Inez and Monet: Being Awesome

[x-desperado.livejournal.com]

Monet gets a lift into the city from Inez, and some unexpected bonding occurs.



There was a system to it, if you were over fifteen and thus, too old to be seen dead in the kids' city shuttle bus or if it was any other day of the week and the thought of playing taxi-driver roulette wasn't appealing. Wait in the garage, and look pretty at around three-thirty after they'd finished school or seven-thirty for the students heading into town.

"Inez? Honey? Could I like, maybe sort of get a bit of a lift into town with you?" Monet asked, spying a (willing victim) kind person with a drivers' license.

Inez looked up quickly from where she was signing out a car. Much to her annoyance, someone had already taken out the Jeep, so she'd have to settle for one of the completely boring sedans. And already someone was asking for a ride. "Um... Monet, right?" she asked. "I'm actually heading into the city to schedule some stuff for Ms. Frost... but I can probably drop you off."

Something seemed weird, and she squinted at Monet. "Wait, you're like... twenty-something, right? Don't tell me you can't drive."

"Dude, the city would be awesome. I can get the train back tonight. Thanks!" Monet looked a little sheepish. "I can totally drive - I was on my L's for a while back before Dad made me come here for school. But I'm not actually allowed to." There was a brief pause. "Not because I've done anything dodgy but I go catatonic sometimes? It's like people with seizure disorders or narcolepsy can't, either."

"Oh, that's got to suck," Inez replied, taking the ring of keys off the board and heading over to the sedan, trying not to brush up against the side of a pickup truck that desperately needed to be washed. Suddenly her jaw dropped and her free hand flew to her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Oh my god, tell me that's not what Mister Sefton... er, Kurt was complaining about on the journals that got everyone all upset!"

"You have no idea. This place is in the middle of nowhere and it's a fifteen minute flight to the Salem Centre station. And that's if I don't get lost because the snow makes everything look identical." Monet settled in the front passenger seat. "Also, yeah, it was. And we really weren't doing anything - kissing, really and then, blamo. I fall over sideways and am unconscious for the next thirty minutes."

Inez couldn't hold in a snicker at that. "Okay, I'm sorry, but that's really funny. I mean, not the whole zoning out thing because that sucks, but the timing's really funny." She turned the key in the ignition and sighed at the meager rumble from the engine. "So wait, you fly too on top of everything else? Totally not fair."

"Hey, you know I'm perfect, right? Don't get sick, am real strong, invulnerable, can fly... Also, I'm a telepath." Monet grinned. "And yet, I'm not allowed to drive into town on account of what I might to to other people if I zone out."

Inez thought about that for a minute as they drove away from the mansion. "And people probably still freak out if someone just flies up and drops out of the sky outside Saks, yeah? Although you know, that could probably come in useful if you just don't want to talk to someone. Just stare off into space until they go away. I should totally try that."

"Totally. I usually just go the station. It's a bit of a hike, heading all the way into town proper." She laughed. "It doesn't work, trust me. They get all worried and the next thing you know, you're waking up in an ambulance. Again. And missed your Econometrics exam."

Inez laughed and shook her head. "Oh no, miss an exam. What will I do?" She didn't mention that she'd been studying her ass off lately, and her grades were showing it. At least spending all her free time in her room or the library was paying off.

"So hey," she asked cautiously, pretending to be casual, "say you had a guy totally flirting with you and then you find out he's been playing the field with anything in a skirt. Running him up the flagpole by his boxers - totally justified?"

"That depends. Was he flirting seriously, in a this is going to be something once we get to it way or just because he flirts like breathing?"

Inez tried not to squeeze the steering wheel too hard as she remembered how Julian had made her cocoa, and the way she'd felt comfortable talking to him. The idea that it had been just another thing to him wasn't something she liked to dwell on, because then she started wondering why things were different with Angel and that kept making her think about dropping a bus on the fiery redhead which was really a shame because Angel was really cool and totally deserved a cool boyfriend who maybe didn't have to be Julian.

"I think it's just the way he is," she admitted with a sigh. "Boys suck."

