Thanks to Sharon, Min, Jason Jones, XT and Tarch for the info on Jean's residency, and to Jen, dingotheque, storm13, Neva, Alexandra, Corey and JP for the reviews =0) Makes me feel all warm a bubbly inside. Umm..what else..it'll be up on the site with pretty pictures probably tomorrow, and I still don't own the X-men, and I still have no money. So there. Onward ho..

Ch. 3 – A Lonely Giant Joined

I was not looking forward to Individual Training. I became such a flushing, self conscious, shaky little idiot around Mr. Summers. He was cute, he was sarcastic, and I puked all over his shirt! God, how utterly disgusting. He probably thought of me like an ugly fat cow who went around burping and farting and vomiting, it didn't help I'm virtually as tall as he is. And what's more, I was scared of my power now. I had a nightmare about coming down off that damn roof, I went the wrong way and floated off into the stratosphere, and no one could get me down. I'd mastered how to keep myself on the ground, but I was scared if I let that go for just a second I'd be gone, like a helium balloon.

Rogue and Kitty said they'd meet me to go to our next lesson together; they both had I.T. in the gym, lucky sods. I still didn't know what their powers were, but I could be sure they were more useful than mine.

He was waiting for me on the court; he had his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants and was idly rolling back and forth on the balls of his feet. I think he was singing to himself quietly, but I couldn't hear properly above the wind. His hands came out and he turned towards me when he saw me coming towards him. Oh. That smile.

"I thought we'd try to go back on the roof." He said.

My stomach dropped like a brick off the mansion; did he seriously want to loose another of his shirts to a vicious attack from my lunch? I shook my head until I could find my voice again "Take some No, add it to some more No, mix all that up in a big pile of No and pour it all over your shirt so it looks like something from last night."

"What do you do when you fall off a horse?" He asked.

"Run away and never, ever get back on. Ever."

"Alright. We'll save the roof for a later occasion." He relented, and I sighed with relief. "I was talking to Professor Xavier last night, he thinks you might be able to extend your power to other things."

"Huh?"

He laughed, "Like, you could make something else as weightless as you can make yourself. He's not positive, but it can't hurt to try."

"So I could lift boulders like an Amazon woman? Cars? How 'bout houses?"

"Not houses, the foundation would be too deep. But yeah, cars, boulders if we can find any." He rubbed his neck and surveyed the area, looking for boulders apparently.

"What if it doesn't work and I go floating off to the horizon again? I think maybe we should just teach me to stay permanently grounded."

"You'll never learn like that! C'mon, we'll find something small. I won't let you go flying."

"You said you couldn't lift the both of us, what if I go too high?"

"You've stayed on the ground this long."

"Yeah, but that's just because I've stayed my full weight. I don't trust myself to let it go even a little."

He came over and placed his hands on my shoulders, his nose just inches from mine. My heart started pounding louder, throbbing in my ears. "I won't let you go. Okay? I promise." He looked me straight in the eye trying to convince me I was safe with him. But I remembered how haggard he'd looked after carrying me down last night, there was no way he could go very high for very long. I could be lost forever.

"No." I pulled away from him. His shoulders dropped and he looked disappointed. As if it hurt him I couldn't trust him. Still, I wasn't doing any weightless tricks today. No way, no how.

"You might as well go then." I wished he'd just yell at me, the look on his face was far more guilt inducing than any lecture. I spun on my heel and left, towards the pebble driveway and mansion entrance.

I was on the second step when I heard a car's engine revving, louder and louder. The tires screeched and I thought it must be the rugged guy from the staff room zooming off for a keg or something. But then I heard a yell, and the car screeching to a halt, and a thud. I spun around to see Mr. Summers trapped under the front wheels of a monstrous four-wheel drive. He was telekinetic, yes, but could he act fast enough to stop the thing from riding him into the ground? I didn't know. I'd never ran faster than when I sprinted down the drive to my teacher. He was unconscious, and the wheel pinned him to the hard ground in such a place he couldn't possibly be breathing.

"Help! Somebody help!" I yelled as loud as I could, pushing my fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse. It felt weak and slow, and he was still out cold.

