Dun dun dunnaaaaaaaa

New story?! First chapter?!

YEAHBUHWHA?!

Oh yes. Don't worry kiddies, stick with me through the frequent bouts of writers block, and occasional mental breakdowns, and I promise you one hell of a ride, 'kay?

Disclaimer: I do not own, or pretend to own the X-Men. All rights to Marvel. I also do not pretend to own any OC's (Used with gracious permission from my favourite people) besides Angele and Ariel. Because I own them.

Chatper One is Dedicated to: TNG - For reminding me what fun was, and giving me the best summer of my life. You bitches made me nocturnal, and I'd do it all over again without a doubt.

Chapter One: New Rooms & New Rules

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another."
-Anatole France

She really couldn't believe she was actually here. It had been the longest flight she had ever experienced; flying away from everything she had ever known and loved. When she landed, there had been a taxi waiting for her. She didn't ask how, she was sure the school had arranged it somehow. And then…she got here, and that was that. It was weird how nobody had said anything to her…Then again, it was the middle of the day, and everybody was probably in class. Angele Marie Ritaka dropped her bags on the ground in the middle of the room that was hers for…well, she didn't know how long. Her parents said she could come back at anytime if she wanted to. She didn't really believe them, because she was sure the moment she showed any signs of homesickness, and called home, they'd try and talk her into saying. It was for the best they said; she could learn some control. She had agreed to it first, because it sounded like a good deal. But she honestly hadn't realized how…far it was. She felt like she was another galaxy away, not just a few thousand miles, or a 15-hour plane flight. Angele glanced at her watch, sighing softly. It was still set on Egyptian time. Everybody at home was sleeping. She wondered if they missed her as much as she missed them. Probably not.

With a glance around the rather bare room, she hauled one of her suitcases up onto the empty bed and popped it open. Well, it wasn't that bad, all things considered. She had a private room at least, and a closet and her own bathroom. That didn't sound that horrible, did it? She half wished she did have a roommate. Maybe it would be easier to make friends then, because she honestly didn't know how she was going to do it now. She never had trouble at home, but…that was at home. Home was easier than this. With a small groan, she dumped the first pile of socks and underwear into an opened drawer, not bothering to arrange them. She wasn't a neat freak, she didn't care what order they went in, honestly. She just wanted to get this unpacked and out of her way. To help remind her that this was permanent. No, really, it was. And as soon as she convinced herself of that fact, her life would go a lot easier. A yawn escaped her pink lips, and she stretched her arms out. And, by accident, her snowy white wings stretched out as well, although thankfully not to their full span. She would've knocked over the lamp on the other side of the room if they were fully grown. Angele winced slightly, pushing away the memories of having to cut off her own wings in the middle of the night, after hearing her parents deliberate about how to get her on the plane. That had been painful. She didn't want to think about that anymore. She shuddered simply remembering it.

"Ugh…" Angele pushed the first emptied suitcase off her bed and onto the floor with a small 'wumph' noise. She was reserving her judgment on this place. It wasn't horrible so far…but it wasn't great. It was gonna take something big to change her mind. She let out another sigh, her great white wings flexing restlessly again. Flying. Usually, flying cleared her mind. Somehow, it was easier to think when you were coasting above everybody below you, and your problems…well, they stayed Earth-bound. She let out another miserable moan. She couldn't go flying in the middle of the day here, too many people around. Back home, she just had to set out for the desert, and she could be alone for hours. Here…Too many cities, too many people. Make no mistake; Angele was somewhat excited to be in the United States. Big cities were not something she got to hang around all the time. But she would like it better if it was more of a vacation than a permanent living situation.

A few more moments of feelings sorry for herself later, and she pushed her face up and off the bedspread, wiping at her eyes hastily. This was certainly going to be harder than she had expected. Her parents had built it up, and they made it sound so easy. Just…move away from home. Everybody did it eventually; she was just going to have to start early. They knew she would be fine, and they said she was mature enough and although they would miss her very much, this was the best thing for her. She wasn't so sure. Angele had felt somewhat better when they told her she was mature enough for this…But she wasn't. She was only 16 for Christ's sake; she wanted to be an immature little teenager for just a little bit longer! Was that too much to ask?

