The kids sat around the classroom looking bored . The head tag team of Frost and Cassidy had concurred that they would not be taking in the outside students, but that did not exclude the generation X kids . The generator had only fired up twenty minutes ago and the mansion was still warming up .

"OK kids, who can tell me the answer to this equation ?"

Cassidy looked at the gathered ensemble of young mutants . The boys were deep in discussion with one another, Sean could only guess that it was about the new arrivals . They had been talking about nothing else for the past few days . The girls were scattered around the room not talking to each other . It was such a shame, if they just put their differences aside they could achieve so much . Gloria and Eve were at different sides of the room , (It was pretty obvious by now that getting them to put they’re differences aside was a lost cause .) the older girl was doodling on a notepad, Jubilee occasionally looked over at what she was drawing and giggled . Eve on the other hand , was absentmindedly tapping out a beat with her pencil on the old wooden desk . Paige and Monet seemed to be the only ones taking notes . Apathy would be an understatement .

"Sean - "

Was he getting a response ? He looked around for the owner of the voice.

"Gloria?"

"Sean, uh Mister Cassidy, I think a tree just fell down on the other side of the building."

"Um, and how would you be knowin’ that?"

Gloria frowned. She didn’t know. She just-felt it fall. Like a book had fallen from the shelf behind her. She wondered why no-one else had noticed, it had made a quite loud thump. She looked around, everyone was staring at her, they looked like they didn’t have a clue. She took a glance at Monet who looked as confused as the rest of them.

"Um . .I just . .Felt . . .something fall behind me. It made this soft, like squelchy noise and than . . .just this tree . . .Like, popped into my head . . ."

She looked around the classroom. They were still staring at her. She pushed a strand of hair back nervously from her face. And did anybody notice how hot it was in here? She didn’t like people staring at her. Why did I say that? Gloria, if in doubt keep your fool mouth shut. Better to be thought a fool in silence than to open your mouth and remove all doubt, right? Why are they staring at me? Why didn’t anyone hear it? Oh, God I hope this isn’t some Shining thing.

Everett jumped out off his chair, Gloria looked around her, the room shook. Monet glanced at the ceiling momentarily and then jumped up and yanked Paige off her seat with her.

"Monet?!!!"

"Trust me Guthrie."

Jubilee looked around the room and then hopped off her chair and joined Everett in the corner of the classroom. There was a loud THUD. Jubilee yelped.

One of the alarms went off.

"Ummm . . . .Did what just happen really happen?"

Sean opened the window and looked outside. Yup, there was a tree in the side if the school all right. He groaned wondering how they would ever pay for reparations .

" Lass did you do this ?"

She looked as confused as he was .

"That’s not my power, no where even near . I’m just a teleporter , nothing else. Uh Mr c?"

" Yes lass ? Oh wait … Class dismissed ."

Lunch and subsequently dinner went without incident, and better still without learning . The storm had not abated, and an occasional growl of thunder shook the school . It was the perfect atmosphere for ….

"Truth or dare ?! What are we, twelve ?! C’mon Eve, act your age !"

Her sisters comments stung like a paper cut , but her resolve was not shaken .

" C’mon it’ll be fun . A great way to break the ice . Eh ?"

She looked around her at the gathered kids of generation X ( Minus chamber .) with disgust . They didn’t even know the definition of the word ‘fun’. She was regretting coming here .

"Y’know it’s not just a bad idea , I’ll start if you want . "

Paige was as ever eager to please .

" I’ll do a …. Truth ."

Gloria immediately started . " Have you ever got drunk and done something you regretted ?" It was a pretty general inquiry, one that earned the applause of a few of the colder blooded Gen-X’ers . But it was also one that struck a chord with Paige .

" Can I change to a dare ?"

" No ! No chickening out allowed ." Paige looked at her desperately . " Oh if you’re gonna be a chicken about it I’ll do the dare ." Ever the story teller, she leaned in speaking in hushed tones .

" Wedding reception . Two years ago . A fairly catholic affair . Champagne all round , even the minors, and that meant me getting plastered ."

"Get to the point ! What did you do already ?"

" Christ ! I’m just trying to set the scene ! All right, so we were all very drunk, and I spied the old monsignor, whatever his name was, having himself a wee smoke in the corner . And I got an idea ."

They crowded in, eager to hear the juicy details .

" So when the old man went to the toilets , I sneaked over when nobody was looking, and *ahem* refilled his pipe, if you know what I mean . And the bad thing was that even the rich, fulfilling scent of marrowana smoke couldn’t make a wedding reception less boring !"

No one seemed to notice that that was not an embarrassing or regretful event, but, thought Gloria that was the beauty of the story . Man that had got her out of some uncomfortable ‘truth or dare’ situations .

" Man that was a great story !" Everett choked out between laughs . Gloria just gave a faint smile and took another sip of beer . Paige was looking at her distastefully, while Angelo gave her a look of new-found respect .

