Jan's tale 2 - Waking up at Whateley Academy

Jan’s Tale 2
First Morning at Whateley Academy

Jan is not a happy camper. As if his life didn't suck enough already, turning into a mutant was everything but an improvement. Jan didn't get real superpowers, Jan got to be girly. To make it worse his parents decided in their unimaginable wisdom that exile to America was the solution for his problems. He is not so sure though.

Thanks to djkauf for editing.
Thanks to my proofreaders Drawflow, landing, DAW, Janet and last but not least Sleethr for their help.

Picture Credit to mking2008

Disclaimer: This is fan fiction for the Whateley Academy series. It may or may not match the timeline, characters, and continuity, but since it's fan fiction, who cares? To see the canon Whateley Stories, check out www.crystalhall.org

*Yawn*. My sleep had been good, but it was still early in the morning. Only a little, reddish colored light shone through the drapes of the window. On top, on the upper bunk, Lisa was breathing calmly, apparently still sleeping. God, the beds were comfy. Even though the first sunrays were tickling my face I didn’t feel like getting out of bed. Snuggling myself into the covers was so much better.

The school’s beds were so much better than I’d feared. Hell, it could have been like our school trip to a youth hostel near the Polish border in eighth grade. It was horrible. My back still hurt when I thought about that trip! The beds... a shudder ran over me and I drew the covers under my nose. The beds even had a chipboard instead of a slatted frame and the mattresses were so old that they were probably made in the DDR (aka communist-East-Germany).

Thanks goodness it wasn’t like this here. No, the bedding was nice and warm, and overall even though I was awake, I was too lazy to get up. I could only hope I wouldn’t always feel like this, or I’d have problems making it to my classes on time.

Anyway, I hadn’t done much yesterday. After our talk with Ayla, we got the last room remaining and we quickly took our stuff up from the first floor. I only did the very necessary minimum; not even unpacking my rolling case. The only things I took out were my pajamas and I immediately followed that up by throwing them on and apologizing to the other changelings. The jet lag was killing me and I doubted anyone would resent me for turning in early. I hoped. Whatever they’d done afterwards, I had no idea, because I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

But that was yesterday, and now that I was awake and rested, I had some time to think about stuff in peace and quiet. Stuff like my fellow changelings. They certainly seemed nicer than my former classmates and I actually had something in common with them - which might be why I wasn’t isolated already. Instead of being the computer addicted, slightly overweight and asthmatic geek everyone thought was a fag, I just was one of them, the gender challenged. Ha! Gender Challenged. Political correctness can be funny sometimes, but it felt kind of nice to be part of a group and not be the outsider freak.

Only Alana could really understand me though. The rest of them... hell, they were actually happy with the stuff that happened to them! Although if I was honest with myself, Lisa could probably understand - a little. The way I felt now was the way she had felt before. There was also Hunter; she’d flinched when she’d been called a he for the first time. But the rest... Well, we were half the group already.

At least people here wouldn’t be asses if I wore boyish clothes or didn’t use makeup, or didn’t care about my hair... Or maybe they’d still give me shit, because they’d expect me to ‘adjust to my new gender’ as the stupid doctor had said. Seriously... Just adjust to my new gender. Even Susan or Lisa couldn’t possibly get what it was like to lose one’s gender. They knew what it was like when it suddenly got right, but for me... Something that had been somewhat right before now just felt wrong. Alien.

Crap, I needed to get my mind out of the rut, because all I was doing was making myself more depressed thinking about it. Seriously, it wasn’t all that bad... It could be way worse. My powers hadn’t killed me... so far, I didn’t grow fur, scales or a tail and I didn’t get some mental illness like Diedricks. While I didn’t understand girls, I had to admit that I didn’t understand English six years ago, either. And now here I was in an American high school and actually able to understand the “aliens”. Well, Americans were strange sometimes, but it wasn’t like they were from another planet. Boys, girls, men, women, were the same species. I could only hope... the way girls sometimes behaved... But since evolution hadn’t wiped girls out so far, maybe they also had their advantages... maybe peeing sitting?

Ugh... No. That totally wasn’t worth it! I’d lose it! I didn’t want to become a girl. There I went again. Without distraction I’d work myself up into a depression or something. Hell, I had enough issues to deal with and if I was depressed enough the stupid shell activated on top of the rest! Of course I was the one with the uncontrollable power. Not like others who just got instinctive control about their built-in flamethrower. But not me, God I wish it was so. No, mine activated whenever they wanted. It sucked.

Brooding didn’t bring me closer to a solution, and lying in my bed thinking only made it worse. There was only one solution, I had to get up and do something. Lisa shouldn’t wake if I took the book silently. Putting my covers aside, I stood up. Well... I tried. I didn’t stand for long. I’d totally forgotten about my Rucksack and promptly stumbled over it.

“Ouch!” I yelled, as I fell face first on my rolling case. “Verdammt! Scheiße!”

“Jan?” Lisa said yawning from the top-bunk. “What are you doing?”

“...hurting myself,” I replied, picking myself up. “I... I stumbled over my Rucksack... backpack... rucksack.”

“Rucksack,” Lisa confirmed. “Anyway, what time is it?”

I shrugged, tentatively probing my scratched knees and elbows. “My clock is still running on German time. I’ve no idea.”

“Okay,” Lisa yawned. “I’ll check.” Scrambling into sitting position she released yet another yawn. “It’s alright,” she said, taking an alarm clock from the far side of the wardrobe at the head side of our bed. “It’s only 6.30 am, but I think it’s late enough to get up.”

“Okay... ouch...” I said, holding my bruised knees as I slowly returned to my bed. “Crap... my legs hurt.”

“That’s what you get for scrambling around early in the morning. Decent people still sleep at this time of day.”

“I guess... I’m not decent... indecent,” I said sighing. “Ähm... what... what did you do yesterday... after I went to sleep?”

Legs began to dangle in front of the ladder. “Just talked a bit, but since most of us were tired, too, we just adjourned our meeting until today.”

“Okay... did I miss anything yesterday?” I asked. I really didn’t want to be the uninformed fool... again. “I mean... where are the others bunking?”

“Hunter and John have a room in boy’s town,” Lisa explained as she climbed down the ladder. “Our two shifters bunk together on the opposite side of the floor and the room next to us, on the side of the sunroom is used by Susan and Felicia, who seem to have adopted each other.”

“Good to know,” I said as I stood up groaning. “Scheiß Rucksack!” I kicked it for show.

“Shit rucksack?” Lisa translated grinning at me.

“Yeah... did you do German in school?”

“No,” she shook her head. “It’s not that hard. I mean we also have rucksack in English and all the world knows Scheisse is the favourite German cuss word.”

All the world except for Germany. Although she was right. Scheisse was really the most used German cuss word. Really like the English ‘fuck’. It was pretty much as versatile, too. Well, it was time to really light the room. Groaning, I went over to the window and opened the drapes. Returning to my bunk, I wiped the sleep out of my eyes. Then it happened. I looked at the door, or rather the mirror on it.

“Scheisse! Nein... no,” I exclaimed angrily, almost shouting.

“Jan, what’s up now?” Lisa inquired confused. “Did you stumble over something else?”

“My nose!” I moaned, pointing at the offending part of my anatomy. “It’s shrunk!” God, of course, I should have known last night’s transformation wouldn’t be without consequences. My nose, my manly nose was gone! Instead of my long, straight nose I had this small girlish thing! It was pointed upwards... and so small!

Liquid was dripping out of my tear ducts once again. Blinking, I looked at my roommate. “It looks so girlish... and... and I’m crying again.”

My manly nose was gone... And the day had looked so good. God, I should have just stayed in bed. I’d already begun the day on the wrong foot and it looked as if it was continuing in this vein. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I don’t know how I got there, but I found myself with my face deeply burrowed in my pillow. Tears continued to run down my cheeks only to be absorbed by the soft fabric. Everything sucked. God, I couldn’t even control my emotions anymore. What happened to the guy who was strong enough not to cry when the local brass music group had played on his granddad’s funeral? If that had happened today I would probably end up crying a fucking river!

“Jan, Jan!” Lisa said even though I stubbornly tried to ignore the world. “Hey, it’s alright.” I felt her sitting down on my bed, but I didn’t care... didn’t want to care. Then she suddenly sniffed loudly: “God you stink!”

“What!” I turned around to glare at her with my tear filled eyes. “I don’t stink!” Crap. There went my plan to ignore her. It was stupid anyway. “Sorry,” I sniffled. “I’m being an ass again. God, I’m throwing a bloody tantrum.”

“Yes, you are,” Lisa sighed. “But you really stink. I guess you still preserved your manly smell... and I guess olfactory cells.”

“Ha ha,” I said. “I really stink?” I shrugged, shaking my head at myself. “Sorry about this... I don’t know... Was it like this for you?”

She shook her head. “You mean mood swings?” I nodded and she continued. “Well, not this bad, but then I didn’t really suffer through a male puberty either. I used to be the small guy... the small Asian guy.”

“Maybe... Maybe Ayla has an idea,” I said, thinking loudly. Something was still bugging me though. “Ähm... do I really stink?”

“All guys do,” Lisa nodded. “But they don’t smell it to our chagrin. I don’t know what’s wrong with your noses, but it seems like you don’t smell anything at all before your clothing stinks like a cage full with skunks. There should be a law forcing guys to shower every morning!”

“I thought once a week was enough,” I said rubbing my nose.

“Disgusting!” Lisa exclaimed. “Um... sorry,” she threw a worried glance at me. “But you should really shower at least once a day.”

Crap... this was news. Why the fuck didn’t anyone ever tell me? Maybe the assholes from school weren’t just mocking me for once when they told me I stunk. Why didn’t my parents say anything? How was I supposed to know? When I was a kid it was enough to shower once a week. Why didn’t anyone tell me when that changed?

“So if my transformation progresses... I won’t need to do that anymore?” I asked seemingly hopeful... I was joking.

Lisa got it and mock-glared at me. “Pig!” Then she continued more subdued: “You really didn’t know?”

“No,” I shook my head. “Nobody ever told me properly. And seriously, who listens to bullies?”

“Ouch... well, apart from your stink...” Lisa said and I glared at her. “Well apart from your... smell you still have your jug ears.”

“Jug ears?” I raised my eyebrows, my ears weren’t that big. “What does that mean?”

“Your large ears,” she rolled her eyes. “Your manly large ears.”

“Very funny,” I rolled my eyes right back at her. “Of course... they had to be the last thing that... changed.” She was right, they really were my usual ears. Not that hers were that much smaller.

“Let’s go showering,” Lisa suggested, grabbing a towel from the cupboard. “You could use some help with your smell - the only alternative would be perfume,” she said, relishing in my disgusted shudders. “and I could also use a cold shower to get awake.” She shook her head. “Nah, a long hot one will do the same.”

Well, it couldn’t hurt to get acquainted with the local bathroom. And I really didn’t want to offend her with my smell if I could avoid it. Despite my stupid tantrum over my nose, Lisa had been pretty nice so far. If that was all she demanded, basic hygiene was something I could do for a favour.

“Okay, von mir aus,” I said before realizing I’d spoken in German. I quickly corrected myself. “Alright, I guess we can go.”

I had looked away while Lisa undressed, but now it was my turn and I hoped she’d do me the same favour. It was really a bit awkward. She was becoming a girl and enjoying it, while I really didn’t want it and regarded myself as a guy. Well, a guy with an awkward body and under strange drugs - aka female hormones - but I was a guy nonetheless.

Quickly hiding my genitals behind a towel, I stood up from the bed after I’d pulled off my pajama. “Okay, I’m okay... ready to go,” I declared.

“Follow me, in case that you missed the location of the bathrooms.” Lisa said, but then she rubbed her forehead. “Say, is there some reason why you spoke English better yesterday evening?”

What? “Ähm...” I said baffled. “I didn’t, did I?”

Lisa raised her eyebrows. “Yeah you did... which is quite strange honestly.”

“I have no idea,” I said shrugging. “I don’t know... why I would speak better English.” Now it was my turn to eye her suspiciously. “Are you sure you’re not... playing a prank on me?”

“No...,” Lisa said scratching her head. “but... ah! You had your shell active, I think.”

“Great,” I said opening the door of our room. “So I get awesome language powers... but only if I use my girlification shell... Ähm...” I looked out on the floor. “Where were the bathrooms again?”

“Over there,” my roommate and hopefully friend said, pointing over the corridor. “Come on, le’s go, I mean while most of the guys are gay I still don’t want to give them a show.”

I didn’t want that either - I still had the stuff they might be interested in after all - so I hurried after her. When we entered the bathrooms I was surprised to realize we weren’t the first. Susan was already there, sitting naked in front of the mirror, shaving her legs.

“Hi, Lisa, Jan,” she greeted us only barely looking up from her work.

Shaving my legs was something I regrettably wasn’t able to do. Not that I wanted to do it, but I had kinda liked the hair on my legs. But it wasn’t to be. My shell made me look like Kim Possible, which apparently included her shaved legs. Stupid shell made me look as girlish as it could. I knew it knew that I wouldn’t shave... or maybe I got paranoid about my powers. But seriously who wouldn’t if their superpower unwillingly turned them into a girl and actually made sure to give them a body completely free of body hair?! Not that I really missed the small stubble at my chin.

“Hi Susan,” both of us replied and I looked around nervously. Should I take my towel into the shower or should I leave it on the cupboard? I didn’t like that idea very much, walking around naked, showing off my freakiness...

“Does your razor work well?” Lisa inquired, distracting me from my depressing thoughts as she looked down at her admittedly slightly hairy legs. “Mine sucks, or I’m just too stupid to use it properly.”

Well, I could somewhat understand her. Red hair on black skin looked too strange. It wasn’t like silly blonde girls - like Susan for example - who felt the need to shave their almost invisible fuzz.

“Um... I guess I could try yours,” Susan suggested. “Or you could check if you do it the same way as I.” Then she focused at me. “Jan, is my pussy really that interesting?”

Oops.

My cheeks must have glowed red like Rudolph’s nose. Crap... Sorry, but was it my fault that I could see it perfectly from my position? I was a teenage guy; It wasn’t my fault I had to shower in the girl’s bathroom? Sheesh, it’s not like you would have been able to resist.

My rebellious thoughts aside I nodded. Lying wouldn’t help here at all.

“Well, I also like it,” Susan said, smiling at me. “It took awhile, but maybe half a month ago it was finally finished. I even had my first period already.”

I wasn’t red anymore, I was green. Fuck, periods... that was something I seriously tried to forget about. I never, ever ever wanted to have those. Nothing human bleeds for a week and still lives. Icky! God, anything but that. My mood was random enough as it was, I didn’t need to add the period on top of it. And I’d lose my dick, and my balls... no way! A shudder ran over me as I moved my hand under my towel, feeling if everything was still there.

Susan giggled. “Everything still hanging?” I nodded awkwardly and continued. “Sorry if I’m intruding, but what happened to you so far. I mean your face looks girlish, but the rest...”

“My nipples grew,” I admitted reluctantly as I touched the grown areola. “And my waist shrunk a bit. I think.” I sighed. “Thankfully my junk stayed normal.”

“Well, mine didn’t,” Lisa exclaimed happily.

I had kind of expected something like that and was sort of curious what was under her towel - mine would look the same way sooner or later - but Ayla had said we shouldn’t ask about it. Still, I couldn’t help to wonder.

“You’re curious?” Lisa asked raising her eyebrows.

I slowly nodded. “Yeah, but Ayla said we shouldn’t...”

“Oh... you remembered that?” Lisa said. “It was about not making fun and annoying others. Look, this is silly.” She suddenly pulled off her towel. “Here, it’s a bit weird, just look and get it out of your system once and for all.”

While this certainly clarified the issue of her genitals I somehow doubted it would be that easy in general. Female hormones or not, I was still interested in girls. And I really didn’t want to change my sexual orientation. Pussies were fascinating... The idea of having my own was... well, maybe even somewhat arousing, but it was also disturbing - I’d had a wet dream/nightmare about it. She was probably right, though. Now that I knew what she had under her towel I wouldn’t gawk - so much.

“As you can see here, this is the remainder of my penis,” she said lifting it up as if she was doing a presentation for school. “And down below my pussy is forming - my balls have been absorbed by my body and somehow became ovaries.”

