A New Home
Chapter 1: Finding Home
The flight had been long and boring but Jamie finally arrived at her destination. She had heard all kinds of stories about New York and even though she was going to a place outside the city she couldn't wait to see the sights. Once she got off the plane she walked out into the bright sunlight where she decided she was lucky to only have one carry-on bag. The other travelers from her flight were now dragging themselves to the baggage claim and looking very tired. A car pulled up in front of her and the driver rolled down the passenger window.
"Xavier Institute?" he asked. Jamie's eyes lit up and she nodded. "It's Jamie right? I'm Steven, by the way," he said as she got in the back seat, "I live at the Institute too, you'll like it there; I'm sure. So where you from?"
"Canada," Jamie replied, "You?"
"Oh my family's from South Carolina. I miss it a lot, especially the warmer weather. But I'm sure the winters here won't be too bad for you, being from Canada."
Jamie laughed, "No I think I'll be able to survive." She looked at Steven in the rear-view mirror. He had dark blue eyes and hair as yellow as fresh corn, his boyish looks were emphasized by his strong country accent and Jamie realized she'd be meeting people from backgrounds quite different from her own.
As the city turned into residential homes and then the homes into acres of land with large houses few and far between Jamie's jetlag began to set in. She felt like dozing off when Steven turned the car into the long driveway of an enormous mansion with acres of land surrounding it. "You can get out here," Steven said as he pulled around a large fountain and stopped at the front door, "I have to take the car back to the garage." Jamie grabbed her knapsack, an old green one that had belonged to an American soldier long before Jamie had bought it in a second-hand shop, and hopped out of the car. Waiting for her at the top of the stairs was a bald man in a wheelchair.
"Welcome Jamie, I'm Professor Charles Xavier, I trust you had a good flight?"
"Yes, a long one though," Jamie replied and met him at the top of the stairs, "This is a mighty big house you have."
"Mighty big indeed," Charles laughed, "But it's hardly empty. Why don't I show you to your room and once you get settled in I'll introduce you to some of the other students."
Her first impression of the mansion had been incredible. It was a huge, stone building with large windows and balconies littered all over the outside. The fall leaves had gathered on the driveway and spattered the landscape. When the car had driven through them the exhaust blew up the leaves like tiny birds. Jamie had been able to see acres of grass and trees to the left of the mansion and a basketball court and other extracurricular areas to the right. The sight of the basketball court made her heart flutter. All in all it looked like a picture out of a fancy living magazine. However, the inside of the mansion had put the outside to shame. As soon as she walked through the door the scent of rich, dark wood had filled her nostrils. All the furniture was made of dark maple and the red, deep upholstery made her want to dive into the chairs and fall asleep. The hallway ahead of her had been filled with the busts of famous scientists and literary icons. She had felt like she was in a regal high society home until she left the artworks hanging on the walls for a stainless steel elevator. It was quite a difference and even Jamie had been taken by surprise. The professor noticed and said, "You'll find that living here will be like living in two different worlds at first, but in a few weeks everything will mold together and you'll be right at home."
They arrived at Jamie's room on the second floor and Charles gave her a key. "There's a bathroom connected right through the door on the left and it actually leads to another student's room; who I'll introduce you to later. I'll be back to check on you in a few minutes, but I'm needed downstairs at the moment." Jamie watched Charles wheel out of the room in back to the elevator. She knew it would be a culture shock, moving to this new Institute for mutants but she hadn't known how severe. She'd been speechless since she walked through the door.
