I turned the brass handle and opened the door to a beautiful room with all the works. A desk, a bed, a chest of drawers, a dresser, cabinets, a table and very comfortable chairs furnished the space. My suitcases had already been taken up here ahead of time and sat in a neat pile by the bed. Cushions and blankets were piled on one of the chairs, as if waiting to help me start making myself right at home.

And home this would have to be - because I didn't have anywhere else to go right now.

Immediately after arriving, I'd been greeted by a few students who seemed more than excited to have a new classmate, and they'd given me the grand tour of this mansion that served as both boarding house and learning establishment. Along the way, even more faculty, staff, and students joined the tour to help show me around. There must have been a hundred rooms in this place; I'd probably get lost lots of times, but that's okay. Everyone seemed so welcoming and happy to have me here. It was really nice, for a change.

I liked it so much that I'd spent hours getting to know everyone; they were all so nice! So before I knew it, it was almost sunset. At last, I had been guided here, to this huge room that was all mine - but not before climbing three flights of stairs (the mansion was very old and had few elevators).

I was tired beyond belief. My day had started with a fight with my family, said family kicking me out the house, packing everything I could into suitcases, and hopping on a bus to upstate New York. Then I'd been mobbed by about a hundred excitable people who opened their doors to a walk-in stranger and told to make myself at home.

I closed the door behind me, took one step forward, and collapsed.

All the pent-up stress from the ups and downs of today - being kicked out by the people who'd raised me; the uncertainty of how I'd get by; the long bus ride here; being warmly welcomed by so many people - the strain of all these conflicting feelings came pouring out of me. My eyes were closed and my body couldn't move, but my mind screamed with exhaustion. I wasn't used to socializing for such a long amount of time. I might have overdone it a little too much, for an introvert like me.

It felt like all the built-up feelings of the day was being released all at once in an uncontrollable flood of noise from my brain. I wondered if the two telepaths who I was told live here could hear it right now. Maybe they thought I was in some kind of danger because of the screaming in my head. There was no way to tell them I wasn't in peril - this was just normal unwinding for me.

Sure enough, I heard thunderous footsteps (my ears were pressed to the hardwood floor) rumble down the hall to my room and the door was flung open.

I managed to crack open an eye and saw a young white woman with long red hair followed by a black woman with long white hair burst into my room. The red-haired woman gasped when she saw me on the floor and knelt down next to me and put a hand in front of my nose to check my breathing. She made a worried comment to the woman with white hair when my breath, already shaky, grew even more uneven.

They didn't know that my anxiety was all because they were there. I would have been fine eventually, if they had left me alone. But now other people were here, and staring, and stressing over me, and I NEVER wanted to worry anyone over a stupid thing like this...

The anxiety over being a burden to other people grew in my chest, and I closed my eyes tight again as and the screaming in my head got worse and I still couldn't move.

"Jean," said the black woman standing up, "I don't think touching him is a good idea for you."

"But Ororo," the younger woman kneeling over me sighed, seeing my breathing grow labored, "he looks like he needs my help so badly."

I heard Ororo briskly walk to the chair with the blankets on it and handed one to Jean, who then covered me with it, gently picked me up and placed me on the bed. I could actually FEEL the worried stares of both women boring into me. It only agitated my anxiety-ridden mind and I groaned as my mind spiraled into a full-on panic attack.

I could hear Jean worrying more. "I can't get a handle on his emotional state, Ororo! And I can't do any more for him without touching him, but with the way my empathic powers are right now-"

Ororo interrupted, "I understand, Jean." She sat on the bed next to me; feeling someone so close to me in my moment of weakness made me feel even worse, and my heart rate spiked. "Perhaps we should call the Professor," Ororo suggested. "Already done," said Jean.

Who the heck was "The Professor"? Why did they need them? And how the heck could Jean have contacted them without saying a word? I couldn't dwell on these questions for too long because my thoughts were scattered wildly by my mind's state of panic.

I can almost FEEL my uncontrollable emotions spilling out of me, radiating out in all directions, and this is how I can sense the wise man in the wheelchair even before I hear his chair roll to my door. He seemed to instantly know the problem because Jean stepped aside, Ororo stood up, and he rolled up to my bedside.

By now my breathing was ragged and I was tossing and groaning in mental anguish. The man placed his hands on my forehead, but his physical contact made me want to fight, and I don't like the feeling of him holding me down, I don't like it I don't like it I don't like it-

I think I was whispering, "No no no…." because he stopped and took my hand instead.

Inside my mind, a gentle voice introduced himself as Professor Charles Xavier. He tells me I'm in the company of friends and I have nothing to fear. I can hear his words, but they're not really sinking in. I'm standing in the bedroom that I was just placed in, staring out the open window next to the bed, seriously considering jumping out. I wondered if the grass below could break my fall from three stories up.

Why would you want to do that? Professor Xavier's soft voice asked me. Because, I answered in an irritated way, it was worth it just to escape this suffocating room where I just needed a few moments to myself, but people won't ever leave me alone for two minutes...

I could feel my chaotic feelings whirling around me inside the room. But outside, it was clear skies, and bright shining sun. I wanted to get out of here. I had to leave, I told the Professor. Everyone would judge me here, nowhere is safe, I had to go, I could feel the walls closing in, I had to escape out the window right now, RIGHT NOW-

"Milo." Professor Xavier's voice tried to snap me back to reality. "Please, tell me how I can help."

