"I am Uatu, called the Watcher, and to me it is given to see the worlds that might have been, had fate not decreed otherwise. But know that there are worlds beyond those that we know, worlds were fate took another course, and destinies were different, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The tale I will narrate here could perhaps be called both. Itīs a tale of love and itīs consequences, itīs follies and itīs comforts, and this is how it begins...."

....The early morning sun shone lazily thru the wood-paned window at the girls dormitory in Xaivers School for Gifted Youngsters in Snow Valley, Massachusetts, and onto the form of a sleeping girl. Paige Guthrie awoke when the sun shone on her face, blinked a few times before sitting up on the edge of the bed and yawning. She glanced at the watch beside the bed while she stretched her lean body, already more firm and softly muscular than it had been when she first began attending class here, almost a year ago. She hit the "snooze" button on the alarm clock, set to half past six, but now only showing a quarter past six, and arose from the bed. She quickly got dressed and started to prepare for her daily morning jog around the campus. As always she paused at the door and drew in a double lungfull of the fresh morning air before resuming her way out. She began to slowly trot down the alley of trees that dotted the sides of the path which encircled the estate. 27 minutes later she returned, panting slightly, to the point where she began. Wiping sweat from her forehead she paused to catch her breath before going up the steps of the main building to take a shower. As she walked she found herself thinking back to last nightīs dream. It had begun as a regular dream, but had quickly turned into a steamingly hot sex-dream. She had had unusually vivid wet dreams for several nights in a row now, and she had been uncommonly horny all week, and she masturbated at least once every morning, and several times during the day. She had been late for class in the morning all week as a result. She felt her nipples stiffen as she recalled all the nights (unfortunatly only dreamed of) antics. She found that her breath, which had begun to subside after her change of pace, now was quickening again. She agonized for a moment about whether to fight her growing horniness or give in and seek release. Her hormones won and she began to revel in her thoughts as she began to trot trough the corridors of the academy towards her own room where she could masturbate in peace. As she came to the stairs which led to the second floor she toyed, as she had many times before, with the idea of going upstairs to find and seduce Jonothon, but she knew it would remain only a fantasy. Nevertheless the thought of Jonothon led her horniness to new heights and she began to pant in anticipation of sweet orgasm. She was so eager to reach her room and find release that she almost ran into Emma Frost, her headmistress, as she rounded a corner. "Where are you going in such a hurry, ms. Guthrie?" Emma asked. Paige desperatly tried to scrub over her graphic thoughts and throw metaphorical water on the fires of her body, to prevent Emma from finding out precisly why she was in such a hurry and so hot and flushed. "Err..I need to..uhh" she began but grew quiet when she saw the stern look in Emmas eyes turn to one of impish amusement. "I quite understand." Emma said and smiled. Paige felt herself blush but at the same time her knowing that Emma knew only made her feel all the hornier. "You would want to wear something less revealing next time, or one wonīt need telepathy to know." Emma said and looked at Paigeīs erect nipples, clearly visible trough the thin cloth of her still damp T-shirt. "Now run along and finish what you had intended, but donīt be late for class." Emma said perfunctorily. With pounding heart Paige ran on, at the same time profoundly embarrased and incredibly horny and extatic, feeling like she had a secret lover in Emmas approving and understanding attitude. She reached her room, opened the door, stepped thru and slammed and locked the door behind her. Privacy at last! She peeled of her sticky and damp T-shirt and studied her breasts in the full lenght mirror she kept almost singularly for that purpose. She wondered how Jonothons hands would feel, caressing her naked bosom. She licked on the tip of her right index finger and circled her wet finger around her right nipple. She played with her breasts until she could stand it no longer and pulled off her jeans and her very damp panties, so that she stood naked in front of the mirror. She ran a hand trough her pubic hair and slipped a finger trough the hot outer lips of her pussy to caress her clitoris. She moaned throatily and threw back her head, so that her golden hair fell across her back. She backed over to her bed and laid down on her back with her legs spred wide and both hands caressing and squeezing herself. At times like these she always wished she had three hands, or better yet, a man, to satisfy her every desire. She breathed quicker and quicker as she neared orgasm. When she came she arched her back and moaned in estacy, writhing and twisting on the bed. As she lay there panting, sweat cooling on her body, just enjoying the wonderful feeling of a very good orgasm slowly seep out of her she heard what she had learned to recognize as Emmas mental voice in her mind; *That felt very nice, didnīt it? Now hurry up and take a shower and get dressed for class.* She sat bolt upright in the bed, both hands flew to cover her, as if someone had entered the room and spoken. "Mah Gawd!!" she exclaimed. Emma had been telepathically monitoring her mind and even shared her orgasm! How dared she? Had she no respect for privacy? As she sat there and thought that over she slowly realised that she wasnīt really angry, just shocked, and perhaps even a tiny bit exited. She didnīt think of her self as a lesbian, but somehow she found the idea that another woman had shared her orgasm strangely attractive. She had actually occasionally fantasized about having sex with a man while other women were present and sometimes, although only very rarely, actually participating, but had never stopped to consider the implications of that. She usually felt guilty about such feelings and therefore tried to pretend that they didnīt exist. She suddenly realised that she was about to be late for class, again, and quickly got up and took a hurried shower and got dressed in fresh clothes. While she ran to class she thought about what she would do; should she confront Emma or pretend it never happened? She decided to wait until after class to make up her mind, after all, it would hardly do to tell Emma off in the middle of class. As she entered the classroom she was greeted by her friends and fellow mutants of Generation X; Angelo Espinosa, called Skin, the though latin-american kid from L.A. who looked like he was about a hundred years old due to him having about six feet of extra skin that made his face look like a survey map of the grand canyon. Jubilee, the orphan mall-rat from California, and the youngest, and by far most immature, member of the team proper, who could fire explosive 'fireworks' from her hands. Thomas Everett, the black kid from St. Louis called Synch due to his abillity to synchronise his mutagenic aura to other mutants, and thereby imitate their powers. Monet Saint-Croix, the beautiful Algerian girl, whoīs many talents included psionics, flight, super-strenght, and genius level intelligence, and called herself M. Jonothon Starsmore, Chamber, the British mutant whoīs bio-blasts had blown away half his face and chest the first time he used them, the object of Paiges desire and the centerpiece of innumberable fantasies. She had a sneaking suspicion she was rather kinky, since she would be invariable drawn to the most freakish-looking guy in the room, and those black leather outfits with straps he wore helped, too. Mondo, the huge Samoan mutant whose meekness and wonder with the world were as constant a scource of astonishment to the other, more cynical Gen-Xers, as his powers to "become like to" an object or mass by actually turning into it. Also a member of the team (but not present in the room)of sorts were Penance, a fourteen year old yugoslavian girl whose body had been antropied to the point of razor-sharpness and diamond hardness because of her extendend close proximity to the monster called Emplate, who had been revealed to be Mīs brother. They were also harbouring three young mutants, Artie and Leech, both looking distinctly inhuman; Artie, who could create psionic holograms of whatever he thought of, and Leech, who could cancel out mutant powers by concentrating. The most recent addition to the school was Franklin Richards, the young child of Reed and Sue Richards, both founding members of the world famous Fantastic Four, who had perished while fighting a psionic creature calling itself "Onslaught", who was bent on world domination. Sometimes Paige felt very scared of being a mutant, when she paused to think about such things as the Legacy virus and her brother, Cannonball, being immortal. But now she felt just the deep content one feels after a particularly satisfying orgasm, and she soon found herself chatting with her friends, exchanging glib remarks with Jubilee and Angelo, which led to M commenting on the general immaturity of the trio, which made them gang up on her, and indeed, together the tree where about evenly matched verbally with M, but the word-fight ended rather abruptly as Emma Frost walked into the room. "Good morning, class. I hope you all had a pleasant nights sleep, with will serve you well for todays test." As the rest of the class, exept M, groaned and cringed in horrified anticipation, Paige found herself silently studying