The conversation with the Professor wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. She felt comfortable talking about the issue after her long sparring session and discussion with Logan the night before.
The Professor was impressed with how much she shared but still wanted her to finish her assigned therapy sessions. He even mentioned that she may want to consider a few training sessions with Scott and/or Logan in the Danger Room in the tunnel simulation. She told him that she would need to take baby steps and he smiled in response. Happy with her progress, he gave her the rest of the day off, much to her delight.
Looking at her watch, a gift from Logan, she saw that it was time for the students to arrive home from Bayville High. Ororo headed toward the front of the mansion and entered the foyer in time to see the door burst open and her sister rush in, calling out her name.
“Anna, I’m right here. Why you busting through the door, yelling my name like you done lost yo mind?” Ororo asked, her proper English going by the wayside. She was trying to improve her speaking skills but there were times where she lapsed back into her old habits.
“I got in. I got in,” she shrieked, throwing herself at her sister, nearly knocking them both down.
“What are you talking about, girl?” she asked, watching her bounce up and down excitedly as Remy and Rogue entered, chuckling.
“Remy?” she asked him, unable to get any information from her sister.
“She was picked to be in the school talent show, ‘chere,” Remy replied, his arm casually around Rogue’s shoulders, a smile on his face as he watched the younger sister give Ororo a bear hug, lifting her off her feet.
“Okay, okay. Calm down and tell me what this means,” Ororo told her, prying Anna’s hands off of her.
“It means I’m one of the few people who will take the stage in a couple of weeks to showcase my talent. I could win an iPad and $500.00!!” she told her. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she looked around for her bag. “I need the Professor to sign this permission slip so I can participate. Is he in his office?”
“Yes, he is. I’m sure he knows you need to see him with all the noise you made,” Ro told her smiling.
“Okay. I’m gonna go get him to sign it. Be right back,” Anna said, dropping her bag and dashing up the stairs. Remy and Rogue chuckled along with Ororo.
“Is the talent show really that big of a deal?” Ro asked her friends as she picked up her sister’s bag.
“It’s the biggest event in the fall. The winner gets bragging rights and will sing along with the winner of the Spring Talent Show at the Junior/Senior Prom,” Allison offered, making her way into the foyer with Kitty and Jubilee trailing behind her, “So yeah, it’s a pretty big deal to get selected as one of the acts.”
“Did anyone else get selected?” Ororo asked, intrigued by the idea and proud of her sister.
“Yeah, we got a spot too,” Kitty replied, indicating herself, Jubilee, and Allison.
“Interesting,” Ororo replied as her sister made her way back into the room, “So is that going to cause a problem between ya’ll?”
“Naw,” Allison said, sidling up next to Anna and putting an arm around her, “It’s just a bit of friendly competition. No drama, right girls?”
“Nope,” Kitty replied joining the girls, putting her arm around Allison’s shoulders.
“Not at all,” Jubilee replied, joining the trio, standing next to Anna.
“You know what would be cool though,” Allison said, thinking out loud, “If we could have a preview show here at the mansion since we all are in the competition. That way we can get comfortable performing in front of a crowd and even get feedback from everyone on how well we did. What do you guys say?”
“Are you serious? I’m all for that!! We can call it the Mutant X Factor!!” Jubilee replied, getting a few groans at her suggestion.
“I think that’s an excellent idea, Allison,” the Professor said, rolling into the foyer with Scott in tow, “What do you think, Scott?”
“Sounds like fun,” Scott said with a genuine smile, “I think Jean and Emma could coordinate it with Allison’s help of course.”
Ororo noticed the eye rolls at his suggestion.
I’m sure we’re going to need another person to help with organizing it. Ro, would you be interested?” Allison asked her, a pleading look on her face.
Ororo looked at Allison, trying hard to keep her annoyance off her face. She heard her sister’s soft please and sighed. “Sure, Ali. I would love to help out,” Ororo replied, getting another exuberant hug from her sister.
“Great. Time to figure out what song we’re going to sing. Come on girls,” Ali replied, heading toward the rec room, throwing up a hand to wave goodbye.
