A/N: Thank you for clicking on this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it! I know it has been a while since I last updated, but with the holidays and lately, I have been working on college stuff, so I have been really busy, but I will try to update more frequently. Anyway, please keep reading and enjoy the chapter.

Dear Diary,

I can't believe that we've been at the Xavier Institute for a month. It feels like just yesterday Jake and I were in Colorado, spending our summer vacation as normal teenagers. Now, school is starting up again, and this year, we're going to Bayville High School. Our parents decided to enroll us because they thought it would be a good way to introduce us to society as harmless mutants. Honestly, I'm happy to be getting back out into the world again, but I know that we will be met with difficulty in society because we're different.

Rachel wrote in her diary as she sat at the breakfast table. It was 6:00 a.m. and she was alone in the kitchen. She had been up since 4:00 a.m. because she was unable to sleep, nervous about their first day of school as exposed mutants.

The sound of someone walking into the kitchen caused her to quickly look up from her journal. Adam had walked in, his true appearance hidden by his image inducer. Usually, his dark hair was meticulously gelled and styled, but that morning, his hair seemed slightly more disheveled, with dark strands of hair framing his face.

"Good morning," he greeted as he poured himself a mug of hot coffee and took a seat at the table across from her.

"Good morning," she replied, followed by a short sigh.

He looked up at her from his coffee, "Nervous?"

She replied, "yeah."

Many of the others soon began pouring in until the kitchen resumed its usual chaotic atmosphere, with Jake and Danny loudly arguing over the last bowl of Captain Crunch.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Tonya groggily pressed the snooze button on her alarm clock for the third time, temporarily ending its consistent noise, so she could go back to sleep. Just as she shut her eyes, her bedroom door opened, and in walked her aunt Ororo. Ororo stood with her arms crossed and a frown on her face, while Tonya tried her best to ignore her and get the most out of the next four minutes she had of snooze time.

"Good morning," Ororo said.

Tonya smooshed her face into her pillow and groaned as Ororo opened up her curtains, letting in the bright September sunlight.

"Get up. You're going to be late for school."

Tonya groaned into her pillow, "I'll get ready.."

Ororo shook her head. "Okay, but the next time I see you, you better be dressed for school," she said as she proceeded to walk out of Tonya's bedroom.

"I remember high school like it was yesterday," Jean reminisced with Rogue and Kitty as they stood by the counter in the kitchen, drinking coffee.

"I try my best to forget high school," Rogue stated before she took a sip of her black coffee.

Kitty turned to her, "You can't think of one good memory from high school?"

"No," Rogue responded.

"Really encouraging, Aunty Rogue," Talia said sarcastically as she sat at the table beside Kat eating strawberry pop tarts.

"If it makes you feel any better, the library has really good vampire romances," Rogue said.

Just then, Renea entered the kitchen, stealing everyone's attention as she was dressed for school in a baby pink off the shoulder crop top, paired with a distressed denim mini-skirt.

Rogue placed her mug on the counter as she stared at her daughter, "Y-you aint wear'n that to school."

Renea frowned, "Why not?"

Jake said, "I think she looks fine."

Renea and Rogue shot him a glare, then resumed with their conversation.

"This ain't California. You'll catch a cold if you walk outside wear'n that," Rogue insisted.

Renea huffed and rolled her eyes before she walked out of the kitchen and marched back up to her bedroom to change, muttering curses about her mother. Just as Renea walked out, Tonya walked into the kitchen with her curly hair up in a messy bun, wearing a thrown on hoodie.

Jean looked at her watch, "Okay, everyone let's wrap up breakfast so you can get to your first day of school on time."

They all grabbed their book bags and followed Jean to the front parking lot, where the X-Van was parked.

"We're going to school in the X-Van? Seriously?" Jake said with a frown.

"It has bulletproof windows, and it's large enough for all nine of you," Jean responded.

"We might as well show up on a parade float that says Bayville Freaks," Danny stated.

Jean sighed, "Cheer up. You're all gonna have a great day."

