"Right kids. keep in twos okay? I don’ wanna lose any ‘a’ yes. Okay?"

"Yes, Mr. Cassidy."

Sean opened up the door of his jeep and was just about to give the time and place to meet up again, but he was cut short by a rampaging barrage of bored teenagers, racing for their only known salvation. The Mall.

" Ah’m gonna get some of that new quick drying nail varnish. My usual stuff never dries before I get to class."

{I’m goin’ straight to the nearest record shop. There’s a new deftones single I have to get.}

"I’m going to that cool shop with all the South Park goodies!!"

"Well, I feel like going to see a movie. What about you Everett?"

Emma and Adrienne Frost stood coolly at the door of the Mall. The kids immediately stopped in their tracks and walked politely up to the entrance and stood quietly.

"Right, you all know the usual status-quo of these outings. Except Gloria and Eve of course. So I’ll have to reiterate"

Jubilee sighed and gave Eve a dirty look. Why couldn’t they just tell Ms. Frost they knew or something.. losers.

"If any of you get in trouble, the entire group will be punished. There will be no more outings and you all will be in after-school detention. Second of all, keep together, I don’t want any lost pupils. That clear?"

All the pupils nodded their heads solemnly. They had learned never to disagree with Emma Frost if you wanted something.

"Right. Oh, and someone can show each Gloria ands Eve round the Mall because they won’t know their way around. Okay? Fine."

Emma nodded her head as if to signify the end of the lecture. Almost immediately, the kids broke into separate groups. Eve strutted over to Angelo and Everett. The moment they saw her coming their jaws hit the floor. She batted her eyelashes over her crystally blue eyes innocently.

"Would any of you boys like to show me around?"

Angelo and Everett wiped the drool of their jaws and rushed to be the first to take Eve by the arm. Jubilee, Paige and Monet glared at her back.

"Funny how she never paid any attention to them when she had everyone around her in school." Jubilee muttered nastily behind her back.

Eve swaggered happily through the doors of the Mall, with Angelo and Everett on both arms. jubilee sank back against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Razzum… hussy…frassum…"

Gloria tapped her foot uncomfortably. Her sister’s behaviour wasn’t doing anything to make endearing herself any easier.

"Er.."

Monet and Paige glared at her. Jubilee didn’t say anything, she had become somewhat tolerant of her.

"Hey.. am I guilty by association or something?"

Gloria shrugged her shoulders nervously. Paige and Monet looked at each other and mumbled nonchalantly. Jubilee gave her a half smile. Jonothon walked up behind her and gave her hand a friendly squeeze. His eyes displayed what might have been a smile.

{C’mon.. we don’t associate Monet with Emplate.. do we?}

Paige and Monet kind of shrugged and Jubilee actually smiled. Gloria looked around nervously again.

"Err… any of you gonna show me around.. Um.. I may be smart but I can’t navigate myself in a place I’ve never been before."

Monet and Paige still looked nonchalant.

"Throw me a frickin’ bone here people!!!"

Jonothon squeezed her hand again.

{Is it okay if I show you around..?}

Gloria was still looking at Monet and Paige. Who seemed very interested In their nails. She gave up with a sigh.

"Okay."

Jubilee ran to catch up with them before they entered the mall and disappeared in to the crowd inside. She smiled nervously.

"Uh.. is it okay if I come with you? It’s gonna be pretty uncomfortable with Paige and Monet."

"Urr.. okay.."

Paige hung herself over the rails of the shopping Malls. She peered over the edge to look at all the shoppers running about on the lower floors. She noticed Jubilee, Jonothon and Gloria were sitting in a small coffee place in the centre of the floor below her. She turned to Monet, who was sipping on a large strawberry milkshake.

"Monet.."

Monet looked over at Paige.

"Yes?"

"So.. does it annoy you?"

"it?"

"Actually… they.. do they annoy you?"

Monet tried to pretend innocent.

"They?"

"Y’know.. the Kelleys. What do you think of them?"

Monet smiled to herself.

"I believe that the correct question you should ask is.. what do you think about them..?"

"No. honestly Monet, what do you think of them?"

Monet gave an exasperated sigh. Paige tried to remind herself why she was spending time with her.

"Honestly? Eve is a nasty little shit."

