Part 1 – Our Kind
Kari stared at the hallways around her with one eyebrow cocked, sort of with sarcasm, sort of with disbelief.
"This way, please." Professor Xavier went through two double doors into a room Kari expected to be his office. As he went behind his desk, Kari noticed a slightly loud metallic clicking. It was rhythmic, and slightly echoing in the quiet. She turned and saw a boy, maybe 16, leaning against the wall by the doors, flicking the top of a Zippo lighter back and forth with a smug expression. He watched her with a strange gaze, not missing a beat with the pattern of the clicking.
"Ah, John." The professor smiled. The boy merely shifted his eyes a centimeter over Kari's shoulder to look at the man behind the desk.
"Acting up in class again, I suspect?" Professor Xavier asked. John shrugged, still flicking the lighter back and forth.
"This is the fourth time this week John."
Still no answer but the loud click click emitting from his hand.
"Try not to do it again, please," the professor said with a smile.
Kari had been watching the lighter the whole time, the flame spouting every time John flicked the top open, then disappearing when his hand clicked it shut. For a moment, it seemed to go in slow motion. She watched the flame, the motion of the lighter, and John's hand simply running on a six-inch track to keep the rhythm going. His gaze fell back on her, staring at her as her fascinated eyes continued to lock onto his motion. For the first time, the clicking hesitated, and the lighter was stopped open as John paused. The tiny flame flickered in the still air of the room.
"That is all, John, you may go," Xavier said. The boy either didn't hear the professor, or he hesitated about whether he should leave or not. At last, he gave the lighter one final click and left. Kari watched him disappear as the door closed. The professor motioned for her to sit down. She finally did, tearing her eyes from the door.
"So." The professor gave her a warm smile.
"I'm not a mutant," Kari stated immediately.
"I know at first it can be hard to accept, but —"
"But nothing," Kari cut him off, "I'm not. You can't just jump to conclusions because of some freak accident! It wasn't even my fault!"
"I understand. But will you at least let me explain the school rules?"
"Sure." Kari said, sinking into her chair with a sigh. For another twenty or so minutes, the professor lectured her about the rules and purposes of the school. She nodded here and there, then he finally came to an end.
"Now, Jean is waiting outside the door, she'll take you to your room, okay?"
Kari nodded and grabbed her backpack, standing up and heading for the door.
"Any questions at all?" he asked.
Kari halted as she reached the door. She almost had half a mind to ask about the boy named John, but convinced herself it was a stupid and pointless idea, so she just shook her head.
"All right then. I'll see you soon." Professor Xavier gave her another smile before letting her depart to the hallway. Jean also greeted her with a smile and led her down a series of once empty hallways. They were now crowded with chattering and laughing students, some heading for their rooms, some looking for a place to hang out, others just wanting a place to fool around. Apparently class had ended. Kari did a double take when she swore she saw a girl walk through Jean. Jean had only smiled and eventually came to a door. She opened it to reveal a large sized bedroom with three beds.
"Here's your room, you'll be sharing it with two other students."
"Lovely," Kari muttered. She picked the bed that didn't look occupied and dropped her backpack to the floor with a small thump.
"Today is Friday, so you'll have the weekend to get settled in. I'm sure you'll fit in pretty quick."
"Yeah right," Kari muttered again.
"Well, if you need anything, just ask for me or the professor. Good luck." Jean shut the door and disappeared.
"Good GOD." Kari flopped back onto the bed and immediately turned her mp3 player back on, sighing and shutting her eyes. Not a moment later, a girl with shoulder length hair came into the room…by walking through the wall. By this, Kari didn't notice her.
"Hi!" she said in a loud voice, making Kari scream and jump, startled.
"Sorry I scared you. I hardly ever use the door." The girl gave a small laugh.
"What — who are you?" Kari said, pressing the "Off" button on her music and sitting up.
"My name's Shadowcat, but call me Kitty." The girl gave her a bright smile. Kari seemed confused at her kind of perky mood.
"Sh-Shadowcat?" she repeated.
