FYI:

~Personal Thoughts~

~"Inner Voices"~

ESP

%The Written Word%

[Flashback]

"Normal Conversation (Duh)"

* Com Link or Telephone *

*Sound Effects (usually just Kurt's bamfing)

{Background noise--music, crowds, etc.}

SPANKY (Until she gets a code name, which I've already got, this'll be her point of view title)

I pulled into the long drive of the Frederick farm and waved to Missy as she jumped outta the cab. She grabbed her gear from the bed and slung it over her shoulder as she walked back behind the barn. ~She's not going to give up until she gets that pitching down. She's gonna throw out her shoulder.~ I shook my head and was about to back out when a blonde haired, blue-eyed boy appeared in my driver's side window. I admired his tough, broad shouldered appearance and rugged good looks. ~If he wasn't my best friend, I'd think he was hot. Woah, did I just think what I thought I did?~ "God, Mark, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry, Spank. Hey how'd she do?"

"Ehh…okay. Only one fit today."

"Well, that's better then yesterday's practice." I nodded. Missy had a tendency to throw a hissy fit every time her aim went bad when she tried speeding up. As catcher, I got the brunt of the attacks but I'd learned to brush 'em off. ~Comes with the territory.~ We heard what sounded like rapid fire gun shots but we both shrugged it off knowing that it was only Missy beaming the side of the metal barn with softballs.

"She's been doing that ever since she saw you hit the button to start the milking machine with a throw."

"It's a lot different tossing down to second overhand then it is to try and pitch underhand at sixty miles per hour. How's Bessy?" He smiled at the mention of his personal favorite cow. He'd raised the cow since it was a calf and had showed her several times at local farm shows and county fairs.

"Great. Due in about a week. Guess I'll just have to start that process all over." There was no resentment in his voice, but rather pure ecstasy. I smiled inwardly at his naive farm boy ways. ~All that pride in one little, well, not so little cow.~ "You okay?"

"Yeah of course. Why'd you ask?"

"Well, Missy told me 'bout your fainting spell and you look a little pale. The whole dehydration thing has got me worried, that's all."

"Look the doctors can't find anything wrong, so I doubt it's anything more than just the heat. Besides it's like an extra fifty degrees wearing all that padding. And did you forget I'm over half Irish. Pale is what I am." He frowned not believing me but changed the subject quickly.

"Big game Monday, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that. It's Northern Bedford. Think you'll make it?"

"Yeah, if my dad doesn't insist I milk the cows or something."

"God, we've been rivals with 'em since our parents were in school. Think it'll ever end?"

"Nah…it's too much fun creaming in football season." He smirked remembering the two suffering defeats we'd handed them during regular season and playoffs. "Thanks to our super kicker though." The corner of my mouth twitched up into a grin. Mark had talked me into trying out for football last year, and I'd made it as kicker. Surprising nearly everyone in our school, I'd taken just as many blows as the rest and had probably complained less.

"I'm not that great."

"Yeah right! When we won states, you were this close to making national news for being the only female state champion." He held up two fingers barely an inch apart to make his point. "If it wasn't for that whole Jacko Wacko thing you'd have been on CNN.

"I doubt that very much."

"You're too modest. Coach Chonko got a call from them asking for game footage of this all-star chick."

"I doubt they put it into those words."

"Like I said you're too modest."

"I'm just another one of the guys, and you know it."

He snorted in disagreement. "Yeah, just one of the guys who happens to have their own personal padding and can switch to running back at the last minute in the middle of the state championship." I gritted my teeth at the sexist remark and did my best to contain my anger and forgive him since he did compliment me as well. ~He just knows how to boil my blood.~

"Ready for boot camp?"

"You make it sound like Albright and Chonko are meaner then heck. Summer practices are cake walks and you know it."

"Yeah, it's always fun watching you show up half the team at the bench press."

"You're exaggerating. I can only bench one-seventy."

"Pretty impressive for a girl." I punched him in the shoulder but he just laughed. "Hey you got plans for Saturday?"

"Don't know. I might be working."

"You've got to much on your plate. Take a break."

"I'll do that if I don't have work, goof. Give me a minute and let me call for my schedule. That'll save me a trip into the city." I leaned over and dug in my glove compartment but came up empty in my search for my cell. "I think it's in my equipment bag. You mind?"

"Nope." He leaned into the bed of my truck and started rummaging through my catching equipment. "Hey, you remember were you stashed it in here?"

"I probably put it in a batting glove so it didn't roll around."

"Yep, here it is." He flicked it at me and smiled when I caught it easily in my left hand. I punched in speed dial and waited for the phone to ring twice.

