Gwen and Kate
Kate and Gwen stared at each other in silence. They hadn't spoken since the incident yesterday and Gwen was almost tempted to tell the Mavericks that the week was off, they could do what they wanted. But the haunted look in Kate's eyes stopped her.
There was something there, but Gwen wasn't sure what it was.
"Kate, are you going to talk to me at all? Coz if you don't, I'm afraid that life is going to be slightly unpleasant for both of us."
Kate narrowed her eyes. "What do you want to talk about?"
"How about... what the hell you thought you were doing yesterday."
"How about you mind your own business?"
"How about I don't." Gwen matched Kate's evil stare with one of her own. "I know you're upset about something, if you just tell me..."
"What, so we can be friends? And braid each others hair and all that other crap which comes with having a friend? All that... emotional attachment... will you cry for me, and will I cry for you? Is that what you want?"
"You know, once you start talking, it's pretty hard to get you to shut up, isn't it? I never said I wanted to be your friend. Besides, I don't know how to braid hair."
"Bully for you."
"Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Take the drugs."
"Why not?"
"Because... well... it's bad?"
"Wow... years of education has left it's mark on you, hasn't it?"
"Hey, I'm just trying to help, no need to get snarky."
"Don't help, I don't want it. I don't need it."
"You clearly do."
"And you'd know, right, coz we're such good buds already."
"I'm just saying what I'm seeing."
"And what are you seeing?"
"A badly dressed girl with scars, both emotional and physical. Suffered some sort of bad life and as a result, has earned herself a bad attitude towards anything and everything. How am I doing so far?"
Kate rolled her eyes. "Nothing that I haven't heard before."
"So why don't you do something about it?"
"Why don't you look at your own life, before passing judgement on me. You're parents dumping you, you're lack of human contact, you're screwed up relationship with Gunn, the mess with Mordred... why don't you - "
Gwen stalked over and slapped Kate hard. "You're so lucky I have LISA on. How the HELL did you know all that?"
Kate pointed at her laptop. "Easy to find what you're looking for. Interesting life you've had, you know."
"Do not turn this around on me... and don't you dare go through my stuff again."
"Don't have to. I've seen it all."
"You know Mordred would kill you for this."
Kate fell silent, and murmered under her breath. Gwen leaned closer. "What?"
"Let him," Kate replied softly.
Gwen's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "You're actually going to talk to me about this now?"
Kate looked at Gwen, her eyes filled with a 17 year old pain. "No." She crossed her arms stubbornly.
"Why?"
Kate shook her head. What could she say? Gwen was so close to making her crack, and she didn't want that. Inside her own mind, that was where her memories belonged. Not out loud. If she said them out loud, it would make them real, and that was something she'd avoided up until now.
"Kate..."
"... I... no." Kate looked away.
Gwen leaned closer. "I know what it's like to hate yourself. To think you're a freak, to live with pain that other people don't understand. I know what you and I went through was really different... but it doesn't change that I want to help." Gwen rolled her sleeves up and showed Kate her scarred arms. "See, I'm damaged too. Just tell me."
Kate lay on her bed and turned her back to Gwen. Gwen sighed and got up to leave. "You push people away and sooner or later, no one is going to care."
"People already don't care."
Gwen turned around. "Then why have I been trying?"
"It's easier to shut people out... that way it doesn't hurt when you lose them. It's easier to avoid human contact... to be so horrible to everyone they want to leave you alone, that way, you can't hurt them."
Gwen sighed. "I know how that feels."
"I killed my family when I was 8. I'm a... nothing."
Gwen sat back on her bed. "But you didn't mean to."
"Maybe, maybe not. We were... there'd been a fight... and I was angry and then before I knew it... I'd started a fire... I made it out because I could walk through the fire unscathed... but everyone else..."
"Died..." Gwen said quietly.
"I was by myself... so I slept in the streets, being abused and taken advantage of... hooked onto drugs by the time I was 10. Breaking into places when I was 12. Then caught at 13 and sent into care. The first family was real nice... they treated me like a real family member, but there was a car crash... so I was sent away again, to a horrible family, and I learned to become detached."
"From who?"
"From everyone... all I wanted was to be loved... but he made that wish come true in the worst possible way. So I ran... and I got caught and I was just shipped all over the place. No one wanted me, they couldn't stand me, but who could blame them with the way I acted. But it didn't matter, all that matters was that I wasn't going to be hurt anymore."
"So why come here?"
"The last fam was desperate. Found I was a mutant, learnt about the school... so here I am. Just call me a ping pong ball."
"No, I like Kate better."
"Look, if you think just because I told you this shit... I'm not going to change and be all nice now, you know."
"Never said you were gonna, I never thought you would. You don't seem like a person who would change because you told me something. I just wanted to know to see if I could help, but maybe..."
"Maybe you can't. Maybe no one can. Can I just..."
"I'll go."
"Thanks." Kate looked over after hesitating.
Gwen nodded and left the room.