Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with X-Men, Marvel, Fox. I am just a fan and I am not making money off of this story.

Bobby didn't pick me up alone. I recognize the woman with him - Dr. Jean Grey. I remember seeing her on TV a few months ago talking to Congress about mutants. Mr. Summers is here too. I haven't seen him since he took Bobby to the school three years ago but it's impossible to forget those eye shades.

"Welcome, Ronny." He shakes my hand. So does Dr. Grey.

"Thanks," I quietly say, too overwhelmed to say anything else.

Bobby puts his arm around my shoulder. "Let's go."

—-

Dr. Grey drives us to the school. The car ride is pretty quiet at first but then they all start talking about life at the school and what classes are like. I try to look like I appreciate them making the effort because I know it's rude not to. But I'm tired. And I'm scared. This is a brand new experience for me and I hate the unknown.

Bobby probably notices how uncomfortable I am. "I hope you don't mind rooming with your big brother." He smiles.

I smile back, but then I remember John is his roommate too. Ugh, am I going to have to live with him as well? "Is John going to be okay with that?"

Bobby's smile fades. "John left."

I wasn't expecting that. "He left?"

"He joined Magneto."

Magneto…oh yeah, the crazy mutant that attacked Liberty Island. Oh goodie, two psychos together. "What was his problem, anyway? I mean, in the end I don't think it would have made any difference, but was he trying to ruin things for you with Mom and Dad?"

He doesn't answer at first. "I don't know. He's just got angrier and angrier over the years."

I almost make a snarky comment but I stop myself. I only knew John as a jerk, but he was still Bobby's friend and Bobby's clearly hurting from his betrayal. Screw John. "I'm sorry."

Bobby manages a small smile. "Thanks."

The rest of the car ride is pretty uneventful. I succeed in making chit chat. Mr. Summers asks about his car, clarifying that it's the one Logan and the others took to my house. I tell him my parents had it towed. I give him the name of the garage and he says he'll look it up after we get to the school.

Finally, the school comes into view. The closer we get, the more intimidated I feel. We pass through the gates and I see the sign for "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters". Gifted? I don't have any mutant powers. I'm not even a good student. What am I even doing? I'm starting to feel like I've made a mistake coming here.

We pull up to the main entrance. Bobby and I get out; he helps me with my suitcases and Dr. Grey and Mr. Summers continue on to the garage.

Professor Xavier greets us in the main foyer. "Hello, Ronny. Welcome." We shake hands. I wonder if he can sense how anxious I am. "I must say, I am honored that you've decided to come to my school. It's been my dream to have mutants and humans living and learning side by side. You have the distinction of being the first non-mutant student in attendance."

Well, that's something special at least. "Thank you."

"Please excuse the mess. We're still cleaning up from the assault earlier this week." I look around. This room doesn't look bad, though I imagine some other rooms probably look worse. I can't help but wonder what kind of facility that houses hunted kids doesn't have better security. "We'll be improving security measures here shortly." My eyes go wide. Crap, he can read minds, right?

Professor Xavier is still smiling; if he read my thoughts he luckily doesn't seem offended by them. "Classes resume tomorrow. This evening after dinner we'll meet in my office and discuss what courses you will be taking." He turns to Bobby. "Why don't you take Ronny up your room and you both can get settled." He starts to leave. "Welcome again, Ronny." I smile. Maybe things are going to be okay.

Bobby and I go upstairs. I've got my backpack and little suitcase, and he has my big one. "Dinner's at 5:30. That gives us some time to unwind."

"Who cooks for this many people?" I ask. "Do you have a full-time chef?"

"Oh yes. And actually, you should meet her. She's not a mutant."

"What?" That surprises me. "You never told me there's a human working here. Does she know the truth about this place?"

He chuckles. "Sorry, it just never came up. But yeah, she's cool. And yes, she knows. One of the few non-mutants who do."

We're walking down a long hallway with numerous doors on both sides. Have we reached the dorm area yet? And how many kids' parents are among those who know this is a mutant school. Bobby told me most of the students are runaways and only a handful keep in touch with their families. Am I going to be welcomed here? "How do you think the other students are going to feel living with a non-mutant?"

"It's be fine," he assures me.

One of the doors opens just then. A girl of maybe 12 or 13 stands in the doorway. She seemed like she was about to leave the room until she saw me. She just stands there staring at me.

"Hi," I awkwardly say.

"Hi," she awkwardly responds, clearly uncomfortable. Instead of leaving or saying anything else, she quickly closes the door.

That was weird. We pass by more rooms. Some of the doors are open. A couple of students peak outside then hurriedly go back in. It'll be fine my ass.

We stop in front of one of the doors. "We're here," Bobby tells me. Finally. He opens the door and we walk inside. There's two beds, each on opposite sides of the room. Bobby gestures to the bed next to the rear wall. "That one's yours. So's the desk next to it." The desk is empty. I'm guessing they already cleared out John's stuff. I set my backpack down on top of the desk and unzip my little suitcase. Bobby rolls my big suitcase over to me. "Want help unpacking?"

