Prue L. Lawrence—1/9/2015

**This is not my story! (I should say characters, actually)

When Elsa woke up the next morning, she stared up at the ceiling, not sure of where she was at first. It felt as though it was just before dawn, the gray light seeping through her window.

Slowly, she got up. She blinked her eyes, slowly. Looking down at herself, she saw the pajamas Jean had let her use, and suddenly realized where she was.

Sitting up from her bed, she glanced around, curiously. Yes, she was still in this strange dream world. Her fingers curled around the soft sheets. Was Anna okay? She wanted to fall back into her bed, but then a sound of rushing water pervaded her thoughts. She looked around to find the source.

Click, and a small door opened in an alcove to her left. Jean emerged from it.

"You're awake? That's good, I wasn't sure whether or not queens got up early or not."

"I like the mornings," Elsa replied, quietly.

To her surprise, Jean laughed. "You know, I'm not trying to intimidate you. I am trying to be your friend, here."

Elsa sighed. "I know, and I appreciate it, but I'm still not used to this place."

"Then trust me. If you ever need anything from me, come to my classroom which should be on your schedule." She pointed to a piece of paper on the table. "Bobby will show you where they are."

"What kinds of classes?" Elsa asked, after taking a glance at the schedule. Most of what she read didn't make much sense. She recognized a mathematical term, but most of the subjects were broadened.

"Well, apart from teaching you to control your powers, we give you a general high school education. It's just so that as mutants, can learn how to control their powers before they enter college."

When Elsa looked at her blankly, she explained further. "High school is just a form of education for children ages 15 through eighteen, and college is a continual education process. Depending on the student's choice, it can be anywhere from four to eight years, even more, sometimes."

Elsa's head swam. "Wait, so will I be staying here for four years, in this high school?"

Jean was putting up her hair that flared up an even more orange color when hit by the sun. "That's between you and Xavier, sweetie. By the way, it looks like your friend, the Doctor? he dropped by." Jean pointed to the corner of the room where a trunk was placed.

As Elsa walked tentatively towards it, Jean continued: "He asked your sister—Anna, right? Well, he asked her to pack a few of your things. I think she'd know better than anyone things to pack."

Elsa looked distraught. "I—most of what I own are dresses for formal occasions."

Jean smiled. "We thought of that, sweetie. Anna had gold coins from your guys' treasury that fetched a high price, considering how much those coins are really worth. Anyway, I went out last night after you fell asleep and bought you some clothes that you could work in. I know you aren't used to wearing pants, so I got you a few long skirts too, just in case. You'd work better if you're comfortable. Oh, and—" Jean fished around in her drawer by her bed that was a few feet away from Elsa's.

She brought out a strange piece of paper. The front had what looked like a crisscrossing folding pattern. "Do you want me to open this for you? It's from Anna."

Elsa's heart skipped a beat. "Anna? Is she alright?" Quickly, she crossed over to Jean. "Please, is she alright?"

Jean took what looked like a pair of scissors and opened the strange paper. Pulling out another piece of paper, she handed it to Elsa. "See for yourself. I'm sure she's fine."

In a fine hand, Anna's writing flowed over the paper.

Elsa,

Are they treating you alright, over there? That Doctor man looked like he bothered you. I miss you, and believe me, if I could be with you, I would right now, but Arendelle needs me, and so does Kristoff. No offense to him, but I don't think he knows much about how to mandate official affairs like mother and father taught us to do. Please write back as soon as possible. I'll write daily, hourly if I have to. I need to make sure you're okay.

—Anna

Elsa realized that she had sat back in her seat on her bed, smiling.

"See? She's just fine," Jean said. "Now, I wanted to see this on somebody, but you're smaller than me, and I knew you'd fit into this one, easy." When Elsa looked up, she saw Jean hold up a long skirt that was striped pink and white. In her other hand was a similar colored pink shirt. Elsa knew her mother, even though she wasn't here, would have something to say about such a fashion, but upon looking at it, Elsa decided that she liked it.

Smiling, she replied: "Yes, thank you."

Elsa walked out of her room and gasped, when she turned her head to the left. The boy named Bobby was standing next to her door.

When Jean walked out behind Elsa, she smiled. "Hello, Bobby."

"Hey Jean, Elsa. You look—" he looked suddenly uncomfortable.

Jean laughed. "Rogue won't murder you if you call Elsa pretty. You're welcome, I picked out those clothes."

Elsa really did like the skirt, but said nothing. The fabric was as soft as water, and just as warm from being in the sun under the trunk.

"Okay then, Elsa, you look beautiful." Bobby smiled at her, and Elsa had to steel herself not to stare at him.

