Some Much Needed Catching Up Time!

[Taffy]

Ricki sighed softly as she stared out the window from her room, her chin in her palm, with her hand resting against Ivy's leg who was laying down on Ricki's bed, the dimmed light from the bedside lamp shining on both of them. Ricki'd spent around about an hour with Ian after the slight fail of a practice, eating ice cream in the kitchen, allowing Ian to vent all he needed to, before the two settled in a comfortable silence, just enjoying the peace before they headed off to their own dorms. Once Ricki'd gotten back in, she'd freshened up and changed into her PJs- shorts for once, considering it was a fairly warm night, before she knocked on Ivy's door and dragged her out of her room, insisting that the two spend some time together, considering the fact that Ricki was feeling ridiculously guilty for not being able to spend enough time with her best friend. Off late, Ivy'd started isolating herself further more from people, and in all honesty, Ricki was feeling guilty for it, because she'd been getting the impression that it was her fault that she'd started hanging out more with the group, whereas Ivy still wasn't comfortable enough to do that.

Ricki was determined to spend some alone time with Ivy- the way things used to be when Torri was still a part of the Acolytes. The girls had only been in Ricki's room for around 15 minutes, spending the majority of the first few minutes talking about how amiss the practice had gone. "I didn't expect Ian to go off like that," she admitted as she stared out her window, sighing. "But when he did, I couldn't blame him for it. Niki really wasn't being fair to Joce. She's so nice, I don't see how anyone could even think of going off at her like that." Ricki pressed her lips together, dropping her arm down and resting her chin on Ivy's knee. After giving the window a long look, she looked back at the readhead.

"I'm sorry, I should stop talking about that, it's just weighing on me a little." she said, giving Ivy an ackward smile, before she allowed her expression to turn a little less sincere. "So, you must be really bummed out Ivy," Ricki mused narrowing her eyes playfully at Ivy, tilting her head to one side, her long hair flipping dramatically. "You didn't get Carter for a partner! Tell me Ivy, on a scale from one to ten, how heart broken are you?" Ricki tried to keep a straight face, biting down a smile. "It's okay love, just let tears flowwww. You know I'm here for ya." Ricki couldn't help giggle at her own words, breaking into a grin as she aimed a light punch at Ivy's leg. "N'aw I'm messing. Mind you, I think it's great that you and Romon are partners! He's so sweet! And he's pretty cute too- if you're into the Jamaican Jock look." Ricki winked at Ivy, sticking her tongue out at Ivy before she lifted her chin off her friend's leg and collpased down her bed too, so she was laying down in an opposite direction to Ivy.

"Aw, Iv, I really have missed spending time with you. You really need to get your nose outta your books hun- I mean, not completely, we all know you'd have crazy withdrawal symptoms if you stayed away from your books for too long-" Ricki giggled as she stared at the ceiling, her hands folding on top of one another on her stomach. "- but seriously, it won't hurt to stop watching the world for a while and actually trying to live in it. You know, today in Tech Class? I actually felt so bad when you just walked off and sat by yourself," An uncertain look creeped onto Ricki's face as she said that, having flashbacks from the class. "I don't know Iv, I just got that vibe from you earlier like you felt like I wasn't your best friend anymore- and I hope that's not really what you think- is it?" That thought had been bugging Ricki for a while, and she'd honestly just said the words without really realizing she'd done so. Ivy, mattered a lot to Ricki, and off late, since Ricki'd started hanging out more with the group, Ricki'd seen this look in Ivy's eyes, that... well, that just never used to be there before, and it wasn't exactly the most positive look in the world.

[NightShade]

Ivy sighed and sat up, hugging her knees to her chest while adjusting her baggy hoodie. "You'll always be my best friend Ricki, it's not that at all. Today was just a bad day," she said quietly and timidly, letting out another sigh. She knew that she owed Ricki an explanation for her behavior today, and she also knew that once she started she wouldn't be able to stop. Taking a deep breath, Ivy braced herself for all the rush of emotions. "I mean, it started off with me being afraid I was sick again, I hated being quarantined. Then at technology class this morning... Ana and that new guy kissing in the hallway just kind of put me in a mood. I mean they met just three days ago and he looks at her, well like she's just so perfect even though she's not the nicest person. I never had anyone look at me like that, but that doesn't mean I don't want it more than anything."

