"Life is never simple, child," said Ororo. "The other students here at the Institute know that better than most. You will find all of them to be very understanding and accepting of you -- no matter which gender you appear to be."

---

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Chris looked through the window of the van and watched his mother waving back to him as they drove away. He fought the urge to cry as her figure shrunk away in the distance. He looked around at the familiar scenes of his street and found himself wondering when he'd see any of it again.

He was feeling the normal levels of excitement that one feels in anticipation of the start of a long journey, but also a certain amount of anxiety. If anyone had told him a week ago, or even a couple of days ago, that he would be doing what he was doing right then he'd never have believed it. Yet there he was; leaving his home and going to live at a strange place with a group of people he'd only just met the day before.

The ride in the van seemed normal enough, he supposed. The others seemed to be making surprisingly normal conversation around him. For the most part, he said very little and only answered when someone spoke directly to him. He was starting to come down with a bad case of nerves, and even though he tried to sound cheerful he doubted that he was fooling anyone. Still, they persisted and kept trying to make him feel more at ease. Although he already knew Xavier's name, the rest of them finally made their formal introductions.

Initially, Chris had been dreading the thought of the long drive to New York State. He was surprised that so far no one had asked him why he'd been wearing girls’ clothes the day before, but figured it had to be brought up sooner or later.

He looked back at Rogue, who was leaning back in her seat with her eyes closed and apparently listening to music through her headphones. It didn't appear as though she enjoyed idle conversations either.

He was trying to think of a polite way to ask them if it was all right if he tried to doze off for a while when he noticed that they were pulling into the local airport. Instantly curious, he leaned over and peered though the window while they drove around past a number of administration buildings. Chris noticed a number of smaller private planes and jets parked just off the tarmac and wondered what the reason for coming there was. The answer was apparent as soon as they came to a stop before a black, impressive-looking private jet.

"Here we are folks," Logan announced. "Express flight to Bayville. Take-off in 10 minutes."

Logan and Ororo proceeded to help Xavier out of the van and onto the jet, while Scott and Rogue grabbed some of the bags out of the back and carried them towards the waiting aircraft.

Chris was stunned. He'd never been this close to an aircraft before, much less ever flown in one. While he was impressed at the resources these people had at their disposal, he was none-too-thrilled about the prospect of flying. Scott and Rogue returned for more bags and saw Chris frozen in place as he looked up at the jet.

"What's the matter, Chris?" asked Scott. "You aren't afraid of flying, are you?"

"I... I'm not sure. I've never flown before," he answered shakily.

"Well, it's definitely exciting but nothing to be afraid of. Grab your bags and come onboard. Our jet is pretty cool and I'm sure you'll really enjoy it."

Still feeling a bit unsure of the situation, he picked up his bags and followed Scott and Rogue as they climbed up the ramp into the plane.

Inside, it was actually a little bigger than he'd expected. The layout was kind of strange, too. Aside from the pilot controls at the front, there were also various electronic instruments situated around some of the other seats. While Chris admitted to himself that he didn't know much about planes, this one didn't seem like an ordinary private aircraft.

The jet was completely loaded within minutes. Once their luggage had been properly stowed away, Scott helped Chris settle into one of the passenger seats and showed him how to properly buckle up. He took a seat across the aisle from Chris and gave him the 'thumbs up' sign as soon as he'd belted himself in. Chris watched the adults up at the front of the jet while they ran through their pre-flight checks. After a few moments, he glanced back at Rogue who was seated by herself a few rows back and once again listening to her music. She seemed pointedly unconcerned about the imminent takeoff and he found himself envying her calm.

The entire jet began to vibrate and Chris immediately felt his pulse speed up while he listened to the growing whine of the engines. There was a slight lurch and the jet began to roll forward as it started to taxi its way out onto the tarmac. He looked briefly over at Scott, who had reclined a bit in his seat and started to read a book. It was becoming readily apparent to him that he was probably the only one who was feeling uptight about takeoff. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths and made a conscious effort to calm his nerves. There really wasn't anything to be afraid of, he reasoned. These people were far more experienced with air travel than he was and if they weren't nervous, why should he be? Slowly, he started to relax a bit.

His briefly won calm was quickly shattered when he felt a powerful force push him against the back of his chair. He felt the jet shoot forward and then a curious instant of weightlessness as it lifted into the air. Through the window at the front of the plane he saw the horizon drop away, leaving only a few clouds and a clear blue sky. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he closed his eyes and tried in vain to calm himself down. He was starting to feel a little light-headed and wondered if it was too soon to be airsick.

A few moments later, he heard an alarm buzzing from somewhere in the front of the jet. At the same time, he noticed that the powerful sound of the engines began to subside. He opened his eyes and saw Ms. Munroe hastily unbuckling herself and then run towards him.

"Chris!" she shouted as she held him by his shoulders and shook him. "You're draining the electrical power! You must stop or we'll crash!"

Oh shit! Chris thought to himself.

"I don't know how to stop!" he answered desperately. "I don't even know how I'm doing it!"

At the front of the jet, Chris could see the horizon begin to drift back up into view. If he'd thought he was nervous about flying before, it was nothing compared to how he was feeling at that moment. He began to notice that strange tingling sensation running through his body again. He held up his shaking hands in front of his face and saw a soft glow emanating from them. Remembering the power blackout in the electronics store, he started to freak out as he imagined the same thing happening to their aircraft.

Damn it!! He thought, Why do disasters keep following me around?!

Chris looked up at Ms. Munroe, but she wasn't looking at him. At that particular moment, her attention was focused on someone just behind him. He started to turn around just as he felt someone lightly touch the side of his face. There was a bright flash of light and he briefly caught a glimpse of Rogue looking down at him with a worried expression on her face. Once again, the both of them were enveloped in that same blue-green glow. The strange tingling sensation quickly faded away, and Chris felt himself falling into the comforting darkness of unconsciousness.

---

Hours later, a somewhat subdued group were gathered in Xavier's study. The flight back from Michigan was decidedly less-than-ideal and they were still feeling a bit on edge because of it. Everyone except Rogue, that is. She'd taken a large amount of energy from the boy to keep him unconscious and ensure their safety for the rest of the flight. Apparently she was still feeling the after-affects of drawing the new student's mutant ability, so she'd been working out in the gymnasium for a while and thoroughly enjoying herself.

Chris had been brought immediately to the Institute's infirmary upon their arrival so that Henry could make a thorough examination. Xavier was hopeful that Henry would be able to discover some means of helping the boy in the short term until he could learn to better control his powers.

The door opened and Henry's large, blue-furred form ambled into the room, carrying a file-folder and a few computer printouts.

"Good afternoon, Hank," said Ororo in a quiet greeting. "How is the child?"

"Still unconscious,” he replied. “I needed Rogue to neutralize her powers again so that I could properly scan her, but undoubtedly she'll awaken soon. I must say, her physiology is quite remarkable."

Xavier raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Her, did you say, Henry? I know that the boy has a bit of a feminine appearance, but..." he let his words trail off as he looked inquiringly at Henry.

"Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that at present she is neither male nor female, but somewhere in between."

He paused as he looked at the surprised expressions of the others.

"... at least for the time being," He quickly added.

Looking pointedly at the file folder and printouts, Xavier nodded towards them.

