School Daze

[Bernard Bass]

The Stacks of the Institute had a distinct aura. The feeling of responsibility, knowledge and power almost seeped from these historical walls and it was making Bernard Bass crazy.
“I can’t take this anymore,” Bernard said to himself as he sat at one of the tables that lined the windowed wall of the schools library. “I mean, it’s like all of the professors had a meeting and decided to pile on the work as soon as the weather started getting warm. This is terrible, don’t they know I have Adult Swim to watch girls to chase. Spring has sprung my friends. I don’t want to be stuck inside learn about god knows what. I want to live, I want to have fun!” Bernard shot out of his chair like a rocket as he finished his Shatneresque monolog.
“Sir, please keep it down!” One of the librarians said.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize I was taking out loud. How much of that did you hear? ” Bernard said sheepishly.
‘Please just sit down.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Bernard said as he quickly sat down and tried to get back into his work. But Bernard soon realized that getting back into his American History lesson would be next to impossible. The reason was simple; it was the warm sunlight that was streaming through the massive, wonderful windows.
“That’s it, I gotta get outta here,” Bernard said as he quickly gathered his books and assignments and threw them into his backpack. “Who’s with me?’

[Tess Abrahams]

Two tables down, fully immersed in an illustrated history of the Blackfoot River Valley, Tess Abrahams spared a precious few seconds to cast a glare at the tall boy by the window. Honestly, didn't anyone have respect for the sactity of libraries anymore? Not two minutes ago she had been disrupted by a couple of younger children, arguing over who had grabbed 'The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure' first.

That morning an article had appeared in the Times about a local developer purchasing 190 acres of land in Montana with the intention of creating a massive housing community, complete with plans for the biggest mall within a 50 mile radius. Tess was outraged. The destructive environmental impact that IvisCor was preparing to cause absolutely blew her mind. It also effectively gaurenteed that questions 1-20 on page 48 of her trig textbook would not be completed for tomorrow.

There was only one thing to do: research, get informed, learn all the ins and outs of the situation... and then protest the hell out of it.

Which was why, when Bernard posed his question to (apparently) anyone within hearing distance, it took a good deal of biting her tongue not to ask him to, politely, shutup. After all, she had come to the library because she knew it was the last place Marty and Carlos would set foot in. She wasn't looking for any escapades--although they did always have a strange way of finding her.

Tess leaned against the chair, bending so that the top portion of her back folded over the top of the seat, giving the impression to anyone who didn't know what kind of students attended Cullen's, that her spine was presently in two pieces. "If you mean out out, you might as well give up. You've got to have a good reason and teacher permission to leave the grounds without supervision."

[Bernard Bass]

Bernard was still in awe of his classmates. Sometimes he would catch himself staring in amazement. This encounter was turning out to be one of those times. This girl couldn’t have been more that 18. He was tall and slender but the way she was able to manipulate he body was truly amazing. Bernard’s stare quickly turned into the gleeful smile of a two year old watching their favorite cartoon.

“Wow, that is pretty neat. Um, I mean that in the nicest way possible.” Seeing that she was looking quite aggravated Bernard attempted to back peddle. “Sorry, this is my first semester and my ability isn’t as impressive, I am slowly getting larger, but that was pretty cool. I should just stop talking now huh?”
The girl gave Bernard a polite nod.

“Ok sorry. My name is Bernard. And what do you mean? I have a good reason it’s opening day. You wanta go to a ball game?”

[Tess Abrahams]

"Bernard, I'm Tess. And no, I don't want to go to a ball game." Tess tucked her book under an arm and with an ease which spoke of athleticism, rose from her chair to cross the short distance between herself and the boy. "Do you know why I don't want to go to a ball game, Bernard? This is why."

The coltish girl let the heavy book fall onto the table with a thud, slapping a narrow palm onto it's face in mimic. "Do you realize how incredibly important the Blackfoot River is, Bernard? I mean, it's one of the most biodiverse wonders in the country!" At the reference desk, the librarian narrowed her eyes at the sudden increase in volume. Tess held up a hand and began to tick off her fingers. "Deer, elk, lynx, mountain lions, over two hundred species of bird, not to mention the plant life! Do you know how many various plant species you'll find in the wetlands alone?" Tess pressed her face closer to Bernard's.

"Over six hundred! And IvisCor wants to mash it all up and replace it with an ashphalt-paved, hedge-manicured, cul-de-sac!" A snort escaped as she curled her gentle lips into a sneer. "They'll dewater the potholes, degrade the watershed, and practice poor timber harvesting which will divert and reduce the stream flow, effectively killing off the entire trout population and don't even get me started on the impact on the growing Grizzly community."