Jamie looked around her room admiring it. Everything was the same dark wood from the front hall and all the fabric was of varying shades of dark green. Her bed was on the right wall of the room and it had a soft, down comforter and pillows of a deep emerald that would keep her warm on the coldest New York night. There was a desk and chair against the wall across from her and a large window above the desk and just a little farther along the wall was another large window that was actually a set of French doors that led out to one of the balconies she had seen when she had arrived outside. Dark, forest green drapes hung over the windows to keep out the early morning sun. On the left wall was the bathroom door and on one side of it stood an armoire and on the other a vanity with an antique mirror and a book shelf next to that. Jamie tossed her bag on the bed and unpacked the few shirts she had brought with her and other minor things. She put her clothes away in the armoire and noticed a full length mirror hiding next to it. She pulled the mirror into the light more and studied herself. She was very tall for her age, 6 feet in fact, and built well. Her 'well-endowed' figure made her seem Amazonian and imposing but there was femininity behind her looks that gave her an extra edge. She was wearing a top that exposed a small bit of her midriff over a pair of worn Wrangler jeans. Jamie smiled to herself, thinking about all the fun she had had in those jeans. The top was black and had three straps, two that fell over her shoulders and the last crisscrossed on her back. A thick belt with an oval buckle held her jeans to her curves. Overall it was a cute but don't-push-me look that pleased Jamie and fit her perfectly.
Jamie wanted to investigate her new home more but she felt a little grubby from the plane ride and went into the bathroom to freshen up. She saw the door that led to her suitemate's room and considered going in to say hello but she heard a soft girl's voice singing and the sound of an electric guitar and decided not to bother just yet while she was making music. She splashed a little water on her face and dried it. She grinned to inspect her teeth, they were white and healthy looking and she decided she didn't need to brush them again. She moved some of her hair out of her face. It was dirty blonde with red and brownish highlights and fairly short. Pieces always hung in her eyes and it tended to look playfully messy. Jamie let herself admire her eyes, she was always proud of how unique they looked. Dark pupils contrasted with the irises that swirled yellow and red at the edges. The Professor knocked on her door and Jamie hurried to answer it.
Charles rolled in and was followed by two men and two women. "Hello Jamie, I have some people I'd like you to meet, you'll be seeing quite a bit of them as they are some of the instructors here. First, this is Jean Gray."
"It's really great to meet you Jamie," said the first women with long red hair that was neatly styled in a ponytail and a bright smile.
"The pleasure is all mine," Jamie replied and shook her hand.
"This is Scott Summers, though you might hear him referred to as Cyclops occasionally."
"Hey Jamie," said the tallest of the five people. He had short brown hair and rose colored sunglasses; Jamie assumed they had something to do with his mutation. "I hope you consider taking my Auto Mechanics class."
"No soliciting Scott," the tall African-American woman scolded playfully, "You can't steal students like that." Jamie was instantly in awe of her, she had beautiful long white hair, intelligent eyes and a strong face. "I'm Ororo Munroe, or sometimes Storm," she introduced herself, "I teach the History classes here, Jamie. I'm really happy to have you become a part of our very large family."
"Thank you for making me a part of it," Jamie said with genuine gratefulness, "This place is a dream come true."
"And this," Charles said, "Is Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler." Kurt was quite a spectacle. He didn't stand very tall and his skin was dark blue and covered in fur of the same hue. He had a prehensile tail, fangs and yellow eyes; he resembled a demon from a horror movie.
To Kurt's surprise Jamie didn't seem affected by his ghastly appearance. "Ah, hello there Jamie," he said haltingly, "I don't mean to be rude but most people are…confused by my appearance."
Jamie smiled, "Well, I'm not really most people and believe it or not I've seen weirder things. Besides, the first car I ever drove, and old Camaro, was blue, almost the same color as you," she finished with a laugh that made Kurt feel at ease.
At that moment someone else entered the room from the bathroom door. "Hey, I thought I heard voices in here."
The girl that had just come in walked over to Jamie's right, "Are you living in this room?" she asked.
"Yes, this is Jamie," Ororo said, "Jamie, meet Kesskallome, your suitemate."
"Suitemate?" Kess asked, "Fantastic, this is a guy's hall but now I have an ally."
"It's really nice to meet you Kesskallome," Jamie said and shook her hand. She took a moment to observe Kess. She was quite a bit shorter than Jamie, maybe 5'4", with long black hair and dark skin. She had great curves for her small frame and a fierce look.
