Paw Prints Chapter 6

Warning: Blood, Sweat, and Tears. M for Mature.

Steps

Abby awoke once again, her muscles screaming in revolt to her movements. Her body was tired, her body was pained. Abby thought about what awaited her if she got out of bed. She thought about those mean boys and what they were possibly going to say to her. She thought of Mystique and all of the weird transformations she had been making the past couple of days.

Abby rolled onto her back, basking in the freedom to be able to melt into her sheets without the fear of adults coming in to hurt her. So much had changed, so much had happened. 'It hasn't even been a week, and already I've killed two people, began morphing into animals, and living in a house full of young men that dislike me.' Abby's eyes drifted to the night stand table where the crumbs remained of the cupcake. Why had Pietro done that? Left her a cupcake, like she had earned something. 'Did I earn anything?' She wondered to herself. 'All I did, was lose control. I only succeeded into making this whole thing crazier.' Abby continued to think of her powers and how it had only been days ago when she had been struggling to change into a cat. Now she was pushing to change into more things, and at a faster rate.

Abby rolled onto her side to face the wall and closed her eyes, hoping to escape. Where was she living now? And why were these people so harsh and cruel? What happened to sanctuary and help? Ever since arriving Abby had been nothing short of being treated roughly the same as she had by her parents. Abby scrunched her eyes and suddenly the warm blankets felt too hot and itchy. As a matter of fact the whole past few days just didn't seem right. Abby opened her eyes and stared at the many bruises and scars that adorned her arms. Freedom. This was what she had longed for, for so many years. These people treated her horribly, but they didn't beat her, or lock her up. At least these people, Abby decided, treated her like she was something. Maybe not a hero, or a friend, maybe a stupid girl they didn't want, but it was something and this was the cost.

She rolled herself out of bed, conscious of her body's aches and pains. A repulsive odour made its' way to Abby's nose and she realised it was coming from herself. She gathered the clean towel she had found the other day right away and promptly opened her door a crack. 'Nobody's there.' She thought relieved. Abby dashed to the bathroom and locked the door, not that it would do any good of course. The lock looked like it had been kicked in several times. Abby didn't bother to stop and think why. She hastily turned on the water and stepped in, muffling her shriek of discomfort at the freezing water. Experience from the previous day told Abby there was no hot water in the house. She had no choice but to deal with the freezing temperatures as best as she could and get out as quickly as possible.

Pietro arose from his bed and clamoured into clean clothes as his mind began to wake. Another day of bloody high school, stupid, unintelligent people who couldn't possibly compare to him, cheerleaders and the X-geeks. Pietro snorted out loud to himself as he thought about the day ahead of him. Shit was never dull around the place. Pietro felt the usual signal that told him he needed to piss and walked out of his room and into the hallway. Same things, different day. Pietro wondered briefly to himself which girl he was going to hit on before class. He walked over to the bathroom door only to find it closed and he could clearly hear the shower running. Feeling the pain get more intense Pietro grew frustrated and debated kicking the door down, which he would usually do, until he realised there could be a girl in there. Pietro cursed, very loudly. 'The girl. Her, she's the damn problem! I hope she's enjoying that cold-ass shower.' He thought darkly to himself as he fought the urge to dance. 'I swear if it's Todd or Lance in there I'm going to kill 'em!' He thought murderously as the shower turned off. He waited a couple seconds before finally flipping.

"Enjoying your bathroom time? Get the fuck out!"

Pietro didn't care who was in there now, he had to take a piss! Pietro waited, and waited for a minute, which seemed like an eternity before the door finally opened. There came Abby, hair wet and body soaked, wrapped up neatly in a small towel. Pietro didn't care, he looked, then coughed and looked away after. 'Not bad, might be hope for her yet' he looked again, eyeing the shape of her legs. They would be sexy, he realised, if it weren't for the bruises. He looked closer and realised there were fresh and fading bruises all over her body. She looked like she'd tried to take on the X-men all by herself. Something at that moment snapped in Pietro. The girl was bloody weak enough, who the fuck would want to even bother hitting her? 'Wait…what?' Pietro's mind spun into confusion. He felt himself caught between his dislike for the girl yet the feeling of wanting to kill whoever hurt her so bad. Also the undeniable urge to pee. He didn't want to see those bruises, he didn't want to think about what caused them. Pietro stopped looking all together and turned around.