her teacher and headmistress. She wondered if she had imagined the voice speaking in her head, and if she hadnīt, what was she going to do about it? The rest of the lesson passed without further incidents, and as a matter of fact Emma didnīt even speak to her during the rest of class. After class she and Jubilee went and visited Penance in the biosphere, which Jubilee insisted on calling "the Danger Grotto" in imitation of the X-mens Danger Room. As they both stood there, Jubilee feeding Penance with some apples she had brought, Paige found herself wondering abstractly about whether Penance ever got horny, and if so, what she did about it. Those razor-sharp fingers couldnīt be much use in masturbating. She supressed an image of what those fingers would do to her own soft pussy, but then she supposed Penances cunt was as hard as the rest of her. *Thatīs one pussy whoīll nevah get any cock, thatīs fer sure,* She thought, and couldnīt help giggling at the image of what would happen to the poor guy who tried to screw Penance. "Whatīcha giggling about, hayseed? You see something funny here?" Jubilee asked, obviously wanting to be let in on the joke. Paige considered telling Jubilee exactly what was on her mind, just for the hell of it, but decided against it. "Ah just remembered sumthinī Ah have to do," she mumbled and made her exit. The last thing she heard before the doors whirred shut behind her was Jubilee telling Penance how country air rots the brain, just look at hayseed, there. Still smiling at the vivid mental picture she made her way to the kitchen to grab something to eat. As she entered the kitchen she found both Angelo and Everett there, involved in a sotto voco discussion about something. " Iīm telling you that girl is really hot, havenīt you noticed how she always...." Angelo was saying, but snapped shut the moment he saw Paige enter the kitchen. Everett followed his gaze and leered when he saw Paige. "Whatīs up guys?" she asked, although she guessed that they were talking about some girl they fancied. Boys! All they thought about was sex. "Just talking about that test ms Frost threw us this morning." Everett said with a perfectly false innocent grin. "Yeah! That was hard one, I probably got `bout ten percent of the questions right." Angelo said, substantially relived that Everett had managed to change the subject. "I didnīt found it that difficult, Angelo, and you probably wouldnīt have, either, if you had spent less time chasing girls and more time studying," Paige said sweetly. "Ah didnīt find it difficult, since Ahīm just a little country mouse that spends all mah time kissing up to ms. Frost and mr. Cassidy," said Angelo, making his voice high and squeaky in mock imitation of Paiges southern accent. She threw a breadcrumb at him. It hit him in the head. He mimed a mortal wound from the impact and then laughed. "Besides, youīre a fine one to talk, with you getting a serious case of hot pants every time Jonothon is around, eh." Paige was flabbergasted, she hadnīt thought anyone had noticed. "Wh-What do you mean?" she squeaked indignantly. He just laughed some more. Did the whole world know about how she felt about Jonothon? Did, horror of horror, Jonothon know? "Relax, Paige," said Everett, "I donīt think anyone else besides us three know, and I for one wonīt tell." "Nor me, chicha," said Angelo gravely. Paige nodded, somewhat mollefied. Everett and Angelo were both okay, Angelo were a tease, but nothing more. She finished eating the sandwich she had prepared while talking about the test with Angelo, who indeed seemed to have no more than his avowed ten percent correct answers. After she had finished eating she decided to go find some of the others to see if they wanted to take a trip to the town. As she found the common room empty she decided to go find either Emma, to talk about what had happened, or failing that, Jubilee. She decided to start with Emma, so she made her way to Emmas quarters on the third floor. As she was approching the door she heard a strange sound coming from Emmas quarters. It was a low buzzing, punctuated by arrhytmic moaning sounds, interspersed with small shreiks. *Either sheīs playing with herself, or sheīs under attack of some sort.* Paige thought. *But it does sure sounds like sheīs havinī fun.* She bent over and peeked carefully through the keyhole and what she saw made a half-shocked, half-delighted smile appear on her face. Emma was lying spreadlegged on her broad bed, her pale thighs spread wide to reveal the most neatly shaven pussy Paige had ever seen. It gleamed with juices, and rammed in deep into her pussy was a big vibrating dildo. Paige felt her own snatch go moist in sympathy, and her nipples stiffened again. She let one hand drift down between her legs to caress her needy cunt. As she shifted her balance to lean on the doorpost with one hand and play with herself with the other she accidently leaned on the door, which fell open and made her fall flat on her face into the room. Face furiously red, and more near panic than she had been in a long time, she scrambled to her hands and knees and looked up, straight into the eyes of Emma Frost, who regarded her with quiet dignity. How she managed to look dignified while lying naked on a bed with a still vibrating dildo between her legs was more than Paige could understand. *Shut the door and come in, child.* Emma thought into her mind. Face still red, Paige did as she was told. "Ah...err..Ah was just gonna...Ah...uhh... didnīt mean to..," Paige stammered, but grew quiet as Emma reached between her legs to pull out the dildo. It came out with a wet, plopping sound. Suddenly Paige realised that she was incredibly horny, her poor throbbing pussy was practically overflowing with juices and she couldnīt take her own eyes off Emmas pink, shaved, pussy. *Would you like a taste?* Emma asked mentally, and stretched out on the bed, arms above her head, and trust up her pelvis towards Paige. Paige quickly thought it over and then decided that she needed release from her own horniness. She gave a short, jerky nod, and then swallowed hard. What was she getting herself into, having sex with a woman, and her headmistress to boot! Then she thought that she had already had sex with Emma earlier in the day, even though she didnīt know it at the time. This was merly completing what had been already begun. Paige slowly started to take of her clothes, then gave a start and went over and locked the door. She smiled a nervous smile towards Emma who smiled back calmly and said: "Come here." Paige quickly got undressed and then hesitated one final time. She felt faint and her mouth was dry, her heart was pounding so hard she was afraid she was going to pass out, but it was with exitement, not fear. She approached the bed and slowly lowered her naked body onto it. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Emma asked, while looking deep into her eyes. Paige didnīt answer, she just leaned forward and pressed her lips to Emmas. She wasnīt very experienced, she had only kissed someone once before, but Emma responded with passion, her tongue flicking in and out of Paiges mouth, touching her tounge, while her right hand fondled Paiges pussy and her left played with her breasts. Paige was experiencing horniness bordering on estacy, she wanted to lick Emma and drink her flowing juices, she wanted to inhale the smell of her, to wrap her entire hot body around her. As she felt Emmas probing fingers explore her pussy she pressed herself against Emmas hand, ground her pelvis agaist it, deeper, deeper, she wanted to feel it deeper. She pushed herself against Emma, her hands exploring her body. She felt something resembling a cool breeze across her brain, as Emma spoke into her mind. *Would you like me to make you come?* She asked. *Oh, yes, please! Please make me come!!* Paige pleaded, not knowing whether she said it out loud or just thought it. Paige felt her exitement and pleasure rise sharply, and then she was coming, coming, coming, again and again. Paige felt Emmas mind reach out and connect with hers, sharing her passion and pleasure. She felt Emmas horniness, her trobbing pussy so hot and empty, longing to be filled. Paige disentangled herself from Emmas grasp, got up on her elbows and turned around, so that she was straddling Emma, Emmas face buried between her legs. As she lowered herself down across the lenght of Emmas body and saw her hot pussy only inches from her face, it struck her how beautiful it was, how perfect those soft lines and folding curves was. *This is how men see it, isnīt it?* She thought across the mindlink. The only answer was the soft slurping sound as Emmas lips and tongue played with Paiges cunt. Paige slowly extended her tongue toward Emmas pussy. She had never tasted a woman before, except herself. After masturbating she used to lick her fingers clean and pretend it was the sperm of whomever she had been fucking in her fantasy. Ever so slowly and gently the tip of her tongue probed the depths of Emmas sweet femininity. When the exquisite taste, so different and yet so alike her own, filled her tongue she thrilled with the joy of pure sex. She felt Emmas pleasure grow, her tongue and lips strayed from Paiges pussy and her quick licks came less and less frequently as Emma was comsumed with passion. When she finally came, her orgasmic cry muffled between Paiges legs, Paige felt the mingled pleasure of her own simultaneus orgasm and Emmas blend into one. Afterwards, several orgasms later, as they lay in each others arms, the sweat cooling on their bodies, they kissed and caressed each other gently. No longer student and teacher, only lovers united in eternity, Paige felt supremely happy and protected in the older womans arms and slowly drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER TWO: AWAKENINGS.