"Yeah. I bet you can sort of guess why, I can walk through solid objects. It's kind of fun sometimes."
Kari raised her eyebrow and then raised them both.
"Oh! You're the girl I saw in the hallway! You walked through Jean!" As strange as it sounded to Kari, she couldn't stop herself from saying it.
"Yeah. I get to my classes faster." Kitty laughed at her own joke. Kari gave a slightly uneasy laugh.
"I heard you just got in," Kitty said.
"Yeah —" Kari was cut off as another girl came into the room, opening the door gently, but making quite an entrance.
"Hey, Bobby and John are hanging out by the court. Wanna come?" she asked.
"Sure! Hey, can she come? That is, if you want to come." Kitty added, turning back to Kari.
"Uh — sure." Kari said with a small obligation.
"Great! Let's go." Kitty jumped off of Kari's bed and followed the other girl. Slightly overwhelmed, Kari followed them both through another series of hallways until they found an exit to behind the school.
There was a huge amount of land, with a playground and a basketball court. There was a small set of bleachers sort of lining the court. The girl, whose name Kari still didn't know, waved to a boy sitting at the top of the bleachers.
"Bobby!" she called.
"Hey!" He waved back.
"Here, let's go up to the top with them." The girl led them up the bleachers to where a boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes was sitting, waiting for them.
"Who's she?" he asked, noticing Kari.
"Um —" Kitty started, realizing she hadn't asked Kari for her name.
"I'm Kari." Kari said after a long awkward pause.
"Aha. Well, I'm Bobby," the boy with the blue eyes said, "And this is Rogue." He pointed to the other girl next to Kitty. "And that's John."
Before he introduced John, Kari had noticed the metallic clicking again. Almost mentally smacking herself, her eyes flickered over to him. Of course. The boy with the lighter. He was leaning against the fence of the bleachers, his legs stretched out along the top bench. His only acknowledgement to her presence was the same glance and smug expression he had in the office. He said nothing when Bobby mentioned his name.
"So, you just got here?" Rogue asked. Kitty grabbed Kari's arm and sat her down, disrupting her stare at John. She was getting a bad vibe from that kid.
"Y-yeah." She said slowly, finally looking at the others. There was another long pause, in which only the metallic clicking of John's lighter was heard.
"John, knock it off." Bobby said. John gave him a nonplussed gaze, then flicked the lighter shut, shoving it into his pocket, along with both of his hands. He remained quiet as Bobby rolled his eyes.
"Are you just really antisocial?" Kari asked him, referring to the fact that the only times she had seen him he hadn't spoken a word. Given it was only twice, but to Kari it was a little suspicious to not say a single thing for practically an hour, unless you were asleep.
"Aren't you?" he answered with a voice that matched his expression. Kari stared, slightly taken aback. He took his lighter from his pocket and flicked it open, watching the flame with a bored gaze. He raised his eyebrows.
"So, where are you from, Kari?" he asked, making a sarcastic emphasis on her name.
"Arizona." She said, narrowing her eyes a little.
"So, what's your power?" Rogue asked. Kari gave her a half glare. She then looked away.
"I don't have one," she said flatly. They all raised an eyebrow, except John, who remained in his nonplussed mood. "I'm not a mutant."
"Then what are you doing here?" Bobby asked.
"My parents dumped me here," Kari answered, seemingly irritated.
"Why?" Rogue asked.
"There was just this — look, I don't want to talk about it." Kari said in an almost threatening tone.
"Okay, sorry." Bobby waved a hand and dismissed the subject.
"And she calls me antisocial," John snorted, still staring at his lighter.
"Shut up," Kari snapped. John flicked the lighter shut and gave her a stern glance all within a second.
"Hey, I'm hungry, is anyone else hungry?" Kitty said quickly, trying to change the subject.
"Sure," Bobby agreed, "Let's go inside and grab some food."
"Come on, we'll show you the kitchen!" Kitty said heartily, tugging the sleeve of Kari's white over shirt. Everyone stood up and headed back inside, all except for John, who went back to his lighter clicking, watching them stride away with a bored look.
