"Jean, I'd like you to meet Scott Summers. Scott, this is Jean Grey, my very first student."

And only student," I teased. "Until now?" I looked over at Scott. It was a little hard to tell behind the weird red sunglasses he was wearing, but he looked like he was about my age. He was tall and lanky like pretty much every guy in my sophomore class seemed to be. Brown hair. Pleasant enough expression. Slightly ill-fitting sweater. Khaki pants. Overall just really average. I would never have suspected him of being . . . well, like me. But then, I reasoned, I looked pretty average too.

"Until now," the Professor confirmed with a smile. "Scott is going to be joining us here at the Institute."

"Hi." Scott lifted his hand in awkward greeting and I in turn lifted the corners of my mouth in an awkward smile.

Thankfully, we were rescued from the awkwardness by Storm's voice bursting into the room. "Professor, could you come to the control room?"

"What? Is everything-"

"Jean." If that tone of voice-mental voice?-wasn't enough to convey that I'd screwed up, the look the Professor was giving me certainly did.

"Sorry, Professor." Why couldn't I get control of this stupid telepathy thing? The Professor knew how hard I was trying, but he still always sounded so disappointed every time I messed up. I really hadn't meant to hear Storm calling him. It wasn't like I wanted to mentally eavesdrop on everybody.

The Professor smiled. "Jean, why don't you give Scott a tour? It seems I am needed elsewhere." And with that, he left.

"So." Scott shoved his hands in his pockets. "What was that about?"

"Oh, well, uh," I played with a strand of my hair, my eyes darting about the room. He was going to find out anyway, so I figured maybe it was better to just get it out right now. But that didn't mean I wanted to. I swallowed hard. "One of the reasons I'm here is that I can hear people's thoughts. In my head. The Professor calls it telepathy." Looking up at him, I tried to gage his reaction, but it was really hard to tell with those sunglasses. I continued in a rush, "I try really hard not to, but I have to focus to not hear stuff, so sometimes I still do, accidentally. But I am getting better."

He seemed to be making a deliberate attempt to show no reaction. "One of the reasons? What's the rest?"

I bit back a grin. Here was something I didn't mind showing off. Looking about the study for inspiration, I settled on the pitcher of water and empty glasses that were sitting on a side table. I primly sat down on the leather sofa next to it and did my best to keep my hands in my lap as I used my mind to lift the pitcher and pour some water into a glass. I finally did lift a shaking hand as I used my mental energy to levitate the glass toward me, finally grabbing it and taking a quiet sip.

Now that I wasn't having to focus so hard to use my power, I was able to fully appreciate the fact that Scott's mouth had dropped open. He quickly shut it again. "That's so cool!"

I focused on lifting the pitcher again, letting myself lift my hand toward it to make it easier. I grinned at Scott. "Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like a glass?"

He grinned back and sat on the other side of the sofa while I poured more water and brought it to him. He downed half of it. "I've never seen anything like this. How do you do it? I mean, do you just think about it? Or do you have to move your hand like that?"

"The Professor thinks that it's an entirely mental ability-telekinesis. It's easier for me to move something if I use my hands, too, but apparently that's just some sort of psychological thing. Makes me feel steadier." It felt really good to be able to talk to somebody openly like this. For the first time in six months I felt . . . normal.

I shifted in my seat to face Scott better. "So what can you do?"

"I can't really show you." His smile had tightened. "These shades the Professor gave me are the only thing keeping me from destroying the building."

"Your eyes?"

"They emit these beams. Really, really forceful. And," he looked down at his lap, "I can't turn it off. The only way to make it stop is to shut my eyes. The Professor says these glasses are made of ruby-quartz. Apparently that's the only substance I can't penetrate."

I didn't really know what to say. I wondered what happened when his powers first manifested, how he'd coped with them since then without the glasses, and I started to think maybe I'd had it comparatively easy.

Scott looked back up at me. "I can only see in shades of red now, but it's either that or keep my eyes shut for the rest of my life, so I'll take it."

"Well, at the moment, you're not missing much, because my hair's about as red as it gets." I realized as I said this that it was a pretty lame attempt to lighten the mood, but somehow it worked because Scott smiled. "Come on. I'll show you around."

We spent the rest of the day wandering through the Institute. Scott had questions about everything, and I began to realize how little I still knew, despite having lived there for five months. But I was beginning to finally understand the Professor's vision for the school. Obviously Scott and I didn't know each other well, and of course it would take time for us to actually be friends. But here was someone I didn't have to hide from. I could be as open with Scott as I wanted to. Just having that simple freedom made me feel like we were normal after all.