"Shut up and take her to her first class," Jean said. When Elsa looked at her pleadingly, she continued: "Don't look at me, he's your guide."

That was true, but Elsa felt more comfortable around Jean than anyone else. It wasn't anything personal against Bobbie or anything, but Elsa would rather have a female guide than a male. She was more comfortable around Jean.

When her roommate left, she was left with Bobbie.

"Are you uncomfortable? Because if you need me to, I can get you another guide."

Elsa shook her head, protesting before he finished his sentence. "No, I'm just not used to everything yet. I'm sure I will, eventually."

Bobby nodded. "I get it, I was the same when I came here. Xavier wanted me to go with you since, you know—we have the same power and all. But yours is so much more raw and powerful. You probably have more power than me, and believe me, I've been here a while." He laughed. "Is it true you put your entire country under frost? That takes a lot, you know. You're practically the female version of Jack Frost. You have heard of him, right?"

"Mostly children don't know much of him, but I do," she replied.

"He doesn't actually exist, does he?" Bobby whispered, smiling as though this was all a secret.

"I've never seen him, no," she replied. She realized that they were already walking along the hallway. Quickly changing the subject, she asked, "where are we going?"

"I thought you'd want to practice your powers a little bit more. I'm bringing you to Storm. Trust me, she's the best."

"I'd better be," a voice said behind them. Elsa turned around, surprised.

"Hello, Elsa. I'm Storm." The woman held out her hand, and Elsa took it, tentatively. "Bobbie, thank you for having such a high opinion of me, but you should have been here earlier."

Elsa's cheeks burned. "I'm sorry, that was my fault, I think."

From what Elsa could tell of Storm, as she studied her face, saw that she was a very beautiful woman. Her dark skin contrasted sharply with her shock of white hair that was cut short on her head that seemed to fall in every direction in an attractive manner. Her eyes were very blue, a steely look in them, as though they were made of ice.

"No, that's alright," Storm replied. Her voice was softer now, gentler towards Elsa. "I think Xavier wants you to get a better idea of your powers, but not right now. You're already late for your first class. Bobby, please take her as fast as you can. We can go over some of her powers, later. She already seems to have a hold on them, already."

Elsa couldn't help smiling out of pride of this compliment. "Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome, now get to class!" Storm made a shooing motion towards the both of them. Bobby guided Elsa down a few more corridors.

"I'll be with you in all of your classes until you get the hang of things, all right? Xavier turned around my schedule a little bit. Speaking of…"

As Bobby gently pushed her in the direction of her classroom, her eyes widened. Xavier, the man in the wheelchair, sat at the front of the class.

"What class is this?" she whispered to Bobby.

"It's general math. Find a seat, I'll sit by you."

Even though Storm had said they would be late, Elsa realized that they were early. She sat down, only to have the girl Rogue, sit down directly beside her.

"Hey, Elsa."

Elsa jumped, but turned around in her seat to acknowledge Rogue politely. "Hello. Rogue, correct?" She held out her hand in the similar way that Storm had. Apart from looking surprised, Rogue took her hand. Elsa saw that she had a glove on. It reminded her of her own gloves that she used to have to wear. For a moment, she stared at the glove. Rogue noticed the action.

"Have you heard about my power?"

Elsa jumped out of her stupor. "No, it just reminded me—I had to wear similar gloves. Is it for your power, too?"

Rogue nodded. "I also wanted to apologize about yesterday. I must have come across as cold. Can we try again? I can be a really good friend."

Elsa nodded. "Yes, thank you." She paused, still looking down at Rogue's gloves.

Rogue smiled at the action. "So, you really don't know my power?" Elsa was suddenly aware that Bobby wasn't sitting by them. He was up at the front, speaking to Xavier. Elsa was alone.

Elsa shook her head. "No, what is it?"

"I would show you, but it would hurt."

Elsa blinked. "Are you sure? What is it, exactly?"

Rogue slowly took off her glove. "It does hurt a little, but I can do it in short extensions of time." She held out her hand to Elsa.

Elsa still felt hesitant, but took Rogue's hand.

Immediately, Elsa felt something draining from her hand, no, up her arm, into her chest, her entire body. She gasped, but held onto Rogue's hand, knowing that this had to do with her power. She felt as though something inside her was being pulled away from her. It was more than a little painful, and she dreaded to think of holding on much longer.

Rogue let go of Elsa's hand, and she felt as though the blood was returning to her body, into her fingers. Her eyes widened when she saw Rogue's other hand.

A chunk of ice materialized from her hand, like Elsa's own power. Elsa gasped.

"I can temporarily use other powers, as long as I can touch another mutant," Rogue explained. "You okay? I shouldn't have held on for so long, sorry."

But Elsa was staring at the piece of ice in Rogue's hand. "That's amazing."

