Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first thing John noticed was the twitch of Lorna’s upper lip, lifting into a faint smirk but trying to hide it. Then he noticed that Lorna was walking more upright, chest out a bit, confident, but with a slight spring of excitement in her step. When he looked up from how she was walking and caught her eye John could swear they were glinting with a surprise. John crossed his arms as she approached him, as he also saw Marcos heading their way.

Lucky for them, Lorna and Marcos arrived to John at the same time.

“So what’s the new gig?” John asked, looking at Lorna with interest.

“What makes you say that?” Lorna asked, her tone hinting that he was right.

John shrugged. “Lucky guess.”

Lorna laughed as Marcos moved to put an arm over her shoulders.

“That, and you’re twenty minutes late,” Marcos added.

Lorna laughed again and leaned into him a little, causing John to smile. They were really cute together.

“So?” John asked again.

“You know the Starlady Kids Center, the building a few blocks from here?” Lorna asked.

John nodded. “Yeah, that’s a daycare, right?”

Lorna nodded, causing Marcos to raise an eyebrow.

“A daycare? We’re performing for a daycare? In a building called Starlady?” Marcos asked.

The club didn’t perform outside of college grounds often, but never for a day care. Broken down middle schools maybe, but not day cares.

Lorna looked over to Marcos with a grin.

“The woman who owns it is a mutant, her name’s Katherine. And so are the kids. She kinda wants us to like talk to the kids about what being a mutant is like, but I asked if we could perform something first and she said yes,” Lorna explained, feeling happy about this project. She wants to show kids that there are good things to being a mutant.

“You didn’t know?” Chimed in three voices, as three girls finished walking over to Lorna, Marcos, and John.

Lorna resisted an eyeroll. “And you guys did?”

The three voices, turning out to be the triplets, Celeste, Phoebe, and Irma.

They all nodded in unison.

“Katherine used to be our teacher in middle school. Before the Grey Middle School shut down,” Irma explained.

John raised his eyebrows and looked a little impressed. Lorna and Marcos were still in disbelief.

“Although she’s changing the name from Starlady to Pryde. She wants to name the building after herself,” Phoebe added, now earning Lorna’s interest.

“Wait, Pryde?” She asked. “Like Kitty Pryde? The X-Men member?”

The girls nodded once again.

“Just the one,” Celeste answered.

“And she wants to change the building’s name to her name? Why give herself up like that?” Marcos asked.

Irma shook her head. “She’s not. She’s making a statement. Taking a stand.”

John couldn’t help but smile. “Sounds like an X-Men thing to do.”

The six continued talking for a moment before Lorna and John made their way to the front of the theatre room. John took role, went over announcements, and other club things before Lorna took over. She explained about who owned the Starlady building, even adding the whole X-Men factor into it. Everyone seemed pretty excited, Alisa especially, seeing as she can phase, just like the famous Shadowcat.

Lorna smiled at everyone as the other club members were muttering among themselves.

“Now, all we need is a play to do and then we have a month to put it together and practice,” she said, gaining back everyone’s attention. “I’m thinking a fairytale, something we don’t too many actors for since our club is still pretty small, but also so it’s simple for the kids. We don’t need to a full on production, this is just to entertain some kids.”

Tessa, the club’s Vice President and practically a secretary, spoke up. “Our best option would probably be a Disney movie. Those are usually the easiest to simplify. Like Cinderella.”

Lorna thought about that as another girl, Megan, practically squeaked and started fluttering.

“Oh! Oh! OH! If we do Cinderella I could be the Fairy Godmother! I have the wings!” She exclaimed, her wings glowing a bit because of her excitement.

Lorna laughed and even Tessa smiled.

“Cinderella it is then,” John said, laughing at Megan as she tried to settle back down. “Alright, now, we need to figure out the other roles. It’s all in house so we don’t really need auditions. Megan can be the Fairy Godmother, that’s actually a really good idea.”

Megan grinned and gave him two thumbs up.

“Cuckoos,” John called out to the blondes. “Do you want a role?”

The three discussed among each other in silence, always preferring to discuss telepathically than verbally.

Phoebe spoke up first. “Instead of having two evil stepsisters and a evil stepmother, what if instead it’s three stepsisters who create some other challenge for Cinderella.”

John could see how the Cuckoos would assume they’d get an antagonist role.

“Alright, like what?” John asked.

Celeste spoke next. “The stepsisters could be on good terms--”

“--Wait,” Irma interrupted. “That would defeat the moral. We should still make Cinderella do stuff but just as three step sisters, our mother could be out of town.”

The Cuckoos began discussing amongst each other before all agreeing Irma’s idea work best.

“Alright, nice, now we need someone to be one of the mice. I think we can--”

“--John, wait,” Lorna spoke up. “What if Cinderella makes her dress because the Fairy Godmother gave her magic. That way we can keep the cast super small, since we don’t have many actors for this since it’s just us.”

“What if she awakens Cinderella’s mutant power?” Megan suggested.

Lorna girnned. “Yes. Perfect.”

John could see how that’d work. “Hey Lorna, how many needles do you think you can control?”

“Wait, you want me to be Cinderella?”

“Yeah,” John nodded. “Marcos could be Prince Charming.”

Marcos and Lorna shared a look.

“I’ve always wanted to be a prince,” Marcos teased.

“Being a princess doesn’t sound too bad,” Lorna said, smiling. “We’ll do it.”

“Great,” John said and then he continued going over roles and tasks.

Marcos was in charge of general tech, for scenes he wasn’t in, along with Lorna and the other Stagehands when they’re not dealing with set changes or other tasks. Sonia began sketching costumes while Alison was picking music for ambience. Marcos was talking to her about using her powers to make the ballroom scene really pop. She seemed pretty excited about it.

“Hey John,” Tessa said, walking up to him. “I talked to Lorna and she said we were getting a stage. Kind of. The center has a cafeteria that we can put an elevated platform in. I was thinking that we could use two backdrops. One painted to look like a house and another being a castle or an inside of a castle.”

“Do any of the others paint?”

Tessa shook her head. “I’m sure one of us could figure it out.”

