The not-too-distant past…

"I'm never going to understand this!" said seventeen-year-old Ororo Munroe disparagingly. In a rare show of anger that shocked her three classmates, she slammed her algebra textbook shut and threw it across the table. Scott Summers caught it and opened it to the page that Ororo had been struggling with. He got up from his seat and came to her side.

"C'mon, 'Roro, it's easy!" he encouraged her; "I can show you how to do all of this."

"Yes, but can you take the test for me?" she asked in defeat.

"She has a point, you know," Henry McCoy looked up from his English homework, "Ms. McAlister's tests never make any sense; she teaches us one thing in class and then her tests are on something completely different."

"I wish I would've taken honors algebra," agreed Ororo, "At least then, I'd be getting a worthwhile credit for all of my hard work."

"Please, 'Roro, you couldn't survive in honors algebra anymore than I could in your honors history class," Jean Grey piped up.

"I wish I didn't have to take basic algebra," complained Henry, "I was never 'basic' in anything until I came here and flunked out of the honors class."

"Hank and I shouldn't have to bother with algebra at all. We're English and history people. When are we ever going to use this in everyday life? It's not as though I'm going to be a mathematician!" said Ororo.

"Yeah, but you have to learn it for the same reason that Scott and I have to sit through history class," Jean told her, "Because Professor Xavier wants all of us to have a well-rounded education."

Ororo sighed and fell against the back of her chair. She looked up at Scott and raised an eyebrow as if to say, "All right, fine. Educate me." He smiled and sat down next to his friend, pointing at the first problem on the page and taking her pencil from her hand.

"OK, so, before you can solve the actual problem, you have to find these two answers," he used the pencil to point at the numbers and then made some notes in Ororo's binder. Jean came around to watch Scott as he tutored the other girl, to make sure that he wasn't confusing her too badly. She was of the opinion that Scott would make an excellent teacher one day…if he would simply learn to slow down with his instructions and make sure that his students were following him.

After another half hour under the tutelage of her friends, Ororo found that, although her understanding of the entire process was still only minimal, she wasn't as bothered by it as she had been. Now, she could actually sit down and take the time to solve the problem without making a thousand errors that only angered her and impeded her progress.

"Umm, hey, I hate to interrupt," Hank said, closing his binder and tucking it into his backpack, "but we've only got about an hour until dinner, and after that, we have to stay in our rooms. Our psychology projects are due tomorrow and Ororo and I are only about half-finished with ours."

"Oh, damn," Jean cried, rushing to pick up her books, "Anna and I still need to work on ours, too!" Quickly, she ran out of the library and began her search for her biology partner.

"Am I the only one here who's capable of getting things done on time and not waiting until the night before they're due?" Scott asked in annoyance.

"Looks that way, buddy," replied Hank as he and Ororo gathered their things and left.

xXx

Ororo was stretched out on the floor of the room that Hank shared with Scott and another guy, both of whom were currently elsewhere in the mansion. She was glad for this, because the last thing that she needed right now was a distraction of any kind. Hank, on the other hand, had been distracted from the moment that it had dawned on him that he had finally gotten Ororo Munroe into his bedroom.

"I wish we could have come up with something more exciting than a report and a diagram for our project," said Ororo wistfully, taking another sip from her glass of water and returning to her description of the physical manifestations of tourettes syndrome.

"Yeah, well, that's what Mr. Dickens gets for assigning us a project at the same time as every other teacher," Hank replied, "I've got chemistry and history projects that I haven't even started yet, and I just finished my English term paper. Sometimes I think that they all get together in the teachers' lounge and discuss possible strategies for maximizing our stress levels."

Ororo giggled. "Actually, I wouldn't put it past them. I've been going insane lately trying to keep up with all of my assignments." She reached behind her to knead a sore spot on her neck. Lately, all of the tension that she was feeling with regards to her schoolwork had begun to do its damage on her body. Ororo jumped as she felt another hand on her back, but then relaxed when she realized that it was only Hank, and that he was massaging away a knot in her shoulders that had been there for so long that she didn't even notice it anymore.

"You smoke?" he asked. Ororo turned around to look at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"Oh, uhh…nothing, just forget it," he stammered, removing his hands from her body and going back to the diagram.

"No, I didn't mean it in a bad way," she said, "Jean and I used to bum cigarettes all the time and smoke them in our room, but Scott convinced her to quit, so I just went ahead and quit, too. I don't like to smoke alone; I guess it reminds me of being depressed or something. I was just surprised to learn that you smoke."

Hank smiled and went to his dresser drawer, pulling a pack of Camels from underneath a pile of t-shirts and tossing the pack to Ororo, along with a red lighter.

