Costumes

27 days before Halloween

Jean-Paul spent the next couple of days trying to forget Bobby's possible invitation.

Which was not easy when every conversation in that mansion seemed to be about Halloween. This led to learning that part of the whole hysteria about the party was a costume competition for couples and pairs. So everyone was doing their best to get a good partner and work on their costumes, from the students to the teachers, staff, and the field teams too. There were some prizes involved, but he did not even know what they were. Why should he when he could buy everything he wanted? 

He found it silly, but maybe he was too old to get enthusiastic about it.

But all this brought up another question: was Bobby inviting him to be his partner in the contest?

Maybe… it was a possibility. Jean-Paul should not overthink it. It was healthier that way. But he would not deny that the thought of it brought a smile to his face.

It was the day for Jean-Paul’s weekly talk with Annie and the rest of the non-teaching staff. They were all very nice and funny, and thank heavens they were not involved in any X-Men drama, save for Annie and the whole Annie/Alex/Lorna situation. Now, after the disaster of the almost wedding, things were slowly going back to normal, as normal as X-Men can be. He had found peace in being around them. Marilyn from the cafeteria always made sure to double his food dosage since he told her about his fast metabolism. And Rosa and Maria, who were a couple and always such sweethearts to him, were always trying to get Annie to forget about Alex. 

And tonight, they had brought some beers and made sure to bring some Canadian exports for Jean-Paul, which cemented them as their favorite people in the mansion by far. He made sure to save a couple of those for Logan, just in case.

The conversation quickly landed on the Halloween Party, which made sense since they were the ones responsible for the dinner and everything. 

Annie was telling everyone how she and Alex were going as Morticia and Gomez with little Carter as Pugsley, Jean-Paul found it a bit tasteless to do it after the whole wedding disaster, but decided to bite his tongue.

“Speaking of Halloween. Can you believe who almost begged me to dress as Spock from Star something?” - complained Jean Paul. He had to tell someone and understand what Bobby intended for it. If they had heard of any plans to participate in the contest.  He would not get pranked and be the laughing stock of the whole school. He refused that. It was bad enough that he was a full-time teacher nowadays.

“It was Bobby, wasn't it?” Annie said with a wide and suspicious smile on her face.

“What do you know about it?” Asked the speedster, throwing an accusing finger at Annie, because of course she would know something about it. “It is one of his pranks, is it not?”

“I have no idea, mister. He just asked me if you had plans for Halloween and I told him I didn't know.” 

“Maybe he wants to enter the contest with you,” said Marylin. “Maybe he is trying to get your attention.”

“As if,” said Jean Paul, he had thought about it, but quickly put the idea aside. It was an absurd idea. “But, it is not the first time someone has called me that. Other than the kids calling me Professor Spock, which I bet, it was Robert's fault.”

“I mean, I see the resemblance, short dark hair, very fierce eyebrows, and pointy ears. But you have a better haircut.” Said Maria, another of the cooks.

“Him and Kirk…” Rosa started, but Maria stopped her from continuing 

“Maybe he is sending you a sign.”

“We already talked about this.” Jean-Paul was starting to get irritated by this insistence about Bobby.

“Why don't you tell him you don't know the show? Maybe he will invite you to see it with him?” Suggested Annie, and Jean-Paul could swear he saw her eyebrow wiggle.

“I told you, Annie, he is straight, end of story.”

“You don't know if you don't ask.” 

“I don't know what you see in him.  A handsome man like you can do better.” 

“Thank you, Marilyn.”

“I think you should go with him, The boy has been a mess, hiding in the freezer and everything. It would cheer him up.” 

“I will think about that,” said Jean-Paul as a way to finish the conversation on the topic. 

25 days before Halloween

Against his better judgment, Jean-Paul had started to help the rest of the teachers with the decorations.

Most of the time, it was just him, Xi'an, and Dani, the only 3 teachers who did not have any other X-Men duties, besides teaching or leading a squadron. 

They have reunited right after classes, and

Jean-Paul tended to do the things he was assigned pretty quickly, when Bobby was not there to distract him and joke around. Like the day before when Bobby decided it was funny to 

“You need to slow down a bit, let the paint dry at least before trying to put another layer on it.” Dani pointed out. “You will finish it faster than keeping adding more paint.

 “I know Drake is not here, but at least pretend you want to spend some time doing this,” Xi’ân added jokingly 

“You are imagining things. My lack of enjoyment doing this is not affected by Drake's presence.” He tried to sound offended but could see them both rolling their eyes at his answer. They had a point, but he would not admit that out loud.

“So, did you agree to pair up with him for the contest?” Did everyone at the school know of Robert's intentions? Was he spreading the word around? 

“I have not. He asked and I refused, simple as that,” answered Jean-Paul, trying to keep his voice flat.

“That is not what he has been telling everyone.”