John thought for a moment as Lorna and Marcos walked over to the two.

“Painting a backdrop shouldn’t be too bad,” John said.

“Yeah, but if we got a month we oughta do a good job. Kids will be judging us,” Marcos told him.

“Well, why not get someone who’s good at this. An art club member maybe?” Lorna suggested.

John gave a small nod in agreement but Marcos laughed.

“What. You think someone’s gonna want to help us? You know we aren’t the most liked club. Humans like to be with other humans,” Marcos reminded them.

Lorna pressed her lips together, thinking.

The one special thing about the drama club was that everyone was a mutant. Even though mutants are generally more accepted in cities, the local college was in a small town, where many are still a little on the fence. Everyone is usually ignored for the most part but when they were denied a mutant rights club, they instead decided to make a new club. While the theatre community already had an official club, they were allowed the right to make club that focuses on learning the theatre, acting and other roles included. They just call it the drama club for simplicty sake.

While they do focus on theatre, it’s no secret that this was still a mutant club. Not to mention every in it were also part of a community mutants rights group. While the club is open to anyone, not many people wanted to get involved with Lorna and the others.

“Wait,” Tessa said, closing her eyes, her mind starting to go through those mental files in her head.

Lorna, John, and Marcos all went quiet as she thought.

“There’s a new student. Junior, female, mutant,” Tessa said, accessing a file she saw once while getting supplies for the club from the office. “Her eyes are green, but shockingly so. She has a purple mark under and over her left eye. Her hair has purple in it. She has art but I don’t know if she’s in the art club.”

Tessa opened her eyes, then continued, “It’s worth a short. Her physical mutation is mild. It’s just her eyes and that scar from what I gathered from the picture.”

Lorna, John, and Marcos shared looks.

“You three want to come with?” John asked. “She might not trust us but we can show her we’re like her.”

“I need to go talk to people about using a platform, and ask... Miss Pryde if we can use one,” Tessa said. “Lorna can I have the address?”

Lorna nodded, moving to grab a paper before holding up her hand to find and grab a pen. She wrote down the address and Tessa went on her way.

“We’ll go,” Marcos answered for him and Lorna.

“Then let’s head out,” John said, turning away from the couple and leading the way.

“--reaking kidding me!”

Was the first thing that the three heard when they entered the classroom where art club met. The sight that greeted them explained things more. One of the students, a girl, had gotten paint spilled on her clothes. Some of the students were hiding giggles earning a look from Lorna.

“Is something funny?” she asked.

“N-no,” one of the kids muttered, slouching down a little.

The girl with the paint looked up and the three saw her eyes. They were green but like Tessa said it was obvious they weren’t quite right. Almost as if they were too green. The purple mark she had over her eye also signaled to the three it was the girl Tessa saw the file for.

“What?” she asked, standing up and shuffling to the sink to try and clean off the paint.

“Hey, I have some spare clothes you can borrow,” Lorna offered, following here.

John and Marcos stayed, keeping an eye on the art club members.

“...Yeah, thanks,” the girl mumbled, following Lorna as they left.

“What happened?” John asked the members when the door closed.

One of the members shrugged. “Some of the easels are older, cheaper, they can bend forward so the paintings straight. Sometimes it causes any items on the bar to drop.”

John crossed his arms, looking over the classroom to see that the girl was the only with a different easel.

“Oh yeah? Then why is she the only one with that kind of easel?” John asked.

No one answered.

“That’s what we thought,” Marcos said before leaving, John shook his head and left after him.

“Who are you, by the way?” The girl asked, coming out of a stall in some of Lorna’s clothing (she keeps an extra outfit in her backpack for days she don’t go back to her dorm).

“I’m Lorna. My friends are Marcos and John, and we,” she started, before holding out her hand to open all the stall doors, before continuing, “are just a couple of freaks. Same as you. Can I ask your name?”

“Wow, um, Clarice,” she answered, looking down and washing you hands as distraction from the conversation.

“Clarice. Pretty,” Lorna complimented. “Clarice, I want to ask you something.”

“I can’t promise an answer,” Clarice replied. “Is it about...?” she trailed off and gestured to the stall doors.

Lorna shook her head. “We’re putting on a small play and need someone to help painting backgrounds. And our club has a bit of rep. Being a group of mutants all,” she explained. “So we were thinking you could help.”

Clarice fixed her clothing in thought. Then she let out a sigh.

“Yeah, sure, it’s probably better than going back to that room,” she mumbled, looking up at Lorna. “I think today was going to be my only art club meeting though.”

Lorna gave her a smile. “Yeah? I know there’s a sub drama club that’s open.”

Clarice laughed. “Lorna right?”

“Correct. Would you want to meet my friends now?”

“Yeah, I’d like to move on with the day,” Clarice answered and then followed Lorna out of the bathroom.

Chapter Text

Marcos and John had headed back to the theatre room but waited in front of the door. John said Lorna and the new girl, Clarice he heard, we’re on their way.

“Just remember to act like you haven’t heard her name. It kinda freaks people out,” Marcos teased.

“Okay, one time,” John replied, rolling his eyes but gave a half smile.

Marcos laughed as he saw Lorna round the corner with Clarice.

“Alright guys,” Lorna said as they approached the two waiting, “this is Clarice. Clarice, this is John and Marcos,” she pointed to each of them as she said their names. “My friends and fellow mutants.”

“Hi, nice to meet you, more properly,” Marcos told her.

John gave a nod in greeting. “We won’t count that as a first impression.”

Clarice gave a polite, little laugh. “Yeah, well, maybe get used to it. That tends to be how my life goes.”

“Well, you’d be happy to know you’re not alone,” John said, earning a small smile from Clarice. “That’s why we have a club, to get away from that.”

Clarice’s smile grew a bit at that, like the idea reassured her. The two shared a look, lasting for a moment before Lorna broke the silence.

“Yeah, we all self-deprecate here. Well, half of us. Would you like to meet them?” she asked.

Clarice turned to her and nodded. “Sure.”

Marcos went in the room first, followed by Lorna, then Clarice, and finally John. A couple people looked at the noise of the door and noticed the newcomers. A few focused on Clarice for a moment before going back to what they were doing.

