Not Myself
By Princess Alexandria
Princess_alex24@hotmail.com


Christy came back into the office from dropping off Annie's first timesheet to see the receptionist looking through the files quickly.  "Have you seen Annie Thompson's file?  Her father is asking questions and I don't know if she signed a release so I can answer them."

Christy's eyes widened a little.  "Transfer him to me.  I've got it."  She had to work hard to keep the anger out of her voice, and she took a few deep breaths as she walked to her office and shut the door behind her so that no one would hear her telling a huge pile of lies.  He thought the woman that helped Annie move was a teenager.  She was free and clear to use her position at work to diffuse this mess.  She'd already removed the release from Annie's file so that if the receptionist had found it she wouldn't have been able to tell him anything.

"Christy here.  How can I help you?" 

"Who are you?"  He sounded irritated at being transferred.

"I'm her advisor.  How can I help you?"  She resisted the urge to snap back at him.  She just wanted to get this over with and start planning her next lecture.

"Well, I'm her dad and I want to know if she's taking classes."  His irritated clip made it clear to Christy that he didn't like not getting the information he was asking for right away.  Christy grimaced at his willingness to claim his child when he was trying to screw up her life.

"I'm afraid I haven't seen Annie this quarter.  I had to drop her from all her classes."  Christy's voice held a note of concern.  "Is she alright?  She was one of my best students and no one asked has seen her."  Let him think that the students here had already been asked about her.  It might stop him from checking this school out. 

"She ran away."  His lie made her glare at the phone.  He didn't sound at all concerned about the girl.  And he conveniently forgot to mention the part where he drove her away to live on the streets where she could have been killed.

"If you want to leave a note here, in case I hear from her you…"  He hung up before she finished the sentence.  "Bastard."  She growled at the phone.  She then got up and went out to the receptionist with Annie's file.  "Change her to my advisee and make sure not to give any information at all about her to anyone."  When Theresa gave her a questioning look she added, "Child support fight."  She gave the typical reason for something like that.  The good thing about taking college classes rather than going to a high school is you get treated like an adult, and parents don't necessarily get any information.  Christy sighed, but she knew what she was doing was more than questionable, even if it was the right thing to do.

********

Annie sat outside because it was a nice warm day.  Early October really should be colder than this, but since she'd had to hide herself so much during the summer, she was grateful for some sun.  She did wonder whether her green skin would get greener, but this was the only way to find out.  She enjoyed people walking past her without even giving her a second glance. 

She'd been in classes and working for Christy for two weeks now, and aside from the boring moments of just sitting around it was going well.  She was on campus just as long as Christy was because she rode into school with her.  Three hours in classes and three hours a day four days a week working.  That meant that she had some study time most days and on Mondays she was so bored it almost drove her crazy.  Well, at least she didn't have any homework to do at home.

Most of the crowd around her disappeared as the next classes started, but she was done with classes for the day so she continued to study.  There was a group of three people sitting across from her and they were looking pretty serious.  The book in front of Annie was getting boring so she decided to do her assignment for Creative Writing, which was eavesdropping on a conversation.  That teacher was strange, but Annie could get that assignment done pretty quickly and they looked like they had something interesting going on.

The group consisted of two guys and a girl.  The taller guy was built like he worked out and could be on a football team if he wanted to.  His skin was tan and his brown hair looked like it had been sunbleached.  He was easily a head taller than the girl standing next to him.  She had shoulder length blonde hair that looked wind blown even though the day was calm.  She just liked the wild look.  She was tense and her eyes darted around nervously but with Annie pretending to be staring at her book those eyes didn't fall on her.  The guy sitting down on the bench was thin with dark eyes and dark skin.  He might have been Hispanic, but Annie couldn't really tell.  Maybe he was American Indian. 

"I think my dad had something to do with that."  The blonde sounded upset. 

"Oh Man."  The sitting guy spoke in some sympathetic disgust.  "I don't know how you can live with him.  His Friends of Humanity buddies drop by don't they?"  Annie's eyes widened at the name of that group.  She'd heard of them, and Christy had told her that if she ever saw any demonstration with those monsters she shouldn't hang around.  She was busy staring at her textbook without really seeing it so she missed the searching glance the sitting guy gave her suddenly.