Tess was breathing hard, her face flushed and angry. She suddenly remembered, with some embarrasment, that they were standing beside a shelf of bound volumes ranging from Theatre, History of to Sudan: The Land And the People and not at a rally. Bernard was probably terrified by her seemingly insane outburst. Tucking her hair behind her ears, Tess cleared her throat. "Ah. There's a meeting today, for concerned citizens, downtown. I was going to go to that."

[Bernard Bass]

After Tess’ intense and fiery sermon open day didn’t seem all that important. Things of this nature were never a real priority for Bernard. While others were protesting wars and global warming he was running wind sprints and lifting weights preparing for the upcoming football season. Bernard was impressed at her passion and vast knowledge of this river region.

Bernard looked at his classmate gave he a playful grin and quipped, “I’ve never been to an environmental lecture and I can bet you ain’t been to a ball game, and you haven’t lived until you’ve eaten a soft pretzel at Shea Stadium, so let’s do both.”

[Tess Abrahams]

Compromises were something that Tess held in the highest esteem. It would have been hypocritical of her not to agree--besides, her parents had always preached the benefits of keeping an open mind and embracing new things. True, baseball wasn't as grandiose as going vegan or dabbling in transcandental meditation, but it certainly counted.

Tess turned and deftly filed her book. Once it was safetly nestled in it's spot, she grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair and shrugged into it, the slick material hugging her frame nicely. "We better go while the gettin's good."

[Bernard Bass]

“Ok, I know this sounds weird but I have always wanted to plan an escape,” Bernard gleefully exclaimed.

Tess threw him a puzzled look.

“What? My dad’s favorite movie was ‘The Great Escape’ with Steve McQueen; I must have seen it a thousand times. Ok, here’s the plan. Over by the gym there is a maintenance shed, well, it’s not a shed it’s more of a garage. Anyway, the garage has a ladder that leads into a drainage pipe. That pipe leads to a stream that runs right along the outside of the western gate. Ok, so all we have to do is sneak into the maintenance shed without being seen by the grounds crew, climb down the latter, walk the 500 or so feet and wa-la, we are free. So, what do ya think?”

Tess looked at the mastermind for what seemed to be an eternity and broke out in hysterical laughter. She attempted to gain he composure, but it was impossible.

Dejected Bernard gave in and said, “Or we could just hop the fence?”

[Tess Abrahams]

"Which will mean that we're basically visible to anyone who bothers to stand at a window," Tess murmered lowly as they passed the librarian, "And arouse unwanted attention." They exited the library and made a left. Tess walked briskly, every step fluid and purposefull.

"Wait for two secs." The girl dissapeared through the double doors of the cafeteria, returning a few minutes later with a plastic-wrapped sandwhich, an apple, and a bottle of water. "Okay, let's go visit Howard." She said with a smile. Two two exited the institute and started walking down the long drive, Tess slowing noticably.

When they reached the end, Tess waved at the gaurd in the little shack at the gate. "Hi Howard!"

The big, wide-smiling man waved back, his bushy eyebrows crinkling. His hands were massive, collosal-knuckled things. "Hello Tess! Who's your friend?"

"This is Bernard. Bernard, this is Howard." Tess held up the food. "Thought you might be hungry." She handed him the food, which the man took gratefully in one gigantic palm.

"Thanks, darlin'." Howard took a bite of the apple and 'mm-ed' as the sweet juice dribbled down his chin. "Wha' are you two up to t'day?" he asked, chomping away. Tess sighed and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

"My grandmother's sick, lives nearby, and my mom couldn't get a flight out of Portland until tomorrow. So I'm going to see Grams and make sure she's okay until then, and Bernard here didn't want me waltzing around the city all by hick self." She smiled, sweetly. Howard eyed the two, without doubt, and took another bite of the apple. He nodded.

"That's a good idea, Tess, and real friendly of you Bernard. What time are you kids expected back?"

[Bernard Bass]

“Well Howard maybe 6 or 7pm. And besides I couldn’t let her wonder around a city all by herself. Being big comes in handy. Scares away the riffraff”

A big smile came to the old guard’s face and he said, ”I like that a gentleman, you don’t see that to often now-a-days.” Grinning Howard opened the metal gates, “You two have a good day and I hope your grandmother feels better.”

