Chapter One

September 12th, 2001
4:29pm
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

Libby got out of her Aunt Ororo's black SUV and surveyed the familiar campus through purple-tinted RayBans. After a Summer of traveling around Europe and Asia with Ororo, and searching for more mutants to attend Xavier's, she was actually looking forward to another year at the "mutant school."

"You need any help with your bags?" Ororo asked as LIbby began to pull her various belongings from the trunk.

"Nah, I've got it," Libby replied. "But thanks for asking."

Meanwhile, in another part of the campus, Rory Summers was reading a book. Her Dad, Scott Summers (AKA Cyclops) was working at his desk in the corner of the office, and Rory was sitting in an armchair by the bookshelf. This was the usual arrangement between the two, seeing as they had always been very close.

A knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," Scott called, not looking up from his work.

The door opened and Scott's girlfriend Jean walked in. "Hey sweetie," she said before noticing Rory in the armchair. Rory didn't even acknowledge her presence. "I just wanted to tell you that Xavier wanted to see us in his office."

"Oh. Alright," Scott stood and shuffled his papers into a pile and walked over to ruffle Rory's short blonde hair. "See you at dinner, kiddo."

"See ya later, Dad," Rory looked up and smiled at him.

Once her Dad was gone, she got up and exited the office as well. She was on her way back to the three-person dorm she shared with her friends Libby and Rogue when she ran into someone.

"Oh, hey Ororo," Rory said. "Is Libby up in the dorm already?"

"Yeah, she was on her way up there," Ororo replied. "Did you have a good Summer?"

Rory nodded happily. "Well, I've got to go unpack anyways. I'll see you at Dinner!" and she turned on her heels to start up the staircase. Once at the top, she turned to the right, passed three doors, and then entered the next door on her left.

"ELIZABETH MUNROE!" she screamed.

"AURORA SUMMERS!" Libby screamed in response.

"ROGUE!" Rogue added from where she sat on her bed, shutting her notebook.

"We are failures," Rory said as she walked over to her spinny desk chair and spun around a few times. "So, how was Europe/Asia?" she asked Libby.

Libby slid her empty suitcase under her bed and turned to her friends. "Chinese people don't like me."

"Uhmm, and why are you under this impression?" Rogue asked.

"I burned down one of their temples," Libby explained. "Ororo and I pretty much got chased out of China and into Russia. And, trust me, Russia was not a fun place to be."

Rory sighed. "Your Summer was better than mine. I was stuck with Jean for a month while my Dad went on a business trip. She said we needed to "bond," which pretty much consisted of her buying me things with my Dad's money."

"Oh," Rogue winced. "Stuck with her for a whole month? That sounds like torture."

"It was," Rory continued. "She keeps trying to get between my Dad and I. And now, he's spending less and less time with me, and more and more time with her. It's not fair. He's my Dad, and it was great until she came into the picture."

Rogue shrugged. "At least you two have guardians. I have no one."

"Lies," Libby said. "Logan the Gigantic Idiot pretty much treats you like you're his daughter."

"Yeah, Logan's pretty cool," Rogue agreed. "Why don't you like him?"

Libby growled. "Let's just say that we've had our differences."

The three girls continued to talk while unpacking, and before long the room was restored to its former glory, with posters and photographs covering every inch of the usually white walls. By then it was 5:15, and Dinner was always at 5:30pm, so the girls proceeded to get ready for dinner and then exited their room.

Rory was happy to see the dining hall filled to the brim with familiar faces, and some newbies. The girls sat down at their usual table, along with Bobby (Rogue's boyfriend), John (Bobby's friend who Rory hated), and a newbie girl named Kitty.

~*~

September 13th, 2001 (Monday)
6:30am

Libby woke up to a blaring alarm clock. "RORY!" she yelled. "TURN OFF YOUR FUCKING ALARM CLOCK! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!" she rolled over and shoved her head underneath her pillow.

"Libs, it's time to get up," Rory said as she turned off the alarm. "Breakfast is at 7:00am instead of 7:30am this year."