"Kurt and I just located Jamie in Canada," Ororo said, "She just got here today."
"Oh Canada, nice, it's pretty cold there right?" Kess asked with a slight accent.
"Yeah," Jamie replied, "But it's nice to be away from the Mounties."
"I think Jamie would probably appreciate a tour of the Institute Ororo," Charles said, "If you all would do that I need to finish up some paperwork."
"Of course Charles," Ororo replied, "We'll start in the academic section." Jamie followed Ororo and the others out of her room and all through the mansion.
"It looks like it's easy to get lost but you'll get used to all the halls quick," Kess said as they walked, "It only took me a week to get acquainted with the place. Oh, by the way, you can call me Kess. Nobody uses my full name. But on the battlefield I'm Medusa," she winked.
"Medusa?" Jamie asked, "Any special reason?"
"It's sort of hard to explain, you'll have to see it for yourself." As Kess finished speaking her name was called over a loudspeaker with a few others and she had to excuse herself. "Guess I'm needed somewhere," she said, "I'll be back soon though, I want to hear all about you."
Jamie watched Kess leave and concentrated on remembering where all the classrooms and rec rooms were on her tour.
They took another high-tech elevator down to a floor that was below the regular building and entered a room labeled 'Training Room' where Jamie was immediately impressed. It was a large room with all kind of machines and equipment that the students used to control and exercise their powers. Jamie walked into the center of the room by herself and looked around. Suddenly she felt a presence behind her and turned around just in time to see a pair of long silver claws coming at her. She quickly dove to the side to avoid them. She could see her attacker now, he was much shorter than she was and had dark brown hair, three long claws that stuck out from his knuckles and a look on his face of revenge. She had only a moment until the unexpected happened. Her opponent's claws plunged into her stomach. She pushed herself off his claws and looked down at her stomach. Three small red dots were clearly visible. A bead of sweat ran down her temple and for a moment her face was contorted and then she smiled and looked up. The red dots disappeared and the skin on her stomach was flawless. Her attacker looked confused but charged again, Jamie faded away easily, though now he had her pinned in a corner. He raised his arm and brought it down to slash her face when the crisp clang of metal hitting metal echoed through the huge room. Jamie had met his claws with an identical pair just an inch from her head, saving her life.
"Wolverine, no!" Scott shouted, he'd only been able to watch in horror because the ordeal took only a few seconds. Wolverine, the attacker, backed off in shear surprise though Jamie stayed ready in case of another advance. Being the smart fighter she was, she wisely moved out of the confining corner and into the middle of the room as Wolverine watched her.
There was an awkward silence as Ororo walked to Jamie, "Are you alright?" she asked and inspected the rips in her shirt from the claws. Jamie nodded and Ororo decided she was fine, "Well Logan, I believe you may have met your match."
"Why did you attack?" Jean asked Logan who Jamie now identified as both the Logan and Wolverine mentioned.
Logan paused and let his claws slide back into his hands, "Bad feeling," he grunted plainly, keeping his eyes on Jamie while her claws were still out.
The Professor rolled into the Training Room with Kess and another girl with straight dark hair, though there was a long white streak in it. "What's going on here," he asked as Kess went over to look at Jamie's shirt with Ororo.
"Logan and Jamie met," Kurt said, "I think they both made quite a first impression."
Jamie's claws slid back into her hands and the Professor frowned, "I trust no one was hurt."
"There's certainly no evidence of it," Ororo said, "I believe we have two mutants with very similar powers."
"Interesting," Charles replied, "Well I'm glad that no one was hurt."
"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" Kurt asked Jamie. It wasn't often he saw a new student with reactions like that. Kess and Ali Blaire were probably the only two others.
"Well, in Canada I didn't really live in one place for too long. I traveled around doing different odd jobs and when I needed money I'd fight in these cage fights, that really trained my reflexes," Jamie explained.
"So it's safe to say you've lost a few fights," Scott said as the group began to reconvene.