Rogue smiled. "Amazing? Your ice is really powerful. I could probably freeze this whole classroom, now."

Elsa decided that she liked this girl, despite their first meeting. Then a thought struck her. "What is a mutant? I keep hearing this word."

"It's just another word for someone abnormal, like us. You'd think it was derogatory, but Xavier refers to all of us like that, like we all do."

"How long can you use someone's power when you've… borrowed it?"

Rogue shrugged. "It honestly depends on how powerful the mutant is." She put the glove back on.

"Elsa, you okay? She tried out her powers on you, huh?" Bobbie asked, from behind Elsa. She hadn't realized he had walked up so quietly. It sounded condescending.

"Yes. It was alright, though," she replied.

"Xavier doesn't like us using our powers during class," he continued. "Rogue, did you hurt her?"

"She wanted to try," Rogue replied. "It didn't hurt her. It's not like I held on for very long, anyway."

Bobbie let out an exasperated sigh.

Eyes forward, Elsa. Elsa jumped, hearing Xavier's voice into her thoughts. She turned to see Xavier looking at her. It was an understanding face, but he might as well have been scowling. Elsa shrank back into her seat. She noticed that Rogue was having a similar expression. How many people's minds could he penetrate at once?

Xavier turned around and began explaining something on the board. But as he was doing so, Elsa heard his voice again in her head. I don't expect you to understand any of this, Elsa. Just follow along as best as you can. I can show you after classes are over. You're new here.

Xavier put figures on the board that Elsa was vaguely familiar with. She had some education it was true, but nothing like this futuristic kind of mathematics. She focused on what Xavier was saying. He didn't penetrate her mind for the rest of the day, and for that, she was grateful. She believed that Xavier didn't actually go into her mind to read her thoughts. He just sent thoughts to her. Even for a mutant, it was very rude to be going into people's personal thoughts without permission.

She had a feeling he respected that.

Elsa finally gave up trying to figure out what Xavier was trying to teach. She didn't understand what he meant at all. She sat back in her seat, but remained erect like her mother always taught her to be.

When the class was finally over, Xavier nodded to her. She walked up to him.

"I couldn't understand any of that, I'm sorry."

"I know, Elsa. All of these students have had more experience than you with this subject. Don't feel bad about it. That's not what I called you up for."

Most of the other students had left, and the others were packing up their things. "What do you need?"

"I noticed that you were sitting a bit stiffly. I just wanted to remind you that you don't have to act like a queen here, and I don't mean to say this to demean you negatively, Elsa." He looked at her earnestly.

"It's more of a habit," she replied. "My mother always told me to sit up straight with my head high. I think it's mostly a habitual thing, I don't mean to… act as though I'm more important than others. I don't want it to seem like that."

"A habit, huh?" Xavier smiled. "Try slouching a bit for me, then. If you relax, you're more likely to learn better."

Elsa realized that her shoulders were up and erect like normal. She let her shoulders down, and folded her arms in what she thought was a casual expression.

When Xavier smiled, she knew she had done something right. "Will you remind me, if this happens again? I don't want to give that sort of impression—"

He nodded. "Yes, and thank you for trying. It looked like you didn't understand much of the lesson. And I can't have you late for your next class; Bobby, will you kindly take her there?"

Elsa remembered Bobby, and turned around quickly. "Sorry, Bobby.

"No, it's okay. I don't want to go to our next class, anyway."

"Make sure he doesn't sluff class, will you, dear?" Xavier whispered to Elsa. She nodded. She had no idea what sluffing meant, but she guessed that it must have been not going to class.

She followed Bobby out of the classroom. When she was out of earshot from Xavier, she asked, "you aren't seriously going to… sluff?"

"Nah, Storm would kill me," he replied.

Elsa couldn't help herself. She giggled, then covered her mouth, and felt embarrassed.

Bobby looked at her sideways. "You know you can laugh, that was meant to be funny."

"My mother told me never to laugh at the expense of others."

"That's what humor is, laughing at yourself and others. Lighten up, you don't have to be so uptight, you know." He smiled down at her. She nodded.

"Sorry, old habits—"

"Die hard?"

She nodded.

"You tend to mention your mom a lot. She must be important to you."

"Was," Elsa corrected, looking a little forlorn.

Bobby's face was immediately apologetic. "I'm sorry, she's—"

"She's passed, but that's okay. You didn't know."

Bobby paused for a moment before speaking again. "She sounds like a wonderful woman."

"Thank you, she was." Elsa smiled, and dared to punch his shoulder lightly. He looked at her, and smiled.

"You told me to laugh at the expense of others. I am now amused by your reactions."

Bobby smiled. "It kind of kills it when you explain the joke."

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