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Chapter 2:  The Tour

        Ham woke up the next morning at ten in his parent's house.  He took a shower and changed without any problems.  He was ready by 10:20, with five minutes to spare before the visitors were scheduled to arrive.  He tried to brush his hair, but gave up knowing it would look messy again in an hour.  He gave up and went downstairs.  The stairs led into the kitchen, there he opened the fridge, and took a sip from the orange juice carton.  He then grabbed an apple, washed it and took a bite as he headed for the parlor.  As he walked in he heard voices coming from the front door.

"Hello, I'm Professor Xavier."

"Hello, Professor, I'm Dean Fleming, please come in."

"I hope you don't mind I brought some of my students with me."

"Oh, no, that's quite alright."

        As they walked in, Ham took note of how many walked in.  There was the professor, three boys, and three girls.  He left the parlor for the kitchen and trashed the apple core.  He wiped his mouth on a dishtowel and walked back into the now crowded parlor.

"Ah, Hamilton, there you are."  Ham looked up at his father and smiled.  He looked around at the new faces.  He father continued, "Professor, this is my son, Hamilton."

"Hi."  Ham said looking down at the bald man in the motorized wheel chair. 

"Hello, Hamilton, these are my students: Jean, Scott, Remy, Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue."

"Students?"  Ham asked.

"I run a school, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in Manchester, NY."

"Oh," Ham was a little confused, none of them looked exceptionally smart.

        A few minutes later, ham found himself assigned to give the visitors a tour of the campus.  He also noticed Kitty and Rogue giving him flirtatious looks.  First he took them to the dorms.  Not many kids were around since it was second period.  He led them to the common room and out to the green.  Where a senior English class was in progress.  The professor paused for a minute to hear the lesson and Ham saw Ryder giving Rogue a flirty smile.  She smiled back.  Ham continued with the tour, at twelve he took them back to the house for lunch.  He told Jake the night before to join them for lunch when her math class was done.  He was in the kitchen helping his mom, so he didn't hear the knock at the front door.  Remy happened to walk by the door on the second knock, so he opened the door.  On the doorstep stood Jake.

"Hi, you must be one of Dean Fleming's visitors.  I'm Jake."  She extended her hand to shake his. 

As Remy said, "of course you are, Sheri."  He turned her hand over and kissed it.

Jake pulled her hand away in surprise.

"Hey, Jake."  She looked up to see Hamilton.  He walked passed Remy to Hamilton, who led her up to his room.  She could see the jealousy in his eyes; he had seen everything.  She sat down on his bed.  "What was that?"  Hamilton exploded.

"Hey, all I did was introduce myself, and hold out my hand for him to shake.  He's the one that called me Sheri and kissed my hand."

"Sorry."

"Besides he's not my type."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah.  So who are they?"

"Students of Professor Xavier.  He has a school called Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."

"Smart kids, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess.  We should get downstairs for lunch."

They arrived in the dining room to find everyone already seated.  Ham and Jake sat down between Mrs. Fleming and Kurt.

"Uh, Professor, this is my friend, Jake.  Jake, this is Professor Xavier."  Ham introduced them.

"Hello."  Jake said.

"Hello, Jake, these are some of my students," Xavier introduced the kids to Jake.

        After lunch while the Professor and Dean talked Ham and Jake took the rest on a tour of the Rawley Girls.

"Hey, Ham, hey, Jake."  They looked up to see Lena walking toward them.

"Hey," the two replied.

Remy stepped up to her.  "Hello, Sheri."  He picked up her hand and kissed it.  Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Oh, hello."  Lena blushed, as she slipped her hand out of his.  "Hey, guys who are your friends?"

"Lena, that Remy," Ham continued with the introductions.

Lena looked up at Remy.  "You don't sound like you're from New York."

"Not me, I was born and bred in good ol' New Orleans."

"I thought so, you're accent gives it all away."

"That's me good ol' Cajon style."

Scott coughed.  

"So how long are you going to be at Rawley?"

"Only for a few days."

"Oh, well, I have to get to class, but maybe I'll see you around."

"Maybe."

The group watched Lena walk away.

"Okay, so where to next?"  Jean asked.

Jake led them down to the lake.