Indeed, there was a... well, hole under her penis. The penis itself looked like mine did when I was a nine year old boy. Almost shrunken into nothingness. Quite fascinating in a medical sense, if not for the disturbing fact that mine would probably look the same way sometime in to close in the future.

“You wondered about this?” She asked grinning at me, while she waved her boy-penis around. “Well, it’s almost shrunk back into a clitty, but I can still pee standing.”

I looked away, at Susan. God, I didn’t need this explanation. I’d just wanted to know...

“That’s the only thing I miss,” Susan admitted. “I guess I didn’t use it very often, but it was nice to be able to do that.” She shrugged. “Well, you can’t have everything.”

“I can,” Ashley said from behind, spooking me. “Do you want to see?”

Is shook my head as I turned around to look at her. She’d probably realized my embarrassment since she blew me a raspberry. For god’s sake, this was getting awkward. Way, way too much information. I had just wanted to peek on them, get horny and a boner under my towel. I certainly didn’t want to get several genitals shown and explained. This was just disturbing and an unsettling view into my future. Suppressing a shudder, I hoped this future would be quite some time away.

“Sure,” Susan said to my chagrin. “I was wondering how your power worked anyway.”

“Well,” Ashley began, absently pulling at her green hair. “First, you see this,” she pulled her own towel away, allowing us to glance at her hairless and rather beautiful genitals. “And then you see this.” Her labia were closing and a dick sprouted out from under her folds. “It is rather useful if you need to pee,” stated Ashley. “It’s less messy this way.” She proceeded to go to a stall.

Great, why did I need to look again? At least they weren’t mad at me.

“Um, wait a second,” Lisa said, stalling her. “Say, were you this cool about it from the beginning?”

She shook her head. “Hell no, I was totally freaked, but I got used to it and it’s not so bad, really.” She shrugged. “I mean, I could easily be in Jan’s or Ayla’s situation. That would suck.”

“Hm...” I said. I didn’t want to be in my shoes either. But regretfully I was.

“Jaaaan,” Susan said, smirking evilly at me. “Say, we’ve all shown our junk, but we haven’t seen yours... I mean we Americans are supposed to be the prudes.”

I rolled my eyes. Was she serious? She probably had a point though, they’d all done the same. “Okay,” I sighed. I was not happy about this suggestion. “If you really need to see it, but it’s not so big.” Well, I’d seen bigger ones. Especially on those porn stars... Yes, that reminded me off the only good thing that had come from my mutation: Free Net access in my room rocked.

Blushing, I took the towel away... Whatever, they could look, watch my boner if they wanted, I didn’t care. It wasn’t like they didn’t have one of their own once.

“You’ve got issues,” Lisa groaned. “Mine was smaller.”

What did she expect? She told me she hadn’t really started puberty before she turned into a girl.

Ashley shrugged. “Well, I can grow a bigger one, but that doesn’t count.”

She got it easy. Like I would mind to grow boobs if I could also ungrow them.

Susan just grinned. “Nope, mine was bigger.”

Bitch... Well not really, if I was her I’d probably said the same.

“That’s got to be the strangest conversation I’ve ever listened to,” an Afro-American girl said, shaking her head as she came from the showers. She looked at my dick. “My big brother’s is smaller.”

Okay, maybe Afro Americans didn’t really have bigger cocks and the porn stars doped theirs. I quickly hid my junk again, looking away from them. My blush should have been enough to light the whole room. While it was kind of nice to know that it wasn’t as puny as I’d thought, this whole situation was bloody embarrassing.

“Um... this is a bit weird” the new girl said. “I’m curious, what is it like to turn into a girl?” She raised her hands. “Sorry, I phrased this badly, I don’t mean to offend. I’m not like those lesbians who love to bash guys...”

I hadn’t really assumed something like this either. Not after my ASS-umption about Lisa yesterday. If she’d really been a Kampflesbe as we called the militant lesbians in Germany, she’d probably tried to hack off my dick for showing it in a girls’ bathroom.

“You shouldn’t ask us,” Lisa said, nodding towards Susan. “We’ve been transgendered all our lives. Ask Jan here.”

“It sucks,” I said. “It’s really disturbing to see your body change into something you don’t understand. I guess it’s the same way for the GSD people... Although... that’s not the real problem, I think.” Somehow while I was standing here, naked in the bathroom, I felt ready to tell them stuff I’d never admitted otherwise. “I mean the idea of losing it... it’s not that bad.” I blushed. “I actually had fantasies about it and they weren’t nightmares, not really.” I earned a few giggles and smiles. “The real problem is the hormones, everything that comes with them and all the other stuff about girlhood.” A sniff escaped me and it felt like my eyes were getting moist again. “I mean I don’t know shit about being a girl... and what I’ve seen so far is mostly annoying or a waste of time.”

Lisa went over and gave me a hug, while Susan shot a glare at the still anonymous lesbian girl. It was nice to feel their support. None of my old classmates would have done that. Maybe one on one, but in a group they would have always laughed at me.

“Sorry...” she said crestfallen, “I didn’t want to offend.”

“You didn’t,” I said. “It’s just every time I look into the mirror, I see a face I’d like to kiss and not myself.” I looked at the two ex-transsexuals. “You two talked about makeup stuff during dinner yesterday... and I really didn’t get what it was about. I’m supposed to socialize with you, but... but I have no real idea what to talk about. My issues, while interesting, make for rather stale conversation in the long run.”

“Oops, sorry, I didn’t know you felt that way,” Susan admitted. “But we can help you... and talk about different stuff than makeup,” she smiled at me. “Lisa, let’er go, she also needs a hug from me.”

They really wanted to help me? And felt sorry about leaving me out? They were so nice I didn’t want to correct them about the pronoun. She? I was a him, goddamnit! Next moment, I found myself in a big hug by Susan. Pressing herself against me, she revealed her ample breasts and resurrected little Jan in the process. Okay, if they can call me a 'she' all they want if they are willing to hug me while naked in the showers.

“Um, girls,” Ashley said, rolling her eyes at us. “I hope you don’t mind if I jump under the shower. This was interesting and all, but...”

“Yeah it’s getting a bit awkward,” Lisa laughed, then she looked at the lesbian girl. “Um... it was kind of nice talking with you, but who are you?”

“Oh... did I forget to introduce myself? My name’s Julia. Julia Brown,” she said. “Yes, it was nice to talk to you, um... let’s meet later or so, you seem to be alright people.”

With this she turned around and quickly left the bathroom.

“Thanks,” I said to Susan, gently freeing myself from her embrace. “Let’s get cleaned and meet in the sunroom.”

“Sure,” Lisa agreed. “That’s a good idea.”

Ashley just went to the showers and Susan nodded. “Alright, see you later,” Lisa said to them and gently poked me. “Come on, water doesn’t hurt you.” She smiled at me, so I knew she didn’t mean any harm.

Going for the next best shower box I saw a warning sign on the wall. Apparently, we weren’t allowed to use the massage options before class. What the hell was that about? It sounded rather ominous, but I wasn’t curious enough to try. I just wanted to get this done. While public showering was never something I liked to do, it was something I would have preferred right now. I didn’t like being alone at all, since it left a very hollow feeling in my stomach - Not one that couldn’t be filled by food. No, without the security of my family, I craved companionship. God, it was the second day in America and I was already homesick.

Trying to distract myself from the depressing thoughts I turned the water on. Ah... a strong, nice stream massaging my shoulder blades. At least one good thing came from this trip. The showers were better than at home. Why my parents never managed to repair the bloody shower head was beyond me. Seriously, even in Germany water wasn’t that expensive that we could only afford the water to trickle out in drizzle strength - my sister used to call it peeing - of our home’s main shower. No, this was great.

While the feeling of running water on my hairless skin was still somewhat strange, it actually felt nice and if I was honest with myself I had to admit I’d pretty much gotten used to it. In case you wondered, I already knew to be careful with my nipples. It was not that they were that sexually sensitive that I’d get blissed out whenever I touched them, but it could hurt if I wasn’t careful with them.

Something was missing though. “Ähm... does someone have... shampoo... and that stuff for the body,” I shouted out of my cabin. I’d forgotten to take mine out of my luggage.

“I have some,” I heard Lisa say from the cabin next to mine. “I wondered when you’d ask.”

“How...” I began to ask, but then I realized. Yeah, she went out of our room last. Of course she’d seen that I’d forgotten my stuff. She could have said something, though. Whatever, as long as she gave me some of hers I didn’t care. Leaving my shower, I saw her standing sky clad in front of her box. Lisa really was a beauty.

Pressing a bottle of ‘shower gel’ into my hand, she grinned at me. “Well, at least you seem willing to use it. I feared you’d try to tough it out and do the manly thing... showering without soap.”

“Very funny,” I said rolling my eyes. “Thanks... I’ll tell you once I’m done, ok?”

She blew me a raspberry. “Don’t forget the shampoo.”

Like I would... if I showered I did it right. Whatever, I could only hope this stayed an inside joke among the two of us. I didn’t need anyone to ‘know’ that I stank. Hell, once was more than enough for my life. Lisa wasn’t the mean type, though. She’d even made sure to speak quietly, so nobody could overhear us.

I quickly soaped my body, rinsed and asked Lisa for shampoo. Then I repeated the process with my hair. The shampoo was scented and while I probably smelled like a girl afterwards, it wasn’t like I really cared. Considering that I was posing at a girl, wearing girl clothes... and growing boobs, I really didn’t need to care about smelling like a dude - Or care about not smelling like a girl. It wasn’t like I really smelled that much anyway, so I certainly didn’t feel like angsting about it. It simply wasn’t a problem. Actually it was a good idea, it was camouflage without extra work.

When I returned Lisa’s shampoo, she was still fumbling around with her hair. I was supposed to wait for her, she told me. Apparently, she needed a more complicated process than just shampooing it, but then she also had a pretty long mane. Not like me who’d still rather short, boyish hair. Which was no surprise really, since I’d just cut a week before my first manifestation. Well, it wasn’t like I wanted to ‘fix’ the boyish look and I was too lazy to go to the barbers anyway... and also too embarrassed to go outside. Running into ‘classmates’ talking about how the fag was turning into a girl was not my idea of fun. Or they could point at me... Or do something else to humiliate me publically. Or...

Thankfully, Lisa came out of the shower then. It seemed like she hadn’t needed another ten minutes or so. “Hey, why are you standing here, dripping water on the floor?”

I shrugged. What was I supposed to tell her anyway? That I was worrying about stuff in the past? Hell, if I was lucky I’d never see most of those assholes again. She had a point, though, I should probably dry myself, before it evaporated or something. Not that this was very likely to happen in the showers.

I went over to the cupboard and took my towel, rubbing myself dry. Meanwhile, I watched my roommate making a complicated ritual of this normally simple process. Instead of rubbing herself, she patted and then she knotted her towel into a complicated turban - why she did that was a mystery to me.

“So...” I said, trying to begin a conversation. “Ähm...” God, what could I talk about? “Äh... How do you like this school so far?”

“Um... quite well, I think,” Susan said, going to the door. She was naked except for her turban. “The showers are really nice and the food was better than expected... and... well, there also is my nice roommate.”

“Thanks,” I said, blushing a bit as we stepped on the floor. “I wasn’t so sure what to think about this... when they told us about this separation thing.”

It turned out that leaving the bathroom naked - well for Lisa - wasn’t such a great idea as we promptly ran into a guy on his way to the sunroom. The way he looked at Lisa he definitely was none of the gay variant but one of the bisexuals. She squeaked, and pretty much jumped into our room, throwing the door closed behind her.

“I just love dickgirls,” the guy said to no one in specific. “She’s a cute one.”

Good that I hid that region of my anatomy. I really didn’t need a male suitor right now.

Raising my eyebrows I remarked: “Yes... I’m sure... she’ll appreciate your feelings... but could you please step aside?”

He was standing in front of our door, looking at it as if he had radar vision. I really hoped he didn’t... While Lisa was cute and exotic - I could understand his appreciating looks - that would be just too creepy.

“Oh... sorry,” he said and actually stepped aside. “See you later or something.”

Shaking my head, I watched him walk away in the direction of the Sunroom. Just when I wanted to follow Lisa it happened. From one moment to the next something changed. It was as if the corridor was darkening, as if the temperature dropped by a degree. Suddenly, she was standing in front of me. One moment there was nothing but a shadow, but the next this Chinese girl was glaring at me menacingly. That alone would have been strange, the fact she was carrying a sword around in her hand made me slowly back away.

“You’re a danger to the balance,” she stated coolly, slowly raising her sword. “Be careful where you treat lest I’ll be forced to end you.”

It looked as if she was ready to strike. I saw the sword was gleaming with a strange green sheen and thought this were my last seconds on earth. God, I didn’t want to die! Trying to fend her off, I raised my arms - not that it would be very useful against a sword - but then she disappeared as suddenly as she’d appeared in the first place. The shadows vanished and the corridor returned back to normal. I don’t know how long I stood there, shivering and staring to the place where the girl had vanished.

“Um... something wrong with you?” a female voice asked from behind, making me jump with shock.

Was something wrong with me? Did I just imagine that girl? Was she even real? Maybe she was a ghost... there was no trace of her. Another shudder ran through my body. God, she’d really threatened my life!

“Uh um,” the girl harrumphed behind me. Oh... I was still standing in front of the bathroom door.

I quickly stepped aside and said, “Sorry.”

She shook her head, but smiled, “Thanks, no problem.”

I’d never seen her before so she was probably a lesbian girl. Not that I cared right now. The crazy sword-girl had me thoroughly spooked. I was supposed to learn about my powers here... not getting the shit scared out of me. Shivering, I quickly crossed the corridor and followed Lisa into our room. I didn’t want to be alone right now.

When I came into our room, I saw her peeking out from behind an opened wardrobe door. It took me a few deep breaths until I could recover my composure, but then I decided to tease her. Seeing her eye the door was just too silly.

“Maybe you should take two towels next time,” I suggested helpfully as I closed the door behind me.

Lisa nodded as she stepped out from behind her cover, still naked. “Yeah, that would be a good idea, I guess.” She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Sorry that I disappeared on you... I mean you were talking to me...”

I shrugged, shit happens. Sure, I would have preferred it if she’d been with me and I could have really used some backup against the creepy-sword-girl. On the other hand she probably would have just used another time and a less favorable place to threaten me.

“No problem,” I said, shaking my head about my own stupidity. If I’d been in her situation I’d have reacted the same way. Scratching my head, I asked: “Do you remember what we were talking about?”

“Not sure,” Lisa replied. “I think you weren’t happy about Poe being a LGBT-dorm or something.” She shook her head. “I don’t agree. I prefer it this way, better than having to hide my ‘freakishness’,” she said, pointing at the remainder of her penis, “this way I can be open about everything and don’t need to lie to everyone.”

She had a point. Considering Whateley’s transgender secrecy policy she’d probably been forced to hide it by showering alone or something. No, this definitely was the better option. I guess it would have been nice if we could have been open about this with everyone, but then my own experience had taught me that idea was delusional.

“You’re probably right,” I admitted. “I really hope it doesn’t isolate us... Maybe I’m too inspired by Harry Potter, but I don’t think separating students is a good idea.”

“Definitely too much Harry Potter,” Lisa grinned. “Whateley doesn’t have a house cup, so I guess the cottages are more like sleeping places for everyone but those in Poe and Hawthorne.”

“I hope so,” I said as I crouched to grab a fresh pair of boxers from the luggage. “Crap, I still need to unpack.”

“Yeah I don’t like it either,” Lisa replied, tucking the penis into her panties. “I did some yesterday, but I didn’t want to wake you up...”

While her luggage was open it didn’t seem like she got much done. “Thanks,” I said smiling. “I would have probably spit... spat fire at you or something.”

She shrugged, fumbling around with her bra. “I’m immune, you know.” Right, she was. Manifesting fire was her power. “It’s kinda cool for drying your hair though,” she said, suddenly lighting her hair in flames.”

“Scheisse!” I yelled, jumping back. “Stop! Don’t light the room, girl!”

The flames went out. “No worries, I’ve got everything under control.”

I could only hope so. What did she say, her flames were hot as Lava... Yes, the closer I got to her, the hotter was the air. God gracious, if she’d been too close to the drapes...

“Can you do me a favour in the future?” I asked, opening the window for fresh air. “Please do that somewhere without flammable stuff in the future, like the showers.”

“Okay, okay, but I had everything under control.”