"Tell us what you've found then, Henry."

"From what I've been able to ascertain, the girl's powers allow her to draw and store electricity. My theory is that she is able to manipulate her bioelectric field to varying levels of strength for drawing power from nearby sources. Every cell in her body has an incredibly high potential for storing bioelectric energy. In a sense, she functions like a living capacitor. From what you've described of your Michigan experiences, once she draws the energy she is then able to re-direct it to different purposes such as speed and agility, for example. When she is holding a sufficient charge, her bioelectric field can be strong enough to prevent the passage of certain wavelengths of energy through her tissues. This might explain why she sometimes appears to be impervious to X-rays and telepathic probes."

"That explains why you've been havin' problems with her, Chuck," Logan said with a glance at Xavier. He then looked back at Henry with a fixed stare, "but why does she have a girl's scent on her?"

"The answer is in her DNA," Henry answered. "Genetic analysis of the girl confirms the presence of an extra 'X' Chromosome. Essentially, instead of a normal 'XX' for a female or an 'XY' for a male, she is an 'XXY'. On the genetic level, she carries the potential for both genders. I do not believe that is entirely the cause for her condition, though."

"Do her mutant abilities factor in somehow as well, Henry?" Xavier asked.

Henry nodded.

"Excellent Charles, yes... as a matter of fact, the combination of her mutant abilities and her base genetic structure has resulted in this rather unique situation. It appears that the higher levels of energy she is able to hold have been neutralizing her testosterone levels. As you know, all human embryos are female in their base form, with males being determined by different hormone levels later in the gestation period. Chris was born male only because his mother's physiology was dominant while she was carrying him to term. Through her, Chris was completely insulated from exterior energy sources until he was born and then no longer physically connected to her. After his birth, his bio-electric potential would have immediately begun to affect his hormone levels, but only to minimal effect until adolescence."

"So... the kid's turnin' into a girl, then. Kind of odd, but at least I know I'm not losin' my touch," Logan said with a satisfied nod of his head.

"Is this true, Henry? Is Chris McGee actually changing into a female?" Xavier asked.

"I agree that it is rather difficult to believe, but it would certainly seem to appear that way."

He opened the folder that he'd brought with him and handed a few X-rays to Xavier.

"Thanks to Rogue's assistance, I was able to get a proper set of X-rays done on Chris. They clearly show that her bone structure is entirely that of a female of her age. Her hormone levels are consistent with a pre-adolescent girl and perhaps even more remarkable..."

He paused as he handed a digitized computer image to Xavier.

"... is what I found in this scan."

Xavier looked briefly at the image and then back to Henry with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Is this correct, Henry? This is truly remarkable!"

Ororo and Logan came over to have a closer look at the image that Xavier was holding. Ororo wasn't sure what it was they were supposed to be looking at and even Logan shook his head in confusion.

"I don't get it Hank," Logan said while scratching his chin. "What is it that we're lookin' at here?"

"Ovaries," Henry replied.

---

Chris opened his eyes and felt a brief wave of panic pass over him as he looked around the completely unfamiliar room. It looked like he was in some kind of lab... and he appeared to be lying on some sort of examination table. He had been covered by a light blanket and underneath it he discovered that he was wearing another white patient's gown.

He thought back to his last memories of being in the jet when it started to lose power. Had they crashed? Perhaps he was in a Hospital.

No, that couldn't be it. It was too quiet to be a Hospital. It was more likely that he was in that Xavier Institute. That girl, Rogue... she did something to him when she touched him. They probably had her knock him out because he was endangering the flight.

So now he was there, but where was everyone else? He supposed that he should probably just wait patiently for someone to return, but he was starting to feel his old phobia of medical facilities beginning to settle in again. Although he suspected that he was probably only in the Institute's infirmary, he was still feeling uncomfortable just the same.

He looked about briefly for any sign of his clothes and wasn't entirely surprised to see no trace of them. Pushing the blanket aside, he hopped down off the examination table and noted with some discomfort the feel of the cold floor on his bare feet. The room appeared to be very precisely climate-controlled, but with what little he was wearing he found it to be slightly chilly. He definitely needed to get something else to wear.

Chris padded over to the door and gently eased it open. He found himself looking into a long, empty corridor with an assortment of doors staggered along its length. Taking a deep breath, he cautiously stepped out into the corridor and pulled the door closed behind him. He paused at a few of the doors and listened for any sign of activity, but heard nothing.

Finally, he found what appeared to be an elevator at the end of the corridor. Was he underground? Just how big was this Institute, anyways? After briefly debating whether or not he should just go back to the room he'd awakened in, he made up his mind and hit the call button for the elevator. As soon as it had arrived, he involuntarily jumped back as the door opened. Damn, he was nervous!

The control panel confirmed his suspicions that he was definitely on some lower level of the facility. He opted to go to the 'main' level to see if he could find any of the people he'd already met. Although he didn't really know them very well, they were still the only familiar faces he knew of at present.

The elevator rose gently up to the main floor and its door opened onto a nicely decorated room with several sofas, chairs, a wide-screen television and a pool table.

A recreation room, he thought.

He peered out cautiously and saw that it was completely unoccupied at the moment. The daylight streaming in through one of the large windows of the room suggested it was mid-afternoon. He wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been asleep, but he guessed that it was still the same day. He was a bit puzzled why there wasn't anyone else in the room since it was a Saturday, after all. Weren't there supposed to be other kids like him living at this place?

He was startled by the sound of the elevator door sliding shut. Shaking his head slightly at his own nervousness, he looked back towards the elevator and noted with interest that it appeared to be completely hidden when viewed from this side. That was pretty odd, he thought. He looked around the rest of the room carefully, not daring to touch anything.

When he approached the doorway, he could just make out someone's voice in the distance. Following the sound, he edged along the wall of another corridor that opened up onto a very large room, which appeared to be the main entrance hall for the building.

He whistled softly to himself while he took in the splendor of the large room.

To his left was a double-set of large, nicely finished wooden doors. Bracketed on either side of them were several large windows that practically ran from the floor all the way up to the high ceiling that Chris guessed was nearly three stories high. There was more than enough daylight pouring through them to flood the entire hall with natural light. He noted several chandeliers high above that probably did just as effective a job at night. On his right was a grand staircase that led up to the second floor. From somewhere up there he could hear the voice that he'd been following a little more clearly. He felt his pulse quicken slightly and slowly climbed the stairs.

Not exactly the most ideal way to meet new people, he thought to himself.

Once on the landing at the top of the staircase, he began to have second thoughts. He could make out several doors along the hallway that led away from the landing. A couple of them were open and he could now clearly make out what sounded like one end of a telephone conversation. It looked as though he'd found the student residence rooms. As anxious as he was to find someone to explain what was going on, he didn't exactly want to barge in un-announced, either.

Looking down at the rest of the main hall, he saw another corridor that was opposite from the one he'd originally come through. Perhaps he could find that Xavier guy down that way.

As he began to descend the grand stairway, he thought he'd heard a strange 'Pop' sound from just behind him. Startled, he quickly turned around, and then breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see anything.

Great, I'm so pent up that now I'm starting to imagine things!

He shrugged off the thought and turned back towards the stairs.

