u/shela_swapton

Shela made her way up to the Hellfire Club alone but in high spirits, it had been a long and stressful week and she wanted to unwind and enjoy herself. She walked up to the door exuding more confidence than even Professor Frost could muster and showed her perfectly legal and valid ID to the bouncer (she was 21, she just hadn’t gotten around to updating her actual ID with her new identity and didn’t want to out herself right now).

Luckily, she didn’t have to pull out her backup plan as the ID passed. She walked in like she owned the place and ordered a fruity cocktail that Brielle had introduced her to when they went out together back at the Academy.

As she sipped at her drink, she started eyeing up the back wall and wondering if she could swipe a bottle to bring back to her room since she wasted Manny’s whiskey and didn’t even get to enjoy it.

Maybe, just maybe, Shela had overreacted a little bit. Professor Frost dying had shattered her world and made her feel ready to run away from everything, and her being the cause of Sage’s vampirism being public knowledge further reinforced that feeling. 

But now, times were changing. Frost was back, and her and Ms. Sage had told her that they didn’t blame her. It turns out that Laura was just on a mission in space with the X-Men, and that knowledge had gotten Pixie more back to her normal self. Hope had also been on a mission, resurrecting Professor Frost. Ms. Paige had had her name cleared as well, which might’ve been the second biggest relief to Shela.

Of course though with Mr. Proudstar missing and Mr. de la Rocha in Frost’s bad graces, the Hellions still had no older student mentors. But hey, they’d been able to handle everything thrown at them this far, and they could keep handling it together.

But perhaps best of all, Professor Frost and Ms. Sage had not only forgiven Shela for her slip-up with Manuel, but then when Shela told them that she’d never had good parents, they said that she did now. And that gesture might’ve made all of this stress ok.

And maybe, just maybe, things could work out alright.

(Interactable for Hellions/people who Shela is close with)

After the recent news,  Shela needed to lay down in bed and just think. Being on a team again with the Hellions had been nice, but so much had changed since she joined.

Professor Frost was now dead. Shot by one of her own students. She had become the closest thing to a good parental figure that Shela had ever had, caring for her and even giving her a hug a few times. Now though, she was gone. And there was hope that she’d come back like Destiny, but for now she needed to accept that Frost was gone, and the small diamond necklace she was handed by her lawyer may the last reminder of her that she got.

Ms. Sage was a vampire now, turned recently and staying in control using the last remaining vials of Emma’s blood. Shela had also let this fact slip to whoever was currently impersonating Emma that Sage. 

Mr. Proudstar hadn’t been seen in days, he went on the same mission as the professors, but returned injured before running off. Who knew when the next time she’d see him would be, but he seemed like the type of man who would resist change.

Mr. de la Rocha took advantage of the current chaos and is claiming the vacant title of White King, apparently left to him by Professor Frost. Did she really trust him that much? Or was there something else going on? And all of that was before considering the fact that she owed him a favor, which is a dangerous thing.

Ms. Paige had joined the Hellions for a minute as a new mentor, but first she left for Generation X, and now is responsible for the death of Emma Frost. She had almost been like an older sister to Shela, someone she could come to with her issues for solutions, or her achievements for celebration. She was someone to emulate and who paved the pay for her. And now… it was said that she had killed Professor Frost. But in Shela’s mind, Paige could never have done something like this. So what was the truth?

Laura was another newcomer who left for Generation X, but she’d always had more ties to the X-Men and was currently stuck in space with the rest of the team. Her and Megan clearly had something going on, although Laura seemed unaware.

Speaking of Megan, she had changed the least in the time since the Hellions were founded. She was her same old self, but had been almost inseparable from Laura. The hangout? Double date? Whatever it was with Julian, Laura, and Megan was very nice, but added further confusion to the situation with Laura and Megan.

Hope was another consistent student, always going off on her own to go on various missions with X-Force or to keep an eye out for Cable. She’d been missing ever since Frost died, but nobody knew why. Maybe her and James were on a mission of some sort?

Quentin had started a riot and set fire to the school shortly after the team was formed. He had broken her body, her spirit, and her mind, and made her question her sense of self. What else was there to even say.

Her opinions on Julian had done a complete 180°, going from bitter rivals to being a couple. He could still be stuck up and egotistical and arrogant, but there was more. He was sweet, and cared deeply about her. And she cared for him too, he pushed her to do her best, and was always there for her.

With all that had changed though, was there any point in staying with the Hellions? Maybe it was better to run off on her own. No more worrying about someone watching her back because she’d be doing it herself. No more losing mentors or teammates because she wouldn’t have any. All of this and more weighed in her mind. Her world was crashing down once again.

Shela was busy working in the kitchen, trying to make some cupcakes for her fellow Hellions. It had been a hell of a month for them, and they needed the sweet treat. Unfortunately however, Shela was not the best baker, and so the process had become a bit of mess, with the first batch turning out to be a dud, being completely over baked. She ended up throwing them to Walpurgis, who had teleported to the mansion for some reason that she wasn’t going to question now.

The second batch turned out wrong in the other direction, being almost completely raw in the middle. Walpurgis got another treat because after all, it’s not like she had to take care of him, Brielle hadn’t even sent a text in who knows how long.

The third batch though! This was going to be the one…
that didn’t rise. More treats for the cat.

By the time she started working on the fourth batch, she realized that she had no frosting and so took a break to go buy some before getting back to work. However, she ended up frosting the cupcakes before baking them. Wally was thoroughly enjoying this experience.

Fifth time was the charm however, and she got them all (mostly) neatly removed from the tray and frosted and decorated, much to Wally’s dismay.

She loaded them all in a tub and began to walk around campus, knocking on the doors of each Hellion, as well as going to the new Generation X brownstone to try and find Laura and Paige, and finally the residence of Tessa and Emma, as they equally deserved some cupcakes (even if she had no clue what they had just endured.)

For most students, summer meant a break from the stress of classes. A time to enjoy the weather, get away from the classroom, and relax.

Shela Sexton however, was not most students.

She had signed up for multiple summer courses, including a tactics class with Mr. Grey-Summers, a coding class with Ms. Sage, as well as a class to keep her combat ready with Ms. Rasputin and Mr. Warpath. These classes tended to be focused on practical examinations; however, they still involved their fair share of reading and practice. During the morning, she spent most of her time inside either trying to debug the same project hundreds of times or studying the latest books assigned by Mr. Grey-Summers. In the afternoon, she would spar with her classmates (no powers allowed, and although she often lost, it was still good practice), although now some afternoons would be spent modeling for Glamour Galaxy. At sunrise and sunset, she would jog laps around the campus.

Shela had never been the most physically fit person in her circles, but she wanted to try and get some activity in her schedule. Besides, the campus always looked so nice in the morning and evening, and it got her out of her room more often. It was also a wonderful way for her to organize her thoughts, get some fresh air before working on more assignments, and to run into other students around campus.

As she felt the wind in her hair and enjoyed the setting sun, she thought to herself: This was going to be the Summer of Sexton, at least if she had anything to say about it.