        Meanwhile Professor Xavier was explaining to Dean Fleming the nature of their visit.

"So, Charles, how big is your school?"

"I have about a hundred students."

"Pretty exclusive."

"You could say that.  My students need a certain quality to enter my school."

"Quality, how high are their GPA's?"

Xavier shook his head.  "Have you ever heard of the X-gene?"

"The mutant chromosome, yeah, they're having that hearing on CNN. Oh, wait, you're that professor?" 

"Yes."

"You know I really admire what you're doing.  So those students, are they?"

"Yes, they're mutants."

"Wow, so what are you doing here, Charles?"

"I can sense mutant activity and I believe two of your students have the x-gene."

"Do you know who?"

"No, but if I find out soon, I would like for them to come to my school."

"Well, we would have to contact the parents."

"Of course."

"Well, it's almost five o'clock, do you have somewhere to stay for the night?"

"Not yet, do you know of any good places in town?"
"I have a better idea."

        Two hours later, Ham found himself unlocking three dorm rooms, one for the boys, girls in another, and Xavier in the last.

"There are two bathrooms on this floor one on either end of the floor.  You girls can use the one down there."  Ham said pointing past the stairs.

Xavier thanked him, said goodnight, and wheeled into his room, closing the door behind him.

"Hey, Ham!"  Ham turned around and say Will and Scout headed toward him.

"Hey, guys."

"Who are you're friends?"  Scout asked.

"Uh, this is Scott, Remy, Jean, Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue.  Guys this is Will and Scout."

Everyone said their hellos and then Scott, Remy, and Jean excused themselves.  Heading toward the comfortable beds.

"So are we going to the diner?"  Will asked.

"Yeah, I guess."  Jake replied.

"Would you three want to come?"  Scout asked.

"Yeah, okay."  Kurt replied.

"We should tell the professor."  Kitty said looking at Kurt.

So Kurt told Xavier and then followed the Rawley boys out.

        Out in the parking lot, Scout showed them his new car.

"2001 Aztec?"  Jake asked.

"My mom's idea of a great birthday present."  Scout replied.

"Hey at least you have wheels."  Will said.

Jake and Ham took her bike as the rest piled into Scout's car.

        At the diner they sat with Bella and Sean.

"Who's this?"  Bella asked, as they sat down.

"Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue, this is Bella and Sean."  Jake introduced.

"So what's this like a class trip to Rawley Academy?"  Sean asked.

"Something like that."  Kitty replied.

"You guys don't go to Rawley, do you?"  Rogue asked.

"No, we're…" Sean started, but Bella cut him off.

"Townies."

"Thanks."  Sean glared at her.

"You're welcome," she said smiling. 

"So you're not a fan of the school?"  Kitty asked.

"Nope, but we hang with these snobs anyway."  Bella told her.

"And the former townie," Sean added.

Will raised his index finger.

"So why come to Rawley?"  Sean asked.

"Professor's idea."  Kurt blurted out.

"Professor?"  Bella asked.

"Our teacher and the founder of the school, Professor Charles Xavier."  Kitty replied, glaring at Kurt.

Ham could see the confusion on Bella and Sean's faces.  "Xavier runs Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."

"Oh, smart kids."  Sean said.

"Yeah, you could say that."  Rogue said.

Ham looked down at his plate of fries in time to see his lap blending into the bench.  He shifted and his lap reappeared.  He looked up to see Kitty looking at him.

"Wait, a minute!"  Sean exclaimed suddenly.  "That name Xavier sounds familiar.  Was he on TV?"

"He's an activist."  Rogue said.

"Of what?"  Bella asked.

"Have you ever heard of the x-gene?"  Rogue asked.

"Oh, I heard of this."  Will burst out.

"The mutant gene."  Jake said quietly.

"Yes."  Kitty said.

"So does that mean…" Will started to ask.

"He's just an activist."  Scout cut in.  "That doesn't mean that he is one."

"Is he?"  Ham asked.

"It's not really my place to say."  Kitty replied.

"We should go back."  Rogue announced.

"Good idea," Ham agreed.  At that the group parted, and headed toward their vehicles.

A large figure stood in the shadows watching.  "So Xavier, you've found some mutants here.  Well, maybe I'll recruit them first!"