* Hello, Garners. How may I help you? *

* Hey Ash hole. Can you give me my schedule? *

* Sure thing, Al. Okay…you're Friday night, Saturday morning, Sunday, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday evening. *

* Thanks. *

* You got some kinda date you wanna tell me about? *

* No. Ashley, get your mind outta the gutter. *

* Ten bucks, Mark finally asked you out. *

* Way off…hanging up now. *

* Wait a min… * I turned off the phone and tossed it into the passenger seat.

"I gotta work that morning, but I got the night off."

"Then I'll pick you up at six."

"Or I'll meet you there at seven. Give a girl some time to shower."

"Come on, you'll be fine. You look fine now and you've been sweating it out for the past four hours. I think you'll be okay after dipping ice cream for six." I scowled at him. I was a wreck—helmet hair, bruising on my shoulder from where someone hit me with a bat, and I was dressed in a t-shirt that had the sleeves cut out and a pair of tearaways.

"I look like shit, and you know it."

"Naw…image of beauty."

"I'm leaving now. So if you don't want me to run over those precious toes of yours, I'd back up."

"See you Saturday night!" I rolled my eyes as I backed outta the drive and sped off to get a quick shower at home and then hang at Kelly's for our girl's night in.

"So what took you so long to get here?"

"Mark held me up when I dropped of Missy."

"Ooo." I looked at her as I plopped down into a beanbag chair in the middle of her gram's living room. She'd just moved in with her last year after having a falling out with her mom when she wanted to marry this asshole of a jerk. The guy had abused Kelly and everything but her mom stuck with him.

"You're worse than Ashley! Get your mind outta the gutter now, or I'll remove it for you!" She smiled as she popped in a movie—'Two Weeks Notice'. The only way she'd talked me into it was by telling me that there was a scene where Mike Piazza jumped into the lead's lap. "How's Nate?"

"Good. You know, the usual. I think he's getting used to me saying 'no' now. God, he used to be all over me all the time and it made me way to self-conscious."

"Well, at least guys notice you. Somehow I just blend right in."

"You've made it that way! Tell me once when you've ever dressed up and tried to look slightly feminine."

"Prom."

"Other than that. Like just an ordinary day."

"The guys on the football team dared me to wear a dress and walk into the guys locker room for the opposing team that way and insist that that was were I was going to change."

"You're hopeless. And Mark notices you…he really notices you."

"No he doesn't he likes to tease me, and we're best friends. Just like you and me."

"Uh huh. But he wants to see that change. Besides, boyfriends can still be your best friend."

"Yeah until you break up. I'm not going to toss away my friendship like that."

"Paranoid."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Not."

"Too."

"Hah! You admit it!"

"No fair, you used the oldest trick in the book."

"And for going to be our valedictorian next year, you fell for it."

"Shut up." She smirked as she handed me the bowl of popcorn. "Can't."

"Why not?"

"Camp starts in three weeks. You know that."

"That and you wanna look good for Mark on your date Saturday." I tossed a pillow at her head and connected with a satisfying *smack.

"Puh-lease, mother. I'm not getting all dressed up to go meet Mark at the movies." My mom was standing in the doorway to my room and refusing to let me out unless I changed into something other than last year's summer league t-shirt.

"I'm not letting you go on a date looking like that."

"It's not a date Mom. He's not picking me up, he's not paying, and we're splitting right afterwards."

"Uh huh, and I was born yesterday."

"Then I'm definitely too young to date." She sighed realizing defeat as I stuffed some cash into my pocket and headed out. ~Wonder if that's a sigh of defeat or the fact that I refuse to carry a purse?~ I grabbed the keys to my Chevy and smiled as I cranked up the tunes on the radio. I drove down off the huge hill we now lived on courtesy of our landlord. It was a nice place, if you liked your space. I hated it. It was too quiet, well almost. It was right next to a major highway so the traffic noise made things a little less lonely.

"I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about I, I wanna talk about number one, old my me my, What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see, How I like talkin' bout you you you you usually, But occasionally, I wanna talk about me!" I sang along, my spirits slowly rising back up to a blissful joy. Toby Keith just had a way of lifting my spirits when I was down. The same way Evanescence made me realize that life wasn't really all that bad. I was one of those nutty people that liked angst, punk, rock, pop, country, Latin, anything you could throw at me. I was a music appreciator.

I parked my truck towards the edge of the parking lot outside the cinema. ~I'm not letting anyone dent you, not after the arm and a leg I paid for you.~ I shoved my hands into my pockets wishing they'd stop sweating for once. Everyone always thought I was some kind of nervous wreck, but it was just something that happened—all the time. I bought my ticket and went in and bought a diet Pepsi. ~God, I hate this stuff…but it's all diet until basketball then I go back to semi-normal.~

"Hey Spank!" I turned around to see Mark balancing an enormous thing of popcorn and a Pepsi that looked like it would have drained the soda fountain dry. ~Lucky bum…he's a linebacker so he gets to eat like there's no tomorrow.~

"I see you're already trying to bulk up."