Jamie cocked her head, "No I've never lost a fight. What would make you think that?"
"Sounds like someone has some good stories," said the dark-haired girl, "I'm Rogue," she reached out a hand to Jamie who shook it. "Sorry I can't stay, I have to go finish some homework. I'll see you later, Kess. Bye Jamie."
Rogue took off and Kess waved. "So what about finishing that tour?" Kess asked.
Everyone but Logan and Charles finished showing Jamie around. "So what's the real reason?" Charles asked Logan as they walked towards his office.
Logan shook his head, "Just a bad feeling," he said, "Can't explain it."
Charles sighed, "Well, I've never known you to attack someone as young as Jamie."
Logan shrugged, "I don't know what to tell you Chuck, she felt like anything but a student when she walked in."
"Ah well, I know you Logan, you're not going to explain anything you don't want to," Charles yawned, "But if you decide to speak, then you know where I am. But please, when you're here, double check your feelings, especially if they're bad. I doubt that even Mystique could get in here without me knowing immediately."
Logan couldn't help but smile, "If there's comes a day when you don't know something Charles, I'll trade in my bike."
"Let's hope it never comes to that," Xavier returned Logan's smile.
After the tour Kess took Jamie back to her room. "You have no clothes," she said in awe when she went through Jamie's armoire. "I don't want to seem vain but I like to dress well. And I like my friends to dress well too," she gave Jamie a grin, "So it's Friday night, and I know you're tired, but if you get some rest tomorrow we can go shopping. Because you definitely need clothes. And don't worry about money, we get an allowance and for new students you get some clothing money."
"Sweet," Jamie said and ran her hands over her well worn shirts, "It will be nice to get some new things. These are pretty old."
"I'll say," Kess said and held up a white t-shirt with a hole worn in the shoulder. "So cage fights huh? That's pretty cool, I used to get in fights, none that paid though," Kess laughed.
"I can relate to that," Jamie agreed, "But I do prefer the paid fights. So where are you from?"
"Originally Egypt," Kess replied, "But I was in Spain for a little bit before I came to New York."
"Wow Egypt," Jamie nodded, "That's where I figured, I mean you could be Cleopatra."
Kess laughed, "Well I hopefully don't look like what she looks like now."
"No," Jamie replied, "Certainly not. No offense but I don't think you'd look too good in all those mummy wrappings."
Kess patted Jamie's shoulder, "I think I like you, Jamie," she said.
When Jamie woke up on Saturday morning she thought she was still sleeping and having the best dream. She was in a school for mutants, a place she belonged, with a new friend and an opportunity to make her life into whatever she wanted. She dressed in her trusty Wranglers and a red camisole top after her shower. Kess came into her room at around 9. "Morning sunshine," she said, "I hope you're ready to shop."
"As long as I have a mentor," Jamie said, "I've never gone shopping before."
"Never?" Kess said and flattened her blue halter top over her toned stomach absentmindedly, "Well, believe me, we're going to have some fun. Though it's definitely business, I can't have you walking around in only those jeans."
"But they're my favorites," Jamie replied a little defensively.
Kess giggled, "Don't worry," she said and took Jamie's hand, "You aren't going to get rid of them, we're just going to get them a few friends, you know, to give them a break once in a while. Come on." Jamie let herself be led to the garage. They passed a few of the rec rooms and she saw a ton of people in all of them watching TV, playing cards, talking and doing homework. Kess waved to a guy in one of the rooms and blew him a kiss.
"Oh, boyfriend?" Jamie asked. That was one aspect of this place she hadn't thought about. She'd never had a boyfriend or been on a date in her life. Maybe getting some new clothes would be a good idea she decided as she thought back to the meager amount of tops she had in her room.
"You bet," Kess said and smiled to herself, "He's the best. And he has a lot of really nice friends," she raised an eyebrow to Jamie, "You never know."
Kess drove to the mall in one of the two mustangs in the garage, a black V8 '06 that Kess drove a little fast and a little recklessly. "You really know how to handle a car," Jamie complemented.