Dragging a hand through her waist length blond locks, she took a peek at herself in the mirror. Her eyes looked faintly red-rimmed, although she was sure if she took a few moments, she could cover that up. Oh the miracles of make up. Never to be underestimated. Pulling open another suitcase on the floor, she searched around for a few moments, before coming up with her make up case. Tip toeing across the room for whatever reason, she slid into her new bathroom, flicking on the light. It was rather…bare. She'd have to get towels…ick, and a new shower curtain. Setting the case on the counter, she unzipped it, sifting through the contents for a few moments. Sighing again, her hand emerged, clutching her cover-up for her pale skin. She flipped open the compact, leaning towards the mirror. Angele wished she had her lighted mirror here...too bad she left it at home. Rubbing her finger in the middle of the creamy concoction, she smeared some on her face, trying to even out her pale complexion. She smiled faintly, remembering what her parents said about her skin. Her mother teased that an Egyptian born girl shouldn't have to wear so much sun screen outside. Angele just teased back that she wasn't Egyptian, and it wasn't her fault if her parents had an albino child. It was partially true at least, she was an Egyptian citizen, but her parents were both American. Archaeologists, supported by a university. They did work, and occasionally taught students who enrolled in the program. Angele's parents had lived in Egypt since before she was born, and besides the one year on sabbatical they did when she was 9, she had never experienced what it was like to live in the states. That, was obviously, about to change.

Absently dropping the compact back into her make up bag after she was finished with it, she reached for her eye shadow. She didn't even know why she was doing this. It's not like she planned on leaving her room until she absolutely was forced out. And that wouldn't be easy. She did hear they had a person who could walk through walls though...Hm.

She was startled out of her plans soon-to-be-set-in-motion for never leaving her room by a knock on the door. Dropping her eye shadow before she even got a chance to crack it open, Angele spent the next ten seconds panicking.

"Uh...Just a minute!" Folding her wings tightly against her back instinctively, she darted towards the door, leaving her make up bag in the middle of her bathroom. Clearing her throat, and glancing in the mirror to make sure she looked presentable before she opened the door, she smoothed down her hair, determined to make a good impression. Now...all she had to do was pull open the door, and...

Knock, knock, knock.

The person on the other side of the door was evidently not very patient. Or Angele might have just been taking a very long time to open the door. Trying to keep her wings from starting to flutter about nervously, she placed her hand on the door knob, twisted it, and opened it. She stared--flat out stared--at the incredibly good looking boy standing in the doorway. Oh my. He was tall, with brown eyes and dark skin. If Angele wasn't such a sensible young girl, she would've fallen head over flippin' heels.

She was only slightly flustered. The boy looked amused, leaning against her door frame casually, waiting for her to say something. Angele realized that she had been standing there without saying a word for entirely too long.

"Um...Hi!" She flashed a bright smile. Too bright? Wincing inwardly, she shrunk against her heavy wooden door, trying to not look so entirely foolish.

The boy chuckled, straightening out his posture. "Hi." Pushing up his orange glasses on his nose, he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Angele, right?"

Angele nodded slowly, becoming slightly less insecure. Okay, cool, he hadn't laughed at her outright yet. "Um...Yeah..."

The boy nodded, as if reassuring himself of something. "Okay, good, I'm the student rep. I'm supposed to help new students with questions and getting settled in and stuff. So...have any?"

Angele blinked at the boy slowly for a moment, trying to process. Her thoughts were rather interrupted by how incredibly good this boy was looking right now. "I guess...Where--"

"David!"

The boy in the doorway, who was apparently named David, turned around abruptly, eying an Asian girl storming down the hall towards him. Gleaming metal gauntlets crawled up her arms, ending right above her elbows. What should have been black hair had been artificially dyed an eye catching bright blue. And she looked mad. The African-American boy standing in front of her door winced a little bit, muttering something under his breath. "Nori, there you are."