Of course, that would be a logical assumption for just about anyone under normal circumstances. Chris quickly discovered that 'normal' has a completely different set of guidelines at the Xavier Institute.

"Ach... Guten tag, Fraulien!" said a voice from just above him.

Chris felt a chill run down his spine and the hairs on his arms stood on end as he slowly turned around and looked up. Hanging upside down from one of the chandeliers was a strange-looking youth with pointed ears and a long tail. As if that wasn't shocking enough, he appeared to be covered with short, bluish fur. If it'd had wings, Chris might have thought he was looking at a large, blue fruit bat or something.

He was momentarily paralyzed with fear, then he caught his breath and let loose a very loud, shrill and quite girlish scream.

---

In Xavier's study, the Professor and the others were still discussing the results of Henry's recent examination of Chris when they heard the shrill scream resounding through the walls.

"Dear me!" Henry said as he looked up from one of his printouts. "That sounds like Kitty!"

Logan shook his head as he rose to his feet. "Nope, that wasn't the half-pint. It wasn't Jean or Rogue, either. I'm guessin’ it was the new kid."

They all exchanged quick glances with one another and then hastily exited the room towards the direction the scream came from. They entered the main hall just as Kurt appeared in front of them in a puff of blue smoke.

"I didn't mean to frighten her! I only vanted to say 'hello'," he said nervously.

"It's alright, Kurt. Our new student seems to have a tendency to startle easily," Xavier replied as he quickly glanced around the main hall. "Where is... she now?"

"She can run really fast! I think I saw her go that vay," Kurt answered as he pointed across the main foyer towards the opposite corridor.

Before anyone could say anything else, he'd promptly disappeared again.

"Dear, dear... it seems our new student has awakened much sooner than I had anticipated." Henry said with a gentle shake of his large head. "I was going to ask either Rogue or Scott to sit with her so she wouldn't be confused when she awoke."

Xavier concentrated for a moment and then shook his head slightly.

"I can't seem to locate him... or her... within the mansion. It is unlikely that he would go outside with so little to wear so he must still be nearby but has re-energized enough to block my telepathy. We should probably all split up."

Xavier paused uncomfortably as he looked at Henry.

"Henry, perhaps it would be best if..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't need to. Henry nodded in understanding and turned back towards Xavier's study.

"I agree, Charles. I imagine our young friend would be ill prepared to meet me at present if she was frightened by Nightcrawler's appearance. I'll continue working on my analysis."

In spite of his large size, Henry McCoy was incredibly agile and moved soundlessly down the hall towards Xavier's study. Logan and Ororo each went off in separate directions and Xavier drove his chair towards the opposite corridor.

---

Chris had returned to the recreation room and was desperately searching for a way to get back into the concealed elevator. There seemed to be no way to open it, so he gave up in frustration and dropped himself into one of the large chairs in the room.

After a few moments of deep breathing, he was able to calm down a bit and think a little more clearly. He thought about the blue-furred individual he'd just met and realized that he had been more surprised than frightened. In fact, it was very likely that he'd just met another one of the Institute's resident mutants and he'd just acted like an idiot by taking off like that. This wasn't exactly the best way to make a first impression, he thought. Leaving the infirmary to go wandering around the building by himself was pretty stupid.

His thoughts were interrupted when he detected movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking in that direction, he gasped as he saw a petite young girl in the process of walking right through the wall! Chris just stared at her open-mouthed as she passed by him, completely oblivious to his presence.

She picked up a remote control from a nearby table and turned on the wide-screen television. As she was settling herself into another chair, she finally realized that she wasn't alone in the room. She looked at Chris for a moment with a puzzled expression on her face, then smiled and waved to him.

"Hey there! You're, like, the new student right? Christine, isn't it?" she said in a bubbly tone of voice.

Chris, who was still amazed by her rather stunning entrance, could only swallow and nod nervously.

"Hey, what're you wearing?" She asked as she rose out of her chair and strolled over to him.

She frowned slightly as she got a better look at Chris' meagre attire.

"Aren't you, like, a little cold going around dressed in just that?"

Chris found his voice but he could only make it come out in a bit of a squeaky whisper.

"Uh, I... I don't know where my clothes are. I only just woke up in your infirmary a little while ago."

She dropped herself unceremoniously into an adjacent chair and cocked her head while regarding him curiously for a moment.

"Oh yeah!" she said with sudden recognition. "Scott said something earlier about you fainting or something on the flight back. Don't worry too much about it, Christine. I always feel a little freaked out myself when I have to fly in that thing. By the way, my name's Kitty."

Chris was a bit surprised by how fast this girl could talk. It was probably her voice that he'd heard on the telephone a little while ago.

"Uh, thanks. I'm Chris, not 'Christine'."

She turned off the television with the remote and shrugged her shoulders absently.

"Whatever. So, like, you're a mutant like the rest of us then, right? Where do you come from? Michigan, right? I'm from Illinois, myself. What do you think of Bayville so far? Oh yeah... I guess you haven't had much chance to see anything yet..."

Chris felt a little overwhelmed as he tried to follow the speed at which this girl carried on the one-sided conversation. He kept missing a lot of what she was saying, but he nodded from time to time so she would assume he was keeping up with her. From her style of clothes to her manner of speaking, he guessed that she was likely a big-city suburb girl. There were lots of girls like her at his school back home. Lansing was a lot more like a large suburb all by itself than a city.

"... so then I was, like, totally weirded out. Then, Jean and the Professor came by to talk to my folks and... you haven't met Jean yet, right? She's okay, but a little too uptight sometimes. She’s kinda like a big sister to everyone. So anyways..."

"Ah Kitty, I see that you've met Chris," interrupted a voice from the doorway.

Chris and Kitty both turned to see Xavier wheeling himself towards them. He came to a stop right next to them and regarded Chris with a bit of a concerned expression on his face.

"How are you feeling, Chris? It's been something of an overwhelming day for you so far, hasn't it?" he asked.

"I'm... I'm sorry about what happened before," Chris said quietly. "About the plane, I didn't mean to do... whatever it was."

"That's quite alright, Chris. That wasn't your fault. That is one of the reasons that you're here in the first place, so that you can learn how to better control your abilities."

"Oh yeah," Kitty jumped in, "I was meaning to ask you about that. What is it that you can do?"

"Vell, she can definitely move really fast if she vants to!" said a slightly familiar voice from the opposite end of the room.

Chris looked over and saw a boy that appeared to be about his age sitting on one of the sofas. He was surprised that he hadn't noticed this guy come in, but that was understandable since his attention had been occupied by the little chatterbox for the last couple of minutes.

"Um... hello," Chris said politely. "Your voice sounds familiar, but I don't believe we've met."

The other boy looked at Xavier with an anxious expression on his face. Wordlessly, Xavier beckoned him to come closer.

"Chris, this is Kurt. I understand that in fact you have met him already, but not as he appears now," Xavier told him carefully.

Chris looked at Kurt for a moment, not quite comprehending what Xavier was trying to tell him and then all at once he clued in. His eyes widened as he stared at Kurt in disbelief.

"That was you?!" Chris asked incredulously. "You scared the hell out of me!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I usually only look like this," he said as he gestured down at his appearance "...outside of the Institute. My real face can be a bit... surprising... if you aren't used to it."