I'm still staring out the window, wishing I could escape the mess inside out to the bright sunshine and the wide open sky and the lush green grounds of the mansion and the vast forests of upstate New York. I felt my chaotic feelings whirl around me. And I tell the Professor's voice, "I just needed some some time, and a little space…" I paused, getting a feel for my emotions.

I knew I was still afraid, in fact, I felt absolutely SMOTHERED with fear….but fear of what? I couldn't even remember. My thoughts were too scattered by the whirlwind, like tiny leaves.

"Before, I just needed some time to myself." I was in the world of a panic attack, and I was trapped in it.

"But now…." I said slowly, trying to focus my thoughts, "I wouldn't mind someone's help in pulling me back to reality."

I was still looking out the window, but I could sense that the Professor had appeared, smiling, right behind me. I turned around. With his designer suit and piercing gaze, the bald man before me somehow looked regal, as if he were sitting on a throne instead of in a wheelchair.

"It would be my pleasure, Milo," he extended a hand to me. "Let's work together to get you out of this state."

As I locked eyes with the Professor, the chaotic whirlwind of emotion seemed to weaken slightly. As I reached for his hand, its fury even seemed to slow down. It was as if his presence there - the power of two minds - was giving me the mental strength I needed in order to tame the storm.

Oh cool, I thought. That was an advantage I'd never had before.

I took his hand, and the whirlwind slowed to a near-halt, but stubbornly refused to disappear. The old man smiled at me again. I looked into his eyes and smiled back. The furious wind stopped. The world disappeared.

I was back in bed, someone was holding my hand, and my head hurt like hell. I faintly heard Professor Xavier ask Jean and Ororo to give us a few moments, and he'd meet with them later in his office. I opened my eyes to see the the cloudless orange sky out the window. It was a beautiful fall evening.

"Welcome back, Milo." I turned my head to the other side and see the Professor, still holding my hand. "Hey, Professor X," I answered weakly. Some of the students told me that's what they called him. He chuckled at the nickname.

"I wanted to speak with you a little before letting you have some rest," he said. I resisted rolling my eyes. "Rest was...all I really needed to begin with." Professor Xavier smiled his reassuring smile again. "I will train my staff to be more mindful of such needs in the future. But Milo," he added, "here you are surrounded by people who are in very similar circumstances to your own. You don't have to suffer alone, you know." Ordinarily, at hearing words like that, I'd get at least a little upset. I don't have to suffer alone? Of COURSE I did. I always HAVE. That's how my life had to be.

But strangely, I just felt relaxed (although my head still pounded like hell). I looked down at Professor Xavier's hand, still holding mine. If he could get inside people's heads, then was it possible he could also…?

"Professor," I asked, "what exactly ARE your powers?"

He nodded once, as if acknowledging I had every right to ask him that after what just happened. "My gifts include what some might call telepathy and empathy. In other words, I can sense others' thoughts and feelings in my mind, and send my thoughts and feelings to theirs." Then he raised an eyebrow at me. "I have reasons to believe you have some empathic abilities of your own, Milo."

I stared at the ceiling. "Ever since I was little, I've been able to hear people better than anyone else. I thought I was just hearing what no one else could, or picking up on cues no one else did, but I think I'm hearing their feelings. I can know what someone means before they even say it."

"I have five siblings, and they all thought I was weird," I sighed. "My parents just thought I had good instincts. But when I started elementary school I realized that kids thought someone who knew their feelings annoying, or even...scary." I hesitated nervously. I didn't usually talk this much. But no one else knew about my powers; no one had even asked me to tell my story before. It was a relief to finally be able talk to someone.

"I started to distance myself from people. I can't...I can't turn it off, see. I sense people whether I want to or not. I know where everyone is and how they're feeling, all the time. It scares people. And it's tiring." I closed my eyes. Just describing what I go through was making my head hurt again.

"Constant awareness of everyone around you does indeed sound draining, Milo," said Professor Xavier. "And I've glimpsed into your mind. I understand the toll it takes on you every day, to the point you need peace and quiet every time you interact with people for an extended amount of time. I, and the other instructors here, can help you with that. We can help you train and focus your 'sense' so that you won't be so overwhelmed. How does that sound to you?"

I thought it over a bit, and it sounded kinda like a start to a brand new life. That's exactly what I wanted.

"When can I start?"

Professor Xavier just chuckled in that all-knowing way of his. "As soon as tomorrow, if you'd like." He patted my hand. "Sleep well, Milo. I'll expect you in my office at 9 o'clock." And he rolled away and shut the door behind him.

This story started out as a very vivid dream I had. Since it was a dream, it was basically a one-shot, and I have no idea where it's going to go or how far I can take it. All I know is that it'll be as close to a slice-of-life boarding-school setting that I, a girl who doesn't like to read shoujo, can make. Think of it as taking place in a universe similar to "X-Men: Evolution", but not quite.

Since I didn't plan for Milo's story to grow this much, I will need characters for Milo to interact with. Here's your chance to submit ideas! (You will NOT have the freedom to decide how your character is written after submission.) If you have a mutant OC that you'd like to see in the story, or a little- known mutant in the X Men universe who you think needs more love, drop me a line and fill out this profile:

Name:

Ability:

Gender:

Appearance:

Personality:

Likes & Interests (in order):

Background:

If you want them to be in Milo's class, your character should be about 13 years old, in 8th grade. You can submit courses you think they should take. I'll let you know if I accept your character to be in the story!