"Crap. I'm sorry, hon. I don't think you can do anything then. Except just accept that some guy flirt. And are tools. Also, he has stupid hair." Monet fiddled with the radio for a moment, flicking from station to station before turning it off again as country filled the car.

"He kind of does, doesn't he?" Inez agreed. "At least the older guys... well, they're not as dumb. Most of them around the school are just... is it bad to say 'boring'? Because yeah. Maybe I should see about going to that club everyone talks about. Silver?"

"He's what? Sixteen? Seventeen? Hon, he's too dumb to breath and walk at the same time. Trust me, I'm a telepath. I know what boys are like." She looked carefully at Inez, trying to guess her age, knowing that her original assumption of 'probably 18, if she can drive me into town' couldn't be correct. "How old are you, dude? The Silver crowd are mostly all in their early twenties..."

"Eighteen... almost. In, like, September," Inez grumbled.

"Um. It's possible that the Silver crowd isn't for you, yet, then, dude. Blue light discos, sure, though."

"Stupid age discrimination," Inez complained as she kept driving. "I just don't get it. I mean, on the one hand there's people trying to tell us that it's okay to be normal kids, but really? How many normal kids have to fight crazy anorexic supervillains when New York got taken over?"

"I know. Life is so hard like that. But, if it makes you feel better, it's mostly about the kind of skeevy dudes who like girls who're under 18, rather than about you?"

"Boys!" Inez spat, this time slapping a hand against the steering wheel in frustration. "I mean, it's not even like I'm looking to date, yo. It's just that..." She let out a breath between her teeth and concentrated on the road. "You know I've been at the school almost longer than I've ever lived in one place my whole life? And all I hear is about how I get to try and be normal and be a normal teenager and do normal things! And I don't know, maybe I was dumb to think for a moment I had a shot at... fuck, I'm being stupid here, right?" She sniffed and wiped her sleeve quickly across her eyes then swore. "Thank god I didn't put on makeup, Ms. Frost would have just killed me for that."

"Watch the road!" Monet yelped, more worried about the car than either herself or Inez since hey, they'd survive. "Nah, you're not being stupid. The problem is just that you've all got like, no choices. You guys have Fred and Julian and maybe Kyle, if he wasn't seeing Jan. That's it, and poor old Karolina's even worse off and most of the town kids are complete tools so they're out of the running. Seriously, hon. Forget about Julian, since he's a tool who flirts with anything with legs and that's breathing and go be awesome."

"I am getting to be pretty good at the awesome thing," Inez chirped, suddenly cheering up. "I've been thinking about the whole New Mutants thing... I know we don't have like, class president or anything at the school, but since we don't really have a permanent advisor for the program anymore... I was kind of thinking of taking charge?" she said, trying to hide any uncertainty in her voice. "You know, just getting the other kids together, finding one of the staff who wants to work with us and kind of just... I dunno. Leading by example, yo. Being awesome."

"Awesome. It'd be good to get more going with that. Who are you going to tap for your adviser?"

"Nooo idea," Inez drawled, turning off the interstate and into the city proper. "I mean, it depends on if the other kids are interested, even. I know Nori doesn't like the group stuff, Karolina's completely useless, and Tatiana... well, I kind of get the feeling Tat doesn't like to be reminded she's a mutant. You know, I've been her roommate for almost a year and I still have no freaking idea what she does? I just know it's apparently something embarassing. But hey, if no one else is going to take charge..."

She gave a one-armed shrug and slowed down at a stoplight. "64 Square's a few blocks down."

"Seriously? Oh my god! I have to find out what her power is, now. And yeah, I heard about Karolina. Sucks to be you." Monet shook her head. "Thanks for the lift, hon. It beats death by taxi driver."

"If you find out, share," Inez said as she pulled to the curb. "And Monet? Um... thanks for letting me vent. Sorry for being all emo."

"It's all good, dude. Besides, you gave me a lift into town. I think we're even. See you back at the mansion?" Monet said, climbing out of the car and adjusting her hair.