Abby peered into the hall at Pietro and stepped out of the bathroom, unaware of what Pietro was thinking. "Uh, I'm sorry. The bathroom's free P..Pietro." She stuttered on his name, and wondered if it was the first time she'd said it. Abby awaited in fear of what Pietro was possibly going to say to her. Was he going to yell at her for being in there? Almost thirty seconds passed and Pietro didn't move.

"Uh..Pietro-"

"JUST GET OUT!" He yelled finally.

Abby skittered back to her room quickly in case Pietro was still on her tail. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but as usual it seemed she'd set him off. It never once occurred to Abby that Pietro, was just generally an ass to anyone. It didn't occur to her that he might be feeling just a little bit protective either. She went through her bag and fished out some fresh clothes. Jeans and a tank top, she carefully unwrapped the towel and gazed at her healing wound, the one that spike boy had given her. She had taken off the bandage to reveal a sore scab where then skin had been punctured. Finally it was healing and less painful. After putting on her clothes she made her bed and sat upon it thinking everything over; a habit she'd grown accustomed to as of late.

'Is this my life now?' Abby wondered to herself. 'What am I to do with myself? There's still so many questions.' Abby's world was aflutter with passing thoughts. Would anyone find out about her parents? What about those X people? Would she ever get good at her power? What was she supposed to do with her time? Abby looked around the dirty room she occupied and not wanting to be around her house-mates she decided it was time she maybe made it her own. Or at least cleaned it up.

Downstairs Lance and Pietro were arguing with each other.

"Fuck what Mystique says I'm not staying here with that weakling little freak." Pietro growled as Lance's frown grew deeper.

"I don't catre Pietro it's my jeep, im the one with the liscence so you can stay here. Bye." Lance quickly turned around and started walking out the door only to have Pietro whip in front of him.

"This isn't over Lance, I'm not a babbysitter."

She watched as everyone piled into a heavily beat-up jeep. All together like a group. Abby felt a sharp pain strike her heart as she watched Lance start the jeep up and drive off. She had never had that. Would she ever have something like that? People who liked her? Accepted her? Treated her like she wasn't something…bad?

Cleaning her room proved to be difficult. She grabbed some garbage bags and began hauling the tons and tons of, seedy, dirty, smelly clothes into the bags. Many times under clothes were bugs, surprised and upset at being discovered they skittered across the floor. She hurried to stomp them out, using an old shoe she'd found lying around. After all the clothing had been put into bags she gathered them up in placed them in the corner of her room then she sorted the closet, making space and organizing. After that she swept, then mopped. At last remained her sheets and the bags of clothes. Abby knew how to do laundry, unlike whoever had previously occupied the room. However she had yet to spot a washer or dryer in the house. She tip toed down the stairs cautiously, listening for hostile sounds. She'd noticed that Pietro hadn't been with the others in the jeep, he must have been left behind with her and he was the last person she wanted to run into.

Two hours later she emerged from the Brotherhood's dark and dreary basement. Full of dark corners, spiders and odd garbage Abby was thankful to be finished with the laundry. It had taken a couple loads, not to mention the washer and dryer had been clearly broken and fixed multiple times, making it difficult and glitchy. Emerging into the light streaming into the room from the window made her want to go outside for fresh air. She stood beside the window, looking outside for a couple of minutes. Most of the time she was forbidden to go outside. She saw nothing but her parents property for years and now here she was, free and miles away from her prison. She longed to step outside but an old fear crept up her spine; years and years of torture built up as memories crept into her consciousness. Tears began to surface unexpectedly as the realization hit her that she was no longer controlled. Her parents were gone, she had run away from home, and was now in a strange place with more cruelty. Abby's tears didn't cease as she approached the back door. She had already been outside a couple of times now, it was almost as if things had never changed but then actually thinking of it Abby realised she was finally free of the chains that had kept her. She opened the door and stepped into the light she became completely absorbed in the sounds and smells assaulting her.

