Chapter 1 - Xavier

“You’re partner’s name is Alexis--Lex--Taylor,” the man informed me. “Age 17, been with us for six years, and one of our best.”

I nodded as he handed me her file, like she had undoubtedly been given mine, and looked over her information, wondering why her hair wasn’t pulled back in a ponytail in any of her pictures.  Her brown hair was parted off to the right and a curtain of hair covered the left side of her face, making it impossible to see past it.

“Why is her hair down?” I asked, looking up, but he just set his jaw and pointed to the exit.  I did as I was silently ordered and left, confused as to why he didn’t want to answer.

I pulled out the map they had given me before being briefed about my partner and looked for the cafeteria, everyone most likely at lunch since it’s noon.  I found it and tried to figure out where I was now, but ended up asking a girl about my age, and she told me to take two lefts and a right.  I thanked her and headed off, finding that I was right about everyone being in the cafeteria.

There were hundreds of people laughing and eating and…two making out in the corner.  I looked away from the couple and took no more than three steps before a smiling girl stopped me.

“Hi,” she said in a cheery voice, her blonde curls bouncing.

“Hi,” I repeated warily.

“You must be the new guy,” she stated simply. “I was told to introduce you to your partner.”

“Oh,” I said, “thanks.”

Her smile widened and she gestured for me to follow, which I did without question.  It was hard to maneuver around everyone as we went through the thickest part of the crowd and I struggled to keep up, but once we left the cafeteria the halls were empty.

“So she’s not in there, then?” I asked, my voice slightly echoing.

“She doesn’t really like to eat around anyone,” she said as we rounded another corner, stopping outside of a door before knocking gently.  She gave me a sympathetic smile--in which I just gave her a confused look--and she left, skipping down the barren halls, her heels clicking on the tile.

I waited impatiently for someone to answer the door, and it took nearly three minutes for the doorknob to turn and reveal the girl I would have to train with for the rest of our partnership--maybe even my life.

“Go away,” she stated simply, going to shut the door but I caught it right as it was about to close.

“Hi, I’m--”

“I know who you are,” she interrupted, half a frown visible through her hair. “I said go away.”

“I know what you said,” I replied irritably. “We have to meet sometime, though.  We are partners.”

“I don’t care what they told you,” she said venomously. “I don’t need a partner, now go away.”

She slammed the door in my face before I could utter another word, and I heard the lock click right after.  Now I know what the sympathetic smile was for--she didn’t seem to like anyone.  She didn’t even eat in the same room as anyone else.

I sighed and decided it would be better to try again later, after I’d eaten something.  The ride here was long and my stomach felt empty at the smell of food wafting from the cafeteria.  I tried my best to retrace my steps, getting lost but then going back and taking the other turn to find myself in the busy cafeteria.

The smiling blonde waved me over to the table she was sitting at and I pushed my way carefully though the crowd, sitting down warily beside her.

“I’m Lilly, by the way,” she said, holding out a hand for me to shake.

I took it and said, “Xavier.”

She pulled her hand away and I did the same. “That’s Tony”--she pointed to the boy with black shaggy hair sitting across from her--“Mark”--the redhead sitting next to him--“Wade”--the brown haired guy sitting beside her--“and Leah,” she finished, pointing to the strawberry blonde girl beside Wade.

“Hi,” I said.

“So he’s the new guy, huh?” Tony asked.

“Yup,” Lilly said, popping the ‘p.’ “He’s Lex’s new partner.”

Mark let out a slow whistle and I glanced at each of them, puzzled.  So what if she didn’t really like people?  Or eating in the same area?  Maybe she just likes her privacy…all the time.

“What?” I asked.

“Lex’s partners don’t tend to…stay very long,” Leah said, choosing each word carefully.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“They always ask for a new one,” Wade clarified. “After about a week they say she’s ‘too hard to work with.’”

“What do they mean by that?” I asked.

“She really doesn’t like people,” Lilly said. “She doesn’t want a partner, doesn’t like how they keep giving her one even after it’s been this way for three years, and doesn’t like the thought of being forced to train with someone she doesn’t want to train with.”

“But you said that her partner is the one that asks for a transfer,” I said. “Why doesn’t she?”

“She was forbidden after ten transfer requests before she had even seen their faces,” she said. “Now only her partner can decide to end it, and she makes sure that they always do.”

“The longest she’s had one lasted a month,” Tony said. “I suspect that’s only because he was in the hospital for two weeks and she never came to see him.”

“What happened to him?” I asked, a little uneasy.

“It was an assignment,” Lilly said, noticing my wariness. “Lex didn’t do anything to him, he just got a few deep wounds and the doctors wanted to make sure he was healed before sending him back.”

“Oh,” I said as my stomach growled. “So, what’s there to eat around here?”

“Food,” Wade stated simply.

“No, duh,” I said flatly. “But seriously, I’m starved.”

“Here,” Leah said, tossing me an apple. “I doubt you’d want to eat the leftovers.”

“Thanks.”

I took a bite and chewed thoughtfully, mulling over everything they had said about my new partner.  For three years she had gone from one to another, driving them away within a week--or a month if you’re in the hospital, apparently.  But then something scratched at the back of my brain, willing me to remember.