Paige’s mouth dropped open. She had never heard Monet even say ‘darn’ before.

"Well, I’m only human hayseed… per-se, anyway."

Paige shook her head and tried to forget what Monet had just said.

"And Gloria?"

"Well, her I feel sorry for.. by accident or design she got born such a freak. And being related to Eve."

Paige looked up from her spot on the balcony to see Eve, with Angelo and Everett on both arms, Approaching.

"Well, speak of the devil."

"I thought this went better with my tan.. what do you think Everett?"

Eve pulled a small, pink top out of her bag and held it up in front of Everett.

"Yea, great."

Eve pouted at Everett’s lack of interest. He was looking across the Mall floor at two girls. Skin was looking in the same direction. Eve flicked her hair flirtily over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes at the back of Everett’s head. She coughed to lower her voice a bit.

"Everett?" She added a little honey to the tone of her voice and tried to look as much a bimbo as possible. He turned around and nearly fainted at the look he was giving her. She could swear he was drooling. She pulled the same thing on Skin. Eve strutted along the Mall floor, looking for somewhere to eat. There was one just ahead.

"Angey? Do you have money that could pay for lunch."

Angelo laughed and stared, transfixed at Eve.

"Sure." He answered, dreamily.

‘Great, this might be the perfect place to spot guys that I could dump these two for.’

As much as Eve enjoyed terrorising the other Gen-X girls, being seen with these two losers was probably doing nothing for her reputation. She was sure there were two cute guys by the window. She checked her skirt to see if it needed pulling up again.

"Hey!!"

Two girls were waving at her. Well, waving at Angelo and Everett.

‘Hmmm… this could be the perfect opportunity to dump them…’

She saw it was Paige and Monet.

‘Then again, maybe not.. I have my pride.’

Eve marched past them and took a seat at the other end of the cafeteria. She could definitely see two cute guys from here. Maybe she could catch their attention if she ditched Angelo and Everett.

"Hey, Eve?"

Eve looked around from her talent spotting to see Angelo, slightly agitated, poking her arm.

"What?" She asked, more then slightly annoyed.

"Can we, uh, go to the little boy’s room?"

Eve wasn’t really listening to them. If they went to the toilet, it would be a perfect opportunity to get those boys. And maybe impress the girls at school.

"Yea, whatever." Eve answered, distantly. Man, those boys were cute. She heard a loud rattle. Eve looked around to see Skin and Synch leaving in a hurry. One of the boys from he other table caught her eye. She batted her large blue eyes at him. He smiled and waved her over.

‘This could be the start of something..’

"Can you believe that girl?" Paige looked over Monet’s shoulder and carefully observed Eve Kelley’s behaviour from her chair on the opposite end of the café. Monet was tucking into her milkshake again. Paige had insisted they take a seat after Eve had ignored them and walked into the place. She had said something about monitoring her.. blahblahblah.. Whatever. Paige leaned over further in her seat, leaning her elbows into Monet’s ‘personal space’.

"Guthrie.."

"Can you believe that Monet? The minute Ev and Angelo leave she starts hitting on other men!!"

"Guthrie.."

Paige leaned further over Monet. Eve had just walked up to two boys sitting in a corner. Football, college types. She was sitting down. Laughing. Still laughing. Paige frowned. Damn those boys were cute. And more in her age range than in Eve’s. why couldn’t she pick up guys like that? Well, anyway, they were laughing. She was smiling at them. Flicking her hair. Batting her eyelashes. Ugh, she couldn’t watch anymore.

"Guthrie you’re on my milkshake."

"What?"

Monet abruptly grabbed her arm and yanked her back into her seat. She then looked over her shoulder to see what Paige was staring at.

"Oh, they’re nice."

Paige leaned back into her chair and let out a drained sigh.

"Yea, I know. And we should be the ones getting them, because we’re so much more their type then her."

Monet casually swirled her straw in her ‘shake.

"How do you know that Guthrie?"

Paige sat up again, looking more than slightly miffed.

"Because, Monet. Because we’re smarter than her, and prettier and more mature!"

A slight smile graced the edge of Monet’s flawless face.

" I wouldn’t say that, Guthrie."

"Okay… so how exactly are you two sisters..?"

Gloria looked up from her milkshake at Jubilee.

