Being a Mutant Teenager is Hard and No One Understands [complete]

[Svetlana Ustinov]

"Lily! Put the shoe down! It...it cost more than you did! LILY!"

Sergei snorted with laughter behind her as she chased the pup through the penthouse, the matching silver stiletto to the one in the dogs mouth in her hand. He set her dinner in the kitchen and then crossed his arms over his chest, brows arching into his hair as she broke into a string of Russian curses that surprised him.

Hands on her hips, she whirled indignantly as his laughter rang out again, watching Lily race by just out of her reach. "Sergei! You are not helping! At least close-"

Throwing her hands up in the air with exasperation, she stalked over to her purse on the nearby table and fished out her cell phone. Her expression changed when she saw the caller ID and answered quickly, breathless from the chase. "Aleksanderr! I didn't think I'd hear from you tonight...I don't suppose you want to come convince Lily to give me my shoe back?"

[Alex Kaine]

Hearing his name rolled like a Russian delicacy was becoming a guilty pleasure. Alex smiled, though he had to wonder what had left Lana so out of breath.

"Hi, Lana. Sorry, I don't think Lily has ever found me particularly persuasive. Um..."

He glanced back at Aimee and Cameron, both of whom were texting now - it was a little surreal. "You doing anything tonight?"

[Svetlana Ustinov]

"Aside from chasing Lily around because she decided that my new stilettos are a chew toy, no. Did you have something in mind?"

Tossing the lonely heel on the couch as she sat down, Lana tucked her long legs beneath herself, toying with the hem of her shorts.

[Alex Kaine]

"Well, I'm out with Aimee and Cameron. You remember Cameron? He left the House about a month ago, and he just surprised us. Anyway, we just finished watching Up and we were looking for something else to do. I thought maybe you could join us."

[Svetlana Ustinov]

"I'd love to! Do you want me to meet you where you are, or do you all want to come up here?"

[Alex Kaine]

"Well," said Alex, "I've just learned of a very respectable establishment for social gatherings in our age group. I'm not going to get too much more specific, but it rhymes with Fight Club."

[Svetlana Ustinov]

"I...will have to change...and what are you all wearing...what...wait a moment. Age group? What do you mean exactly?"

[Alex Kaine]

"It's eighteen and up, but, don't worry, Aimee says they don't do a good job of carding."

Of course, it occurred to him that if any of them were going to get carded, it was Aimee, whose head was just scraping five feet. That was just the kind of attention she didn't need. And then there was the question of clothes...

He glanced over at Aimee, who was in flip-flops and the same jeans and v-neck T-shirt she'd been schlepping around the house in. Probably not the best ensemble for a night on the town.

"We're just in jeans and T-shirts. Oh, wait, Aimee's wearing flip-flops. Eh... sorry, maybe this isn't going to work out."

[Svetlana Ustinov]

"Aleksander..." Lana chided softly, biting her lip as she rose and rushed down the hall to her bedroom.

"...clothes we can fix. Has being with me taught you nothing? You still have your outfit here. What's Cameron wearing? As for Aimee, I know she's petite, but if I can't find something to suit her in my closet, we'll stop at a store on the way. How close are you to my place? Should I send Sergei to get you?"

[Alex Kaine]

"We're at the Cinemastar on Seacrest, so, yeah, if it's not too much trouble. I think Cameron's pretty good to go, actually."

He looked again to see Aimee laughing at something else Cameron had "said." They were feeding on each other's attention in a big way.

"And, uh... just between you and me? I think Aimee would like to impress him."

[Svetlana Ustinov]

"Sergei! Could you please go and get Alex and Aimee and Cameron? They're at the Cinemastar on Seacrest. Thank you!"

Bringing the phone back to her mouth, she smiled conspiratorially even though he couldn't see her. "Ohhh...you think so? I will find just the right thing...don't worry. Sergei will be there shortly."

[Alex Kaine]

"Awesome, thanks. See you soon. Love you."

After he hung up, he had to wait a couple seconds for the silly grin on his face to disappear before he could turn around again. Alex dropped the phone into his pocket and rejoined his friends.

"Okay, so, I just got off the phone with Lana, and she says she'd like to go clubbing. Thought we'd try the one you mentioned, Aimee, that all right with you?"

It wasn't a complete lie... just a convenient restructuring of the truth.

[Aimee Connors]

Aimee turned back to Alex, suddenly feeling self conscious again. "Oh, sure. Yeah, I mean, if you..." she looked at Cameron who shrugged and nodded.

She smiled a little, and then wiggled her toes in her flip flops. "Oh, no, wait, I'm not dressed to go out - not like this." And it wasn't like she had a lot of very cool clubbing clothes at home on Banyon Street either. Aimee tugged at the hem of her shirt and made an awkward face for comic effect.

[Alex Kaine]

Alex shrugged. "No problem, she says she'll take care of it. Really, she lives for this sort of thing, I've tried to talk her out of it before. She's sending a car to pick us up."