When Paige awoke Emma was gone, and the bed was cold on her side, but she lay there, smiling at the remembered taste on her tongue, thinking about all the wonderful things they had done to each other. She wouldnīt ever again have to worry about getting horny and having to take matters into her own hands again, now that she had Emma. Paige slowly got up from the bed and started to put on her clothes that (presumably) Emma had neatly folded and put on a chair next to the bed. Glancing at the watch at the bedstand she discovered that it was now eleven minutes past nine a.m. She still felt a kind of dizzy extaltation about the fact that she had actually had sex with another person, for real. Granted, that person was another woman, and several years older than her, and her teacher and headmistress, but still. "Thatīs one helluva way ta lose your virginity, girl." she mumbled to herself and then smiled, suddenly embarrased at the sound of her own voice. Of course, in the technical sense she was still a virgin, since she hadnīt actually been penetrated, but where it mattered, she considered herself among the candidates for dragon-appeasers no more. A new thought was slowly beginning to hack itīs way through the layers of sex-induced euphoria; what would her friends say if they found out? And tightly following that, came another one; what did this say about her sexual preferences? Was she truly a lesbian? But no, she had fantasized about men too many times to consider that. She supposed she was bi-sexual. *Just another way to be "different", Ah suppose.* Paige thought. Discovering that first her brother, then herself, was a mutant would be enough of a "difference" to last anyone a lifetime. She finished getting dressed and after making adjustements to her hair, which indeed looked like she was wearing a small haystack on her head, walked out of the room and shut the door behind her. When she met the others, as she would have to do sooner or later, they would probably ask her where she had been the whole afternoon, and what would she say? It was, after all, a small house, or rather, a very large compound, but with only thirteen people in it it certainly seemed small. She decided she would pretend to have been tired after the test and having slept the whole time. She heard sounds of a TV coming from the floor beneath and decided to see who it was. As she walked down the stairs, her imagination began to run riot with her. She thought about how everyone would sit down there in the common room, waiting for her, and when she got down they would all tell her how disgusting she was, having done such ungodly things with another woman, and then they would leave her, never to come back. And of course Emma would go with them, not wanting to even look at the reason for her shame. And what would her brother, Sam, say? Or her mother? Irritated, she tried to push the thoughts away; *She seduced me, not the other way `round, and besides, why should they know? Or care, one way or the other.* she thought to herself. As she made her way down the stairs she tried to calm herself down, but she found that her anxiety grew the closer she came to the bottom of the stairs. Her heart pounding, she stopped just out of sight of the common room and made a last attempt to calm herself. *If theyīre really all sitting there, Ah donīt know if Ah can face that,* she thought, and carefully peered into the room. They werenīt, in fact only one person was sitting, crosslegged, in front of the TV: Monet. As soon as had Paige registered that, Monet said, without turning her head or otherwise indicate that she had noticed Paige; "Guthrie, stop attempting to sneak past me and explain why you are even trying." "Ah-I wasnīt sneaking!" Paige protested, her heartbeat, which had calmed somewhat when she registered that only Monet was present, speeded up again at Monets inqusitorial tone. "No? Then please explain why it took you almost half a minute to descend the last three steps when it normally takes you about one and a half second." M asked. "Thatīs none of your bussiness, but for your information, I was thinking about something." Paige snapped, angry and scared at being interrogatad like this. "I suppose you were thinking about the others possible reaction to your affiliation with Ms. Frost, should it somehow become known to them." M said indifferently. Paige felt her mental equbrillium shudder as the implication of Mīs words sank in. "You know." She finally managed in a small voice. It wasnīt a question. "How? D-did Emm-Ms. Frost tell you?" She quavered. If it was so, her worst nightmare was realised. Sheīd probably be thrown out of the school, everybody she cared about would know. "In a way, yes." Monet said, "She took a shower, before going out, but I could still smell that she had experienced strong sexual exitement shortly before. At first I merely assumed she had been masturbating, as she does regularly about once a day, but then you failed to appear at dinner, and nobody had seen you. Since you have not washed yourself since then I sensed, when you began walking down the stairs, that you also had experienced a similar state of exitement at a time roughly consistent with Ms. Frosts, and furthermore I can still smell Ms. Frosts scent on you, which led me to the aforemented conclusion." "If you knew, then why ask when Ah was at the door?" Paige nearly cried now. "I merly wished to prove my hypothesis by making you substatiate my suspicions." Monet said with a small smile directed at the TV. "W-what are you guh-gonna tell the others?" Paige said, now desperate to salvage what she could of her dignity. *Ah wonīt cry! Ah wonīt!!* She thought as hard as she could. Despite her best effort, she felt tears well up in her eyes, making the light from the TV blur. "Iīm sorry, did I give the impression that I intended to inform the others?" Monet said, her eyes straying for a moment from the TV to alight upon Paiges face. At first Paige couldnīt fathom the meaning of the words, then they sank in. "You arenīt kuh-kiddding? You wonīt tell?" Paige went almost giddy with relif. "No." Monet said shortly, then turned back to the TV. "You promise?" Paige said, still not entirely convinced that it was not a cruel joke. "Yes, I promise." Monet said, a hint of experation in her voice. "Whatever your personal affairs with Ms. Frost are, I see no reason why they should concern anyone but you two, as long as they do not interfere with the running of this school. We are here to learn, not to engage in sexual intercourse with our teachers." Paige made an effort not to bristle at Monetsī lecturing tone, and reminded herself that, despite Monetsī promise of silence, it was still necessary to make her keep her word. "It wonīt interfere. You have my word." She tried to sound as calm and collected as possible, but she was still experiencing the after effects of the shock upon finding out that Monet knew. M merely nodded, as if she had expected nothing less. Without any further words, Paige left the room. She went to her own room in the girls dorm, where she lay down on the bed to think. M knew that she and Emma, she would call her Emma in her own mind, even if she said Ms. Frost in front of others, had been together, that was a cold fact. The question was whether she wanted to continue sleeping with Emma, and if so, just how would that be arranged? She could not very well continue to pretend that nothing had happened, and it would be very hard to keep sneaking away to have sex without any of the others noticing. She found that she very much wanted to be with Emma, but on the other hand, she didnīt think she wanted anyone else finding out. She suddenly realised that she didnīt even know what Emma wanted. What if she didnīt want to see her again, or what if she had already told people about it? A vision arose in her mind of Emma suddenly kissing of hugging her in class, or announcing that she and ms Guthrie would be living together from now on. Paige realised she had to talk to Emma before making any kind of decision. Monet had said that Emma hade gone out, which probably meant she had gone to town. Suddenly Paige also remembered what M had said about scents and decided to take a shower before going out. She couldīve just "husked", as she called her unique mutant powers of skin-shedding, her skin off instead, but she wanted to feel clean, instead of just knowing that she was. Afterwards she felt calmer and more collected, confident that she and Emma would be able to work it out, somehow. As she was getting dressed there came a knock on the door; "Are ye there, lass?" came the voice of Sean Cassidy, her other teacher and headmaster. Her calm confidence shattered. *He knows!!