“Ro, you have time to help me pick out a song?” Anna asked, glancing over at the Professor before looking back at her sister.
“Absolutely. The Prof gave me the rest of the day off so we can take all the time we need,” Ororo replied, making her sister bounce with glee again before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards their room.
“See you guys later,” Ororo called back to the Prof and Scott who smiled at the pair as they departed.
“They’ve settled into life at the mansion nicely,” the Professor commented as he and Scott made their way toward the elevators that would take them to the sublevels.
“Yes, they have. I think Logan and Jibril had a big hand in making that happen,” Scott said chuckling.
“What did we have a hand in making happen?” Logan asked as he and Jibril met them as they entered the mansion from the garage.
“Making the Munroe sisters comfortable in their new surroundings,” Charles replied as Scott pressed the call button for the elevator.
“Just doing our part,” Logan replied, having heard what the Prof said but wanted it repeated for Jibril.
“And speaking of the Munroe sisters, where are they? I need to congratulate Anna on being selected for the Talent Show,” Jibril asked.
“Last time we saw them, Anna was dragging Ororo toward their room to figure out a song or something,” Scott replied, as the doors opened.
Ororo did well this morning. I gave her the rest of the day off to recuperate. She’s being her stoic self but may need a shoulder to cry on later, the Professor told Logan telepathically.
Logan nodded.
“Thanks,” Logan replied, “Come on, J, let’s go check on the ladies.”
“From what I’ve heard about the Talent Show, only the best of the entries get accepted,” Anna told her sister excited as she paced in front of her. Ro sat on her bed with an amused expression. “And almost no sophomores or freshmen get selected so that’s a big thing for me to get selected, especially with it being my first year. Oh my goodness, I’m just sooo overwhelmed right now. I can’t sit still!!!!”
Ororo used a finger to shake her ear a bit to help relieve the ringing caused by her sister’s squealing outburst.
“Is there a theme or something for the song selection?” Ororo asked as a knock sounded at the door.
“That’s the best part!!” Anna replied, bounding over to answer the door, “Jibril!!”
Logan stood back as Anna launched herself into her boyfriend’s arms, making both guys chuckle.
“Hey babe. Congrats on the selection. I knew you could do it,” he replied, kissing her. Logan rolled his eyes at the PDA and after a moment, cleared his throat.
“Whatever, Logan,” Anna replied, looking over at her friend, “You know we have nothing on you and Ro when you see each other.”
“That’s not true. I’m not that bad, am I darlin’?” Logan asked as he stepped into the room and sat next to Ro on her bed.
“No, but I am,” she replied, making her sister laugh as Ro kissed Logan deeply.
“Awww, get a room,” Jibril said, shutting the door behind him, making them all laugh.
Jibril sat on Anna’s bed as she continued pacing. They began dating a week after Ro gave Anna the okay that she and Jibril could “talk”. Their talking soon turned into dating and soon after that, they were an exclusive. Though she was only 15, Ororo wasn’t worried. She knew Anna could take care of herself and beyond that, she had two big brothers watching out for her.
Logan and Remy were very protective of both girls and had spoken to Jibril about dating Anna. Remy even went so far as to talk to Logan about dating Ororo. Logan thought Remy was joking and when he joked about it, he ended up with a 2nd degree burn from the card that Remy threw at him.
Surprisingly, Logan didn’t strike out at Remy but both men reached a passé regarding Ororo. For a second, Logan thought that Remy had a crush on her but soon dismissed the thought after seeing the way Remy was with Rogue.
Now weeks later, all of the relationships were going strong and everyone seemed happy.
“So as I was saying, the theme of the talent show is the best part,” Anna said, pausing her pacing for dramatic effect.
Chuckling, Ororo took the bait, “And that would be?”
“Beyonce!!! We’re doing Beyonce songs so you have to help me find the perfect one,” Anna told them.