Abby finally had free time to explore something unfamiliar to her, yet she spent the majority of the time in one spot on the grass, simply enjoying the fact that she was there on her on free will. So many things were new, she felt it best to just let things settle before exploring. She lay down on the soft blades of grass under the shade of a tree and let her thoughts drift in and out of her mind at their own will. Her parents were dead, she was part of a Brotherhood now. 'Brotherhood. I guess that's what I belong to now. But there's no place for a weakling..' Abby thought guiltily of her powers and transformations.

So much had happened with her transformations. Using her powers just to turn herself into a panther was already far beyond her dreams, all the other animals she'd turned into had been beyond anything she could imagine. It was too much too fast, she could barely comprehend what was going on or what was happening to her. Yet the others seemed to think she wasn't good enough. They wanted more and more, like she'd been doing this all her life or something. What did they want from her? Abby didn't want to be a freak. All she wanted was to be accepted. She wasn't even sure if that was possible anymore.

She thought of the animals.. A panther, a bear, a horse… 'Argh this is way too strange. How can I just. WANT to turn into an animal? Why would I want to be different from the rest? Look at where it gets me."

She remained under the tree for a while, thinking of her powers and animals. Panthers scared her. Abby recalled the feelings and thoughts she had felt while being in such a form. So hungry, so blood thirsty…so cold. She shuddered, awakened by the memories clouding her mind, she felt a burning in her arm and looked to see her arm covered in thick dark fur. Quickly she muffled her own scream at the sickly realization that she had called on her own powers. This wasn't what she wanted, nope, not at all. Then she looked back towards the Brotherhood house and thought of the mutants that belonged there.

She thought of the new world she had arrived in…where these powers were encouraged instead of shunned. All of the boys seemed to be egging her to prove herself. They seemed so desperate to display strength and control. It was almost as if being a mutant was a good thing. She bit her lip, still hearing the catcalls from the night before. They had tested her, considering her pathetic and she had shown them she was something else. And Mystique, so beautiful even with blue skin, flawlessly turning into any creature at will. She made it seem so easy, she looked so powerful. Abby sat thinking for awhile before coming to a conclusion. Maybe. Maybe she could give it another try.

Abby sat up and looked around. No one was around, maybe finally being by herself and feeling comfortable she could better figure out what was going on with her own body. But what would her goal be? Abby shuddered at the thought of turning into any of the animals she had already unintentional changed into. The idea came to her by sounds, she could hear the bark of a dog off into the distance and decided instantly it might be a good idea to turn into one. Dogs were mans best friend right? Deciding it better not to over think her choice she began to concentrate on changing.

Abby surprised herself by going quickly. She realized there was no relaxing when it came to transformations, the slower she was the more it hurt, so Abby pushed herself as fast as she could, ignoring the heave in her stomach and the dizziness in her head. She grabbed hold of a picture of a German shepherd she had seen once and didn't let it go. She forced herself to focus, gathering the body shape and features. She felt searing agony and realized not for the first time that this was probably a horrible idea, but she still clutched to the picture, imagining the heavy paws and thick coat. The long snout and deep bark. Slowly Abby felt almost a 'click' inside of herself as she realised the transformation was complete. She opened her eyes, shaken and shivering for the ordeal of changing. Finally she had changed without the pressures of an intense situation. She was free to explore her power on her own terms.