"Kurt's present appearance is an illusion," Xavier explained. "He wears a device that projects this image so that he can fit in a little better amongst the general public. As you have already discovered for yourself, Chris, many people are fearful and intolerant of anyone who appears to be different."

Remembering his recent experience at the electronics store, Chris suddenly felt a little guilty about how he'd reacted to Kurt earlier.

"I'm sorry," he said softly to Kurt. "You really startled me when you appeared so suddenly, but I shouldn't have run away like that."

"Ach... think nothing of it," Kurt said with a shrug and a dismissive wave of his hand. "I really should verk on my introductions anyvey, right Kitty?"

"Ya, like... no kidding, you blue-furred jerk! I told you that you freak people out when you pop out of thin air at them!" Kitty said while slightly glaring at him.

"Oh? How about vhen you jump through doors all the time?" Kurt retorted indignantly.

"Kurt, Kitty... please," Xavier interrupted them.

He momentarily looked over at Chris who was still looking a bit dazed from trying to adjust to everything.

"Why don't we get our newest student settled in first? I'm sure that Chris would like to change into some proper clothes before dinner. We can all get better acquainted then."

"Sounds good to me," said Kitty. "See you at dinner then, Christine!"

Kitty quickly rose out of her chair and sprinted towards one of the walls. Without slowing down, she passed right through it and disappeared.

"Kitty likes her shortcuts," Kurt explained to Chris, "but she still can't beat the fuzzy dude! See you later, Fraulien!"

With a quick bow and a mischievous smile, Kurt promptly disappeared in his trademark puff of blue smoke.

"As you can see, Chris," Xavier said with a bit of a chuckle, "except for a few eccentricities, the other students are not much different from yourself. All of them are normal teenagers who also happen to possess unique abilities. They have each been exactly where you are now -- new to the Institute and struggling to cope with the enormity of their situation. You will find that they can be very understanding and supportive as you work to gain control over your abilities."

"Umm, Professor?" Chris asked, calling him by the title that he'd heard Kitty use. "They all think that I'm a girl, don't they?"

Xavier looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment as he tried to think of a way to sidestep that topic for the time being.

"We'll get to that in due time. There are a number of other matters that need to be attended to first. Ororo..."

Chris turned around quickly to see whom the Professor was addressing. Sure enough, Ms. Munroe was standing just inside the doorway.

"Would you mind showing Chris to his room? He's probably eager to change into proper clothes."

"Certainly, Charles," she replied.

She extended her hand towards Chris and beckoned to him.

"Come, child. I believe you will be quite pleased when you see your new accommodations."

Chris gently raised himself out of the chair and gingerly walked over to her. She flashed a brilliant smile at him and then led him from the room.

Xavier shook his head slightly as he watched Chris leave with Ororo, noting how graceful and feminine the boy's stride was. He was already extremely effeminate and it was evident from Henry's research that he would become even more so in the near future.

He wasn't looking forward to having to break that particular bit of news to Chris. The boy needed to know, though, and the sooner the better. The other students would undoubtedly ask him many questions that evening so it would be best to have a good talk with him beforehand so that the boy might be better prepared to answer them.

Xavier wheeled himself out of the room and headed back to his study to discuss the matter further with Henry.

---

The room that Ms. Munroe had brought him to amazed Chris. It was huge, for one thing. Like the rest of the mansion that he'd seen so far, it also had huge windows along the far wall to allow plenty of daylight in. A door next to them led out onto a small balcony that provided a nice view of the Institute grounds.

The trees looked brilliant in their fall colours and in the distance, over the tree line, he could see various buildings that he assumed was Bayville. It was an incredibly beautiful sight.

The room was furnished with a huge bed, a desk and a set of dresser-drawers. In the corner of the room, a pair of paneled doors opened to reveal a modest walk-in closet and a full-length mirror fixed to the back of one of the doors.

He found that to be a little surprising. It kind of reminded him of his mother's room back home. Had they assigned him to a girl's room by mistake? He looked at his feminine reflection and nearly laughed out loud.

Perhaps it wasn't a mistake, he thought with a touch of humour.

He noticed something else in his reflection and leaned in a little closer to get a better look at his face. The bruising on his face had completely disappeared! He quickly felt his ribs for the injury he'd received the day before, but found no trace of it. With a smile, he looked back at the rest of his image in the mirror. Perhaps that was something else that his new mutant abilities were doing for him.

They had already moved his bags up to his room for him and placed them on his bed, so he quickly unpacked and put his clothes away in the chest of drawers. When he got to the fine satiny robe that his mother had given him, he opted to hang it up in his large closet. The sight of the closet with only the one item hanging up in it looked a bit odd to him. Maybe that would change in time, he thought absently.

He was glad to finally be able to dress in real clothes again. Normally he preferred a straight, no-nonsense jeans and T-shirt look. He selected a plain white shirt, but frowned a bit when he pulled his jeans on. Something wasn't quite right with the fit. They seemed a little tighter around his hips than he thought they should be. They'd probably just shrunk a bit in the wash, he decided.

He returned to the full-length mirror to gaze at his reflection. He thought it was kind of odd but also sort of cool that he still looked a lot like a girl -- even though he was wearing typical boyish clothes.

A few minutes later, Ms. Munroe had returned and told him that the Professor had asked to see him before dinner. She led the way back down the grand staircase and into that other corridor that he'd intended to explore earlier. They stopped outside of an elegantly finished door and she paused before opening it.

"Before we enter, Chris," she said as she regarded him carefully, "I want to prepare you for whom you're about to meet. I know that you were startled by Kurt's appearance earlier. Henry McCoy is one of the faculty members here at the Institute but, like Kurt, he has an unusual appearance. Regardless of how he might appear, you have no reason to be afraid. Are you ready to go in, child?"

Chris felt a bit apprehensive, but he took a deep breath and prepared himself for whatever he was about to face. He trusted Ms. Munroe completely and if she told him that there was nothing to be afraid of, then he had no reason to doubt her. He nodded wordlessly to her, and then she opened the door and led him into the room.

The Professor’s study was very tastefully furnished. Much in the style of the rest of the mansion, the furniture was exquisitely finished but in more of a darker rosewood colour. There were various bookshelves along the wall that were filled with all sorts of texts with titles that Chris probably would have difficulty pronouncing if he tried.

Xavier was seated in his wheelchair behind a huge antique desk and seated on one of the sofas in the room was a very large, blue-furred creature. Despite Ororo's earlier reassurances, Chris gasped involuntarily. He tensed up a bit, but forced himself not to recoil or back away.

"Chris, allow me to introduce Henry McCoy," Xavier said as he gestured towards some chairs for them to be seated in. "Henry is the Institute's resident scientist and medical technician. He is also a very talented teacher whom you will find quite helpful if you need any tutoring with your schoolwork."

"Uh, P..Pleased to meet you," Chris squeaked nervously.

Henry bowed his head cordially to Chris.

"And I'm very pleased to meet you now that you're finally awake. You are quite the remarkable young... ah, lad."

Chris narrowed his eyes a little and looked questioningly at the Professor.

"Henry performs routine examinations on all of our new students," Xavier explained. "His examination of you earlier this afternoon yielded some very, shall we say... interesting results. I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss with you what has been discovered."