" Who’s next ?"

" I’ll go . Dare ." Eve was determined to prove that anything her freaky sister could do, she could do better .

" All right, let’s see how you deal with this one chica . I dare you tooooooo …." He trailed off .

"To what ?"

" Toooo …….. "

"TO SING ‘MY HEART WILL GO ON !"

Everyone looked at Paige, who was showing her rarely seen dark-side . Eve started . She was too proud to chicken out of a dare . She croaked her way through the first verse , and ended in the chorus , when she realised that she didn’t know any of the words . She sat back down, her face red as a rotten tomato . She felt tears sting her eyes . How come her sister always managed to keep her cool in these situations ? She bit her bottom lip . Like she would let them see her cry .

"’Scuse me …"

She ran out of the rec.-room and made her way up to her room .

" What the hell was that about ?"

" Dunno . She’s kinda prone to getting emotional ." Her sister answered lightly, not realising exactly how deep her sister could be . " So who wants to go next ?"

Gloria looked around the darkened rec.-room, no-one looked keen, in the least.

"Fine, if the rest of you are gonna be boring then don’t let it be said that Jubilation Lee does also bore!"

"Truth or Dare?

"Hmmm . . . .Dare."

The six young mutants still in the room knitted their eyebrows in deep thought . This was Jubilee here, it would have to be something really good …

Chamber was somewhere between sleep and consciousness when he heard the sobs coming from outside the basement door .

{ O’ is it ?} He mumbled, hoping that no-one could hear him . He had momentarily forgotten that his words went straight into the mind of whoever was on the receiving end of the message.

" It’s Eve ."

He groaned . He couldn’t stand that girl since the first day she got here . She was too loud and brash for his tastes .

{What ‘re ya want, luv ?}

" Can I talk to you ?"

He groaned, restraining himself from telepathically screaming ‘NO !’at the girl .

{If yer want .}

She walked in through the door, momentarily stopping to admire the black painted walls . She sat down rudely beside Jonothon, and launched into a blubbering recount of the past few days .

" You don’t know what it’s like being related to her ! She’s always the smart one, and I’m just the pretty, dumb sister . Everyone just, like, assumes, that I’m stupid ‘cause she’s the smart one ! And, y’know, it wouldn’t be too much to ask her for just one compliment, instead, it’s just, are you really gonna wear that ? And other similar put downs !" She started crying loudly . Jonothon might have been interested, except for the fact that the girl had been talking non stop for five minutes, and it was getting a little bit tedious . He handed her a tissue from his coat pocket, which she accepted . The uncomfortable silence was interrupted by a loud bang from outside the door .

"Jubilee, be quiet ." He heard someone whisper from behind the door . It promptly burst open, and Jubilee came running in, but stopped in her tracks upon seeing the two teenagers .

" Dammit ! Now I can’t do the dare !" She shrugged and headed out the door .

{What was that about?}

"I don’t know, they were playing truth or dare."

{Ya feel up t’ joining in?}

"Yea, whatever."

"Sorry guys, I couldn’t do the dare Jono had . . ." She grinned at Paige "Company."

Gloria got up from the comfortable Victorian Armchair.

"Fine then, you chicken out, I get to make a dare for you."

"Sure fine. Fire Away."

Gloria put her finger to her lip and appeared to be in deep thought. Jubilee looked around nervously.

"OK, how about . . .Naw, too easy."

Jubilee went pink.

"Ohh, I’ve got it you can . . ."

{We’re not interrupting anything are we?}

Jonothon walked into the room, shattering Gloria’s train of thought. Jubilee gave a relived sigh and flumped into Gloria’s armchair. Paige eyed him suspiciously, Eve’s absence was noted.

{Eve didn’t feel up to joining you. She’s in her room}

Gloria took another sip of her beer. What was Eve’s problem, she never dwelled on anything longer than dinner-time, Gloria was the grudge carrying one. No-one looked bothered that Eve hadn’t returned to their game.

"Play our game Jono?"

{Whatever.}

Gloria grinned evilly.

"That’s what I like to hear."

"Okay, Let’s see it should be, lemme see, Paige’s turn now."

She turned around to take a good look at the girl, she didn’t look like she had too many skeletons in her closet. Please say dare. Please say dare.

"Dare ."

Yessssssss!

" All-right, hayseed . I dare you to . . . ."

"All-right kids, break it up!"

"Mr. CASSIDY!!"

Gloria looked around and to her horror Sean was standing in the doorway, How the hell did he know what they were doing here?

"We’re not doing anything Mr. Cassidy!"

Jubilee batted her eyelids innocently, but Cassidy didn’t look like he was falling for it. Geez that Man has a serious father complex. He’s even picked up that inane gift of knowing exactly where, who and what is going on. Ugh, spooky.

