Disclaimer- I don't own the X-Men. They belong to Marvel Comics.

Mutant High Episode 1- "An Xtra Curricular Activity"
Chapter 1

Mostly, she was scared. Jean had never anticipated that her powers would have been discovered. And she had no clue what would come next.
The last thing she wanted was for Dr. Xavier to tell her parents. She had enough on her mind lately- and apparently, so did everyone else.

Jean had first discovered her abilities over the summer earlier that year. Scott, her boyfriend at the time, had been feeling down lately, and Jean hadn't been sure why. She thought a movie might be a nice way to take his mind off of things.

After the movie, he seemed a bit better. It was late at night, and the mall was fairly empty. As empty as a mall could be.

They decided on Starbucks- to be alone for a while. Not many people go for coffee late at night. Not if they're planning on sleeping, at least. And while she drank no caffeine, Jean spent the whole night tossing and turning.

They sat in a corner. Away from prying eyes. Him in a big, red chair. Her on his lap, head curled against his chest. The pair lay like that for a while, she remembered.
She kissed him, softly. And that's when it happened. Suddenly, she became much more… aware, almost. It was as if she was having an out of body experience, while retaining her own body. She could feel herself kissing Scott, but at the same time it felt like she was kissing herself. She could see herself, but she saw Scott. She felt her own weight upon her, yet she felt nothing at all.
But it was his thoughts, his feelings, that she felt the most. Everything was tired, wrecked. Weary. She broke away. She couldn't do it anymore. Everything about it felt so wrong. Like the simple kiss went against everything within her.
And like that, it stopped.
At the time, she hadn't realized she had read Scott's mind. But it happened again with Sara the next day, and then with her father during dinner.

Before she knew it, she was hearing, feeling people's thoughts all the time. The next time she was at the mall, she almost passed out from feeling so much.
She spent the rest of the summer home, mostly. She tried to stay in small groups. Slowly, she learned to focus out their thoughts, to pull them in when she wanted to. She became very good at reading minds. But she never told anybody.
She broke up with Scott once she was sure. She read his mind, and knew. He would never love her like she loved him.
That night, she lay awake again. Turning left, right, left. On her stomach, on her back, her side. Holding a pillow. Holding a stuffed animal she hadn't held since she was ten.
She got up, eventually, and took a pair of scissors from the black mesh pencil holder on her desk, before proceeding to her bathroom. She stood then in front of the mirror for a minute or two, unsure of where to begin. Slowly, she ran her fingers through the full, long, red hair on her head. She pulled a thick strand up, took the scissors in her other hand, and cut. The sound was crisp, and the red lock shattered, falling into the sink. When her hair was too short to cut anymore, she took the razor from her shower, the one she used to shave her legs, and continued to cut. She ran the razor over her head until there was nothing left.
She went back to her bed and fell asleep.

Now it was six months later. School was almost halfway over, and her hair had grown back, though it was now very, very short.
Jean had history as her last class of the day. Normally, this would not bother her. But it had been a bad day. She had completely forgotten that she had a test in math that day, though in retrospect, she wouldn't have studied anyway. In physics, Dustin Kramer did nothing but talk to her about how hot Sara was. Jean did not appreciate his elaborate fantasies involving her 9th grade sister.

And then, there was another test in history. Jean had remembered this one, but it didn't matter. Jean hadn't studied a bit. She wasn't even sure what the subject was- the French or the Bolshevik Revolution? Was it even a revolution at all?

Jean, of course, had a plan. She liked to think it was a desperate measure. Which it was. She couldn't afford to guess her way through this test.

She decided to cheat off of Ororo Munroe, a tall, somewhat gawky Kenyan girl who was both incredibly motivated in schoolwork and far away from Jean. Nobody would ever expect she took her answers- she was across the room.
Jean focused on Ororo's face, her piercing, almost white blue eyes, her determined grimace of concentration, her thick, curly, platinum hair, pulled back in a loose ponytail.

There was pressure, but at the same time, confidence. She would do well on this test.

Jean read over the first question.
In what year did Martin Luther post his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg church?

Jean had no idea. But Ororo did. It was C, October 30th, 1517. And that's exactly what she circled, right next to C.

