Angel/Crystal, In the Bathroom, with a Basket

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Crystal finds Angel hiding in their suite bathroom. It seems the last bit of puberty has finally arrived.



The bathroom floor slightly sticky but Angel didn't pay it any attention, just sat in the corner with her legs drawn up to her chest and her head in the basket that was balanced in her lap. This was all Marius' fault, she decided frantically. Completely and utterly his fault. This was...this was...not fair. Completely not fair because she didn't want to like guys. She was perfectly happy not noticing how cute their smiles were or their eyes or, God help her, their butts.

'Oh god oh god oh god EW EW but not ew oh god.'

Crystal paused outside the door to her suite's bathroom. Someone was in there, someone who wasn't too happy and wasn't feeling too well. Ew indeed. "Do I need to call a member of the medical staff to assist you?" Crystal called out.

Angel's head jerked up. Maybe the medical staff could cure her of boys? Probably not. "No need," she responded to Crystal, sounding miserable. "I'm not sick. Well, not physically. I'm just very confused and hiding." She never hid. Ever. Except, apparently, from boys.

"Is someone chasing you again? Who are you hiding from this time?" And why would you hide in a bathroom?

"No chasing this time." That got a weak smile from her. "Um. Well. It's...stupid. It's really stupid." Angel thunked her head against the tile wall. "I guess you could say I'm hiding from boys in general. I...I think I might like them now which is bad! No likee as more then friends!"

Remaining outside of the bathroom, Crystal raised an eyebrow. "Do you like a specific boy and you are not pleased with your choice?"

"I didn't like boys before tonight," Angel explained softly, picking at the basket in her lap that, thanks to tons of candy, it was weighed down. "I had no interest in them outside of, you know, friends. It was like they were all my cousins or something. But I noticed them, tonight, suddenly. Not at what they were doing but...but how they looked and...argh."

"So," Crystal said, more than a bit amused, "you no longer find boys to be, what is that term you use? Oh yes, groady. Boys are suddenly not groady, and you find this to be a problem?"

"Yes! Or, well, part of me does. The rest is going "Glee, guys are pretty!"" Angel sulked. "On top of getting smacked upside the head with hormones, everyone I've protested to? Is going to laaaaaaugh at me. Maybe even Mr. Marko." She paused. "No, sorry, correction. Especially Mr. Marko. And it's like every guy I saw on my way back my brain went 'Oh, hello there'. Every. Guy. Is that normal?"

Crystal had to fight to keep herself from launching into a coughing fit. "I, ah, I do not think that there is one normal way for this to happen. Surely, though, you had to know that something like this would happen." Please, please don't tell me that no one has discussed anything like this with you before. Please...

Now that got a small laugh, slightly sheepish sounding. "Oh, yeah, I knew but..." Angel shook her head. "My mom called me a late bloomer with the whole growing up thing. I just manifested my powers in August and, apparently, most people do that like at twelve or thirteen. I was kinda hoping the whole liking boys thing would stay away until college and I wasn't expecting it to happen in one evening. Talk about a total shock to the system."

Late manifesters... since no one could see her, Crystal allowed herself to make a face. When she was 14, she had already been using her powers for seven years. It was quite hard to imagine would it would have been like if, like Angel, she had not manifested until reaching the age of 14.

"Yes, most mutants manifest at those ages, but not all," Crystal explained, toying with one of her costume's long bracelets. "Some do not manifest until their late teens, others manifest years before they reach the age of 12. These cases are not common, but they do happen. I manifested my powers when I was seven."

"Wow." Angel was impressed. "That's just...wow. No wonder you're so good with your powers." She paused. "Boys are complicated," she said quietly, "and if I'm being really honest, I'm kinda scared because I know what to do with them before. But this is new territory."

Crystal let out a small sigh. She wasn't getting out of this one, was she? She was far away from home, in a school full of people she didn't understand, standing outside a bathroom, dressed like a character from a comic book, talking to a 14-year-old girl who had just discovered that she was attracted to members of the opposite sex. Great.

"You should not be scared, Angel," Crystal told her suitemate. "This is nothing to be afraid of; it is a normal part of growing up. You should be glad that it happened now rather than later. You would not really want something like this to have waited until you began attending college."

It took a second for her to respond as Crystal's words sunk it and Angel scooted further away from the corner. "I...yeah, you're right," she said, reaaally thinking about it. "I mean, if I got this freaked out now, who knows what would have happened if this had built up for a couple more years. I think I'm going to have to sit down and figure out how--or if--this is going to affect me. I mean, lots of girls like boys, right? And they don't let it run roughshod over their lives. Much."

Crystal stifled a laugh. "Yes, Angel. A lot of girls like boys. No one is going to find it strange that you are now interested in boys."

"My dad's so going to want to lock me in my room," Angel said laughing, standing up. She brushed off the back of her Dorothy costume and then turned to the door. "Thanks, Crystal...I don't normally get all 'Argh, emo girl head explode' and talking helped a lot. Oohhh, hey, Dream Girl! I like the costume."

"Thank you," Crystal said, smiling at Angel. "I had it made for me and sent here. Your costume is very nice, too."

Angel beamed. "Thank you. I should get back downstairs to the rest of the party or else Kyle'll hunt me down. Are you going back?"

Crystal nodded. "I forgot a few of the hamster supplies in my room and I figured that Jennie would appreciate their removal from her view. I will take them to Medusa's room and then I will rejoin the party." Boys or Kyle, Angel?

"The hamsters are adorable," Angel commented, tucking an errant stray of hair back into place. "And it'll be weird not having you in the suite but it'll only be for a week. And I'll see you at the party, thank you again!"