8/18 Instance: Trying Too Hard

[Ult_Sm86]

Paige: Paige wheeled down the hallway digging for candy in her pockets. She frowned when she realized she was out of gummy bears. She'd have to fix that soon. As she paused to fix her shoes before going down the stairs she paused. What was that noise?

Miles: Miles sniffled in the closet he was hiding in. For the last 5 days this had become a daily routine. He would feel the pressure from having little to no friends, the pressure of not coming out as a mutant to his parents yet, and the pressure of an Uncle, tasking him to steal from the people he wished to be friends with.

Miles: It was terrifying knowing what had happened to the students not 6 months ago, and more terrifying that nothing had really changed. People still hated mutants. But most of all... he just wanted a friend. Everyone was so much older. He was amazed at how different people were who were only a year older than him. What happens during 18 to make you a d-bag?

Paige: She moved toward the sound, trying to discern what was it was. She slowly moved, then paused outside of a closet. A closet? What in the world was making that noise in the closet?

Miles: He sobbed quietly to himself, gliding his thumb over the keys on his cell... wishing he could call his mom.

Paige: Paige opened the closet door, started to see Miles in there. "Miles?"

Miles: He sucked air in, quickly wiping his eyes. "Yo! Canna brother get some privacy?" He practically shouted. "Jeez." Pulled his hoody up and tried to get by her, checking her with his shoulder.

Paige: She stumbled back at the check, but quickly reached out to grab his arm gently. "Why are you hiding in the hall closet?"

Miles: He tried to shake off the grab, but between the surprise of it and his own emotions at the moment, a sob got caught in his throat. "I..."

Paige: Paige just pulled him into a hug.

Miles: He sobbed into her arms, hugging her tight. "I have no friends... No one likes me, my Uncle hates me, my parents are afraid of mutants... I'm too young for this." He gasped into shoulder.

Paige: "Why do you think you have no friends?" First things first.

Miles: "Everyone... makes... fun... of me... And no one will talk to me seriously..." His eyes were filled with tears as he looked up to her. "My Uncle always told me this shit happens. You think it doesn't, but when you're in a place that you don't belong, a place where no one understands you, you get picked on. He says it's 'reverse-culture-shock'."

Miles: "No one wants to try to be friends with me 'cause I'm too different..."

Paige: "Who is mean to you?! I'll put them on toilet cleaning rotation."

Miles: "They ignore me, they took me out drinking with everyone else and then made fun of me when I got drunk... but I'd never drank before and I was just trying to be friends..."

Miles: "With everyone..." he finished after gasping and gulping a sob out. "I just,... people don't like me. I should just go back to New York City, where I fit in." But he knew, as a mutant, he didn't fit in there either.

Paige: "Well you are too young to be going out drinking anyway. Maybe you are trying too hard.... did you ever consider that?"

Miles: "Yeah..." He sniffled. "No." He corrected. "I just, I'm the pain-in-the-ass-kid. No one wants to hang out with me, so I tried to throw a party, and no one came. And I tried to cheer people up in the recroom, and they told me I was being a jerk. And when I tried to help Rachel..." his lip wibbled. "She beat me up."

Paige: "She did what?!" She'd be having a talk with Rachel, that was for sure. "Why did she beat you up?"

Miles: "I was trying to show her how to use her teke as a guard, like in my games... and she threw me around and gave me a concussion..." He decided he should't leave out what else happened. "... I was sling shotting boulders at her, but it was DR training! And it was my first time in there! I'm too young to be on the teams still."

Miles: "Which is stupid, 'cause they're not giving me a chance. No one trusts me."

Paige: "Miles... it's not that no one trusts you... it's that being on teams is dangerous... we... we don't always come back. So once you are old enough, you can go on all the missions you want. You have plenty of time to be a hero."

Miles: "But I can camo, and I have spider-sense! And I'm awesome! But no one trusts me. No one trusts the black kid." He said, venom in his voice. He pulled away from the hug, more violently than he anticipated, and though he instantly felt bad, he didn't show it.

Miles: "No one wants me around. I'm some street kid who broke into the school and settled himself in. I got beat up by a teacher, man."

Paige: "If you ever pull the race card again, I will kick your ass myself. And you don't know a thing about those kids. My hus... ex husband... was one of those kids. He lost his brother to a gang. So don't you stand there and tell me that this is the same thing. Stop being a victim. Heroes don't get to be victims. We put on a smile and we push onward."

