didn't matter - all that mattered was our own little celebration right now, right here, as the music played and we danced for no reason whatsoever and neither of us cared why or even that we were both sick with 102 temperatures or that we were coughing and dripping and had red eyes and should really have been in bed. That didn't matter, because this moment was all that existed and it was more fun than I could have had anywhere else on earth right then.
"I wanna be Bob Dylan; Mr. Jones wishes he was someone just a little more funky, and when everybody loves you, son, that's just about as funky as you can be…"
We ended up doing a sort of tangoish thing, holding hands and skipping around the room as best we could while it was still slightly spinning, whether from fever or Mountain Dew or even the experience I didn't know. My mind was spinning more crazily than the room, and I didn't know what to think or even feel outside of dancing in this room with the haunting and impulsive chords echoing in my head, running through me and fueling the moment. I didn't know what we were doing, what it meant or how I would explain this to anyone - not that I was about to explain this to myself, least of all anyone else. Oh God, how would I deal with this once the song ended, what was I thinking?
"Mr. Jones and me, we're gonna be big stars…"
The music faded away, and as we both stopped, invigorated and exhausted both mentally and physically all at once, there was a silence as neither of us really knew what to do. I didn't think Angelo knew what had just happened any more than I did, nor was he sure of what to say any more than I was sure of the words I was desperately trying to pull out of my confused and spinning mind to try and break the moment and explain it away, or at least do something because I didn't know how long I could handle standing here in silence just being in the room with him.
"My friend assures me, it's all or nothing; I am not worried, I am not overly concerned…"
The next song on my tape started - a slower one with soft undertones and the moment was back, flowing back with the music as we both began to sway again with the tempo, both feeling the chords resonate throughout our minds and I was living in that moment again, invigorated and confused and embarrassed and loving every sensation, even as my mind screamed at me that this wasn't me, why was I doing this and Jen's gonna make fun of me or maybe she'll see something I wasn't ready for her to see but this was nothing we were just bored and dancing and why had I done this thank God I had I love this but what am I gonna do when it stops?
I didn't want this to end - I didn't want to lose this moment - but the last notes hung in the air, fading away slowly - and the dance fading with them. I held onto Jono, hoping that fate could freeze these last few seconds, when everything was okay, and I didn't need to worry about school or mutancy or life or anyone else who would get in the way.
His arms held me tightly; my face against his shoulder, breathing in the scent of him so beautiful - until I felt his warm fingers on the back of my head, an involuntary chill running along my spine from his unexpected touch.
I opened my eyes and glanced around the dim room, then up to Jono, his brown eyes looking into mine. His voice gently crept into my brain, as though relaying his message through mere images and sensations instead of individual words. *It's time to go.*
I certainly didn't want to go. It couldn't be over - not yet - but the lights were coming on around the room, the people moving in herds out the doors, every sign indicating that the time to abandon this world had come.
I released my hold on him - though reluctantly - and, looking at the floor, headed for the door. I could feel him approaching behind me, and without warning, without words, he took my hand and walked with me.
Wouldn't Paige be upset that we were together? Didn't this bother her?
I tried to shove those thoughts from my mind - after all, I had won, hadn't I? I'd gotten what I wanted, and she'd willingly gone along with it - she wasn't the least bit upset. That was odd - if I were in her position, I would be furious. And I certainly wouldn't tell her to just go be with some guy I'd been with, or at least had the chance of being with, and obviously liked a great deal.
Unless she really didn't care - but that didn't make sense.
Maybe they just didn't want me to be mad, and so conspired to make it look like he truly cared about me so I wouldn't blow up in public.
But I had no evidence to support that - why not simply accept it at face value?
The crisp night air was cool on my face and the stars shone brightly overhead, silver paper cuts penetrating the indigo sky. "Where's the car?" I asked softly - in the only volume my voice managed to attain.