Man, he could never get used to saying that.

---

Going to visit Lana had just been starting to seem less surreal and more familiar - Alex could look at the BMW as just another car and the luxury tower as just an apartment building, and even the receptionist now recognized him as a friend of their most expensive client and greeted him with a cheerful, "Good evening, Mr. Kaine!" as he walked in through the front door. But bringing a couple friends from Redencion almost set him back to square one again. Now he was the one ushering his fellow plebeians into a world of marble columns, crystal chandeliers, and indoor fountains.

The bellhop who met them at the elevator smiled broadly and didn't even give Aimee a second glance. Of course, even if he had, she was too busy goggling their ritzy surroundings to notice. He scanned a keycard in front of the elevator with the gold doors - the only elevator that went all the way up to the top floor - and waved them inside without another word.

The elevator moved smartly and silently, and it reached the top well before you expected it to. Alex stepped out and led the way to the ornate double doors of Lana's penthouse and pressed the doorbell.

[Cameron Bell]

Cameron followed them out of the elevator in an open-mouthed stupor. He waltzed slowly in tow, turning to take in his extravagant surroundings, running his fingers over every kind of surface in reach. When they stopped, it took his brain a moment to register it and he bumped lightly into Aimee, eliciting from her a squeak of surprise. In return he offered her a sheepish smile and fell into rank before the large penthouse doors.

"Daddy, I want one!"

[Aimee Connors]

Aimee giggled in reply, but couldn't think of anything to say, surrounded by such... luxury. Alex rang the doorbell, and it was a soft chime that blended perfectly with the look of the building. The doorbell at Redencion House hadn't worked for months, and when it did it was a grating buzz that you could only hear on the first floor.

"I had no idea Lana lived here," she said lamely, yellow eyes taking in everything around them. It reminded her of some of the apartment buildings in Manhattan - ones she'd been inside before, but not with permission. And not using the elevator, which was as smooth as the proverbial Great Glass one.

As Lana's door opened Aimee stepped back a little, almost hiding behind Cameron while trying not to look like she was feeling uncomfortable.

[Svetlana Ustinov]

"You'll have to ask my mother, Cameron...its her money. And believe me, you wouldn't want to...to deal with my father."

Lana said as she opened the door, smiling brightly. "Come on in!"

She stepped aside and let Cameron enter since Alex had nudged him and Aimee forward. They were greeted by the sudden appearance of Lily, who never missed the opportunity to greet people who might spoil her with attention. "That's Lily, and she's really friendly...especially if she thinks you'll hold her and pet her. She loves attention."

Alex got a slightly...warmer greeting, that included a hug, a rather breathless kiss, and the soft murmur of a Russian endearment. Her cheeks warmed to a bright golden-green hue as she let him go and closed the door behind them.

"So! I'm excited to go out...tell me about this club, Aimee..."

[Alex Kaine]

As usual, Alex found himself greeted at the door by a vision of elegance. He wasn't sure whether Lana had already changed for the club or not - she probably could have gone in her pajamas and still look like a Hollywood socialite. Of course, her pajamas probably cost more than Alex's last six paychecks, for reasons he couldn't possibly begin to understand.

But right now that laser-guided fashion sense was going to come in handy. As Lana glommed onto Aimee, Alex clapped his hand onto Cameron's back and guided him into the huge family room. "I think that's our cue to amuse ourselves for a while."

He bent down to scratch Lily between the ears, and the puppy wiggled after the two teenage boys.

[Cameron Bell]

In parting, Cameron offered the girls a polite nod, fighting off the surreal urge to bow before Svetlana in her palacial home. The only thing homely about it was the yipping puppy skittering about their feet, everything else was alien. Yes, he'd visited a number of impressive residences in the past courtesy of his eccentric European uncle, but none of which boasted the modern opulence of the penthouse. It was the sort of thing you see in movies, and in the homes of presidents and kings.

His silent musings accompanied him into the family room, and when the smart click of marble gave way to the whisper of carpet, Cameron suddenly hopped. He clutched at his shoe, ready to tear it off like some accursed thing, and looked to Alex for guidance. What was it about fancy homes that made footwear seem criminal?

[Aimee Connors]

Aimee knew Lana, but she didn't know her all that well. Alex had brought her around the house and she'd seen her at school before that... but they were acquaintances. Wave as you passed in the hall, that sort of thing.

The boys were retreating to another room and she forced herself to stop looking around the apartment and focus on her hostess. "Ah, well, I haven't been to it personally. I've just heard about it at school, and it sounds like a fun place. Lots of dancing... and its eighteen and up but they're pretty lax when it comes to carding minors."

She found herself about to shove her hands in her pockets, and stopped just in time, casting a glance behind her at where Alex and Cameron were disappearing, the rambunctious puppy in tow. "Its called the Silver Dollar - I think it used to be a country music club before. But they play other stuff now." Aimee shrugged, her eyes tracking up the walls to the high ceiling.