Ray had never been one to complain. Most of the time she sat quiet and content in a chair, far off in the corner of her room, away from other people. She loved to play dress-up and enjoyed watching the other children play hopscotch through her bedroom window on hot summer nights.
According to the doctors, Ray was a special little girl. They visited her every once in a while and sometimes brought presents such as lollipops and toffees. Ray enjoyed their visits because visitors rarely came apart from her immediate family. She had no friends apart from her dolls and vivid imagination.
Mother said that she was not to have anymore visitors for a while because she had come down with a nasty fever, which was not at all true. Ray felt fine.
The only problem was that when Ray got angry, the walls shook and the pictures fell from their shelves. When asked what had happened she just shrugged and went back to bed. That's the real reason she was not allowed visitors anymore, in fear that she would come across as a freak of nature.
Strange things began to happen to Ray on the eve of her sixteenth birthday. After she'd blown out her candles and settled in to bed, she heard a voice. It was quiet as a whisper at first but growing louder by the minute.
"Hello. My name is Charles Xavier. Don't be alarmed, I come as a friend."
The voice had a gentle, friendly edge to it. Ray was not at all afraid and was rather quite calm. He asked her many question and she was more then willing to answer.
That was the night Ray ran away with Charles Xavier, with the hopes that she would find her true Identity.
The driver pulled in front of the school entrance. Ray's stomach growled uncontrollably. She was so far away from home and she was surprised with herself. Never once had she disappointed her parents, which she surely must have by now. Once they found out she was gone they would surely be putting up 'Missing Persons' signs.
The night before, Charles Xavier, to whom she was now to call 'Professor Xavier', explained his manner of being. He wished her to attend his school for specially challenged children, otherwise known as mutants.
Ray had never pictured herself a 'mutant' before. She wondered what mother and father would think of her joining a school full of mutants. That thought made her stomach growl again so she quickly pushed the idea aside. Besides…she already knew the answer.
A man in a black suit opened the car door for her and she graciously thanked him. He grabbed her bags from the trunk of the vehicle and led her towards the giant castle which she was soon to call home. The warm smell of fresh roses filled her body as he led her through the front door. Ray smiled to herself. She knew she was going to like it here.
She was greeted at the front door by a man wearing strange eyewear that she could not help but gawk at. But then she remembered how staring was impolite and quickly looked away.
"You must be Ray." He greeted her with a warming smile and friendly handshake. "It's a pleasure meeting you. Professor Xavier has told us so much about you."
Ray wondered how he could have gotten much across about her. She and the Professor had only known each other three days at the most.
"Oh!" He said as if suddenly remembering something he'd forgotten. "You must be quite tired from your trip. I'll show you to your room."
He grabbed her bags from the man in black and led her up a winding staircase. The school was larger then she'd expected. The walls were pure stone and held a sense of ancientness. Ray suddenly felt at home. She'd never expected such a feeling to come over her.
"Here we are." He said as they approached a door at the end of a long hallway. "Room 118, Oh, and I hope you don't mind having a roommate." He stared at me, waiting for my reaction, but when I said nothing he continued on. "Her name's Marie but everyone calls her Rogue. She a very nice girl and I'm sure you'll get along just fine." She wanted to believe him, but she'd never got along well with others. Hopefully this would be the perfect chance to practice.
Before he left he'd muttered "And by the way… the name's Scott." She'd just smiled and slid into her room. It suited her needs just fine and reminded her of her old bedroom. Rogue, her roommate, was not there at the moment so Ray unpacked alone and in silence. She didn't mind. That's the way she liked it.
When she finished unpacking, she decided to do a bit of exploring. Surely no one would mind if she walked about the halls and looked around. Ray thought she felt a twinge of excitement in her stomach. The last time she'd felt excited was when her cousin Molly had come to visit her. Unfortunately, Molly's visit was cut short when Ray supposedly came down with another fever.
Ray quietly shut the door behind her, and hopped down the stairs. The halls were filled with the murmurs of children chatting as they walked from class to class. One boy accidentally bumped into her and she'd cringed back against the wall. Never in her life had another human being other then her mother and her doctors ever actually touched her. She felt strange.
Many of the children turned their heads to glimpse up at her, but continued on to what they were doing. She walked by one of the classrooms where a woman with silver hair and brown tanned skin was teaching. The woman held herself with a proud dignity that made Ray feel somewhat insignificant.
Ray took a walk around the school grounds and enjoyed the fresh air. Most of all she enjoyed the rose bushes. She couldn't help but stop and smell them. Roses had always been her favorite flowers and she'd especially loved when mother brought her some. But only on special occasions, the doctors agreed that flowers were bad for her health.