It worked they were free from the lessons and classes and the bad food. The world was their oyster. It was the first time Bernard had left the school since he arrived in the fall. He was ecstatic and free.

“Well, that was easy. But you have to admit, my way was more fun.” Bernard smiled at his companion, “and I didn’t have to involve my poor old grandmother, you bad girl.”

The two students walked in silence as they made their way to the bus stop. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence however; Bernard was simply enjoying the wonderful spring day. The warm sun, the light breeze, the birds were singing, it was a perfect day. A grateful Bernard decided to get to know his liberator and said, “So Tess, tell me about yourself.”

[Dusk]

An English voice called out from behind the gates.

"I...err...have to go too!"

Sam Hutchins approached, having left his seat below one of the trees not so far away. He'd spent a good part of the last hour trying to figure out an excuse to get out of the institute, and perhaps the two that had just left could help him.

"They wanted me to meet them outside!" he pleeded with Howard.

Up the road he could see the pair waiting for the bus he'd seen pass a few times previous that day.

"Hey, you two! Help me out here?" he called, hoping they'de go along with him.

[Tess Abrahams]

She didn't know the boy but it didn't take a genius to see he ws in need. Tess rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you finally decided to show up?"

The girl shook her head in conspiracy at Howard. "He's with us, Howard, so we can keep up the buddy system. The professors weren't keen on Bernard wanderin' on his own once I got to my grans." She put her hands on her hips, "Well c'mon, slowpoke, we're gonna have to run to make the bus as it is!"

[Bernard Bass]

Today had turned into quite an adventure. What started out a dull day in the Stacks had turned into a pilgrimage into NYC. The more the merrier Bernard thought.

Bernard and Tess stopped walking and waited for the newest member of their expanding party. The blonde stranger was finally in vocal range and Bernard filled him in on the day’s upcoming events, “Hey there English breakfast, I’m Bernard and this is Tess, we are on our way downtown for and environmental lecture and a baseball game. Weird right?” Bernard cracked a smile at their newest member, “They got baseball in England? Just breaking your stones, come on fish and chips we’re gonna have to hustle if we want to make the bus."

[Dusk]

Sam flashed a grin at them both.

"Thanks a lot, I didn't think I was ever going to get out of there" he said once they were out of earshot of Howard. "I'm Sam, good to meet you both"

He quickened his pace to match theirs, and the distant motor of an oncoming bus could be heard.

"Baseball? No, not back home. I'm always up for something new though" he replied.

[Tess Abrahams]

Tess had quickened her pace to that of a slow jog, but took the time to shoot a slight smile and wave over her shoulder. "Hi Sam. If you get in trouble for being out, you never saw us."

The bus whinged as it slowed, beginning to pull to the side. Muttering under her breath as a cloud of exaust fanned into her face, Tess bolted to the marked bus stop, idly bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet as a few passengers exited the city transport. When the way was clear, the girl climbed the steps, pausing to feed two dollars worth of quarters into the slot by the driver. He nodded, and Tess walked to the middle of the bus, grabbing a handhold loosely.

Their stop, according to Mapquest, was thirty minutes away.

[Damien E. Dervish]

The day nice and sunny, Damien decided, after finishing his paper on Dante's Inferno, to go for a stroll. While walking about the yards of the main compound of the Institute, his pointy, dog-like ears overheard the three leaving the Institute for a break. If he had heard correctly, one was going to an environmental, Green Peace-like rally, and the other was intending to head to Shea Stadium to catch a ball game. Being raised in the southeast, that was one of Damien's pasttimes. Not to mention, soft, buttery pretzels, hotdogs, hamburgers, and pizza galore! The food at ball games were the best. Plus, he might become enlightened of the environmental plight that resulted from deforestation, thermal and chemical pollution from the runoff of the paved areas into the water table, and other various problems springing from humanity's so-called "progress."

Quickly strapping on his rollerblades, and slinging his quickly-packed backpack over his back, and stretching his wings outward to ensure flight, or at least, gliding capability, Damien quickly eyed the terrain, and sighted his launching pad, before taking off on his inline skates. Zipping down the hallway, and through a door conviently opened by another student, Damien hopped, grinding down the railings of the steps. Keeping his momentum going, Damien sped down the sidewalk, letting the gradual downhill slope speed up his decent. With little trouble, Damien gave the open guard window a quick glance. Fortunately, both windows, if you timed it right, were open wide enough for him to dive through, without hitting the security guard in said booth. Damien knew this guard well enough. Promises of food or other goods were enough for him to get out, if Howard, or Howie, as Damien called him, could even catch him in the first place. Quickly eyeing and aiming, Damien timed the jump and angled for the jump. A few bobs of his head to get his rhythm down, and Damien hops, skating on the very thin curb. It arced with the slight steps into the booth, ten or so steps up into it. Riding the curb until the very last and opportune moment, Damien leaps, flapping his wings to propel him. Slinking in and tucking his wings in to his sides for a streamlined dive, Damien spins his torso in a corkscrew fashion, missing Howard's head by inches. As he zipped by, Damien speaks quickly.