I shrugged. Maybe she had. It wasn’t something I’d be willing to bet my life on, though. Better safe than sorry. Trying to change the topic - it was more than slightly uncomfortable - I pointed at our wardrobe. “Say, how do you want to separate the compartments?”

Lisa opened the doors widely and suggested. “I take the right half and you take the left one?”

I agreed and pulled my old crappy blow drier out of the rolling case. My hair would probably dry on its own, it wasn’t that long yet, but I didn’t want to risk catching a cold. Susan found that odd, considering her suspicious looks, yet she didn’t say anything. After drying my hair I continued to unpack my stuff. While it took some time, I didn’t have any further difficulties. Well, apart from the very annoying fact that all my clothes were girl stuff. Imagine, even the trousers were girl cuts! And considering the shirts... I should have really packed the case myself - mom tricked me! Anyway, why the hell did all these blouses need to show off my nonexistent boobs?

“Um... Jan,” Lisa suddenly interrupted our silent work. She’d completely dressed in her school uniform by now, while I was still running around in my underwear.

“Yes?” I asked, glad that she wanted to start a conversation.

“What do you do for fun?” Lisa inquired, eyeing a skirt of hers before putting it away into her dresser. “I mean we all know our problems now, but nothing about what we do in our free time.”

That was a good point. “Ähm... I like reading,” I said, a bit reluctant to tell her more. I wasn’t sure how she’d think about my gaming hobby... Most girls hated gamers. On the other hand Poe was all about being honest and nice to another... “I also like watching anime and playing computer games,” I admitted. “There is... table tennis? Ping pong... I do ping pong for sports.”

“That’s cool, I read fantasy and detective novels,” Lisa said happily. “I’m a big fan of Ranma and some of the shoujo subs on the net.”

“Ähm... what do you mean with subs? I’ve never heard this name... term before,” I said confused. I got the impression it was some sort of video, well it had to be since she was talking about anime, but I didn’t know what it was.

“Oh... um...” Lisa scratched her head. “Well, I guess it’s just a normal video with subtitles. Sub is just an abbreviation.” She shook her head. “I’m not that big on sport. I guess my dad kinda wanted to push me into football all the time and afterwards I didn’t have time to try one.”

“And what about computer games?” I carefully inquired.

“Well, I like Sims,” she shrugged. “But the rest is kinda boring... and violent.”

Whatever. I rolled my eyes. What did I expect from Miss girly girl. At least we had a similar taste in books and I guess TV shows. Even if she somehow viewed them on the net. Maybe she could give me some pointers; I’d certainly love to see all the Digimon episodes I’d missed as a child.

Seeing her curious looks, I felt prompted to answer her: “Ähm... okay. I’ve played it myself, but it got boring after awhile.” Pulling up the trousers I groaned: “Scheisse... this hurts.”

“Um... I think you need to push down your penis and nuts so they fit better,” Lisa suggested, indicating what she meant with her hands. “Or just wear a skirt...”

No way, they’d get me to wear a skirt. I knew how it would go... I mean what would be next? The makeup? The bra, or the nail-polish? Mom had tried the same with me and I’d actually been gullible enough to try a skirt out... The next thing she did was to try and teach me makeup. No thanks, skirts and I just didn’t go together.

I tried her advice, but it wasn’t all that better “Schei... Shit, where are my real trousers? This is squeezing my nuts!”

“Just fumble around with it, until everything fits. It might not be super comfortable, but it should fit,” she said, rolling her eyes at me. “I mean your junk isn’t that big.”

Fumble around with it... Ha ha, if my old classmates would have heard that. Stupid perverts they were. Yet, I knew what she meant; just play around with my balls until they stopped hurting. Well, it took me maybe a minute, but then I’d sorted my junk. After storing our travelling equipment in a corner of the room both of us were ready to go. I quickly donned a somewhat awkwardly fitting blouse - broad shoulders, you know? - over my undershirt and followed Lisa out.

Coming out of our room we ran into Alan. Apparently he’d decided to shower in his male form in boys town. Oh, how did I envy him! He may have looked like a total weakling, yet even that body was better than having to deal with permanently turning into a girl. Hell, he could be a normal guy as long as he didn’t use his powers and turn into an awesome girl whenever he felt like it. God, I was envious.

My roommate had different concerns; hers were more like keeping the group together, so she told him about our meeting in the sunroom. He only needed to dress, but he promised to come as soon as he could.

“You’re late!” Susan greeted us as we entered the meeting room. “I almost thought you wouldn’t come.”

“You could have knocked at our door,” Lisa suggested, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but we needed to put away our stuff.” She threw a look at me. “We couldn’t yesterday, you know...”

“Yes... sleeping beauty here was slightly inconvenienced, I remember,” Susan remarked, nodding at me.

I wasn’t that beautiful. No... this sounded like a reference to something. I scratched my head, looking suspiciously at the ex-transsexual. “Sleeping Beauty?” it reminded me of something... the fairytale... “Dornröschen... You mean like the princess in the cursed castle? Who sleeps until she’s kissed awake?”

They all nodded and I groaned: “I hope you didn’t try to find a prince for me.”

An evil smirk played over Susan's face, making me worry. But then she shook her head: “No, but we have another Sleeping Beauty with Felicia. I couldn’t wake her up.”

Well, compared to me, she was actually beautiful. Well, compared to pretty much most normal people. It wouldn’t become an avatar of Diva to be ugly after all. Not that I felt envy or something. It might have been nice if I looked better... if it didn’t mean I’d lose more of my maleness. Even I could appreciate a nice reflection in the mirror - when it didn’t freak me out that is. Seriously, maybe I could actually look beautiful if I bothered - mom had explained that extensively - but I really didn’t want to subject myself to such female torture devices like corsets, nail polish or war paint. No, no further feminization if I could somehow avoid it.

The next moment John and Hunter came in, apparently someone had told them we were meeting. We picked Alana up at her room and went down for breakfast in the Crystall Hall. Passing through the entrance hall, we saw Ayla coming down with a few friends of his. There was this stunningly beautiful redhead with elven ears as well as a floating blue haired girl who looked as if she’d escaped right from an anime. Ayla waved, but the rest of my group was walking out, so I hurried after them.

“Okay guys and girls,” Lisa suddenly declared. “As I told my dear roomie already, it’s a sad fact we don’t really know anything about each other. I mean apart from the general powers and a short origin story... So how do you like school in general, what do you do in your free time? Is there something you really can’t stand?”

“Sure,” Hunter said. “But since you asked, you have the honor to tell first.” He blew her a raspberry, taking the sting out of his words.

“Alright, I guess I should begin with school. I liked learning pretty well, but at my old school most people were jerks.” That garnered a few nods, including me, Alana and Hunter. “Although... when mom and dad homeschooled me, I missed it. Being at home all time is really suffocating.”

Yeah, that I could imagine. Especially for someone as communicative as Lisa. I had my beloved PC and the Internet, so it wasn’t that bad for me, but without it, I’d probably gone nuts. It was the only distraction from my new situation. My parents mostly talked about it, which got old and annoying really fast and my sister stopped talking to me after my first transformation - stupid cow.

Meanwhile, Lisa continued her introduction. “I really love reading fantasy and detective novels and watching animes. Do you guys know Ranma?”

“Yeah,” John said. “the poor guy’s father was almost as bad as dear mom. God, if I was him, I’d rather be a girl than a dude.”

“I wonder what he did in his last life,” I joked, trying to participate in the conversation - I really didn’t want to end up as a loner again. “That amount of bad karma...”

“Makes one wonder what he did to deserve it,” Lisa completed the sentence.

“Um... excuse me, who’s Ranma?” Hunter asked, surprising me. I thought everyone knew about him. Hell, if you knew anime, you knew Ranma. It was one of the shows everyone knew. Dragonball, Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon. Not that I’d ever, ever watched Sailor Moon.

“It’s about a supposedly hyper masculine guy who is turned into a girl whenever he gets splashed with cold water,” Lisa quickly explained. “He’s a martial artist and well... the whole anime is about the author putting him into awkward situation. It’s fun even if you start pitying the dude. Anyway, to return to our main topic. There is one thing I absolutely can’t stand and that’s H1 members.” Her hate filled expression only supported this claim.

“Definitely,” Alana agreed, while Susan gave Lisa a quick hug. “These people really suck! I mean you had it worse, but they crucified my dog.”

Yeah, they’d also killed Lisa’s parents. God, what was happening here? Assaulting a family in their house, crucifying pets? Why couldn’t they control these people? Sure, we also had H1 nutsos in Germany, but they were with the Neo-Nazis and about as popular. Thankfully, their brand of bigotry was obvious for everyone not willfully blind. They didn’t just hate Turkish immigrants, they also hated mutants.

“So who’s next?” Lisa asked, probably trying to distract herself from the bad memories.

“Well, I guess I could say something,” John suggested rolling his eyes. We were passing Melville Cottage, which according to Ayla was the dorm of the snobby and arrogant. Coming from our resident Goodkind that was a harsh judgment, although she’d amended it was really the rich and famous - not that I saw a big difference.

Not sharing my thoughts about a certain cottage, John said: “I wasn’t really a big a fan of school. I guess it was kind of nice to meet my mates, but school was boring and playing computer games was simply more fun.”

Yay! Another gamer. I wasn’t alone after all. Maybe he would be willing to play some games over the school network?

“I like doing track and field, but I guess I can’t compete anymore, which really sucks,” he continued and scratched his head. “Is there something I can’t stand?... Um... Hypocrites, I guess. Self styled liberals who turn around to become total bigots once something contradicts their squeaky clean way of how the world is supposed to work.” Maybe we looked confused, because he added. “Like my mom... mother.”

Yeah, I could understand. Violent hypocrites were the worst. Meanwhile, we were passing Doyle Medical center on our left. It was one of the largest buildings on the grounds... A fact that didn’t exactly make me feel safe on the grounds at all. I mean, why would they need something like this if people didn’t get hurt regularly? Maybe some people loved getting scratched up, but I’d rather avoid visiting that place.

“Sorry, man,” Hunter said, petting Johns shoulder awkwardly. “I can only hope we’ll do better.”

He had a point. I’d never tried claiming to be without prejudices. Everyone had them, I even knew some of mine. Hell, what I’ve seen of the GSD people so far was really creepy. I guess that was unfair, but having fur... or scales... It just looked wrong. Or maybe it was just that I wasn’t used to it. I could try to be open... I would try to be open, but in the end I was prejudiced. Maybe that was the reason of Whateley’s segregation policy; they just tried to keep those most likely hateful of each other out of each others hair.

“Jan?” Lisa said, ripping me from my thoughts. “Don’t you want to tell about yourself?”

“Oh... okay,” I said, quickly thinking about what I wanted to tell them. “Well, I liked school fine, I guess. Well, better than working. It was a bit boring though.” Or too easy. Hell, I used to do homework, but what was the point? I managed to get very good grades without. “Ähm... my hobbies are... I love playing computer games - especially strategy games - and to read fantasy and science fiction. I also used to play ping pong.” Now about the stuff I didn’t like. That was simple. “I hate bullies! I can’t stand people who believe themselves so... so superior that they can make others’ lives miserable.”

I suddenly found myself in another of Lisa’s hugs . What was it with girls and hugs? Although... this obviously meant she liked me. Awesome! Girls out of my family had never hugged me before. It wasn’t worth turning into one though.

“Cool!” John exclaimed. “Do you play WC3 Frozen Throne?” Apparently, he’d stopped listening after I mentioned strategy games, but I was grateful for the distraction.

Quickly nodding, I replied: “Yeah, with my friends on LAN Parties and since I have Net-access in the Battle.net.”

“Maybe we can have a LAN Party or something over the campus-net,” Alana suggested. “That would be soo cool!”

“Geeks!” Susan said, shaking her head. “What’s so great about those games anyway?”

“Um…” Hunter interjected. “You either understand or you don’t. It’s the same like that gold-block.”

“Yeah,” I supported, just as we entered Shuster Hall. “I feel the same way about makeup.”

“Pha,” Susan snorted. “Makeup is necessary, computer games are not.”

Yeah, right… Humanity managed to survive for millennia without, before some Egyptian eunuch priests invented it. If women just decided to stop cheating about their looks, they could do away with it.

“Susan!” Lisa chided, trying to silence her. “Do you want to tell us about your hobbies, school and stuff?”

“Okay,” our resident blonde agreed, “but I’ll try to make it short, I’m kind of hungry. Well, I guess I liked school, but I didn’t like learning very much. Too boring. Going out with friends was waaay more fun. Anyway, I like hanging out with my friends… I didn’t do many sports – for obvious reasons – but I’d love to do some martial arts.”

“Um... I’ve heard Whateley has an awesome course,“ Ashley interjected. “They really teach you useful stuff here.”

“That’s awesome,” Susan nodded. “I said something about my hobbies right? Well, I also love building stuff. But I hate… Nerds!” she said, grinning at us. “Just kidding, there’s nothing I really hate.”

“Phew, I’m glad,” I said. And I really was. I was sick of girls disdaining me for my hobbies. Fuck them!

“Whatever,” John said shrugging as we entered the crystal hall. “Let’s pick a table and get some food.”

This morning there were actually people in the cafeteria. Parents had meals with their kids and I also saw the first GSD cases of my life. They were standing in line at the special needs counter- a green snake girl and some raptor-like creature which looked more like it had escaped from a Jurassic Park movie than resembling a human. I tried not to stare, but people with fur, scales, or really weird body parts? It was hard, God they looked freaky... and fascinating. Shaking my head, I tried to think about something else, Ayla had said something about mind readers after all.

While there were more people around now, it would be way worse once the other students arrived for lunch or dinner. It was kind of hard to believe there used to be only one level in the dining area. Did they pile the students or something? Or limit one’s eating time? I didn’t mind fast food, but I’d rather talk to my friends... friends than gorging down my food.

The breakfast itself was pretty good. Well, it wasn’t perfect, but better than I expected. There were biscuits, more than enough choice at the buffet and even muesli for me to choose. I figured that being curious couldn’t hurt and tried some of the stuff my American cottage-mates took. The food was kind of fatty, but I didn’t care. I was hungry and the stuff was pretty delicious. I could ‘watch my figure’ another time. Not that I cared.

***

“Um... Jan, I’ve been wondering about something...” Ashley said.

“Yes?” I replied curious. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, you mentioned you turn into a Kim Possible look alike.” I nodded, motioning her to continue. “Your voice sounds female, but it really doesn’t sound like Kim Possible at all.”

Yes, my voice. One of the first things that had actually changed. While I’d been quite unhappy about it when it had happened, especially when it got squeaky, I’d gotten somewhat used to it by now. I didn’t even think about it anymore - I’d also kind of missed my first voice change, so it was no surprise I also didn’t really register the second one. It explained why people were accepting me as girl though. I mean I was a manly, ugly looking girl, but with this voice nobody would doubt I was really female.

“Oh,” I said, while Lisa was grinning at me from the other side of the table - she’d obviously figured out the reason. “I told you that I watched some Kim Possible episodes and that somehow influenced my... the template for my shell, right?”

Ashley nodded, but she was still confused. “Yes, and? What about your voice?”

“That’s quite easy,” I said, slightly shaking my head. “I didn’t watch the English originals, but the German translation... I have the voice of the German synchrone sprecher... speaker.”

“Ouch,” John commented from my right.

“Yeah,” Ashley sighed. “I guess... well, I should have guessed that.”

“It’s kinda easy to forget not everyone speaks English as their mother tongue,” Hunter said.

Well, I couldn’t share this sentiment. While all movies were translated, nobody in Germany could miss that there were other languages. Especially with the way English was taking over the German language. Although, considering that the last great attempts to spread German as a mother tongue had been rather... unsuccessful, I probably shouldn’t complain about it. On the other hand, the way English, or rather American, infiltrated my mother tongue was another example of the insidiousness of capitalism... Money was the driving factor. Whatever, not that I cared about language-purity. A conversation about this crap would be skating on thin ice.

Before this the others had finished explaining about their hobbies: It seemed like Hunter was as much a lazy ass as I, Ashley was a little teacher’s pet and Alana did what he had to do. She played Computer games, but wasn’t addicted like John and me. Ashley loved to read romances and do sport, while Hunter was a sports addict who was willing to dabble in E-sports some of the time. For dislikes... Well, unsurprisingly Ashley hated perverts, while Alana declared a strong dislike for the MCO and H1 - I could empathize.

