I glance over at Flash, surprised at where he brought me. "Do you like art?" I ask him, or did he assume I liked art?
"Art tells us what people would say if they had the courage" Flash answers, I've never thought of art like that but he's right, sometimes it's easier to draw or write something instead of dealing with it head on.
We walk into the gallery, there's white carpets and the walls are filled with different pictures, I glance around. Everybody here looks wealthy; they're all wearing designer clothes and drinking out of fancy champagne glasses. All the chairs and couches are blue.
I glance down at my red dress and flats, I'm not sure if I'm dressed too casually for this event. Flash grabs my hand. "Stop worrying, you're the prettiest girl here" he whispers into my ear, causing me to blush and smile at the ground.
Flash gets two glasses of lemonade and hands me one. We begin to walk around, glancing at the artwork. I glance at a picture, it's a little girl alone in a dark forest, she's wearing a white dress and her legs have dirt on them, I think she's lost. My heart sinks for some reason, I think it just reminded me of myself for a second.
"I like this one" Flash says, glancing at one. It's nothing outlandish, just a sunset that's a deep purple colour, the beach is in the background.
"I've never been to the beach" I admit, causing Flash to stare at me. I'm guessing this is something that everyone with a normal childhood has done considering Flash is looking at me like I'm some sort of alien.
"Next date I'm taking you to the beach, we can take my dad's jet and go somewhere nice" Flash decides. Peter is always shocked by how much money Flash has, but I'm starting to realise my dad is a billionaire so who am I to judge? Flash has never flaunted it in front of me.
"Next date?" I ask, a smiling creep onto my lips. Flash bites his lip and blushes slightly. I laugh, it's cute seeing him getting flustered.
"I hope there'll be a next" Flash replies, trying to recover from his moment of embarrassment. It's refreshing to spend time with someone who isn't caught up in the superhero world, obviously the whole world is stressed about the x-men, but Flash isn't directly involved.
"Me too" I say, grabbing Flash's hand. Flash leans over and kisses me, my eyes widen but I return the kiss. It's too early to be sure but I think I'm starting to develop genuine feelings for Flash, he's sweet and gentle and uncomplicated.
We continue walking, stopping to discuss and observe all the art on the walls. I glance at one, it's Christmas time in the picture and a family is sitting around the Christmas tree unwrapping presents. It's so simple, but I find a part of me yearning for that. I never got to decorate or make Christmas cookies or wrap presents for people, I never had a family to ask me what I wanted for Christmas or parents to take me to look at Christmas lights.
"Do you want another lemonade?" Flash asks me, I glance at him and then at my glass, it isn't even half gone yet.
"I'm okay for now" I say, smiling at Flash. Flash nods and heads off to get himself another drink, something on the tv gets my attention so I turn and face it. A building is on fire, people are running in all directions, desperate to get away from the blaze. My eyes widen, is this an accident or the x-men? I sigh in relief when the news reporter announces it was from a gas leak.
"Worried it was the x-men?" Flash asks me, reappearing with a full glass of lemonade. "They've been terrorising the world for so long; I can't imagine what the world would look like if we didn't have superheroes brave enough to stand up for us." He's right, the x-men would control everything if the avengers weren't around. The x-men might've raised me, but I still don't know what the world would look like if the x-men had won.
What would Flash say if he discovered I was a mutant? He'd probably kick me to the curb and think I was evil; I don't think I'd blame him. I've done some pretty horrible things that I'll never be able to erase or fix, all I can do is try to do the right thing now, but it won't bring back all the lives that I've taken.
I'm saved from answering Flash when we hear a loud noise. My eyes widen, was that a gun shot? Normally I'd run towards the danger but I'm with Flash, I have to act like a normal teenage girl, I can't reveal my powers to him.
"It's just a loud noise, we're okay" Flash says reassuringly, but then we hear more noises. Those are definitely guns, something is going on out there, is it the x-men? I glance down at my phone and decide to send Tony a 'S.O.S' message, I have no idea if the avengers are needed for whatever's happening but it's better to call them if I'm not sure.
A bullet comes flying through the window and everyone inside starts screaming and panicking. Flash pulls me down behind a red couch and we both duck, Flash raises his finger to his lip. "Ssh" he mouths, I nod showing him I understand.
There's another gunshot, I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. Is this the x-men? What the fuck is happening? I peak around the edge of the couch and see three figures in masks standing there, holding guns.
I close my eyes and focus, I'm going to make the guns too hot for them to hold, then they'll be forced to drop them. One of the gunmen swears and drops his gun, I can hear the other two dropping their guns. Everybody starts running, out the door or through the broken glass. I glance at Flash.
"C'mon" I say quietly, he nods and pulls himself to his feet. We step out from behind the couch but to my horror more gunmen have appeared. Shit. One of them raises a gun to us and my eyes narrow, my body tenses as I prepare myself to redirect any bullets that will get shot at us. We're the only people left in the store. My heart sinks, do they know who I am?
"I have money" Flash says quickly, his voice shaky and quiet. "Is that why you're here? For money? Then it's me you want, let her go." Flash is trying to protect me and thinks that this is his fault, but it's mine. My heart sinks, why did I agree to this date? I should've known that I'd put his life in danger at some point.
"We're here for her, not you, rich boy" the man in the middle sneers, gesturing to me with his gun. "She has something much more valuable than money." I close my eyes; they know about my powers. Are they working with the x-men?
A strong gust of wind sends the three men flying backwards, a second gust of wind pushes the guns towards me. Fire immediately appears in front of us, they can't get to us without crossing it and getting burnt. "Leave" I say, my voice as cold as ice. "This is the only warning."
The three men sprint out and I watch as the fire dies down. My heart races as I realise what I've done. "Flash, I-"
"Explain later, we're getting out of here" Flash says, heading outside, I follow him, and we get into his car. How am I supposed to explain this to Flash? This wasn't meant to happen.
*Author's Note* Do you think Flash will tell everyone about Storm's powers?
YOU ARE READING
Beautiful Ruins
Action"Maybe there was a fleeting moment where I wanted to be a hero and believed I could be one, but the truth is I'm not, I won't ever be. My past does define me, it made me a villain" - Storm. Fifteen-year-old Storm is the daughter of Black Widow and I...
