Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The school run by Professor Charles Xavier or simply Professor X. Populated by 147 students, 15 teachers, and hundreds of bedrooms. In this mansion lived one mutant who was like every other mutant in this school.
She sat in a desk for Professor Xavier's physics class. The girl was about seventeen years of age. Her hair was black with highlights of blonde, wavey and teased a lot. Her eyes were green and her corneas were small to where she practically had cat eyes. Not only that, but her ears were on top of her head and they were cat ears. Her mutation may have altered her appearance by a little, but it didn't bothered her. She wore a black shirt, short grey pants, black tights, black combat boots, and a red plaid shirt. The mutant was average height with long legs and a slight pear-shaped body.
In class, she was writing down everything the Professor was saying in his lecture. She sat next to Jubilee, who would usually copy off of her papers.
Jubilee raises her hand to answer the Professor's question, but they were interrupted by Dr. McCoy, a boy with bandages on his eyes, and an unfamiliar guy.
"That will be your assignment for tomorrow," Professor Xavier ends the lesson. "Class dismissed."
The girl gather her papers into her binder and followed Jubilee put the doors.
For a moment, she gazes at the older boy with thick brown hair. A vision flashes through her mind. It was of him. The man let's out a roar and red energy begins to blast from his chest. After that, she snaps back into reality. She knew who he was.
Outside of the door, she stops her friend and whispers, "Jubes, it's him."
"Who?" She asked, confused by her friend's fascination.
"Havok!" She said his name. Harley knew very well who he was. "He's one of the first members of the X-Men."
Jubilee giggles as they walked down the hallways. "I'll admit he's pretty cute. What's his mutation, being dashingly handsome?"
"Energy Conversion." She informs her. "He can blasts energy from his body and hands."
"What about the kid with the bandages?" She asked.
"I don't know. I didn't have time to read him."
"Let's go back to see." Jubilee attempts to pull her back into the classroom, but Harley stops the short girl.
Harley sighs, "Nah, he's talking to Professor. I don't wanna interrupt."
Her friend rolls her eyes and pouts. "Okay, fine. You're no fun, Harley. I got Chemistry homework to do."
"I'm going to the field. See you later, Jubes."
"Bye, Harley."
Harley takes off to her bedroom, which on the second floor, fourth door to the left. Of course it was a big place to be both a house and a school. On the first floors were the classrooms, library, kitchen, and large living room. On the second, third, and fourth floors were mostly bedrooms and a few more classrooms.
Everybody had their own room in the mansion. Harley walked into her bedroom. Her beds was full size with black and purple bed sheets. She had posters of rock bands and celebrities on her wall and a desk next to her window.
Harley quickly got dressed into basketball shorts, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes. She pulls her thick, fuzzy hair into a low ponytail. It was now becoming a habit to leave her hair down since people get disturbed by her not having human ears nor having her ears on the side of her head but on top.
Every mutation was different for everyone. Some don't show it physically, but some do. Harley knew that Hank McCoy would still take medicine that affected his mutation, making him look human for certain periods of time. Most of the time, Hank knew it was selfish, but he figured that not everybody is still ready for Beast.
After getting dressed, Harley heads outside to the fields, where most of the students hang out or play sports.
"Harley!" A boy with shaggy green hair and braces runs over to the mutant girl. He was a boy no younger than twelve and hugged her.
"Hey, Max." She kindly smiles at him. "How you doin'?"
"Great. Come on, everybody's waiting for you."
The two sprinted to the basketball court with a group of four other kids. Only two of them were teenagers and the others were younger pre-teens.
"Let's go, guys. Okay, remember the rule: no powers, guys. That includes no flying, no fast reflexes, no jumping high, no creating portals, etc." She warns them.
Not all the students in school have full control of their powers, but some take advantage. Occasionally, Harley would see someone fly up to the top of the stairs instead of actually walking or somebody else using x-ray vision to copy off of someone else's test. Harley never really had to use powers for everyday life.
An hour passes as Harley plays basketball with her friends. She was already starting to sweat and she had homework.