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

“Oh man,” Alana said, pulling out a mobile. “Yes, Alana Shepherd here.” She paused a moment, listening to the phone. “Mom, wait a second.” She looked at us. “Guys, I’ll be away for a short time, my family has called,” she announced and went away to sit down at a lone table.

“Crap, I totally forgot about that,” Hunter exclaimed, standing up himself. “I need to call them, they’re probably worried about me.”

Meanwhile, tears were rolling from Lisa’s eyes. Fuck, her family. Reaching over the table, I grabbed her hand. Crap, I hated it when girls were crying and I couldn’t do anything about it. Also reacting, Susan hugged her, trying to calm down my newly found friend.

“Lisa, are you alright?” I asked, instantly chiding myself for the stupid question. “I mean, can I help you?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry... I just … I just miss them.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “Thanks Jan, Susan, you can let me go. I’m alright.”

I wasn’t so sure about it, but didn’t know what I could do. “Okay,” I said releasing her hand.

“Eeek!” I squealed, glaring at my neighbor. “Don’t poke me, John.”

He just blew me a raspberry. “Don’t ignore me.” He shook his head. “Um... sorry, Jan, I just wanted to know what’s up with your parents...”

I grimaced - Them... I really didn’t want to think about them lest speak about it. “They dumped me on a plane and sent me to America,” I complained bitterly - they didn’t leave me a choice! “What’s supposed to be with them?”

He actually had the gall to roll his eyes at me. “Did they try to kill you?”

No?! Why the hell would they want to kill me? Although... his mother had... Still what did he want? After shaking my head he continued to ask: “Did they force you to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs?”

“No,” I spat - why the fuck did he ask these ridiculous questions?, “do I look like I have magic?”

“They didn’t force you to eat scraps either, right?” John continued unperturbed.

I wasn’t Harry Potter, nor a runaway kid. Could he get to the point or something? Glaring at him, I nodded - he’d been roasted if I’d been that champion dude from Homer Galerie yesterday.

“Look,” he said. “I can understand you’re angry with the way your sister treated you, but...”

“But what?” I groused, interrupting him. “What gives them the right to send me here?”

“Is it really that bad here?” Lisa asked, blinking with her puffy red eyes.

Was it really that bad? Not really... Everyone was pretty nice so far. I shook my head. No, it wasn’t horrible here, but that didn’t change the fact my parents were unfair assholes!

“Hey,” John began again, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. “Are you aware that Whateley isn’t just the best school for mutants, but also pretty much the only one?”

No, I didn’t. Mutants were just another fringe group before I became on myself. How would I know anyway? Still, considering how many students were here I could hardly believe his claim. Shaking my head, I asked: “Are you sure? There really is no European school?”

“Well there is DeVille Academy,” Ashley corrected. “But that’s not a school you would want to attend. They’re not really a school for mutants, but one for future criminals and secret service agents.”

“Yeah, but what can you expect of a school with that name,” Susan chirped in. “I’ve talked to some upper years yesterday and apparently Poe’s been attacked by some super powered Ninjas from the Yama Dojo last year. They’re some crazy fuckers. I mean they sort of abduct Japanese mutants, brainwash them and educate them to become thieves and murderers for some arcane purpose.”

Okay, that didn’t sound good at all. Better America than soldier for some shadow organization. “Are you serious?” I asked and got grave nods for an answer. “I’ve got to admit those don’t sound like good options, but why couldn’t I just go on a normal school? I mean what good is going to a mutant high school if you don’t have any real powers? Maybe I could have just switched schools or something...”

“Sure,” Lisa interjected. “And every time someone has forgotten to study for a test you’re investigated by the police for distracting someone with your evil mutant powers. I know how that game works.”

Shit... for real? Mutants were a minority, but would they really get away with this Nazi-style kind of crap? My motherland was better than this... I hoped. We had to have learned from history.

“And that’s without considering your gender troubles,” John added. “Even if they couldn’t harass you for your mutant powers they’d harass you for being a ‘queer freak’.”

“Okay, you’re probably right,” I surrendered, considering how reactionary some people were I could easily imagine... Anyway “They called me queer before anything of this happened...”

“Yeah, your parents probably didn’t want to force you through something like that,” Lisa said. “I mean I was... I was kinda pissed at mine,” she said sniffing. “Yet it turns out they’d been right. I only wish they’d been more careful.”

God... she was right and it wasn’t like America had a monopoly on bigoted violent idiots. If something like that happened to my parents... no, I couldn’t let something like that happen. I would never be able to forgive myself. “Shit, I need to call them,” I said jumping up from my chair.

“Girl, wait a second,” John shouted, earning himself another glare. “Um... I mean dude.” He had understood. “Write them over the net and use Skype or Teamspeak. That’ll be way way cheaper than an international call.” Good point. I hadn’t thought about it.

“How do you know?” Lisa asked curiously. “I never called someone outside of the States.”

“My aunt lives in Australia,” he explained, “there are cheaper ways of communication than transcontinental phone calls.”

“Yeah, write an e-mail,” Susan suggested.

I nodded, before I shrugged and sat down again. I still had my cup of cocoa to drink, so there was no point to hurry. Anyway, it couldn’t hurt them to worry a bit. There were still things for me to think about also. Now that I had accepted that I would stay here - not that I’d planned to run away or something - I had to figure out which subjects to choose. I certainly didn’t want to become a superhero, yet it looked as if I might be caught in a fight sooner or later. My shell gave me some minimal armor, but what little testing I had already done confirmed it wasn’t bulletproof.

Ouch... just remembering about that still hurt. No, I could use every little bit of additional skill for survival if my companions were only halfway right. God, I really hoped it wasn’t like this in Germany... It seemed like it was open season on mutants here. There was something seriously wrong with these people. Hopefully, the reason for mom and dad’s behavior was that they’d just been panicked by American mutant websites or something.

Apparently, Hunter had finished his phone call since he was coming back to our table. “Did I miss something?” He asked, sitting down.

“We convinced Jan that her parent’s might not really hate her,” Susan explained, rolling her eyes at me.

I wasn’t a her, goddamnit!

Was it this hard to understand? Yet to say something about it wouldn’t really have helped, so I just ignored that little remark and allowed our conversation to return to less personal topics. The only really interesting thing was when John mentioned that everyone here seemed to play the new revolutionary MMORPG GEO. Apparently, he and Hunter had heard some guys talking about it in the boy’s bathroom and joined in on their conversation. It was supposed to be way better than even World of Warcraft and a revolution for computer games. I’d really wanted to try, but my parents were unwilling to pay the access fees for something like that. Well, now that I had my own allowance and a credit card...

“The game is a total mystery,” Hunter said. “Nobody knows who the developers are, it’s impossible to crack and there is the impossible character finding process.” He shook his head. “Nobody understands how they do it.”

“It’s because it was developed by Whateley alumni,” I suddenly found myself saying.

“Eh? How do you know?” John asked, looking at me curiously.

I shrugged. I had no idea how I knew, yet I knew it was true. I’d just arrived at Whateley and my life had already turned into a mystery novel. That strange vision about the sword-girl, the fact my English seemed to improve when I got tired and now this. Did I have visionary powers or something? Maybe it meant I could do more than just transforming into a girl. That would be cool.

Kinda bored by the other’s conversations I shuffled around on my chair. It wasn’t a good idea since my trousers got out of place and made my nuts hurt again. I grimaced, barely managing to suppress a wince. God, I couldn’t continue like this, or I’d castrate myself before my shell actually managed to vanish my balls.

“Ayla said we could ask her for help, right?” I asked Lisa, interrupting her conversation with Susan.

“Yeah,” Lisa replied. “You remember where she said she usually sits?” I nodded and she continued. “Well, just go there, she should be done by now.”

“Thanks,” I said and stood up quickly, only causing another painful squeeze of my balls. Dear god, why did the Crystall Hall need to be so full? Everyone could see me! I couldn’t just put a hand in my trousers.

***

“What do you think?” The woman asked, making a slight motion towards the new changelings’ table. “Can we use her or will she end us as you feared?”

“The future is in flux,” the young man who was sitting next to her replied. “Others have influenced her already and continue to influence her. I cannot get a stable reading.”

“So what are we supposed to do?”

The young man shrugged. “She may yet reach her potential, be killed or just disappear into mediocrity.”

“So, we will make our play, before they can.”

“No,” he decided. “We need to wait, this much I got. If we move now, we’ll screw everything up. We need to wait... for humanity.”

***

Coming up the stairs to the first level of the cafeteria I stopped cold - and, no, it wasn’t because I’d somehow overlooked it yesterday - tiredness did strange things do me. No, it was the spooky sword girl, again. And this time it was obvious she wasn’t just a vision. She definitely was for real, shoveling food in her mouth, while she was talking to a few obviously friendly people at her table. Were psychos like her even allowed to have friends? How could they be sure she wouldn’t just pull her sword and slit their throats? Truth to be told, she didn’t seem to wear her sword right now, but that was beside them point. You could also murder people with spoons, or so I’d heard.

I quickly pulled my nose back and ran up the stairs to the next level. There was no need for another confrontation. Papa didn’t teach me to be stupid after all. That girl was dangerous. The psycho thing was supposed to be a cover, wasn’t it? What did she say again? Hurt the balance and I kill you?! I didn’t even plan to trip her! Did we really have mentally ill people at Poe? What the hell was she talking about anyway?

Panting a bit from my run up the stairs, I arrived at Ayla’s table. Trying to cool down I listened to their conversation. It was really weird though; she and her friends were talking about some seriously strange shit, making me wonder if there was something wrong with them. For god’s sake, why did they need to talk about Hello Kitty cars, tanks and toothbrushes? In the space of ten seconds! Considering that it was no miracle Miss Horton thought Ayla’s friends a great asset for making everyone believe Poesies were insane.

Hell, if I hadn’t seen Ayla in serious, I’d probably just assumed the same. Ass-Umption... Still, I couldn’t believe someone like Ayla would ever talk about stuff like this. She was the all-business, professional type. This was totally out of character for her, almost schizophrenic, like a comedian who was totally no-fun-guy in private. Strange... although with all the weirdness around, this might just be another mutant ability. One that made me hear insane crap or something. It was just too weird.

“Ähm... sorry,” I said, interrupting the group. “May I borrow Ayla for a few moments?”

“Yes,” the sportive looking black girl replied, grinning at me. “We rent her out for 10,000 dollars an hour.”

“I think that’s too cheap,” the lone guy in the group said as he scratched his head. God what would I have given to look like him! He was maleness incarnate in a really cute way... Did I really just think that?

“Guys!” Ayla protested. “Apart from the fact that Hank’s right, I don’t demand any money for helping housemates.” She tilted her head as if thinking hard. “Well, with the simple stuff because, in spite of what some...” She glared at the black girl who feigned shock and innocence at being singled out. “...people may think, I can’t afford to give away planes for fun.” Clasping her hands together, she stood up and turned to face me. “Hi Jan, what can I do for you?”

Good question. Running up here had sort of freed my nuts, which sort of solved that problem for now, but the creepy sword girl was still around. “Ähm... there is this Asian girl with a green sword at Poe, do you know her?”

“Green sword?” Ayla wrinkled her forehead. “That sounds like Chou... wait, you saw her sword, are you sure?”

I nodded my head, yes, because I definitely remember her threatening to kill me while brandishing a green sword. It was kind of hard to miss..

“Oh, she showed you? She normally doesn’t like showing off her sword to strangers...” Ayla paused, as if confused.

Showed me? I guess that was one way to put it. It was more like held it to my throat!

Meanwhile Ayla shook her head. “Oh, well, but yeah, I know her. What about her? She used to be my roommate.” the sophomore said, motioning me to follow her. “It’s a bit loud here,” she said, rolling her eyes while nodding towards two arguing beauties at the next table. “Let’s see if we can find a quieter corner.”

Creepy sword girl used to be her roommate? How did Ayla survive rooming with someone like her? Thank goodness Lisa wasn’t like that! Sure, she was a bit too girly for my liking, but she was nice. I would have died if I’d been forced to room with that Chou girl. It was bad enough that she was in Poe. Our resident psychopath or something. Rooming with someone like that was unbelievable.

Going to an unused table at the edge of the upper platform, I could see into the kitchen down below. A centaur girl was at the counter, while the cooks were swinging pans on the gigantic stoves. One actually turned the pancake in the air... really like in the movies. I ripped myself loose from the happenings in the kitchens. I could watch this later, right now I had more important things to do.

“Okay, was ist los mit Chou... und was kann ich für dich tun?” Ayla asked after we both had sat down.

What’s up with Chou and what did you want from me... The hell? Ayla was speaking German!

“Du sprichst Deutsch?” I shot back, totally surprised.

“Ja, I’ve learned this in German Camp,” Ayla explained, speaking German fluently. “My family made sure that I learned all major trade languages. I’ve also learned French. Right now I’m studying Spanish here at Whateley.”

“Wow, you’re awesome,” I replied in German and continued in English, “I wish my English was as good as your German.”

“You’re also pretty good,” Ayla said. “No need to be ashamed or something. Anyway, what’s your issue with Chou? She seems to have spooked you thoroughly.”

“Well, she threatened to kill me!” I said, almost shouting “She showed me her sword by waving it in front in my face!” Ayla looked shocked. Obviously, the outcast Goodkind hadn’t expected this. I was in full rant though. “What the fuck is wrong with her? What kind of balance is worth threatening to kill? I didn’t trip her or something, or will she try to kill me if I fall over my own feet?!”

“Crap!” Ayla sighed and rubbed her forehead..

“What crap? Do you know why she went psycho on me?” I asked, impatient for an answer.

She grimaced. “It’s hard to explain. Look, Chou is actually a baseline, just... well, kinda chosen by a supernatural force called Tao. I’m not quite sure what it is, but if I understood Chou correctly it might very well be the consciousness of the universe.” She groaned. “Chou herself wouldn’t threaten you like that... What the hell did you do? I mean that was probably the Tao...”

The Tao? Like Taoist? Chinese mumbo jumbo that was only good for ornaments in Chinese restaurants? That still had believers, and one of the fanatics threatened me? No... Ayla was talking as if it really existed. It was almost unbelievable. The consciousness of the universe! Superpowers got kinda real in May. when that super villainess turned all people in Paris into glass statues... but consciousness of the universe?!

“Are you serious?” I slowly asked, still hoping for denial, yet Ayla shook her head.

“Scheisse,” I said, before I shrugged. “I have no idea what I did... or not did. Although, I guess I already knew that the universe hated me, but it’s kinda disturbing to get the confirmation like that...”

“No,” Ayla said with conviction. “That’s not how the Tao works.” Seeing my confused look she elaborated: “Jan, it’s like this: The handmaid only acts if someone has really fucked up. It’s the order-chaos thing. The Tao doesn’t hate, it doesn’t care for good or evil, but if you change things too far in either direction and the handmaid deals with it.”

What the fuck?! Like to prevent something like the Warhammer 40k universe? But how did that apply to me?

“Ähm Ayla...” I said slowly. “Did the Tao ever pick the wrong one? Because I don’t have awesome enough powers to plunge humanity into chaos. And the other side...” I shook my head. “How would I create too much order? What is too much order anyway? Something like a fascist state that wants to regulate if you brush your teeth from left to right?”

“Nah... you’re not much of a Hitler as far as I can tell,”Ayla thought loudly, resting her head on her hand. “Um... no offense. I didn’t mean it like that...”

Äh, what the hell was she talking about? I’d brought the fascist thing up myself.

“I’d be kinda scared if I compared to him,” I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, so you don’t have an idea what this threats were about?”

“Not really, Ayla shrugged. “Although... You’re a mutant, so it’s probably your powers...”

“Like those are so impressive,” I replied. “I can turn myself into Kim Possible... wohoo.”

“Well, maybe they’re still developing,” Ayla suggested. “I mean Mrs. Potter wanted you to room with Lisa, she doesn’t bother with every student. Hell, the only other case where I remember her interfering directly is Sara... and she’s a demon.”

A demon?! “You know that doesn’t exactly sound reassuring?”

“It isn’t supposed to be reassuring. You’ve got a death threat from the Tao for God’s sake,” Ayla shook her head. “Say, how comes you’re suddenly speaking English so well?”

I shrugged. “No idea... It... sometimes it... just works. But when I think about it... I have troubles. Scheisse! Why did you need to remind me?”