I nod and plop down on the bed - my new bed. I'm exhausted and completely mentally drained. Bobby starts taking my things out. I don't feel like unpacking right now but I know I definitely won't later so I start helping him. "I had some extra space so I brought you some things."

"Thanks."

I take my laptop out of my bag and place it on the desk. "Mom and Dad are moving." Why the heck did I bring them up?

"Oh," Bobby just says. He's trying to sound indifferent but I can hear the pain in his voice. "Well, I wish them all the best." Really, Bobby? After everything they did to us? I shouldn't have mentioned them. I need to the change the subject.

"Did you see the way the other kids were looking at me? That was really disconcerting."

"They're just nervous. They haven't had many positive experiences with non-mutants."

"They're afraid of me?" It was a statement, not a question. I scoff. "They can blow my head off, send me flying on a high railing, burn me to a crisp, and who know else, and yet they're afraid of me."

Bobby puts a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be alright. When they meet you tonight we'll break the ice and they'll get to know you."

I can't help but smirk. "Break the ice - look who's talking."

"Ha ha," Bobby mock laughs. "The pun wasn't intended. But trust me, it'll be okay."

"I hope so."

He squeezes my shoulder reassuringly. "C'mon, let's finish unpacking."

—-

Bobby was right. The evening went a lot better than I expected. Professor Xavier did a brief welcome speech and everyone even applauded for me. It was a bit embarrassing but it certainly could have been worse.

I sit between Bobby and another guy with a slight Russian accent named Peter. Bobby's girlfriend, Rogue, is sitting on the other side of him. Rounding out our table are some other friends of Bobby named Jubilee and Kitty. It occurs to me that I'm probably sitting at the 'big kids' table.

"So Ronny," Jubilee begins. "How do you like it here so far?"

"It looks nice," I reply as I swallow a spoonful of mashed potatoes. I'm not sure what else to say. I've only been here a few hours. "The food's good at least."

That got a chuckle from the group. "It usually is," Kitty chimes in.

Just then a very blue...demon-looking mutant enters the room. And whoa! Does he have a tail, too? He looks right at me. "Gutentag," he greets in a very thick German accent.

"Good evening, Kurt," Bobby responds.

The others greet 'Kurt' with variations of "Hi" or "Good evening" and I think I was able to force myself to smile. I hope he didn't notice the anxiety I'm sure shone in my eyes. I know he has to be a nice person and I feel bad for being so apprehensive, but this is the first time I've seen a mutant who looked so...mutanty.

"Who is he?" I ask, as Kurt sits downs at the staff table.

"Kurt Wagner," Rogue answers. "He's new too. Used to be in the Munich Circus, apparently."

"Does he have any powers or does he just look..." I let the question hang in the air. It just occurs to me that the word 'different' might be inappropriate or wrong.

Luckily, no one seems to take offense. "He can teleport," Bobby informs me.

"Interesting." I look back over at Kurt Wagner sitting at the staff table and he appears to be getting along with everyone. I'm sure I'll get used to him in no time. I wonder what everyone else's powers are. "So what can you all do?" I ask them. Bobby already told me about Rogue - talk about being blessed with suck! But I'm genuinely curious about the others.

"I can walk through walls and anything solid," Kitty tells me.

Jubilee doesn't say anything. She just smirks, raises her hands, and generates energy or electricity from them.

I turn to Peter and suddenly his hands turn metallic. Then his entire head becomes metal. I'm guessing the rest of him did too. "I'm pretty amazingly strong..."

"That's putting it mildly!" Jubilee exclaims.

"...when I'm in this Colossus-mode as everyone calls it."

I don't say anything for a moment because I'm feeling really intimidated by this massive display of mutant power. Other than Bobby, this is the first time I've seen mutant powers up close and personal. "Cool," I finally say. Then I notice the other kids are staring at us. The sudden display of mutant power probably got their attention. I look down. "They think I'm giving you trouble."

"Oh it's fine," Kitty assures me. Although her voice sounds like she's trying too hard to be to reassuring.

I sigh and decide to let me guard down. These are Bobby's friends. I can trust them. "Be honest with me. Is it okay that I'm here."

"Completely!" Jubilee exclaims.

"Yes," Peter firmly states.

Rogue reaches from behind Bobby and taps me on the shoulder. I look her way. "Yes, you're in an awkward position for being the first non-mutant student here. But once people get to know you, it'll be all good. No one's going to hold you accountable for the rest of humanity."

"Exactly!"

"Yes!"

"What she said."

I'm grateful for their support. Bobby was right; things would be okay. If nothing else, his friends were my friends.

The rest of dinner went well. Some people even came up to just to say welcome. Things weren't so bad.

I met with Professor Xavier afterwards and after a few minutes I had my list of classes. There was the usual subjects - English Lit with him, World History with Ms. Munroe, Chemistry with Dr. Grey...but the thing that really interested me and borderline excited me was the type of math class I'd be taking with Mr. Summers. Math was always a struggle for me and I have a lot of bad memories of me and my parents fighting over it. Geometry proofs were especially hard and tedious. Here, in addition to teaching regular geometry, Mr. Summers also teaches an Informal Geometry class. According to the Professor, it's basically geometry without the proofs; you just solve the equations. I'll be taking that instead. It certainly can't be worse than regular geometry.