Chris got the distinct impression that whatever it was that they'd found out about him was either very odd or just very difficult to talk about. That was kind of strange for people who were not only used to mutants, but were in fact mutants themselves. He took a deep breath and braced himself for a possibly shocking revelation. Seeing the look on his face, Henry quickly spoke up to try to ease his mind a little.

"It isn't anything terribly serious or life-threatening, Chris," Henry told him gently. "Though, it does indicate that you may very well have to accommodate a significant shift in the way you perceive yourself."

Chris blinked at Henry, completely confused by whatever it was the blue giant just tried to tell him. Xavier chuckled a little and tried to clarify things a bit for him.

"Chris, when we first met you yesterday, you presented a very convincing illusion that you were a young teenage girl," Xavier said.

Chris looked down at his hands that he'd folded in his lap and blushed.

"Uh... that was just, well... sorta fooling around," he replied nervously. "I don't normally do that sort of thing. That was the first time that I'd ever tried dressing up like that and I was only curious... I'm not really weird or anything if that's what you're wondering."

"No, no Chris, that isn't it at all," Xavier said gently. "Let me put this another way: were you not a little surprised at how well you could pass as a female without any previous experience of dressing like one?"

Chris looked thoughtful for a moment. Now that the Professor had mentioned it, maybe it was a little strange that he was able to do it so well. At the time, he'd been having way too much fun to consider that possibility. He thought back to his reflection in the mirror a short while ago. Even in boys’ clothes he still looked like a girl. What was up with that?

"I guess I hadn't really thought about it," he admitted. "I was just having some fun and it seemed so easy..."

"Have you noticed a lot of people assuming you to be a female lately?" Henry asked.

"Kinda, I guess."

He looked up at Henry curiously, waiting for that proverbial other shoe to drop.

"Does that have anything to do with whatever it was you found out about me?"

"Very intuitive of you, Chris. Yes, you are quite correct," Xavier said with a bit of a smile. He nodded to Henry who proceeded to explain the results of his findings to Chris.

Due to Henry's rather substantial intellect, Chris was often confused by a lot of the terminology that was used. Henry paused repeatedly and attempted to re-phrase parts of his speech whenever he got the impression that he'd lost Chris somewhere along the way. When he'd finished, they all sat quietly and waited for whatever Chris' reaction to the news would be.

"So... what you're saying is that I'm actually turning into a girl?" Chris finally spoke up.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Xavier answered as he summarized Henry's scientific analysis for Chris.

"Henry's research indicates that you were born a male only by the narrowest of margins. Until recently, you were genetically androgynous -- neither male nor female, but a mixture of both. Now that you have begun to enter adolescence your hormone levels have increased, but your elevated male hormones have been systematically neutralized by your mutant power, leaving only the female ones. This is why your body has such a feminine shape and will likely become even more so over the next few years."

Of course, Xavier knew that wasn't the only reason for estrogen being dominant in the boy's system. The fact that Chris actually had a set of ovaries as well was something that they would have to discuss with him at a more appropriate time.

"Wow..." Chris said softly as he shook his head slightly in amazement. "That's really deep. At least now I know that I wasn't just imagining things."

He paused and was deep in thought for a moment.

"Is there any way of treating this condition so that I might become a male instead?" he asked.

Ororo, who had been listening quietly the entire time, turned to Chris and gave him a searching look.

"Is that what you truly want, child?" she asked him in a gentle tone of voice. "The changes you have been undergoing, while out of the ordinary, are a natural part of your development. If it were possible, would you want to change who you truly are?"

Chris thought long and hard about that. After a minute he smiled slightly.

"I suppose I wouldn't. Won't everyone else find it a bit odd, though? A boy-girl turning into a girl?"

"Perhaps," Xavier answered him. "However, you must not let the opinions of others affect how you see yourself and how you decide to live your life. That is one of the strongest tenets that we live by here at the Xavier Institute."

"Life is never simple, child," said Ororo. "The other students here at the Institute know that better than most. You will find all of them to be very understanding and accepting of you -- no matter which gender you appear to be."

Xavier glanced at a clock on the wall, and then cleared his throat.

"Speaking of which," he said as he wheeled himself out from behind his desk, "it is time for dinner. There are a couple of students you have yet to meet, as well as the others that you've only met briefly. All of them will be quite curious about you and eager to get to know you. We wanted to have this discussion with you beforehand so you would be more equipped to talk about yourself with them."

"It is highly probable that they'll be more interested in discussing your mutant abilities than your gender, however," Henry added with a slight chuckle.

They all paused as they heard what sounded like a thunder of feet pounding down each step of the grand staircase in the main hall. The unmistakable sound of enthusiastic conversations could be heard in the distance as the rest of the students headed for the dining room.

"... or perhaps the evening meal is more pressing on their minds at the moment!" Henry added as he strolled over to open the door.

"Come on then," Xavier said as he started towards the door. "The natives sound restless... we'd best be seated quickly before there isn't anything left!"

For Chris, who had been accustomed to being alone for so long, the idea of sitting down to dinner with such a large group was a bit frightening. He usually avoided such occasions whenever possible since so often in the past they had often developed into unpleasant situations. At school, he'd quickly discovered that eating lunch in the school's cafeteria was a painful experience that was best avoided since it was there that the various social strata of the student populous was most evident. Everyone always had a clique, gang or group of friends to cluster together with, except for him. He didn't fit in with any of them.

He painfully recalled one of the few times he did try to join a group of people in the school's cafeteria. It had been more crowded than usual that day. Chris had already been in the habit of trying to sit unnoticed somewhere off to the side, but at the time there were very few available seats. As soon as he'd sat down at the table, all the other students gave him an unfriendly stare and then made a big show out of getting up and leaving. No one wanted to be seen sitting with 'Jinx McGee', it seemed.

As he followed the Professor, Ms. Munroe and the large form of Mr. McCoy to the dinning room, he felt as if his stomach was tying itself in knots. He doubted that he'd be able to eat very much feeling as he did and wished that there was a way he could be excused. He knew it wasn't possible, though. He didn't want to appear rude and sooner or later he would have to sit down with them all, so it might as well be now. To his surprise and delight, what awaited him when he entered the dining room was more than he'd ever dared to hope for.

Kitty had spotted him first and waved excitedly at him.

"Christine! Yo girlfriend, over here! I saved you a seat!" she said as she indicated an empty chair next to her.

Chris was so surprised that he'd barely even noticed that Kitty had feminized his name again. He was practically in a daze as he slid into the seat next to her.

"Uh, th..thanks, Kitty," he stuttered softly.

She gave him a curious look.

"What's the matter? You look a little pale. Are you feeling okay?"

"Um... yeah, I'm okay. Just feeling a little tired, I guess" he quietly replied.

She made a quick assessment of his clothes and then frowned slightly.

"Well, it's better than what you were wearing before, but what's with the tomboy look? Girl, you gotta dress for success if you want the boys to take notice!"

Across the table from them, Scott coughed nervously and exchanged a knowing look with Rogue, who was seated further down the table. For a moment, Chris half-expected Scott to fill Kitty in on the truth about his gender, but he didn't say anything. Neither did Rogue.