Jono wordlessly led me in the right direction, back to the old blue van that was both empty and unlocked. I climbed into the seat I'd occupied on the way here - to my surprise, Jono did not take the seat in front he'd had before, but accompanied me in the back.
And nobody was here but us. And it was dark. And it was cold. And nobody was here - and my heart finally gave way, my throat suddenly dry as I realized just what was going on.
Or what would go on, under normal circumstances.
Apparently that hardly mattered - as I felt Jono's arm pull me close to him, my head so close to his, feeling the energy pulsating within him like a heartbeat - it quickened as my own heart did. Thoughts swirled through my head with ridiculous pace, worries of how he'd react to my actions - what he was doing, where this was going -
-- could I even do that?
I brought one hand down across his scarred cheek as my other braced myself against the seat, and he didn't move; he just sat so still and looked at me. I saw his eyes, the life behind his eyes, and I knew that somewhere behind them lived a soul - scared, and apprehensive, and full of more emotions I wanted so desperately to read.
-- oh, he was going to be mad, and Paige would kill me even more than she would have killed me before, and where was everyone and shouldn't they be getting back soon?
Soft cloth brushed my cheek - oh Light, he smelled so good - my soft, breathless lips met the ruined flesh above his bandages and lingered for just a moment, and his warm, cool fingers touched the back of my neck, moving, touching, holding, gracing my own soft flesh, down my shoulder.
Whatever happened to words?
They were inconsequential - or at least, unnecessary. This moment was even darker than the last, rich with the unusual physical contact.
I kissed him again - he didn't seem to mind the first time - and again, as his spare hand rested on the side of my face and his thumb, his fingers reached my mouth, perhaps to deter me from mistakes.
I pushed through his hand on my face, pushed through to him and his scent and his emotions. His mild ~surprise~ was unexpected - I found myself smiling as I came so close to him again, laughing with disbelief that this could even be real.
His feelings blended so easily, so readily with mine: his quiet thanks and soft affection.
My breath came slowly, my joy real, and for the moment I did not care about anything else. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Scattered voices floated through my thick emotion from outside the van; the door opened -
"Whoa! Look at what's goin' on in here!"
Mortified, the blood ran cold from my face, and I froze. As Jono's hands pushed me away, I blinked suddenly, the ability to move somehow slowly returning.
Grinning wildly, Jubilee stepped into the van and seated herself on the bench seat in front of me, folding her arms over the back of the seat. She surveyed the situation on her own, looking from me to Jono and back to me again, before finally deciding, "Too cool. This is just too cool! I can't believe you guys are like, actually finally together and stuff!" She sank back into her own seat, still laughing and grinning and repeatedly reminding us all that this was "too cool".
"Both of you, let's just behave, hmm?" reprimanded Paige as she got into the driver's seat and turned the ignition. A crisp, aloof emotion drifted from her - she was trying to distance herself from us, I realized, trying to pretend that everything was okay. "We've got quite a drive in front of us and I don't want to be late. Buckle up and let's go."
We all complied, and the van drove off into the night.
(*Remind me to have a word with Jubilee later,*) Jono whispered into my mind.
"Hmm?" I asked, still shaking and embarrassed from the rude interruption. The thought made sense just as he clarified, (*About that.*)
Yes - yes, of course. That.
I stared out the window at the passing darkness - at the shadows drifting past in the night, at the headlights glaring from opposite traffic, and at the quiet solitude night provided, despite my close proximity to the rest of the people in the van. Jono's warm hand rested on my own, reminding me that he was there and he wasn't about to leave.
So this was it, I realized. No matter what had come before - with or without the link - no matter who still remained, no matter what feelings had come and gone - this was it. I curled my fingers around his hand and squeezed tightly, not about to let go.
I was almost asleep when the old van finally pulled into the long driveway of the Massachusetts Academy. I willed myself to stay awake, at least until I was in my room.
"C'mon, you two, let's move," Paige's voice echoed over my drowsiness.
