"Is he really serious about giving us a test tomorrow guys," John asked as Bobby and Rogue sat down at the table with them with their dinners.
"Yes, so I'd read those chapters if I were you,"Rogue told him.
"I'm never going to get through all five chapters by tomorrow," John said. "Why don't you two just tell me what the book is about so far. I'll catch up later on but you've got to help me out."
"Not a chance," Bobby told him."Mr. Summers is already mad enough with the class. Finding out any of us is cheating is only going to make things worse."
"He won't find out."
"That's what you said about you not doing the assignment over the weekend," Rogue told him. "Just read the chapters tonight John."
"Easy for you to say," John said disgusted. He went to eating his dinner in silence while Bobby and Rogue talked about other things.
"Hey Scott, haven't seen a lot of you since I've been here," Alexis said as he came out of the classroom after the study group later that night. She had been waiting outside the classroom for the last twenty minutes.
"Sorry, I've been busy today," Scott said more gruffly than he meant to.
Truth was he had been trying to avoid her. Back before Jean, Alexis and he had shared something special. A relationship that he had broken off to pursue his relationship with Jean. After a week or so of barely talking though, the two of them had developed a great friendship. After Jean had broken up with him, he started to realize just what she must have gone through back then. Knew how much he must have hurt her.
"Have I done something to upset you?" Alexis asked a little taken aback.
"No, I'm sorry Alexis," Scott told her. "I've just been having a bad day. I had some trouble with the students in class this morning and this past week I've been having headaches almost constantly."
"Have you talked to the professor about the headaches?"
"No not yet. I don't want to bother him with something trivial like that."
"It may not be something trivial Scott."
"I'm sure it isn't anything serious. Its probably just from the stress. With you and Hank here things will get easier around here and I'm sure everything will be fine," Scott told her as they made there way up the steps to the third floor and their bedrooms. Seeing the unconvinced look on her face Scott told her, "really, Alexis everything will be fine."
"Any time you want to talk, I'm here."
"Of course," Scott said as they stopped outside of his room.
"Get some sleep, " Alexis said giving him a hug. "I'll see you in the morning." With that said she headed down the hallway to her room concerned about her friend.
"Are you ever going to turn off that light Jubilee," Rogue asked. It was midnight and she Kitty and Emma had been trying to get to sleep for the last couple of hours but Jubilee had the light on trying to read Great Expectations.
"Yes, as soon as I'm done reading this last chapter."
"If you had read the chapters you were suppose to over the weekend you wouldn't be trying to cram it all in tonight," Kitty said from under her blanket which she was using to try blocking out the light.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everyone knows you're a teachers pet. Never having any fun. And besides I'd get this done faster if you two would stop bothering me," Jubilee told them.
Rogue gave a sigh and turned in her bed to face the wall. She wasn't sure what Jubilee was trying to accomplish. Even if she finished the reading unless she spent the rest of the night studying she still wasn't going to do to good on the test tomorrow. She wasn't even sure how she was going to do even after the study group with Mr. Summers.
Her thoughts then turned to Logan as they often did at night as she fingered the dog tags he had given her. He had said he was going to come back for them but as the days went by she started to wonder if he actually would. She wasn't sure why she even cared so much. He had almost left her in the middle of nowhere in the snow in the Canadian wilderness the first time they had met. He had later put his claws through her after waking up from a nightmare. And yet he had stolen her heart. And she couldn't forget that he had risked his life for her. She hoped he would find the answers he was searching for. Perhaps than he could find a place here like she had. Before long Rogue had drifted asleep still thinking about Logan.
"Hi Jean," Ororo said coming into the kitchen early the next morning. " You're up early," she said neutrally trying to start a conversation but not wanting to seem to pushy.
"I have another interview this morning, I don't want to be late for it," Jean told her downing the last of the milk in her glass. "Sorry I got to go." Jean grabbed her nearby purse and disappeared out the door.
"Nice talking to you," Ororo said quietly as she watched Jean leave. She had never been really close to Jean but they use to at least talk from time to time. She couldn't remember when her last real conversation with her was. And poor Scott, he had loved her but Ororo always had known that Jean hadn't loved him as much as he had Jean. Ororo even knew a few dates Jean had gone on with other guys while she and Scott were suppose to be together. She knew Scott was too good of a guy for Jean. He just needed time to get over her and then he would realize himself that he was better off without her.
Other students started coming into the kitchen at that point looking for something to eat. Ororo grabbed a banana out of the fruit bowl and made her way out of the kitchen wanting to avoid the pandemonium that was beginning. In the foyer she met up with Alexis as she walked through the door in sweat pants, running shoes.
"Good luck getting breakfast in there," Ororo told her, indicating the kitchen, as Alexis closed the door behind her.
"I actually ate earlier," Alexis told her.
"You were up early," Ororo commented.
"I like early mornings," Alexis told her. "It's quiet, because most people are still sleeping. It gives me a chance to think about things and prepare myself for today. I need to go take a shower," she said heading upstairs. "I'll catch up with you later, okay."
"Sure," Ororo said. As Alexis disappeared upstairs Ororo went out the door Alexis had just come through and made her way to the garden to enjoy the early morning sound of the birds.
Not long into her stroll she came across Scott who was sitting on one of the benches in the gardens. He was leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees, his head resting in his hands.
"Scott are you okay," Ororo asked as she sat down on the bench next to him. She placed a hand gently on his back.
"I'm fine," Scott told her. "It's just a headache." As Scott sat up straighter she saw how pale he was.
"Maybe you should go lay down."
"The kids . . ."
"We'll just cancel your class today. It's no big deal."
Scott thought about it for a moment but he couldn't. He had a job to do and he was going to do it.
"No," he told her.