They all piled into the van while Jean spoke to Rachel.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to school? I mean, it is your first day..." Jean said.

"I'll be fine, mom. I am an experienced driver," Rachel said assuredly.

Jean sighed and placed her hand on Rachel's cheek, "I know...just be safe."

Rachel smiled, "I will."

Meanwhile, Renea hurried down the stairs in an oversized sweatshirt and jeans. Remy and Rogue met her at the bottom of the steps.

She received a strong embrace from her father.

"Be safe at school, darlin," he said as he held her tight.

"I will, dad," she said.

Rogue opened her arms for a hug.

"They're waiting for me," Renea said coldly as she turned away and hurried out the doors toward the X-Van.

With all nine of the teens piled into the van, Rachel started the engine, and they were off to their first day of school.

BAYVILLE HIGH

Rachel parked the X-Van in the parking lot of Bayville High. After she turned the engine off, they sort of sat there for a moment, silently listening to the sounds of their own fast-beating hearts.

Jake sighed, "Well, here goes nothing.."

They each walked out of the van as nearby students stopped in their tracks, glaring at them.

While walking toward the school, they could feel the burning gazes of their fellow classmates following them as they went. Hateful insults and threats were shot at them.

One guy shouted, "Get outta' hear you muti's!"

While another hollered out, "Go back to where you came from, FREAKS!"

Danny whirled around, his face red with anger. Before he could try to do something reckless, Adam grasped him and whispered, "It's not worth it, dude. Just keep moving."

Danny took a deep breath and followed.

They stood in front of a gray desk in the main office. At the desk sat a short old secretary name Mrs. Woods who was typing away at her computer. She had an annoyed expression that looked as if it were permanently apart of her demeanor.

"We're here to see Principle Creed for our class schedules," Rachel said.

Mrs. Woods groaned, not looking up from her computer, "Take a seat, the principle will be with you in a minute."

A few minutes passed, and the door to the Principal's office opened to a tall man in a structured dark suit. His chestnut brown hair was gelled back and a stern look remained in his blue eyes as he stared down at the nine teenagers.

"As you know, I am Principal Creed and this is my school. As Principal, I am charged with the responsibility of keeping each and every student on this campus safe, so all use of your mutant abilities on my campus will result in immediate expulsion and legal repercussions," the Principal explained, having added an emphasis of disgust when he said the word mutant.

"None of us will use our powers," Adam stated.

Principal Creed said, "Good," then he handed Adam a stack of papers, "Your class schedules are in this stack. The bell will ring soon, so I suggest you head to class," he spoke coldly.

They walked out of the Principal's Office and looked at their schedules.

All of a sudden, the first bell of the day rang throughout the campus, signaling that all students should head to their first block classes. The hallway began to fill with students.

They all looked at each other, realizing that it was that dreaded time when they would have to take on the mutant-hating world separately.

They each went their separate ways toward their first period classes.

Mr. Kunis droned on and on about the Shakespearean sonnet, nearly putting his class to sleep.

Danny sat in his seat, bored out of his mind, so he doodled in his notebook. At first, it was just mindless squiggles and doodles, but in the center on his paper, he started drawing a girl, but not just any girl, a girl that had been occupying his mind for a while. He drew Talia. Not many people knew this about him, but Danny was an excellent drawer. He captured her likeness in the drawing from her long dark hair to the way her eyes slightly squinted when she smiled.

Suddenly, Danny felt a balled up piece of paper hit the back of his head, the sudden feeling making him jerk his pencil and mess up his masterpiece. He turned around slowly, giving the thrower a deathly glare.

A boy about his age waved at him. He had a head of greasy dark hair and dressed like he simply didn't care. Danny noticed that he sat with three other students who looked to be his friends because no one else sat near the group. The three other students consisted of a girl who looked about 17 with piercing blue eyes and platinum blonde hair, another girl with long jet-black hair and thick eyeliner, and a skinny guy with short platinum blonde hair who looked like he was being swallowed by his hoodie.

Danny turned back around and tried to salvage his drawing.