* She thought, and felt butterflies the size of rabbits in her stomach. Then she realised that he might as well just be searching for her, since she hadnīt been seen the whole afternoon. All those thought raced through her head as she walked the short steps to the door. She opened it just as Sean began to knock again, louder this time. "Ah, there ye are. Iīve been looking for ye the whole eveninī. Where were ye?" Paige always, although she wouldnīt dream of saying so to his face, found his Irish accent slightly ridiculous, much as she was slightly ashamed of her own southern dialect. "Ahīm sorry, sir, Ah just felt real tired after the test, and Ahīve been sleeping real hard ever since." she lied. "Ye must have been, lass, Iīve knocked on ye door several times since dinner." He said with a concerned frown. "Are ye not feelinī well?" She knew that if she gave any kind of vaugely affirmative answer, or even a straight "Iīm fine", he would probably force her down to the med-lab for all sorts of tests. He was concerned, perhaps overly so, about his students. She decided to try a trick which would almost guarantee no more questions asked. "Well," she began, feigning embarrasment, "Itīs that time of the month, and Ah tend to get tired the first few days." "Oh." He said, feeling the same vaugely sympathetic embarrasment that grips every male who have been forced to listen to a woman complaining about her menopause. "But ye are feelinī better now?" He said, hopefully. Knowing just how horrible she really felt every month, and also knowing that nobody male could understand, she nodded briskly and accompanied him out the door. As they walked down the central hall of the girlīs dorm she pondered what to say when she found Emma, or what she would do if Emma didnīt want to see her anymore. "Me and Jonothon are takinī the wee lads outside for a stroll, do ye want to join us?" Sean asked. "Is Ms. Frost here?" Paige asked, as casually as she could. "Nae, I dinnae think so, why?" "Ah was just going to ask sumthinī about the test, but Ah guess it can wait. Ahīll go with you, then." They met Jonothon in the hallway, the flickering flames from the cavity of his chest illuminated the darkening walls. *Hullo, Paige, so you decided to join us, eh.* His psionic voice filled her head. "Um...yeah." Paige said, as always struck by his presence, an almost tangible thing, which made her acutely self-conscious. She was suddenly very glad she took that shower. They walked through the campus, heading for the biosphere, each busy with his or her own thoughts. As they neared the biosphere they heard the kids high, clear voices laughing. "`Tis good to hear Franklin laugh again, Iīve been worrying about thī lad, but I think it helps for him to have thī company of kids his age." Sean said. The kids came running out of the biosphere, Franklin at the lead. "Are we gonna go walking like you promised, Sean?" He asked. "Yes, that we are, lad." Sean answered. The air suddenly shimmered and took form, as Artie used his mutant powers to create a psionic hologram. It showed a picture of Artie riding piggyback on Seans shoulders, and then a question mark. "Ok lad, up ye go." Sean said, hoisting Artie on to his shoulders. As they walked up along the same path Paige had jogged along that morning, the kids sometimes stopping to jump in heaps of leaves or climb trees, sometimes running far ahead of the adults, Paige found her thoughts going in circles; what to do about Emma, and what about Jonothon? She couldnīt decide what to do about Jonothon until she knew how Emma felt, and she couldnīt talk to Emma until she herself knew what she wanted. *Another fine mess youīve gotten yourself into.* She thought mournfully. Suddenly Jonothonīs psionic voice interrupted her thoughts; *Whatīs on yer mind, Paige?* She started to look for Sean, to see whether he was in position to overhear her answer, but before she had turned fully around Jonothons voice came again; *He canīt hear me, I thought maybe you didnīt want him to hear, in case you wouldnīt want to tell me about it.* "Not now, Jono. Weīll talk later. Promise." She whispered. Jono nodded, a rather interesting spectacle to watch, considering he didnīt have that much to nod with. Knowing that Jonothon cared was a cheering thought, and she actually felt better for it. It was getting dark by the time they got back to the school and the kids were tired, but naturally they didnīt show it. *You boys tired?* Jonothon asked. "No, weīre not tired." Franklin said, "We wanna watch TV!" Artie nodded and produced an image of a TV, with Franklin, Leech and Artie sitting in front of it, each eating from an oversized bowl of popcorn. "Just for a while, then." Sean sighted. "Leech and friends go watch TV." Leech said and then ran off with the others. "I better go keep īem company, they always tune in the Playboy channel when they think nobodyīs lookinī." Sean said. Paige and Jonothon looked at each other and started to laugh, as Sean hurried after the youngsters. When he was gone Paige began to speak, stopped and nervously started fiddling with the buttons of her light jacket. "Ahīm sorry, Jono, Ah really wish Ah could tell yīall what on mah mind, but Ah just cainīt!" She finally blurted. *Whatever it is, itīs sounds serious, yer accentīs thicker than ever.* said Jonothon. She smiled a half-hearted smile at the weak joke. *You know Iīm here if you want to talk.* He added, hopefully. When he said that, she loved him more than ever, but she could still not bring herself to say what was on her mind. *Want to walk back to the house and drink some coffee with me? Well, Iīll watch you drink, anyway.* He asked, his "voice" sounding comforting. "No, thank you, Jono, Ahīll stay out here, Ah need to be alone a bit." She sounded deliberatly firm, despite desperatly wanting him to hug her and tell her it would be all right. Then maybe she could even belive it. Clearly reluctant, hesitating several times, as if he wanted to say something, but not knowing what, or how, he left, leaving her alone on the lawn in front of the house, in the deepening twilight. She sighted and sat down on the grass, it felt cool against the fabric of her jeans. Why couldnīt things ever be simple? She had finally found someone to care for and love her, only problem was that that person was another woman. Would Jono understand, would anyone understand, when she herself couldnīt? "Hey, yo Paige! Whyīre you sitting out here in the dark? Miss the farm in Kentucky or something?" The voice of Jubilee suddenly sounding behind her starled her out of her thoughts. Irritated at being disturbed, she snapped; "Dammit, Lee!! Havenīt anyone evah told you not to sneak up on people?" "Whoa, like, no need to get P.O.ed at me, Guthrie. The teachlady wanna see you, pronto." "Emm--Ms. Frost?" Paige asked, suddenly very apprehensive. "No, itīs, like, Hillary Clinton, duh!" Jubilee snorted. "Sheīs waiting for you in her quarters." Paige got up and brushed off her jeans. She quickly walked to Emmas quarters and made to knock on the door, but before she could bring her fist down Emmas voice called; "Come." *Ah sure hope Ah will.* Paige thought, irrelevantly and impishly, and smiled inwardly, despite her nervousness, at her own private joke. She opened the door and stepped inside. Emma stood at the center of the room and said, rather cooly; "Come in and shut the door." Paiges heart sank. Jubilee, who had trailed after her out of couriosity, whispered; "Good luck." and fled down the hallway. Paige, her heart fluttering, walked into the room and shut the door, but before she had a chance to say anything, Emma had thrown her arms around her and was kissing her fiercly. Paige felt her juices begin to flow and her nipples stiffening, in automatic response to Emmas telepathic tweaking of her brainsī pleasure center. *Iīve been thinking you all afternoon, honey.* Emma thought into her head, while unbuttoning Paiges shirt. *Iīve been wanting to taste these gorgeous nipples of yours so badly.