"Yeah, they come over and drink beer."  The girl sounded angry.  "And they leave their crap on the table.  I wake up to read the latest anti mutant crap with my breakfast."

That girl sounded like that really bothered her.  Was she a mutant?  Annie forgot her textbook and stared at the girl.  Aside from herself, she didn't know any mutants.  She'd asked Christy once if she was one, because she seemed to know so much Annie thought that maybe… but Christy just told her she wished she had been.  The sadness that sometimes seemed to bother the older woman was in her eyes at that time.  Still it was a surprise to hear a human wishing they were a mutant.  It was something she'd never heard anyone admit out loud before.

"Hey you!"  The dark skinned guy called to her shocking Annie into an embarrassed flush when she realized she'd been caught eavesdropping.  She glanced around for a second, hoping that he'd been talking to someone else, but they were the only people outside right now.

The blonde looked at him with a worried expression on her face and he just gave her one look to make that worry disappear.  They all got up and moved to sit on the grass by Annie.  "You got a name?"  The guy who had talked to her before asked.

"Annie."  She could still feel the flush in her cheeks.  "I'm sorry…"

"You're a mutant aren't you?"  He seemed to be staring at her and Annie's hand immediately when to the image inducer on her neck, worried that it wasn't working.  She glanced down and her skin didn't look green. 

The football jock finally spoke, "Image inducer huh?  You shouldn't really reach for it like that.  Makes it obvious."

"Look if you're a mutant then you understand that our conversation over there needs to stay private."  The girl spoke to her with a hint of irritation.  "Why were you listening in anyhow?  Don't you know how rude that is?!"

Annie felt a wave of shame.  "It's an assignment for my English class, to eavesdrop." 

"Oh."  The anger seemed to evaporate from the blonde.  "Well, my names Jessica."  Jessica indicated the football type guy, "That's Jon, and the other lazy ass is Erik."

"Hey, I'm not lazy, I'm tired."  He did manage to smile and Annie felt her tension and pounding heart start to calm.  "You're Ms. Taylor's new T.A. aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah."  Annie was surprised that someone would recognize her.  He wasn't in the classes.

"I took her class in the Spring, and saw you walking with her to class a few times."

"Oh, so your in the program."  Annie felt a little more comfortable knowing they had something else in common.

"We all are."  The girl answered.  "Transferred out of our stupid mutant phobic high school as soon as we could.  Erik's just a baby so he had to wait until he turned sixteen."  Jessica glanced at the others.  "We were gonna go get some lunch.  Wanna come?"

"Sure."  Annie was ready to leave at that moment.  She was so eager to talk to other mutants, she had questions she wanted to ask.  "Can we drop by the office so I can leave my bookbag?" 

"I'm parked over there anyhow."  Jon answered and they all headed towards that end of campus. 

********

Christy was just stunned at how much Annie had to say about her day.  Normally when she asked the teen she got a short summary of what happened in her classes, and maybe some mention of getting lunch.  They'd started the habit of actually having dinner at the dining room table, because that was what Annie was used to and Christy could understand the girl's need to have someone to confide in since she couldn't trust anyone else with a lot, but apparently she'd found a few people she could trust today.  Annie was sounding a lot more like a teenager at the moment, and it was a little startling.  Christy had gotten so used to the calm quiet girl that she'd forgotten how young she really was.

"If you want to invite them over to watch movies, go ahead."  Christy offered, hiding her reluctance.  These kids were mutants, and Annie needed to have that in her life.  It would also give Christy the chance to make sure they weren't going to be trouble.  Annie told her who they were, but those kids were part of the giant hole in Christy's information.  She didn't remember any of them.  At least she was getting better at faking it.  Still, maybe she should take a look at their files before they came to visit.

********

Annie had given Jon the directions that Christy had printed off the Internet so that they could find the house on Friday.  She was feeling a nervous energy.  Her father had never let her have a bunch of friends over like this, and Christy had suggested it.  God she loved living with Christy!

She'd waited to invite her friends over until she got paid.  She then had some money to order pizza and some movies.  She also made sure to give Christy some cash.  That had made Christy feel awkward, Annie could tell.  Christy knew exactly how much Annie made, and it wasn't a lot.

The car pulling into the driveway had to be them.  Annie stood up quickly and glanced outside.  They were going to order the pizza, go get the movies, and come back with both. 

