Girls Night Out
Jubilee sat the bar twirling a straw around in her cherry coke. The nice thing about the bartender, she reflected, was that he put real maraschino cherries in the bottom of her soda, even if he wouldn't put any alcohol in as well. She wrinkled her nose at him.
"Jack, can't you get some better music piped in here? I'm sick of this junk."
"Sorry kid, there's no way you can convince me that bubblegum crap is better than Sinatra. Learn to deal."
"Rassen…" She slouched down on her stool and slurped her drink noisily. Cool air swirled around her ankles as the door to the bar opened and admitted another rather forlorn looking teenager. She slunk over to the bar and dropped down beside Jubilee.
"Gotcha, didn't they?" Jubilee gave Kitty a sympathetic look.
"Yeah." Kitty shoved her hands through her short brown hair. "This sucks!"
"Yep."
"It's so unfair!"
"Umhm." Jubilee poked at the cherries with her straw, trying to spear one.
"How'd you deal with it?" Kitty eyed Jubilee suspiciously.
Jubilee looked up with surprise, "Me?"
"Yeah."
"Same way you're going to." A pale blonde teen materialized next to Kitty and waved the bartender over.
"Hey-" Jubilee protested, "I thought it was Wolvie groupies only tonight!"
"Oh, get over yourself, Lee," Illyana snorted, "Logan collects kids like they're Cracker Jack prizes. Speaking of, where's Sarah?"
"Ssshhh!" Kitty ducked her head.
"What?"
"I can't deal with her right now."
"Huh?" Jubilee unwrapped a mint and popped it in her mouth.
"She keeps prowling around and asking me when my birthday is. And then she laughs. Laughs!"
"Here." Illyana took an amber colored drink from the bartender and shoved it towards Kitty. Looking a the bartender expectantly, she demanded, "Where's mine?"
He scurried off to fetch her another.
"Waitaminute- why do they get to drink that and I don't?" Jubilee pouted. "I'm the same age as they are!"
"Finally," 'Yana muttered under her breath.
"Hey!"
"Here's the deal. Kitty gets to drink 'cause she actually got to be old enough to drink, even if she got zapped with the de-aging ray. I get to drink 'cause I'm dead. Who's going to tell me no?"
"Point."
"What am I gonna DO?" Kitty moaned.
The other two girls rolled their eyes. "You're gonna have to wait until a writer with a respect for the reader's intelligence shows up and fixes it," Illyana motioned to Jubilee. "But don't hold your breath. It's gonna be a while."
Jubilee turned bright red.
The bartender turned away and Illyana grabbed Jubilee's glass. Quietly overturning the contents onto the floor, she dumped her drink into it. "Take it," she hissed.
Jubilee gave her a hard look. "What, insults weren't enough? I bet it's poison..." She quickly took a long swallow, and looked at the blonde girl blinking owlishly. "What's that?"
"Long Island Iced Tea." She flagged down the bartender again. "Hey! Get me another one of these, willya?"
A glass slammed down on the bar next to her, empty. "Me too," Kitty declared.
Jubilee tilted back on the stool as she noisily sucked down her third tea.
"I'm worried about Pete though." Kitty sat slumped over the bar.
"Why, what's he doing?" 'Yana was lazily caressing her soulsword's hilt while admiring the assorted shot glasses and lemon wedges that surrounded her.
"I can't even talk to him. He keeps giving me these wild, lavacious looks, then shakes his head, mumbling something about driver's licenses while knocking back a half bottle of scotch." Kitty picked up a slice of lemon and began to suck on it absently.
"You think he's going to do something stupid?"
"I think he's going to drain the world dry of alcohol! Yeah, I think he's falling apart."
"Too bad."
"Eh?"
"Well at least you got to date him!" Jubilee started waving a finger at Kitty wildly, "Me, I keep getting abducted and tortured and junk and ignored by the one guy I really like, and then what do they do?"
"What?" asked 'Yana silkily.
"They kill 'im. Dead as a doornail, that's my lovelife."
"You don't know that," Kitty protested.
"Betcha mine's worse." 'Yana grinned.
"Please, you may be dead, but at least you got your pick of the other dead kids, without the so-called aid of a writer, I might add."
"Uh-huh. And golly, who would that be? Oh, yeah. Doug. Golly, what a fantastic selection."
"Hey!" Kitty sat up straight and glared at the other girl. "Doug's a great guy! Leave 'im be."
"Naaah. All he does is sit around raving about Douglock and the 'injustice' of it all. Hmph." The blonde started spinning an empty glass on the bar. It careened off the edge and shattered on the floor. She gave the bartender what she thought was a winning smile when he turned to look at them. (The bartender was more inclined to think of it as more deranged looking, wasn't about to test his theory.)
"But, ya know who really got the shaft?" Jubilee slurred.
"Hm?" 'Yana turned her slightly blurred gaze to the other girl.
"Blink." At the other girls mystified look she clarified. "Clarice."
"Clarice." The other girls raised their glasses in salute.
"Ah, she's getting a mini anyway." Kitty groused, "it's not like the dead actually stay dead." She gave Illyana a pointed look.
"Not my idea, hon. Blame the fanboy writers. I hear they're gonna try to resurrect Rachel too."
Jubilee groaned.
"That's good." Kitty nodded her head decisively and began to sway a little in her seat. "She was sick of wearing that little old lady getup. The things she does for Nate."
"He's kinda cute you know."
"What?" Kitty turned her amused gaze on Jubilee.
"Well in that cranky, overbearing tight-assed Summers kinda way."
The two girls hooted with laughter. "Ooh! I wonder what ol' Cyke would think of that one!" Illyana chortled. "I'll have to ask him!"
"Oh no..." Jubilee dropped her head down on the bar. "Guys..?"
Kitty started to warble at the top of her lungs, 'Yana soon joining in, "Jubilee and Nate sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…"
The bartender wandered back over to them. "All right girls, time to go home. D'ya need me to call someone?"
"Nah," declared Illyana airily, hopping to her feet, "We're fine."
Jubilee stood up slowly. "Oooh, Ange and Sparky are gonna have a field day tomorrow."
Kitty giggled as she slid off the stool. "Gotcher damn sword?"
Illyana twirled around looking for it before unsheathing it. "Yeah. I got m' damn sword." She jabbed it in the air for emphasis making some of the other patrons glance at her nervously. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
The three girls marched out of the bar.
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