Raised By Wolves update

She’s certainly a delight, Betsy thought to herself, staring after Monet as she walked away—and not without a certain appreciation of how Monet strutted. That girl is going to be trouble this summer. But why do I think that the person she’s trouble for won’t mind too much?

Turning back to Jubilee, she put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You did a good job this morning,” she told her. “I think you have a natural talent.”

“Thanks.”

“Have you ever tried basket weaving before?”

“No, Ms. Braddock.”

“Call me Betsy, please. I think we’ve gotten a little past the point of students and teachers. Most of us X-Men are much more superheroes than we are role models. So friends seems a bit more manageable to me than being a mentor, don’t you think?”

“Okay… Betsy.”

“That’s good. I want us to be friends, even if you never end up on the grown-up team, and I’d like it if we had more in common than just being mutants. I think everyone has someone in common, if they just take the time to look for it.”

Jubilee nodded her head up and down. With the charm offensive that Betsy was giving her, this was far past the point where Jubilee would usually give her a smile, if only out of deference to Betsy’s charisma. But Jubilee’s face was blank and Betsy could feel tension in the shoulder she held.

“Is this your first summer away from home, Jubilee?”

“No… Betsy… it’s not.”

“Aren’t you happy here at Xavier’s?”

“Why do you ask?”

Betsy shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. This is hard on all of us, in different ways. Sometimes, people think it’s a good thing that they’re not bothering others with their problems. But really the best thing she can do is let people like me know she’s unhappy so that we can fix it. You’d be surprised how nice this place can be when everyone isn’t holding things in.”

“When has that ever happened?” Jubilee asked shrilly, tears glazing the orbits of her eyes.

“We do have our share of drama.” Betsy tightened her hold on Jubilee’s arm. “But that’s just life. There can be friction even when no one’s doing anything wrong. I’d like you to be happy while you’re here, but I can’t help if I don’t know—”

She stopped, interrupted by the giant sob that broke from Jubilee, right before the girl flung herself against Betsy and hugged her tight.