Utopia: An X-Men Story

Chapter 14

When I returned to school, I heard every possible scenario the student body could think of for my absence. Suicidal. Drug Addict. A Creed. I hated them all. I wanted to sink into the walls and disappear. The looks were murderous and the whispers where venom-filled. The day dragged on and I could only hope for some relief from my friends, but that would have to wait through the class.

Dilly's classroom was filling up as usual. He was at the front of the room talking over some paperwork with another student. The conversation seemed lively as the student gestured big and pointed at certain aspects of the paper. Dilly nodded, smiled, and grabbed a pen, making marks on the paper until the student seemed adequately satisfied and returned to their desk.

I tried to make my way to the back, but Dilly stopped me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Kyrany, Do you have a moment to talk?"

"About?" I was tired of the attention. I didn't want any more pity from anyone, especially Dr. Dilly.

"I want to start by saying I'm glad to see you back in class." He said, tapping his fingers against his leg. "I also wanted to advise you as your school counselor to maybe seek therapy-"

"I'm fine." I snapped. "Look, all my problems will be solved the moment I can transfer to X-Man, okay?"

"Kyrany, you're not getting transferred."

"What?"

"The school board has rejected your application and will not accept another from you. I'm sorry."

I didn't know what to say. I shook his hand off my shoulder and stormed to my desk, slamming my bag down. My claws twitched as I began digging out my tablet; I scratched the screen. Great.

I sat down and tried to keep from crying; Nathaniel and Elizavetta walked in, his arm around her shoulders. I watched as he kissed her cheek and walked her to her seat.

"I'm so excited that you agreed to come with me to the concert this weekend, Nat." Elizavetta smiled, glancing around the room, eyes falling on me. She turned her attention back to Nathaniel. "Afterall, it will do you some good to stop hanging around with delinquent drug addicts."

"I can't wait." He smiled, either ignoring the last part of her statement or being blissfully oblivious to it. Either way, he was an idiot.

"Do you have the notes from last time? My file corrupted itself and I lost everything." She changed the subject.

"Sure. Give me a minute and I'll send them to you." He smiled. Elizavetta took his hand in hers and stood up, kissing him.

"You're the best babe. Love you."

"Love you too."

My stomach churned. The bell rang. My classmates sat down in their seats and Dilly began the lesson. His words melted into the air and nothing registered. I saw Elizavetta and Nathaniel texting during the lesson. I saw the X-Nerds being as nerdy as ever. I smelt blood, a lot of it.

My eyes darted around the room looking for the source. Everything was normal. Everything was calm.

Jennifer raised her hand urgently. "Dr. Dilly, I need to go to the bathroom."

He waved her off and she hurried up, squirmish and squeamish. Uncomfortable. The scent followed her. I could see in her eyes that she was scared and in a panic. I stood up and left the classroom. My classmates watched me and Dilly kept teaching, unaware of what had even happened.

I walked into the bathroom and heard sniffling coming from a stall. "Jennifer? Are you alright?"

"Go away, Creed!" She sobbed from behind the door. The scent of blood was heavy in the air. I stood outside the stall and put my hand against the door.

"You need help-"

"I'm fine! Now go away!"

I took a deep breath and whispered, "I know about the baby."

Jennifer became very quiet and said nothing. Her own heavy breathing masked the sounds of her tears. The air felt stiff and still.

"I know about the baby, Jennifer. I shouldn't, but I do. And I'm," I closed my eyes and rest my head against the door. "I'm sorry."

"How did you know?"
"We hacked your phone. I'm sorry, I don't know what we were thinking-"

"We? Who is we? You and your loser friends?!" She said, voice cracking in anger.

"Yes."

"I can't believe you! You really are evil!"

She was right and I admitted it. "Evil runs through me, but then again, I don't even like you, and here I am, making sure you're okay."

"I'm not, okay? Kedrew just told me its all my fault. I was scared to have it- I hadn't even told my parents yet- and just as I was accepting my fate, this pain and all the blood. I think I miscarried." She sniffled. "And he says it's all my fault."

I clenched my fist. "Kedrew is trash and you deserve better. None of this is your fault."

The lock on the bathroom stall clicked and swung open. I hugged her as she came out of the stall and grabbed some tissue paper. She took in from me and blew her nose, wiping her eyes. "I'll kill that boy," I said sternly. "I promise you I will."

"You'll go to jail."

"He deserves it. Now, why don't we go see Dr. Essex? He'd be more than happy to help you out."

"No, I don't want anyone else to know."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She dabbed the tissue under her eyes and took a deep breath. "How do I look?" She kept her back turned to the mirror.

"Like shit, but if anyone asks, you can say I smacked you."

"No one will believe that."

"You'd be surprised how many people will. Let's go. We've missed a lot of class already."

"Okay." She glanced at the mirror. "Hey, Creed?"
"Grey?"

"Thank you."