Chapter 2 – Two Lovers Meet
They arrived back at the institute early the next morning, and the Professor and Beast smiled as they saw the pair of them asleep.
"Kitty, Ash, wake up, we're here." Beast told them, gently shaking each of them in turn, though as he touched Ashlyn, he and the Professor were suddenly thrown back into the controls of the jet. The sound of the men both hitting the controls jolted Kitty and Ashlyn from their sleep and Kitty ran over to them and helped them to their feet.
"Oh god, Professor, what happened?" Kitty asked.
"Now we see why Ashlyn's mother told us to keep her in a room on her own when she sleeps." Beast told her as he got up and helped Kitty to get Charles up.
"I'm so sorry Professor." Ashlyn whispered.
"It's alright Ashlyn, you weren't to know." The Professor told her as they walked out of the jet, and were met by a woman with white hair – Storm.
"Ah, you're back, so, who is the new recruit we all can't wait to meet?" Storm asked.
"Storm, this is Ashlyn." The Professor told them, gesturing to Ashlyn. "Ashlyn, this is Oruro Munroe, one of my teachers, and also known as Storm."
Ashlyn gave her a gentle smile. "Hello."
"Hello dear." Storm smiled. "Now, let's go and find you a room."
"If you don't mind Storm, Kitty will be showing her to her room." Charles told her, and the woman nodded, letting Kitty and Ashlyn walk ahead into the house.
"So, what is she like?" Storm asked the Professor once the girls had gone inside.
The professor looked at Storm and gave her a fond smile. "She's powerful and has rather amazing self control, but her power isn't why she is here…Will you let me access your mind?"
At storm's nod, the Professor showed her what he had witnessed both physically and mentally, and the latter made Storm gasped. "That, poor child."
The Professor nodded. "Yet she's worried for the family that she left behind." Eventually they stopped discussing Ashlyn and they headed inside, going to bed for the night.
The next morning, Ashlyn woke up to her alarm, and at seeing the time, she groaned and got out of bed, dressing in jeans and a short-sleeved button down shirt. After she slid on her pumps, there was a knock on the door, and when she opened it, she found Storm standing there, carrying a tray of toast and orange juice.
"Hello Miss Storm."
"Hello Ashlyn." She smiled. "I brought you some breakfast and your timetable." Storm told her, setting the tray on Ashlyn's bedside table.
"Thank you, Miss Storm." Ashlyn told her as she slid out of bed and pulled her clothes out of her wardrobe.
"You're welcome Ashlyn." Storm smiled.
"It's just Ashlyn, Miss." Ashlyn told her.
"Alright, then you can just call me Storm." Storm shared a smile with the girl, before she left her to get ready and have her breakfast. When she was ready, there was a voice outside of her door, asking for permission to enter, which was granted when Ashlyn recognised it to be the voice of Kitty, who phased through the door and sat on her bed.
"Hey, how did you sleep?"
"I slept pretty well actually, thank you." She smiled, before it faded.
"Do you miss your mum?"
"I miss and worry for her." Ashlyn told her with a sigh as she brushed her hair. "I don't want to have to wake up one morning to find that she's dead."
"Maybe you won't have to, maybe you'll wake up to hear that she's left him." Kitty told her.
Ashlyn looked at her. "Yeah, I'm hoping for that." She smiled. "You know, I've only known you for a few hours, but you're a pretty nice friend."
Kitty smiled and she hugged Ashlyn, who hugged her back. "Come on, let's go and sit through a lesson."
Both of the girls left Ashlyn's room and they walked towards their first class, Ethics with Professor Xavier, and they soon bumped a group of two guys and a girl who got to the class just as they did. Ashlyn noticed how Kitty went really shy at seeing one of the guys.
"Oh, um hey Bobby." Kitty stammered.
"Hey Kitty, who's your friend?" He asked, nodding to Ashlyn.
"I'm Ashlyn, Ashlyn Carplesteen." She told him as she held out her hand. "But you can call me Ash."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Robert Drake, but people call me Bobby." He smiled, shaking her hand.
"I'm John Allerdyce, but it's just John." John told her.
"And I'm Marie, but people call me Rogue." The girl nodded.
Ashlyn nodded. "It's nice to meet you, so are you all taking Ethics with us?"
"Yeah we are." Bobby told her as he opened the door and they all walked inside, finding seats. As the lesson went on, Xavier kept a close eye on Ashlyn, who was able to answer most questions that were given to her, and she was getting stares from the others, though he noticed how some of the guys looked at her. It wasn't freakiness, or dislike, it was almost with a form of lust. John was one of these people. He couldn't help but feel attracted to her, and he found himself sitting behind her in class, watching how she pushed her hair behind her ears and how she shifted to maintain her comfort in the hard backed seats. There was something...unbelievable...about this girl, she looked as ordinary as everyone else, and yet he was under some form of spell. He vowed to himself to find out why she had a hold over him and to find out what she was actually like.
When the lesson ended, John left with Bobby and Rogue, but it was long before Ashlyn, so he made an excuse to his friends in order to allow himself to go back. When he did, he found Ashlyn receiving some books from the Professor, and the Professor caught John's eye as she wheeled himself out of the room.
"Good morning John, it was a pleasure to see you in class today, but please keep your thoughts to yourself." The Professor told him, yet he never spoke to not arouse the suspicion of Ashlyn, and he went over to his desk to prepare for his next class.
When Ashlyn turned around and saw John, she did a double take, before she tried to slide past him, thinking that he wanted to speak to the Professor, and it surprised her when he left with her.
"So, you're from Australia, huh?"
"Yes...Why do you ask?"
"I was just asking because I'm from Down Under as well." John shrugged.
"Oh, which part?" She asked, looking at him.
"Sydney, what about you?"
"Queensland, I live not far from the reef."
"I used to go swimming off the reef as a kid; I think I've seen you before."
"You probably have, I go down there all the time, well when I'm allowed to anyway."
John raised an eyebrow at the depressed tone that she had but he didn't question it, instead he decided to change the subject.
"So, Ash, what can you do that makes you a mutant?"
Ashlyn looked at him. "I can create force fields, which can turn into pictures and also move things around the room." She told him. "What about you?"
"I can manipulate fire, that's why my X-Men name is Pyro."
"Oh, awesome, mine would probably be something like Shield." She told him laughing as she said it.
"Hey, that's a great idea, Shield." He smiled.
They both continued to smile and laugh with each other as they went to their other classes, before the day came to an end and they bid each other tonight. By now, John's interest and curiosity of the girl had grown and he wanted to find out everything that he could from her, and she herself seemed just as curious about him. This was looking to be a rather interesting friendship, one that both of them was certainly going to enjoy.