I walked towards the door, my nerves knotting in my stomach, my purse tightly clutched to my shoulder. The door almost looked like a barricade,meant to keep people in. Taking a deep breath, I knocked twice, thenstood back awaiting a reply. Several minutes later, a tall, scowling mananswered the door. For a moment all I could do was stare at hisawesome sideburns. I had never seen anything quite like him.

"Hey?" He waved his hand in front of my face.

"Oh, hi." I felt a flush creeping into my cheeks.

"I asked you what you wanted," his scowl deepened and he crossed hismuscular arms over his chest.

"Oh, are you Dr...er...Professor Xavier?"

"No." His thick brown hair ruffled in the breeze.

"Um, is he here?"

"Yeah." We were getting nowhere, and I didn't have all day.

"Okay, look, I would like to see Professor Xavier now, if that's not too much to ask."

"Are you trying to order me around?"

"For Christ's sake let the girl in Logan," a feminine voice broke through our conversation. Logan, as he was called, rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving me standing in front of the open door. I shrugged, and walked in, taking in the wood varnished walls and the vaulted ceilings.

" Hi," a voice called from a spiral staircase. A beautiful woman stood at the top of the stairs, her white hair contrasting with her honey colored skin," sorry about that, we're not exactly well versed in welcoming strangers." She began to walk down the staircase, the white sleeves of her peasant blouse floating behind her, "but then again, you look like you belong here, I'm Ororo, but everyone calls me Storm."

"Nice to meet you storm, I'm Marcella, but I'd rather be called Markie. It's a good thing you came over and stopped my conversation with that Logan fellow, I was afraid I'd have to bust him up."

"Ha," somewhere in the house Logan laughed.

"That's not funny." I frowned, brushing blood colored hair out of my eyes.

"Welcome to Xavier's academy for gifted youngsters, we've been

expecting you."

"Huh?" Academy for gifted youngsters? "I thought this was a sleep disorder place are something."

"Maybe I should just take you to the professor."

"Mmmokay," I shrugged, and followed her up the spiral staircase, my hands trailing the rails. This was not the strangest situation I had ever been in mind you. I'd been an orphan since I was five, living on the streets after I ran away from that hellish orphanage. I knew how to take care of myself, whatever happened, I would be fine. At the top of the stairs was a long hallway.

"The professors room is the down this hall, where the classroom's are."

"Classrooms?"

"Yes, we offer very advanced classes for our students." Hm...I thought to myself, school was one place I had given up on...after freshman year of high school, I'd dropped out.

"Mm-hm." I looked through the glass at the top of the doors; in one of the classrooms, a tall, extremely attractive man with chestnut hair stood in front of a chalkboard. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of crimson shades as he pointed to what looked like a dozen algebraic equations. In front of him sat an array of kids, from ages 12-16, looking bored out of their minds. I couldn't blame them.

"Markie?" Storm's voice tore me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"This is the professors' office." She knocked on the varnished door. The professors' office was large and elegantly decorated. Large paintings as well as bookshelves graced the varnished walls. Behind a large desk sat the man I assumed was the professor. Upon our entry he wheeled toward us in his power chair, smiling warmly.

"Thank you Storm."

"Anytime professor," she smiled at me, before leaving the professor and I alone.

"Perhaps I should explain to you why you're hear..."

I was numb when I left his office, my mind not believing my ears. I was a mutant, he'd said, and he'd brought me to his academy to help me develop my powers. Powers... "Freak abilities is more like it," I grumbled to myself as I walked down the hallway. He'd found out about me after the accident...the one that burned the orphanage down...when I'd lit a spark with my anger, and ignited the place. He said he wanted to help me, give me somewhere to stay. What shocked me most about the whole incident was the simple fact that I'd agreed to stay there. Trust was something that went against my nature, a thing unheard of, and yet...I trusted him. Besides the fact that I needed a place to stay, and it beat living in my car. I continued on down the hallway locked in my musings...until the bell rang. Like the seven plagues of Egypt, kids flooded out of classrooms. I fought the plagues as long as I could, eventually flowing along with the masses. A tall muscular kid knocked me on my ass, and kept going. Damn kids! So I was a mutant, okay, maybe a little fire would teach this kid some respect. I smiled to myself, studying the back of his head as he walked down the hallway. As his hair ignited I felt laughter forming in my throat, yet I resisted the urge. Everything felt like slow motion, as if I was underwater. I watched in mute fascination as another boy put the fire out, and smiled innocently as eyes turned in my direction. "What?"