Oh, yeah.

She’d been here for six years.

“What happened in the first three years she was here?” I asked as I swallowed the piece of apple.

Lilly gave me a sly smile. “Read her profile, huh?”

I nodded, pulling the file from under the table and showing it to them. “She’s been here for six years, but you said that she’s been driving her partners away for three.  What happened?”

They all glanced at each other, daring one person to come out with the truth, and for a second I thought no one would.  They all seemed reluctant for some reason, like it was a secret they weren’t supposed to share.

“She changed,” Leah whispered, and that seemed to spark the need for everyone else to spill what happened.

“She used to be like everyone else,” Mark said. “Happy, even.  She was best friends with her partner, but then the worst thing that could ever happen, happened.”

“He never came back from one of their missions,” Wade said, taking up the story. “No one’s sure what happened, but she just seemed to shut down.”

“Before she would always wear her hair in a messy ponytail, never longer than shoulder length,” Lilly said. “After, she never put it up, never cut it, and had it parted so it would hide the left side of her face.”

“It’s against the rules not to have it up,” Tony added, “but the superiors made an exception for her, never explaining why.  They were there at the mission, ready to dive in if things went south, and they know what happened.”

“They never told, and she never spoke of it,” Leah piped in. “Anyone who mentions it gets a knife to the throat--no joke, that’s why a few of her partners transferred.”

I soaked up this new information, wondering what could’ve happened to make her feel that way, to shut down and let no one in ever again.  There’s always a chance that your partner is going to die, and many people had become depressed about it.  But it was never to this extent, they normally got over it in no time, never wanting to talk about them but capable of being asked what happened without having the urge to slit the person’s throat.

“Why does she hide her face?” I managed to ask.

Lilly shook her head. “Only the superiors know, an only the ones who were there.  Whenever asked, they just say that she swore them to secrecy.”

“So no one knows what happened?” I asked.

“No,” Wade said. “There wasn’t even an official report, the superiors refused to write one and Lex had gone temporarily mute.  When she did speak again, she wasn’t the same.  The smiling girl was gone, replaced with a furious one that wanted to bury her past beneath a mound of anger.”

“Wow,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” Lilly said. “She lost the friends she had, pushed them away until they just gave up, and secluded herself from the rest of the world.  She requested her own room, custom training schedule, a bunch of stuff like that, and she got it.  All because of that one day.”

“Who was her partner?” I asked.

They all stiffened. “No one dares say his name aloud,” Leah whispered. “She knows when you do.”

I snorted. “How could she possibly know that?”

Leah shook her head. “No one knows how, but she always finds out.  And that person always regrets it.”

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.  I had forgotten about the apple, but my hunger had disappeared, lost in clouded thoughts about my new partner.  I grabbed her file as we all stood, feeling the need to go talk to her.

“I’m gonna go try and talk to her again,” I said.

“Good luck,” Wade said as I turned.

“I hopefully won’t need it!” I shouted over my shoulder, hearing him snort before falling into another conversation with the others.  I headed in the direction Lilly had lead me before, pushing through the crowd of people until I thankfully got to the edge.  I walked down the emptying hallway and found the door that hid my mysterious partner.  I knocked on the door and waited for five minutes this time before her annoyed face appeared.

“Do you not understand what ‘go away’ means?” she asked sourly.

“I do, but we’re partners, so we can’t be apart forever,” I said, putting out a hand to stop her from closing the door like she had done before. “We didn’t properly introduce ourselves.”

She rolled her eyes--well, eye, with what I could see. “You know my name, I’m sure someone’s told you what they know about me, and that’s enough.  I don’t care who you are, I don’t give a f**k that we’re ‘partners,’ now just go away.”

She gave the door a huge shove, and I could barely keep it from closing. “Would you just stop?!” I exclaimed.

“Stop what?” she asked flatly. “Stop hating everyone?  The world?  You?”

“All of the above,” I muttered through clenched teeth as I put myself in the gap in the door so she couldn’t close it.  It was hard, though, she wouldn’t give it up.

“Well, it’s not gonna happen,” she said, opening the door wide, making me stumble, and then pushing me out. “Now just stay away!”

She slammed the door and I heard the lock click just like before, intent on keeping everyone else out as well as me.

“You can’t hide in there forever!” I shouted to the door, knowing that she could hear me. “Just come out and stop being such a coward, Alexis!”

The lock clicked again and she opened the door wide, looking at me angrily.  She stepped forward and I matched it with a step back, frightened by how furious she looked, until I hit the wall and she thrust her index finger on my chest.

“Don’t you ever call me that again,” she said scarily through gritted teeth.

“What?” I asked, looking down at her blue-green gaze and refusing to act like a cornered puppy and whimper. “A coward?”

“No, you idiot!” she shouted, much louder this time. “My name is Lex!  Never call me anything else!”

With that, she turned and went back into her room, slamming the door with enough force to break the hinges and locking the door after her.  I stared, dazed, at the door.  Why would she simply overlook being called a coward and get mad at me calling her by her first name?  I just don’t get it.

I don’t get her.