Miles: "You're from a better class, obviously." He persisted. "Do you see anyone african-american or latino in my class? The one above it? No one trusts me. They just see some young, punky, squatter who is mooching off their lifestyle. But I'm trying. I'm genuinely trying. And I don't want to push forward if no one can even kiss me without being scared away from me."

Miles: He realized he might've said too much.

Paige: "You have a class full of multicolored people. Color doesn't mean anything. And it doesn't affect their like or dislike of you at all. And who did you kiss that you think you scared off?"

Miles: "No one. It's stupid. It's irrelevant." He said, pointedly. "Teachers are so nosy."

Paige: "And students are so whiney. Stop being a victim. You want to be an X-Man? You want to be a hero?"

Miles: He sniffled. "Mom told me it's okay to cry." he said. "Uncle Hobbie says it makes me a pussy. Guess he was the right one..."

Paige: "No, it's ok to cry. It's not ok so it here and feel sorry for yourself and think that nobody likes you. The world doesn't like us. The world hates us. That's what you get when you're an X-man."

Miles: "That sucks. My dad told me a long time ago when you do the right thing, you always feel good. I-... I don't see a lot of people around here feeling good."

Paige: "Miles... it's a lot more complex than that. Everyone here just went through a lot. We've all been through hell. We feel good about helping people. About saving lives. But we are allowed to mourn our losses."

Miles: Miles didn't like any of his responses to that, so instead he told her with his eyes just what he thought of her logic. Then, "... I kissed Hope and I don't know why. And I feel bad. I threw up for an hour after, because Johnny's my friend. And I'm pretty sure he'd burn me to ash if he found out."

Paige: "You kissed a girl that just had a bad break up after being kidnapped and tortured by Essex... you have horrible timing, Miles. I bet it had very little to do with you and everything to do with that."

Miles: "... I'm a fucking idiot." He grumbled, walking past her, into the closet, and shutting the door behind him.

Paige: "No, you're just young." She sat down outside the closet with her back against the wall. "And you've learned from it. Timing is key!"

Miles: "I want to help her... I like Johnny but... he fumbled. Dropped the ball." He cracked the door of the closet open and poked his head out. "It's like basketball. He was playing defense for her for so long, he didn't know what to do when he was put on offense. He has no game."

Miles: "He doesn't know how to treat a lady. And no one believes me that I actually do."

Paige: "Then go be her friend. That's what she needs right now. She doesn't need a boyfriend... she needs a friend."

Miles: "I tried. I ended up kissing her." He began to bang his forehead on the door frame.

Miles: "She was having a fight with Jess... she was about to leave. I tried to help, make her stay. I know she's smart and all but... it's not safe for her out there. People know what she did... sorta. And if they don't, she's still a danger to herself."

Paige: "Well... you got her to stay didn't you?"

Miles: "... Well... She apologized to Jess, I hear. And vice versa, so... I dunno... I just want her to know I didn't even predict the kiss."

Paige: "So why aren't you talking to her?"

Miles: "... 'cause the last red head I spoke to threw me into a crater. And everyone always gets angry with me, so I've started avoiding everyone."

Paige: "Heroes don't hide."

Miles: He tried to frown but he was smiling too brightly. "Yeah... And the hero always gets the girl, huh?"

Paige: Paige winked at him. "Bingo."

Miles: "My dad said once that men are always smart. The women in your life are always going to be smarter, and to listen to them. I uh-... I think he might've meant you."

Paige: Paige smiled and rested her head back against the wall. "Well I try. You just need to do what you set out... just be her friend."

Miles: Miles got out shut the door behind him, put his back against the wall next to Hope, and slid down to her right side. "Yeah... I guess." He put his head on her shoulder, realizing the stress of the last few days had finally caught up with him. That and the lack of sleep for about 3 days.

Paige: Paige rested her head atop his and sighed a bit. This professor business was hard.

Miles: Miles felt his eyes shudder and close, falling asleep on the shoulder of his new favorite professor, and possibly his best friend.

[puppygirl]

[Ult_Sm86]

LOL, Ali G!
He's an insecure kid who is looking for a reason why no one likes him. He's no different than anyone else, and he knows it, he just hasn't accepted it yet.