Rring! The bell rang signaling the end of the class period. Students began pouring out of the classroom. Just as Danny began to close his notebook, the blonde girl sped up beside him and held his notebook open.

"oooo...she's pretty," she said before she popped her bubble-gum in her mouth.

Danny slipped the notebook from her and closed it as the other three joined her. Danny gathered his belongings and tried to slip past the group, but the dark-haired boy walked in front of him.

"Woah-woah... wait a minute. I'm Tobias Tolansky, but everyone calls me Toby," the dark-haired boy stated. Danny hadn't noticed before, but Toby smelt like he hadn't showered in months. The rancid scent quickly filled his lungs as he inhaled a breath.

"I'm Trina Tolansky," the dark-haired girl spoke.

"I'm Ashley Maximoff," the blonde introduced herself before once again popping her gum.

"I'm Pieter," the small blonde guy said quietly.

They followed Danny into the hallway.

"What's your name?" Toby asked.

"Danny."

Ashley slipped her arm across his shoulder as she smoothly spoke, "Well, Danny, word on the street is you and your Institute buddies are mutants just. like. us." Pop! she popped her gum.

Danny cocked his head away from her questioningly as he asked, "Why do you care?"

The group gathered around him as Toby stated, "Ya' know, us mutis gotta' stick together."

"Look, I have a class to get to," Danny said as he pushed through the group and walked off to his next class.

"It smells like sweaty jock and stale gym socks in here," Renea stated as she meticulously applied a thick layer of pink gloss to her lips.

Rachel sat beside Renea on the bleachers in the gymnasium. They had PE together, and since it was the 1st day of school, the PE teacher, Coach Marks, didn't force the students to participate.

"Yeah..." Rachel sighed distractedly as she stared forward at nothing in particular with a slight smile on her face.

"Are you thinking about Adam?" Renea asked.

Rachel gasped, "No I'm not," she stated unconvincingly.

Renea laughed, "Honey, everyone knows you like him. It's so obvious."

Rachel asked quietly, "Do you think he knows?"

Renea spoke, "Adam is a smart guy, but he's still a guy. Guys really aren't that good at picking up on these things. You should tell him how you feel."

Rachel shook her head, "No way. It would make things weird between us... and what if he doesn't feel the same way?"

Renea turned to her, "Rachel, he would be an idiot not to like you back," she stated.

Kat stifled through the overcrowded hallways of students as she tried to get to her locker. Her history teacher had just assigned a fifteen-pound textbook, and Kat didn't want to carry hers around all day, so she thought to quickly deposit it in her locker.

Once she finally succeeded in pushing her way through the torpid hoard of students, she performed her combination and found that her locker wouldn't budge. She did her combination over and over, but it wouldn't open. Kat huffed in frustration.

All of a sudden, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to a tall and handsome guy who appeared to be about her age. He had golden blonde hair and soft green eyes. All of the anger left her as she stood, mesmerized by his green eyes.

"Uh..that's my locker," he said, breaking her from the trance.

"What? No, this is my locker," Kat stated matter-of-factly.

"Locker 234?" he asked.

Her eyes widened. Her locker number was 235. She slowly peered down at the locker number labeled just below the combination lock and saw the number 234. Her locker was beside his. She moved over.

"Sorry," she said with a nervous laugh.

He smirked, "It's okay. I'm Nicholas by the way."

"I'm Katrina, but everyone calls me Kat."

His eyes darted down to her t-shirt. "You listen to Sonic Youth?"

Kat looked down at her black and white Sonic Youth band t-shirt.

"Yeah, but not many people recognize the group," Kat said.

"I know right! They're so underrated," he said.

All of a sudden, the bell rang.

Nicholas grabbed his geometry book and shut his locker. "It was nice meeting you. See ya' around, Kat," he said as he walked off.

Kat leaned against her locker and sighed, "See ya."

Jake walked into his Algebra class. The class was for sophomores, but he had to take it even though he was a senior in order to graduate since he failed Algebra at his prior school. This was his most dreaded class, and it was his last class before lunch making him all the more anxious for it to be over as soon as possible.