She pushed her glasses up her nose and focused on the corner of the blanket, knowing that she might end up crying if she looked right at Ricki's sympathetic face. "And that had me kind of down all through lunch, and it didn't help that I was reading a Nicholas Sparks book either. Then comes French class, and I just... Ian dancing with Veronika, it looked like something from a book. She was the beautiful princess dancing with the most handsome prince in all the land." A blush tinted her cheeks when she spoke of Ian, and Ivy had to put her chin on her knees to try and hide it. "Seeing them dance like that, how Ian held her, I know no one will ever hold me like that. And then how Romon kept looking at Ana, and how happy he looked when they were dancing, it just kind of added salt in the wounds."

"I was a little better by dinner time, but then when Ember got announced as an X-Men, and almost all the guys looked like they just experienced 'love at first sight' when she came on stage. It's how every guy reacts to her whenever they see her. It's just not fair!" She sighed and hugged her knees closer to her chest. "She doesn't even want that kind of attention, and she gets so much of it. I would give anything to have that. What's worse though, what gets me more than anything is I know I'll never be as beautiful and stunning as Ana and Veronika, and I know I'll never be able to make guys catch their breath from my beauty like Ember, and I'm really okay with that, I can accept it and be happy with what I am. But what gets me is this..."

Ivy held up her gloved hands, looking at them with disdain. "Even if I did become special enough in someone's eyes, I would never be able to touch them without hurting them. I'll never know what it's like to have a guy hold me in his arms and dance with me around the dance floor, I'll never have a guy get so struck that he would kiss me in the middle of the hallway just to show everyone how they feel. I won't have that cause it would make someone sick or if this poison gets worse it could be fatal to them as well. I'm fine with it most days, but just today... I would give anything to have what those girls have." The last part she said as a whisper as she rested her chin on her knees again and wrapped her arms around them to pull them closer.

"I know it sounds a bit pathetic, but I can't help it. I'm seeing all my romance novels come to life all around me, but not to me. It just... it just bites," Ivy said with a sigh. She didn't want to throw a big pity party for herself, but she couldn't help how she felt. Being who she was would have been hard enough without the mutant power, being that she was on the chubby side and didn't have those striking good looks that her heroines in her novels, but to top it off she didn't have a chance for someone to see past that because of her stupid power.

[Taffy]

Ricki was caught completely off guard by what Ivy's said. Ricki didn't know what she was expecting from Ivy as a form of explaination for her behaviour off late, but she knew for a fact that she was not expecting Ivy to say what she did. An awestruck look manifested on Ricki's face, as she pushed herself up once again, her knees bent beneath her as she tilted her head to catch Ivy's eye. "No Iv, that's not pathetic at all." Ricki whispered, feeling something twisting inside her as she spoke to Ivy. In a strange way- she could connect with her best friend right now, considering the fact that she knew her feelings for Gavin were not likely to be reciprocated, and there was nothing she could do to change that, but Ivy had it a lot worse than her and Ricki would have to be in pure denial to not see it.

It wasn't that Ivy wasn't pretty- far from it, according to Ricki, Ivy was one of the prettiest people she'd met, but the thing was, at this school, majority of the girls were beyond simply pretty- they were absolutely stunning. Ricki herself was quite insecure about her looks when she saw people like Joce, Ana, Veronika and Ember, but it never really bothered her as much as it did Ivy, because Ricki had never been a girl who payed that much attention to appearance in the first place. Majority of the girls at the Academy were more to the slimmer side, and if they weren't slim, they had curves any girl would kill for. Ricki didn't have a perfect body shape: she was average weight and had really slight curves to her, which were barely noticible unless she wore really fitted clothes. Ivy was a little more on the chubby side, but she didn't by any standards look... well, fat.