“It’s really strange,” Ayla said, switching to German while she examined me curiously. “You suddenly regained your accent, yet you lost it again when you got angry.”

“I’m glad... I’m glad that I’m an interesting... specimen,” I said, trying to force my English. It didn’t want to come though.

Ayla chuckled. “The power-testing guys will certainly think so. I’ve no idea how your sporadic language talent is supposed to plunge the world into chaos, but I’m sure the geeks at power-testing will find out.” She shook her head. “Anyway, what did you want before Chou came up?”

“This,” I pointed at my trousers or rather my groin. “The stupid girl-trousers were squeezing my nuts...”

“Ouch...” Ayla silently remarked, instinctively crossing her legs - maybe she really was a him. “Well, I’ve always worn boy trousers, but that comes with the risk of someone else finding out about your condition.”

“And that is a bad thing?” I asked, pretty sure I could answer this one myself.

“Well, if you don’t mind the occasional bully, you can do that,” Ayla said. “But I wouldn’t recommend it for you.”

I nodded. Yeah, I didn’t need to end up as the school fag... again! People who were wealthy - like Ayla - or had power got to be ‘eccentric’, everyone else would simply be called ‘weird’ in the same situation. It was quite obvious I couldn’t get away with that.

“So what are my options?” I inquired.

“I doubt you would want to go Jade’s route...” she shook her head thinking. “And everyone else of our group was pretty much done with their transformation when we arrived at Whateley,” Ayla said. “My experiences are rather limited, but you can kinda shove your balls up and tape them.”

A grimace played over my face. Ouch, that didn’t sound very comfortable. Shoving my balls up... how was that supposed to work anyway?

Meanwhile Ayla continued, ignoring my reaction. “I guess you could also talk to Zoe... Zenith. She’s a Senior and used to be in your situation.”

“Used to be?” I echoed.

Ayla grimaced, before nodding. “Yeah... now she’s fully female.”

“Okay...” someone who was already where I never wanted to go. God, seriously, Ayla was lucky. Even if she grew boobs, she got to keep her junk, but I could already mentally prepare for looking like Lisa.

“Well, she has her room in the new wing... I can’t help you with this right now, but I’ll send her your way if I see her at lunch or dinner,” Ayla said, then she slapped her forehead. “Sorry, I almost didn’t think of it, but there is another option.”

“That is?”

“Well, there is this awesome tailor in Dunwich,” Ayla said. “Cecilia Rogers is a bit expensive...” She saw my expression and added grinning. “Well, for middle class people.”

“Phew, now I’m relieved,” I joked. “And I already wondered what kind of shop would be expensive by your standards.”

“Wal-Mart,” Ayla replied deadpan. “They actually want money for their clothes. I wouldn’t wear that crap if they paid me.”

A giggle escaped me to my absolute mortification. Trying to recover my dignity and male mojo I rolled my eyes. Not that I ever bought clothes with Wal-Mart. C&A was cheap enough for me. Wal-Mart couldn’t compete with German discounters anyway. They just sold their stores last year. When I heard it I figured it was German culture or something, but maybe their wares just sucked that much.

Suddenly serious, Ayla sighed. “Actually, I did actually wear some of those clothes, but it’s a long story. Well, I don’t know about your finances, so you might want to consider asking Zoe before buying new clothing.”

“Ookay,” I said. I wouldn’t go and buy expensive clothing if there was another way around my problems. Hopefully, that Zoe could help me. Custom made clothing... well, my parents weren’t the Goodkinds.

Looking down on the lower floor I realized my cottage mates were gone. Just a minute ago they’d been sitting there, talking, yet now the table was clear. Fuck, why couldn’t they wait for me? I had no idea what I was supposed to do and just followed Lisa around.

“Is something wrong?” Ayla asked, throwing me a worried glance.

“Um... yes.” I nodded, pointing downwards. “They’ve left and I’ve no idea what I’m supposed to do now. I guess I should somehow get my schedule, but...” I shrugged.

Socializing had seemed more important, especially since I was around people who were somewhat predispositioned as friends. Now there was this hollow feeling though. The feeling they didn’t really like me and only talked to me because there was nothing better to do... On the other hand I was probably reading too much into it again. I was with Ayla after all, so while it kinda sucked, they probably thought I didn’t rely on them. I should have told them...

“You didn’t get the introduction package?” Ayla inquired, raising her eyebrows.

“No, what introduction package?” Seeing her look, I continued: “Is there something special about it?”

“Not really,” Ayla shook her head. “Except for the fact that every student is supposed to get one... and Tennyo... Billie... the blue haired girl over there,” she said, pointing at the table with her friends. “Didn’t get one last year.”

“I guess there is a story behind it?”

“Yeah, it’s complicated, but she got drawn into an ongoing feud between one of the board members and someone in administration,” Ayla explained, grimacing. “Ugly business. Anyway, so you didn’t get your introduction package?”

I couldn’t or should have known what she was talking about, right?

Rolling my eyes at this stupid question, I nodded. “Yes. And I really have no idea what I’m supposed to do now.” I was really worried. I didn’t want to fuck up my education on the first day in school! “Where do I get my timetable? What am I supposed to do next?”

“Fear is the mind killer,” Ayla declaimed.

What the fuck was she talking about? I didn’t understand. It seemed like a quote... What was it with Americans and their quotes anyway? Only snobs and ‘academics’ used quotes in Germany. Only fools needed quotes, the intelligent could make their own sayings, after all.

Meanwhile Ayla looked at me curiously. “We’ll find a solution, no need to work yourself up. I guess I’ll begin with the introduction package: It is supposed to tell you everything about Whateley and they should have sent it to your home.”

Maybe they did... It wasn’t like I’d really cared about this school. It was bad enough when my parents forced me to fill those application papers. I mean I’d even answered truthfully about my gender issues, since I hoped they wouldn’t take a freak like me. In the end it turned out for the better, but hell, I really hadn’t wanted to go here. Considering how hard I’d tried to convince my parental units to be reasonable - to let me stay at home - they probably didn’t tell me, trying to avoid a drama on our last days together. Or maybe they just forgot about it.

“Okay... You might be right. I haven’t seen it though,” I told Ayla.

She shrugged. “Well, you should go to administration then and ask for a meeting with a student counselor. They’ll help you with your schedule.” She paused to take a breath before she continued: “You should also consider to ask for a psychological counselor, they can really help you... What?”

She must have seen my grimace. “I’m not too fond of psycho-anything’s.” Seeing her questioning look, I elaborated: “My uncle was the family genius until they filled him up with drugs.” I shook my head. “Stuff only got worse afterwards.”

“Ouch,” Ayla said. “They won’t give you drugs for your gender problems, you don’t need to worry about that.”

*phew*

Well, it was good to know that they didn’t just try to drug you if you were trouble. Like they did with troublesome boys nowadays. Apparently 10% of the elementary boys were on Ritalin or something. God, why couldn’t they understand boys would be boys and never be prim and proper prissy little girls; ‘Yes, Mrs. teacher, did I obey your order perfectly?’ Maybe girls were already different in primary school... now that I thought about it.

“This is quite... calming... reassuring,” I said. “Ah scheiss auf Englisch!”

“Ähm Ayla, sag mal, do you know if there is a way to change back?” I asked - I really needed to know. “Ich mein with all this mutant power and super science around...”

“Tut mir leid,” Ayla shook her head. “If you’ve got a BIT like me you’re pretty much screwed. I’m trying to look for solutions, but the last time when it seemed like I had one it was manipulated.”

That sucked ass. “Warum would someone do something like that?”

She shrugged. “Ich weiß nicht, I guess it’s my last-name. Anyway, you might be lucky, MATD is another phenomenon and there might be some possibilities to deal with it, especially since your shell isn’t active all the time.”

While not perfect that sounded like there was hope. Maybe I wasn’t stuck.

“That’s good to know, thanks,” I nodded, releasing a sigh as I switched back to English, “Ähm... where do I need to go?”

“Admin... You need to go to Admin,” Ayla replied, pointing towards the back wall of Crystall Hall. “That’s right here in this building. Well, in Shuster Hall over there.”

“Okay, thank you,” I said. “Ähm... I don’t want to keep you from your friends any longer...”

“No worries,” Ayla said smiling. “I think they’ll survive without me for a few minutes. Anyway, you can always come to me for advice. I’ll try to help.” She stood up. “See you later.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

After this goodbye, I left Crystal Hall and went right into Administration. Considering my lack of experience with American schools in general I had my troubles finding the right person to speak with. Annoying admin on my first day wouldn’t bode well for the rest of my time here. I couldn’t rely on them forgetting. No, the secretary would have to do. Shit like this was their job in German schools.

When I entered Administration I found myself in front of some kind of reception desk. A young woman with reddish brown hair was dealing with the requests from the other students in the line in front of me. I hated standing in lines, but I didn’t really have a choice. I needed to get this done and experience told me if it sucked now, it would only get worse later.

“Hello, what can I do for you?” the young woman asked, when I was finally my turn. The shield on her blouse, directly below her ample breasts - of course - named her Elaine Claire.

“Ähm... it was said... someone told me I should ask for a student counselor here, so I could get my schedule.” I said, almost misspeaking. The translation ability obviously wasn’t perfect - and her boobs were somewhat distracting.

“Another one,” she sighed. “Okay, what is your name... Miss?”

*Cringe*

Miss! I didn’t want to be a miss; I wanted to be a mister. Not that I could say something like that here, not with the other students around.

“Is something wrong?” Elaine Claire inquired.

“Ähm no,” I shook my head. “My name is Jan Edler... written ‘eedler’.”

“Alright, wait a second I need to check... ah, here we are.” She said, hammering something into her keyboard. “Your counselor is Mrs. Roberta Bell. And you have an appointment in... ten minutes.”

What the fuck?! “Ähm... who made this appointment? I certainly didn’t. How do I get to her anyway?”

“Um... wait a second,” Elaine Claire said as she fumbled around with her computer. “Ah there it is. Your appointment has been made by... What? Mrs. Potter? Strange... Well, I’ll print you a map to Mrs. Bell’s office.”

Wow, they could do that? “Thank you,” I said. “This is cool.”

“Yeah,” she grinned, “we changed it over the summer holidays. It got kinda annoying to explain to people where to find stuff.”

Impressive! My old school had the students design the homepage and the only teacher who seemed to be able to use a computer for more than just writing was the informatics teacher. And here... here even a secretary could do stuff like this. Cool.

Yet there was this Mrs. Potter again. Ayla had mentioned her twice and now she cropped up once more. “Um... I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what is it with this Potter person? Is she Harry’s lost sister?”

“No”, the secretary said laughing. “If anything she’s his great grandma. I fear Harry is going to stay a single child orphan.” Then she got serious. “Mrs. Potter is a major Precog, maybe the best world-wide. She’s also on the board of supervisors, so she has some serious pull here. That she’s interested in you speaks well of you.” She turned around and grabbed the plan from the printer. “Anyway, here is your plan. You need to hurry if you want to be on time.”

“Thank you,” I said, taking the map from her hand and left deeply in thought.

Holy shit, what would a precog want with me? The handmaid of this Tao thing threatened my life and the best precog in the world took interest in my education... what the hell was going on? I was just plain old Jan, no one special. Yet, it was quite obvious something strange was going on. Maybe my student counselor would know more, right now I couldn’t do anything about it anyway.

***

Mrs. Bell’s office was in Dunn Hall, a rather horrible looking concrete building. One of those sins to all aesthetics which were built in the 1950th by architects on psychedelic drugs. Well at least that was my impression of the style. I was glad for every one of those concrete blocks that they tore down. They looked bad enough if they were well tended... but if they weren’t... well, one could visit those in the former East Bloc states.

I entered the vaguely L-shaped bastard child between a building and an Autobahn and quickly followed the direction on the map in my hand. I hurried through the corridors almost running, since I wasn’t sure how much time I really had. While I’d forgotten my watch in my room, I also didn’t really want to wear a guys-watch around if I was posing as a girl. Either do it right, or don’t do it at all, was my opinion. Okay, maybe not, considering that I didn’t plan to change my opinion on makeup or nail polish.

After going up a staircase and moving down a floor, I found myself in front of Ms. Bell’s office. There was a fat number ‘114’ on the door and a way smaller shield with her name on the wall next to it. It looked like someone had converted a junk room from a public bath into an office or something. Ignoring the appalling look, I knocked at the door.

“Please come in,” a female voice said from the other side of the door.

Quickly opening it, I stepped in and found myself in front of a large desk. The room wasn’t a junk room at all, but a very comfortable office. Opposite me, on the other side of the table sat a middle aged, brown haired woman. She reminded me a bit of my old math teacher, even though she was probably ten to fifteen years younger or maybe even more, considering how Mrs. Maier had always joked about going on pension

Quickly looking around, it became obvious that this was a normal teachers office, like my aunt had at her home. A boring painting of a fruit bowl was hanging at the wall, while the cupboards were filled with folders and math-books. The only thing remarkable was the absence of really personal items and a halfway drunk coffee sitting on a trivet with something that looked like a red hammer and sickle icon. I always thought Americans hated Communism... strange, but probably not worth mentioning, it might be mined territory.

“Hello, I’m Jan Edler,” I said, introducing myself before I pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Ay..dler,” the teacher said, echoing my family name. “So that’s how the name is pronounced. I was wondering... I am Roberta Bell.”

That was nice to know, if I hadn’t known it already. I should probably say something more about myself though... like my name.

“It means nobler in English,” I explained as I pulled out a chair and sat down.”Anyway, I’m here to get my schedule... I think.”

“You think?” Mrs. Bell said, raising her eyebrows. “But yes, you’re here so we can organize your schedule. Mrs. Potter said I was supposed to help you. I’m a bit curious though, your English is way better than I expected, considering your previous schooling in the language.”

“It’s better than I expected also,” I shrugged. “Ayla... a sophomore cottage mate of mine suggested it might be a mutant power.” That actually reminded me. “Do you have an idea why Mrs. Potter takes such an interest in me? She’s supposed to be a world-class precog and my power is to turn into a Kim Possible look alike.”

“Yes, it was in your file,” she said, scratching her head. “It sounds thoroughly unimpressive, but that might be the reason why they sent you to me... or because the alternative would have been Sarah...” she’d trailed off, shaking her hand. But then she turned her focus back on me: “Miss ‘Aydler’, I know what it’s like to have slowly developing powers. Most just activate, or change in case of a burnout, but a few of us are lucky, or unlucky enough that we can grow into them.”

The Miss again. For god’s sake, I wasn’t a miss, I was a dude with longer hair than I liked, who was growing boobs and had a waist smaller than his sister’s - Thinking about it, maybe Svenja’s behavior was just envy or something.

“Um... you know everything that was in my file?” I asked carefully, not sure if everyone of the faculty knew about Poe’s secret.

“You mean you gender troubles?” Mrs. Bell asked upfront, apparently guessing what this was about.

“Yes,” I said. “Please don’t call me ‘Miss’, it just gives me the creeps.”

“You don’t look like a Mister, but I can try,” the teacher admitted, instantly winning sympathy points with me. Hell, I knew I looked somewhat girlish. You wouldn’t have found my face on a sixteen year old boy - especially not with today’s nose change. The same went for my waist. Even my legs didn’t look particularly mannish, but that was due to my tight jeans and the fact that they’d never been particularly thick.

“Thank you. It’s not easy,” I said, slightly shaking my head. I needed to get back to the main reason for our conversation “Anyway, you mentioned something about growing powers... If I may be so bold, what are yours?”

“You may,” she smiled. “In my case it was a good thing they didn’t instantly activate. I’m a TK superwoman with level six powers. And I didn’t get a strength control at all. I had to continuously practice for four years so I can lift this coffee pot without squeezing it to diamond.”

“That sounds troublesome.”

“Yeah, it was, but it was worth it,” Mrs. Bell said. “This way I have total control over my powers and can fine tune my strength even when I lift, press or push tons. Most TK supermen have only a few strength levels or have a progressively worsening control with increasing strength levels. I don’t have that problem.”

“Okay, that’s good to know, but I still have two questions. I mean it’s kinda nice that you can sympathize with me, but why would that be relevant for my schooling. The second is, why didn’t you become a superhero?”