C is the most common letter for the correct answer to be assigned to. Jean giggled to herself. She had no idea.
Suddenly, the connection broke. The confidence was gone. Jean couldn't read Ororo's mind. What had happened?
Then, she felt it again. There was someone else there with her. But it was different. She couldn't feel this mind. Whatever it was, it was in control now.
It's Dr. Xavier. She knew it because he told her. She looked at him, and the confirmation grew. It was Dr. Xavier, no doubt about it.
Yes, I can read minds. You shouldn't be shocked. Deep down, in your gut, you knew you weren't the only one who could. You can still do it. But not on this test. I will block it off if I have to. Keep my focus on you the whole time.
But I won't. Finish the test.

She felt a release. She was alone again.

Jean uncomfortably finished the test, with what she believed to be minor success. By that point, it was the least of her worries.
Now, she was sitting there, tapping her pencil absentmindedly against her thumb.
How long had he known? If he could read minds, he could have known all year. He could know everything about her.

The bell rang, and there was the expected mass of students shuffling towards the door, stopping by Dr. Xavier's desk to leave their completed exams.
Jean gathered the test in one hand and her bag in the other, and proceeded to the front of the room. By the time she got to Dr. Xavier, she was the only student left in the room.

"Well. I've got my test." She punctuated it with a nervous smile and laugh. Dr. X smiled back warmly, but his eyes were as cold and gray as the winter weather brewing outside.
"Do you ride the bus, Jean?" Dr. Xavier asked her, his voice firm.

"No. I drive." Jean chided herself mentally. She should have lied and gotten herself out of the situation. That wouldn't work, though. He could read minds.

"Jean. May I talk to you, for a short while?" Jean nodded. "Sure." "And I'm sure you know what about." Jean giggled softly. "Yeah." She looked into Dr. Xavier's eyes. "Jean. I try to stay out of my student's personal business. I really do try to avoid using my powers for… voyeuristic purposes. But as an educator- and as a person, I cannot simply watch someone suffer knowing there is something that I can do to help them."

Jean scoffed, almost forcefully. "Dr. Xavier… What made you think I was suffering?"

Dr. Xavier grinned his all-knowing grin. It was his " I knew you would ask that" grin.
"The first day of school, when you walked into my class, Jean, you were bald."

Jean nodded, confused. "So? Girls can have shaved heads, Dr. Xavier."
"I know, Jean. But you were a quiet girl. You were a quiet girl with a loud hairstyle. A girl who shaves her head wants to have people look at her. It's not… common. You didn't want attention, Jean. At least I never got the impression you did."
Jean glanced impulsively out the window, though she stared at nothing in particular. She simply didn't want to acknowledge how accurate Dr. Xavier's assumptions were.

"Jean, I wanted to make sure you were safe. Please understand that is the only reason I would ever pry into your thoughts is to prevent harm to you." He paused, biting slightly on his lower lip.
"If a man was drowning in a lake, and you held the a lifesaver, would you throw it to him?"

The redheaded girl nodded. "Yeah. Of course. Are you comparing that with what you did to me?"

"Precisely. I see mutations as a tool, Jean. Like a lifesaver to that drowning man. We have been given theses gifts, and if a mutant could use the abilities that he or she possesses to help save someone…"

"They should do it," Jean finished. There was another silence, thick with thought. Dr. Xavier continued. "What you did to Ororo today is why people fear mutants. People, as seen all throughout history-"

Jean groaned internally. Of course, Dr. Xavier was a history teacher. It was to be expected he'd relate to his area of expertise.

"They fear what is different from them, because they do not know that they will be safe." Jean nodded. "I won't do it again, Dr. Xavier. I'm sorry." Dr. Xavier sighed. "I know you're sorry. But I'm sure you could tell that I'm not just going to reprimand you and leave it at that."

I was afraid of that. She blinked.
"I run an after school program for young mutants. It is of course, invitation only. And I would love if you would join us, Jean."

She stared at him, almost in awe. Where to start?

"There are other mutants in the school?"

"Of course Jean. Don't think you're so special," he joked.

"No, that's not what I meant, it's just… I guess I wasn't expecting there to be enough for a whole club, you know?"

He said nothing, but nodded. She breathed in heavily, collecting her thoughts, and continued.

"What exactly do you do at this 'Mutant club' anyway?"

"I'll show you, Jean. If you'll come with me, that is."