Reluctantly I got out of the van - I would've preferred not to move at all; sleeping in the van was fine with me at that point. But I did as asked, following Jono back into the building.
Through blurry eyes I was vaguely aware of Jubilee and Everett staring through a doorway at something else, but because of the way she'd treated me earlier I refused to talk to her, and tiredness outweighed curiosity, so I began to trudge upstairs to my room - just before Jono stopped me. I turned.
*Thank you,* he said. *I had a good time tonight.*
I felt myself smiling. "Yeah - me too." I wondered if he would say -
*So --* he continued, *see you tomorrow. Unless you've got plans already?*
I laughed. What plans could I make in this school? "Not really," I answered. "Tomorrow." I didn't want to say goodbye….
To my surprise, Jono's arms held me one last time that night - or was it morning already? - and I accepted his embrace, returning it and gently kissing him once before separating and heading upstairs.
*G'night, Jen.*
I turned back to him briefly. "Night."
This was definitely good, I resolved as I finally headed to my room. Definitely good.
Saturday morning arrived with memories of the previous night still intact. I turned them over in my head, hoping to recall every second and relive it over and again. No such luck - there were fragments, beautiful fragments, but most of last night's events slipped through my head and let go.
I rolled over and looked at the clock. 10:32, not too bad. A demanding knock sounded on my door, accompanied by Jubilee's obnoxious reminder of the time. She opened the door without warning and bounced brightly into my room.
"Hey," she greeted. "Y'know, after you got up here last night the rest of us found Alison and Angelo in the rec room practically on top o' each other."
Huh? That didn't sound like Alison - the girl was positively frightened of relationships; she would never in a zillion years willingly enter into one, much less amuse herself with the physical aspects of one.
"Guess you weren't the only one gettin' some last night, huh?"
Oh, yes - I had to remind Jono to kill her, didn't I? I glared at her and asked kindly, "Would you please leave so I can get up?"
She nodded. "Sure. Meet me downstairs in a coupla' minutes."
What on earth was so important I couldn't just start my day gradually? Still, I wanted to see Jono again, now that I knew he would at least accept me with all my bizarre faults and flaws - now that I thought he might want to see me, too.
I dressed with that in mind - but not too far from my usual style, and a few minutes later, met Jubilee downstairs, as she'd requested.
She just kept grinning at me as I poured myself a bowl of cereal. "They've been quarantined," she explained. "Alison and Angelo. Or so says Banshee. Y'know, I wonder just how sick they, like, really were - or how sick they were only pretending to be." She chuckled.
"Right," I replied sarcastically. "C'mon, Alison's got a phobia. She changes the channel when there's so much as a hint of romance on. She's the last person I'd expect to fake sick to be with some guy. Especially Angelo."
"Just tellin' ya what I saw," she clarified. "Anyhoo, they're stuck down there - in the rec room - lucky for them, huh? Rest of us are goin' to the mall, you wanna come?"
"Eh …" I began, lazily turning over mini-wheats with my spoon. I'd wanted to spend some time with Jono - real time, not that apprehensive, cautious sort of time our conversations had occupied. The tension wasn't all gone, to be sure, but it was certainly not as prevalent as before last night. If he still wanted me around…
"Nah," Jubilee continued, standing and heading for the fridge, "Jono's gotta, like, stay here, so you prob'ly wanna stay here, too." She laughed, clearly insinuating things that she shouldn't and had no right to insinuate. "He can't go 'cause someone's gotta keep an eye on Al and Ange - and he's the only one of us who can't, like, get sick or nothin'." She shrugged and opened the fridge door, instinctively reaching for something within that wasn't there. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "Where's all the Mountain Dew?"
I shrugged. "I don't like Mountain Dew," I explained, thereby absolving myself of all suspicion. I had to wonder, though, how she could possibly drink the stuff for breakfast. That was just … wrong. "Hey," I asked, catching her attention, "do you know where he is now? Jono, I mean."