"There I am?! Did you totally space out about our Danger Room session?! You're way late!" Nori paused two feet away, putting her metallic hands on her slim hips, a deep frown creasing her face. "They sent me out to get you, and now we're both going to be late." Her tone seemed to include a general 'thanks a lot' with every word she spoke. Noriko Ashida was obviously not happy. Her glare directed at David, wavered only a moment to re-direct itself at Angele, who was blushing furiously at having to witness this quarrel. She shrank back from the girl's glare, wishing that she could just shut the door.

David sighed, all attention directed away from Angele. Jesus, he really had to work hard to keep up with his girlfriend sometimes. "Sorry Nori, I must've misread the board."

Nori snorted derisively, her arms crossed over her chest. "David, you're the only one who knows how to work the bulletin board!" Stupid fancy technology. The hologram bulletin board installed by Sage at the end of last year plagued the students to no end. Especially Nori. Half the time, she couldn't get near the thing without shorting it out.

David rolled his eyes, "Only when Tessa's around." Duh.

Angele blinked again, watching the exchange. After spending a few moments deciphering what exactly they were talking about (She had head Professor Xavier briefly touch upon it when he was giving his spiel to her parents, but no more than that), she found herself wondering what this pair could do in terms of powers. She would have to ask that of everybody, wouldn't she? It was going to be so hard to try and keep up with who could do what...Sigh.

Without even realizing it, she had zoned out while standing in her doorway, and was abruptly brought back to reality by David snapping his fingers in her face. "Hey, angel-girl. I'm supposed to be the student liaison for new kids this week, but I've got to go now. In 10 minutes, downstairs, there's going to be an orientation for everybody that's arrived this week. Try to make it, okay? I'll see you later."

Angele nodded silently, afraid to say anything else and invoke another wrath-filled glance from the boys' girlfriend. Waving a little, she attempted a brave smile, watching David walk away down the hallway, taking Nori's elbow, and leaning in to whisper something in her ear that made her blush, and smile, although she seemed half annoyed that he even managed to get that out of her.

Siiiiiigh. She shut the door slowly, her mind working to figure out what she was going to be doing. Okay. Orientation. With other people. But they would all be new, so that would be okay, right? Right. Maybe they'd be easier to make friends with that way, because none of them would know anybody else. So now...Angele looked down at herself, mentally inspecting her outfit. Well, it would never do. First of all, she had been traveling in it, on a plane and a car and...Well, it was wrinkled, and smelly. So that would have to change. She glanced up into a mirror, wishing she had time for a shower. But that was always an ordeal...So not now. Outfit change, make up, do something with her hair, and then wing it.

No pun intended.

No less than eleven minutes later, Angele softly padded her way down the grand wooden steps of the Xavier Mansion's front foyer. Dressed in a pale pink ruffle skirt, and pastel yellow tank top, with a pair of cheap plastic flip-flops. A small smear of gold eye shadow, a little bit of Kohl eyeliner, and that was all she had time for. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she paused, biting down on her lip. Okay, so she was downstairs...then what? She realized that David had left without giving her instructions on where to go, or...what room Orientation was in. Great. That was just...great. Sighing, Angele pondered her options, and came up with...next to nothing. It was basically stick her head into every room she came across and hope that somebody would mention the fact that this was the orientation room, or...go back upstairs and hide. And probably get in trouble when she did something wrong, after not learning the rules, because she hadn't been at orientation.

Ugh. Life sucked.

Trying her best to stay as quiet as possible, Angele left the bottom of the stairs and proceeded down the hallway, occasionally glancing into a room. She walked past the living room, with some kids sitting in front of a TV, playing a Nintendo Wii. A shouting match broke out as one boy accused another of cheating, and yelled something about 'stupid technopaths!'

Angele moved past the living room quickly. Sighing, she peeked in another room, trying her best to do so without being noticed. God forbid somebody peg her as the new girl. Although by the way she was walking, and checking every room, they probably already had. Glancing around the latest room, she spotted a group of about 10 other people, sitting in chairs. One or two had books, almost all of them had headphones of some sort, and none of them were talking. Something...something just lead her to believe that this just might be the orientation room.

That and the sign that said orientation on the table.

