One of the many axiomes in every teen's life is, when you get into a shopping mall, you kinda tend to loose track of time. That's exactly what happned to Ray, Sam, Bobby, Amara, Rahne and me: once inside the Bayville Mall, we forgot that we had stolen Scott's car, we forgot that we had been close to having a car accident twice, and that Scott was probably going to kill us. In our minds, there was only room for one word: shopping. And shop we did: CDs, computer games, two bottles of hair lotion, body piercings, a pair of socks, two Mickey Mouse hats, six pairs of sunglasses (out of which four were for me), a pair of shoes, countless bracelets, a pen, Joanne K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', a Limp Bizkit poster with original autographs (though Ray said they're not original after all) and two yo-yo's. Incredible, but all this actually fit in two huge shopping bags, which Sam - being the gentleman he is - agreed to carry for us. We didn't say no. All in all, time flew and we hardly realized it. Finally, we agreed to head to the fast food for a quick snack before driving back to the Institute and hoping Scott won't break our necks for stealing his car. However, a big colorful announcement caught my eye: "T-shirt sale, two for the price of one!" I decided to stay behind and told the guys I'll be right with them. BIG mistake...

~

"This one... nope. That one... nope, too much red, not my style. That one over there... cool, Eminem!"

I keep crawling along, examining each T-shirt in part. I'm TS-addicted, and my pocket hardly holds enough cash for a single one. Or, according to the announcement at the entrance, two. I find it extremely hard to choose. Finally, I decide for a black T-shirt with a big, bad-looking, red X on both sleeves (kinda suits my new condition as an X-recruit, doesn't it!) and one with a military pattern. I pay, grab the shopping bag and go for the exit, looking at my watch. This took me a little longer than I expected.

"Hi!"

"...huh?"

I stare blankly at the guy who appeared in front of me out of nowhere. Not that tall, very slim, and with... silver hair? Okay, if this is a hallucination, then it's a really twisted one.

"So, you're the new X-Geek Lance was talking about, aren't you."

Wow, this guy talks fast. It takes me a few seconds to translate his fast-talking into normal language, then I frown. X-Geek?

Wait. Silver hair, fast talking, bad attitude. Bingo.

"Yeah. And you must be Speedy of the Looserhood."

He grins, "On occasion. Commonly reffered to as Pietro Maximoff." Before I can do anything, he shakes my hand vigurously. "And you are...?"

"Elsie. Elsie Wright."

"Well, nice to meet you, Elsie. Do you have a codename? Mine's Quicksilver."

"I... no, not really. Do I have to?"

He smacks his forehead, "Really. Every mutant has to have a codename! How about Sky?"

I glare, "Sky...?"

"Yeah, from your sky-blue eyes. Which, by the way, really glow under those shades." Out of nowhere, Pietro takes out a tiny mirror and holds it up to my face. It's true. My eyes are glowing and clearly visible through my shades.

"Oh no."

He grins, "Don't worry! Everyone's too busy looking for sales and cutbacks to notice. But, I do suggest going home and getting the problem fixed before you attract too much attention. Which, by the way, raises the question, what's a pretty girl like you doing in here all alone?"

It takes me a few seconds to understand what he said. However, before I get a chance to answer, I hear a voice behind me, "She's not alone, Quicksilver."

I turn around to see a very angry-looking Ray behind me. Uh-oh. "It's OK, Ray, we were just... talking."

"Yeah, I bet you were. Come on, we're leaving." He grabs my arm and half-drags me away.

"Bye!" Pietro shouts, waving his hand at me. "Been nice chatting!"

"Ray, what are you doing?" I hiss as we head away. "We were just talking!"

"Fraternizing with the enemy", he answers, teeth gritting. "Don't do that."

I pull my arm free from his grip. "I talk with whoever I want to, Ray."

"Fine!" he shouts, causing a few passer-bys to stare. "But in that case you're walking to the Institute! We don't need no-"

"Ray, shut up!"

At the same time, Bobby grabs Ray's arm. "No scenes, okay?"

"But she was - she was talking with Maximoff!"

Amara raises an eyebrow, "So?"

"He's cool!" Rahne adds. "Really, Ray, lighten up! It's not like we're in World War two, you know!"

"But - but -"

"I think we better sort this out on the way home", Sam cuts in.

"Yeah, good idea", Bobby says, looking rather unconfortable. Ray scowls, then snarls and heads for the exit without anything else.

Suddenly, I feel my blod boiling.

"Ray Crisp, you are such a jerk!"

The others stare. I breathe hard, then I force out a smile.

"Well now, let's... get going, shall we?"

I nod, "Let's."