She smiled mischievously as they parked, "Well I've had some practice," she said, "But I don't know much about what make them tick. I mean, this one I'm pretty familiar with but if you like cars you should definitely take Scott's Auto Mechanics class. John, the boyfriend, took it and said it's really great. Scott can be a little annoying sometimes but he really knows what he's talking about."
"Yeah when I heard that was offered here I nearly had a heart attack I was so happy," Jamie laughed as they walked inside, "I worked at a mechanics place for a few months and it was one of the best times I had. I learned a lot and I've been itching to get under the hood of a car again."
"Well it sounds like you have one of your five classes picked," Kess opened the door and Jamie was hit by the smell of soft pretzels, cookies, and new leather. "What other things are you interested in? You'll probably have to take a math or English course too, but they offer some really great classes here. I'm in Music Theory, Logic, History 430, International Studies, and Music Administration. Do you know what you want to do after you graduate?"
"I guess I haven't really thought about it too much," Jamie replied as they walked into a department store, "I've kind of always dreamed of owning my own auto and motorcycle shop. I mean, it's what I love and I'm not too worried about money but doing something that makes me happy."
"That sounds like a great dream," Kess said, "If it's what you love then you'll do great. I don't know if you can tell but my passion is music. I write a lot of songs with John and I play the guitar. We have a little sort of band, John on bass and our friend Sammie on drums. Sometimes Ali Blaire plays with us too. It's really fun; we're trying to come up with a demo CD. But I'm not basing my whole future on the band though, that's why I'm studying Music Admin. John's dad is a music producer and I'd really like to get a job with his company some day. John already does a lot with them, he's a genius, and it's all so interesting and exciting."
"Oh a band," Jamie said fingering through some of the clothes they passed, "That's so cool. I thought I heard you playing yesterday when I got here, it sounded great. I can't play any instruments," she laughed.
"Well, if you ever want to learn," Kess winked. She first took Jamie to the intimates department, "Here we will get the 'behind the scenes' stuff, some good bras, other underclothes, pajamas and the all important socks. I know you're from Canada but it still gets pretty cold here. After Spain and Egypt it was kind of hard for me to adapt to the cold. But I lived in New York before I came to the Institute," as they walked through the intimates section Kess picked out different things for Jamie and set them in her arms, "In the city but it was certainly not glamorous," she laid a pair of wool socks across the pile she had already set up, "I was actually technically homeless before I came to Xavier's. I had worked at a few places like bars and stuff but I kept getting fired. Believe it or not I used to have a pretty bad attitude, I'm a lot better now though," she reassured Jamie, "Though people don't really like to get on my bad side."
Jamie felt like she could really connect with Kess. It seemed like they were going to have a lot in common because Jamie certainly knew what it was like to be considered a bad girl. "Well I will certainly try to stay off it. I think the same could be said of my bad list," she laughed.
"Oh you don't have to worry," Kess said, "I think we're going to get a lot just fine. We should probably get your measurements before we go to the bra section."
"Measurements?" Jamie asked, "I'm 6 foot, and I weigh 140."
Kess laughed out loud, "No, no not those measurements. I mean for a bra."
"Oh," Jamie said. She hadn't really worried about bra size, she always found something that worked well enough for her. Lots of sports bras she realized.
Kess found a sales associate who took Jamie into a dressing room to measure her. "Well?" Kess asked when they walked out.
"36 D," the sales woman said and went to find a few bras for Jamie to try on.
"Well that was maybe one of the most awkward experiences of my life," Jamie said when she was back in the dressing room with Kess waiting outside it.
Kess laughed, "Try getting a bikini wax," she called from the other side of the door, "I love swimsuit season but that's something I could do without."
Jamie shivered, "Bikini wax just sounds painful. So what do you think?" she came out in a green bra with blue polka dots that Kess had picked out in addition to the basic colors.
"Very cute," Kess grinned, "Alright, grab the ones you like, the sports bras and we'll pay for all this and head to Express. They're having a sale on their jeans and I think that you'll like them."