Angele pushed the door open a little wider, and stepped inside the room. All the heads turned towards her, studying, judging, decided and drawing conclusions all within the space of a second, before most of the pairs of eyes returned to what they were doing before. All but two. Angele winced slightly, her wings fluttering nervously. Glancing around, without really looking at any of the people, she took the first seat she could find, one that was located near the front of the room, two empty spots away from a girl with green hair and almost orange skin, who was currently bopping her head along to the beat of her green iPod, reading a comic book (maybe it was a Manga? Angele couldn't tell from her angle…and she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways). Angele bit down on her lip again, folding her hands together tightly in her lap. She didn't know how long they were supposed to be here…And she had no idea how long anybody else had been here for. She glanced down at her watch, before remembering that it was still set on Egyptian time. So she had no idea what time it was here. She'd have to remember to fix that. Before she got a chance to lean over and ask somebody else, there was a sudden "bamf!" at the front of the room, and a small cloud of purple smoke.

Startled out of her wits by the sudden appearance of a blue-skinned man, with a woman clad entirely in white, Angele's wings gave another nervous flutter, extending themselves outwards. Luckily enough, she caught on in time, before they could throw the green-haired girl out of her seat. Drawing them tightly against her again, she whispered an apology, acutely aware of the other eyes on her in the room. Especially the cold eyes of the woman up front.

Emma Frost stared down at her newest crop of students with a faint smirk.

Excellent job Kurt. I believe that entrance works every time.

The blue man beside Emma beamed down at the students. Despite looking much less approachable, and much more demonic, he exuded a sort of friendliness and sense of warmth that the striking woman beside him lacked. It would just take a bit of open-mindedness on the students' part before they realized that.

Meine pleasure, freundin, as always.

Kurt gave another sweeping smile to the room, before he "bamf"ed away again, leaving behind another small cloud of purple smoke, and the faint scent of brimstone.

Emma Frost stayed silent for another few moments, studying the students before her. After the first 30 seconds, most, if not all of them, started to squirm just a little in their seats. Her smirk shifted into more of a smile, as though satisfied. Relaxing her stiff posture only slightly, she crossed her arms behind her back, lifting her head.

"Hello, and welcome to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. All of you in this room are here for one reason and one reason alone. You are different. You are mutants. Some of you are more obvious than others. Welcome to where you belong." She turned, pacing across the front of the room, waiting for a moment to allow her words to sink in. Dramatic effect was always her forte.

"First order of business. The new school year at Xavier's starts in two weeks, on September 4th. During school days, in the mornings for the first semester, you will be doing training sessions in various parts of the mansion, split up based upon your powers. Those who demonstrate superior control will be sorted into squads at the beginning of the second semester. Those who need some more help with their powers will stay with their groups. In the afternoons, the Institute offers a wide variety of normal classes, such as English, Math, Science, and etcetera. We will do our best to match you up with the class that best befits you, taking into consideration where you are from, and what the school system is like there. All your courses are valid for going on to earning your university degree, do not worry about that.

"While you are here, the conduct expected of you, inside and outside the Mansion, especially outside the mansion, is nothing less than your best. You are representatives of the Xavier Institute, and of mutants. Please, try to keep us in good graces with our neighbours. Drugs, alcohol, and gratuitous public displays of affection will not be tolerated. Using your powers in the halls between classes, and with the intent of violence against another person will not be tolerated. Please, do not test our patience. You will find we have very little of it."

Emma paused in her pacing, turning to face the upturned faces of the relatively young children now in her care. Half of them looked excited. The other half looked like they just might puke. Another smile tugged at her lips, and she flicked some blonde hair out of her eyes. "Now that we have rules out of the way, I suggest we get on with introductions. I'm Miss Frost, Headmaster of the institute. Telepath." She nodded in the direction of the girl with green hair to Angele's right. "Name, age, power, and where you come from, if you please."

The girl glanced up, shutting the book, and tugging a white ear bud away from her ear. "Ariel, 15, teleportation, New Hampshire." She glanced around, Angele noticing the spiral earrings that dangled from her ears, before Ariel shrugged.

Emma watched the girl for a moment, before nodding. "…Sprite."

