"Chase that dream down the highway
Don't care when it's going my way
The sky on top, rain behind me, there's no looking back
I want you to need me like I need you
Never thought I'd find something so pure…
1968
"More and more seem to appear by the day," Hank commented, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He stared at the chess board and thought carefully before moving his knight.
"It's amazing how successful this school already is," Charles replied.
"You realizing that we will need a new English teacher soon, right?"
Charles looked at the board, but he wasn't thinking about the game. "Why? You're a great teacher."
"I'm a great science and math teacher. We need an English teacher."
"And where do you propose we find this new English teacher?" Charles pondered, moving his pawn a single space forward. "You know the rules. Mutant students, mutant teachers."
"And if you expect me to believe that Cerebro cannot find a single competent mutant skilled in English language and literature," he looked up and raised an eyebrow, "you must take me for a fool."
Charles remained quiet. "There will be no need for Cerebro. I will call up an old friend who may by up for the job. Literally."
Hank took out Charles' pawn with a bishop. "Check."
1960
"Five pounds says I can get her phone number," young Charles offered with a smirk to Raven. Raven looked over at the young, dark-haired girl sitting alone at a small table at the other end of the pub. She was reading a magazine and had an empty glass on the table with her.
"Her?"
With a feigned offended expression, Charles pouted. "I feel offended. Do you think I don't stand a chance?"
Raven rolled her eyes and smiled. "If you stood a decent chance of nabbing her number you wouldn't feel the need to bet me. But I accept your offer." Raven took Charles' hand from atop the bar counter and shook it. He smiled, scoffed, and finished off his glass of beer.
He stood up, took a breath, but Raven stopped him for a quick moment. She grabbed his elbow. "No cheating," she said, tapping her head with her middle finger twice before letting go. Charles nodded.
His fist tightened for a quick moment as he took the chair next to her. "Hello, I'm Charles. And you are…"
The young woman looked up with neither a frown nor a smile. "Aren't you to the point? Ellie."
"I couldn't help but notice that you're reading a rather odd magazine for a girl like you."
"A girl like me?"
"I have never before seen a college girl reading from Technology Review, unless they were hoping to impress a very smart guy," he said, cocking an eyebrow. "Can I buy you another drink?"
"I'd like to say yes, but it's late-"
Charles interrupted her mid-sentence. "Come on. One drink. We can talk about that article on the future on personal computers in the home."
Ellie smirked. "You read the article?"
"Of course. Fascinating, but a little predictable. A basic article on how computers are evolving to a point of human convenience. Not too far apart from what I'm working on," Charles answered ordering two beers.
"And is it safe to assume that it has nothing to do with computers." "Human evolution and mutation," he said. "At some point, almost instantaneously, some humans will change dramatically and gain superhuman abilities and features. More and more of these will appear and they will procreate. Survival of the fittest." A waitress placed two glasses of beer on the table.
Ellie stared at Charles for a moment. "Superhuman? Like what exactly?"
"I can't say exactly," he lied, "But it's believed to be anything from telepathy to even, possibly, shape shifting. Possibilities are endless."
"Fascinating. But do you actually believe it's realistic for them to change so quickly?'
"Not them. Us. Possibly this generation. Who knows who are out there?" Charles knew he had her at this point. She began to smile again. "They could be in this very room."
She pursed her lips, thinking of a decent reply. "You don't say?"
"Look," he said leaning in, as if to tell her a secret, "If you would like to talk more about the future of humans and human relations, why don't you give your number?"
She teased him a little by biting her lower lip before answering. Ellie lightly rested a hand on his, which was placed at the handle of the beer glass. "Got a pen?"
Charles fetched one from his jacket pocket with his free hand. He clicked it open before handing it to Ellie. She wrote her number on his hand, rested the pen on the table, and then let go of him. "I'll be upset if you don't actually call me."
"No problem," he replied. "I don't disappoint."
She stood up, grabbed her magazine and purse, and left. Raven immediately came over and sat at Ellie's seat. "Cheater."
"Am not," he defended. "How did I cheat?"
"I was listening the entire time. You've never picked up a copy of Technology Review in your life. You read her mind."
Charles raised his hands up in defeat. "Fine, fine. You win."
"Oh, no. You still win. I've known you long enough to tell when you want to pick a girl up," Raven leaned back and crossed her arms, "And when you actually like a girl."
"I'm a man; she's a woman. I have yet to commit a crime."
Raven said nothing, which was saying more than Charles wanted to hear from his irritatingly smart foster sister.
1968
"Would you happen to know the address of the capable English teacher?" Hank asked.
"No, but I will give you her name and the city she should be living in. Her name is Eleanor Harrison," Charles said, moving his King. "Possibly a doctor in her field by now. It's been a while since we've talked."
"What constitutes 'a while' ?"
"Eight years."
Hank lifted his hand from the piece he was about to move. "A woman whom you have not seen for eight years. How did you know her?"
"She and I met during college. She was an English major, and we met at a pub. If it wasn't for her, I might not have gotten the information for a major percentage of my research."
"It sounds as if she were an important woman."
"She was," Charles answered. "She is."
…We thought we'd be somewhere else
We started a long time ago
Who thought we'd be anywhere else
Don't think that it's over
I know that the world belongs to us
And it's just the beginning."