“Oh, I got the perfect one,” Ro replied, getting to her feet and going over to her drawer to retrieve her iPod Touch. Thanks to the Professor’s generosity with her “salary”, Ro was able to pay Logan and Jibril back their money plus get new clothes, shoes, and accessories for her and her sister. And she even had enough left to splurge a bit, getting a laptop and iPod Touch for both of them. Ororo went over and plugged in her device into the speakers and soon Beyonce’s song Halo poured out.
“OMG!!! That’s perfect!!!” Anna exclaimed, clapping excitedly.
“Or,” Ororo began, switching to Beyonce’s Love on Top, “Or…” Ororo smiled as the song came on and she joined her sister in the middle of the room, dancing and singing along with Single Ladies.
Anna collapsed on her bed at the end of the song. “I think Halo maybe the best choice,” she replied panting slightly.
“You can always download all of her albums and listen to the songs until you find the right one,” Ro told her, retrieving her iPod and returning to her place next to Logan, who immediately kissed her temple and wrapped an arm around her waist.
“True but I will still need to practice it.”
“The exercise room has a great sound system and pretty good acoustics,” Jibril replied.
“True but I need to be in front of an audience so I can get comfortable singing in front of people before the trial run here at the mansion,” she replied, getting shocked looks from the boys.
“Yer kidding right?” Logan asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
“No, I’m not. I’m shy in front of people,” she replied.
“Oh, that’s bs and you know it, Ann,” Jibril replied, getting an elbow in the ribs, “Ow!”
“I am, tell ‘em Ro,” she replied, looking at her sister for help.
Chuckling, Ro replied, “Believe it or not, she is.”
Logan couldn’t believe that the more outgoing of the two sisters had a fear of singing in front of people. Always ready to lend a hand, especially when it came to Ro and Anna, Logan thought of a place they could go where she could get some practice in that night. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was almost time for Omega’s Danger Room session.
“That time?” Jibril asked, watching Logan’s movements.
“Almost,” he replied getting to his feet, “I got something to take care of before the session so I’ll see ya there.” He held out his hand for Ororo and she took it, following him out the door.
“Heard ya got the rest of the day off,” he said as they headed to his room.
“Yeah, Charles and I had a good session today. A bit emotional but still good. I managed not to destroy anything,” she replied, looking up at him as he stopped in front of his door, a concern look on his face, “I’m fine, Logan. Don’t worry.”
“It’s my job to worry,” he told her, pulling her into a tight hug.
“Who said?”
“Ya did when ya decided ya had to have me all to yer self,” he replied seriously.
“Is it too late to change my mind?” she asked equally serious, holding back her laugh.
“Yeap. Yer stuck with me now,” he said, opening the door and pulling her inside with him.
“Then I guess that’s it then,” she replied, walking over to his balcony and opening the doors, “It’s a shame too, considering all of the guys’ hearts I will be breaking when I tell ‘em.”
“Guys’ hearts?” he asked, stopping what he was doing and turning to his girlfriend, the playfulness gone from his tone.
“Yeah, you know all the guys I come in contact with throughout the day. Such a shame too, there were a few that were actually cute,” she told him nonchalantly, knowing that she was pushing his buttons.
She had come to learn that Logan was very possessive and jealous. They had had a conversation about it…actually their first argument when he was being overly protective during her sparring sessions with some of the male members of the team. Since then, Logan had made vast improvements in that area but being the alpha male he was, he didn’t take kindly to anyone infringing on his turf and he consider Ororo his turf.
“That ain’t funny, Ro,” he told her when she approached him and pulled him into a hug, a smile on her face.
“Yes it is when it’s so easy to pull your leg,” she told him, kissing his nose.
“Whatever,” he replied gruffly, still a bit miffed at the idea of her looking at other guys.
Sensing this, she reassured him. “Logan, you have nothing to worry about,” she told him, wrapping her arms around his thick neck, “Like you said, you’re stuck with me as I am stuck with you.”
“So cheer up!! You’re going to do one of your favorite things,” she said, kissing him quickly and heading toward the door, “See ya in a few.” She blew him a kiss before stepping out into the hall, heading to her room to grab her training gear.