Ariel blinked, looking faintly surprised. Emma grinned, displaying a row of perfect white teeth. "Your codename. If you have a problem with it, see me after this."

Ariel simply blinked again. Blushing faintly (Which, unfortunately, clashed horribly with her skin AND hair at the same time), she glanced down at her book again, determined not to say anything else for the time being. At least not in the presence of Miss Frost.

Angele gulped silently once she realized she was next. Clearing her throat, she twisted her fingers about for a moment, temporarily forgetting all the information asked of her, in light of her panic at having to speak in front of this formidable woman, never mind the rest of her new classmates.

Please God, don't let my voice crack, please, please, please, please!

"Uhmm…Angele, 16, flight and…light manipulation, I think somebody called it? and…I come from Egypt…" She kept her eyes downcast, and her face turned firmly towards her lap, blushing, and refusing to look up at anyone. I'm so lame.

"Seraph." Emma's business-like voice paid no heed to the embarrassment Angele was currently feeling. The girl would get over it soon enough, as would everybody else in this room. "Next."

"Dimitri, 16, water manipulation, New York State." Angele glanced to her left, watching the boy lounge lazily in his chair. He glanced over at her once, but quickly looked away when he spotted her watching him. She blushed again, watching for the next person. If she was going to spend the next year with most, if not all of these people, she might as well get to know them.

"Whirlpool. Next."

"Gabriel, 18, flight and concussive blasts, Italy." Angele's eyes widened when she realized that she was not the only one in the room with wings. Somebody else had wings! She had been so tied up in her own little world of misery that she hadn't even noticed. She bit back a happy little giggle, at the fact that she wasn't alone. She wasn't alone!

"Sonicboom. Next."

"Vince, 17, wind manipulation, England."

"Vortex."

And so the pattern continued, until everyone in the room had given out just a little bit of information about themselves, and received a code name, via Emma Frost. Some of the students looked rather disgruntled about it; they had been sure that they would've been allowed to choose their own code name. No matter though, what was done was done. Anyone with complaints could report to Miss. Frost. And nobody wanted to do that. Of course, she already knew. But the students hadn't been there long enough to know that. Ah well. They'd figure it out soon enough. Everyone did. Making her way through the hap-hazard maze of chairs, Miss Frost stood beside the doorway, addressing the group as a whole yet again.

"Today is the first day and therefore the hardest. I implore you all to stay on your best behavior, and do your best not to antagonize the other students. Your schedules for school will be posted on your doors the moment they are printed, and if there are any problems, please come find me, or Miss Tessa, who will be glad to help you."

With another smile curiously lacking in warmth, Miss Frost opened the door to the hallway, inclining her head at the motley group in front of her. "Welcome to Xaviers' students, and I sincerely hope you enjoy your stay."

The formidable and intimidating woman stepped outside of the small room, and shut the door firmly behind her. The students left in the room all stared at each other for a moment. Angele chewed on her lip again, mostly to keep herself from chewing on her nails, a nervous habit that went along with her fluttering wings. Not a good one either.

It seemed like none of them wanted to be the first to speak. Upon further inspection around the room, it seemed like she wasn't the only one with an obvious mutation. The other guy with wings, Gabriel, first of all. And the girl, Ariel, her skin couldn't possibly be normal. Unless she had an accident with self-tanner. Like falling into a vat of it. A really big vat. Another boy, Jack, had silver tinted skin, Angele was sure of it. Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, she tried to look at everybody, but not be obvious about it, and as a result, probably just looked like she had a twitch or something. Angele wondered how long they could sit in silence for.

It was Ariel who spoke up first, not even bothering to look up from her manga novel open in front of her. "So…Party tonight or what?" Even though her face was down, and partially obscured by her emerald green hair, the faint outlines of a smirk were obvious. Slowly raising her hand to her mouth, Angele started nibbling on the edge of her thumbnail.

She could just tell already; this was going to be one hell of a year.

Wooooooo?

Yes, no, this is good, this is bad, Katie you're batshit insane?

KATIE DEMANDS FEEDBACK

Or the stabbing shall commence.

-Katie