A loud, guttural sound broke her from her thoughts. The noise was coming from a small rectangular building which she assumed to be the garage.
"Shit…" a man yelled . She couldn't help but blush at his profanity. Mother had never allowed it.
The man seemed in need of some help, so she set of in his direction. As she approached she heard the growling sound again, this time louder then before.
There sat a man who wore the scars of the world on his shoulders. He was probably in his mid-thirties but seemed older. His hands appeared rough and his body battle scarred. A motorcycle lay next to him and there was oil everywhere. Ray fought the urge to laugh.
"May I help you?" the man growled with a stern look the broadened his face. She backed into the garage wall. No one had ever spoken to her in such a manner.
"I-I-I heard a noise and I-I uh, thought someone might be hurt so…" His stare cut her off.
"I don't need any help. Just go back to whatever you were doing before I rudely interrupted you." He said and waved a hand at me.
Bravery was a virtue Ray had lacked since childhood but it suddenly rushed through her veins. "You know... you could be a little nicer." She stammered.
"Oh yeah?" he mumbled. "Listen kid, you caught me in a bad mood and I'd appreciate it if you'd leave." Her face turned beet red.
He went back to working on the bike.
"Alright, alright," She said lifting her hands up defensively. "But if I were you I'd look at your gas tank, it has a hole in it."
Ray smiled to herself and exited the garage.
It wasn't long before she heard a voice behind her. "Hold up a second...will you, ah, slow down."
When he caught up with her they just stared at one another, both at a loss for words.
Finally, he managed to mumble, "I... um, well, Thanks."
He stuck his hand out for her to shake. She took the hand and smiled. He flashed a grin back at her.
If he wasn't so grumpy she would have almost considered him handsome. Almost.
"Oh, and by the way, I'm…uh, Ray" She laughed. Ray loved it when he smiled and she wanted him to do it again.
"Well Ray, my names…uh, Logan" He mimicked her and laughed along.
Ray decided she liked his laugh almost as much as his smile. It felt like greeting an old friend.
He struck up a conversation. "So how long have you been in the mutant territory?" He asked, making a face that she wasn't familiar with.
"I just got here today." Ray wanted to tell him everything but contained herself in fear of looking like an idiot.
He stared at her again, which made Ray felt uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. "Have you always been savvy with motorcycles?" He prodded. "Or do you just have good eyesight?" She couldn't hold back a nervous laugh.
"My dad had a bit of a thing for motorcycles. He'd let me read his magazine and I guess it just stuck, you know?" She found herself eyeing a chunk of rock near his shoe.
He cracked another smile. Ray blushed involuntarily. "We should talk motorcycles some time. What do you say, just you and me?" She bit her lip. "Sounds like a plan."
That weekend, Logan showed her around the school. She hadn't realized just how gigantic it was. They talked motorcycles and she helped him fix his bike. They had lunch together and many of their conversations ended up in fits of laughter. Ray was beginning to relax around Logan. It felt so nice to have a friend.
When classes resumed, he always smiled at her in the hall, making her blush again and again.
That night, Ray suddenly got a craving for peanut butter, so she snuck downstairs and into the kitchen. As quietly as possible, she tiptoed towards the fridge. The kitchen was so dark at night and it was difficult to see.
Once she found the peanut butter, she rumaged around for a spoon. 'Dang' she thought to herslef 'Just my luck I cant find a stupid spoon'.
Without warning, she tripped over something hard on the floor and hit the ground. The peanut butter jar went flying across the kitchen, landing with a thump.
"Shit." she grumbled. Now how was she supossed to fill an empty stomach.
Suddenly, chuckles of laughter filled the air. She jumped to her feet.
"Wow...Ray...Haha..." Logan flipped on the lights. The kitchen came into view. She blinked at the new found light.
Logan managed to talk through his hysterics. "You should have seen... The look... On your face...Haha... When you tripped... over my... Haha...Shoe..." He couldn't stop his laughter.
Ray scowled at him. Anger hazed her thoughts. She turned and tryed to exit the kitchen, but a pair of sturdy hands caught her around the waist.
It was Logan, and his laughter was gone.
She tried to break his grip but his hold on her was to tight.
"Ray... I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, that was very wrong of me." Ray agreed with him completley. "Do you forgive me?" There was an akward silence.
"I don't think I have a choice." She couldn't stay mad at him, it was just to difficult.
He smiled her favorite grin.
"Umm, Logan?" She was staring at his hands which where still clutched around her waist.
"Oh, eh, sorry about that." He immediatley dropped his hands.
He loped over to the table and sat down. She couldn't help but notice the muscles that rippled through his arms. 'Focus!' Ray thought to herself.
That...was going to be a challenge.