"Iv, listen to me- you know Rogue, right?" Ricki asked, taking one of Ivy's gloved hands into hers and squeezing it lightly as a form of moral support. "I'm sure she went through the same thing as you- not being able to touch people. I mean, that's bound to be really hard- but she turned out okay, right? She's with that really hot X-Man, Gambit!" An encouraging smile spread across Ricki's lips as she stared at Ivy, trying to read her reactions while she spoke. "You're really pretty Iv, I'm being serious. And you'll learn how to control your power soon. It's why we're here, right? To be able to embrace and control our powers to our advantage whilst leading as much of a normal life as we want."

Ricki had a fairly passive power so to speak- so she couldn't quite empathise with someone like Ivy, who had a power that was active and actually meddled with her everyday life, but Ricki could sympathize. She couldn't even begin to imagine not being able to have phsyical contact with anyone out of fear that she may hurt them. No one could blame Ivy for feeling the way she did, because to be fairly honest, Ricki would perhaps feel similar if she had Ivy's power, but in all fairness, Ivy shouldn't be feeling like this. She was such a nice person, quite insecure and introverted too, but if she was slowly bought out of her shell, Ricki knew that she'd just be one of those people who people would take an immidiate liking to.

"I had no idea you felt like that Iv, I mean, you hardly show it-" Ricki flashed Ivy an admiring smile, "but no one can blame you for feeling like that. I know what you mean about the romance novels coming to life around us-" Ricki sighed, Gavin flickering back into her mind, but she shook the thought out of her head: this was about Ivy. "I guess some people are just plain out lucky. But really Ivy, you're such a nice person and you're really pretty- nuh uh, I'm not arguing with you on that one- you are pretty." Ricki raised an eyebrow at Ivy as if daring her to challenge her words, before she sighed. "I'm sure there's a really great guy out there for you Ivy, and to be fair, you're just so nice, I don't see how any genuine guy can resist you." Ricki allowed her lips to twist into a bit of a cheeky smile, as she nudged Ivy's knee with her arm.

"I know you probably think I'm just saying all of this to help make you feel better- but honestly hun, I'm being serious." Ricki bit her lip, her eyes flickering over to look outside the window before she turned to look back at Ivy. "I can empathise with you at a really strange level, but I guess the thing we have to remember Iv, is that we can either just spend a whole lot of time thinking about how unfair life can get at times, or we can just put the unfortunate things to one side and pay more attention to the brighter things." Ricki's face broke out into a weak-ish grin. "Our love lives may be pretty doom and gloom at the moment, but honestly Iv, I think you need to spend some time befriending people. I know it sucks when everyone around you is coupling off, but I've recently come to realize that friendship wins relationships anyday." Ricki's mind floated back to Gavin, but she forced her thoughts away once again. "I mean, you're bound to get sick of having just me around." Ricki added, sticking her tongue out at Ivy to help lighten the mood a little bit.

[NightShade]

Ivy stayed quiet for a minute, lost in thought and mulling over Ricki's words. She remembered today and how happy Ricki looked dancing with Gavin and the way she was with him at all the meals. Even though her friend had denied it before, it was pretty clear to her that Ricki smiled brighter around him, and looked so happy and at ease. She replayed the scenes of the two of them that she had witnessed throughout the day, trying to remember the looks on both their faces. "He likes you too you know," Ivy said softly looking up at Ricki with a weak smile. "I may not be living a Nicholas Sparks book, but I know romance when I see it. He's more comfortable with you, smiles more. It's different than it was with... her. With you he's more free, it's just... you're so lucky Ricki, I hope you don't let the chance slip away." She gave her a slight, more genuine smile before sinking back against the pillows.

"The girls here are just so beautiful, it's like the heroines from my romance novels just walking around in real life. Ana has that kind of beauty that just makes you think she was born of one of the Nymphs from the Greek Myths. Veronika, well what more can I add, she's so beautiful and glamorous. Heather is that classic pretty, the All-American Girl guys dream of. And then Maddy and Splice and Niki just all stand out like crazy. And to top it off, there's Ember, who has that kind of beauty that would inspire painters to make a masterpiece, for poets to write an epic sonnet, for men to look like they were struck by lightning looking at her. You Ricki, you're just so wholesome and sweet with this smile that makes all the guys smile back. I hate to say it but I don't have that, and I probably never will. Like I said I'm not bitter, it sucks but I'm only stating a fact," Ivy said with another sigh.