"Didn’t your parents tell you this Lee? When a man and a woman love each other very much-"

Jubilee stuck her tongue out at Gloria, which happened to be coated in sprinkles from her ice-cream.

"Gross, Lee.."

"I didn’t mean it that way Kelley.. I mean, why are you two so different?"

Gloria rolled her light blue eyes.

"Because we’re not one and the same, that’s like asking Monet why she isn’t some evil super-villain."

Gloria took another sip of her coffee. Then she looked at Jubilee again, but this time with an evil smile in her face.

"That’s the mark of the single child y’know. If you had siblings you’d understand."

Jubilee stuck her tongue out and made a face. Jonothon cringed.

"I’d rather be a single child than have six little devils running around."

Gloria looked at Jubilee with an expression of mock shock on her face.

"OoO!! That was a low blow, Lee!!" She smirked, sarcastically.

Jubilee splashed her with cola. Gloria pretended to throw her coffee at her. Jonothon dived under the table for cover. Jubilee got up from the table and brushed herself off. She looked at Gloria, but her face turned cold and nasty.

"What? do I have food in my hair or something?"

Jubilee seemed to be looking at something over her shoulder. Gloria looked around.

"Eve."

"Hello."

Jonothon crawled out from under the table, he looked around and saw Jubilee and Gloria obviously poised for something.

‘God, I’ve got to go to the Loo.’

Jonothon slipped out from his place on the floor and stood up. He tried to remember where the toilets where again. He was pretty sure they were to his right. Jonothon turned around to see where Gloria and Jubilee where, but they seemed to be lost in the crowd. Jubilee and Gloria were big girls, they hardly needed him any way. He strolled casually up to the toilets and tried to ignore the odd stares he was getting from the people and teenagers around him. He was the same as them really, before the accident.

Chamber pushed the door to the men’s toilets open. He noted the dirty looks the people in the queue for the ladies gave him.

"Hey Jono."

{Eh?}

Everett and Angelo were sitting in the sinks in the men’s toilets. They looked pretty miserable.

{ Wot are you two doing ‘ere?}

Everett swang his legs pathetically.

"Keeping our distance from Eve."

Jonothon positioned himself at the urinals so that he could continue the conversation.

{And her problem is…?}

Skin looked up from taking a drag on his cigarette.

"She’s a freakin’ slave-driver man!!"

Jonothon carefully pushed Everett out of the way, so he could wash his hands at the sink.

{And this is the gel you abandoned all of us for..?}

Angelo rolled his eyes.

"We didn’t know that then. If we did we would have ran in the opposite direction."

He eyed him carefully.

"Yea, and how come she doesn’t have that effect on you?"

Jonothon flicked the water off his hands and Everett handed him a paper towel.

{Thanks. I don’t like little girls anyway.}

"Yea." Everett spoke up. " Personally, I think you got the better deal with Gloria."

"She may be a freak, but she isn’t half a b***h."

" Well, I may be a freak, but do I look like I care?"

Gloria crossed her arms defiantly over her chest and moved her foot so she was standing at an odd angle. She tapped her foot. Eve Kelley stood across from her, with two very uncomfortable looking guys in both arms. They were trying to edge away from her. Eve put her hands on her hips in a very defiant way. She moved a step forward.

"I don’t care if you care, I only care if everyone else realises what a freak and a sicko you are."

Gloria smiled nastily and raised an eyebrow at her sister.

"Very austere Eve. Watch you don’t cut yourself on that tongue."

Jubilee tugged at Gloria’s sleeve urgently. She had noticed that people were stopping to look at the two girls at odds. She hoped that it wouldn’t end up in a cat-fight. Ick .

Eve dropped the two boy’s arms. They looked incredibly relieved and took a step back. Jubilee swore she could hear Eve hissing at Gloria. She tugged more desperately on her sleeve.

"Gloria…"

She turned round and gave Jubilee a stare that would send a chill down Satan’s back. Jubilee didn’t shrink back.

"Gloria people are staring."

"Huh?"

She looked around, as if she suddenly realised where she was. She looked back at Eve. Her expression hardened again. Jubilee yanked hard on her arm.

"Hello girls."

"Huh?"