Clarice, on the other hand, didn’t even seem to mind. She was more intrigued by the smiling faces of those who didn’t notice her. The comfort of the open, but small room. Full of mutants. People like her who will judge her for her and not what she is.

John, Lorna, and Marcos all noticed that look and couldn’t help but smile. They love that look. Even the Cuckoos had that look.

“There aren’t a lot of us, yet, but the people here are good,” Marcos explained.

Lorna nodded. “The Cuckoos can be kinda... Blunt, but they usually have good intentions,” she added.

Clarice walked a little further in before stopping in surprise. Just across the room from her was... a fairy. It was the only way to describe it. There was girl with pink hair and wings floating while talking to another girl. Clarice knew she didn’t have the worst physical mutations but those wings were... Beautiful.

The fairy girl looked over to see Clarice staring. Clarice quickly looked away but a few seconds later she could see that the girl got closer. She turned to look at her again with an apologetic look, though surprised to see the girl smiling.

“Sorry. I wasn’t... I don’t... I think your wings are pretty,” Clarice quickly said, trying to explain that she wasn’t judging.

The girl laughed and her wings started emit a faint glow. “Thank you. I think they’re pretty too.”

Clarice was sort of surprised to hear that. She herself hated her eyes and the stupid mark she has.

“And guess what?” The girl added. “I think your eyes are pretty.”

That really took Clarice by surprise and she had no idea how to respond. Thankfully John stepped in with a smile.

“Megan,” he said, gaining both girls’ attention. “This is Clarice. She’s going to help do background props.”

“Oh cool! I bet they’ll look amazing,” Megan told her.

Clarice wasn’t sure how to respond but a girl with dreads called Megan’s name and she fluttered off.

Clarice let out a small breath. “She’s very... Excitable,” she mumbled but John heard and couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Yeah. She’s very... Emotionally driven,” John explained.

“Aren’t most mutants?” Clarice asked.

John shook his head. “Some are very collected.”

“Like the Cuckoo's,” Marcos added, reminding Clarice that he and Lorna were still there. “Hey John, why don’t you introduce Clarice to everyone else? I’m gonna go talk to Harry and them about possible props.”

John gave him a nod and he took off.

“Lorna?” John asked, wondering what her plan was.

She hummed. “I’m gonna meet up with Tessa, see what else she needs help with,” she answered, before leaving the room.

Clarice looked to John, waiting for him to lead.

“So I say we start with Ali--”

“--Johnny,” a voice said, interrupting his train of thought.

John turned to a woman with red hair. Clarice looked too and wow she was kinda pretty.

“Yeah Sonia?” he asked.

“I finished the designs for Lorna and Marcos but I’m not sure if it’s too much,” Sonia said. “Especially Lorna’s dress. You know she’s not wild about those.”

John laughed and Clarice felt a little out of place.

“Let me see them, if anything, Marcos can probably convince her,” he suggested as Sonia handed him her clipboard.

Sonia looked over at Clarice, as if just realising she was there.

“Oh hello, you’re new,” she pointed.

Clarice nodded a bit. “Yeah, I’m glad you noticed.”

John resisted a smirk and looked up from the designs. “Sonia, Clarice. Clarice, Sonia. She’s gonna help with backdrops since she’s in art.”

Sonia looked from Clarice to John and back again. “Oh, wonderful! We could always use the extra help,” she told him. “I’m going to go talk to Megan about her design, need to make sure it works with her wings,” she said, taking the clipboard and walking off.

Clarice raised her eyebrows when she was out of hearing distance.

“Did no one know I was coming?” Clarice asked.

John shook his head. “Tessa, our Vice President basically, asked me after out meeting.”

Clarice nodded. “Ah. New members are cool then, right? I know some clubs are picky.”

“Nah, everyone here is cool with new members. The more the merrier,” John said.

“Even if it gets crowded?” Clarice asking, not a hundred percent believing him.

John looked at her, like he was trying to figure something out. Then he nodded and gave her a soft, but real smile.

“Especially when it gets crowded.”

They shared another look, like they did when they were outside of the room. Then Clarice looked away and towards the other members.

“I have another question,” she said, deciding to change the topic.

“Shoot.”

“Are... Are her antlers real?” Clarice asked, looking over to a girl with antlers growing out of her forehead.

John looked over at her too. “Lin’s? Yeah, they’re real. Are you really surprised?”

Clarice shrugged. “I’ve never seen physical mutations like that. Or the wings. They’re usually smaller, a little more hideable.”

“Like yours?” John asked, looking back at Clarice.

“Yeah. Kinda. The eyes tend to give me away though. The unusual green as people say,” she answered, meeting John’s gaze again.

John watched her for a moment again, something Clarice realizes he does a lot. Or at least to her he has been. Maybe because she’s new and he’s trying to get a read on her. She felt a little uneasy at the thought.

“I think they’re nice,” he told her.

Clarice blinked a few times, surprised by John’s words. She cleared her throat and decided it was time to move forward.

“So meeting people,” she said, once again looking away. “You said we would start with an Ali?”

“Alison,” John said, getting the hint to move on.

Clarice was never going to remember everyone’s name. She was sure of it. Megan she’ll remember, and Lin, because of their physical mutations. The Cuckoos she might remember too, since their triplets, but there were more people than she realized. John would be easy to remember, since he’s been with her the whole time.

“You’ll remember the names, it just might take a bit,” John told her, as if reading her mind.

“How do you remember everyone?” Clarice asked as she followed John into an art supply room.

“Well, I’m the club president, and I have the attendance sheet, so,” John answered earning a laugh from Clarice.

“Maybe I’ll steal that sheet of yours,” she teased.

John smiled at her as he grabbed some cardboard pieces. “I also have class with a few people. Marcos, Tessa, and the Cuckoos. Plus everyone is part of the Underground.”

“The Underground? You mean that mutants right activist building? The broken one?” Clarice asked.

John nodded. “That’s the one. It’s nicer on the inside. Or could be worse anyway.”

“Isn’t that... illegal?”