"I don't mind it, it's just hard to bear that on top of being overshadowed by just about every girl, I can never get close to anyone. It's why I like to imagine." A slightly dreamy look came over her face as she let her imagination run wild, remembering all the romances she read, all the movies she saw. "I can just imagine how wonderful it must feel to have a guy that would die for you. That loves you so much, every little detail about you. That he sees you and only you, because no one else matters. I always liked to imagine a really gruff guy, like Gideon in that novel I'm reading now. He never smiles, is jaded by relationships with women and people in general. Then Sara comes into a room and it's like he wants to smile again. He sees her and knows he'll see no other. That's the kind of love that you can only dream about. And I kind of like to dream it," she said smiling a bit sadly.

Her eyes closed for a minute, mostly to hide the pain that she would always be a wallflower and nothing more. "I like to watch the couples here sometimes, and just imagine what it would be like for them. Ana and Jax, I see them like probably a more violent Allie and Noah. They fight, but they have to be crazy about each other. You can just tell that. At lunch, he was glaring at Romon like he wanted to kill him and she was glaring at Jocelyn like she was ready to scratch her eyes out. Then they would look at each other and just get this look you know?" Ivy giggled a little and went on with her musings. "You and Gavin, I almost see it like star crossed lovers. I think you both like each other, if only a little, but neither are willing to risk that friendship, and Heather's your friend so that would be weird. I hope you guys get together though." She smiled at Ricki softly, continuing on. "Ian and Niki, well I'm not sure. They have like that coming of age romance, the kind you need at one point in your life to let you grow as a person. Kind of like the one in Dear John but not that intense, cause John really really loved Savannah and she was just a bit naive, but you get what I mean."

Ivy paused as her mind went back to the practice and she sighed. "I hope Niki's okay. She's not the nicest person, but I feel bad for Ian blowing up at her like that. I feel bad for Jocelyn too, cause it must suck to have someone say stuff like that when she's new. I don't know Ricki, I just hope our teams's okay. I just hope everyone is okay," she said, wanting to get the issue off her and her insecurities and weird musings.

[Taffy]

Ricki had never had a good poker face to begin with, hence the shock that took over her face probably came as no surprise to Ivy. It took Ricki a few minutes to get over her initial shock: she'd never really tried to hide her feelings for Gavin (which she had only recently become aware of, in her defense) around people, but she'd never thought that people would ever really catch on to it. She knew Dante had a weird clue about it when they were speaking by the lake a few days ago, and she was fairly sure Maddy knew, even though she had, rather generously, not mentioned it at all in front of Ricki.

Ricki didn't know if it was everything Ivy'd just said about herself, or if it was her taking about Ricki and Gavin out loud, but the next thing Ricki knew was she could feel her vision blurring a little, but she closed her eyes, refusing to allow herself to cry. She was just so overwhelmed by all of this- she was already begin to get sentimental and solemn when Ivy had begun to speak about herself, but it was just the way she spoke about Ricki and Gavin and the kind tone that hung in her words when she spoke about most of the girls at school, that just really seemed to get Ricki. She opened her eyes a few seconds, and a few short breaths later, an embarassed smile spreading across her lips.

"You know, you're waaaay smarter than people give you credit for Ivy Dwayne, and that's certainly saying something." Ricki gave Ivy a bit of a knowing look, still feeling extremely overwhelmed inside even if she'd stopped the physical side affects for the time being. "And you're just so kind about everything. You really are one of the nicest and definitely one of the smartest people I know, and I repeat, that's saying something, especially after living at this school for over two months." Ricki didn't know how Ivy, someone who saw so much good in others, only ever saw the negative in herself. Ivy didn't have it as easy as most of the girls here, but in all honesty, Ivy had so many good qualities, that balanced her out to be such a... genuine person, it was just such a pity that she didn't see it in herself.