Eve, Jubilee, Gloria and the two boys span around. Adrienne Frost was standing behind them, with a pleasant expression on her face. She didn’t seem to notice what was going on. Gloria wondered if they knew anything about what went on in the school. Gloria and Eve suddenly dropped their mean expression and replaced it with a surprisingly pleasant smile. Jubilee and the boy’s jaws hit the floor.

"Hello Ms. Frost!" chimed two, charming, pleasant voices. Adrienne smiled at their teen exuberance. Gloria looked put out though, she was sure she’d never seen the girl smile.

"Urr. Hello kids."

Gloria and Eve smiled at her until she turned her back and left. Their faces suddenly changed, Gloria’s smile dropped off her face and was replaced by a cold line, the faux happiness in her eyes suddenly washed over in contempt. She stared at Eve icily. Dust-balls rolled. It was like waiting for John Wayne to get out his gun and start rounding ‘em up. So to speak. Jubilee yanked Gloria off her stead-fast bearings and swang her out of the way. It was one of those things she picked up of Logan. Eve jumped back at J’s sudden movement and her two male friends took the opportunity to run. Eve looked around and saw them running away. She looked from their rapidly disappearing, cute little bodies, to Gloria, who Jubilee was yelling at. Gloria’s upper-lip moved into a sneer directed squarely at Eve. She looked behind her to see the two, very cute guys running in the direction of HMV.

"Wait up!!"

"What were you thinking?!!!"

Gloria looked down at her feet. Somehow she couldn’t drag something witty into the argument. She continued to inspect her shoelaces.

"I mean, you put us in danger of NEVER GOING OUT AGAIN!!"

Gloria lifted her thumbnail to her mouth and nibbled on it.

" I, mean, if you got into a fight we would be stuck in the god-forsaken Academy for, like, MONTHS!!"

Gloria took her glasses out of her pocket and wiped the lenses with a tissue. A nervous habit she picked up from her grand-mother. Jubilee grabbed her hand and snatched the glasses away from her.

"Are you even listening to me? You know Adrienne is cracking down on discipline. That wasn’t exactly going to help."

Gloria returned to nibbling her thumbnail. She looked up from her shoes to see Jubilee soften a little.

"Look, I really, really don’t wanna sound like Emma, but that was a really, uncomfortable situation you stuck me in. Just avoid her next time, okay?"

Somehow Gloria felt Jubilee’s yelling reminded her of her mother. Not a nice thought. She suppressed a shiver.

Jubilee looked over Gloria’s shoulder , smiled and waved at something. Gloria turned around to see Jonothon fast approaching. Funny, she couldn’t remember him leaving.

{Hey gels.}

"Hey…boy."

Eager to break the tension that still reverberated around the area, Gloria tried to think of something.

"Er, how about that grand tour you were talking about? I’d really like to know where all shops of any usefulness , y’know, are."

Jubilee grabbed her hand with a scary enthusiasm. Jonothon covered his face with his hand.

{Now ya’ve asked f’r it.}

"This is nice."

Jubilee, still holding Gloria’s hand, jumped about excitedly. She didn’t get to show everybody these things every day. In fact, when they were allowed out, everyone tended to stay far away from Jubilee, less they get dragged through every shop in the Mall. Jubilee had taken her to a small shop in the corner of the Mall that sold comics and tacky memorabilia. Gloria and Jonothon were kneeling over a box of Star Wars goodies. She held up a tacky, ultra-seventy’s type gaudy T-shirt.

"Kewl."

{Can you believe someone actually wore that?}

Gloria sniggered.

"Probably my mother."

Jubilee went over to the rack and flicked through some of the on-sale comics. Gloria pulled out a cuddly Yoda-puppet and started messing about with it.

"Strong with you, the force is.."

"Strong in you." The fat, long-haired salesman corrected from his desk. He looked like he was probably stuck in his chair.

Jubilee and Gloria made faces behind his back. Gloria pulled her voice up an octave or two and held the puppet so it was facing the salesman.

"Fat bastard, you are.. stuck in chair, you will be, when get up you try."

Jubilee snickered and Jonothon laughed into his head. The salesman looked over to them curiously.

Jubilee patted yoda’s nylon head fondly .

"Good puppet . Fun of comic man make you ."

