"Elsie, right?"

"Wright", I say out of habit. The bald man in a wheelchair - Baldie for short - glares for a second before continuing. "My name is Charles Xavier."

Charles Xavier it is. Or Chuck. Sounds much better. Chuckles...

"Welcome to the Xavier Institute. Here, you'll learn how to control your new... gifts."

Gifts? What gifts? All I got is that freaky blue eye tint. I'm still wearing my shades.

"You're not paying attention."

That's right. Snap back to reality. "Um... sorry. It's just that... well, all this is very confusing. I mean, one day, I'm a perfectly normal kid, and next thing I know, loads of strange things happen to me, and I end up in some huge creepy mansion, miles away from home and everything that ever meant my life." I notice Chuck's startled _expression. "No offense."

And now I would get grounded, get a corfew or something of the sort.

"It's all right, Elsie. Logan can take you to meet the other students, and after that he'll show you to your room."

...Or not.

Logan snarls. He obviously doesn't like this more than I do. Can I get to my room first, take a nap, try to run back home, get caught and then meet the others?

"There's no reason for you to run away. This is your new home now."

So Chuckles can read minds. Hear, hear...

"Go on now."

In other words, get lost, I have more important stuff to do than sit here and lecture in front of someone who doesn't give a damn about it. *sigh* Welp, I guess it's time to meet the others.

~

Wow. This mansion is truely the biggest place I've ever been to. I'm guessing you could easily get lost in here. Thank Heavens Logan is with me, although I couldn't mistake him for an angel even if I was dead drunk and blindfolded. And I haven't taken my shades off for bloody ages, neither.

Logan opens a door and steps into some sort of a common room. I follow him. Sitting on the floor, about five or six dudes are playing a game of 'Spin the Bottle'. All look about my age or younger. This may not be so bad after all.

"Your attention please!"

Everyone turns towards us. I quietly sneak behind Logan, and I stay there.

"We have a new student-" he steps aside, leaving me out in the open "-Elsie Wright."

Oh dear. Stares. "Uh... hi there."

Hand waves, 'Hi's and stuff like that. Dear God, please make me disappear now.

"I'll just leave you with the kids, OK?" Before I can say anything else, Logan exits. Alone against a crowd. Oh dear.

"Hi! I'm Jubilee!" A thin, brown-haired girl comes up to me and shakes my hand energically. "Welcome to the team!"

"I'm Amara", another girl cuts in. She looks a bit like Jubilee, only she's shorter and has a brown skin. "And this is Rahne", she points towards a short girl with two hairtails.

Rahne crouches, then changes into a wolf of some sort and rubs against my feet. I take a step back. She turns back to her human self and grins, "Sorry if I scared you."

I find the energy to smile, although I was on the verge of having a heart attack. "Nope, wasn't scared." Liar.

Someone yanks my sleeve. I look down. A cute little guy smiles at me, "Hi, I'm Jamie."

"I'm Ray", a tall guy with blonde hair and painted strips says seriously as he takes my hand and shakes it.

"I'm Roberto." Before I can say anything, another guy takes my hand, and almost crushes it, too. "So, what's your power?"

I finally get the chance to say something. "Well, I..." Does having strange-looking eyes count? "I don't know."

Thankfully, the same instant, the door opens, and two other guys come in. One of them, tall and blonde, has his hand immobilized. The other one apparently tries to cheer him up.

Before you can say "Chuckles", all kids rush to the two. I follow.

"So, is it better now, Sam?" Ray asks. The blonde guy scowls. "Look, I really didn't mean-"

"What happened?" I ask, my mouth outrunning my brain.

Everyone turns to stare at me. Again. Why couldn't I just shut my big stupid mouth up?

"Well, we were playing football, and... Ray got a tad excited about the whole thing and knocked Sam down", Jubilee explains. Ray scowls.

"I didn't mean to", he protests.

"I got that part", Sam cuts in. "You guys are lucky that Mr. McCoy knows some stuff about first aid. And that I got Bobby around."

The other guy - Bobby - grins. "Enough of that. I see we got a new girl around?"

"Yeah." I wave. "Hi. Name's Elsie."

