The School for the Gifted

Chapter XXIV

Twenty-Four

THE OFFICE THAT was previously Professor Xavier's was now mine. It felt wrong sitting in there without him. It felt wrong being the headmistress. I always pictured Storm becoming the headmistress. Not me.

    I had organized my desk and tried to get comfortable in my office. It wasn't working. I didn't like it.

     "Okay, I quit," I said to Jamie.

     He was sitting in front of me. He had spent most of his free time with me before he has to leave for the war again. "Don't quit, Andi. The Professor wanted you to do this. Don't bail on him."

     "I...." I lost my words.

     He stood up and walked around the desk. He held out his hands. I took them, and he pulled me up. "You need to relax." He wrapped his arms around me. "You're overthinking the situation."

     I looked into his eyes. "I'm not. I'm not ready to take this kind of responsibility. I'm still in college."

     "College is cancelled until the war's over. You need to keep going."

     "What about you? You've been stuck up my butt since you came here."

     He sighed.

    "I-I didn't mean it like that, sorry. It's just...don't you want to do something besides watch me be headmistress?"

     "Yes. I want to go on a date with Claire. But that can't happen."

     I felt my nose sting and eyes burn. "Jamie," my voice cracked.

     "I know, she was close to you, too. You were close to both of them."

     I shook my head, looking down. "I hurt Claire."

    "Yeah, you hurt a lot of people."

     I started sobbing. "You're such a j-jerk! G-get out!" I pushed him away. I dropped onto the floor and sobbed more.

     He didn't go away. Instead, he sat down in front of me and put both of his hands on my shoulders, squeezing them in a gentle way. "I'm just being honest, Andi. I'm sorry, that was mean." His arms wrapped around me, and I sobbed into his chest. "I miss her, too. I'm just learning to make sure that my emotions don't get the best of me."

     I sniffed. "So-so you're saying j-just to hide m-my feelings?"

     "I'm telling you that everything will be okay soon. I'm telling you that you need to focus on other things. Okay?"

     I nodded. "Yeah, okay."

     He gave me a tight squeeze and kissed the top of my head. "You're in charge of this school now. Take this responsibility. Don't focus on what happened. It'll make the school in worse shape than it is."

     I nodded again. "Yeah."

     He stood up, pulling me with him. "I believe that the Professor made a good decision in picking you. You're the most powerful mutant in the world, whether or not you show it. A powerful mutant should be in a powerful position. Next thing you should is become president."

     I smiled. "Eh, I think that kind of power will get to my head."

     There was a knock at the door, and then it opened. Logan stepped in. He looked like he was going out. "Sorry, was I interrupting something?"

     I shook my head. "No." I rubbed my nose. "What's up?" I went over to my desk and grabbed a Kleenex and blew my nose. I didn't want him to see me in such a mess.