In Express Jamie got three more pairs of jeans, two flairs and one skinny, and a shiny salmon halter top. In Etc. she picked out a bunch of t-shirts with simple designs and Kess helped her find two other tops that were a little more feminine. "You have a great figure," she said, "And these will really accent it well." She put the green halter and the red strappy top in the pile of clothes that they were going to buy and moved on to shoes. "A good pair of boots, some new sneakers because yours are going to the dogs, chucks and salmon heels to go with that other top and maybe some black sandals." Jamie was wide-eyed as they traveled through the mall, Kess picking out accessory after accessory that all matched perfectly with her new clothes.
"It's so weird having all this," Jamie said looking at her bags as they ate some pizza in the food court, "I don't think I've ever owned this many clothes in my entire life."
"Well, this is only the beginning," Kess sipped on her sweet tea, "When I first got to the mansion I had only the clothes on my back and a jacket but now, well you'll just have to see my closet."
Jamie stretched when they finished eating and headed back to the parking lot. "God these are heavy," she laughed as they gathered their bags up.
"I know, where's a man when you need one right?" Kess replied, "You're pretty lucky you know."
"Lucky?" Jamie asked as they drove back to the mansion, "What do you mean?"
"Well you have your own room," Kess continued, "Most people have a roommate."
"But you don't have a roommate do you?"
"I'm an honors student," Kess explained, "Jubilee, you'll meet her later, has her own room, Kitty and I think that's all. John shares a room with his friend Pete, they're both honor students but opted to room together to save room. There's more girls here than guys so some girls are in triples. But you got the last empty room. That's why you're lucky. There's no new students coming in so you got to take that room."
"Sweet," Jamie said, "But I would be ok with a roommate."
"Oh yeah, roommates are great, but it's also really nice to have only one person to share a bathroom with instead of three people."
"That's true," Jamie agreed, "But it may seem like you're sharing a bathroom with three people, I'm not the cleanest person."
Kess laughed, "Well thanks for the warning."
Kess left Jamie to put her new clothes away and promised to come back and get her for dinner. Jamie hung up her tops and folded her tees and put away her shoes. She sat down on her bed took out the old diary she had kept since she could remember. She'd written down every strange dream or feeling of déjà vu she had ever had. She'd considered talking to the professor about it but she was hoping to just put those times behind her and start new. She closed the diary and shoved it under her mattress.
Kess was seated at a table in a study room on the first floor going over her Music Administration homework. "Hey hot mama," John said as he sat down across the table from her.
"Hey babe," she perked up and leaned over to give him a quick kiss and ruffle his shaggy brown hair.
"So how was shopping with the new girl?" he asked and put his long toned legs up on the table.
Kess drew a smiley face on his ankle after she moved her homework to the side, "Great, I really like her. It's been so lonely with Ali B going on so many missions and Jubilee has been really busy with her International Affairs classes. And Jamie is great, she's really easy to talk to. And she looks like a real fighter too, which is exciting."
"Kind of like someone else I know," John said, "So how's the homework?"
"Not too bad, did you already finish the assignment?"
"Of course," he winked and sat up in his chair, pulling out a laptop to work on his unfinished History paper.
"So modest," Kess smiled playfully and stared at her boyfriend for a minute as he got to work on his paper. She loved looking at him, his brown hair that fell in his eyes and over his ears. He was thin compared to a lot of the body builder types that they had classes with but his toned, muscular build put most to shame. His blue eyes always held a mischievous glint and he was always up for playing a prank. But that's not what she loved about him; he was the warmest more mature person she knew. Always on top of things and always there for her when she needed him. She smiled to herself and got back to work until 6 o'clock rolled around and she ran back upstairs to get Jamie for dinner. "You coming babe?" she asked John.
"Actually Peter and I are going to work on the Camaro in the garage," he replied as he packed up his things, "But I'll come by your room tonight and we can watch a movie. Sound good?"