The adults seated themselves near the Professor at the head of the table. As soon as they were settled, the Professor cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Good evening everyone. As you all know, we have a new student joining us today here at the Institute. Some of you have already met Chris, but for those who haven't, I'd like to introduce Chris McGee." Xavier said as he smiled at Chris.

Everyone offered their formal greetings to Chris and welcomed him, including the ones he'd already met. The two others were the Jean Grey that Kitty had mentioned to him earlier and Evan Daniels, who Chris later discovered was Ms. Munroe's nephew when he'd referred to her as 'Auntie O' at one point during dinner. He was relieved that the Professor didn't ask him to stand up and introduce himself to everyone else. He suspected that somehow the Professor knew that he was incredibly self-conscious and shy.

The dinner conversation that evening wasn't at all what Chris had expected. In truth, Chris hadn't been sure exactly what to expect, but considering who and what these people were he'd imagined there would be some pretty bizarre discussions. Instead, Kurt and Evan were shooting the breeze with each other about soccer, which Kurt kept referring to as 'football'. Jean and Kitty were taking playful snipes across the table at each other; something about Kitty raiding Jean's wardrobe. Ms. Munroe and Mr. McCoy were having a mild intellectual debate about some current news item. Scott kept talking about 'training exercises' with Mr. Logan and the Professor, and Rogue sat quietly by herself and looked bored. Chris said very little himself, but more out of amazement for how normal all of these people appeared to be.

After dinner, the Professor excused everyone to enjoy their free time for the evening. Kitty made Chris promise to come up to her room later for some more 'girl talk', and then she disappeared through a nearby wall. Predictably, Kurt took that as his cue to make his own flashy exit and he disappeared.

Evan, who appeared to have made some after-dinner plans with Kurt, shouted, "Hey, no fair man! No shortcuts allowed in this race!" then he promptly charged out of the room to wherever it was that Kurt had gone to.

On his way out, he nearly plowed into Rogue who stumbled and lost her balance. Just as she was about to fall, one of the dining room chairs slid away from the table and caught her before she fell to the ground.

"Thanks Jean, Ah owe you one!" She said gratefully as she looked back at the tall redhead.

Chris, who had nearly fallen over himself when that chair moved on its own, looked at Jean in amazement.

Rogue picked herself up out of the chair and shouted out the door, "Evan, ya'll won't be runnin' so fast once Ah catch up with you!”

She quickly glanced back at Ms. Munroe, who had a worried expression on her face.

"Ah'm only kiddin'," she reassured her before she left as well.

Jean appeared to be oblivious to Chris' incredulous staring at her. She had turned her attention back to Scott, and the two of them spoke to each other quietly for another minute before they both left together. Chris got the impression that there was some kind of chemistry between the two of them. Maybe they were dating each other.

"What do you think of your fellow students so far, Chris?" asked Xavier from behind him. Chris turned around and considered the question.

"I guess they weren't at all what I thought they'd be like. They all seemed really friendly," he answered truthfully.

"Friendly, yeah... but they can sure be quite a handful sometimes," Logan grumbled.

"Except for Scott and Rogue, they don't... know about me yet, do they Professor? About the things we were talking about just before dinner? No one told them?" Chris asked.

Xavier shook his head.

"That is entirely up to you when or if the others are to know. If you wanted to keep it a secret for a while, then you can be assured that neither Scott nor Rogue will say anything. I hope that you'll feel confident enough to share the truth with them eventually, though. I know something of the difficulties you've had in trusting others in the past, but you have nothing to fear here. They are all good people and you will find them worthy of your trust."

"You should also be prepared for the possibility that they might learn the truth on their own as I did," said Ms. Munroe. "At least, the girls might. You might very well be successful at keeping your secret indefinitely from the boys if that is what you choose."

Chris nodded and considered what they'd told him. He really did like these people and he wanted to trust them, but he was finding it difficult to let go of the fear that they'd turn on him if he told them the truth.

Xavier suggested that Chris go and relax for the rest of the evening, but not to stay up too late as they wanted to begin testing his mutant power in the morning. Each of the faculty members then headed off to different areas of the mansion to attend to whatever various tasks they had to complete for the end of the day.

As he passed through the main hall on his way to the grand staircase, Chris could hear Evan and Kurt talking excitedly to each other about some sports event that he could hear being played on the big television screen. Although he didn't really care for sports, he had a brief urge to go in and join them. They seemed like a couple of nice guys and he suspected that they'd probably even welcome his company. He didn't quite feel ready to attempt it yet, though. There was still so much he had to think about that it was a bit overwhelming. He needed a distraction and a bit of a break for a little while, so he decided to return to his room and start writing a letter to his mother.

---

A little while later, Chris was in the middle of a small paperback that he'd brought with him when he heard someone knock quietly at his door. Curiously, he set his book down and went over to answer it. Maybe it was one of the Institute's faculty members coming to check up on him.

He was mildly surprised when he answered the door and saw Kitty standing there, instead. From what he'd seen of her so far, it seemed a bit unusual that Kitty would even acknowledge a door as an obstacle.

"Hey Christine! Like, c'mon over to my room for a minute... I want to show you something!" she said in her bubbly voice. "You can't spend the evening in there by yourself… it's Saturday night, you know!"

Chris eyed her carefully for a moment. Years of experience with people playing jokes on him tended to make him abnormally suspicious. Back home, a girl like Kitty wouldn't bother to speak to him at all unless she was setting him up for some kind of cruel joke at his expense. Still, Kitty had been really nice to him so far and there wasn't really any reason to doubt her. He quickly decided that he would actually welcome some friendly company.

"Uh, okay..." he said as she grabbed his hand and literally dragged him down the hall with her.

She paused at her door and fumbled with the doorknob, which seemed a bit funny to Chris. He supposed that with her mutant ability it wasn't something she was required to do very often so maybe she was out of practice.

As soon as she'd opened the door, he saw that it was completely dark inside. That seemed really suspicious to Chris if she'd only just left her room to come and get him. Maybe she was setting him up for something after all! His heart started to pound and he braced himself for the worst as they stepped inside.

The lights came on suddenly and he saw that he was surrounded by the rest of the Institute's students.

"Surprise!!!" they all yelled simultaneously.

Chris was sure that his fears had been realized and they were all about to play some cruel trick on him. In his anxiety, his power flared up and suddenly Kitty let out a loud shriek and quickly let go of his hand.

"Oww!!!" she yelled and waved her hand through the air rapidly.

Knowing some of the abilities that the others had, he figured he'd be in serious trouble if he hung around. He turned and made a dash towards the open door, but Kurt appeared in a flash and blocked his path. Without even slowing down, Chris instinctively vaulted over him in a flying somersault and landed perfectly behind him. He started to sprint through the doorway when he suddenly felt an invisible force seize him. It lifted him into the air and brought him back into Kitty's room. Jean Grey, Chris thought to himself. He realized the futility of trying to escape from them and curled up into a fetal position while he awaited the beating he was sure would follow.

"Whoa Chris!" Scott said to him gently while he held his hands up in the most non-threatening gesture he could manage. "Take it easy! We didn't mean to scare you!"

"Ah told you this was a bad idea," Rogue said from the corner of the room. "Maybe she fried some of your common sense back in Michigan, Scott. You most of all shoulda known what'd happen if... uh, she got scared."