Ricki had to make it a point to show Ivy exactly how great she was. Everyone had good things and bad things about them- right? And the way Ricki saw it, the positive always had the potential to shine over the negative, if one played their cards the right way, so to speak. "I'm telling you Ivy, just have a little patience, you will find a really great guy." Ricki attempted a bit of a teasing smile on her face, biting down on her lip. "What's the bet you get with a really great French guy? They're such romantics, and oh they have such an interest in literature and poetry." Ricki grinned sheepishly at Ivy, giving her an encouraging look. "Honestly Iv, there is someone out there for you."

Ricki sighed, letting go of Ivy's gloved hand and tugging on the end of her t-shirt as her eyes flew out to see a relfection of herself in her dark window. "I hope the team will be okay too," she whispered, turning her head back slowly to look at Ivy. "I know that Ian going off on Nikki was really sudden, but in all fairness, I can't blame him Iv. I feel so mean when I say that, but I just have this feeling in my gut that Niki had that coming- but I hope they work it out. I know Niki really likes Ian, and vice versa." Niki wasn't Ricki's favourite-est person in the world at the moment, but it just wasn't in Ricki to completely dislike someone. A few hours ago at practise, while Ricki was feeling the daggers dig into her chest, she was infact finding it hard to sympathize with Niki- but... she was a little more rational now, and Ricki couldn't start to imagine what it must be like to have someone you love so much go off on you the way Ian did on Niki.

"There's just so much that's unsettled in our team right now. I feel worst for all the new guys- I mean, imagine that being your first team practise? I would've been freaked out like nothing else." Ricki shook her head, biting down on her lip again, something she'd adapted to doing when worried or frustrated. "My feelings for Gavin, really don't help matters either. Iv, can we keep that between us? I know you won't say anything anyway, but I guess I just need it confirmed out loud." Ricki looked at Ivy with a pleading look, hoping Ivy would understand where she was coming from. It was just one of those things Ricki needed to hear to be able to sleep peacefully at night- mind you, she doubted she'd be able to do that, not with all of this going on at this time being. "It's just the team has enough to deal with, with getting the new members settled in and trying to keep things cool between Joce and Niki and the likes, y'know? I just don't want things to get further more uncomfortable within our team." She sighed, "Despite what you have to say Iv, I really don't think Gavin returns my feelings, and I don't want him to be freaked out or anything- especially not after Heather." Ricki inhaled deeply, bringing her knees upto her chest and pulling the blanket over her legs.

[NightShade]

"I won't say anything Ricki, don't worry," Ivy said assuring her best friend. "I think though, if you look a bit closer at how he is with you, you'd see it's not the same as him with Heather or any other girl. Maybe it's a situation where he doesn't see it yet either but it's there." She didn't want to push anything in either direction, but Ivy knew what she saw. All those romance novels she read were able to pay off somehow, and she could tell when people had feelings for each other a mile away. It surrounded her everywhere, the little crushes and fleeting glances were hard for Ivy to miss, especially when she was looking for it.

"Don't worry about me Ricki, right now I'm happy with my books and watching others for now, it just gets to me sometimes. Today was just one of those days where it hurt to watch everyone, that's all." Ivy smiled to reassure her friend. She felt much better now after talking to Ricki and being able to vent a little bit. There was still a lot on her mind, but soothed a little bit since the day was over and she could look forward to another day tomorrow that would hopefully be much better than today was for her

Ivy sighed and snuggled into her hoodie. "I think our team will be okay. Ian was just edgy I think, and probably stressed about something. I noticed that he seemed a little out of it lately. I can't imagine why Niki doesn't like Jocelyn, but she's a hard person to warm up to. She's always been nice to me, but I don't know if she likes me much. I think Pete has the right idea though, that if we work together and get to know each other, it will make us stronger. I just hope it works," she said with a small shrug.

"We can only do our best and hope. So what was it like dancing with Gavin?" Ivy leaned forward and hungrily listened to all the details to feed her romance centered mind. The rest of the evening was just that, and she allowed Ricki to get all her feelings about Gavin, and even her initial ones about Maddy. Ivy just sat and listened, but was happy that she could help her friend, who was so sweet to others, finally get some peace with her issues.