and then, like, she said...

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this takes place just after the semi-formal

EDIT: missing paragraph now added.



After the dance Clarice was too keyed up to sleep. She'd gone to find Paige but she was busy so she wandered the halls looking for something to do. A light was on at the other end of the hall so she wandered over to see what was going on.

Doug had quickly changed out of his leather pants after returning from the concert. All things considered, it had gone very well, aside from the urge to go backstage and puke when he noticed Rogue arriving with Logan to watch. Flopping on his bed, he stared at the ceiling and sighed.

"Cool pants," Clarice said, leaning against the doorframe.

Doug flipped over on his bed, startled. "Um...thanks, I think." He blushed. Remembering his manners, he stuck out a hand. "Clarice, right? I don't think we've actually had a chance to meet yet, aside from the journal system."

"Yeah. The purple people eater in the flesh. You're..." she searched her mind trying to dredge up a name. She'd met so many people in only a few days and most she had only seen on the journals, not in the flesh. "Warren?"

Doug chuckled. "Nah, Warren's the one with the big wings and a gigantic freakin' penthouse in Manhattan. Chain-smokes like a mother, and is dating Piotr. I'm Doug."

"Oh! Sorry. I thought this school was small until I tried to learn everyone's names in a day. I liked the music tonight," she reaches under her dress and began to roll her thigh-high tights down. "Ah, much better."

Doug blushed beet red and glanced away. "So, um, you were mentioning curiosity over all the numerous relationships here in the soap opera that is Xavier's, right? I am your source. Seems like half the student body winds up confiding crap in me at one point or another." He chuckled wryly. "Besides, I have a horrible weakness for gossip. Just as long as it's not about me."

“Ohh!! Tell, tell!” Clarice comes in and sits on the floor by his bed like a child waiting for a grandparent to tell a story. “Start with Paige and Angelo since they were sucking face about a minute ago.”

Doug rolled his eyes and sat up. "Okay. Paige and Angelo are sort of a couple. It's complicated, and it involves Jono repeating that she's better off not dating him even though she loves them both equally. Jono's fixated on this theory that he's a monster."

"I can understand that theory," she replies quietly, refusing to look at him.

Doug sighed theatrically, rolling his eyes to heaven. "Not another one. Look, I'm going to cast aside my usual circular speaking and tell you bluntly. You're not a monster; you're not a freak. You're a good person, attractive, and anyone who tells you otherwise can suck it." He blushed. "There. Pep talk over."

Now it was Clarice's turn to blush. "I didn't say I agreed with him! I just can understand it. I don't feel like a monster, y'know? I don't want to eat babies or whatever monsters supposedly do. But my parents look at me like I'm a freak. I can't go outside without an image inducer without getting beat up. I was cut from the dance team for being a mutant and then kicked out of school. I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me, I'm sure everyone has a story like this here, but I can see why he can feel like that."

Doug blushed even more. "Oh. Sorry. I get a little carried away. And people with freak complexes bug me. Sorry."

"I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm not used to this place. You don't look at me weird...and that's weird. I'm not making sense. Back to the gossip," she shifted so she was sitting with her legs sticking out. She began to stretch without really thinking about it.

"Okay. So we've done the extremely abbreviated version of Paige, Jono, and Angelo. On to other subjects. Well, I suppose my roommate is the next logical step. My roommate Jamie, he's the guy who makes duplicates of himself...he's dating Kitty. She walks through walls. They're deliriously happy together, ridiculously cute, and just all kinds of cool. Beware of sugar shock if you stay around them for too long, though." Doug grinned wickedly.

Clarice nodded, although it was hard to tell with her head touching her knee, “I noticed the cavity inducing dancing earlier. Distinct lack of drama and therefore wholly uninteresting.”

"Well, I don't know. I'm not sure being tied down right now is such a good thing necessarily. We're young, we have time."

Doug nodded. "I suppose, but there's a comfort in knowing that there's someone out there for you. Me, I wonder." He shook his head. "But anyways, more gossip. Our neighbors across the hall are Lorna, who's in the med lab right now, and Alison. Alison is dating Sam, Paige's older brother. Lorna is dating Alex, Mr. Summers' younger brother. Unfortunately, Alex seems to have gone missing a couple days ago, and everyone's a little worried."

"Wow...are there a lot of sibs here?”

Doug shook his head. "Really, it's only the Guthrie’s and the Summers'. And actually, other than Warren and Piotr, that's really all the established relationships. There's some back story with a few other people, and various people having crushes on various other people, but that's really it in terms of people dating other people."

Clarice sat up properly and shook her head, "And I thought you said it was complicated. Anyone just fuck-buddies?"

Doug blushed again. "Um, about the only people that might be are Sarah and Jono. Kind of a mutual freakshow mentality. But that's just a theory of mine relating to the two of them living in the basement and their mention of a game of strip poker. Not really sure if they are or aren't."

"Strip poker does not a fuck-buddy make, trust me. I wouldn't have sex with most of the people I've ever played strip poker with. But that doesn't mean that they aren't either," she replied, belatedly noticed how much blushing she was causing Doug and stopped discussing sex before his head exploded. "Well, I should probably get ready for bed before my roommates turn off the lights. Thanks for the info."

"Yeah, thanks," Clarice smiled and headed back to her own room.