"Help me! Help!" I screamed, but no one came. The driver was nowhere to be seen, he'd done a runner. The truck was gradually sinking deeper, crushing Mr. Summers slowly, agonizingly. It was up to me.

"Alright. I can lift this thing. Sure." I murmured to myself.

The front bumper was metal, the edge cut into my fingers as I tried to life it upwards. Nothing happened. He was getting paler; I could see the colour draining from his features. He didn't stir. I heaved again, but still nothing happened. Professor Xavier was wrong, and his colleague was going to die for it. I tired once more; imagining the feeling I got when I went weightless was flowing through my fingers into that cold, evil metal. I saw in my mind the truck lifting upwards and myself pushing it away, far over to the other side of the drive. I opened my eyes and the truck was floating a foot off Mr. Summers' chest, and he was laughing, crawling out from under it and brushing the dirt off his bottom. I gaped, still holding the 4X4 aloft.

"You can put it down now." He grinned. I dropped it, a ton of metal landed heavily on the ground. "Told ya you could do it." He said, patting my back.

"I've a good mind to pick it up again and swing it into your head!" I screeched, and stomped back up to the mansion.

~

Tears blurred my vision and rolled down my cheeks, I was trying my hardest not to start bawling before I reached my room. How could he? I thought he was dead! I thought he'd died because I couldn't get the truck off him in time. It would've been all my fault. I didn't think fast enough, I didn't think to go call an ambulance! He could've died and it would have been all my fault. But it was all a prank, and stupid, stupid joke. He'd laughed. He'd laughed at me. I was once again made the fool in his eyes.

I ran head first into a moving figure, too busy caught in my own thoughts to realise the blurry person before me.

"Sorry" I sobbed, side stepping them to continue to my room.

"Hey! Hey, are you okay?" A woman's voice asked, holding my upper arms gently. I wiped my eyes and sniffed. I thought about nodding and moving on, but the temptation was too much. I shook my head and broke down completely. "Aw, hey now, sweetheart." She said, pulling me into her arms, "Come in here and talk."

She led me into the library, and on to one of the overly stuffed brown leather couches. We sank into its cushions; I curled next to her and cried harder. She shushed me and stroked my head.

"I'm sorry. This is silly." I said, regaining my composure. "It's just, this is my first day and I've never been so far away from home and they've all been so nice but it's weird, ya know? I feel so…new and then he tried to get me to use my powers but I didn't want to so he ran himself over with a car and I thought he died but he didn't and he laughed at me again and – grr!" I screamed furiously, sobbing again. She chuckled and pulled me back under her arm and held me tightly.

I pulled away again, "Who are you?" I said, wiping my face on the back of my hands.

"Jean Grey" She laughed, extending a hand out towards me. "And you are?"

"Angela White." I said, taking her hand and shaking it.

She smiled at me warmly. "So this is your first day?"

I nodded. "Yeah. And it was going well until now."

She laughed, "Well it's my first day too, I guess we should stick together."

"Really? What are you here for?" She was way too old to be a student.

"I'll be your resident doctor and geneticist from now on." She grinned, proudly.

"Did you just leave med school or something?" I asked; she must be smart to be studying genetics. She was pretty too. Her long, dark red hair fell past her shoulders, and she had high cheekbones and beautiful brown eyes. I couldn't be jealous though; she was nice without being annoying.

"I went through med school, then two years of residency." She explained.

"How many years does med school take?" I asked, suddenly curious.

"Four years, four years of university before that."

"Jeez, is it as hard as they say?"

"Hardest thing I've ever done." She said, proud again. "I'm glad I did it though, it's the only thing I've ever wanted to do."

"Cool. Have you met all the other teachers yet?"

"Hank, and Professor Xavier of course. And Ororo, but no one else. Should I be scared?"

"Yeah, terrified." I grinned. She pushed my shoulder and stood up.

"So where's this guy who ran himself over? Were you in his class?"

"I don't know where he is, and I was the class. One on one individual training." I said, standing up too. She was taller than me! I loved her already, we had the same build, same shaped face, same length hair; she was like a long lost sister. I was grinning like an idiot and she laughed at me.

"What?"

"You're tall."

"So are you." She said, patting my head.

"Exactly, now there are two giants on campus."

"Hear us roar!" Jean laughed, pulling me back out into the hall.

~

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