* She thought while doing just so. Paige, who was instantly turned on, all apprehension gone, was already un-buttoning and un-zipping Emmas trousers while half leaning against the wall for support, Emma pressing her body agaist hers. *Iīve got a surprise for you, my darling, come with me to the bathroom and Iīll show you.* Still clutching and kissing, pulling off each others clothes as the went, they walked to Emmas big, luxurious, bathroom. *Lie down on the edge of the jacuzzi.* Emma thought, as she was pulling off Paiges jeans and panties. Paige laid down on the tiled, broad edge of the large jacuzzi, her legs spread wide, a wicked grin on her face. *You really have far to gorgeous a pussy to hide it behind all that hair, you should get it shaved, like mine.* Emma thought, as she picked up some scented shaving lather and applied it generously to Paiges cunt. Paige shivered with delight as the cold, soft foam was smeared over her sensitive outer lips. *Do you want to leave a patch of hair, or do you want me to shave all of it?* Emma asked, a white ladiesī razor in one hand. *You decide, youīre the one whoīll lick it.* Paige thought lecherously, delighting in the thought. *Then Iīll leave a string at the top, I just love to bury my nose in it.* Emma thought, and started shaving. Paige watched fascinated while Emma skillfully removed all hair from around her cunt. A few minutes later Emma used the shower to wash off the last of the lather. Paiges looked down at her pussy, now naked, her red and swollen outer lips clearly visible. Above, the tiled ceiling reflected the naked splendour of Emma. She bent in esctacy to kiss the secret ardours of Paige. Paige leaned back against the floor and closed her eyes, a smile on her lips and her fingers playing with Emmas hair. "That was only half the surprise." said Emma, after Paige was done coming, her voice husky with horniness. She opened a closet and pulled out two smooth dildos, one blue, one gold. "Pick your color." Emma smiled. Suddenly hesitant, Paige said; "Ahīm a virgin, Ah donīt....look, Emma, we have got ta talk." Despite her horniness she was not quite willing to lose her physical virginity with a plastic dildo. "Are you worried itīs going to hurt? It wonīt, not with me. Just relax and enjoy." Emma said soothingly. Paige sat up on the edge of the tub, closed her spread legs and said; "Emma, Ahīm not sure Ah want to do this, Ah want a man to take mah virginity. Ah love ya, but Ah like men too, and Ah just donīt know what to do about this whole mess.... what if someone finds out about us. What will people say?" Emma just looked at her for a while, then put the dildo down and said, with a concerned voice; "I had hoped you wouldnīt have worried about those things. Youīd better get dressed, and Iīll make us some coffee, then weīll talk." Paige did so and soon they were sitting fully dressed at Emmas desk, with a cup of hot coffee each. Emma looked hesitant and very sympathetic to Paige, who felt relived that Emma hadnīt instantly thrown her out, once she had spoken her mind. After a small pause where neither of them spoke, Emma began to speak; "I understand how you feel, Paige. You are a young woman who are exploring her own sexuality, and as such very uncertain. I like men too, but I have occasionally tried women, and when I first saw you I desired you instantly. I...sometimes probed your mind when you were asleep to find out whether you could be persuaded to try women or not. Thatīs why you have been having so many wet dreams lately. When I met you in the hall this morning I scanned your mind and found out that, perhaps only subconsciously, you were ready to have sex with a woman, but I couldnīt make the suggestion or attempt to seduce you then, since you yourself didnīt know it and would probably have rejected me instantly should I have attempted it. After you had had your orgasm I revealed I had been 'listening', which didnīt shock you as you would have expected, did it?" Paige was stunned. "You-youīve been manipulating mah mind?!?!? You made me do all those things? Made me love you?!!!" She practically screamed the last sentence. Emma flinched, then reached out and caressed Paigesī cheek. "No, Paige, I swear I havenīt done a thing to your mind, except seeing what was in there. I have loved and desired you since I first saw you, and I only wanted to know whether you could ever love me back." Paige shook her head in despair; "Ah donīt know what Ahīll tell my mother, or mah kin. What will they say when they find out? Or mah friends? Ah do love you Emma, you have shown me pleasures Ah didnīt dreamed of, but Ah love Jonothon also. Oh, this is such a mess and Ah just donīt know what to do." She started to cry. Emma leaned over and hugged her hard, while making soothing noises, both mentally and aloud. After a while Paiges tears and sobs came slower and slower, and when she seemed calmer, Emma said; "If you want, weīll stop right here, and pretend this never happened, we can still be friends, and nobody need ever know." Paige drew a deep, shuddering breath to calm herself. "Monet already knows, she told me when Ah got up this afternoon, but she said she wouldnīt tell anyone, as long as it didnīt interfere with our education." She said, bitterly emphasising the last words. Emma eyes grew hard. "If that little bitch tells, I will throw her out of the school so hard that she bounces!" Emma practically growled, her eyes flashing. Paige hesitated and then slowly said; "Canīt you make her forget.... with your telepathic powers Ah mean. Just that one small detail?" Emma shook her head. "Iīm sorry, Paige, I canīt. Her mental defenses could perhaps be overcome, but it would be apparent to any telepath that her mindīs been tampered with. Besides, she would probably notice herself that something was wrong. Iīll....speak to her and make it clear that if she were to discuss this with anyone I will make it very unpleasant for her here. Besides, I know that she too has secrets she would prefer to keep. She wonīt talk." "Ah hope not." Paige said, hoping fervently that Emma was right. "Feeling better?" Emma asked, gently and lovingly caressing Paiges cheek. Paige nodded and embranced Emma, kissing her softly on the lips. There was a knock on the door. Both women froze, and then hastily pulled apart and started to correct their rumpled clothes. Paige rubbed her eyes, hoping that it wouldnīt show that she had been crying. There was another knock on the door. "Enter." Emma called casually, rising from the chair. The door opened and Sean stepped in, somewhat hesitant as always when setting foot in what he usually thought of as 'thī white witchīs den'. "I would like to speak wiī ye, Emma, if itīs alright." He said, with a concerned look at Paiges face and red-rimmed eyes. Emma nodded at Sean, while sending a telepathic message to Paige; *The bathroom! Quick!* Paige started slightly, confused, but then followed Emmas gaze to the open bathroom door behind Seanīs back. The dildoes and shaving gear was clearly visibly. "Excuse me." She murmured, and quickly made off for the bathroom, reached it and closed the door behind her. *Whyīs he here? Is it about us? Does he know?* Paige sent frantically. *I donīt know. I canīt scan too deeply without him noticing, I do sense anger and determination, but also concern. I canīt tell any more.* Emma thought, her mental voice calm and collected, but Paige could sense her worry. She shuffled the equipment into a bathroom drawer, waited a few seconds, then flushed the toilet and opened the tap for a while. When she had finished pretending to wash her hands she opened the door and walked out, finding that neither Sean or Emma had moved, but were both looking at her. She felt the now familliar fear beginning to rise up and choke her, when Emmaīs voice sounded in her mind. *Itīs going to be alright, Paige. Iīll handle this, you can trust me. Whatever happens I wonīt let you down.* She emphasised the last words, sending a current of love and comfort to Paige. Paige felt her fear grow weaker as Emma opened her mouth and said; "Are you feeling better after our little talk, ms Guthrie? Good, then Sean and I have things to discuss, so if youīll please close the door on your way out. I trust Iīll see you in class tomorrow." It was a clear dismissal. *Iīll talk to you later, I promise.* Emma thought to Paige. "Thank you, ms Frost, and good night. Good night, mr Cassidy." Paige said and made her exit, wondering about the uncertain-seeming future.