“Technically no. It’s just frowned upon. In this area anyway. Places like New York and California have it a bit easier,” he explained.

Clarice grabbed a basket to put in art supplies “So why risk the hate?”

John shrugged. “For the community. It’s nice to belong somewhere. Wouldn’t you agree?”

There was no immediate answer from Clarice. “What kind of scenes are we making?” she asked, changing the subject.

John looked at her for a moment before looking around the room. “Well, we need a inside of a house, just like a room. A ballroom. Maybe a carriage. The idea isn’t to go too far out but Lorna likes to make things showy. Plus, it’s for kids.”

“Like human kids or mutant kids?” Clarice asked, grabbing some paint and paint brushes. She also grabbed a few pencils and erasers.

“Mutant kids. Have you heard of the Starylady’s Kid Center?” John asked.

Clarice grabbed some more paint before nodding. “Yeah, it’s nearby isn’t it?”

“That’s where we’ll be performing. The woman who runs it wants us to come in and talk about being adult mutants in today’s society. Lorna asked if we could perform something and she takes performing very seriously,” John explained.

Clarice looked over at John who grabbed a few more cardboard pieces just in case.

“So if you’re the club president, that Tessa chick is Vice President, what does that make Lorna? She seems to have a lot say in this,” Clarice asked.

“She’s our stage manager but she first made the club,” John answered.

“Then why isn’t she president?”

“Lorna likes to take direct action and being president means upholding an image. Which she doesn’t want to ruin. Since I was the second member, she gave me the title. But she makes a majority of the decisions,” John explained further.

Clarice nodded. “Makes sense. So... She has telekinesis?” she asked, sort of curious.

John laughed and shook his head. “Magnetokinesis,” he corrected. “She can only control metal.”

“Oh,” Clarice said and wow, that reminded her of an important mutant figure but decided to not mention anything about it. “Okay, what about you?”

“Simply put I have enhanced senses and super strength,” John answered.

“Super strength?” Clarice asked.

“I could get hit by a car and it’d bounce off me, stuff like that,” he clarified.

“Damn,” Clarice said, impressed. “That’s handy.”

John laughed. “Well I try not to get hit by cars often.”

Clarice laughed too.

“Your turn,” John told her. “What can you do?”

“I can... Teleport. Via portals,” she answered, figuring it was useless to hide it.

Now it was John’s turn to look impressed. “Really?”

Clarice nodded. “Watch,” she said, putting down the basket on a nearby table.

She closed her eyes and focused her mind. Picturing the drama club room as vividly as she can. Then she held out her hands, cupping them and having her fingers pointing at each other. Then with as much focus as she muster she started to pull at the empty space, making a glowing, purple, portal appear. She kept it up until it was wide and tall enough to walk through.

John could see the club members looking at him, wide eyed and curious. He gave a wave at them as Clarice spoke up.

“I can’t keep these up for long so if you could you know, go through,” she instructed, her voice straining a bit.

John did as he told and Clarice followed through, just barely grabbing the basket in time.

“Portals,” she told him, trying to ignore the stares of everyone.

“Portals,” he agreed.

Clarice and John had started working on the carriage first since Clarice said that would be the most difficult since they need to cut shapes. After the small commotion of her portal, everyone got back to work (Clarice figures that her powers weren’t the most weird there). Soon, one by one, everyone started leaving as it was getting late. Until only John and Clarice were left.

“Whoa,” she said, looking up form tracing shapes. “It’s late,” she said, seeing the sun getting lower.

“You have somewhere to be?” John asked, looking over at Clarice. He was working on cutting out the shapes that Clarice had already drawn.

“Nope. You?” Clarice asked.

“In a few hours yeah, but not right now,” he answered.

“Oh,” Clarice said, sort of hoping he wasn’t. “Should we pack up early?”

John shrugged. “If you want, I don’t mind staying. It’s nice.”

Clarice blinked at John. “Nice?”

“Yeah, staying after club hours with a person or two. Marcos and I used to stay after,” he told her. “But we haven’t had any projects lately so he’s been going home with Lorna.”

“Do you stay after often?” Clarice asked. “Like besides for projects?”

John nodded and went back to cutting cardboard. “I’m usually the last one to leave. Sometimes Sonia or Lorna stay after, but everyone’s getting ready for the meeting tonight. There’s a pool tournament too and Sonia plans to join this time.”

Clarice looked at her shapes. “Meeting?”

“At the Underground. We do other things beside talk about how to progress, you know,” John teased.

“Right, of course, makes sense. And everyone in the club goes?” she asked, fixing a few lines.

“Yup. We all believe in a better future for us. Even the Cuckoos who act like they don’t. They actually help with most of the funding,” John explained.

“Ah, rich telepaths, original,” she muttered, not meaning to sound mean. She just got bad vibes from them. Then again, most telepaths made her uneasy. She didn’t like people inside her mind.

Surprisingly enough, John actually laughed at that. “Yeah. They fit that stereotype a little too well at times, but they’re good people at their core.”

Clarice smiled, liking the sound of John’s laugh. “I’ll take your word for that,” she said, looking back up at John.

John met at her eye and like multiple times earlier today, they just sort of stared at each other. Clarice wonders if that’s going to be their thing. Or if it was John’s thing.

“Do you want to go with me?” John asked. “To the meeting?”

Clarice would normally say no. She’s not one to run off with strangers but John didn’t feel like a stranger. He was too nice for that, somehow. Perhaps it was a secondary mutation he has.

“Yeah. I think I’d like that.”

Chapter Text

The meeting, or more like hangout, ended up being more fun than Clarice thought. She was a little skeptical but felt more comfortable when she saw more mutants with physical mutations. She also found their nickname system kinda cute.

In order to claim ignorance about members, the Underground decided to call everyone by nicknames. At least, that’s what it started off as, when the Underground was first created, but as more people came and joined and laws against mutants became less restraining, they just found it fun. Like being an X-Men without all the life threatening missions.