She sighed. “You mind if I answer the second question first?” I nodded and she continued: “Risking my life saving stupid people and fighting criminals for a salary barely above minimum wage was never the way I wanted to spend my life. Well, I guess I did some superheroing when I was at college, but I focused on my studies to become a math teacher. Fighting some stupid supers for some cash in a team was certainly better than whoring myself out like some of my classmates did.”

“Yesss... I can guess.” Superheroing was probably preferable to renting out your body for money. Not that I planned to do either.

“Good,” she rolled her eyes. “The reason you’re with me is that your student counselor is supposed to be your contact person for the rest of your stay at Whateley. Few others will be able to understand your problems or might push you into things you’re not ready for. Normally you should be a junior, but we usually enroll new mutants in freshman year. Especially transgendered students like you, or GSD cases who have additional problems.”

That didn’t exactly answer my question, but it didn’t look like I would get a better one. Maybe she didn’t really have an idea either. Who would want to admit that they were steered by a precog? She’d kind of avoided that question, also.

“Okay, I guess” I said. “So what about the schedule?”

“Well, I think we should begin with setting the subjects you absolutely need and then you can begin to do these qualification tests,” she stated and pulled a few sheets from a drawer on the desk.

“What I absolutely need?”

“Yes, power labs and power theory are a must. It might seem like your powers are not worth bothering with, yet there might be possibilities for application that you just can’t see so far.”

“Like what?”

“Like my PK field that used to be too weak to lift a matchstick, like the girl who saw annoying lines running through the environment, which turned out to be ley-lines.” Mrs. Bell explained. “They might also find out more about the complications with your shell.” She raised her hand. “Don’t get your hopes up. They only managed to help 10 to 15 percent of the students with MATD problems.”

Well that didn’t sound too good, but it was worth trying. Not that I expected anything to come from it, Ayla had been too unenthusiastic. God, if I could borrow my buddy Stephan’s luck for once... Although, he probably wouldn’t even if he could. Now that I was a confirmed freak, it was social suicide to be associated with me. Bloody disgusting bigoted asshole classmates!

“Um... something wrong?” Mrs. Bell inquired, looking worriedly at me.

I sighed. “Not really... just realized once again that my former friends won’t talk to a freak like me anymore.”

“You shouldn’t allow these people to define you,” she said, probably trying to stop my bad mood - fat chance. Mrs. Bell threw me a hard look. “We will talk about this later, but right now we need to finish your schedule.” She typed something into her computer.

“Okay, so I have to do this power testing thing. What’s next?”

“Um... I haven’t said anything about power testing so far,” Mrs. Bell corrected me and proceeded to explain. “Every student has to go to power testing. You will be informed in the morning and excused from all your classes that day - well for the time you have power testing that is.” Since I didn’t say anything she continued: “As I said power theory and lab is a must. Whateley also requires its students to take either Basic Martial Arts or Survival training. We don’t want to lose our students to Humanity First! fanatics the first week after graduation. Whateley aims to teach her students to get out of trouble, or rather to avoid it in the first place.”

Yeah, Ayla had already said something along these lines. There was a problem though. “Ähm... this sounds like something that would activate my shell...”

“Yeah, I guess,” Mrs. Bell said nodding. “You’ll have to take one of those classes though.” Seeing my grimace, she quickly asked: “When does your shell activate anyway? This,” she pointed at some papers on her desk, “doesn’t exactly say how, it just says ‘accidently’.”

“I can activate it myself,” I admitted scowling - They’d forced me to do it in the primitive power testing just after I’d manifested. “I don’t like to do it as you should know. It activates itself when I’m scared or really angry.”

“Good... I guess martial arts would be the better option for now,” Mrs. Bell said to my surprise. “See, in survival training they’ll just put you in situations which would make you really angry or scare the shit out of you, to train you to react right.”

“Yess...” Crap, if something like this happened in Survival training every day... “That wouldn’t be good at all. But... how does this martial arts work? I fear fighting will also activate it.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Those are spars... and I can ask our martial arts instructors to go easy on you. Don’t worry; you won’t have a fight every day.”

“That’s good to know,” I said, sighing in relief.

“I’m glad you agree. Anyway, you should do your placement tests right now. It’s better if we know what you can do than to sort you into the wrong courses.”

I could imagine. I had no idea, where I was in comparison to the American students, but considering the world (in)famous prowess of the American schooling system, I should do well in these tests. I was junior age in their school system and they’d put me back two years. Really, there should be no trouble. I could only hope this school would be worth the waste of time... Although... No, if I was honest with myself it was only a year. In Germany I would have had thirteen years of schooling anyway.

“Okay, please give me the tests.”

The English test turned out to be rather easy, I was only stumped with the more complicated interpretations of stuff. I just guessed there. Apparently, my strange language power was at work again. Writing worked even better than talking. It was almost as if I wrote in German, a fact which began to creep me out. I’d never learned English this well, hell, I could imagine that I’d caught on a few words and somehow integrated them with my magically grown language centers, but that didn’t explain how I could write expressions that I’d never read lest heard before.

While Mrs. Bell had watched me curiously when I filled out the first test, she began to correct the tests as soon as I had finished them. When she wasn’t busy correcting, she typed something on her computer. I was quite curious what she was doing, but figured I had more important stuff to do right now.

Yet, when I did my French test, I was disappointed to learn that my arcane language ability suddenly stopped working. I was as bad with that language as I used to be. No, actually I was worse. The prolonged summer holidays didn’t do my French any good. Still, I guess I was pretty decent considering when I’d learned that language.

As far as I could tell I pretty much aced the German test, it obviously wasn’t for native speakers. On the other hand the biology test was way more interesting. It was challenging, but when it got into genetics stuff quickly grew over my head. The genetics classes back home had only covered subject material up to Mendel's law. The same was true for Chemistry. The stuff we’d done there had been pretty theoretical. Although I had a good idea of simple nuclear models and knew a bit about certain organic molecules (aka alcohols), I couldn’t answer the more complicated questions. Hell, I couldn’t really recall any reactions beyond what happened if you lit hydrogen - boom - and the stuff about using sulphur to get rid of rust.

Physics went pretty well, I was somewhat stumped with some things that I learned some time ago, but I was able to figure out most of the stuff I’d done at school once. It seemed like physics was taught in another order than in Germany, however I had no real troubles. I even figured out a few formulas of the stuff I’d never really done before. I simply rocked!

The history test was kinda cool even if it was a mixed bag. I totally owned European history, but I had no idea about American one. Sure, I knew which parties were involved and that it wasn’t just about Slavery, but also influence in the government. The questions about battles were just ignored. God, I’d never really bothered to learn the major European ones, how would I know about those in the American Civil War?

It got really strange when I started to fill out the math test. I remembered how to do every little shitty question there was, even this stupid geometry crap from seventh grade we’d never needed again. I brushed through the trigonometry stuff. Sure, we’d done that last year, yet even though I’d only done the basics, I could even do the most complicated stuff without problems. It was so strange, I actually wrote a comment down about it. I didn’t understand the calculus stuff, but had the feeling that I should. Brushing that aside I found the test for vector analysis. I’d never done that before, but I could answer the basics without real problems. It just seemed self explanatory. Although, I had to call it quits when it got more complicated. Further sheets had stuff that looked like they could be from university classes.

“Okay, wait a minute until I’ve got this one checked,” Mrs. Bell said after I finished the last sheet.

Thankfully, she didn’t take long and after a few minutes of listening to the silent scratching sounds of her pencil she turned towards me and said smiling: “Phew... I’m finished. You were pretty quick, you know.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Bell,” I replied politely. It seemed like she liked me, which was a good basis if I got her in class. I’d never been one to needlessly antagonize teachers - well except for that one stupid exception - there was simply good reason to do something like that. You always got better grades if they liked you.

“No need to thank me, it’s always nice to have a dedicated student,” she waved it off. “Anyway, I guess I’ll just tell you the results.” Mrs. Bell pulled out the English test. “You have an amazing grasp of the English language, especially considering that you’ve never had real practice speaking it until a day ago. You could take the senior English courses with your abilities, but I guess you should skip that and do something fun. You don’t seem like the type who enjoys interpreting famous literature.”

I quickly nodded. “Yes. Definitely not the thing I would enjoy.” Did this mean I’d get out of it? No more interpreting Max Frisch, Goethe, Kafka or maybe Shakespeare here?

“I thought so,” she said and wrinkled her forehead. “Do you enjoy writing?”

What? Where did that come from?

“Ähm... yeah, it was pretty much the only thing I ever enjoyed doing in German classes.”

“Okay, I think creative writing might be the right thing for you,” Mrs. Bell stated and continued to elaborate: “Samantha... Mrs. Meyer usually doesn’t give any homework and it’s known as one of the more fun classes. I really don’t think there is any point for you in visiting further English classes.”

The no-homework thing had me convinced. “Okay, I’ll take it! … It sounds interesting.”

She laughed. “Sure... I can understand though. I wasn’t the most diligent student either.”

Interesting to know, but I wasn’t sure if it was a smart idea to agree with her. Teachers talked to each other and I certainly didn’t want them to control my homework every day. It would suck to be forced to do it every day. Seriously, who would want to sacrifice their free time for school?

When I didn’t say anything Mrs. Bell rolled her eyes but continued: “You’re sophomore or junior level at biology, chemistry and physics, so it’s not a big deal if you miss those for a semester.”

I wasn’t too fond of that idea. I liked the natural sciences. And honesty, what else was I supposed to do? Learn another language? No thanks, I’d learned enough vocabulary already.

She’d probably seen my expression, since she amended: “You’ve repeated at least a year and the follow up courses will be really hard. You have time, so you don’t have to overload your schedule.”

She probably had a point. I could always continue to learn new stuff in natural sciences - I would have quit biology and chemistry in Germany anyway - and there was new exciting stuff I could learn.

“I’m not quite sure, but I think my parents mentioned an engineering track... and I can take informatics, can I?”

“Both classes for beginners, right?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I’ve no real experience in either one, and the beginner courses should be the easier one’s, right?”

“I wouldn’t call engineering easy and informatics... well, either you have talent for it or you don’t.”

I shrugged. I’d applied for the hardest course at my German Oberstufe^{^[1]} anyway, so I wasn’t too bothered if I actually needed to apply a brain cell or two. “Doesn’t matter, I’m interested in both.”

“Good,” Mrs. Bell said, scribbling something onto a note. “Now about history and math. You’re very good at European history, I guess it’s somewhat a hobby of yours, right?” I acknowledged this with a nod and she continued: “American history was also pretty good even if you didn’t know about the decisive military maneuvers of the civil war, but I guess that is to be expected... Anyway, your grasp on general American history was also good...”

“Seriously?” I interjected. “We never had American history at school and I only got some of it from computer games or some fiction books. Ähm... American students aren’t really that ignorant are they?”

She shook her head. “No, while the American history classes in public schools may be somewhat lacking, I can assure you that is not the reason for your good grades. I think we have another case of your mysterious mutant ability manifesting.”

Really? Well, it would make sense, considering that couldn’t remember that I ever learned anything specific about American history.

“You had serious problems with French, well, in comparison, so I doubt it’s genius,” Mrs. Bell stated. I couldn’t protest, my French could have been better although I‘d been one of the best in class. Not that it really counted with those suckers. “If I had to guess I’d say it’s some kind of esper ability that somehow gives you abilities or knowledge from people in close proximity. That would also explain your sudden increase in English skills over the last days and the amazing results on your trigonometry test.”

“You mean I cheated?”

Mrs. Bell raised her eyebrows. “Not really, cheating implies you did it intentionally with an intention to deceive.”

I shrugged; didn’t that mean the tests were worthless? “So what now?”

“Well, I suggest you’ll do my trigonometry/pre-calc class.” She raised her hand, before I could protest. “Wait, I know you passed this test perfectly, but who knows how much you’ll remember tomorrow.”

Crap, that was a very good point. My English skills had somewhat fluctuated over the last day. If I skipped this class and the same happened to my math-skills, I could be really screwed in the next course.

“Okay.”

“Good. You said you wanted to take the engineering track, so I suggest you’ll pick the following classes: Math, mechanical Physics, Engineering, Informatics and creative writing. Consider that you need to pick the three mandatory classes Basic Martial Arts, Power Theory and Power Labs.”

“What about history, or politics or French? And what do you need with pick? Those are only eight classes. In Germany I was supposed to have ten.”

Mrs. Bell scratched her head. “You were supposed to have ten classes? How does that work? I gather the German school system is different. You don’t have the same schedule every day?”

Seriously? They only had Leistungskurse^{^[2]}? How did they ever manage to teach all topics? Americans were weird!

“How does that work?” I quickly inquired. “I don’t get it. Does this mean if there is a six hours school-day I have only six courses at all?”

“Exactly, that’s how it works,” the teacher nodded. “You’ve got three free courses to choose.”

“Scheisse!” Five topics to choose would have been bad enough, but only three... What the hell was I supposed to do? “Do I really need to do the three other courses?”

“Yes, you need to and mind your language, please.”

“Sch... Super,” I groaned. “What am I supposed to do now?”

“Well, you’ve tested out of history and you can do the politics stuff next year. You should learn more about your language ability before you try French. Otherwise, it might be a total waste of time. You might be able to learn it by simply talking to one of the native speakers on campus. Try it and see how much you can recall afterwards.”

Good point about languages. The best thing was it would probably piss off dad, he was always gung ho about languages. But then he’d exiled me to America so he just had to live with the fact he didn’t get a say about my education. While I could understand her opinion about languages, I didn’t like that she just waved the humanities aside. Sure, she was a math teacher, but general knowledge was also useful.

“Okay, so no French, no German, but what about English, Math, Physics, Informatics and Engineering?”

“Well, you should take creative writing, if you love homework as much as the average student.”

I quickly nodded, while Mrs. Bell grinned at me. “I’d also rather have you in my class, so we can test whether you’re really that much a genius at trigonometry or if you just temporarily gleaned it off me.”

“I get that, but what about the rest? What of the three should I pick?”

“Well, you won’t have superhero classes next summer-semester and enough people want to do informatics to warrant a beginner course every semester,” Mrs. Bell slipped closer to the desk. “You should do mechanical physics because you’ll need it as a prerequisite for Engineering I anyway. Well, if you don’t want to have to do some serious after class learning.”

No, I definitely didn’t. “I think I can agree with this.” I could, I wouldn’t complain about having a 30 hour week. That was great.

“Okay,” Mrs. Bell said and wrote something down, before she suddenly sighed. “Now the hard part. We need to talk about your gender troubles.”

I flinched. I didn’t want to talk about them, God I just wanted them to go away. I wasn’t a girl, I’d never be a girl. I didn’t even understand girls most of the time. And talking about it? Men didn’t talk about problems they solved them. Talking was crap girls did! Seriously, wouldn’t I lose even more of my male mojo if I did unmanly stuff like that?

“You’re writing like a boy, you’re sitting like a boy, you’re even talking... well, not really. Sometimes you’re accentuating words like a boy, sometimes you’re not,” she recounted pretty harshly, making me wonder what the hell was her problem was. “You look like a girl, though.”

“Yes, I’m quite aware of this fact,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Gender troubles you know...”

While I was quite happy that she could tell I was really a boy, it was obvious that she didn’t understand the problem. But then this was true for most “normal” people. How would they understand how it felt wrong to act the wrong gender? I might look somewhat girlish, but I wasn’t a girl - for god’s sake I still had my balls and dick and what was on my chest couldn’t be called boobs by any right. Nonetheless it was quite obvious she would have preferred if I acted more like a girl. Well, she could prefer much, but it wouldn’t happen.

Wiping my feeble protests aside, she made me agree to go to psychological counseling, which was kinda annoying, but wasn’t all that bad since she promised to get me a place with Dr. Bellows. I didn’t need to do it myself and he was apparently the local expert for the transgendered. I hoped he wouldn’t try to push me to become more girlish. They’d just have to live with the fact I was weird, not normal, a freak or whatever. I’d not cared much for gender norms before and I certainly wouldn’t care now when they got even more alien.

I still wasn’t happy about it though. Mrs. Bell managed to distract me from my mood though, when she gave me a new laptop. Apparently the school had bought new models this year and I was one of the first to pick. Good thing for me. It seemed like mom and dad had wasted the money for my laptop, but whatever. This way I could actually follow the rules and have one for school and was still free to fill the other one with games and porn.