"There here.  We'll be back soon."  Annie called down to the computer on her way out the front door.

"Alright."

Annie jumped into the back seat next to Erik.  Jon was in the passenger seat and Jessica was driving the Ford Taurus.  "Nice place."  Jon said as he studied the gray two story house.  "All this for just you and Ms. Taylor?"

Annie felt a little awkward with the question.  "She used to have her family living with her, her mom and brother.  They moved out."

"Mm.. Cool."  Jessica spoke distractedly as she backed out of the driveway.

They rushed into the video store nearby the Roundtable pizza while their order was being prepared.  They came out with three movies.  That would keep them going for a long time. 

"Is she gonna watch movies with us?"  Jessica asked quietly when they drove into the driveway again.  The others were still a little weirded out because Christy had been their teacher, and it just seemed strange to hang out with her.  Annie remembered feeling like that in the beginning too.  Now she loved spending time with the woman.  Christy made her feel important, cared for, and special.  It wasn't anything big, just the little things that made Annie feel more like a partner in the house than a kid.  And the way Christy spent so much time researching things about mutants, when Annie found out she was the only mutant Christy knew personally it had hit her how much Christy cared.

"I hope we can talk her into it.  She's been on the computer all day looking up mutant stuff, she needs a break."  Annie was now in the passenger seat and held Jessica's eyes hoping that she could understand.  But she also she didn't want them to understand too much.  Annie was confused about a lot of things, but she knew she liked being around Christy.  Liked when the woman laughed, or when she was seriously asking Annie's opinion on something.  Annie tore her mind away from her thoughts on Christy, because Erik's empathy might kick in and she didn't want anyone thinking she was in love with the woman.  No, that wouldn't be good at all.

"And she's not a mutant?  You're sure?" 

"I asked."  Annie glanced around at them.  "She's not, but she's really cool."

"I still can't believe she let you move in."  Erik said while opening the door to get out.  "I'm hungry, lets just go inside and eat the pizza."

Once she opened the door Annie called out loudly, "Pizza's here."  While Jon carried the pizza upstairs and set it on the dining table. 

********

Christy closed Internet Explorer and moved to go upstairs.  She was finally going to meet the people Annie had been hanging around with, and she had to remember to pretend to know them.  No pressure.  She wished she could just tell people about the mess she was in, but it would do more harm than good.  A lot more harm than good, so she just struggled to fake it every day.  Some days it wasn't too bad, and then there were days like today or days when she talked with or saw her family, when she felt like her mind had to race a mile a minute just to keep up.  She was surprised she wasn't developing ulcers from the stress.

She smiled at the assembled teens hovering over the pizza.  "Hey."  She headed for the juice in the kitchen to stay out of their way for a moment.  The other teens looked a little tense having her around too, so they might not bring up the past too much.  That would be good, because aside from having checked their grades Christy didn't know any of them.  They all looked unfamiliar.  She'd hoped seeing them would jar some memory, but no.

She sat and watched one movie with them while eating pizza and everyone started to relax while she did that.  When she saw the next movie was Alive she felt a little warm and dizzy.  She made some lame excuse and went downstairs.  Those survival movies weren't what she wanted to see right now.  Later she heard the disgusted groans from upstairs and she turned up the volume on the computer speakers to drowned it out.   

The kids stayed until pretty late, but Annie had the place cleaned up before Christy woke up the next morning.  "I was thinking of having them come over next weekend too."  Annie seemed just a little nervous about it.

"That's fine."  Christy answered distractedly while looking at the newspaper article.  Some mutants were killed last night and her eyes traveled over the article quickly to determine it wasn't Annie's friends.  Luckily it wasn't, but that was not a pleasant feeling.  It looked like it was a couple that the F.O.H. had caught out on a date.  No one said the F.O.H., just that it was an organized hit, but Christy knew enough to know who the main suspects were.

********

Christy was looking over the research she needed to do when the receptionist came back.  "I have someone that wants to see you now, but doesn't have an appointment."  Christy felt like grumbling at that.  The students here always thought it was an emergency and wanted to avoid appointments, making it hard for Christy to do any real work that needed concentration.

With a sigh she just asked, "Who is it and what do they want?"  Not really expecting that Theresa had checked.

"It's Jessica Stanley, and she didn't tell me."