Marcos, or Eclipse, suggested Clarice uses the name Blink. She wasn’t sure but when John said he liked it she couldn’t help but agree. Plus Lorna seemed to enjoy it, once she was told what Clarice could do, and it was nice to see people excited about her and her powers. Lorna and John went by Polaris and Thunderbird respectively. Clarice felt like maybe they were too into this idea but it felt fun and that was something she didn’t feel often.

Nothing really important happened but Clarice understood why John and everyone liked this place so much. It was like an extension of the drama club at school. Even Megan, who already seemed happy and relaxed was even more cheerful here.

When Lorna and the others asked if Clarice would come back she said maybe but she had a feeling she would.

The next day included another day of classes and students not paying much attention to her. She did have drama club to look forward to though. John said they meet everyday since the room they use is more or less abandoned by the fine art kids. The school staff once tried to disband the group, saying that they can’t meet that many times but Lorna managed to convince them that they didn’t do club activities everyday. That the other days were study days and were optional. It apparently worked and Clarice was glad.

Soon enough her classes over and she headed over to the club room. A few members were already there, the light techie she thinks is named Alice or Alison. Then a guy named Harry, she remember him from last night. He also decided to participate in the pool tournament and nearly won.

Clarice gave them a small wave before going to sit down in one of the few desks in the room. She started doing some homework to kill time until the rest or at least the majority of the club comes. While the club is technically always open, the best time for everyone to meet is around four in the afternoon since no one had classes after that time. Or if they do it’s later in the evening.

Over the course of about an hour the rest of club showed up, With Sonia and Tessa showing up last. Since today was considered their optional study did, John and Lorna skipped their routine start of club activities. Instead, Lorna and John came over to Clarice.

“Hey, good to see you came back,” Lorna said, sort of joking but there seemed to be a hint that people haven’t before. Being in this club did have a reputation after all.

“Yeah, I figured I’d at least see this play until the end,” Clarice replied, always on the defensive and closed off side.

The other two mutants didn’t seem to mind though.

“Want to come shopping with us?” John asked, changing the subject. “We’re going to buy costume pieces and props.”

Clarice raised an eyebrow. “Don’t we have those?”

Lorna shook her head. “The actual drama club wants to put on a play for a fundraiser and since they get first dibs in the props and costume department, we just decided to go buy something cheap from the mall. That way we can also keep them.”

“We figured since you’re helping with backdrops, it’d make sense to take you. Plus you’re new so think of it as a tour,” John added.

Clarice shook her head. “I’m just new to school, not the area. I was doing online but the school was having some financial issues so it sort of closed. But I’m always down to not be in a school building.”

John laughed, smiling a bit. “Fair enough.”

“Is Marcos coming?” Clarice asked, since she noticed that him and Lorna are inseparable.

“He’s going to work on the script with some of the other members since and I’m not allowed to see it,” she explained. “I guess he wants it to be romantic even though it’s a silly little play.”

“You guys are sort of disgustingly sweet,” she said, sort of speaking without thinking.

Thankfully for her, Lorna found that funny and laughed. “So we’ve been told.”

“Lorna, I appreciate your style and your... Aura, but I beg you, for the good of this world, never drive again,” Clarice told her once they exited out of the car at the mall parking lot.

Lorna was apparently a daredevil driver. She would speed through yellow lights, had a bit of road rage, would sometimes cut people off (though usually only other drivers that were being dicks), and made a few illegal U-Turns.

Clarice was really glad to not be in the front seat because she thought John was going to get flinged out at a few points.

“We made it didn’t we?” Lorna said, a smile on her face. Clarice keeps getting surprised that Lorna doesn’t act insulted despite what Clarice says. It also shocks her that John laughs too.

“Not the best response,” Clarice mumbled.

Lorna just shrugged and locked the car with her powers.

“I’ll drive us back,” John offered, smiling as they walked towards the mall.

Clarice felt a little more eased at then while Lorna just shook her head.

“Everyone’s a critic,” she said.

They decided to head to one of the cheaper, thrift like stores in the area. Since the area they live in is a little more rural the mall isn’t ridiculously expensive like the ones in the city. There also was a couple of stores that were run by mutants. Granted those stores were a little lower class and lower maintenance, but the merchandise wasn’t bad or cheap.

“So where to first?” Clarice asked.

“I was thinking maybe Crystalline’s?” John suggested. “For some costume pieces, and then we can head over to Dust Storm for props?”

“Wait Dust Storm sells toys? I thought it was an antique store?” Clarice asked.

“More like a mutant Goodwill,” Lorna answered as she lead the way to Crystalline’s.

Clarice just nodded. She’s been to this mall before but she never really went into many stores. She really only came here for a job but they didn’t hire her so she never saw a real reason to come back.

Crystalline was quaint store. It wasn’t huge but decently sized. Not to many people were here so there was room for the three of them.

“Proudstar,” a voice greeted and everyone looked over to the cashier counter to see a mutant standing there with a smile.

“Shatter,” John replied walking over to shake hands with him.

“And the beautiful Miss Dane,” Shatter added, earning a laugh from Lorna.

Then Shatter turned his head a bit to look at Clarice. “You were at the meeting yesterday, right? Blink?” he asked.

Clarice nodded. “Yup,” she said, and didn’t say anymore. She wanted to ask why he went by his codename but dedicded better of it.

His physical mutation was as obvious as her’s but more loud, being made of black crystal and all that. Plus the shatter marks on the side of his head, which is Clarice guessing how he got his name.

“Do you have formal dresses?” Lorna asked. “And maybe a tuxedo?” she added.

Shatter looked over to a corner of the store. “There’s some formal wear over there,” he said, pointing in the direction. “Are you planning for a date?”

Lorna tsked and shook her head. “No, no, I wouldn’t be that fancy for a date. We’re doing a play about Cinderella.”

“Ah, well, let me know if you guys need anything,” he said, before heading through a doorway that led to the back of the store.

Clarice followed Lorna and John.

“Is it safe to say you know most of the mutants that work here at the mall?” she asked, as Lorna went to find a dress.

John nodded. “Yeah, that’s safe to say. Lorna knows more than I do but we are definitely friends with most of the mutant store owners here.”

Clarice looked a bit impressed. “Convenient.”

