Rejected Save The Last Dance

Dance night, and the entire Xavier Institute was a buzz. The commotion of the main house was nothing in comparison to the pure gleeful chaos going on in the annex building which housed the newest set of new recruits. Something about living in a building without constant parental supervision did that to teenagers it seems.

Laid up on her bed, flat out with her feet in the air, booted heels pressing into the ceiling was Curtis Lanes. She was lacing up her brand new white boots, courtesy of her latest shopping trip with her roommates, Lee and Arina. Once she had tied the last boot, she dropped her legs onto her bed and promptly rolled off the top bunk to the floor.

Singing the whole entire time.

Lee was sitting on the bottom bunk, combing her hair and she laughed as Curtis began to dance about the room in time with her own excited singing. "I am a gentleman, didn't I pay for every laugh every dime, every bit every time and then you feed me some line." She spun past the door to their room, just as Arina returned to it, clad in her fluffy robe, black hair wet and sticking to her forehead from her shower. Curtis promptly grabbed the other girl's hand and danced in a circle with her, "I won't hear one more word about changing. Guess what I am the same man, same that I've always been."

Lee stood up and leaned against the post of the bunk bed, slipping her foot into her boot, red nails glittering in the overhead light while Arina detached herself from her roommate. "Geeze what did you do, eat a rainbow?" The blonde asked, her tone pure teasing as Curtis brushed her hair in front of the mirror, her whole body going side to side as she sang a little 'ba, ba, ba' to herself.

Curtis looked over her shoulder and beamed. "I told you, remember? My brother's coming to the dance!" She gave a light squeal of happiness and resumed brushing her bangs.

"And you're sure that's gonna be allowed?" Arina asked, pulling her pants up over her hips and ignoring the look Lee was shooting her, and then the dress lying untouched on the pale mutant's bed.

"I bought him a ticket, and he's my brother! It's not like they won't let him in because he doesn't go to our school, Jessica Milton said she's brining her boyfriend, and he's from a whole nother state!" Curtis was standing in the mirror now with her hair parted down the middle, holding a bunch in each hand up at the top of her head. She looked to her roommates for advice. "Up or down?"

"Down." They both drawled simultaneously, Arina buttoning up her shirt and Lee tying her own boots. Curtis nodded and released the raven colored locks, shaking her head to undo the part she'd created.

"Down it is then."

Lee helped Curtis tie the ribbon of her dress in a bow at her back, and Curtis in turn helped with her hair. Arina sat on her bed and gave moral support to Lee, who was now griping about the fact that her eyes were so much more noticeable now that her hair was up.

A shrill buzz went up from the top bunk, followed by the words: 'Oh god, oh god, we're all going to die! Who's flying this thing?!' Curtis scrambled up her ladder onto her bunk, plucking the cellphone from her blankets and picking up, leaning back on the ladder to look at the ceiling.

"Aaaaaaaaaaddam." She sing-songed.

"Amaaaaaanda."  A male voice responded.

"Aaaaaaaasshole." Curtis replied, not missing a beat as she looked down at her roommates, mouthing 'brother,' to them. Lee nodded and Arina shrugged. They were both used to Curtis's phone conversations with her brother by now.

"So, are you calling to ask where I am? Because the dance isn't for another hour and a half so you're prolly standing in front of the school like some hobo aren't you?" Curtis asked, pausing to wait for his confirmation.

"Well, actually." The smile slipped a hair.

"You promised you would go."

"I promised I would go if nothing happened."

"And something happened, right?"

"Well…yeah."

Curtis pursed her lips, her tongue gliding over her top teeth as she glared sideways at the phone pressed to her ear. "You're calling me from prison, aren't you?"

A moment of silence, and then "Yes?"

"Right." Curtis descended the ladder and marched over to the dresser where her goggles were sitting beside a small black purse. "I'm hanging up now."

"I'm sorry Amanda."

"I know, I know, but I have to go before you ruin my night." She paused as she lifted the goggles off the surface and adjusted them in her hands. "I have to go puke a rainbow now."

"What?" But she'd already hung up.

"I am a Gentleman, didn't I-" She gave up on the song and rubbed her temples. "Can I have a hug please?" And she got it.