Wilted Rose

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Clarice and her Dad go to visit some local universities. They only make it to one semi-successfully, although Clarice invites him to have tea with the Professor.



Clarice waited in the parking lot the university for her dad to arrive. He had been in the city consulting on a case and they had decided to go look at colleges since she would have to apply soon. She was not waiting patiently although she had dressed somewhat nicely for the admissions counselors (and so her father wouldn't be embarassed to be with her, although she would never admit that out loud) in a sedate khanki skirt that she had 'liberated' from Terry's side of the closet and a light blue sweater with sequined flowers. Perfectly normal, if you discounted the knee-high doc martens. Somethings just shouldn't be changed though.

"Clarice!" The call of her name came from over to her left, and her father waved as he wove through the parked cars to where she was standing. "Sorry, sweetheart," Jacob Ferguson said with a quick smile. "Things ran a little late."

"It's cool," Clarice shrugged it off. This wasn't the first meeting he had that ran late or the fiftieth. "I just don't want to miss the tour, y'know? Being the only kid without a parent is majorly embarassing."

"Shall we go in, then?" Jacob looked at her for a moment, then smiled, almost tentatively. "You look very nice."

"Really?" Clarice blushed, surprised by the compliment. Usually he thought her clothes to be outlandish and demanded that she change before they go anywhere. "Thanks." Subtley she moved closer to her father as they entered the building, wary of what might happen. As much as she pretended to go anywhere and do anything regardless of her mutation, she rarely went out alone or to strange places.

The admissions building was bustling with parents and students milling around, waiting for the tours and lectures about the school to begin. Unconsciously, Clarice slipped her hand into her father's, following him to the check-in table.

"Hello," her father said to the woman at the table, with a professional smile. "I'm Jacob Ferguson, and this is my daughter Clarice. We're here for the tour?"

The woman stared at the duo over her glasses, frowning. "Ferguson...Ferguson...I don't see your name," she said with a false smile, "Are you sure you signed up?"

"I signed up a couple weeks ago." Clarice scanned the page until she found her name, "There I am. You must've missed it."

"Indeed," the woman replied sourly, handing over a packet of information and a couple name tags. "Next!"

Jacob frowned a little. "Come on," he said more quietly to Clarice. "Bad mood, maybe," he said once they were safely away from the table. "The place is a madhouse."
downstate medical center

"Yeah, a bad mood," Clarice agreed, not liking the stares she was getting. They weren't any different from normal, although there seemed to be some weird undercurrent from the few staff she saw. "I think the tour is about to start."

The tour progressed quickly through the school, their guide efficiently answering the questions various people posed. Most of the school was in one building with a few others scattered around it making it a rather small campus.

"What about student diversity?" Clarice called from the back of the group when the guide paused between topics.

The guide didn't answer and instead began discussing the do's and don't's of living on campus.

"I said - " Clarice began again, until she caught the glare from the tour guide. She shut up.

"Excuse me," Jacob said, very politely. "My daughter was wondering about the diversity of the student body?"

"Being in New York City, We have students from many different backgrounds," the tour guide said pointedly, "And we encourage minority students to apply; however, being a private univerity, we are not obligated to meet any affirmative action quotas and we accept students based on their merit, not their skin color."

Crossing her arms, Clarice thought carefully. "So what you're saying in such a politely non-insulting way, is that you can't stop anyone from applying, but you don't accept many minorities," she looked around at all the faces in the tour. All caucasian except for one Asian family. "How many mutants do you have enrolled then?" Now all eyes were on her, some nodding, some looking blank and others angry.

"None," the guide answered, smugly.

"I don't think that's anything to be proud of, miss," Jacob said, looking slightly bemused.

"That's discrimmination," Clarice announced, angry. "And worse than that, it's bigotry and prejudice."

"It's a matter of safety for the other students and the fact that most mutants don't have the educational background to be accepted here," the guide replied, defending herself, "Mutants attract trouble, like at Columbia last year."

Okay, that couldn't be argued with entirely, what with government attacks and her teachers running around in leather, but it was still not right. "That's right," Clarice agreed sarcastically, "I'm a threat. Ooooh, yeah, my skirt might eat you! Scary khaki! Beware!"

"Clarice." Jacob laid a hand on his daughter's arm, but addressed the tour guide instead. "I think we'll be going," he said simply. "I don't see any point in wasting my daughter's time at a school that's liable to be the defendant in significant litigation at some point if your remarks are to be taken as the policy of the administration, young lady."

Clarice opened a teleportation disk silently hoping that her father would understand since he had never allowed her to teleport him anywhere. Normally she avoided using her powers in public, but she wanted to make a statement, even it if was only that they could get to the parking lot quickly.

Jacob hesitated only for a moment before taking her arm and stepping through with her. "Well," he said as they emerged in the parking lot. "That was an odd sensation."

"They suck," Clarice proclaimed, sitting on her dad's car trunk. She was too angry to go even though they had another school to visit. Quietly she added, "I hate being me."

"Clarice..." Jack regarded her for a long moment. "Do you want to see the other school?" he asked finally. "This might have been an exception..."

Clarice Considered for a moment before deciding, "No, I don't want to now. The thing is, this isn't the exception. I was kicked out of Ithaca High, remember? This is the rule if you look like me. And it isn't fair and it isn't right!"

"Clarice..." Jacob sighed. "I don't know what to tell you," he said. "What just happened in there... it's shocking to me, although perhaps it shouldn't be, after everything that's happened. I don't know what to do," he said honestly, "how to help you when you run into situations like this. Apart from the obvious," he said with a faint smile, "and I'm not sure that copious lawsuits on your behalf are really what's called for."

Clarice snorted, "I bet mom would defend me, she's always taking up worthless causes. Um," she hesitated, unsure how her dad would take this, "I have another idea...but you gotta talk to the Professor before I say anything."

Jacob looked at her curiously. "All right," he said thoughtfully. "Did you want to head back to the Institute now...?"

"Nah," Clarice shook her head, not seriously daunted by the days events. Unfortunantly, it wasn't anything new, "Let's get lunch first?"