John laughed and the two shared a smile, repeating their pattern of staring from yesterday. “Yeah, it has it perks.”

Lorna noticed them but decided not to point anything out. Instead she focussed on getting outfits for her, Marcos, and finding matching outfits for the Cuckoos.

“Hey why don’t you guys check the two piece outfits for Megan?” Lorna suggested. “Preferably something with a low back?”

John nodded and Clarice wondered how annoying finding clothes would be for her.

It only took a bit over forty minutes before they found costumes. The most trouble was finding something for Megan. Clarice wasn’t exactly one for fashion so she more looked for practically as John looked for fashion. Which was sort of surprising but kinda cute on a guy. Or at least on John. Then Clarice learned he only knew what looked good was because Sonia worked a bit in fashion designing. That became a little less cute. She wonders if they’re a couple.

Dust Storm took about an hour since they only had a vague idea for props. They needed a wand for sure, two crowns, and couple other fairytale item necessities. The owner, Sooraya (or Dust, which explained the name to Clarice), helped them out and even gave them a discount. John tried insisting it wasn’t necessary but Sooraya did it anyway. She said it was because the store was doing better than anticipated and she was celebrating in a way.

Once they were done they were about to head back to the car but Clarice spoke up.

“Hey guys?” she asked, slowing down when they got near the food court.

“What’s up?” John asked.

“Could we get lunch, or I guess dinner since it’s late?” Clarice asked, looking over at a pizza station. She was going to try and hold out until she got home but now that she’s passing food, the need is a bit harder to ignore.

“I could eat,” Lorna replied. “And if we do pizza we can grab enough for the whole club,” she added.

“Are you paying?” John asked.

“The club will pay. We can make it a pizza study party and use some of the club funds. I have the card with me. Plus we bought the supplies with our own money, so we’ll be fine,” Lorna told him.

John looked like he was going to argue but Lorna was already heading over to the pizza counter. Clarice laughed at the exasperated look that John had. John’s expression turned into something warmer as he smiled at Clarice. After a quick shared looked, they walked over to catch up with Lorna.

“So what do you guys want?” Lorna asked when they were within hearing distance. She hadn’t walked up to the cashier quite yet.

Clarice looked up at the menu. “I could go for some mushrooms and spinach,” she answered, not noticing the looks from the cashier and one of the other employee’s behind the counter.

Lorna nodded. “Are you okay with sharing? It’s fine if not, Tessa hates it so we’d just get her a small pizza. We can do the same with you.”

“I’m fine with it. I’d probably just have two slices anyway,” Clarice told her.

The three stepped up to the counter after talking things over. Clarice and John decided to pay for their own pizzas since John didn’t want to take too much money from the club, in case they really needed it.

Clarice wondered if the Cuckoo's ever helped out with costs when she stepped up to order first since her and John’s order would be smaller.

“Uhm, hey,” she said to the cashier who looked little uneasy. “Could I get a large spinach and mushroom pizza please?”

To her surprise he shook his head. “We don’t sell to people like you,” he said flatly.

Clarice blinked twice and was surprised at how sharp that hurt her. She hasn’t had an issue like this since senior year of highschool.

“What?” she asked.

“We don’t sell to mutants. We have the right to decline service to anyone,” he said, and another employee stepped up next to him.

“Look, we don’t want any trouble, okay? Just go somewhere else,” she told them.

Normally Clarice would've just said ‘okay’ and walk away here and now. However, Lorna was not Clarice and wanted to say a few choice words.

“Are you sure,” Lorna asked, crossing her arms. “Because I’ve ordered from here two days ago, and multiple times before, and everyone was fine. So it sounds more like you  don’t provide services to mutants and that’s illegal. Unless you’re the manager, but I know you’re not, so maybe you want to rethink your choices.”

Clarice wanted to tell Lorna to back off but John spoke up before she could.

“I’m sure you have other employees tha would be fine making us pizza. Just switch with them and we’ll go,” he added, trying to make sure Lorna doesn’t blow a gasket. Literally. Or break anything else within the area.

The guy shook his head. “No. It’s just me and my friend today and we’re not selling to any bug-eyed freaks. Plain and simple.”

Clarice instantly looked away and tried to hide behind her hair. Her throat tightening but more out of nervousness instead of wanting to cry. She noticed a few stares from onlookers and wanted to teleport away from this place.

“It’s not worth it guys let’s just go,” she quickly rushed out and started walking off as a fast as she could without running.

Lorna clenched her teeth. “You guys are jackasses. Do you get off on making fun of people? Do you like, have to compensate for things?” she asked.

John knew he should probably get Lorna out there but he’s seen Clarice’s reaction before on other mutants. Usually before they started hating themselves. So today he made an exception and decided to leave the human employees on their own to deal with Lorna. While he started hurrying off to find Clarice.

He jogged outside of the mall, sort of surprised to see how fast she could walk. She was already at the car by the time John caught up. He’s sure she would’ve gone in the car if it wasn’t locked.

“Where’s Lorna?” she asked, trying to keep her eyes out of sight. She didn’t sound like she was going to cry, just sounded sad.

“Probably making it ten time harder to cook a pizza,” John answered, hoping it would make her laugh.

She smiled a little and he smiled back.

“She doesn’t have to,” Clarice said, and decided to look up at John. They were both glad she wasn’t crying.

John shrugged. “Well, unless I dragged her away, I don’t think that would’ve stopped her.”

“She seems like that kind of girl,” Clarice admitted, smiling still. It was nice to see people stand up for her. She would herself but it was just too much conflict that she didn’t want to deal with.

The two were quiet for a moment, sort of just thinking about what happened. Clarice took her gaze over to the mall doors, waiting for Lorna.

“Hey Clarice,” John said after a while.

“Yeah?” she said, looking back at John.

“I think your eyes look beautiful,” he said, trying not to rush it out but also felt a little flustered.

Clarice felt her skin warm up and she was sure she was blushing. However she didn’t get to say anything because Lorna practically appeared next to them. Surprising even John who was to busy focussing on Clarice to hear her coming.

“Hey,” she said. “You okay?”

Clarice nodded, turning her focus to Lorna. “You didn’t like... hurt anyone, did you?”