"Absolutely," Kess agreed and gave him a peck on the cheek, "I'll see you later."
"Love you pretty lady."
"Love you too charmer."
Jamie had spent the afternoon going over what classes she wanted to take since she started on Monday and had decided on Ancient History, Southern Literature, Studio Art, Auto Mechanics and Algebra. "Hey what do the numbers mean at the end of the course listing?" Jamie asked when Kess entered her room.
"Oh that just refers to what level it is, all yours should be in the 400s, whether it's a 401 or a 456 just refers to what order the classes are listed in. And the teachers are great so if you feel behind they'll do whatever it takes to help you," she looked over Jamie's classes and nodded, "Very nice, so you hungry yet?"
"Starved," Jamie said happily and jumped up from her bed.
Dinner was lasagna and Jamie met more people than she thought she could handle. She was introduced to Alison Blaire also known as Dazzler and could tell why Kess got along so well with the other music loving mutant. Jamie sat at a table with Kess, Ali, Jubilee and Warren, an extremely good looking mutant with full size wings like that of an angel.
Most of the conversation revolved around Jamie's first day and the homework that the students had left to do. Ali wasn't taking any classes because she was working on things with her band in the city but Warren and Kess talked about the History paper they both had to finish.
"So what are your powers?" Jubilee asked Jamie as she twirled long brown hair around her finger.
"Well, apparently they're really similar to someone else here, Logan I think was his name," Jamie explained and Kess and Warren turned back to her.
"Yeah," Kess said, "Jamie has some kickass claws."
"Oh wow, so I guess you have the whole healing and strength thing down too then?" Jubilee admired.
"And agility," Jamie added, "Which helps a lot."
"I bet it does," Ali said, "Hey I'll catch you guys later, see ya bad boy," she gave Warren a kiss and hugged Kess.
Jubilee rolled her eyes, "You're anything but a bad boy War," she laughed, "You're a more of a saint than Jean."
Warren shrugged shyly, "What can I say? I didn't tell her to call me that."
"Warren's code name, Angel, fits his personality more than his appearance," Kess explained to Jamie, "I don't think he's ever done a single thing against the rules."
"Unlike some of us," Jubilee said pointedly at Kess.
"Hey now, I just like to have fun," Kess defended herself.
After dinner Jamie and Kess went back upstairs and Kess plopped down on Jamie's bed, "So are you ready for classes on Monday?" she asked.
Jamie sat on the vanity chair, "I don't know, I mean, yes, but I'm a little nervous. I haven't been to 'school' before."
"Oh it'll be fine," Kess reassured her, "Tomorrow I have a paper to work on but I'll see you at dinner and then on Monday make sure you find me at lunch so I can hear all about your day." Her brown eyes glittered yellow, "I'm going to watch a movie with John so I'll see you tomorrow."
"Ok, I'll see you later," Jamie said, "I think I'm going to turn in early anyway, all that shopping wore me out," she yawned. After a long, relaxing shower Jamie put on her new pajamas and lay down, turning on a radio next to her bed and finding a station she liked. She could hear the movie playing in Kess room and she thought back to the situation in the Training Room the previous day. She hadn't thought much about because she was busy with moving in and getting acquainted but something about it unnerved her. She'd never heard of two mutants with the same powers and the fact that Logan had claws just like hers made her wary and it brought back some of the dreams she'd had. Jamie snuggled deeper into her covers and remembered the feeling of those sharp claws plunging into her stomach. It had only hurt for a moment and she had such adrenaline surging in her that she had barely felt it. When she fought she was like a machine, she didn't feel pain and she never let anything stop her. But she couldn't get the look of Logan's eyes out of her mind, they were oddly familiar and the rage he fought with was something she felt all too often herself. But I'm at a new school with new friends, she thought to herself, whatever problem he has with me will get solved one way or the other. She heard John say goodnight to Kess and as she heard the shower start for Kess she rolled over and fell into a deep, sleep though even in her dreams she couldn't let go of the aggressive feelings she had toward Logan.