"Seriously? Why do they do this to me?" Libby grumbled as she got out of bed and lumbered over to her dresser to grab clothes. "I had a good thing going; sleep until 7:15am, shower, and head down to breakfast. They've ruined my whole system."

Rogue sighed. "We know, Libsy. We know."

The three girls grabbed their belongings and headed down to the girl's shower room to get ready for the first day of school. Then, they had to return to their room to grab their school books and bags before going downstairs to breakfast.

"Good morning, Elizabeth," Charles said as Libby passed him in the hallway. "All rested and ready for school, I hope."

"As always, Professor," Libby replied as they entered the dining hall.

Rory sat down and began to pile hashbrowns onto her plate. They were her favorite food, so it was only normal that she do so. Meanwhile, Libby grabbed probably sixty pieces of bacon and began to eat them.

"You two are pigs," John said.

"You're an asshole," Rory replied.

Bobby laughed. "John, you'd better stay out of Rory's way this year. She seems to have developed an even larger grudge for you over the Summer."

"Indeed I have, Bobby Ice," she replied, using his nickname.

Rogue smiled. "I thought that you weren't going to call him that anymore?"

"I have decided that it would be way to hard to stop now," Rory explained. "I have been calling him that since we were three years old. It's a term of endearment."

Bobby simply rolled his eyes as the first bell rang. The group grabbed their belongings and looked down at their schedules to see what their first classes would be. Rogue and Libby headed to AP Government, while Rory walked in the opposite direction towards Charles's office for AP Physics. She was surprised to see that no one else was in the classroom, so she chose a chair and sat down, pulling out her notebook and a pen.

Charles wheeled himself in and smiled at Rory from the front of the room. "We are still expecting one more student Aurora, so please be patient."

Rory smiled in return. "Of course, Professor."

It wasn't long before John walked in, closing the door behind him and moving to sit beside Rory. Rory looked over and her eyes widened. How the hell did he get into this class, she thought.

"Alright," Charles said. "Let's begin."

Rory put the pen into position and ran her hand over the top of it, so that it would copy every word that Charles spoke. John managed to keep up with his writing as well, although he was copying by hand.

In the AP Government classroom, Libby was getting very annoyed.

"Are you even certified to teach?" she growled at Logan.

He turned around to face her. "No. But the Professor asked me to, so I said I would."

Libby exhaled sharply and was tempted to start a fight. But, before she could say another word, Bobby tapped her arm, and she grew suddenly cold.

"No fighting," he said to her.

"Fine, Iceman," she said, using his stupid Mutant name.

"Good, Nova," he replied.

Logan continued talking about the Pioneers of America, and Libby zoned out. She didn't have to listen, because her brain automatically absorbed everything it heard, so she could just refer back to it later.

Finally, the bell rang, and both her and Rogue had a free period, so she stomped up to her Aunt's office and then proceeded to stomp inside.

"WHY THE HELL DID LOGAN GET A TEACHING POSITION?" Libby screeched.

Ororo rolled her eyes. "Nice to see you too, Libby."

"Why? WHY? I was actually looking forward to that class, and he had to come along and ruin it!" Libby ranted. "I love history! I'm good at it! But I will NOT be able to learn in that classroom!"

"Well too bad," Ororo said. "He's smart, Libby. He can teach you everything you need to know if you just let yourself be willing to listen."

Libby grumbled under her breath. Ororo walked over and patted the top of her head. Libby sighed.

"Alright. I will try to listen," she said. "But no promises!"

Ororo smiled. "Get out of here, Libby. Go do something fun with your free period."

~*~

9:12am

Rory opened the door to her Dad's office and sat down in her usual armchair. Her book from yesterday was still on the table beside it, so she picked it up and opened to the place where she had left off.

Scott walked in a few moments later. "Hello RoRo. How was Physics?" he asked as he sat down at his desk.

"John is the only other person who signed up," Rory said, setting down her book and walking over to sit in the chair in front of her Dad's desk. "I don't even know how he got into the class."