Lorna laughed. “No, no, I just turned off their oven. Permanently. Look, it’ll be fine. I’m sure the mall has more than enough to fix it. Now, what if we got some ice cream for the club instead? I know a place that sells to everyone.”

Clarice nodded, feeling better already. “I’d like that,” she told her.

Maybe she will stick around these guys for a while.

Chapter Text

It’s been almost two weeks since the mall incident, as Clarice took to calling it. None of the three that were there talked about it. It’s been almost two weeks since John told Clarice her eyes were beautiful. Clarice, at first, thought maybe it meant something. But since they never talked about it she reasoned he was just saying that to be kind.

Then again, he’s also been hanging around her more. Even being with her more outside of the club. Clarice wasn’t sure what it meant or even if it meant anything.

Clarice shook away those thoughts as she opened the door to the club. It had been two weeks, he was just trying to cheer her up.

Hold the door open, a voice entered her head.

She huffed.

“Cuckoos, get outta my head,” she muttered, turning behind her to see only one of the Cuckoos.

“Just me,” she said.

Clarice looked at her but couldn’t remember which one she was.

“Celeste,” the blonde answered.

“Get out of my head,” Clarice repeated.

Celeste just shrugged. “You think loudly.”

“Bet you all say that,” she said as Celeste walked past her and into the club. “Actually, I have a question.”

Celeste made a hum of acknowledgement but kept walking to her sisters.

Clarice took that as permission to ask. “Why don’t you guys change your hair color? Or even change the style? Don’t you get tired of people confusing you?”

“It’s not too bad,” Celeste told her as she sat down.

“It could be fun though,” Phoebe said, looking up from her book.

“We’re not changing out hair,” Celeste told her.

Phoebe didn’t comment any further and went back to her book.

“I think Phoebe’s right. It’d be fun. And I wouldn’t mind it,” Irma commented.

Celeste scoffed. “You guys are being ridiculous,” she said.

The triplets started to go off on a tangent with each other, and Clarice decided she would slip away and go over to an empty desk.

Today is the start of the ballroom. Which is also the final piece they have. While the carriage was difficult because it wasn’t on a simple shape, the ballroom will be tricky too. John said it didn’t have to be too fancy but she wanted to do a mini sketch anyway. Just as a reference.

She was almost done when the rest of the club showed up. She hadn’t noticed until she heard John and Lorna at the front of the room. Nearly jumping at their voices, she looked up to focus on them. Well mostly focus on Lorna as she was doing most of the talking this time.

It wasn’t anything too important. Just how there’s two weeks left before they go talk and perform for the kids. She added how everyone should answer everything honestly but try to focus on the positives, since they are on the younger side.

Lorna then gave an update on where everyone was. Alison and stage crew had the lights and sounds down. Stage crew also felt positive about moving props. Mainly the carriage and changing scenes. Everyone who was acting was doing great with their memorization. She also mentioned that they backgrounds were turning out well.

She smiled at Clarice at that part and Clarice smiled back. Her eyes shifted to John to see he was smiling too. The two had another one of their gazes moment before Lorna said it was time for the club activities to start since the meeting was over. Lorna headed over to Marcos afterwards and John headed over to Clarice.

“Ready to make a ballroom?” he asked, when he got closer.

John’s usual role was to help whoever needed it, during the production preparation anyway. Since Clarice was on her own (sometimes that Sonia chick helped but she was busy with Lorna and making the dress more Lorna-like) he was helping her the most.

Clarice looked down to her sketch book. “Maybe? How does this look?” she asked, turning her drawing pad over to John.

John looked it over. “Well,” he started. “Looks like we’re gonna be here a while.”

Clarice laughed and John smiled.

“I’ll go set up a space, you wanna grab more paint? The colors are on the side,” Clarice told him.

John nodded and left to go get paint from the supply room. While Clarice went to push a couple tables together. It’d be easier if the room had a giant table, but she could make do with what was available.

John and Clarice stopped paying attention to their surroundings, to work on painting lines and shapes. They were quiet, focussing on making sure lines didn’t look crooked, too big, or too small. They took a couple breaks to rest their wrists (It was mostly for Clarice since John didn’t get tired or hurt too easily). It was all very casual.

Once they finished with the lines, they finally took a real break and looked to the others in the classroom.

Or not because they wasn’t anyone there.

“Oh my God, what time is it?” Clarice asked.

John frowned and looked at the clock behind Clarice. “Seems like it’s a quarter until six.”

Clarice looked back to their work. “I think we can stop for today. All that’s left is to paint with color.”

John looked at it too and then got up. “I’ll help you clean up,” he offered.

“Thanks,” Clarice said as she started putting all the paint brushes into one of the cups they had.

When she got to the sink she looked down the counter to see a script packet. She put down the cup and moved to pick up the packet.

“Hey John?” she asked, walking over to him while looking through the packet.

“What’s up?” John asked, putting the desks back.

“I think I found Lorna’s script,” Clarice answered, before laughing a bit. “Have you this read script?”

John stopped with the desks to walk over to Clarice. “Yeah, Marcos is my roommate, I’ve helped him with it sometimes.”

Clarice shook her head. “Who wrote it again?”

“Marcos did. Along with Megan,” John answered. “It’s pretty corny, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, completely,” Clarice said, looking through the script. It seems cute for kids of course, but a lot of kid things always seem corny.

“Like the whole ballroom scene,” she said, before clearing her throat. “I can’t believe I’m really at the Prince's dance!”

John laughed a bit. “Marcos may have looked online for help.”

Clarice nodded. “Yeah, I can tell. And you had to read these lines too?”

“Being roommates with an actor has its cons,” John admitted.

Clarice laughed. “Wow, I’ve never seen a place like this before,” she continued, putting on her best princess voice, “it’s beautiful.”

John rolled his eyes and started moving back to finish cleaning. Clarice grinned and put down the script to finish cleaning too. It was sort of familiar, since Clarice has done this quite often in the past two weeks. It was a nice feeling. It made her smile, more than she has in awhile.