Blinking Abby realized she could no longer see in colour, everything was in black and white. 'Dogs are colour-blind I guess.' she realised. She examined her arms which were now long shaggy paws. She then shifted her behind and noticed she now had the use of another limb; a tail. She lay still for a few minutes, just getting used to the fact that she was now a dog and no longer human. She had never had the chance to properly get acquainted with the forms she'd been changing into before. She wondered about the bloodthirsty feelings but found it only vaguely when watching other animals smaller than her. She finally rose to her paws and trotted around the yard. At first she had thought it would be awkward but she was actually quite comfortable on four legs. And the energy! Abby felt like she could run for miles and suddenly she began to feel free. Maybe this wasn't all so bad after all. Abby began to explore her other new quirks. Though her sight was poor she found she didn't really need it. She could hear everything so much better, and everything smelled! She buried her nose in some flowers and inhaled the scent. It was so overpowering she sneezed. Shaking out her new thick coat Abby ran around the yard again, enjoying the raw power of her muscles. Suddenly she heard the latch on the back door opening, she sat down immediately unsure of what to do. She'd been caught!

Abby wasn't sure how much time had passed or how she had looked through such a thing but Pietro did. He'd heard her go out and had been watching from the bedroom window. It's not like Pietro was interested or anything there was just nothing better to do around the Brotherhood. Plus he WAS supposed to be keeping an eye on her. He watched her as she had made her gruesome transformation, it was much too slow, you could see it all happen right down to every skin-morphing detail. Still he was impressed with the large dog that remained, he'd often wondered what it'd be like to possess a different power. Of course his power was obviously always the best choice. He watched her explore the yard as a dog and couldn't resist the urge to go down there. He wasn't sure why or what inspired such an odd idea but instead of pondering it he chopped it up to supreme boredom and zipped downstairs to the back door.

He opened it to see the dog sitting waiting for him. As he stepped out he wasn't even sure what to say or why he was even there. She sat motionless, simply staring at him.

Abby watched Pietro approach, his expression unreadable. Her nose caught his scent and she made sure to remember it as his which wouldn't be a problem as she realised she liked it. He stopped in front of her and reached his hand out. Her first immediate instinct was to cower or bite but she held still, and felt his hand pat her head, which surprisingly felt very good.

"Nice little doggy." Pietro chimed in a falsely cheery voice. He dropped his hand then sneered at her. "But you're still so weak you couldn't take on even the weakest X-geek. Go home runt, you don't belong with the Brotherhood" With his message clear Pietro walked back into the house making his exit known. Well, it least that had passed some time.

He slammed the door closed behind him and made his way back to his room determinded not to think about the girl anymore. His leg ached from his skirmish with Evan. Why'd he even bother defending her against them? He sat on the bed, his thoughts drifting to his father. Magneto was looking for a leader, he was looking for his son to show promise. His father wanted the girl, one more member meant one more chance against the odds. Pietro thought about the girl's powers and about how they were rapidly growing, yet she still wasn't even close to the level of the other mutants, yet he also realised she was not useless, or the weakest anymore, if only she'd learn to attack, if only she'd talk.

Abby spent the rest of the afternoon in dog form, running around and getting used to being something else. She no-longer thought the idea of changing to be so terrifying, throughout the days events her curiosity had grown. What would it be like to fly? To breath under water? Abby realised changing into an animal offered an escape, and experiences not possible for humans. It seemed every animal had something unique that humans didn't. Abby also thought about battle, about fighting, how strong and fearsome some animals were. She thought about what Pietro had said and felt a hot and bothered feeling creep up her spine. She was trying her best! And yet it seemed like it was never good enough. Abby thought about turning into that bear again, about standing taller than Pietro and scaring him away for hurting her feelings. One second he way stealing her cup cakes, the next he was leaving one behind.

She was trying.

The sun began to set and Abby made her way back to the house in fox form this time, changing so much made her tired and nauscious, she still wasn't even sure if she liked her power, or even that she had it. Fox form felt strange, like the dog but more cat-like and graceful. Her sense of smell wasn't as good but her hearing was, her ears pricked at the sounds coming from the house. Laughter and loud-talk. Abby found she ccould understand humans only if she was concentrating and paying attention, the rest of the time they just sounded loud and yappy. As she approached the voices became louder and more aggressive. She was beginning to feel like not even going in but she knew she couldn't run forever. She was tired and so hungry she was worried if she stayed in such a state so long she'd never be able to turn back. She stepped to the back of the house and ignored the natural instinct to flee back to the forest. She sat down on her haunches, and relaxed, trying a new technique of shapeshifting. She'd always thought of changing as like a rubix cube, things shifting and breaking. Now she pictured Mystique and the beautiful melting of shifts between forms. Abby pictured it and concentrated on turning herself back as hard as she could.