"Send her back."  Christy replied quickly.  Jessica wasn't even her advisee, so if she was asking to see her it was probably something serious, and most likely mutant related.  She'd heard the girl's father was with the F.O.H. and she really hoped he had nothing to do with the murders over the weekend.

Jessica was looking a bit jumpy when she came in and Christy got up and closed the door behind the girl right away while the girl sat in the chair in front of Christy's desk.  "I…"  Jessica looked at Christy with pleading in her eyes.  "I heard about the murders, and I don't know if my dad…"  God, it had to hurt to suspect your own family of something like that.  Christy didn't bother going to her chair, she took the chair next to Jessica.  She didn't know what to say, so she just sat their quietly waiting for Jessica to speak.  "It could have been him and his friends… I'm scared."

Christy thought of what Jessica's options were.  The girl could turn her own father in on a suspicion, and whether or not he was guilty, she'd become a target of the F.O.H, and the assholes wouldn't even need to know she was a mutant.  Those kind of monsters believe that if you aren't with them you are against them.  She could move out so that she didn't need to see them so often.  Moving out would also help to keep the girls mutation a secret.  She was eighteen, that was a legal age.

Jessica started to tearfully tell Christy about the posters she had laying around her house, and the anti mutant propaganda.  She started to tell her about the types of creepy men that stopped by at all hours to talk with her dad.  Once Jessica started talking she just didn't stop.  It was like a flood that she'd been trying to hold.

The knock on the door made Christy realize that it was almost time to go to class, but Jessica obviously still needed her.  "Just one minute."  Christy said softly and slid out the door with her classroom keys.    

Annie was waiting for her to go to class.  Christy quickly pulled her T.A. into the empty conference room.  "Jessica might need a place to live."  Christy started quietly, "Would you mind…"

"No, no, sure she can…"  Annie seemed a little stunned, "You don't need to ask me."

"You live there too."  Christy gave Annie a serious look.  "You have a say in big decisions like this.  I just, you told me who her father was.  She shouldn't be there."  Christy felt a little uncomfortable with this but… "I need you to start the class and I'll come when I can.  They're just working on their assignments today.  You're in charge."  She handed the keys over.  Annie looked a little stunned but she took the keys and headed off to class without saying much more.  Christy then went into her office to find Jessica trying to clean up and get her emotions under control.

"Do you need a place to live?"  Christy asked as soon as she sat down.  "We have a spare bedroom."  When Jessica's eyes went a little wide at the offer Christy continued.  "You'd need to contribute to bills and the chores, but we could work it out."  Her voice got softer, "Having those men in your home isn't safe… regardless of what they have or haven't done.  And you shouldn't have to listen to anyone saying mutants are freaks.  It's not true."  Jessica started to tear up again and Christy just went with her instinct, pulling the girl into a hug.  She rested her chin on Jessica's head while the girl cried and just held her. 

Jessica moved in the next day.  She told her dad that a friend of hers had a roommate bail on her and needed someone right away.  They went in with the van and Jon's dad's truck while her father was out with his friends and packed up her stuff.  This time they were able to get more furniture than Christy and Annie had been able to do for her.  The boys carried the furniture out together, even though Jon's mutation of strength and agility would have made it easy for him to do it alone.  They didn't want anyone suspecting any of them of being mutants now.  Drawing F.O.H. members attention to the fact was dangerous, and Christy didn't relax until they were back at the house.

Annie and Jessica were working in the bedroom putting things away, and Erik had just taken a box inside.  Christy was working on pulling boxes out of the back of the van for Jon to carry inside.  The boy leaned on the van door and stared at her.  "What you're doing for them is great."

Christy just sighed and turned to look at him.  She didn't know how to respond to that.  She couldn't do enough.  This kids needed training in their powers and in just surviving. 

"It's not going to be easy money wise is it?"

"No, it's not."  Christy answered, seeing he was leading up to something.

"I was wanting to move out of my parents house.  I make a decent amount of money working for my dad.  I could pay what a normal apartment would go for.  It might make up some for Annie and Jessi not making much."  Christy just stared at him wondering which girl he was interested in.  That would be a mess and she knew it.

"Lemme think about it."  She handed him a box to take inside.  She'd checked the money and it was going to get tighter around here.  A lot of Jessica's income went into her car, and they would need another driver in the house so that expense had to stay.

********