Chris could feel tears starting to flow down his cheeks before he had any chance to stop them. Great, he thought. On top of everything else, now he was crying in front of them.

"Please," Chris said miserably. "Just let me go... I promise I'll leave. I'll go back where I came from and I won't bother any of you again!"

"Leave? What are you talking about, girl?" said Jean, who was starting to show some signs of strain on her face. Apparently she couldn't keep her power running continuously for very long.

"We don't want you to leave and we aren't going to hurt you."

She grimaced as the effort in maintaining the hold on Chris was starting to become too much for her.

"...I...I need to put you down. Will you promise not to run away until we've had a chance to talk?"

Chris nodded in agreement. He didn't imagine he'd have much luck getting away from the rest of them even if he did try to run again. He still had no idea what Evan's mutant power might be and wasn't all that eager to find out under unpleasant circumstances.

Jean guided Chris above Kitty's bed and started to lower him onto it, but her power finally gave out and Chris ended up falling the last couple of feet. Fortunately for him, the mattresses at the Institute were really well made and absorbed the impact nicely.

"Sorry..." Jean apologized weakly as she gently rubbed her temples with her fingers.

Chris backed up against the headboard of Kitty's bed and hugged his legs close to himself. The rest of the students all sat down quietly around him, except for Rogue who opted to stay standing a few feet away.

"I'm sorry..." he said softly as he looked over at Kitty. "I didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident."

Kitty looked at her hand carefully for a moment to see if there were any marks and breathed a sigh of relief when she'd found none.

"Ya, well... that's okay, I guess." She frowned at Scott and added, "You could have warned us, you jerk!"

"I'm really sorry, Chris," he said apologetically. "The Professor told us that you're very shy and had a lot of... bad experiences... in your past. I thought it would be a nice surprise if we all officially welcomed you together. I had no idea that we'd frighten you so much."

In an effort to lighten the mood, Kurt made an attempt to change the subject.

"You got some really good moves, Fraulien! I knew you vere fast, but you move like a gymnast! Maybe ve can verk out together sometime?"

To emphasize his point, Kurt leapt up into the air in a back flip, disappeared in mid air and then suddenly reappeared right next to Chris with a big, goofy grin on his face. This brought a small giggle from Chris despite his current mood.

"So, just what exactly is your power?" Evan asked. "Kurt's right. You've got some great moves, girl! What about what you did to Kitty?"

Chris swallowed nervously as he tried to think of a way to explain it to them.

"I'm... not sure. I don't have much control over it. It only seems to happen when I'm really scared or upset. The Professor told me that it has something to do with how I store electrical energy."

"Wow! That sounds, like, totally cool!" Kitty said enthusiastically. She'd apparently already completely forgotten about the painful shock Chris had given her.

"Can you, like, show us something?"

Chris frowned slightly. It was the first time since he'd been aware of this power that anyone had asked him to purposefully 'do something' with it. He wasn't really sure what he could do, either. Everything that he'd done with it so far had been purely reactionary, with little to no control over how it worked.

"I don't really know how," he said quietly. "The Professor said that he wanted to start testing me tomorrow, so maybe then I'll be able to figure some of it out."

He noted the look of disappointment on Kitty's face. He couldn't help feeling a little guilty since he'd just shocked her, even though he didn't do it on purpose. He thought back to earlier that morning when he'd done those things with the battery and the fluorescent bulb. He glanced over at Kitty's bedside lamp and noticed it was using one of those new 'energy saver' bulbs. Maybe there was something he could show them after all.

He reached over and picked up the lamp, then reached into the shade and unscrewed the bulb.

"This may not work, but... could someone turn out the lights?" he asked quietly while he set Kitty's lamp back down on the table.

Jean glanced over at the light switch on the far wall and instantly the lights went out, leaving them all in darkness except for a bit of moonlight that could be seen coming through the window. Chris took a deep breath and then grasped the bulb by its terminal. Immediately it began to flicker and then it lit up and cast a bright glow on the entire group.

"Hey, not bad!" Evan said.

"How much energy do you store?" Jean asked him curiously. "I mean, how many of those do you think you could power if you had to?"

"Uh, I'm not exactly sure... but I know that I've carried a much bigger charge than this on at least one other occasion," he answered quietly as he cast an uneasy glance at Scott. "No matter how much I'm carrying, though, I don't have much control over how it's released. Kitty's lucky that I wasn't storing very much when she was touching me."

"She was holding onto you all the way down the hall an' only got shocked when we'd startled you," Rogue spoke up. "You have ta have some control over it -- even if you don't know what it is yet."

Scott glanced over at Rogue and nodded. It wasn't all that surprising that Rogue would be the first to notice those sorts of things due to the nature of her own mutant power. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't found a way to turn hers off yet.

"Good point, Rogue. Say, you’ve absorbed Chris' power a couple of times. Do you have any insight how it might work?"

"Not really," she said with a quick shake of her head. "Ah will say that her moves are definitely connected ta her power somehow. Ah had a lot of fun in the gym today before it wore off."

Chris had been thinking a lot about his two encounters with Rogue since yesterday. She'd apparently used whatever her mutant power was on him both times, but he still had no clue what had happened. She was really mysterious.

"What do you mean she 'absorbed' my power?" Chris asked curiously while he returned the bulb back to Kitty's lamp. "Is that what you were doing when you touched me both of those times?"

"Actually, it was more than twice," she answered. "Mr. McCoy had me do it again earlier this afternoon so he could take proper X-rays of you. He said something about you havin' some kinda special shielding around you."

While that was certainly interesting news, Chris was still confused about how Rogue's powers worked. He continued to look at her with a curious expression on his face. Rogue, sensing his confusion, decided to clarify things a bit for him.

"The Professor says Ah'm kind of like an energy wraith. Ah absorb memories from people when Ah touch them... an’ with other Mutants, Ah get their powers as well -- but it only lasts fer a short time. It usually knocks the other person out fer a while, too."

Now Chris understood what had happened the day before in the park, and then again that morning during the flight. It seemed to be a bit of an extreme measure for them to use on him, but he reminded himself that he had very little control over his power and it had already shown itself to be quite dangerous. He thought back to what Rogue had just said about her powers and his eyes grew wide as he considered something.

"You said that you get people's memories when you touch them?" He asked her nervously. "Did you get any of mine?"

He winced at the memory of Stan and Robbie trying to force him to give Robbie a blowjob. He wouldn't be able to look any of them in the eye again if they knew...

"No, Ah didn't," Rogue answered. "Ah found that really surprising, too. Ah have no idea why Ah was able ta pick up your powers, but not your memories. The Professor was almost as surprised by that as Ah was. Apparently you're able ta block him most of the time as well!"

"Wow, really?!" Kitty said with a touch of awe in her voice. "I didn't think that anyone could block the Professor's powers. You're really full of surprises, Christine!"

Upon hearing the feminized version of his name again, Chris thought about the ironic truth in her statement. There was at least one other surprise that he still had. Despite their earlier misunderstanding, Chris decided that what the Professor told him about the other students was absolutely correct. They really were good people, so he decided to take a chance and trust them with his other secret.

"Um, Kitty, my name is 'Chris', not 'Christine'," he said shyly.

"Hey, no worries girlfriend," she replied casually. "Chris is cool too -- but I think Christine suits you better.”

