Chapter 3

Cassy lay in bed that night with tears streaming down her face. The professor had returned that night during dinner and told her that she could stay. He told her the Christensen's were actually kinda relieved that she was accepted into his school because Joni had just found that she was expecting a child of her own. Sighing Cassy curled into a ball on her side and drifted off into a fitfull sleep riddled with nightmares. During one really graphic nightmare in which she was back at the lake, only her boyfriend Aaron was the lake monster and he was destroying her she began screaming, crying and thrashing around in bed. "No," she shouted as the other girls tried to wake her up. Instead her screams just grew louder and the sprinkler systems in the whole mansion burst to life.

The next thing she knew she heard Professor Xavier's voice in the recesses of her mind say, It's just a dream Cassy. You have to wake up or you will end up flooding the mansion. Please, come back with me to the real world.

Cassy looked around in her dream and saw the professor standing a few feet away holding out his hand to her. She started walking towards him when the creature in her dream grabbed her arm and said, No, you're mine forever. I'll never let you go.

Professor Xavier smiled gently at her and said, Just pretend like he's not there and he won't be there. This is all in your mind. You can control everything here except me. I am really here, and I want to help you.

Okay. She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated hard on ridding herself of the lake monster and the next thing she knew she was all alone next to the lake with the professor. She grabbed a hold of his hand and woke up in her bed soaked from head to toe. Looking around Cassy noticed that there were a bunch of the other students and teachers that she had never met before standing outside the room staring at her. It was then that she noticed that everyone else was just a swet as she was including the professor sitting in his wheelchair next to her bed. Sighing she ducked her head in shame and said, "I'm sorry everyone. I-I really a-a-am."

One of the teachers, a woman with shoulderblade lenght white hair gave Cassy a motherly smile before gathering all the students and saying, "Okay everyone shows over. Since everyone's beds are wet we're going to have a schoolwide slumber party in the lower level, and anyone who wants to can get some extra training in."

Cassy sighed once she was left alone with professor Xavier and a younger man wearing red sunglasses and a tear slid down her cheek. "I'm really sorry," she said softly without making eye contact I didn't mean for anything like this to happen. I didn't ask for these powers. I-I just wish I could make everything right again." A sob escaped her and she turned to lay face down on her soaking bed.

The younger man sqatted down next to the bed and placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "Cassy, my name is Scott Summers. I had plenty of accidents when I first came here that caused a lot more damage than some sprinklers, and now I'm one the teachers here. Now I try to help other mutants control their powers. We've all been through what you're going through right now, but it will get better. I promise you. Now let's go join the party while Dr. McCoy works on the air conditioner to dry the place out. He's a genius so things should be dry by tomorrow, and everything will be back the way it was."

"Not everything," she said under her breath, but just nodded and followed Professor Xavier and Scott to what she was told later were the training rooms. The first thing she nooticed was that everyone was wearing grey sweats. She frowned as she looked down at the short flimsy, now see-through, gown that Kitty had let her borrow and tried to hide in the doorway, but that didn't work to well when one of the younger boys came running in. He bumped into her and she jumped back when a bunch of replicas of the boy popped up around her. The white haired woman, the only woman in fact, noticed the commotion as did a couple of the guys loungin against the opposite wall.

The woman smiled at her and said, "Hello dear, I'm Ororoe Munroe. I'm going to be your history teacher once you start classes. Here put these on. You're going to need a set to start training in anyways, so unless these don't fit you can keep them."

"Thanks,"Cassy said smiling at Ororoe thankfully. She watched her walk towards where a younger girl was calling her name and sighed wondering where she was supposed to change.

She frowned when Piotr walked up to her and said, "I couldn't help but notice that you were real confused. I'll show you where the locker rooms are."

Cassy just nodded struck speechless by how kind these people were being after she'd washed them out of their beds. She followed Piotr through the mass of students over to two sets of doors. One had Men's Locker Room on and the other had Women's Locker Room. Sighing Cassy headed into the women's locker room to see Rogue standing facing Kitty and Jubilee and saying her accent more pronounced than ever, "I can't believe she did that! I mean the whole place is a mess!" Kitty was shaking her head vigorously at Rogue but she ignored the sign. "I can't believe she's just now got her powers, I mean what kind of weirdo doesn't bloom until seventeen?"

Jubilee face turned red with outrage and she said angrily, "Oh shut up! i don't understand how you of all people have the nerve to talk about messes. And you only got your powers at sixteen which is practically the same thing so shove it! By the way Rogue, Cassy's been behind you the whole time. Kitty was tryin to tell you, but you just wouldn't give up."

"Listen, I didn't mean to bother anybody I just came in here to change. I'll be out in less than five minutes."