"Okay, that's enough for me today." She breathes.
"Oh, come on, Harley!" Max begs her. "Stay!"
Her friend with red and black eyes vows, "Yeah, we won't cheat anymore!"
"Sorry, guys, I've got homework to do." She apologizes as she takes off.
Before going to her room, she saw her redheaded friend from across the lake. Harley walks over to her and says, "Hey, Jean. Whacha' doin'?"
"Oh, hi, Harley." Jean Grey prepares another arrow into her bow. "Just doing my calming exercises that Professor X assigned me to."
Jean releases the arrow and makes a perfect bull's eye. "Damn you're good," Harley comments.
"Thanks. What are you doing out here?"
"I was just playing basketball with the kids, but I gave up on them. It's hard for them to play with the no-power rule."
The telepath smirks, "Well, it's pretty tough when you're playing with kids who can fly, jump high, and bite."
"Exactly." Far from them was Professor Xavier, Hank McCoy, the boy with bandages, and Havok. Harley points them out to Jean. "Ooh, newbie, twelve o'clock."
Jean turns to their direction and mentions to her friend, "I bumped into him earlier today. I freaked him out a little by talking in his head, but he and I weren't exactly kind to one another."
"Hang on, I'm reading his power." The mutant carefully concentrates on the bandage boy and goes into another vision. She saw the boy opening his eyes and blasting red energy from them. Once she came back, she tells Jean, "Ooh, I like this one. Jean, don't read my mind or his. Just watch."
"Okay, last time you said that, you copied fire powers and burped fire." She reminds her
"You gotta admit that it was funny, right. Nah, I think you're really gonna like his power."
Both girls stood there and watched as the boy carefully removes his wrap from his eyes. He kept them shut and hesitated for a moment. Finally, he opens his eye and the powerful red energy blasts towards the water, the grass, and into a tree. His power startles both Dr. McCoy, Professor Xavier, and everyone nearby. Once it stops, the tree splits in half and falls down.
"Holy shit." Harley gasps in amazement. "That was awesome!"
Instead of cheering, Jean stood there impressed by the new guy's ability. "His power is very unique," she says. "Harley, I'll admit not knowing is part of the fun."
As the group of men take off towards the X-Mansion, Harley gently elbows Jean in the arm and murmurs, "He seems dreamy."
Her friend chuckles, "You'll say that to any guy."
"Maybe you're right. He doesn't seem to be my type." Then, an idea pops into her head. "Maybe he's your type."
"Really?" Jean raises an eyebrow. "I don't think so. He might blast my head off."
"Hey, I'm sure Dr. McCoy can help him. Come on, Jean. A boyfriend might be the perfect solution for you. He looks like he's your type. He's a guy."
Harley knew not a lot of people want to be friends with Jean for certain reasons, but she want the telepath to have some kind of happiness in her life. "I'm not interested in love right now." Jean denies it.
"Okay, suit yourself."
"What is your type, Harley?" Jean asked, not wanting to read her mind without her permission.
It was difficult to think of a guy since the guys here aren't really interested in her. "I'm looking for someone good. Maybe a mutant. Different from any other guy I've met. Someone who won't be creeped out by this."
Jean purses her lips. "Harles, there's nothing wrong with your ears or eyes. If a guy really likes you, then he should be able look past your eyes and ears."
"I know, but you're not the one who looks like a mutated housecat." Harley mumbles. "I gotta go. Got some homework to do." She walks away from Jean and goes back to the mansion.
Before her mutation, Harley had looked completely normal. She's had about two boyfriends in her whole life, but now it was hard. Harley didn't want a boyfriend right now, but she wished people weren't so judgmental when it came to beauty.
In the halls, Harley was about to go into her room until she stopped by two familiar faces. "Hey, Pussycat, going to hunt some mice?" The girl with long, light brown hair smirks.
Harley sighs, "Sydney, Chris, why am I not surprised to see both of you?"
"Maybe you were too busy cleaning out your litterbox," the girl with pink eyes mocks her.