"Sure thing." We walked side by side into the theatre and took our usual back row. From there we could point and laugh at all the disgusting couples who used the place as a make out spot. I propped my feet up on the back of the seat in front of me grateful it wasn't a packed house.

Half way through the movie, I felt his arm go along the back of my seat and I turned to look at him surprised. He wasn't looking anywhere but at the movie screen so I let it go as a stretch. That was my first mistake. He then moved it down to my shoulder, which caused me to glance his way again. There was still no reaction on his face but I decided to make a break for it. "I gotta use the bathroom."

"You feel the need to announce that?" I glared at him and stood up and walked out. ~Okay, what just happened here?~ I couldn't shake what Ashley, Kelly, and my mom had all told me—that weirdo word, 'date'. ~Naw, can't be. Not Mark, we're buddies, pals, bestest of friends. Definitely nothing more than that last time I checked. Besides that would be wrong for football players to be dating each other. They're supposed to date cheerleaders. Well, last time I checked our school didn't have guy cheerleaders. Maybe that's my problem.~ After a few minutes of wandering the hall of the theatre an usher came over to me.

"Are you lost, Miss?"

"What! No, I'm trying to think something through."

"Well, I think your boyfriend's looking for you." He pointed behind me where I saw Mark leaving the theatre in search of me.

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"You came with him didn't you?"

"No, I met him here. We're just friends. Why can't the rest of the world understand that guys and girls can be 'just friends'!

"I didn't mean anything by it." I grunted and turned around to face Mark.

"Hey, there you are."

"Yeah, here I am."

"If you didn't like the movie why didn't you just say something?"

"It's not that."

"Umm…okay. You wanna tell me what then?" I sighed seeing no easy way around this.

"I just want us to stay friends okay?"

"Sure…friends." He didn't sound so certain and his smile fell instantly. I groaned inwardly wondering why God had given such a tough football player such weak self-esteem.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression…"

"No, I just took it all wrong. We're always gonna be friends."

"Best of friends. Don't forget the best." He gave me a weak smile as I threw an arm over his shoulder. "Come on you big lug. Let's fatten you up some more. Burgers on me."

* Well, how'd it go? *

* How'd what go? *

* Duh, your date with Mark. *

* Couldn't tell you if I wanted to. *

* He kissed you! I knew it…I just knew he would. *

* Get your head outta the gossip, Kel. Nothing happened, except for me setting things straight with him. *

* You're such a killjoy. *

* Hmm…maybe that's why I'm captain and you're not. *

* Yeah, well, everybody likes me. I'm the fun one outta the two of us. *

* But I'm the one who sees that work gets done. *

* Like, I said, a killjoy. *

* You know if I wanted this kind of harassment, I'd have talked to my mom. * There was dead silence on the other end. ~Bad move, girl. Gotta learn to stay off the mother topic. She's learned to do the same for you when it comes to fathers, but then she doesn't like that topic either since her dad died of that brain tumor.~ * She's such a pain in the ass. Be grateful you're living with your gram. Grams like to spoil. *

* Uh huh. *

* Hey, you coming to see me tomorrow night at work? I'll make you the best banana spit for two. *

* On the house? *

* Sure, when the boss is away, the employees will play. *

* You're the best. *

* Don't I know it. *

WHITE QUEEN

"I've picked up on a new mutant signature."

"Where at Charles?"

"A rural community in central Pennsylvania. I'd like you to take Kurt and Logan with you to talk to her. Let her know that there's help if she wants it."

"What exactly are her powers?"

"It seems that she's able to manipulate water, which is quite a power considering the earth consists of seventy-five percent of it. She is also able to take the form of water or as water vapor."

"I'll see what we can do."

"Her name is Allison Williams. She's sixteen and will be a senior this year. Also very athletic so she may try and put up a fight. She is raised by her single mother, Carol Steele, who's highly cynical. She may not be willing to work with us.

"I'll keep that in mind. Don't worry, we'll find her before someone else does."

"I'm mostly worried about Mystique. She's actively recruiting for the Brotherhood now that she's back." I frowned at Charles' worried expression. He hadn't been sleeping much since Rogue's departure and the fact that Mystique was running the circus known as the Brotherhood again didn't help matters.

"She'll be fine. Both of Rogue and this Allison girl…they'll both be fine." He didn't move as I left him in Cerebro to find Logan and schedule a flight to Pennsylvania for the next morning. ~So much for not working on a Sunday.~