Rogue shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to hear that. I shouldn't have even said it at all. It's just that she's right. You remind me too much of myself."

Cassy just shook her head one blue streak in her hair falling in her face and frowned as she said, "It was all true. I don't blame you for being mad at me. I was actually expecting everyone to be mad at me." She changed into the grey sweat pants and black tank-top deciding not to put the jacket on unless she got cold and walked back out into the din of the other students.


A bunch of the older guys were tossing around a football in an empty area when Roberto Da Costa tossed the ball a little too hard and it soared past Ray and landed at Cassy's feet. Picking up the ball Cassy absentmidedly tossed it back in a perfect spiral. Sitting back down Cassy began to remember the good times at her old high school where she was captain of her J.V. powder puff football team the Razorbacks. She remembered that the first time she had met Aaron he was hackling her during practice. She got so angry at him that she threw the football at his head knocking him to the ground. After running to help him and apologize she looked into his deep grey eyes and was gone. From that moment on they were inseperable even when they were fighting, but her parents didn't approve of him. They thought that he was a bad influence on her. Cassy remembered shouting at them that she was never a good kid, and that the only reason she hadn't been acting up lately was because Aaron wanted her to stay out of trouble. Her father let out a bark of laughter and just sent her to her room. That was the night she and Aaron had run away planning to go somewhere where they could be legally married and live together forever. Boy had that been far from what really happened, she thought holding back her tears, I can't let these people see me cry. I don't know how many of them'll use my pain against me. Cassy was still lost deep in her memories when a pair of large tennis-shoes appeared in front of her. She looked up and stared questioningly into the blue eyes of Ray Crisp. "Uh hi," she said looking back down to avoid the anger she expected to see in his eyes.

"Hey, uh we were wondering if you'd wanna come throw the ball around with us? That spiral was amazing!"

"Oh, no thanks. I'm kinda tired right now. Maybe some other time."

Ray grinned sheepishly and shouted to the other guys, "She said no! I guess you were right Rob she probably is too scared!"

Cassy glared at him and jumped to her feet. "I'm am not scared," she said through gritted teeth, "I'll play, but only for a little while." She followed him over to where the other guys were waiting, never noticing the glint of laughter and approval in his eyes.

Laughing joyfully Cassy scored the final point in a game of basketball and high-fived Bobby. She turned to do the same to Piotr, but he picked her up instead and sat her on his shoulder. Cassy squealed and said, "You big ape! Put me down this instant!"

Bobby watched with a strange sinking feeling as Piotr set her on th ground and grabbed her hand in his. Just then Kitty, Jubilee, and Rogue walked up to them and Kitty asked in her cheerful bubbly voice, "What's goin on here?"

Grinning Bobby threw his arm across Rogue's shoulders and said, "C.J. here just helped me and Pete beat these three in a game of b-ball. In fact she scored the second most points."

Blushing Cassy ducked her head and turned to walk away, but Piotr held on tight to her hand and said, "You're not goin anywhere. You're the star."

"I-I gotta go. I-I n-need to be alone," she said softly before pulling away and heading to the only secluded corner in the huge room. tucking her head to her knees as she sat down Cassy choked back a sob and let the tears slide down her cheeks and onto the floor. She sat there crying silently until she felt a gloved hand touch her shoulder lightly. Looking up Cassy saw Rogue standing silently over her holding a tissue. Accepting the tissue she asked quietly, "Why are you all trying to be so nice to me? You guys don't know me and it's not like I've made a great first impression."

Rogue sat down next to her and said, "We've all got our history and we've all got our own power which is why we're all here. I can't make physical contact with anyone for more than a second or two before a begin to take their life force. It has to be skin to skin though. With mutants I take their powers. I first discovered my powers during my first kiss when I put my boyfriend in a coma. Then my first night here I almost completely sapped the powers of the guy who saved my life."

"Wow, that's- I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say."

"How about you tell me why you're so distant from everyone?" Rogue asked with a sincere smile.

"I- You see my powers didn't first show up today. The first time they appeared I was 14 during showers after gym. For some reason the shower heads all came on at full blast and were all aimed at me. I felt like I was drowning. I never knew what had happened until now. I just figured my school was haunted. The event recently was in a lake. Something scared the hell outta me and I ended up causing huge crashing waves. My boyfriend who I was running away with to get married was with me. He drowned under the crashing waves. I killed him. I killed Aaron."

Rogue just nodded sympathetically and said, "And now you're being thrust into a new life and school where everyone keeps being so nice and you feel unworthy. It's understandable, but not true. You didn't mean to harm him at all. It's not like you knew what you were doing. I've been there. I know you probably think I'm nuts but you'll get over it."

"Maybe, but I doubt it. How could I ever forget him?"

"You won't, but you will move on."