"Good one, Chris!" Sydney snorts.
"What more insults could you say today?"
Chris grins. "I was just wondering . . . this school is for mutants. So why are you even here?"
Her obvious question made Harley fold her arms and sarcastically respond, "Gee, I don't know, Chris. Maybe it's because I am a mutant. Did you ever think of that? That could be the answer."
"No, I mean people who go here have powers. You don't have any."
"Yeah, Harley, you just copy our powers." Sydney added. "That's it."
That would usually hurt her feelings, but Harley still stood tall. "You just turn invisible, and you just grow your hair. I can have anybody's powers."
"Well, I am never sharing my powers with anyone, especially you." Sydney informed her.
"You never shared a pizza." Harley manages to insult her.
The girl with long hair drops her jaw. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Think about when you're inhaling your next cherry pie for breakfast." Harley proudly begins to walk away until something grabs hold of her arm. "Hey!"
It was Sydney who has made a thick piece of her hair wrap around the other mutant 's forearm. "You better watch your mouth, Whiskers," she warns her.
Even though she was in a bad situation, Harley stills manages to keep running her mouth. "When's the last time you wash this thing?"
"You're no mutant. You're nothing but a copycat."
"Girls, is there a problem here?" A voice startles them.
Sydney then releases Harley as Hank McCoy steps closer to the girls. Nobody was afraid of him, but none of the girls wanted to get in trouble.
"No, of course not, Dr. McCoy," Chris convincingly lies to him. "We were just talking."
"I hope so because I'd hate to give you girls detention tomorrow," he tells them.
"Dr. McCoy, we weren't doing anything," Sydney lies as well. "We're going to my room to study for our history quiz so if you'll excuse us. See you, Pussycat."
As they walk away to their room, Harley turns back and says aloud, "See you too, Bug Eyes, Medusa."
"Medusa?" Hank repeated. "I'll admit that's catchy."
Harley chuckles, "Sorry about that, Dr. McCoy. In all fairness, I know Chris wears headgear when she sleeps."
"I know that too. Anyways, I gotta go. Harley, this time, try not to get into any more arguments."
"No promises, Doctor." She say as she walks away.
In her room, Harley did her algebra homework, which she usually had trouble with. Hours had passed and Harley fell asleep on her desk. It was cozy for her as she rests her head on her papers. Everything was peaceful until a rattling had awaken her from her slumber.
Harley's eyes shot open and she sat right up. She looks around as everything in her room was shaking. Once it stopped, Harley noticed that it was nighttime. Like everybody in school, she knew this wasn't an earthquake.
"Oh, no." She mumbles. "Jean."
She walked to the hallways and noticed that all the kids were standing outside of their bedrooms. Professor Xavier was rolling into the hallway and calming everyone down, "Alright, everybody back to bed. Please, back to bed."
"She's doing it again." A kid whispered.
As the Professor headed to Jean Grey's room, Hank stopped by Harley and asks, "Harley, could you make sure that everybody gets back to bed?"
"Of course, Dr. McCoy." Dr. McCoy follows the powerful telepath and Harley does what he says. "Come on, kids, back to bed. Freddie, go to your room."
Chris, who was next to Sydney, whispers, "I don't get why she's even here."
"Someday she's really gonna hurt someone," Sydney mumbles as she folds her arms.
"Dr. McCoy says back to bed." Harley informs them.
Sydney gives her a look and says, "How can you be so peaceful when you know she's going off now?"
She hated how people could say things about her friend. "Jean is not going to hurt anyone. She's normal."
"You detect powers, Harley," Chris points out to her. "Don't act like you don't know what the hell she is."
Finally, the two girls walked back to their bedrooms like everybody else. Harley passes by her young friend who was a little girl with freckles and blonde hair.
"Harley, I'm scared," the little girl whimpers.
"Natalie, you want me to tuck in?" The girl nods to her question. "Okay, come on."
Harley takes the small child into her room and laid her down in her bed. As she tucks her in, Natalie questions her, "Why is she here?"
"Who?"
"Jean."