***

“Hey, freak, you look like the bastard child between a squid and a sand puppy,” someone shouted just as I entered the subterranean tunnel towards the Crystal Hall.

Filling the tests had taken longer than I’d ever expected, which meant I was probably late for lunch. Taking the tunnels had been the obvious choice. It was raining cats and dogs outside. The sun’s rays waking me had deceived me about the weather, I hadn’t even thought about taking a jacket. Accordingly, the tunnels seemed like the obvious choice after I looked out of Dunn Hall’s front door. Considering the argument in the tunnel in front of me that decision didn’t seem so wise anymore.

Crap, bullying again. This school had looked so good so far, like they tried to make sure it didn’t happen, but now it was right before my eyes. Even though I felt the sudden need to walk away - it wasn’t my problem after all - I just couldn’t. How often had I been in the same situation as the other kid? How often had I hoped someone would come to help me? It never happened. People just turned away or laughed about it. No, I couldn’t be that way. Just No!

Decision made, I went to investigate. Dashing around the corner I found myself in the main tunnel. Two guys and a girl were threatening a… well, rather freaky looking person. He was growing four tentacles from his head and his arms looked rather weird under his shirt, as if they had too many joints. While his appearance was truly alien to me, the expression on his contorted face all too common. I’d worn it myself often enough. It was the face of someone who was forced to make another ugly decision. I knew the alternatives: Just strike at them and ignore the consequences, try to make a run of it or try to ignore them and hope for the best. It looked like he tried the third option, but it rarely worked well, painful experiences told me. The other options weren’t really better though, since they’d just use it as a justification to blame you for the whole situation. I knew the game.

It only got worse when the bullies were better looking than you. Because seriously, society judged people almost solely on their looks. If you were ugly or creepy, you were guilty. It was that simple. The fact that their victim looked somewhat inhuman wouldn’t help him at all. Especially since the bullies were easy to look at. There was this classic Caucasian guy, balling his fist in a threatening gesture - he could have been from one of those Hitler Youth posters they’d showed us in history class. Meanwhile his companion was a tall, buff looking guy who could have been from Italy or anywhere else in the Mediterranean - the “cool” Mafioso guy. The girl in the trio had a really cute look - cute if I didn’t know she was a despicable bully - she was a black haired mix of Asian and Caucasian ancestry.

“What are you doing?” I asked loudly hoping to distract them. Maybe they were the type who’d be reluctant to do stuff with audience. Cowards...

“What we’re doing?” The girl sneered. “We’re showing this queer-thing its place. Abominations like it shouldn’t be allowed to exist.”

What the fuck?! Abomination?! Wasn’t Whateley supposed to be a safe haven for mutants? Why were they allowed to talk like that? Hell, why were they here in the first place if they had this attitude? These… freaks talked as if they were from one of those H1 chapters my cottage mates had mentioned.

“Ähm… are you serious?” I asked, trying to stall them, while I desperately thought about something to distract them.

“What? Of course we are,” the Mediterranean looking guy said, eyeing me suspiciously, “say, you don’t sympathize with freaks like it?”

It?! Well more than with freaks like him that much was for sure. But it wouldn’t be a good idea to say this out loud. They looked like they were searching for trouble, not just being bigoted assholes. Still, I couldn’t just look away, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

“Ähm… maybe you should just let him go?” I suggested, in vain hope they’d leave the GSD kid alone. Bullies usually weren’t as aggressive if the support was lacking.

Sadly these were. “It’s a freak lover,” the bitch decided. “Leave’ er to me. I’ll show her what we think of traitors like her.”

I wasn’t a ‘her’, but that was beside the point. They wouldn’t like she-males very well either. Although apparently it was enough to not hate GSD-kids. Sure, he had a freaky face and tentacle head and in any other situation I’d probably stared at him like hell, but that was no reason to hate him. The bitch obviously though otherwise, she was coming at me, balling her fists. Did she really want to fight with me?

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” I said, instinctively taking a step back.

I really didn’t want to be involved into a fight on my second day here. Hell, I didn’t want to be involved into a fight at all. Only total idiots went out looking for fights.

“Give that bitch what she deserves!” The Hitler-boy shouted, edging the bitch on. “Disgusting freak lover!”

What the hell was wrong with these people? Freak, freak lover, thing and queer… only fag was missing. Why did people have to be like this? They really pissed me off. Well, if they wanted a fight they could have it! I wouldn’t bow down to assholes like them. Activating my shell, I felt the characteristic tingling run over my body. Bloody instinct reaction! I grimaced; long hair was tickling my neck and reminded me of the consequences once again.

“Hah... you’re bluffing,” the bitch gloated. “I know this doesn’t make you stronger - whore.”

Whore... what a joke. I wasn’t very likely to get any sex, lest be paid for it - seriously, who would want a freak like me? Sadly she was right about the other thing. Although it looked like a magical girl-transformation power up it didn’t give me any super powers nor did I gain Kim Possible’s skills - I’d tested it. No, it just sucked.

“Stop it! This is enough!” a very strange sounding voice shouted – it was so raw, barely human, as if it was slipping out of the hearable sound range. Turning towards it, I realized it was Tentacle-boy who was shouting. And not just that, his hands and the tips of his raised head tentacles were glowing in a dangerous looking purple. It was quite fascinating.

“Owie!” I instinctively jumped backwards after I’d been hit. “Ouch!” That hurt.

Owie? That sounded so girlish. I was a man; I wasn’t allowed to cry like a girl! She’d pay for humiliating me like this! Coward she was, Bitch-girl had used the short distraction to get in a hit in on my face. In my fucking face! What a fucking bloody mangy bitch daughter of a dog and a rat. I’d make her pay, my cheek hurt.

Readying myself, I balled my fist in an angry gesture. I’d show her what a real fight meant. That prissy whore wouldn’t know what hit her! She’d get the thrashing of her life. I gritted my teeth. She wouldn’t get away with this. Bullies needed to get a good beating and Tentacle boy might need my help against the other two assholes. Grimacing from the pain of my throbbing cheek I slowly stalked forward.

Something didn’t seem right though. She didn’t behave like prissy princess bitches were supposed to behave. Crap, her position looked as if she knew what she was doing. Although... I didn’t, so she might just be copying one of those Asian fight-film stances. I also wasn’t an expert for those though.

Still, there was something else. She was retreating... she had the drop on me, but now she was retreating. Why didn’t she use my distraction to try and pummel me into submission? Strange... It wasn’t right. Should I attack? Or was this...

“Miss Smith, we’ve seen you attack her,” a deep voice said from behind me, “playing innocent won’t help you now.”

Oh... that would explain it. Someone was here to stop the fight. Quickly turning around, I saw a bunch of older, military looking guys. Campus security. Yes, the fight was over. But then it wasn’t like I’d wanted it in the first place. These assholes deserved good thrashing, but certainly not from me. The best thing was that they’d probably seen bitch hit me... oh she was in troubles...

“You can’t prove shit,” mafia-boy said. “We’ve checked, there are no cameras around.”

I grinned. Was he stupid or something? Well he was a bigoted bully so...

“Well, Mr. Jeffries, I fear you haven’t checked well enough,” the brown haired security guy at the front said. “We’ve improved the system over the summer break. And even if we didn’t, you’ve pretty much confessed anyway.”

Yes he did. It wasn’t like any school administration cared much for due process. It was rather impressive though that they really had cameras here. Considering that the students were all super powered it was probably necessary though

“Idiot!” Hitler-boy said and hit his co-bully into the side. “You really got no brains.”

“Fuck you!”

I just stood there looking baffled at the scene. Seconds ago they’d been ready to beat me up and now these bastards were fighting with each other. Not that I minded much, but with friends like these you definitely needed no enemies.

“Enough!” the security dude suddenly shouted. “I’m sick of your shit. Do you really believe you get away with a slap on your wrist again? You’re here the first day after vacations and you’re already starting the same old crap again.” He turned to his men and said: “Get them to Kane Hall and someone should call Mrs. Carson.”

“The old dragon will be so happy about it,” the man in the back of their group said rolling his eyes.

“Don’t let her hear this,” his comrade joked, yet his eyes never left the bullies.

“Ähm... what about us?” I inquired. “Do you need us, or can I go and eat something?”

“What do you think?” Another security guy, standing next to the boss of the group said, raising his eyebrows.

What did I think? If I knew what to think I wouldn’t have asked. I wasn’t a soldier, who stood around stupidly until they got new orders. I was new at this bloody school, how was I supposed to know. Running into a few idiots didn’t make me know the procedures.

“We can’t,” the tentacled boy said with his strange voice. “They’ll need to record our statements.”

Damn, my stomach was complaining, but I didn’t want to let these assholes get away. Not that they should, considering the fact they’d apparently recorded everything with invisible cameras. In this rare case it actually felt good that big brother was watching me. Surveillance was better than being a puddle of melted Goo when one of those Champion guys tried their powers on me, or something.

I shuddered. Crap, these people had thought nobody was watching them... and I’d just picked a fight with them. No, they picked a fight with me, but that wouldn’t have made a big difference if one of them really had eye-lasers.

Quickly collecting myself, I tried to act cool. “Okay,” I said with a faked shrug. “What are we waiting for?”

“Nothing, let’s go,” the leader of the security group said. Then he turned towards his men. “Make sure they don’t try something stupid.”

Thankfully, we didn’t have to walk very far. Kane Hall was the next building on our way. After going up the stairs, and into security central, they separated us. It was annoying, but they told me I had to wait for a few minutes in a single room. I was starting to wonder if it was like being social health insurance patient in a doctor’s office. Waiting like an hour until the doctor deigned to come to you. Thankfully, it didn’t take that long and after a while an older looking dude came in.

“Hello, I’m Franklin Delarose and the chief of campus security,” he said, introducing himself.

Interesting. I’d expected one of the minions. Why was the boss doing this in person?

“Hi, I’m Jan Edler,” I introduced myself, not sure what to say.

“I’m going to cut to the chase. Why did you get into a fight on your first day at Whateley?”

“Second day,” I absently corrected him, before realizing who I was talking to. “I was attacked by that bi... Smith-girl.” He probably wouldn’t appreciate if I called the bitch a bitch.

“Yes, we were aware you’ve been attacked by Mrs. Smith, but that doesn’t explain why.”

They had surveillance cameras in the tunnels; didn’t they have microphones or something? Well, the obvious answer was because I hate bullies and wanted to stop them. Yet taking my experiences at my old school in consideration, I wasn’t so sure if that was the right answer here. They might think I provoked them or something. When there weren’t bruises to show it was all too easy to ignore bullying after all. As long as it didn’t got violent they didn’t care.

“She decided freak-lovers such as I deserved a good thrashing,” I summed it up.

It turned out that this wasn’t enough for him and he forced me to recount everything from my point of view. How I found them, how I reacted, why I got involved... Seriously, this was a hassle. Couldn’t they just kick those assholes out of school, or give them detentions for the rest of the semester? Why did they have to bother hungry me with this crap?

Apparently, even those answers were still not enough for the security chief. “Why didn’t you call Security?” he asked.

What the fuck? This question made me pause. Why didn’t I call security? Because I didn’t think about it? I figured they were nothing but loudmouths. Looking at him I realized he seemed to be serious about this question. Did he want to shift some blame on me or something? Or even worse, was he another one of these freak-bashers? That would suck ass. I had to be careful.

“How was I supposed to do that?” I slowly asked, straightening myself up in the chair. “I don’t know your number by heart, I left my Handy^{^[3]}... my mobile phone in my room and I feared they’d do something before I could have run to alarm you.”

“That’s interesting, nonetheless you shouldn’t have interfered. Superpowers are dangerous; we have campus security and our auxiliary to help in such cases.”

Oh what a surprise. Superpowers were dangerous... Run to the authority whenever you think you might be in trouble. If I’d do that, I’d pretty much have to camp in their headquarter! The man was really pissing me off.

“I told you I didn’t intend to get into a fight,” I groused. “Neither you nor your auxiliary were there. And if I cared that much about risk, I would have never gone into your insane country!” I almost shouted. “You have more deaths in shootouts than Germany has in car crashes!”

What the hell was this asshole thinking? I had been attacked and now he was going at me as if I’d caused the situation. I wouldn’t stand for this. It was worse than I’d feared.

“What the hell do you want anyway?!” I shouted before he could say anything. “I’ve been attacked and now you behave as if I’d been to blame for this situation. Considering the comments of your minions these assholes have been known for pulling shit like this. Maybe you should just supervise them or kick them off the school instead of picking on me for doing my civic duty!” I glared at him angrily.

“I won’t be a coward that runs away like a mouse whenever something looks like it could be possibly troublesome. People like you just piss me off! You’re supposed to be the chief of campus security and here you are blaming me for a situation that only exists to the lame assedness of your people! If you want to punish me for trying to talk some idiots out of violence you can forget it. I won’t accept it.”

“Enough!” Delarose said, silencing me with a glare. “Nobody said anything about punishing you. Have you vented your frustrations now?”

Not really, but then more yelling wouldn’t help. I only nodded and glared back at him in an effort to stop my damn girl tears from falling.

Chief Delarose surprised me when he leaned his chair back and thoughtfully studied me for a second. “I’m curious, how did you get the idea we’d want to punish you?”

Now, I was really getting mad. Who was he trying to fool here by pretending to care? Everyone knew that schools coddled the rich, famous and beautiful. Sure the assholes had kind of fucked up by actually hitting me, but that bitch was the only one who’d get punished. The other’s had thrown insults so they’d just get off with a slap on their wrist...Whateley was no different than my last school in that regard, I knew this game.

“Why else would you tell me not to interfere with them?” I asked cynically, wanting to rant at him again. “They’re good looking exemplars, so it’s obviously easier to shift the blame to the freaks.”

Delarose shook his head as he looked at me disapprovingly. “You’re assuming things. I just wanted to warn you to be careful. We’ve students here that can melt you to slag with a glance.”

I shrugged helplessly, maybe I’d misspoken. “I was aware of this, it’s not like I charged in an tried to beat them up, did I?” My stomach rumbled. “Um... can we finish this? I’m hungry.” Seriously, there was no point in this... conversation.

“Okay,” Delarose said, raising his eyebrows. “You didn’t do anything wrong, although I’d prefer if you could alarm us in the future.” He pulled a business card out of a drawer. „Here, just in case that you forget our number.”

Nodding, I took his card. There was no point in embarrassing myself any worse than I did already. “Can I go now?”

Chief Delarose brought me out of the room and to the other students. I could only hope we were done now and they didn’t try to do another interrogation with all of us.

“You two can go now,” Delarose said, motioning at me and the tentacle boy. Then he turned to the three bullies. “The rest of us will have a meeting with Mrs. Carson.”

Tentacle boy actually winced hearing this. My suspicion seemed right, meeting the headmistress was never a good idea. Especially under such circumstances. Made me kind of wish to be a fly on the wall in that meeting. Hanging around here any longer wouldn’t be a good idea though. God what was I thinking when I yelled at the chief?

“You’ll get what’s yours,” the bitch-girl hissed at me when I passed her.

Yeah, did she have nothing lamer to say? I was soooo scared, not. Hell, she didn’t even pack that bad a punch. My cheek didn’t even hurt anymore. I decided to not react to her taunt, since that would only encourage her.

“Um… say, why did Delarose take so long with you?” the tentacle boy asked curiously as we left security central.

“He went on my case for not running away and leaving you to your fate,” I replied, trying to avoid staring at him, “kinda pissed me off, so I ranted at him.” God, tentacle boy looked so strange.

“Seriously?” the boy asked as he made a strange gesture with his head tentacles.

“Uh um…” I nodded. “Not my smartest decision ever, but I thought he wanted to give me detention for standing up to those assholes. Wouldn’t be the first time…” Okay, I was exaggerating; it was the first time. Usually, I was the victim of the assholes after all.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” he stated, making a curious weird with his eyes – It looked a bit as if he wanted to raise his eyebrows. They were gone though.

“I didn’t mean here,” I said. “Anyway, I’m new here, freshman at Poe. Jan Edler is my name.” Hopefully, he’d introduce himself now. I couldn’t really call him tentacle boy – that would be too rude.

“Poe?” he grinned. “That might explain your rant at Delarose.”

Great, another one who thought I was a loony. Great cover story, really. Freak, loony, freak, loony… what was preferable?”