It wasn't as smooth, and Abby imagined, not as pretty as Mystiques transformation but it was something and that was enough for Abby. Afterwards she lay panting and sweating against the house on the ground, so weak and tired and sore the days events.

Suddenly the back door slammed open and Tood stepped out. Not seeing her he looked around the yard until he finally saw her and jumped a little in surprise.

"Oh Abby, there you are, Pietro said I'd find you here. Mystique says you gotta start your first day of school tomorrow yo."

Abby froze and felt her heart tighten and her jaw drop. School? It felt like her whole body had been dipped in ice.

"Oh." Was all she could manage as she rapidly tried to collect her composure. School wasn't a place she'd thought of really being. It brought back the memories of her childhood, the other kids and the horrible inncident that had led to the beginning of her suffering.

She felt her world sway with a sudden pitch in her stomach at the thought of something even worse happening but she quickly shook her head to be rid of the thoughts. Abby knew she would have to be strong now, all she had was herself and the horrible people she was living with. 'Life hasn't really improved much…'

The next day started off in a hurry, loud yelling and banging on her door awakened Abby with a start, making her wonder if it was her parents. There was no time to dwell on the horror as the banging on her door continued. It was suddenly slammed open as Lance barged in, in nothing but jeans, his chest toned and obvious. Abby shot out of bed with a start, not sure if he'd come in to beat her or yell. She quickly averted her gaze after seeing his shirtless torso, she'd never seen such an attractive male in real life before. The blush made her face as red as a tomatoe.

"Good you're up, next time I wont be bothering to knock. We leave in twenty mintues better hurry up." Lance looked like he was about to say something else and Abby paused in fear but he simply turned around and left, slamming her door behind him. She shook her head, ignoring her fear and the nervous feeling she got from seeing him without a shirt. She ruffled through her bag and pulled out a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt. She had no choice but to roll with the punches and push forward, it was the only way she would possibly survive.

The rest of the morning skipped by in a blur for Abby. From the crowded traumizting ride to the school, from the intensery large crowds to the intimidating principals' office.

Abby discovered that she wasn't as alone as she thought she was. On her way to the principals office Lance and Todd had guided her, quietly pointing out other mutants to her, explaining how many of them were "X-Geeks", mutants part of an organization fighting the Brotherhood. They warned her strictly to keep away from them. Some of the X-Geeks saw them, and Abby was afraid they'd be approached, but the morning crowds were too thick and the group passed uninterrupted.

After Abby waited to see the principal in the waiting room, finally alone she took a few moments to breath. So many crowds, she'd never felt so squashed and smothered before. So many eyes, so many people. Abby felt her heart flutter strangely and the tingles of a change began to creep her but she shoved it down, thinking instead of the number of ceiling tiles she could count while she waited. She had to remain in control and on top of her feelings.

Strangely Abby was not surprised when the face of the principal melted into blue skin and gold eyes. Knowing that Mystique was in charge of the school made Abby feel much safer, like she had some sort of protection. As she left Mystique's office with her timetable and directions to her first class she wondered if she was really cut out for a life of high school. Would she make it?

Abby's first class was shared with Todd, science. She wondered if she should talk to him, but her seat was far away from his, and there wasn't much of a chance with so much attention on her. So many eyes, all watching and judging. It made her invisible, transparent, like everyone was looking straight through her mind, and making their own decisions. The whole ordeal made it nearly impossible to concentrate on the lesson.

Her second class was no better, there was no one she knew and it was louder with kids much more obnoxious. A couple of girls walked up to her and asked questions. Where was she from? What school had she attended before this? Abby hadn't thought about having to talk to people or make excuses, she lied quickly, explaing that she was from out of town and was living on her own. Most of her answers were excuses and brush offs, she was afraid of the other students and realised she wasn't sure if she knew how to make friends. Would they all sneer and insult her like the Brotherhood boys and her parents?

