Future Hope

By: Huntress-X

Part 3. More Students Arrive.

"Derek hurry!" Jubilee said as they rushed into the airport. "Why are we always late?"

"Relax, his plane isnt supposed to be here for another five minutes," Derek replied, starting to walk normally.

"But, what if it's early? It wont be a very nice welcome if we let him walk around all alone in a city he has never been to."

"Honey, I dont think that he would wander off," Derek said as they searched for the right gate. "IF the plane arrived early he would probably wait for us."

"You just know everything, dont you?" Jubilee was straightening her tight blue blouse when a voice told them that the plane from Texas was just landing. "Hold up the sign," Jubilee ordered and Derek held up a small sign with the name Jackson Cruz on.

"You think that's him?" Derek asked as a blond boy walked towards them.

"Nope," Jubilee said as he walked past them and over to an old couple who were probably his grandparents.

"You from the school?" A voice suddenly asked.

Jubilee and Derek turned around to face a girl who was about 15 years old with brown curly hair, hazel eyes and Caucasian skin. She was dressed in black jeans, a red shirt that was tucked in her pants, and a black vest. They just looked at her for a few seconds without saying a word.

"Jackson?" Jubilee asked.

"Yep, that's me," she replied.

"Well, welcome to L.A." Derek shook her hand since he couldn't think of anything else to do or say.

"Yes, welcome. I hope you had a nice trip" Jubilee took the young girls hand in hers.

"You thought I was a boy didn't you?" Jackson gave them a knowing smile.

"NO!" Both Jubilee and Derek smiled in return.

"Well, we better go and get your bags," Jubilee said, letting Jackson lead the way since she was the only one who knew how they looked.

'You knew she was a girl?' Derek´s mental voice asked in her head.

'No, but I aint about to tell her that.'

"Okay, I'm ready" Jackson said as she put the last of the three big suitcases down on the floor. Jubilee and Derek helped her back to their car and they took off back to the school. Derek was driving at the same time as he answered Jackson's questions about the school, while Jubilee read Jackson´s file. Apparently she could do a light manipulation caused by inducing a hypnotic sense when she sang.

Hmm, another one who can do things with her voice, Jubilee thought to herself. Just like Mockingbird and ,lets see, she calls herself Songbird.

"Jubilee?" Derek asked and Jubilee looked up.

"Yes?"

"Are you with us?" Jubilee just smiled and put the file down, returning to the real world.

-----------------------------------

Back at Future Hope a Few Hours Later...

"Well, Jackson is settling in nicely" Casey informed Jubilee while she was feeding Chris.

"Yeah, she is a very nice girl, come on honey you got to eat," she told Chris.

"Derek told me that there will be one more coming today."

"Yes, a nineteen year old boy."

"When is he arriving?" Casey asked taking a coke from the fridge.

"He should be here in about an hour."

"Honey!" Derek's voice yelled and a few seconds later he came through the door that lead up to their apartment.

"Yes?"

"The new boy is here, he´s waiting downstairs"

"Already?" Jubilee sighed. "Well, okay just make sure Chris eats everything." She gave Chris a kiss on his forehead before hurrying down the stairs until she reached the big entrance. She was met by a boy with short brown hair and green eyes, he was dressed in brown hiking boots, khaki pants, gray t-shirt and a black trenchcoat.

"You must be Marcus," Jubilee said, shaking his hand. "I´m Jubilation Lee welcome to the Future Hope Institute"

"Thanks," he said.

"Did you have a good trip?"

"Yeah, its was okay, I´m just a little tired."

"Of course," Jubilee said, "Paul!" A few seconds after she had called the name, a big man with blue hair and really brown eyes entered the room. Paul was about 2 meters long and was built like a professional boxer, and with his ability to crush anything he wanted to into dust didn't exactly make him less intimidating.

"Marcus, this is Paul our security/caretaker. Paul, will you help Marcus with his bags, please?"

"Right away, Miss Lee" The big man picked up all of Marcus bags like they were pillows. Marcus hadn't taken his eyes off Paul since he had entered the room.

"Relax," Jubilee joked. "I have a worse temper than he does. So, Marcus, got any nicknames or codenames?"

"My friends call me Marc and sometimes I go by Magnum," he told her as they stopped in front of a door. Jubilee opened it so that Paul could carry in the bags. Another young boy of about 18 was laying on one of the two beds that had been placed in the huge room. He was reading a comic book but put it down when they came in.

"Justin I like you to met someone" Jubilee said, as the black haired boy got up from the bed and walked over to them. His hair reached down to his shoulders and was cut in a trendy haircut so that you could really see his big brown eyes; he was dressed in a white shirt, black jeans, and a black leather jacket.

"Justin, this is Marcus Carter and Marc, this is Justin Morris. You two will be sharing this room" As Jubilee introduced them, the two boys said hello to each other and then Marcus started to unpack.

Jubilee excused telling Marcus that if he needed anything or had any questions Justin knew where to find her. She and Paul then left the boys and headed back to the third floor. Jubilee said goodbye to Paul as she headed to her and Derek´s big five bedroom apartment, why Derek had wanted three extra bedrooms was beyond her. How many kids did he think they were going to have?

"Okay, that's the last student that´s arriving before the semester starts" Jubilee said as she closed the door behind her. "I didn't know there could be so many hours in just one day. I mean, come on! I´m not complaining or anything. There are more students than we could have hoped for and I´m sure there will be more."

She took off her black leather coat and went into the TV-room. "I´m just glad that I can finally relax and start preparing for my classes and…" She stopped when she finally noticed that Derek was asleep in front of the TV with Chris on his stomach, sleeping just as deeply as his father. She couldn't help but smile.

"My poor tired boys" She sighed. "Time to get you two to bed."