CHAPTER THREE: CONFRONTATION.

Emma watched Paige as she closed the door and then turned to Sean, who looked and radiated determination and anger. *If he knows, Iīll have to do something. I wonīt let his petty predjudice and my mistakes ruin Paigeīs life. If I had had the sense to leave well enough alone, like I did with Jennifer and Marie-Ange,* she felt a momentary pang of guilt about her old students, the Hellions, all dead but two of them, *then this wouldnīt have happened. Iīm sorry, Paige.* "What is so important, Cassidy, that you interrupt a personal talk with one of my students?" She asked sharply. "One oī yer students, woman? Paige is jusī as much me student as sheīs yers. I realise that there be some things sheīd rather talk about wiī ye than me, but some things concerns nae jusī her but this whole academy." Sean retorted, just as sharply. Emma felt her resolve harden and her fears grow when she heard his last words. She let the psionic power that had been at her beck and call since she was thirteen grow within her, readying herself for a mindblast that would overcome even Seansī mental defenses. She knew that with his training and willpower, it would take quite a lot of power and finesse to make him forget what he knew about Paige and her, and yet leave the rest of his memory intact and make sure that he didnīt even miss or knew about the erased memories. "Sheīs pregnant, isnīt she." Sean stated, totally unaware of the invisible spearpoint of pure psionic force that had gathered within Emma, ready to be flung into his mind. She was so surprised that she inadvertly let go of the amassed psi- power, which instantly dissipated. "What?!" She blurted, incredulous. "Iīm not completely deaf and blind, ye know. I notice thaī sheīs been late for class all week, when sheīs usually always first, thaī she slept all day after the test, thaī she lied when she said she felt fine, thaī she was verra silent when we took thī walk, and she seemed troubled. I cīn tell thaī sheīn Jonothon was talkinī about somethinī important, but dinnae wanīt me tīhear about it. I notice thaī sheīs spent little time with the others lately and thaī sheīs been depressed. At first I thought perhapī she was sick, but after I found her here, obviously havinī cried, talkinī tī ye....It dinnae takes a genius to see where `tis going. So who is the father? Is it Jonothon? Iīm gonna make thī lad take `is responsibility if I so have tī---" Emma started to laugh, both from amusement and relif. *Oh bloody hell, I nearly mindblasted him.....* She thought, momentarily overcome with the absurdity of the situation. "No wonder they threw you out of Interpol, Cassidy, youīd make a lousy private investigator." The confusion on his face looked so funny that she started laughing again. "What, are ye saying the lass is nae pregnant?" Sean asked, truly astonished. "Yes, thatīs right, Cassidy. Paige isnīt pregnant, in fact," she added, unable to resist the tempation of rubbing it in, "I have it on good authority that sheīs still a virgin." "But, then what was thī problem? Or did the lass jusī come up here tī cry about nothing?" Sean asked. "It was a problem only another woman could truly understand, but if you must know, it was mostly a fear of unrequited love. We had a litte talk, woman to woman, and unlike you postering macho-types, women actually finds that it helps to cry when you are scared or hurting. And as you may have noticed, she wasnīt crying when you entered the room. It is a teenage thing mostly, just give them a shoulder to lean on occasionally and they will be allright." Emma said, trying to sound as self-assured as she could, quite enjoying her newfound role as omniscient teenage expert. Sean was embarrased, to say the least. "Ye realise thaī yeīve made a complete fool out oī me. Iīm just thankful Paige wasnae around. Iīd probably have embarrassed thī poor lass tī death." "Next time you 'know' something about the children, Cassidy, ask me first and spare yourself any further embarrassment." Emma said sweetly, taking immense pleasure from seeing Cassidy squirm. "Ah, er...I guess Iīll be goinī then. Gīnight Emma." Sean said, and made for the door, cursing and kicking himself inwardly. "Good night, Cassidy." Emma called after him. When he had left, closing the door behind him, she smiled to herself and sat down on the desk. That had gone much better than she had expected. Instead of being forced to use her mental powers to influence Cassidys mind, she had made him look like an idiot, truly an enjoyable experience, and one she hoped to take part of again, and so convinced him of the truth of her words that he now would be inclined to actively disbelive any evidence of the true reason for Paiges distress. She knew that she was an exellent manipulator, especially of men, but this was a rare sucess. She hadnīt even had to lie or use her powers to achive her goal. Mere subtle twisting of words had sufficed where brute force might had failed. Her triumphant train of thought was interrupted by a soft rapping on the window sill. Annoyed and alarmed that someone had apparently managed to sneak up on her despite her telepathy, she looked up and saw Monet St. Croix, hanging apparently freely suspended in the air by one of her multitude of mutant abillities. *You played him expertly, Frost, will you fare so well against someone not suceptible to your vaunted telepathy* Mīs mental voice travelled unhindered through the mere physical barrier the window offered. *Is that a challenge, child?* Emma asked, subtly raising her defensive shields and prepering a new mind-bolt. *Iīm not here to fight you, ms Frost, but to talk about the situation between you and Guthrie.* M thought, in a somewhat less assertive tone of voice. *I fail to see where our relationship might concern you even in the least, Monet. You have already discussed this with Paige once, what else is there to say?" Emma queried, canceling her mental blast but maintaining the grip on her shields as she approached the window and unlatching and opening it, allowing Monet to fly through and alight on the carpet in front of her. Emma was surprised to discover that Monet was wearing only her nightclothes, that is, a pair of small white panties and a T-shirt, and nothing else. Her nipples were clearly visible through the thin fabric of the T-shirt, presumably from the chilly night air. "I really think we need to talk, ms Frost." Monet said, now sounding strangely hesitant. *Yes, let us talk, then.* Emma thought, and indicated the chairs, refusing to do Monet the curtesy of switching to verbal communication.