Her third class was gym, and they shared a field with a boys sophmore class. Both classes were told to run laps as a warm up together and Abby couldn't help but feel more nervous than ever with so many older boys around. She noticed another classmate of hers catching up to match her pace with effort. She was small and pale with a bouncy brown ponytail. At first Abby felt nervous until she noticed the girl was smiling in a friendly way. Abby allowed her to catch up and waited for what was to come.

"Um like, yea, hey, I'm like, Kitty and I totally noticed you're like, new so I thought you'd want some company." The girl had a high-pitched voice and an accent from the hills. She sounded like an airhead but at least she was friendly.

"Um, yeah sure, I'd like that." Abby jogged in silence for a moment wondering how to continue the conversation but found she didn't have to. The girl, Kitty, started yaking immediately. Abby didn't mind much, Kitty blabbed about the school, the cute boys, certain teachers. Abby found it nice to simply listen to what was normal teen conversation. It was completely surreal to think about things like her favorite teacher, or the cutest boy in her math class. She was about to make an attempt at holding her end of the converstion when a body went speeding by, right between them almost knocking Kitty over.

"Watch where you're going Pryde, maybe you should be walking with the rest of your geeks." Abby looked up in shock to see Pietro running just ahead, looking back to chuckle at Kitty's enraged face.

"Like, fuck you Pietro go run off like, a cliff or something!" Kitty slowed her pace and disappeared behind the mob of runners, Abby continued running now feeling more lonely than ever. The one friend it seemed like she was about to make had been scared off by Pietro. Why had he done that?

Pietro slowed his speed just slighty to take Kitty's place at Abby's side. She blushed under his gaze and looked away, unused to running along someone so intimidating and handsome and now he was looking at her. Pietro seized Abby for the thousandth time it seemed. Always so fragile and sick-looking, yet always keeping up with what was thrown at her. It amazed him now she could even run for so long, he'd imagined her like Kitty, small and useless.

"Be grateful I'm allowing you in my presence. Stay away from the X-Geeks if you know whats good for you." and before Abby could even ask what he'd meant Pietro zipped off again, running faster than the rest of classmates. She watched him running until he was at the other side of the track. She watched him forcefully break up another group of kids and gasped stopping dead in her tracks.

There was Kitty in the group of students, and there was the spike boy who had been there the night she'd come to Bayville. The people who had attacked her were at the school.

Abby excused herself for the rest of the class and hid herself in the bathrooms, vomiting twice and trying to control the shakes from the fear she was feeling. Would they attack her again? So was Pietro's warning a meaning that Kitty belonged with the people who attacked her? Why had he cared to warn her anyway? The bell rang and Abby excited the bathroom and found her way to her locker, glad to finally have lunch.

After a couple of tries she had opened her locker and had successfully dumped her things inside of it, she didn't notice the approaching shadow behind her. When she looked up ready to close her locker she jumped back and uttered a yelp. Leaning on the locker next to her was the red haired boy, another one of the members who had attacked her. He now wore red sunglasses and regular clothing but he was definitely the same person. The rest of the world seemed to dissapear as she felt her breath quicken and her fear elevate to new hieghts. Would he attack her right now? Was she prepared to fight?

Abby felt the fluttering in her chest that signified and impulse change, she fought to control it as the world around her came rushing back. She was at school, there were students everywhere. Abby wasn't she what she was changing into, but she couldn't let it happen. She took a couple stumbles back her eyes looking around wildly.

The guy stood up straight and took a step towards Abby. "Hey. Can I talk to you?" Abby felt her heart beat a mile a minute as she fought the change. She didn't want to talk, she didn't want to be here. The man took another step towards her and all of a sudden a fist slammed into the locker in front of him followed by a heavy set body belonging to Lance, Pietro at his side seconds later.

"Fuck off one-eye, find someone else to bother with your bullshit." The ground shook and his tone was the angriest she'd heard so far. The guy's shades began to glow and Abby was sure there'd be a fight when all of a sudden another attacker appeared out of nowhere.