As he walked in, his eyes met a familiar face.

"Johnny Moonstar!" he exclaimed loudly as he took a seat beside Johnny.

"I didn't think I'd see you today," Jake spoke quickly, not giving Johnny room to respond, "Oh, it doesn't matter. I'm just glad to see someone I recognize! I don't know anyone else in my classes. So, how's your day been going?"

"Uh...good," Johnny responded.

"That's good," Jake said.

Just before the bell rang, Talia slipped into the class, taking a seat on the other side of Johnny.

"Cutting it a little close," Jake whispered to her as Mr. Sanchez began taking attendance.

"I had to go to the lady's room," she whispered back.

For Jake, the class seemed to drone on as the teacher tediously lectured about the components of the unit circle. Jake found himself increasingly bored, and he knew he couldn't go on his phone because Mr. Sanchez had a very strict no-cellphone policy.

So, Jake decided to silently count the number of ceiling tiles, and once he had successfully counted a total of 132 ceiling tiles, he looked at the clock and saw that only 15 minutes had passed. He still had 65 minutes until lunch.

He turned his eyes to Johnny who was paying attention and taking thorough notes on the lecture.

"Johnny is so weird. He's always so quiet, and quiet people usually have the craziest thoughts," Jake thought to himself.

Jake discreetly placed his pointer finger on his own temple as he proceeded to use his telepathy to delve into Johnny's mind.

He heard Johnny's thoughts: "The radius of 90% is- wow, her handwriting is so neat, and her hair smells like vanilla and honey. She's so beautiful- I know she's wearing her image inducer, but she's so much more beautiful without it."

Jake's eyes widened as he impulsively telepathically spoke into Johnny's mind, "Oh-My-God, you like Talia!"

Johnny turned to him rapidly, his brow furrowed as he thought, "Get out of my head!"

Jake continued, "I get it. Talia is a total babe even with her blue skin and yellow eyes, and I know you've seen her in her uniform...it's tight in all the right places..."

Johnny narrowed his eyes at Jake.

"Just ask her out, dude. I can tell she likes you," Jake said telepathically.

Johnny turned to look forward at the board and tried his best to ignore Jake for the rest of the class period.

Eventually, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class period.

Jake wasted no time and quickly proceeded out of the classroom, toward the cafeteria for lunch.

After packing their stuff away in their book bags, Johnny and Talia started toward the cafeteria. Johnny walked beside her with his sweaty-palmed hands stuffed in his hoodie pockets.

He kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye, admiring the way her long shiny hair would slightly bounce with each step she took.

"Now is my chance," he thought to himself. It was just him and her, which made it so much easier, but he was still nervous.

Nonetheless, Johnny cleared his throat then inquired quietly, "can I ask you something?"

Talia turned to him, her brown eyes large and reflecting the brightness of the hallway light, "sure."

He suddenly felt his mouth go dry as he stared into her eyes, uttering, "I...I...uh..."

Kat rushed toward them and grabbed Talia by the arm.

"Oh-My-God, I have to tell you something!" Kat exclaimed excitedly.

"What is it?" Talia asked, intrigued by the sudden eager nature of her friend.

"Wait, Johnny was gonna ask me something," Talia turned to Johnny, "what is it you wanted to ask me?"

"It's okay. We can talk later," Johnny stated before he walked off toward the cafeteria.

Kat began eagerly, "A guy talked to me! A really hot guy! His name is Nicholas, and his locker is right next to mine, and he likes the band Sonic Youth, and I like the band Sonic Youth!"

"Woah-woah-woah... is he a human?" Talia inquired.

Kat looked down at her shoes, her excited smile dissipating, "Yeah..."

Talia sighed, "Kat, just be careful. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not gonna get hurt. He seemed really nice..like maybe he might like me for me mutant-and-all."

A/N: That's all for this chapter. I wanted to include more, but I didn't want this chapter to be too long. Also, I'm an amateur writer, and I would really appreciate some critiques or if there's anything you think I should change or improve upon, feel free to leave a comment expressing it.