"He really picked up his act last semester, RoRo," he explained. "Got all A's, so I signed off on the sheet so he could get in. I didn't know that he was going to be in your class though, or I would have told you."

Rory sighed. "It's okay, Dad. He was actually polite today."

"Well, that's good," he said. "Maybe it will turn out better than what you assume."

Rory walked over, picked up her book, and returned to the seat in front of the desk. Scott went over his class curriculum (he taught Math) and began to make revisions. But, before too long, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Scott called in his usual tone.

Jean walked in and rolled her eyes when she saw Rory. She liked Scott, true, but she couldn't stand his daughter. She and her Dad were much too close for her liking.

"Hello Scott," she said stiffly. "Hello Aurora."

"I prefer to be called Rory," Rory stated, not even looking up at the redhead before her.

"I don't care what you prefer," Jean replied. "You name is Aurora, and that is what I'm going to call you."

Suddenly, Rory lost it. She stood up, grabbed her things, and turned to face Scott. "Look, Dad, you can like whoever the Hell you want. But I can't stand her, and I don't want to be around you anymore if it means that she's going to invade on our personal time." And with that said, she turned on her heels and walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Scott sighed heavily. "Jean, I told you at breakfast that Rory and I always spend free periods in my office together. Neither of us like when people intrude."

Jean scoffed. "But you two don't even talk!"

"We don't need to talk," Scott said angrily. "We are perfectly comfortable in silence. But I've seen the way you look at her, and I know you don't like her. So I'm sorry, Jean, but my daughter always comes first. I can't be with you anymore."

"Scott, that's ridiculous!" Jean said.

"No its not. Now get out of my office before I'm reduced to using force," Scott said, looking back down at his papers and ignoring her.

Jean left the room, angry and ready to blow up at any moment. How dare Scott break up with me!, she thought. And all because of that stupid daughter of his! She was going to get back at her if it was the last thing she did!

~*~

1:17pm

Rory, Libby, Rogue, Bobby, John, and Kitty were all in Jean's AP English class, reading the first chapter of "King Lear" so that they could discuss it the next day. Rory could feel that Jean was staring daggers at her, but she could care less. However, her friends were quite concerned about her wellbeing.

"She looks like she's gonna kill you," Libby whispered almost silently.

"She can try all she wants," Rory whispered back. "You all know what I'm capable of."

John just stared at the girl. Of course, he had no idea what she was capable of; he wasn't even entirely sure what her power was. All he knew was that she was called Echo. He had seen her using telekinesis that morning, but he sensed that wasn't the only thing that she could do. And, not only that, but he had never noticed how beautiful she was.

She was almost a foot shorter than him, with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She was smart, and funny, and a bit of a smartass. But, he liked it.

When the final bell rang at 2:30pm, all students pushed their way out of their classrooms, and all went to their separate places of enjoyment. Normally, Libby would go outside to sit in the courtyard, but she wasn't in the mood. So, instead, she settled for Charles's office.

"Hello Elizabeth," he said from behind his desk.

"Hello Professor," she said. "Would you mind if I studied in here?"

"Of course not. I would much enjoy the company," he replied.

So, Libby situated herself at a small desk in the corner and and pulled out her American History textbook, opening it to page 17. She was just about to start reading about the Native Americans when the door burst open.

"Professor, there's something I have to talk to you about," Logan said, not noticing Libby in the corner, who had looked up from the book. "I don't like this teaching gig. Do I have to keep it up?"

"Logan, I'm sure that the children are very much enjoying your teaching skills. Isn't that right, Elizabeth?" Charles asked insightfully.

Libby smirked. "Oh yes, Professor. You have absolutely no idea how amazing Logan is in the teaching department. He is definitely an asset to us all."

Logan growled, and Libby saw for the first time how amazingly ripped he was. Logan saw her staring and cocked his head to one side. She gave him one last fleeting look before turning back to her book.

"You see, Logan; you're an asset to us all," Charles replied. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"No, Professor," Logan cleared his throat. "That's all."