I've also got Shop with Mr. Summers, P.E. and I'm going to take Spanish with Professor Xavier too.

I spent most of the rest of the evening in the game room with a lot of the other students. We played video games and foosball. Everyone was easy to get along with. I had fun and I'm finally starting to relax. I think I'm going to like it here.

—-

It's late. Bobby and I are laying on our beds - he's reading a book, I'm staring at the ceiling. I'm starting to feel uneasy again. We turned off the ceiling light, but he has his desk lamp on and is reading by it.

He closes the book and looks at me. "So, how was your first day here?"

"Technically, tomorrow's my first day. Today was just moving day."

"Point taken." He smiles. "So what do you think?"

"It's good. You were right. Things got better."

"It looked like you were having fun in the game room."

"Yeah. Everyone was really accepting of me. You'd never think I wasn't like them."

"In a way you are. Remember, most of them are runaways whose parents kicked them out."

We both frown. Geez, Bobby, why did you all but bring up our parents? I was in a good mood.

No, I wasn't. Not completely. Mom and Dad are in the back of mind and that's why I've been uneasy. I wonder what they must be feeling right now. Are they even able to sleep? Just three nights ago, they thought their whole world was perfect and the four of us were one big happy family. And even last night, they still had one child. Now, they have no children. And why am I even feeling sad for them, anyway? Any pain they're in is self-inflicted; they made themselves childless.

"We need to talk about them," Bobby says.

I know he's right, but I don't want to. "I still can't believe they've disowned us. Well, I can but...it still hurts more than I thought it would." The cold hard truth hits. It hurts so damn much. I was never good enough for them but I wanted to be. There were plenty of times when I thought I hated them but I knew deep down it wasn't true. I wish I could stop loving them the way they've stopped loving me and Bobby. Well, technically that's not true. I remember Mom's last words to me. I'll always love you boys. Just not enough to own and accept us. "It hurts," I repeat.

"Are you regretting your decision coming here?" He looks worried, I can see it in his eyes. It's like he's afraid he's going to lose me too.

"No!" I quickly exclaim. "No." Bobby loves me unconditionally. Mom and Dad don't. "I don't miss Mom and Dad. Not really." How do I phrase this? "...I just miss having a mom and a dad."

He nods. "That's a good way of putting it." We stay in silence for a little while. The weight of our parents' rejection is still something we need to process. "We're the worst kind of orphans - the ones whose parents are alive but want nothing to do with us."

"When we haven't done anything wrong," I add. Another moment of silence. "You said most of the students here are runaways or throwaways. Who here actually actually has family that supports them?"

"Let's see," he begins, thinking. "There's Kitty. Jubilee too. Peter. Theresa. Sam Guthrie, not sure if you met those two yet. Oh - Sam and Peter each have younger sisters who just developed mutant powers and they'll be joining the school soon. Did you meet Dorianne yet?"

Dorianne...the name rings a bell. "Was that the girl I passed by in the library? The one who asked me questions about what it was like finding out I had mutant brother and how that felt?"

"Yeah, that's her. She talked to me when you were meeting with the Professor. Her becoming a mutant ripped her family apart. Her father stood by her but her mother didn't. They got divorced over it. Her mom took full custody of her little sister and won't let either of them contact her.

"Wow, that's sad."

"It is. She was really close to her sister before all this. She told me that you inspired her to find some way to secretly contact her sister and maintain that connection. You know, make sure she has access to all the facts and not just grow up with anti-mutant propaganda."

The nightmare I had last night where I was a mutant-hating jerkass flashes through my mind. I try to push it out. That could have been me if the situation had been different. "I hope it works out for her. The less mutant hatred in the world, the better." Hopefully, the next generation of parents won't disown their children for being mutants.

"I'm glad you're here, Little Brother." He smiles at me.

I smile back. "I'm glad I'm here too, Big Brother." I'm sure we sound corny, but I don't care. This was definitely a Big Brother / Little Brother moment.

We're silent again for a little while, but it's a good kind of silence. A lot has happened in the last 72 hours. I know I'm thinking about it and Bobby has to be too.

Losing Mom and Dad still hurts, and I'm sure it will for the foreseeable future. But I know it will get easier. Boston's a lifetime away. New York - this school - is my home now. I've been accepted here. Bobby's never going to abandon me. I'm the first non-mutant student here ever. Plus, I've already inspired one student to try and repair her family. Maybe I am special after all. Who knows? The future's looking bright.

"I'm getting kinda tired," Bobby says. "Mind if I turn off the light?"

"Yeah, it's late. I'm tired too. Go ahead."

Bobby reaches over and turns off the lamp. The room goes dark but there's enough light from the stars and moon outside so my eyes adjust quickly. Bobby climbs under the covers. "It's an exciting day for you tomorrow - your first full day."

I laugh. I really am excited. "I think this is the first time I've ever looked forward to school."

Bobby chuckles. "Welcome to Mutant High."

"Thanks Bobby."

"Goodnight Ronny."

"Goodnight Bro."