"In many ways it probably does," Chris admitted.

He took a deep breath as he looked first at Scott, then at Rogue. Sensing what it was that Chris was about to say, she gave him a subtle nod of encouragement.

"... However, Chris isn't short for 'Christine'. It's short for 'Christopher'."

There, he'd said it. It was now out in the open and no matter what happened next; at least he didn't have this secret weighing down on him anymore. It was kind of a relief, actually.

There was a brief silence where Chris was certain he would have been able to hear a pin drop at the far end of the room.

"You mean... you're not a girl?" Kitty asked in disbelief. "No way! You're too pretty to be a boy!"

"Hey, vhat's that supposed to mean?!" Kurt asked in mock irritation. "Some of us guys have both the looks..."

He quickly teleported over right next to Kitty and draped an arm across her shoulders.

"...and the charm!"

Chris got the impression that Kitty wasn't very pleased when Kurt surprised her like that. He didn't appear to be doing it out of malice, but rather to tease her once in awhile. In many ways, it seemed to him that they acted a lot like they were brother and sister.

"Damn it, Kurt! You totally freak me out when you do that!" She said as she folded her arms indignantly across her chest.

Jean looked over at Scott and Rogue.

"Since you both went on the trip to Michigan to pick her up, did you already know that she was really a boy?"

"Well, not at first," Scott admitted. "Chris was able to fool everyone initially. Even Wolverine thought he was a girl. Storm figured it out first, but Chris was so convincing that we had a hard time believing it."

For a moment, Chris wasn't sure who Scott had been referring to, but eventually realized that they must be nicknames for Ms. Munroe and Mr. Logan. No doubt they probably had one for Mr. McCoy as well.

"So, what's your story then, man?" Evan asked as he looked Chris over, still not entirely convinced that he was really a guy. "If you really are a guy, why do you look like such an amazing chick?"

They certainly seemed to be dealing with this a lot better than he thought they would, Chris thought. He doubted he would have gotten this level of acceptance from a group of 'normal' teenagers anywhere else. Perhaps the fact that they were all mutants had a lot to do with it.

"It's kinda difficult to explain," he answered carefully. "I don't really understand it much myself, but Mr. McCoy said it has a lot to do with my mutant power."

He thought about the rest of what Mr. McCoy and the Professor had told him and hesitated only briefly before deciding to tell them the rest. He felt that things were going really well so far, so he saw no reason to hold anything back.

"They told me something else too. They said that even though I may have started out as a boy, I'm not exactly a boy anymore -- but I'm not a girl either... at least, not yet."

"You're turning into a girl?" Jean asked with mild surprise. "I've never heard of anyone's powers doing that to them before, but I suppose anything's possible. What kind of... uh, 'changes' have you had so far?"

The guys in the room suddenly looked very uncomfortable and the girls all exchanged knowing glances with each other. Chris guessed that Jean was referring to some female-specific changes, but he wasn't all that sure what they might be. It was probably some kind of un-spoken girl thing that he wouldn't really understand until if and when it happened to him.

"Well... I guess my hair and skin are a bit different now. I'm not sure, but I think my clothes don't quite fit me properly anymore, either."

"Uh... no offense, but if this is becoming a chick conversation, I'm so outta here!" Evan said as he got up and headed for the door.

"Ya, this is a good time for the fuzzy dude to bow out. Race you to the TV, Spyke-meister!" Kurt said, and then quickly disappeared.

"Oh, man! He did it to me again!" Evan groaned as he broke into a run and took off down the hallway.

Scott took that as his cue to follow suit. He stood up and looked around nervously at Chris and the girls.

"I, uh, really should go too. I have an essay due next week that I should probably get to work on. See you later, girls."

He paused for a moment and then awkwardly added, "Um, you too Chris," then he left as well.

After he'd gone, Jean used her powers to close the door after him. They sat in silence for a few moments, until Jean and Kitty both burst out laughing. Chris didn't understand what was so funny and started to wonder if he should have left as well. Even Rogue, who always seemed so serious, eventually joined in on the laughter. It was probably another one of those un-spoken girl things and he was either still too much a boy or not enough of a girl to understand it yet.

"Gawd, like... guys can be so lame sometimes!" Kitty finally said when the laughter began to die down.

"Yeah, one would have thought we'd started talking about our monthly cycles or something from the speed at which they took off out of here," said Jean.

She looked over at Chris thoughtfully for a moment.

"Chris, when you said you were turning into a girl... did you really mean that you were actually turning into one?"

Chris shrugged in response.

"I'm not sure that I completely believe it, but that's what Mr. McCoy and the Professor think is happening."

He paused for a moment and looked down at himself then added, "It sure would explain a lot of things though, wouldn't it?"

"That's for sure!" laughed Jean. "You're probably going to find High School life to be a little challenging looking the way that you do, though. The other kids at school will probably wonder why such a pretty girl keeps coming to school in boy's clothing. Did you bring any girl's clothes with you from home?"

"No, I don't own any," he said with a slight shake of his head. He noticed Rogue looking skeptically at him and said to her, "Those were my mother's clothes!"

Realizing that Kitty and Jean probably had no idea what he was talking about, Chris blushed slightly and proceeded to tell them about his brief adventure as 'Christy'. The girls all enjoyed a good laugh when Chris described how all the guys at the Shopping Mall seemed to go out of their way for him. By the time he'd finished with what had happened in the Electronics Store, however, there was complete silence. Without a word, Jean leaned forward and drew him into a gentle hug. It wasn't until she'd reached up and carefully wiped a tear from his face that he'd realized he'd started crying at some point during his recounting.

"That must have been just awful for you!" She said with genuine sympathy in her voice.

"No wonder you'd gone and run off like that," Rogue added quietly. "It was like that for me too, at first. At least you didn't seriously hurt anyone."

Jean glanced at Rogue and softly said, "You didn't either, Rogue. That boy recovered and so did Kurt and Storm. Besides, none of that was your fault. Mystique had you confused and scared out of your wits."

"Mystique?" Chris asked.

"Uh... maybe we should talk about her later," Jean said a bit dismissively as she released Chris. She glanced at her watch, frowning slightly.

"Listen, it's getting kinda late. The Professor won't be happy with us if we keep you up too late tonight, Chris. Tomorrow is your first day of testing and they usually prefer you to be well-rested for it."

"Total bummer, but you're probably right, Jean," Kitty answered sullenly. She looked hopefully at Chris, "We'll hang out afterwards though, right?"

"Uh... sure," he answered.

He still felt a little off-balance from the fact that they were all being so friendly towards him. Especially now, after learning the whole truth about him.

They all said good night to each other, then Chris and Jean each went to their rooms.

Once inside, Chris was again taken aback by the splendor of his room. It was still difficult for him to accept how much things had turned around for him in such a short time. He still knew very little about these people, but they had gone out of their way to help him and to make him feel welcome. He felt a little anxious about these 'tests' that he was supposed to do in the morning, but was pleasantly surprised that it was based more on curiosity than fear.

Whatever the next day was to bring, he felt both hopeful and -- much to his surprise -- confident that he could face it. He smiled at that thought as he settled himself into bed and quickly fell asleep.

---

To be continued in:

The XX-Factor: Chapter Five - Practice Makes Perfect