Clarice turned and step forward towards her backpack. However, she didn’t get too far before colliding into John, who was walking towards his backpack as well. Clarice nearly toppled backwards but John had his hands on Clarice’s upper arm, holding her place. Out of reaction of nearly falling, she reached out and latched onto his forearms.

She looked up when her brain caught up a bit and she sort of froze. John was much closer than she thought he was and he was looking at her with such a sincere look. A look that made her face feel too warm. A look that caused flutters in her stomach.

Seven seconds have passed and they felt like forever. She should step back to balance herself. Then apologise and hurry away. But she couldn’t pull away from John. John, who wasn’t pulling away either. In fact, John seemed to be getting a little closer. Or maybe Clarice was leaning in closer. She couldn’t really tell because she felt dazed.

Then the sharp bang of the door being pushed open, caused Clarice and John to pull apart as quickly as they collided.

Clarice looked away first, glancing towards her backpack. John looked towards the door, and sort of frowned when he saw who was there.

“Johnny, I thought you guys already left?” Sonia asked.

“Ah, no, we weren’t paying attention to the time and went for a little longer,” John explained.

Clarice, who was focussing on her bag, was harshly reminded of how Sonia is the only who calls John ‘Johnny’. Clarice was probably reading this situation wrong.

“Yeah, but we’re finished now,” Clarice said, putting on her backpack before continuing, “and I’m late for family game night, so I’ll catch you guys later,” she finished and quickly left the room.

John waited a few seconds, thinking to himself, before telling Sonia he’ll be right back. He hurried after her but only saw one of her portals closing. He let out a sigh and decided he would talk to her tomorrow. He went back to the club, vaguely explained that Clarice was feeling sick, then gave a quick “goodbye” before leaving the room.

“Why did you open the door!?” Lorna asked her roommate after Sonia told her what she saw.

“I don’t know! I panicked,” Sonia tried explaining.

Lorna squinted her eyes. “Panic? Not jealousy?” she accused.

Sonia scoffed. “I can’t believe you’d even suggest that.”

Lorna crossed her arms.

“Okay... Maybe a little, but just in the sense that I didn’t want to see! I know things didn’t work out with Johnny and I’m fine with that,” Sonia said in defense.

Lorna shook her head. “So why are you telling me this anyway? It’s not like we can do anything,” she said.

Sonia laid back on her bed. “I don’t know, I think Clarice got the wrong idea.”

“I wonder why,” Lorna teased, earning a pillow to the head from Sonia. She laughed and threw the pillow back before laying on her own bed.

“Anyways, if it works it will and if not, then that’s life,” Lorna told her before closing her eyes. “Not our problem.”

Sonia frowned a little. “But what if they don’t work out but it’s clear they want it to workout?”

Lorna rolled her eyes. “This isn’t a movie Sonia, they’re grown up, they can talk about it.”

Much to Lorna’s surprise, apparently this is a movie and they aren’t being grown up and talking about it.

“Wow,” Lorna said when two days had past and John seems to be awkward Clarice. Like he’s not sure where to stand, if he should be near, or where to look. While Clarice seems to be making little eye contact.

“And now the scenes aren’t being painted because they won’t really communicate,” Sonia told her. “All we need is the ballroom painted. We have a week before the performance.”

Lorna watched Clarice for a moment. “Well, if all that’s left is painting, what if someone else does it? Like you and I could, right?”

“I suppose, but that doesn’t solve the main problem,” Sonia answered.

“Well, they seem to still be trying to work together, right? So they’re probably trying to keep things normal, like it never happened. So what if their roles in the project got switched?” Lorna suggested.

“Okay, switched with who?”

“Mine and Marcos’s roles. Clarice would be Cinderella instead of me, and John be the prince. The lines are simple, and John already knows quite a bit from Marcos. It works, doesn’t it? Marcos and I will be painting instead,” she explained further.

Sonia thought about it. “But they’d probably think the sudden switch would be too soon. They wouldn’t go with it. You’d guys have to be actually not be able to perform.”

Lorna hummed and scanned the room to find her boyfriend.

“Marcos!” she shouted when she saw him. Marcos turned to look at Lorna who motioned him over.

“Yeah babe?” Marcos asked, moving over and standing by Lorna.

“You have a very important test the day of the performance, right? The really important one that you can’t miss?” Lorna asked.

Marcos blinked. “Uhm, no?”

Lorna smiled. “Well you do now. But don’t worry, you finish in time to see the final product of play.”

“That’s... Good? Sorry, what’s going on?” Marcos asked.

“You and I are going to be unable to perform on the final day so John and Clarice have to take over,” Lorna explained. “Because they need to talk and won’t.”

Marcos looked over at John. “Yeah, okay, makes sense, he was acting a little more quiet than normal,” he said and looked back at Lorna. “But what about you?”

“Don’t worry about that, you’ll see tomorrow, but trust me, it’ll work,” Lorna assured him.

“What about costumes?” Marcos asked. “The dresses are already fitted to Lorna right? And how will that work with the whole magnetic dress making scene. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to change it.

“We’ll just ask if they have anything at home that’s nice. Look, we can go through the details tomorrow and I’ll work it out tonight. It’ll work,” Lorna repeated.

Marcos put his hands on his hips and let out a breath. “I can’t believe we’re doing a rom-com trope for this plan.”

Lorna and Sonia laughed, because it truly was something out of a rom-com movie.

Chapter Text

I know I just came back from an hiatus but I think have to put this story on hold again. Which I know sucks and seems so sudden and messy but yeah. I don't have any real reason except I just don't want to write for The Gifted at the moment. Lately my focus has changed to video games and so now I'm hyperfocussing on that instead of The Gifted.

Anyway, I'm sorry for all these ups and downs and I will hopefully finish this story. But I'm terrible at multi chapter commitments and I do feel bad about it. So maybe within the next month or earlier, once I can get things together, I will post a final chapter that will kinda be like two chapters in one. To make up for flaking again.

That aside, I hope everyone who reads this enjoys their day or evening or midnight or whatever. I'll still post on this account but it'll be other fandom stuff. So keep a look out for that if you're interested in video games or something.

XOXO Aida~