"Hotdogs later, Howie!"

Angling his body ever so slightly, Damien sails perfectly through the other open window, and out of the booth. That was the first of the hard part. Landing without losing any speed or momentum, Damien lands back down onto his feet, skates rolling. He continues down the road, following the direction of the bus.

After about a minute of hard skating, Damien gets sight of the bus. He smiled. He was uphill of the bus, and seeing some opportunity in the two utility trucks following two car lengths behind the bus, Damien keeps the momentum up. Screwing this up would mean injury or death. That was the risk. And the thrill. Damien grins, tucking in and streamlining down the hill. After getting some good momentum, and dodging quickly a small car and a motorcycle, Damien quickly sees a pothole. Perfect. Lining up with it, Damien hits it, and it launches him up toward the utility truck. Lining it up, Damien grabs the ladder bar, slings his body with the momentum, griding down the length of the ladder. As it reaches three inches from the end, Damien hops toward the driver side. Sailing through the air on the momentum, Damien lands on the next ladder on the other side of the next truck in a perfect grind. Timing had to be perfect... This time at two inches to the end of the ladder, Damien leapt.

Just as the utility truck hits a bump in the road. It almost completely screws up Damien's timing and jump, launching him just a bit too far. With the downhill road, Damien lands onto the roof of the bus seven feet, further than the three feet that he had intended to land. And right in line with the emergency hatch located on the top of the bus, in case of an overturned accident. Damien trips, and slams face first onto the roof of the bus. Fortunately the momentum had been spent between the constant motion of the bus and his momentum being spent up in his near-disastrous jump. Just enough momentum left for him to get an instant headache. Grumbling, Damien rubs his head with one hand, the other holding onto the perfect seams of the bus, keeping himself on the bus. Still a bit dazed from the bump on his head, Damien took off his small rollerblades, and tucks them into his backpack, slipping on the lightweight cloth sneakers, and slipping the hoodie over his head. He also slipped his wings into the two sewn holes in the back of his hoodie. Kept his wings ready. His tail swishing to and fro to keep his balance, Damien noted the bus slowing down. Wait. He knew this route on the bus. Damien smiled as he pulled the hood over his head.

As the last person began to enter the bus, Damien leapt from the roof, sliding down the door frame and landing easily onto the step. Damien smiled at the bus driver, pointed teeth gleaming.

"Hey, Mr. Donovan. What's goin' on?"

The driver spoke back, smiling. "I thought that bump sounded too hard. Your noggin okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Just misjudged the landing. It happens."

"I hear yas, Damien. Well, pay up. Two bucks shouldn't hurt your arcade funds too much, right?"

"Nope. I at least bring a twenty, Mr. Donovan." With a hop, Damien inserts two dollars worth of quarters into the machine and walks towards the seats. He gets a negative look here and there, and to each one, he smiles and waves. Treat unkindness with kindness. Still grinning, he spots the other students standing at the middle of the buss. The girl, Damien thought it to be the flexible one, was checking a Mapquest. The others were conversating. Thus, Damien approaches the girl.

"Hey, mind if I tag along, too? If not, I can always head to the arcade..."

[Bernard Bass]

Bernard looked at the short demonism fellow and said, “Small fry, you can tag along if you want to but if we don’t get into the Mets game cause of you, then we’ll have problems. I’m Bernard, that’s Tess and the English dude is Sam. Good to have you on board.” Bernard looked around at the ever growing party and stated, "This trip is getting stranger by the minute. I'm glad no one else is on this bus."

Thirty minutes. In half an hour this motley crew would be in NYC. “Today is turning out to be quite a good day,” Bernard thought to himself as he watched in anticipation as the rural scenery gave way to the live vibrant pulse of the city. In an attempt to shorten the trip, Bernard turned on his iPod and enjoyed the sweet sounds of A Tribe Called Quest.