"Cool! What's your power?"

"Well, I..." So, again about my power. That I have no idea of. Since I don't really have many options, I take off my shades. Everyone stares.

"Did you know, blue's always been my fave color?" Ray sais, grinning. I don't like that grin.

"Relax, he's always like that." Amara puts a comforting hand around my shoulder. "I think you'll fit right in here at the Institute."

I think not. "Thanks."

"So, can we go back to playing now?" Jubilee asks impatiently. "It was my turn!"

"No it wasn't!" Ray protests. "It was mine!"

"Yeah, I was to dare you."

So, they're playing 'Truth or Dare', bottle version. I got a hunch I'm gonna have some fun with these guys. We all go and sit in the middle of the room. Incidentally or not, I get to sit between Ray and Amara. I sigh mentally.

"So... Ray. Truth or dare?"

"Dare me!"

Geez, why am I not surprised. Typical.

"Okay... make a 20 words love declaration to one of the girls present, except for me."

Evil chuckles in the background. Uh-oh.

"Fine." Ray stands up, looks around - and finally his gaze stops on me. He lazily drops to one knee. The others pull back to make room for him. He takes my hand.

"Elsie. A day has twenty-four hours, an hour has sixty minutes, but each minute is an eternity without you."

The others cheer. I blush. Ray kisses my hand, then goes back to his seat, grinning evilly. I'm gona kill Jubilee.

Ray spins the bottle. It points towards me. Coincidence? Like hell.

"Well. Elsie, truth or dare?"

"Truth." I'm not insane to risk a dare.

"Okay... who's the cutest, best-looking guy in this room?"

He probably expects me to say him. Well, tough luck, amigo. "I think Jamie's the sweetest", I say, grinning. The look on Ray's face is priceless.

My turn to spin the bottle. I grab it and get ready to give it a go, when the door opens, and... oh my insanity.

There are no words to describe the character that just went in. Huge. Blue. Wearing a brown coat and glasses. And holding a Shakespeare book. I must be hallucinating.

Much to my surprise, the other kids just say 'Hello, Mr. McCoy' instead of running away, so I supress the urge to scream and I glare.

"Amara's been teasing me about my hair!" Jubilee says before Mr. McCoy gets the chance to say anything.

"I did not!"

"Did to!"

"Did not!"

"Now, ladies. I'm sure we can all reach a compromise here. And Jubilee, your hair looks great today. Anyway, that's not why I'm here. Elsie, the Professor asked me to do some tests so we know more about your mutant abilities."

I swallow hard. "Tests?"

He smiles confortingly. Or, at least he thinks that's a conforting smile. "Don't worry, it won't hurt a bit."

I've heard that line before. In a Frankenstein movie. "You... you sure?"

"I can come with you", Ray offers immediately. Roberto scowls at him, but pretends to be very interested by Jubilee's hairdo when Ray gives him a glare.

Well, not the most pleasant company, but definately better than nothing. "Thanks, Ray." I get up. "Let's go!"

~

Again, we go through seemingly endless corridors. Mr. McCoy - or Hank, like he told me to call him - puts a comforting hand around my shoulder. "So, Elsie. Did you notice anything strange about yourself lately?"

"Did I? Look at my eyes."

"Hmm. I see. Apart from that?"

I frown. "Well, there was this one time that I touched a guy and then I passed out, but... but that's not relevant, is it?"

Hank hmm-s again, then keeps silent.

"I mean, I touched other guys since then, and I was OK."

Another hmm. "Did you notice anything... particular about the person you touched?"

"Well, he was..." Cute. To be more precise, drop dead sexy. "His leg was broken."

"I see." Well, that makes one of us. "For all I know, you could be a healer."

I stopped. "Come again?"

"A healer. A person that can heal physical injuries by use of his or her own energy. That explains why you fainted when you touched him. Of course this is all a supposition, but still..."

"Oh, I understand." To be honest, I don't, but what the heck. But I don't have time to refflect on it. Suddenly, there is a flash of smoke, a 'Bamf', and a very strange character appears, laughing so hard he can hardly breathe. When he sees us, he chokes and starts to cough hard.