"Scott don't!" The girl with the mind powers ran up to the guy with the sunglasses. Her long red hair was tied up and she cast the nastiest look towards Lance and Pietro as she latched herself to Scott's shoulder. The sunglasses guy named Scott backed off immediately, his arm around the girl. Pietro began to laugh as they retreated and without casting a single glance towards Abby he took off towards the cafeteria.

Abby calmed down, the attackers no longer in eye view. Her change had stopped and it seemed she was safe. Todd joined her and Lance at this point and they all walked silently to the cafeteria. The room was huge and full of other students of all different grades on their lunch periods. So many different tables with so many different clicks. She meekly followed Lance and Todd and sat down at a table after grabbing some lunch. Fred was already there eating like a maniac but she noticed Pietro at a different table. Todd notcied her looking.

"Yeah, Pietro's really popular with the ladies yo. He likes the pretty girls with pompoms." He laughed as if it was funny but for some reason Abby didn't think it was. He was surrounded by the most glamorous girls she'd ever seen, and even at such a distance she could see they were clearly fighting for his attention like newborn pups. Abby wanted to be sick. Turning back to her lunch she realised Lance had left them to join another table. There he sat with Kitty, beside a table with a lot of kids looking on angrily. Abby noticed the two redheads amoung them and shuddered.

"Those are the X-Geeks, well most of them yo. They're trouble don't mess with them." Abby nodded in silent agreement and continued with her lunch, glad she wasn't alone and occasiionaly casting glances at Pietro's table.

Her last class was another shared class with upperclassmen. She noticed Lance and a pale boy with bluish/blackish hair who waved at her in a friendly way. Abby quickly ignored him and turned back to her work, she'd seen him earlier a couple of times and knew he was also apart of the x-geeks although she wasn't sure who he was. She was paired up with a girl named Rogue on a computer program. The girl didn't smile or try to seem friendly. As a matter of fact she didn't seem interested in anything at all. Halfway through the class Rogue randomly walked out and didn't return for the rest of the class. Abby tried not to take it personally.

When the last bell finally rang Abby was happy to have completed her first ever day of high school. It had been nervewracking and terrifying. She gotten lost around every corner and had seen every kind of teenager to possibly exist. Now she wove through the parking lot towards Lance's jeep, the feeling of relief gracing her shoulders as she knew she could finally leave. Everyone gathered around the car except for Pietro, he was nowhere to be seen. She wanted to ask but suppressed the urge. She probably wouldn't get an answer anyway. The ride home seemed to zip by in no time and before she knew it they were arriving back to the Brotherhood.

Abby realized she actually felt almost comfortable arriving there, even if it was just another home of horrors. Perhaps now it would her home. They walked into the house Abby trailing behind the boys, quietly listening to their casual banter when all of a sudden everyone went silent as they walked into the kitchen. Abby squeezed in behind Fred and wished instantly she hadn't.

There was Pietro, standing in between the legs of a very pretty girl wearing a very pretty short skirt who was sitting on the counter. Pietro's shirt was off and his hand was under the girl's shirt as they kissed passionately. The silence lasted only a few moments before a roaring of laughter broke out from the boys, hackling and teasing Pietro and the girl he was with. Abby took that moment to slip away and quietly run up the stairs to her room. She quickly clossed the door and jumped onto her bed, stuffing her face into the pillow pretending to drown out the voices from downstairs while really trying to burn away the image of Pietro and the girl.

Her parent had never shown love for each other and Abby had never been around enough people to see that sort of thing. She knew about sex but she'd never seen something so raw and in her face. She blushed again trying to ignore the scene replaying itself over and over in her head. She just couldn't ignore the small voice in the back of her head wondering.. Would something like that ever happen to her?

She didn't come out of her room for the rest of the night and received no knocks on her door. It wasn't like anyone cared. She was thankful Mystique hadn't shown up for training but she knew sooner or later Abby would have to face her once again. The whole world was upside down and she had no idea where she was going.

Chapter 6 End.

Hey guys sorry that took basically forever. Read and Review :)