After Emma had dismissed her, Paige had wandered back to her room to try to do some homework. She soon found that she couldnīt focus on her history, she kept reading the same lines over and over again, until the words blurred and lost all meaning, becoming only syllables randomly strung together. She found herself vaugely wondering about the test she did this morning. It had seemed so important to her yesterday, get good grades, join the X-Men and save the world. An equation as simple as 1+2=3. Now she found that she didnīt care about the test, or her grades. Her grades were good, almost straight Aīs, but unlike Monet, who truly were a straight A student, she had to work hard for that. Monet. That little deceptive, manipulating, arrogant bitch. If it wasnīt for her, she and Emma could have spent the entire night in each others arms, instead, she had to wait and worry while Emma and mr Cassidy talked about her, practically deciding her fate for her. *You donīt know if they are talking about you, so calm down. Cassidy was probably just angry about something Jubileeīs done, or something.* She told herself. She didnīt belive it for a second. Frustrated, she threw her history book across the room. It landed in a corner with a thump, creasing its cover. "Oh, that was helpful." She said to the universe in general. Suddenly Emmas discorporate voice sounded in her mind; *Paige, you can come up now. There is something you should know.* She sounded worried, and there was an undercurrent of hesitation in her voice. *What is it? Whatīs happened?* Paige thought, frantic. *I...think you better come up here yourself.* Emma sent. *Itīs about Monet.* Paige was aghast. Monet! Had she decided to talk? A horrible suspicion began to take form. Was Monet going to blackmail her and Emma? For what? What could she possible want from them? Paige half-ran all the way to Emmas study and flung the door open. She found Emma sitting behind the desk, with Monet standing at her side, arms crossed behind her back, a smug smile on her lips. The fact that Monet was in her nightclothes hardly registered, she was just grateful that Sean was not present. Paige shut the door behind her and advanced towards the desk. She was gratified to see Emma rise to join her on the other side of the desk, facing Monet. Monetsī smile faltered slightly, but she seemed to steady herself, and plunged on. "Well, are you going to tell her, or shall I?" She asked Emma. "Iīll tell her." Emma answered icily. Emma turned around to face Paige. "Paige, Monet is demanding that we stop seeing each other, or she will expose us. I donīt need to tell you what it would mean for me if Sean or the X-men were to find out about our relationship. You would, at the worst, be taken out of the school, at the best, they would think that I had used my telepathy to manipulate you into a relationship for my pleasure." *And maybe I did, in a way. Forgive me, Paige, for all this.* Emma thought to herself. "B-but why....", Paige whirled to face Monet, "are ya doinī this? Yī promised you wouldnīt tell anyone. Yī promised." The last was a mere despondent whisper. Monet seemed for a instant confused, her normally utterly perfect composure shattered. It lasted only the briefest of moments, then she was back to normal. She seemed regain focus and determination as she began to speak. "If I made any promises of non-involvement, it was on the condition that your....relationship with Guthrie wouldnīt interfere with our studies here. I think it will. If you donīt stop it Iīll have no choice but to reveal the truth to the others." Emma took a small step forward in a half-pleading, half affirmative gesture. "Paige has already given her word, if you want mine, Iīll give it. Thereīs no reason for this to affect the affairs of this academy in the least." "So you say. I donīt belive you." Monet said, her arms crossed over her chest. Emma was more than suprised about Monets attitude, she seemed determined to cause trouble, and her worries about 'interference' in the running of the school was clearly an excuse, but for what? She decided to try a more direct approach. "Allright, Monet, what is it you want?" Emma asked sharply. Again, there was the briefest of pauses in the response, as if Monet was unsure of the answer. "You. Itīs you I want, Emma." Monet said quietly but determined, the slight shift in her stance being the only sign of her nervousness. Emma could only stare.

CHAPTER FOUR: TRUTHS AND RAMIFICATIONS.

At first, Paige couldnīt belive what she had just heard. Then the reality of the situation hit home, and she had to repress a semi-hysterical giggle, but succeded only partially. Emma and Monet, who had been staring at each other, Monet with a pleading look, Emmas totally stunned, both looked at her as if she had gone mad. She found herself wondering momentarily whether she had. Monet turned away from Paige like she was totally irrelevant, and one again spoke pleadingly to Emma, one arm stretched out in a supplicating gesture that Paige found so ridiculus she had to giggle again. "You donīt need her, Emma, she doesnīt love you like I do. I know that you love me! You must! You must!!" Monet actually stamped her foot at the last word. Emma seemed to recover from the initial shock and was now searching for words, and eventually, she found some. "I do care for you, Monet, as I do all my students, but I donīt love you..... like I do Paige. You will just have to accept that Paige and I love each other. We wonīt stop because you or anyone else tells us to." "Then Iīll tell the others about you. Theyīll throw you out, throw you both out! Do you really think the others will belive that you havenīt manipulated Guthrieīs mind?" Emma opened her mouth as to reply, but instead of words there was as massive psychic attack, directed straight at Monet. The actual cause of the events that took place were invisible to Paige, and she was aware only of a tensing in the atmosphere, a slight throbbing in her head, as Emma used her formidable telepathic powers as a mindblast. Monet reeled as the effect of the telepathic assault hit her nervous system and momentarily overloaded her synapses. She flinced as at a physical blow, and then collapsed on the floor. Emma stood, looking rather pleased with herself, and for a moment Paige realised why the White Queen of the Hellfire Club had commanded such respect. "Donīt presume to think I taught you *every* trick I know." Emma said to Monets still form. She turned to Paige and said; "I havenīt erased her memories or changed her mind, only made her unconscious. Iīm afraid that Jonothon must have sensed the strong psychic emanations from the attack and will inform the others. I had no choice, she would have told the others, no matter what we would have said." She paused, and then added, "Sean thinks Iīm under attack and are preparing to scream the walls down, itīs hardly nessessary to add property damage to the rest of our problems." She focused her mindīs eye and found Sean, who was mentally 'screaming' for her to answer him, asking if she was under attack. *Iīm fine, Sean, but I need to talk to you. Could you come to my study in a few minutes, I have another matter to settle first.* She sent, then abruptly stopped listening, cutting off Seans questions about what had happened. Emma looked at Paige. -"We have to tell Sean the truth, Paige. As I said earlier, I canīt manipulate Monets mind and she will tell the others about us when she awakens. I sensed the determination in her mind." -"Why would she do that, because she claimed ta love you?" Paige asked, still not beliving it. -"Iīm....not sure why, there is love, of a kind, but not really towards me, more towards an idea, perhaps something she wants desperatly and thinks I can provide....." Emma broke off, as if struck by a sudden thought. She looked at Monets still unconscious form and furrowed her brow. -"You poor things....." She mumbled after a while, breaking off when she realised she was speaking out loud. Paige thought it slightly weird that Emma had said 'things', plural, but couldnīt summon up the energy to care. She was too dazed by the afternoon and evenings events to care much about anything. She sat down on Emmas desk, staring vacantly into the air. Emma noticed the slight shock-induced alterations in Paiges thought-patterns and mentally took control of Paiges mind and ordered her to go to her room and sleep. *Better for Paige to get a good nights sleep than to stay up all night, worrying.* She thought, wondering how to deal with what she had just seen in Monets mind. Paige made her way to her room, barely noticing and not caring that she was being mindcontrolled into a placid state, feeling only a enormous tiredness. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

CHAPTER FIVE: DECISIONS.