Bernard had been to NYC twice before but it had been many years. However, the area around Shea Stadium felt like home due to Bernard’s failure to miss a Mets game on television. Finding the exact location of this conference would be another matter all together. Bernard took out his earphones and asked simply, “Hey Tess or Sam or both, you got any idea how to get idea how we get to this conference?”

[Dusk]

Sam offered a smile to the newcomer, before turning to Bernard.

"I havn't a clue. This is my first time here over the pond" he replied. Indeed, he'd felt a little lost throughout his time here, and was still getting used to some of the differences in diolect. Still, the people were friendly enough.

He looked to the hodded newcomer again.

"Hey, didn't catch your name mate."

[Damien E. Dervish]

The diminuitive, demonic-looking, teenage mutant smiled, looking up at the other, larger, and either British or Australian mutant. As he looked upward, the hood fell from his head, uncovering his face. Damien's face was black, covered with soft fur. His nose was black, and shiny; his face, in general, other than his lips, seemed canine-like in nature. His eyes were as a normal humans, other than the distinct color of red rings, instead of the typical brown, blue, or hazel. Topping his forehead were two, bone white, and perfectly placed horns, offset by the black fur and pointy, canine-like ears. His smile showed gleaming, white teeth, a bit sharper than the typical humans.

"Damien E. Dervish, crazy mutant teenager."

Damien hopped up onto an empty seat nearby.

"And don't worry, Bernard. I get into the games all the time. I usually get to pay the kid's price, too. And if I wanted to, I could get in free...I know some of the owners of the property. Plus, my stature could get me in as well. And these..."

Damien opened his velvety-black, right wing, thumb pointed to emphasize it.

"...could do the same, and get me really awesome seats. But I try to do the right thing. Wouldn't be fair to the paying customers. And dodging the homeruns is a pain in the butt. I got a concussion from a homer once. Taught me for paying full price for a ticket. Hell, as much as I put away in the wonderful food and other delicious confections, they're making a profit offa me anyway. As for the conference, follow the Green Peacers. Easy to pick out of a crowd."

Damien settled into the seat, stretching out. Even stretched out, he barely took up the seat. Reaching into his bag, Damien produced a jar of dry-roasted and salted peanuts. Yum, Planter's Peanuts. Popping a few into the air, Damien caught it in his mouth, chewing happily. Swallowing the peanuts, Damien looked back at Bernard.

"Or we could just look for any announcements. I'm sure that they will at least have something posted somewhere..."

Damien produced a bottle of Coke from a cooler compartment on his bag. It was in the glass bottle, the best way to serve it, in Damien's opinion. After eating another handful of peanuts, he held the jar out to the others.

"Dry-roasted peanuts anyone? I also got Coke in the glass bottle..."

[Jake Flannery]

Jake sat in the back the bus half asleep have awake. He had been riding this bus for almost a day mostly trying to figure out how he could get on mutant campus and sleeping. He had lifted a bus ticket off some poor shlub at a stop awhile back along with a couple hundred dollars. He had finally reached his location with no idea about what he was gonna do. California to the institute and still had no Idea how he would sneak himself in. He couldn't pass himself off as a new mutant student he would have to be a mutant for that to work.

An eye popped open when he saw a bunch of kids talking about baseball. A sport he loved once but since California had no good teams you lost interest quickly in the game. Then there was something said about trees or nature or something like that but by then he had lost interest in what they where talking about. When he noticed the dog faced boy who evidently was a mutant. He saw his ticket into the institute then. All he needed was a one of there student Ids and a photo booth. Then he could get in and locate his cousin. From there nothing else really seemed to matter.

[Bernard Bass]

“All right, NYC.” Bernard exclaimed as the four students from the institute rushed off the bus and made there way toward the main door of the station. Bernard reached into his school bag pulled out his trusty Mets cap and being planning, “Ok, according to Tess the lecture’s at noon. El Duque takes the mound at 7:05. That should give us plenty of time. Man, this is awesome, LET’S GO METS LET’S GO METS.” Bernard was screaming the mantra of Met fans, which would be fine at Shea Stadium, but the folks at the bus station we not amused. A chorus of “shut up” and “Mets suck, Go Yanks” now rained upon him.

Bernard brushed off their comments and pushed the double doors of the station open exposing the beauty and chaos of Manhattan said, “It’s10: 45 am and about 18 blocks to City Hall and I can tell you this, no cab driver is going to pick us up. So if we want to make the start of lecture we are going to have to hustle. Boys, lead the way and didn't mean that in a sexist way..."