It was a normal day in Xavier's academy for gifted children.
Kurt Wagner, the newest student, walked sheepishly out of the Danger room. He was sweating and breathing heavily. Many of the other pupilss looked at him and shook their heads, obviously seeing something wrong.
One girl in her late teens walked up to him. "I've seen that look before. You got Logan right?"
Kurt was taken aback by the way she was talking to him. He had expected the students to react to him differently, with fear or hatred. She treated him with the respect he'd always wanted. He'd only spoken to three people after leaving Germany, so far. Professor Xavier, who had been very professional with his speech; Miss Gray, who was more interested in collecting as much data on him as possible, and a short, gruff, angry man who he had been told was called Logan.
"You're a shy one, aren't you?" She said.
"Sorry, I was expecting a different reaction" Kurt replied.
"I get it, you were expecting fear beacuse of how you are. Don't worry, we're very accepting of Germans here." She said, "but seriously, there are people here that look way crazier than you, and everybody likes them."
"Thank you, miss...?"
"Call me Jubilee. What's your name?"
"My name is Kurt." The girl, Jubilee as she called herself, looked disappointed.
"That name isn't nearly cool enough!" She exclaimed.
"Well, my surname is Wagner"
"No, you need a cool superhero name! What about 'Elf-man' or 'The Blue Cutie'? No, those won't work. What kind of powers do you have?" She spoke quickly and caught him off guard, speaking about these things as if they were no r mal topics of conversation to discuss with strangers.
"Well, I can move to places instantly. I'm good at acrobatics, and I..."
"Like that 's it, you could call yourself 'Jumper'!"
"I don't think I need a superhero name anyway, I didn't do well in the Danger room. I could barely keep up. I only lasted until the tenth round."
"You lasted TEN ROUNDS? With Logan controlling it?" She asked, her voice loud and agitated.
"I know, I don't have a chance at helping anyone." He looked down, disappointed in himself for getting such a bad result.
"Are you kidding me? Logan's the toughest with that kind of thing. He might as well make us fight Magneto as a training exercise. Ten rounds of Logan might be the best score anyone's gotten in the history of the academy!" She gripped his arms as she screamed this information towards him. Other students looked at him in wonder as she continued yelling about his achievement.
"Hey Bobby," She waved over a boy who looked confused about her ranting and raving, "this guy got TEN rounds in the danger room" she told him.
"Hey, that's pretty good for a first time, I only got about nine, but Scott can be pretty strict." Bobby talked in a casual tone, at least compared to Jubilee.
"Kurt, tell him who you got!" She demanded.
"Logan was the one controlling the..."
"HOLY SHIT, Logan?" Bobby screamed, losing his casual attitude. "You deserve lunch. I'll pay."
"Thanks, but I was told that the food is free here." Kurt said, keeping a calm tone and hoping the others would follow suit.
"They say it's the thought that counts, Kurt." Bobby replied, feeling a little silly.
"I have to go and speak to Mr Summers about my future lesson plan anyway." Kurt told them. "But thank you for the offer"
"The offer is only valid for the rest of the week, by the way." Bobby joked.
"We'll catch up with you later, Kurt. Scott's room is down that way" Jubilee pointed down a corridor.
"Thank you Jubilee. Goodbye"
Kurt walked to the door, noticing a distinct lack of aggression or staring.
He confidently entered the open office door.
It was a good day in Xavier's academy for gifted children.