Without thinking, I ran towards the building, willing my body to feel that weird tingle sensation. I slipped through the rocks to find him braced against a wall.

"Lance!" I called out before grabbing his arm and pulling him through the rubble. The second I knew we were clear from the crumbling school, I fell against him, my body exhausted from the drain of using this new power so much.

"Thanks for coming back for me," I smiled at the feeling of Lance's lips across my forehead. "Even though you shouldn't have."

"And thanks for catching that bookcase that almost fell on my dad," I turned towards him. "So…"

"Katherine!" I pulled away from Lance at the sound of my dad's voice.

"Oh, thank heavens you're alright! When we saw you go back in there…" mom trailed off as her body was wracked with sobs. Jean awkwardly patted her back and tried to tell her it was alright, but mom was inconsolable for the moment.

"What were you thinking? You could have been killed!" Dad roared. "Not to mention what were you doing in the principal's office? You should have been in class! We were looking all over for you!"

"Dad…" I tried to cut in, but he wasn't done yelling.

"I told you to come to the doorway and you didn't listen! I told you to stay home from school today and you didn't listen! What is wrong with you today?" He fumed.

"Um, sir. It's my fault. It's all my fault. I'm very sorry for any trouble I may have caused you and your family. If there's anything I can do to make up for it, you name it," Lance cut in, stepping between us and offering his hand to shake. "I'm sure you'll want to discuss all of this with my father and I'll arrange something immediately. I also understand that you want to send Kitty to a special school where she can be helped and I fully support whatever decision you make there. If it's of any help, my powers manifested about a year ago, so I, and I'm sure my father as well, are happy to do anything we can to help you and your family through this."

"Kitty? Powers? What?" Dad stammered, ignoring the hand Lance held out firmly. "Who are you?"

"Dad, this is Lance…" I trailed off realizing I didn't even know his last name.

"Alvers. Lance Alvers, sir. Pleasure to meet you, though I wish it could be under better circumstances," he swallowed loudly, still awkwardly holding his hand out.

"How do you know my daughter?" Dad's eyes narrowed.

"Dad!" I glared, trying to point out the hand Lance was still holding out, though it had begun to shake.

"Well, um, we met, um…" Lance's eyes darted around nervously, his hand finally returning to his side. "At school! Of course, we met here at school. She fell through a locker using her powers and I happened to be there."

"Fell through a locker? What were you doing in a locker? Did people see? Oh, Katherine!" Dad ran a hand down his face, thoroughly exasperated with me and the whole situation.

"It's fine, Daddy. Really. I'll explain at home," I patted his arm, giving Lance a shrug and a weak smile.

"Yes, home. Let's go home. The professor is waiting after all," He looked at Jean and my mom before turning back to Lance. "Uh, I, Kitty, we, you. Oh, I don't know." Dad took Mom by the arm and led her away, leaving Jean with Lance and me.

"Well that went… crud," Lance sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "I just got you in a lot of trouble, didn't I?"

"It's been a long day. Just, don't worry about it," I shook my head, wanting to reassure him better than that, but I was so confused and jumbled I didn't know what to do. "Come on. Let's go meet this professor guy."

"I don't… I don't think it's a good idea for me to… go," Lance frowned at the ground.

"The professor would really like to meet you," Jean cut in. "We're not sure why we weren't able to pinpoint you and your powers before, but we'd like to take the time to find out."

"I'm not a lab rat," Lance muttered.

"Well, no," Jean offered quickly. "We'd help you. We'd work with you to help you gain better control over your powers and learn all sorts of things about them. It's really a special place and you'll love it. I promise."

"Look," Lance shook his head. "I've heard about these places before and I'm just not interested. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go. I'm in enough trouble already and I really just… don't want to deal with you."

"But," Jean started but he cut her off with a wave of his hand and turned to leave.

"But Lance!" I called him, but he didn't turn around or stop walking away. Jean put a hand on my shoulder.

"Like I said before, it's not for everyone," she explained.

"But why would he want me to go when he's so adamant against going himself?" I thought as I watched him leave.

"Some people have a hard time accepting that they need help and that they deserve it," I spun around to face her as she spoke. "Oops. Sorry. I'm still working on controlling it."

"Yeah, I know how it feels. But he helped me. He got me to relax and concentrate and I was able to conjure up my powers at will. What if he's the only one who gets it?" I asked aloud. "Who gets me?" I thought.

"Well, Professor Xavier, Storm, and Wolverine are all very practiced with their powers, so I'm sure they can help you," her confident smile slipped from her face as she followed my gaze to where Lance had disappeared. "And who knows? Maybe he'll change his mind."

"Sure," I nodded, trying not to show that I didn't believe any of what she had said. "Let's go meet the professor." Jean led the way and my body followed her to her parents' car while my mind, and if I had been honest with myself at the time, probably my heart, followed Lance.