"Looks like you've got a new smoking partner," he said after she lit her cigarette and handed the pack to him. He pulled one out and put it to his lips, but when she held out the lighter, he shook his head. Instead, Hank moved in closer to Ororo and placed the tip of his unlit cigarette against hers, inhaling until he saw the tip glowing orange. When he removed the cigarette from his mouth and blew out a cloud of smoke, she giggled.

"Neat," she commented, "Never seen anyone light it like that."

Hank just shrugged. "It's just easier and better than wasting lighter fluid."

"Scott and Jared aren't going to be mad when they come in and smell the smoke?" asked Ororo, referring to Hank's two roommates.

"No," he replied, "Jared smokes, too, so Scott's just had to learn to hold his breath and stop whining. Anyway, he's not even here half of the time. Always sneaking out at night to meet Jean in the garden."

This comment took Ororo aback. "Seriously?"

"Well, yeah! Jean hasn't told you about that? Man, and I thought girls talked more than us guys!" he said, and then he leaned in close to Ororo with a conspiratorial smile on his face. "Now, keep quiet about this, because Scott'll kick my ass if he find out that I told you, but…he says that Jean's the best lay he's ever had," Hank threw his head back and chuckled, "Not that I believe for a minute that he has anything to compare it to, but if he wants to pretend that he does, then whatever."

Ororo's mind was reeling. Looking back, she realized that she must have been under some serious stress these past couple of weeks not to have noticed that something about Jean was…different. "Ugh!" she thought. She could have kicked herself for not paying closer attention. Why was she always the very last person to find out about everything?

"Goddess," she whispered, taking another drag from her cigarette as she felt a feeling of immense sadness wash over her. Everywhere she went around the mansion lately, all that she saw were couples, holding hands, locking lips. It made Ororo feel empty, as though something were missing, not only from her life, but from her soul.

Hank saw the veil that had suddenly been thrown over her blue-gray eyes, and he stood up from the bed and went to her. "You all right?" he asked. She nodded and took the ash-tray that he offered her, flicking the ashes off of the end of her cigarette.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just…thinking," she replied, and then, she turned to him, "Hank, have you ever…well…you know…?"

The cigarette almost dropped from his mouth at this question, but he caught himself just in time.

"Me?" he asked, "Umm…yeah, actually. Once, back home, with, uhh…a girl that I knew."

She nodded sadly. "I never have. I've only ever had one boyfriend, back in Africa, and he and I…well, we couldn't stay with each other. We both had…things that were more important. And none of the boys here even notice me."

"Sure they do," Hank said, sitting back down on his bed and motioning for her to join him, which she did.

"No, they don't," she argued, "I think that I'm just…too different. I'm one of the only dark-skinned people at this school, and the fact that my hair and eyes completely clash with the rest of my coloring…"

"I like your hair, and I've always thought that your eyes were gorgeous," Hank assured her.

Ororo looked at him, his blue skin and the fur covering his head and face, and laughed, making him crack a smile as well.

"I'm sorry, Hank," she apologized, leaning against him. Without hesitation, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. When she spoke again, her voice was serious. "You really think that I'm pretty?"

"Oh, yes," he replied, lowering his lips to hers. She pulled him closer as they kissed, running her hands through the smooth, deep blue of his mane. When they broke the kiss, he still could not keep himself away from her. His lips roved over her face, her neck, her chest. He grabbed the front of her blouse, fingers poised to unclasp the buttons, but he hesitated. Ororo shook her head and reached down to do it for him, sliding the blouse away from her body and then working on her bra.

When her breasts were exposed to him, Hank felt as though he were gazing upon one of the Seven Wonders of the World. He kissed her again, cupping one breast in each of his hands, and gently massaging, making her groan.

"It's been a long time since I've felt like this," Ororo told him, pulling his shirt over his head and then reaching for the zipper of his jeans.

"I've never felt like this before," he admitted as his hand invaded her pants, two fingers slipping into her panties and finding her most sensitive spot.

"Not even…uhh…with that girl…from back home?" she asked in between gasps of pleasure.

"No," Hank said, "This is so much better." He kissed Ororo to silence her moans as his fingers worked their magic on her body, driving her closer to the edge until finally her hips were bucking against his hand and she was squealing in pleasure and surprise. It wasn't her first orgasm, but his hands felt so much better on her than her own.

"Hank…oh Goddess," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder, "I've never…I…oh my." She happened to look down at that moment, and saw his hard member standing at attention.

"Goddess," she thought, "he's so big. How am I ever going to…" He saw the worried expression on her face, and kissed her in reassurance.

"It'll be all right," he said, "It's going to hurt at first, but you'll get used to it, and I'll be as gentle as I can, OK?" She nodded and gave herself over to him.

"I trust you, Hank," said Ororo as he entered her.