When Paige woke up it was probably late morning. She could tell from the way the sunlight projected through the window and onto the wall over her head. She sat up, wondering for a second why she had overslept. Then the wall of sleep tumbled, and she remembered the events of the previous day. She sank back into bed, resisting the urge to pull the covers above her head and go back to blissfull oblivion. *Ah have ta be able face this, dammit!* She thought, anger overriding her self-pity for a moment before subsiding under a miasma of angst again. Nevertheless, she slowly got dressed, picking up her rumpled clothes from the floor where she had uncaringly dropped them before going to bed. She remembered listening to Emma arguing with Monet, then her recollection grew blurry, and she realised that Emma had taken control of her mind, probably to get her a good nights sleep. She finished putting on her clothes and walked over to her full lenght mirror. She looked fairly rested, but her eyes had a haunted look. Tentativly, she reached out for Emma, calling softly across the mind- link. When Emma answered, she felt a wave of anger and frustration over the link. "So youīre awake. Iīve told Sean, and he is furious, he didnīt know whether to wake you first or call your brother in Westchester right away,* Paige felt a surge of panic at the thought of her brother, *but I managed to talk him out of it, for now.* *Does any of the others know yet?* Paige asked. *No. But you better come up to Seans study, I donīt think he is going to wait much longer before he decides to come down and drag you out of bed himself.* Emma said. As Paige made her way to Seans study she took care to avoid any encounters with her classmates. Fortunatly, since both the teachers was absent, it seemed they had all taken advantage of the situation to spend some quality time at their respective chosen recreation. She could hear splashings and Jubileeīs laughter from the large indoor swimming pool, and the sound of an accelerating vehicle leaving the campus at probably at least twenty miles over the speed limit told her that Angelo and probably some of the others hade decided to leave for parts unknown, probably anxious to be away before the teachers hade time to restrict them to campus. The sounds of her friends merriment didnīt cheer her up in the least, it just made her all the more anxious. The now familliar path up the stairs, not the same as the ones leadin to Emmaīs study, but yet one she had walked many times, although never with this much trepidation. She reached the heavy woodpaned door and opened it. Sean and Emma were both standing up, glaring at each other across the desk. Sean looked as if he wanted to strangle first Emma, and then quite possibly everyone else he could get his hands on. Emma appeared calm on the surface, but the way she held herself told Paige that she had dug her heels in and wasnīt about to budge an inch. They were both so busy in their silent contest of wills that they at first didnīt notice Paige standing in the door.
CHAPTER SIX: AFTERMATH.

When Paige sat down and closed the rear door in the Frost Enterprise limosine, listening to the crunch of gravel as the chaffeur loaded her pitifully few possessions into the trunk of the car, she began to wonder if she had not made the worst mistake of her life. She stared through the limoīs darkened windshield at the school which she had expected to graduate from in a few years, realising that she would probably never see it again. How quickly things had moved along, totally beyond her control, since last afternoon when she and Emma had first consumated their love for one another. She couldīve lived with her classmates reactions to the relevation that she and Emma were lovers; Jubileeīs faint and mostly pretended disgust mingled with unabashed curiosity, Angelos initial surprise, and later acceptance, Jonos instant withdrawal, his refusal to even speak with her, Everetts confusion and mixed feelings , Mondos apparently total indifference, even Monets jealousy and hatred, but having to live with the knowledge that her own brother, most of the people on the team she hoped, had hoped, to one day join hated her for who she was was horrible. *They have nothing īgainst gay people, theyīre just opposed to havinī to live with one oī them is all. And who Ah 'choose' to love, too. So much for redemption anī second chances.* She thought bitterly. The thing was that she had no way of knowing that she was making the right choice. The whole affair had become a matter of pride and stubborness on her, and she suspected, Emmasī part. The harder they had tried to sway her, using emotional blackmail, saying how this was torturing her brother, using logic, saying that she was throwing away her future with Gen-X and the X-Men, trying to make her doubt her love for Emma, Emmas love for her, the harder had she fought to shut them out, to make them shut up. Not only because she thought they were wrong, but because she was afraid they might be right. Emma would provide for her, education if she wanted, both in her mutant abillities and scholastics, food, clothes and all comforts, for as long as Paige wanted, so that was taken care of, but Paige still found herself worrying about how life would be, living basically as Emmas homebound lover while she was running her bussiness empire. What if Emma were one day to come home with another young woman, or their love were to fade? What would she do then? Go back to the farm in Kentucky? Impossible. Her mother might let her, but Sam wouldnīt. There was of course no way for Sam to actually stop her, but it would worsen the conflict between Sam and her mother. Paige heard the door open and then slam shut as Emma got in the car, and heard the dry squeak of leather as Emma sat down on the seat opposite her, but she never turned around. As the car began to speed away down the road Paige thought she saw, just as the school vanished behind a turn, Jubilee waving from a window.

EPILOGUE.

Monet st. Croix flew alone through the darkness of the night and the rain, her thoughts and face inscrutable. After a while a structure came into view, hardly visible to normal eyes, but she navigated towards it with uncanny accuracy. It was an old lighthouse, long abandoned, but not empty. A faint light shone in a window open to the beginning storm and the rain, and she flew through it, alighting on the floor of a room that had perhaps once been used as a bedroom by the people who used to live and work here. The sound of ragged breathing came through the darkness and something moved near the remains of a large bed placed in the corner of the room.
"Marius?" She called softly. The voice that answered sounded like a corpse would sound if it were to speak.
"Yes, my darling 'sister'. I have been waiting for you."
"Oh, Marius!" She cried, rushing forward and throwing herself into his arms. He cradled her like she was a precious bird, gently and lovingly.
"I told you that they would not understand, my sister. Brother knows best, my dear." His voice took on a serious tone, and his grip on her hardened slightly against her invunerable flesh.
"So will you stay with us, here in never-never land? To live and sup with me? After all, you are a Saint-Croix, and we Saint-Croix have needs." She nodded slowly, finally, against his chest.
"I have needs, my dearest, and you do too, however much you deny it. Hovever, those particular needs are not the ones which concern me now." He crooned while his taloned hands slid across her back and over her breasts. She shivered slightly as she felt the pin-pricks of the needle-sharp fangs in the small mouths in his palms close sensually around her nipples through the cloth of her shirt. Monet Saint-Croix closed her eyes against inevitable fate and drew a deep breath, then let him lead her to the bed. Outside, it began to rain harder.

THE END