{Ok, Ok, that’s enough of the yoda speak for now.}

The salesman swivelled around in his chair . (NB: This dude is by no means based on the patrons of our local comic store, and is not meant to insult any owners of comic stores, or the fan boy race in general .) His T-shirt gained a new stain, as his tub of Ben & Jerry’s found its way to the floor .

"Are you kids going to buy anything or are you just going to soil my merchandise with your no doubt sticky teenage fingers, and make pathetically phrased jabs at moi ?"

"We’re just going to soil your merchandise with our -"

Chamber grabbed the back of Jubilee’s T-shirt and dragged her out of the store .

"So what did you guys do with your day?"

Paige and Monet sat themselves down beside Jubilee, Jonothon and Gloria, who were eating junk out of a fast food outlet and loitering around the exit.

{Eh, not a lot.}

Jubilee and Gloria were too wrapped up in messing around with their newly bought Yoda puppet to respond.

"And hate leads to suffering.."

Monet looked at the small, malformed nylon creation strangely. Paige sat herself down on the opposite side of the bench as Jonothon was sitting. They both looked very uncomfortable. Monet rolled her eyes.

"Hey, did you see Eve’s new ‘boy-friends’?"

Jubilee, still with Yoda puppet stuck to one hand, bent over in her seat.

"Them? Ha!! They’re at least five years older than her! Geez, someone people have no self-respect."

Monet looked up across the Mall.

"Well speak of the Devil."

Paige looked up from staring at her lap, a small, sly smile spread across her face. Eve was walking across the Mall floor. Alone.

Gloria made a mock sympathetic face.

"Aww, poor wee mite, maybe they got taken back to the Mental Home."

Jubilee snickered into Yoda’s nylon head.

Eve walked casually over to them, she half acknowledged them with a side-ways glance, but choose to stand as far away as possible. In a very ‘I’m with you, but I don’t want any-one to know it’ way. Gloria tilted her head so that Eve could see her, crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. Eve responded by making a face and sticking out her tongue.

"Eve!!"

Mr. Cassidy had seen Eve stick her tongue out. Gloria gave Eve a superior glance. Eve melted back into the wall.

" What a display of un-lady-like behaviour!! I would expected better!!"

Gloria smiled proudly at her own cunning while Sean regaled her sister with the ‘ten reasons never to show anger’ speech. She knew it was wrong, but it felt so goooooood.

Jubilee looked up form playing with Yoda-puppet.

"Hey, where’d Skin and Ev. Go?"

"Everyone in the car. Jubilee!! Stop pushing!! Paige!! That wasn’t very nice!!"

The group clamoured into Sean’s, or Emma’s or someone’s people carrier. Skin and Everett had made an eleventh hour appearance, trying to hide the fact that they’d been taking refuge in the men’s. Angelo had taken immediate interest in Yoda and was coaxing Gloria to ‘let him play with it’. Adrienne looked on the unruly display with a face that displayed some sort of fear ..or disgust. Somehow Gloria ended up squeezed in between Eve and Paige. She decided to play with Yoda for company.

‘Well, Yoda, looks like it’s just you and MEeeeee’

"Yooow!! Jezuz!! Get off my foot!!"

Eve promptly removed her foot from Gloria’s, where it had been moving in a crushing, painful action. Gloria grabbed her foot and rubbed it tenderly. Mr. Cassidy looked suspiciously back at them. Eve was playing innocently with her hair.

‘B***h’

Gloria shoved her mercilessly against the car door. She yelped in pain and responded by digging her nails into Gloria’s hand.

"Owwww…"

"Girls!! That is enough!!"

Adrienne swung round in her chair and glared at them. Eve and Gloria seemed to sink into the upholstery. They both turned on their most pathetic faces.

"Paige get between them!! NOW!!"

Paige shuffled, inside of the moving car, and, miraculously, managed to swap seats with Gloria. Adrienne gave her best ‘And that’s enough of That’ look and turned back in her seat. Eve reached over Paige for one last pinch. Gloria looked to her nylon companion and twitched his wrinkled, green ear. She could see Angelo watching her with some interest. He leaned over in his seat and pinched Yoda’s ear.

"Hey chica." He grinned like a child " Can I play?"

Gloria looked over to the seat that Angelo was sitting in, beside Jubilee and Chamber. She leaned over and whispered, like playground conspiracy, into his ear.

"Can I come sit with you guys?"