It's not that Jean was a horrible, nasty person. Unlike the rest of the students, her powers were a bit too much, even for Professor Xavier to handle. "Like the rest of us." The girl with cat ears answers. "We want to control our powers."
"But she shakes the whole house and you're her only friend."
"Not true. There's Jubilee."
Natalie was still curious about the redhead who lives in the same mansion as them. "Is Jean mean?" She asks Harley.
"No, she's not. She's sweet, nice, and pretty funny." That was the truth. Harley didn't judge Jean by her powers, but rather by her personality.
"You're not afraid of her? I wish I was brave like you, Harley."
"It's not about being brave, Natalie," Harley tells her. "You just have to look past her powers and see her as one of us. She's a person just like you and me."
The little girl smiles. "I miss my mom."
"I know, Nat. I miss mine too. And all my brothers and sisters." She didn't want to spill her life story to child so she quickly changes the subject. "Okay, so good night. Sweet dreams, Natalie."
"Good night, Harley."
Harley quietly walks out of her room. Once she was in the hall, she saw the Professor coming out of Jean's room.
"Hello, Professor." Harley says to the man in wheelchair.
"Oh, hello, Harley." He was surprised by her. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"
"I was just putting Natalie to sleep. I'm sorry, sir."
Charles Xavier rolls in front of her. "No, it's fine."
"How's Jean?" Harley asked, concerned for her friend.
"Better." He answers. "She's asleep now."
"I'm glad she's alright."
"Well, I'm glad she has you as her friend." He smiles at her.
The mutant girl shrugs her shoulders and smirks, "Why not? Jean is a great person. It's just that everybody thinks I'm like David and she's Goliath. I don't see the big deal is about Jean."
Professor X knees that Harley knows what kind of powers Jean had. "Harley, you detect all of our powers. You know how powerful Jean is."
"I do." She says.
"Is that why you never copied her powers?" The man asks her.
Jean didn't scare her, but her powers were a whole other story. Harley knew she couldn't lie to the Professor if she wanted to. Only an idiot would try to lie to a telepath. "Professor, Jean is one of my best friends, but her powers are very dangerous. I know there's more to her than just telepathy and telekinesis. I know that she has powers beyond anyone else's. I just don't want her to be afraid."
He takes her hand into his and looks up at her. "I understand, Harley."
"You think there's any other ways we can help her?" Harley asks him.
"She'll be alright for now. Just don't mention the whole house shaking thing to her, okay."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, Harley?"
"Yes, Professor."
"You called Alex Havok? I heard you mention it to Jubilee."
Her heart stopped for a second. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. No one was to ever speak of the X-Men, Raven, or Erik to the Professor, knowing that they were his biggest weaknesses. "I'm sorry, sir." She hesitantly apologizes. "It's just that . . . that time I copied your powers and I saw your mind. I saw the X-Men. You, Banshee, Angel, Havok, Magneto, Beast, Darwin, Mystique. Eventually, someone here would find out about the X-Men."
It's been a long time since he's heard those names. Memories were then triggered into his mind. "They were my first students," he tells her.
"You ever think someday . . . " Harley was so terrified to ask him her question. She didn't want to piss him off or create tension. " . . . the world might need them again. New X-Men, I mean."
Charles had never thought this day would come. Having his students fight and risk their lives was the last thing on his mind. "I'm sorry, my dear, but I cannot allow that. This is a school, not a superhero academy. I cannot risk any of your lives like what happened to my team."
"Okay, I understand." Another thing was wandering in her head. "Oh, Professor, I have another question."
"Yes?"
"Do you miss them? All of them?"
So much, he thought. "Not a day goes by that I don't think of any of them, but let's not dwell on the past. Try and get some rest."
"Yes, sir."
She begins to walk to her room. "Good night, Harley."
"Good night, Professor." She tells them.
In her opinion, she absolutely adored the Professor. He was like a father to her, to all the students at the mansion. Being a mutant at this age was already hard enough for all of them, but Professor Charles Xavier was always there for every single one of his children.