"Then let Alexis cover it. You're just giving a test anyway aren't you?" Ororo told him. She remembered hearing the kids grumbling about the test Scott had sprung on them yesterday. It hadn't seemed like Scott at all, but she had dismissed it. How Scott ran his class was his own business.
"I'll be fine," he told her giving her a smile as he stood up and headed toward the mansion. She wasn't at all convinced.
Bobby Drake tapped the eraser of his pencil softly on the top of the desk. Mr. Summers had yet to pass out the test papers and he was already nervous. He had been letting his school work slide and he knew a bad grade on this test could really hurt him.
He looked around the room. John sat with his head propped up on his hand. Bobby knew he had resigned himself to not passing the test. His roommate had managed to read three of the five chapters the night before and then had just given up.
His other classmates looked as nervous as he felt. As Mr. Summers started passing out the test papers he took in all the nervous little reactions. At least he wasn't alone. Mr. Summers placed a test paper face down on his desk and Bobby took a deep breath waiting for the okay to start.
"You may begin," Scott told them a few moments later after placing the last test paper on the desk of the student setting two desks behind Bobby.
Bobby flipped the paper over and started reading the first question. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that he knew the answer.
Mr. Summers cry of pain stopped him from writing anything on his paper though. Bobby immediately looked up to see Mr. Summers sink to his knees clutching his head. As some of the students, Rogue among them, went to his side Bobby quickly got out of his chair and headed toward the back of the room, toward the door. He knew he had to find one of the other adults.
Bobby didn't have far to go. As soon as he walked out into the hallway he found Ororo and Alexis coming out of room across the hall.
"Something is wrong with Mr. Summers. He just yelled out in pain and sank to his knees holding his head," Bobby told them quickly before they had a chance to help.
Alexis rushed past him quickly and disappeared into the room.
"Bobby go find the Professor," Ororo told him before following Alexis.
Bobby rushed toward the Professors office. He met Professor Xavier halfway there heading in his direction.
"I already know," Xavier told him as Bobby opened his mouth to speak. Hank is down in the med room. Go get him."
"Yes professor," Bobby said barely stopping as he rushed by the professor and down the nearby stairway.
By the time Bobby and Hank returned to the classroom most of the students had left, having been escorted out of the room by Ororo. Only Rogue, John and Kitty were still in the room with the adults having refused to leave. They stood by the desk trying to stay out of the way. Bobby walked over and joined them.
Alexis and Xavier were still by Scott, who was still clearly in a lot of pain. Xavier hovered nearby while Alexis was on the floor, Scott's head cradled in her lap. He noticed a slight glow to Alexis' hand, which was on Scott's temple and her eyes were closed. Bobby and the others had all heard about Alexis' power but had never seen her use it.
Hank knelt down beside her and Scott.
"That's enough," he told Alexis softly touching her arm.
As she nodded the glow ceased. As she opened her eyes Bobby noticed a drained, pained look to her face.
Hank made a quick assessment of Scott's condition.
"I want to get him down to med bay," he said to Xavier. Hank stood up, picking Scott up in his arms easily as he did so. Xavier just nodded to him as he looked to Alexis who was slowly standing up.
"Are you going to be okay?" he asked her.
Alexis nodded.
"I just need some rest," she told him.
"Okay," Xavier said. He turned to the kids still in the room. "Bobby, why don't you and your friends go with Alexis to her room to make sure she gets there okay."
"Sure professor," Bobby told him.
"Professor, is Mr. Summers . . ." Kitty started to ask but Xavier cut her off.
"As soon as we know anything, I'll let you kids know," he told her.
Kitty nodded as Xavier left the room. Bobby walked over to Alexis and offered her an arm to lean on which she gratefully accepted. John quickly moved to her other side and then the five of them left the room. The test papers all laid on the desks completely forgotten.
The group walked to the third floor of the mansion and to Alexis room in complete silence. Bobby had wanted to get out of the test but not like this.
"I'll be okay from here," Alexis told them as they reached the door to her room.
"Are you sure?" Bobby asked. She still looked kind of pale. It scared him. All the students looked up to the adults here at Xavier's school. At the X-men, even the two whom that they didn't see that often.
"Positive," Alexis told him giving him a smile. She opened the door to her room and went inside, shutting the door behind her.
Bobby turned to his friends. The worry he felt was mirrored in his friends faces.
"What do we do now?" Rogue asked.
"Wait," Bobby said simply. There wasn't anything else they could do.
Without a word, Kitty slipped away from the group and headed down the hall in the direction of the wing of the mansion with their rooms. With a nod to Bobby, John followed her. Bobby and Rogue silently watched their friends walk down the corridor until they turned the corner and were out of site.
"I need some fresh air," Rogue said quietly, suddenly feeling as if the walls were closing in on her.
"I'll come with you," Bobby told her slipping his hand into her gloved hand. The two made there way to the front door of the mansion. Stepping out onto the front steps of the mansion, the two friends sat down on the top stair.
Neither of them said anything. Neither wanted to mention what was on their mind, which was their teacher and mentor. It was as if putting their thoughts into words would make it too real.
Subconsciously, Rogue reached up and touched the dog tags hanging around her neck. Beside her, Bobby noticed her action. It gave him something to talk about other than the situation currently taking place inside.
"Do you think he's going to come back?"
Rogue looked over at Bobby questionly, not following him. Bobby simply nodded toward the dog tags. Rogue looked down, realizing for the first time that she had the dog togs in her hands.
"I don't know," she answered looking from the dog tags out across the yard to the main gate. "I use to. Now, with every day that goes by I wonder even more. It's the story of my life, everyone that I've ever care about gets taken away from me in some form or another."
"Well I'm not going anywhere," Bobby told her, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. Rogue laid her head on her shoulder being careful that none of her bare skin touched his.
