New Friends

Posted on Sun Mar 3rd, 2024 @ 7:23pm by Bianca Mathew & Max Herrera

Mission: Episode 0: X Lang Syne
Location: Cafeteria
Timeline: Monday, February 5, 1990 - 11:30AM

It was lunchtime.

For most kids, this meant hanging out with friends. But Max was weird. He fully understood and accepted this fact. For him, lunch was time to make new friends. Not always, of course. Sometimes, he was a normal teenager and hung out with friends. But there were days when he just felt like meeting someone new.

Today was one of those days.

He spotted a girl about his age sitting on her own, reading a book. He had seen her around before, usually on her own. She was new this year. Maybe she was shy and hadn’t been able to make friends.

This would not do, of course.

So, Max made a beeline for her table and quickly found himself sliding into the seat opposite her. “Mind if I sit here?” he asked with a winning smile.

”I believe you already are,” she replied, an inscrutable sort of half grin on her face.

”Yeah,” he said. “I suppose that question was a bit silly, huh?”

”Just a bit,” she said.

”I’m Max,” he offered by way of introduction. “Talk to animals. I’m toying with the code name Doolittle. What do you think?”

This time, her grin was accompanied by a slight laugh. “I’d say it suits you,” she said. “I’m Bianca. Most people call me B.”

”Good to meet you, B,” he replied. “What’s your super power?”

Instead of answering, she reached under the table and after a few seconds, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw her hand waving at him, her arm a rubbery arch reaching from under the table. “Whoa,” he said as she retracted her arm. “Stretchy. I’m sure that’s useful.”

”It makes putting up Christmas lights pretty easy,” she agreed.

He grinned. “I’ll bet,” he replied, finally starting in on his sandwich. “Where are you from?”

”New Hampshire,” she replied. “Although I’ll be going to South Carolina on school breaks now. I’m being adopted.” And her grin widened so that Max was sure her cheeks were about to split.

”Yeah?” he replied, returning her grin. “That’s awesome.”

”Yeah,” she agreed. “I was raised by nuns. I think they had hoped my mother would come back for me, but she never did. Anyway, my adoptive parents are great. The whole story is completely insane and unbelievable, but I’m looking forward to having a family. Oh! They found my twin brother, too, who I didn’t even know existed.”

”Okay, but that’s a story I need to hear,” Max told her.

”It’s… kinda long,” she warned, looking uncertain.

”I’ve got time.”

She shrugged. “Okay,” she said. “Well, it all started when a young couple came to the church I called home for my whole life. They were on vacation and liked to attend church even while out of town. After mass, Mother Superior was talking to them and they mentioned not knowing what to see next. So I told them they should definitely check out the science museum because there was an Egypt exhibit there and several real mummies, including a couple of cats. They thought it sounded like a great idea. Anyway, we were talking and they found out I was a ward of the church and they invited me to come to the museum with them.

”So that’s how I ended up showing them around practically the rest of the week. I didn’t know it, but they went to the Mother Superior and asked about adopting me. Mother Superior then mentioned that my birth mother had alluded to a son- my twin. And this couple- they’re amazing people, really- spent the next two months going back and forth between South Carolina and New Hampshire, following leads to my brother. They eventually found him in a Foster Home not far from where I was living. Genetic testing is expensive, but he has the same birthday and the same last name- which is Mathew, one T, no S, so a little unusual- and the same picture of our mother that I have.

”Anyway, so that’s how my new parents found my brother and are adopting us both. He’s a mutant, too, but since he’s a ward of the state, he has to stay with them until the adoption is final. The church doesn’t have those rules, so I get to be here.”

“You’re right, that is insane,” agreed Max. “But it’s cool. I’m glad you’re finally getting a family.”

“Me, too,” she beamed. “I’ve been bursting to tell someone, but I’m not so good at approaching people.”

”Oh, that part’s easy,” replied Max. “Just be confident and sit down, then ask permission to sit down. It’s key to do it in that order because they reallly can’t say no.” He grinned mischievously at her.

”Is that why you did it in that order?” she laughed.

”Yep!” he replied cheekily.

”I’ll have to remember that,” she said, still laughing.

Max finally joined her in laughing. “Seriously, though,” he said, “nobody around here is gonna turn you down. Literally everybody is friendly.”

“That’s good to know,” she replied. “I hoped showing up on the weekend would let me meet people, but… well, obviously I haven’t. But now at least I’ve got classes. I met Hannah Thomas in English, but she’s got Foreign Language club at lunch. Maybe I should take Spanish.”

Max replied by rattling off several sentences in rapid Spanish, to which B just stared at him blankly. “Yeah, I got roped into teacher’s assistant for Spanish class. I suppose that’s what I get for having parents who were born in Mexico.”

”That’s so cool, though!” B said. “I know Latin- Catholic schools still teach Latin.” And she demonstrated by rattling off some rapid Latin.

”Spanish is based on Latin,” he told her. “I actually understood some of that. Well, some words, anyway. The grammar’s a bit weird.”

”Yeah, Latin lacks articles,” she said. “So Rex can be King, a King, or the King. It makes it feel incredibly vague. At least to me.”

”So you have a head start if you wanted to learn Spanish,” he said. ‘Well, and French and Portuguese. And probably a few others.”

”Yeah,” she said. “Maybe next year.”

There was silence for a few seconds, and then Max said, “so you said your brother is a mutant, too? What does he do?”

“The exact opposite of me,” she replied. “Sort of. He can go as rigid as a rock. When he does it, nothing can knock him over. Moving him is really hard. Sam- our dad- helped him test it once by tying him to the car and trying to pull him. He just spun his tires for a long time and then budged him about an inch. It was awesome. Then Gloria yelled at us.” She grinned. “I love having a family.”

“I guess I take it for granted,” he replied. “I’ve always had a great family. My siblings and I get along and my parents are really supportive and encouraging. I can’t even imagine all of that being new.”

”And I can’t imagine it being always,” she replied. “I mean, don’t get me wrong; the nuns who raised me were great. But it’s not quite the same.”

”No,” agreed Max. There was a slight pause and then he asked, “so are your parents mutants? Your adoptive parents, I mean. Obviously.”

”Gloria is,” she said. “I guess I should get used to calling her mom. Anyway, she can absorb and generate fire. She’s gotta be careful generating it, though, because once it’s out, she can’t control it. For some reason, she can’t absorb the fire she generates. It’s weird. But Sam- dad, I guess- is just a regular human. He’s an ally, though.”

”He’d have to be,” commented Max. “How can you be married to a mutant and not be an ally?”

”True,” agreed B. “I suppose the marriage wouldn’t really last very long if he wasn’t.”

The warning bell told them it was time to get going. “What do you have next period?” asked Max.

”Uh…” replied B, pulling her schedule out of her back pack. “Biology with Professor McCoy.”

“Same!” he replied excitedly. “You’re going to love him. Nearly everybody does.”

“Which one is he?” she asked as they picked up the remnants of their lunch to take to the trash.

”The big blue furry guy,” he replied. “Can’t miss him.”

”Oh, I’ve seen him around,” she said. “He seems… strange. But, in a good way.”

”Oh, he is,” Max told her as they left the cafeteria. “Just you wait…”