I don’t really remember my mother. But I know that she was a great woman. She was a rather young bride, but she loved my father just as much as he loves her or me. I lived the X-Men’s mansion in Westchester until I came to this school, I remember once not long after my mother’s death walking into the living room and seeing Wolverine setting on the couch, crying. He picked me up and sat me on his lap, and talked for at least an hour and a half about what a great woman my mother was, and how much she loved me, and everything she had taught him. She made him remember that life was good, and that there were things worth trying to get. Jubilation Lee was a fighter, she never gave up. I wish I could have known her. I look alot like her, except my nose is shaped a little different, and I have a dark complexion. Of course, since daddy is full African-American.
He thinks about her all the time, my father does. He’s strong for me, and hardly ever actually talks about her. But sometimes, mostly on holidays, I’ll see him sitting on his bed, thumbing through his thick photo album, his eyes damp and watery. I have a picture resting on my nightstand, it’s me setting on my mother’s lap, shortly after my second birthday. She had a beautiful smile in that picture. I don’t usually think this much about her, don’t get me wrong, I think about her alot, but not this much. It’s just that this particular day was her birthday. This day every year, dad usually keeps to himself and gets depressed. Everyone pretty much just leaves him alone. He just holes up in his room, and doesn’t come out unless he has to use the restroom. Hell, all this talk is making me even more sad than I already am.
It was almost three in the afternoon and I was just lying in bed, gazing out the window at the rain. It almost looked like night out there it was so dark. Too bad it wasn’t getting rid of some of this damn humidity, it’s so hot. I kicked the sheets that I had draped around my legs. The only light in any of the girl’s dorm came from Lawson’s lava lamp in the corner.
Someone lightly nudged me on the shoulder from behind. I rolled over and looked up at the tall blonde staring down at me. “Hey, how you doing?” she asked sincerely. Pandora Love. She was one of the three girls at the school. I envied her, she was everything I wanted to be. She was 16, tall, around 5’10, and could have been a supermodel. She had perfect blonde hair that came down to right beneath her shoulders. She also had Shannon Crakowski... sort of. I had the biggest crush on him, but was too scared to say anything. We did become good friends though, unfortunately he always talked about how absolutely gorgeous Pandora was, and all. But it wasn’t like they were going out or anything.
And what was worse, was that there was no way that I could ever hate or even hold a grudge against Pandora. She was my friend, we stayed up late and watched movies on HBO, and stood up for each other if one of us happened to get into an argument with one of the other students. We told each other secrets and comforted one another when something bad happened.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay,” I said as I propped myself up on my elbow. She reached across me and turned on my bedside lamp.
“You have any more of that blue fingernail polish?” she asked.
“There should be some in my desk. Second drawer from the bottom on the left side,” I said, motioning towards the wall with my hand. She found what she wanted, and then came back and sat beside me.
“So, let’s talk.” Honestly, that was the one thing that annoyed me about the girl. No matter how much I didn’t want to talk, how much I wanted to keep to myself, she could get me started.
“About what?”
“Well, hmmm, if you’re fine, then why are you lying in bed in the middle of the afternoon?”
“I’m tired.”
“Oh, really?” she said, never once taking her eyes off her fingernails.
“Yes, really, Pandora.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Pandora.”
“Listen, Terra. I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything at any time.”
“I know. I just don’t want to talk about that right now.”
“Ok, ok, I understand.”
“Soooo, what’s everyone else doing?”
“Well, Lawson, Cam and Chad went to the new movie theater in town, and Shannon, Miguel and Ethan are downstairs watchin’ TV, wondering where the fantabulous Ms. Terra ‘Mercury’ Thomas is.”
I cringed, “Don’t call me that.”
“Mercury? I thought you liked your codename? At least you have one, the only thing they could think of calling me was ‘Invisible Girl’ but they thought it’d sound like I was ripping off Sue Richards. So my nickname is my first name.”
“No, don’t call me Terra Thomas.” ‘Mercury’ was my codename, due to my mutant power. My power was like that of Piotr Rasputin because I could also turn my skin into a form of organic metal, but my abilities went one step further. After becoming the ‘Metal-Skinned Girl,’ I could then become a form of liquid metal, which is mercury. Only I could move, and think, and feel. It’s an odd experience.
“Why? You’re not ashamed of your father all the sudden are you?”
“No. Terra Thomas... it just doesn’t have a nice ring to it.”
“Sure it does. At least your name isn’t Pandora Love. I sound like a prostitute. Or a really bad stripper.” Pandora wasn’t exactly known for her confidence. She’d been an anorexic/bulimic when she first came to the school, and thanks to support from her friends and teachers, she’d gotten over that okay. But she always thought her hair and make-up looked like crap, when in fact she looked better than anyone there. She was too insecure for someone as pretty as she. And as horrible as it sounded, at that particular moment, her insecurity almost made me feel better. I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt awkward, even if she had no reason too. I always felt like the ultimate minority, being part Black, Asian, and a mutant to boot.
“Not at all. Your name is unique. Exotic, I like it. And it doesn’t sound like a limerick.”
She smirked, obviously amused. “You reek of boredom, come on, let’s go downstairs and waste time in front of the tube,” she said jokingly as she pulled me by my arm.
“I really don’t feel like it, Pandora.” She tugged me right off the bed, and I hit the floor hard. “OW! My ass!” I said laughing. In the end, she won and I felt better that I wasn’t setting around, moping.