"It's all right, Kurt. She's our new student", Hank says, reaching out and patting him on the back. Kurt gives him a grateful look before turning to me, "Hello."

That's when I notice he has a tail. And fur. And three fingers. Jesus, Lord, what have I done you wrong? "Err, hi, Kurt. I'm... I'm Elsie."

"Well, nice to meet you!" He shakes my hand energically. I think I heard that twenty times today.

Out of nowhere, a girl in a pink blouse and jeans runs into me, sending both of us crashing on the floor. Wait... she came through the wall. Oh wow.

"Like, sorry", she says, jumping back to her feet and pulling me up. "My fault. I really should watch where I'm going", she goes on in a hyper voice. "Wait... you're new! I'm Kitty", she says. "Sorry for-"

"It's OK", I interrupt her. Frankly, I'm too tired to care. Yup, that's the word. Tired. Dead tired.

"Really? Well... cool!"

"We really should be going", Hank interrupts our little conversation. "We must be done before dinner."

"You have no idea how good that word sounds to me", I say with a sigh.

"Dinner?" Ray asks. "I've got some snacks in my room! Unless Bobby ate them all that is."

Suddenly, Hank stops in front of a pair of metalic doors. "The elevator", he says, pushing a button. The doors open with a his.

"You guys have elevators? Geez, I think I'm starting to like it here!"

"You haven't seen anything yet", Ray retorts.

We're going down. I can tell that by that sensation of emptiness in my stomach. This lasts for about a minute or so, then the doors open again.

I rub at my eyes. My sight must be playing tricks on me.

The decor we came out in looks like the interior of the Star Treck research deck. Metal floors. Metal walls. Glass panels. I guess I'm in the twilight zone. Creeepy.

"Mr. McCoy? What kind of tests will you do exactly?"

"Well, for starters, I need a sample of your blood. Then I'll analyze it and-"

"No way. No freakin' way."

I'm freaked out by needles. Any kind of needles. Any at all.

"Come on, it won't hurt! I'll spary some anestezic so you won't feel a thing!"

Something in his voice makes me calm down. "You sure it won't hurt?"

He smiles, "Certainly."

"Well. okay, but make it quick."

And he does the whole thing in less than thirty seconds. No pain... but I can't feel my left arm.

"That'll do for now. Except - for one more test..." He takes another needle, then does a small scratch on the back of his hand. Eww... blood...

"Can you heal that?" he asks.

For a second, I feel the impulse to yell, "HOW?!", but I contain it. "I don't know", I say instead. "But I guess I... can give it a go..."

"You can do it", Ray says, trying to encourage me. Duh.

I close my eyes and reach out for Hank's hand. The next second, tiny sparks are dancing before my closed eyelids, and my head feels like it's about to drop off. All lasts for a few moments, then I pull my hand back to clutch at my forehead. Ray puts a hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?"

I force myself to open my eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine." Slowly, I'm returning to normal. Hank smiles at me.

"Well, it's like I thought. You are a healer."

Wow. I'm a healer. "Yeah", I say.

"That's great! We've been needing one of those", Ray cheers. "Especially when... well, you know..."

"Yeah, I know." Fortunately for the world, a speaker beeps, and I hear, "Dinner will be served in the dining room in ten minutes." I don't know the voice.

"Well now, let's go!" Hank says cheerfully.

I stand up groggily. Ray offers me his arm for support. I take it, although if I wasn't in such a state, I wouldn't. All three of us enter the elevator, and a minute later we're in the hallway upstairs.

The rest of the day passes like a videotape when you hit 'Fast Forward': dinner, Chuck telling me that I'll be roomies with Wolfsbane - Wolfsbane? The she-wolf? Oh my... - , Kurt carrying my luggage upstairs and saying some sort of a silly joke in German, dropping on the bed in my new room, stare at Rahne. It was then that I realize there was only one bed.

"It's OK", Rahne says with a sigh. "I'll just sleep on the armchair." With that, she turns into a brown wolf and leaps on the armchair, curling up in a ball and closing her eyes.

After that, I fall asleep.

Probably faster than I normally do.