She scrunched her face up thoughtfully. "I dunno," she decided. "Basement? Or waiting on them already." She jabbed a thumb in the general direction of the rec room and shrugged. "Could you tell him to, like, yell at them and stuff? For drinking my Mountain Dew? I have this, like, feeling they, like, took it."
"I'll be sure to do that," I promised, mentally adding that I would only after we'd dealt with her appropriately for her actions and state of mind last night. As well as this morning.
I empathically extended my senses into the area that Jubilee had mentioned and found Jono's signature somewhat near Alison's and Angelo's, the latter two colored with certain discomfort. I waited just outside the rec room door until Jono emerged. His emotions lit up - upon seeing me? - but outwardly he showed no change in emotion.
*G'morning,* he greeted.
I just smiled. "Hi. So, uh, I hear you're stuck here?"
*… yeah,* he replied, if a bit belatedly, his eyes scanning the floor. *Where's Alison's room?*
"Upstairs," I answered quickly, and immediately felt stupid. Of course it was upstairs. All the rooms were. But what he could possibly want with Alison's room…?
For a moment he just looked at me, as though searching for something beyond my face, his eyes scanning mine for even a shadow of reason. I knew he wouldn't find it, so I broke in before he came to that conclusion. "What did you need from Alison's room?"
He blinked, not sure where I was coming from, then realized he was on a mission. *She wants these 'Sentinel tapes'. You got any clue what she's talking about?*
I laughed, and that single action eased all or at least most of the tension in the air. Of course - her video tapes. The poor girl was one of the few rabid fans of the UPN show "The Sentinel"; it would figure that she would want to spend her sick day watching it. Poor Angelo, he'd be subjected to several hours of sci-fi cop show drama - hah! He deserved it!
"Yeah," I said. "They're in her room." I led the way upstairs.
I had to admit I felt odd - going upstairs with Jono so close behind me. And it was still so early in the morning, or at least it felt that way. I worried that I wasn't entirely awake yet, that my mind and body would conspire against me to commit some sort of bizarre crime I had nothing to do with. I hoped I could remain lucid even in the midst of all these fears.
Alison's room was the last one, at the end of the hall. I opened the door and turned on the light and searched empathically for the tapes.
*Jen - are you all right?*
Oh, Light - he was right behind me, and I wanted to - oh, I didn't know - what was he doing here? - did I really mind? - this was Alison's room!
"I'm fine," I answered, not turning to look at him, just keeping my search for the tapes open, just trying desperately to concentrate on that and not on Jono, but he was there….
*You're shaking,* he observed.
I was not shaking, I was not shaking, I was so not shaking …
"My powers aren't working," I explained softly.
A skeptical sentiment drifted from him. *Yes, they are,* he said, and from behind placed both hands on my shoulders in attempt to calm me.
A chill radiated from where he'd placed his hands and all through the rest of me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, cooler all around, and -
-- don't turn around don't look at him don't -
I kept my eyes forward. Yes, I could deal with this. I could and would. I spotted a cardboard box - presumably full of videos - out of the corner of my eye and went to it. "Here they are," I announced. "The tapes."
I lifted the box of videos and glanced inside. They couldn't possibly need that many - one tape held six hours, and they could only take so much of the same show. Of course, one could never be too sure with Alison…. "When do they need these by?"
Jono shrugged. *She didn't seem very urgent. Angelo was still sleeping, I think - I don't usually pay much attention,* he added quickly, as though I might accuse him of taking notice of another guy's sleeping habits. His unspoken bitterness was evident - the gift he'd been cursed with now restricted him to the school, and the worst part was that the restriction had been placed against his will.
I wished there were something I could do, something to make him feel better. But all I could do to appease that frustration was stay here, and that was more for my own purpose than anything else was.
He lifted the box of videos from my hands and carried it downstairs into the rec room.