“Ähm... sorry, don’t take it wrong.” He quickly added. Apparently I had shown my thoughts on my face again. “Your cottage kinda has a reputation.” He shrugged. “Whatever, my name’s Leonard Maier, Codename’s Kraken.”

“Kraken?” I echoed.

“Well, it’s better than tentacle boy… or tentacle monster.”

Ouch. Well, I’d kinda thought of the first, but especially the latter had unfortunate implications. Apart from the whole monster thing.

“I wouldn’t want to call myself something like that, either,” I easily admitted. “but Kraken is cool.” It actually made me think” Ähm… does that name mean you can swim?”

“I can,” he replied, slightly shaking his head, which looked rather strange with the tentacles. “But the same way everyone else can. It’s no super ability or something.”

“And there aren’t so many cool names for guys with tentacles,” I said, thinking loudly just as we missed the stairs to Crystal Hall. My hunger could wait. I didn’t want to leave him yet, maybe I could make another friend. “Ähm… where are you going?”

“To the hospital,” Leonard said. “Some necessary checkups thanks to my mutation.”

Yeah… Ayla had mentioned something about more complicated cases. Last year there had been a girl that actually turned into a cow – with a cow brain and everything. Thankfully, they’d found a solution before it was too late for her. Hopefully, he didn’t have a problem like that. I was kinda curious about it, but it was too sensitive a topic to ask.

Quickly nodding, I tried another, less sensitive topic: “Say, did you get some powers with the mutation?”

“Yeah, I’ve got energizer powers,” he lit his tentacles up with this strange purple light I’d seen in the fight, “and I’m a bio-devisor.” He sighed. “The bio-devisor thing is probably the reason for my troubles. Apparently, I designed my own BIT into this… and I’ve no idea how to reverse it. Not that I haven’t tried.”

He managed to change his BIT? Sure his result wasn’t too enticing, but maybe if he’d learned more about his ability…

“Ähm… sorry if I offend, but curious how you managed to do this.”

“I wish I really knew,” he said, sighing again. “We were supposed to design the perfect creature for bio-class and it seems like I’m turning into what I designed then.”

“This sucks,” I said, rubbing my forehead. God he was unlucky. I really didn’t know what to say about it.

Leonard probably realized this, since he changed the topic: “Say Jan, are you from Germany?”

“Yes... why do you ask?” Some people still had issues with Germans thanks to WW2. I really hoped he wasn’t one of those. He seemed nice.

He grinned at me. “Ich bin auch aus Deutschland.”

That would explain it. Hell, I should have known. Leonard and Maier. Neither were common American names. Well, as far as I knew.

“Cool,” I replied, switching to German. “I’m not the only one anymore. I seriously couldn’t have told though.”

“Yeah,” Leonard said, rolling his eyes. “It’s kind of hard to tell with my voice, isn’t it.”

I nodded. “Sure, but you’re also very good. I don’t think it’s just your voice.”

“Well, you’re good too, I really wasn’t sure. Did you do an exchange year before?”

Shaking my head, I began to explain about my powers. Like the weird language thing and the fact I rocked even more at math than I did before. I didn’t say anything about the turning into a girl thing though. Sure, I liked him, but I didn’t trust him that far. As we continued our conversation, it turned out that Leonard knew about possible complications and asked me if I’d been checked for those. I had been, but only once. It was different for Leonard. He needed constant checking since he turned into something really alien. They feared life threatening complications, so he had to go for checkups every day and couldn’t leave campus until his transformation was finished.

God, I felt like a drama queen for complaining about mine. A girl was still a human. What he described was something right out of one of the more sophisticated science fiction movies. No human with a strange nose, but some tentacled, flying telepathic thing. That was actually the reason for his strange voice. Since the race he designed was supposed to be telepathic he was losing his voice – and the telepathy hadn’t even manifested yet. It made my problems seem somewhat laughable really. I could still wear jeans, but when he was done he wouldn’t even remotely resemble something human.

“How can you stand this?” I asked, I just couldn’t stop myself.

“My… best friend helps me… and I can always tell myself there are people worse off than me.”

Some were dead.

We had to wait when we arrived at the hospital. Apparently there had been an emergency with burnout on someone’s first day and his doctor was busy. I didn’t just want to leave Leonard alone, so the two of us used this opportunity to get to know each other further. The nurse at the reception desk glared at us and complained when we spoke German, so we changed back to English. Some people had issues, seriously... We continued our conversation though and it turned out he had the same compulsory subjects as me.

“Well, I’m officially a sophomore,” Leonard said. “But I came here as somewhat of an emergency case in spring, so I didn’t do really much so far.”

At least they didn’t really force him to redo two grades. Although considering my mutant classes that might actually not be such a bad idea. If I continued to waste my time on mutant powers an extra year might not be enough. My stomach grumbled, making meI fidget nervously on my orange plastic chair. God, I was hungry, but I didn’t want to leave him here alone.

Trying to distract myself, I switched our conversation to another topic. My decision to talk about Videogames was gold. I’d found another hobby geek and he actually knew more about the rumored GEO game. There was something really strange about it, he told me. Apparently it somehow knew stuff about your real persona and offered you possible characters in accordance. To his surprise those turned out to be mostly evil characters, although he usually played with a good alignment.

“I can’t stand to see people suffering, but apparently the game thought that my body was more defining than my moral alignment,” Leonard joked. “Well it’s not like the good side has many character options with tentacles.”

“I can imagine,” I replied shaking my head. Tentacles almost always meant evil. Apparently, the majority of people thought them creepy... I couldn’t understand. Tentacles were weird. Spiders were evil!

Just when he tried to tell me how I could get an account of my own, the nurse called Leonard in. Apparently, the kid they’d brought in had just died from her burnout. Dead on her first day! Or that was what I gathered from the hushed whispers. God, could something like that happen to me? I shivered. Yes it could, if I got unlucky… Why did I have to be a mutant? Why couldn’t I just turn into a dynahost or have a batson event? Once that was done, I would have been safe. Not like this mutant crap where I turned into a girl and could die whenever my body felt like it.

“Um, see you tomorrow or something,” I said subdued. While I’d just made a new friend the death was just a mood killer.

“Okay,” he said following the nurse. “Ah crap, I should have given you my e-mail... anyway, I guess I’ll see you somewhere around or in class.”

***

“That Jan girl is still weak,” a boy said. “We’ll get her once her guard is down.”

“It’s not that easy,” a young woman replied. “There are protections at Whateley.”

He just laughed derisively. “You’re such a woman. Always too weak to act, like all of you. But it’s not your fault, changing the world is a man’s job.”

“I think you need to... grow, before you can call yourself a man,” the woman retorted, throwing a meaningful glance at his crotch. “Fucking Potter changed everything; I just don’t see how we can still use her.”

“Typical woman,” the boy snorted. “Only creative painting your nails. Well, it’s easy; if we can’t use her, we have to take her out. It’s not like the plan depends on her.” A smirk played over his face. “And it would send a nice message, don’t you think?”

The woman just raised her eyebrows, but decided to say nothing. It wouldn’t have helped with him anyway.

Shaking his head, the boy muttered: “Sorry, I forgot, women can’t think… actually makes me wonder who Potter’s husband is.”

Glaring at the boys retreating back, the young woman whispered to herself: “I wish I didn’t have to deal with him.” Now it was her turn to smirk. “Men are all the same, but that’ll be their undoing.”

#tbc

***

^{^[1]} Sort of like High school - it’s complicated.

^{^[2]} You can pick two or three Leistungskurse (advanced courses) in German Oberstufe (sorta high school) they’re five hours a week and at advanced level. The other courses were Grundkurse (basic courses), which were two or three hours a week and were teaching stuff at an easier level. This allows you to avoid specializing too much at high school and gives a better general knowledge. Or at least that’s the idea.

^{^[3]} Handy is the term Germans use for mobile phone. The exact genesis of the term is a mystery.

***

Authors Note: Okay, this was the introduction part for Jan's tale. Not the quickest start ever, I guess :) but I hope you enjoyed Jan's views on American culture and Whateley in general. Like most authors I'm greateful for feedback. Comments are welcome, just try to keep your critic constructive. Anyway, thank you for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it.

Kudos

Comments

You had

so many great observations I couldn't decide which one to highlight in my comment title. :) I am enjoying the clues and suggestions that there is a lot more to Jan than meets the eye. Considering that seeing Chou and that sword of hers is usually the last thing people see, I think our hero did well not to completely panic.

I think you did well at showing a teenage boy who is really not liking this one damn bit, and who is behaving somewhat immaturely because of it. He's so far out of his comfort zone, he's really out of sorts.

Powers testing should be very interesting!

Grover

Chou?

At the time I wondered if it was someone playing a prank with some sort of illusion.

I agree with Grover, your characterisation is great. How do teenage boys deal with emotions? By getting aggressive about them! :-) Good showing the underlying emotions and the anger response, even if he hasn't figured out the correlation yet.

Yeah, he's trying really hard

Yeah, he's trying really hard not to snap at his friends... but sometimes people just piss him off. And seriously, Delarose had it coming :D I'm glad you liked it.

Thank you for your comment,
Beyogi

I'm glad you liked it. I

I'm glad you liked it. I didn't want an easy transformation/transition. Jan has to fight. He won't make progresses on the gender front every day. Hell, I'm not sure if I actually want him stuck. Chou really scared the crap out of Jan, but running around like a headless chicken wouldn't have helped him. He's still not sure if Chou isn't really a psycho :D
About powers testing... I'm still trying to figure out how to do it. I guess I should reread the Ayla or Tennyo stories about it.

Thank you for your comment,
Beyogi

Enjoying this

Enjoying this very much :)

Thanks, I'm glad you like

Thanks, I'm glad you like it,

Beyogi

Wondeful

I think your doing great, and I hope you can keep going without running out of gas, who cares if it is a little long, not me, and you are doing great at setting the scene and defining the characters, so never fear, your story is worth reading, and all who do should enjoy themselves immensely.

Dani

Thanks, I'm glad you liked

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. I guess I can't keep up this speed though, considering that I'd written chapter 2 already when I published chapter 1 :)

Beyogi

Very mysterious

Never mind the whole TG thing, we've also got the unusual interest from Mrs. Potter, the mysterious couple (presumably based off-campus but scrying on her) with designs on her, the anger issues, the brief flash of insight (GEO was developed by Whateley alumni) and the possibility of intellect mimicry.

It's going to be interesting to see what further complications you add to Jan's life before we get any answers... :)

As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

Hehe... you caught it :)

Hehe... you caught it :) Actually there is a good reason why they're interested in Jan... Look! Squirrel.

Anyway, stuff will get more complicated, but hopefully also more obvious next chapter.

Thanks for your comment,
Beyogi

Jan's Tale

I'm not very familiar with the Whateley universe (read a few before now) but I'm really enjoying your tale, Beyogi. I like the German angle and how you are handling it. I'm 2nd/3rd generation Canadian born but of (mostly) German descent (my father still occasionally cusses in German). You keep writing this, I'll keep enjoying it. :)

Lisa

Thank you for your kind

Thank you for your kind comment, I'm glad you like my story.

Beyogi

Sehr Gut

This is pure gold Beyogi, I'm really enjoying this new perspective from a German student. Intriguing story and potentially very interesting power suite - more bitte.

The nature of Monkey is - Irrepressible!!!

I tried something different

I tried something different for powers. We already had awesome warper and regen powers with Tennyo, the super Mage with Fey, the infiltrator with Whisper, the Chosen one of a higher power with Chou, the super martial artist Chaka... Well, I'm trying something different.

Thank you for your kind comment, I'm glad you like my story,

Beyogi

Jan Edler sems to be a

trouble magnet. She needs to learn some sort of self defense, or develop some sort of power that will help her in a fight.

Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Yeah... the wrong sort of

Yeah... the wrong sort of people is interested in Jan... The problem with mutant powers is that they don't really manifest because you want them to, or everyone would be immortal, an awesome mage had telekinesis and could teleport. I fear Jan will have to learn fighting the hard way :D

Thank you for your comment,
Beyogi

Ah... this was lovely. And

Ah... this was lovely. And yeah, that is about right for second year Chou. Based off of what the plans were for her Summer she would be very no nonsense right out the gate. Molly helps temper that, but she did get fairly grumpy at this point. Ayla's response to hearing the threat was perfect. The whole team would clench if they heard that, but still try to help. Really good stuff.

Jan seems interesting and I like how this is building slowly. I can't wait for Chou to scare her some more... it makes me giggle, like out loud and everything. My cats stared at me.

Heather

We are the change that will save the world.

I'm glad you liked my story.

I'm glad you liked my story. I tried to keep their reactions as close to canon as I possibly could. I'll try to have Chou scare her some more ;)

Thank you for your comment,
Beyogi

Nice characterization of how

Nice characterization of how Jan is dealing with his/her problems. And all the interest Jan is drawing is really getting me curious to see why someone who appears to have a very mind power is getting so much attention.

The waking world is but a dream.

Thanks, I'm glad you like it

Thanks, I'm glad you like it so far. The why? Well, I'll reveal that when it's time :)

Thank you for your comment,
Beyogi

Handy - Handy is the term Germans use for mobile phones

Possibly from the Motorola Handie-Talkie radio much used during WWII by American forces. In fact, the first civilian "Radio Telephones" looked quite a bit like the venerable Handie-Talkie.

Handie-Talkie Radio

This makes a bit of sense, since Motorola was involved in the first interfaces between the wireline world of the telcos and portable devices.

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

That might be true. I always

That might be true. I always thought it was some advertation-dudes that figured English was cooler than German and simply took some English term to describe a mobile phone.

Your explanation might be right though. Maybe the new mobiles reminded someone older of these old Handie-talkie radios.

Thank you for your comment,
Beyogi

Beyogi, I very much like your

Beyogi,
I very much like your story and how Jan is struggling to understand the US as well as Whateley Academy, as nothing is as she is used to back in Germany.
I can fully understand and sympathize with her in this regard, as I attended school (7th grade thru 9th grade)in England in the early 1950's, and it was nothing like what I or my siblings knew in relation to our American schools.

Jan appears to me to be caught up in a very similar situation, foreign country, not really knowing anyone that well, lack of knowledge of local customs and culture, and capped off by being in a really foreign and different school environment.

Janice Lynn

Yeah it's difficult. I mean

Yeah it's difficult. I mean the school uniforms alone that they're using at Whateley. Pretty much unimaginable at German state schools. Then living in a dormroom with others.

I'll probably have to rely on what I know from my sister's year as an exchange student to the US to get the classwork right.

Overall it's not going to be that bad though. America is weird, but not truly alien.

Thank you for your kind review, I'm glad that you liked my story,
Beyogi

Yeah it's difficult. I mean

Yeah it's difficult. I mean the school uniforms alone that they're using at Whateley. Pretty much unimaginable at German state schools. Then living in a dormroom with others.

I'll probably have to rely on what I know from my sister's year as an exchange student to the US to get the classwork right.

Overall it's not going to be that bad though. America is weird, but not truly alien.

Thank you for your kind review, I'm glad that you liked my story,
Beyogi

Jan

Enjoying the story

-Elsbeth

Is fearr Gaeilge briste, ná Béarla clíste.

Broken Irish is better than clever English.

Seeing Chou (sounds like a good chapter title...)

I got the impression that Jan might be a precog and that he may or may not have seen a possible future, which also may or may not be from someone else's POV. Sort of like "The Eyes of Laura Mars".

Chris

It took me awhile to warm up

It took me awhile to warm up to the story..pompous european with negative projectionstowards the U.S. fighting his mutation every second..
but; This is caricacture building and I know that I'll
be enjoying this story as it developes.

alissa

Jan's tale 2 - Waking up at Whateley Academy

Comments

You had

Chou?

Yeah, he's trying really hard

I'm glad you liked it. I

Enjoying this

Thanks, I'm glad you like

Wondeful

Thanks, I'm glad you liked

Very mysterious

Hehe... you caught it :)

Jan's Tale

Thank you for your kind

Sehr Gut

I tried something different

Jan Edler sems to be a

Yeah... the wrong sort of

Ah... this was lovely. And

I'm glad you liked my story.

Nice characterization of how

Thanks, I'm glad you like it

Handy - Handy is the term Germans use for mobile phones

That might be true. I always

Beyogi, I very much like your

Yeah it's difficult. I mean

Yeah it's difficult. I mean

Jan

Seeing Chou (sounds like a good chapter title...)

It took me awhile to warm up

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