"Ah swear Mr. Cassidy nothing’s going on here. Right Gloria?"

Paige nodded desperately in her direction.

"I know what you wee hellions were up to, Emma’s not a telepath just to know what’s for dinner." He smiled at his little joke .

"Pardon?" Paige looked at him as if he was growing horns.

" We don’t approve of under-age drinking in this school ." He grabbed the crate of beer that was in the corner and stormed out . Gloria glared at his back, cursing him for relieving her of her beer .

" All right, hayseed, I got it now . I dare you to go out there and tickle Mr C ."

Paige looked at her desperately , looking for some element of compassion in those cold blue eyes , but to no avail . Paige grumbled and stalked out of the door . Gloria, happy with her work, kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet neatly under herself .

" I’m feeling generous ." She stated , " Truth."

At that moment Eve cane into the room, complete with freshly applied make-up .

" Did I hear you say ‘truth’ o sister of mine?"

Gloria gave her a suspicious look .

" Yeah ." She answered curtly .

" Perfect ." Eve sat down exactly opposite her sister and leaned in . The others crowded round, anticipating some sort of juicy secret .

" Have you ever had feelings for another girl ?"

Gloria choked on her breath .

" WHAT ?"

" You heard, sis."

There was silence for awhile, while Gloria debated whether or not to answer the question .

" You asked for it, you got it ." She answered. Then took a deep breath .

" Yes ."

Jubilee gasped, Monet’s eyes went wide. Eve leaned back looking pleased with herself .

" So your a… your a …"

" Yeah, so I’m bi-sexual . Welcome to the 90’s, kids ."

Jonothon , gave a psionic sigh of relief, knowing that he was still in with a chance . Gloria breathed out.

" Christ, it feels good to get that off my chest ."

Banshee suddenly burst into the room, red faced with rage, holding a terrified looking Paige under his arm . He stopped in his tracks, sensing that something was out of whack . His paternal side was kicking in .

" What’s going on, kids ?"

Eve opened her mouth to say exactly what had just happened, but Angelo clamped a grey-skinned hand over her mouth .

" Everything’s fine Senior Cassidy ."

The teacher walked out, seemingly forgetting about Paige’s attempt to tickle him .

" What’d I miss, guys ? Guy ?"

Everyone was already heading off to their respective rooms .

" I’ll tell ya later hayseed ." Jubilee answered ." Ya wanna switch rooms ?"

"Don’t flatter yourself Jubilation Lee, I don’t fancy you all right? You had no problems getting changed in front of me last night. Whatssamatter? Afraid?!"

"Sorry, it’s just um . . .a shock . ."

"Geez, you’d think I was Charles Manson’s lovechild. For you who claim to be so P.C. you all seem to be avoiding me."

"Sorry, but like I said it’s a shock. Not that I have anything against Gays . ."

"I’m Bi-Sexual all-right. And don’t worry, you’re all not as pretty as you think."

Gloria sat down at the edge of her bed. All the guys seemed okay with it, what was Jubilee’s problem. She didn’t like kids anyway. It’s like I’m some kind of pervert.

At least it felt good to ‘come out’ as it were. She didn’t feel as if she was hiding anything. A massive truck off her shoulders if you will. She looked around her room. Some changes would have to be made if she were to stay here, Jonothon had his room painted black, maybe he could help her with a little interior decorating, once she got Jubilee out of the way of course.

"Sow, what do you . .y’know do? Your powers?"

Nice ice breaker there J.

"Ummm . . . I can teleport through electricity fields, for example, I could . . .ummm . .teleport down phonelines to the other end or anywhere it’s connected to . . .It’s painful though. What do you do?"

"I shoot fireworks out of my hands."

"Cool."

"You have pain teleporting? You should ask Ms. Frost. Skin gets pain when he uses his powers too. I used to, until I joined the X-men."

"You were in the X-Men?! Cool!"

"You didn’t know? Where have you been?"

Jubilee smiled, finally someone who would listen to her ‘When I was an X-man’ fables.

"Well, let me tell you a story . ."

Gloria half listened as she pulled on the schools uniform . Check skirt, white blouse, tie. Not too bad as uniforms go . She added a multitude of black bracelets and necklaces, a pair of ripped tights, a black cardigan, and her favourite boots . She was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, she would enjoy it here . She looked in the mirror . The skirt practically came down to her knees . She ignored this, and began to apply her eyeliner . Jubilee watched her do this with absolute fascination ( Still keeping up with her X-men fables .) she looked at the clock .

" Damn, we better get down to breakfast ."

They bumped into Paige in the hall . Husk blushed and moved to the other side before running back to hr room .

" This is really gonna start pissing me off ." She said underneath her breath .

The boys were all in the kitchen, and greeted the two girls without any hint of the phobia that the girls had been showing them .

" Hey nice tights, chica . Very Courtney Love ."

" I’ll chose to ignore that ."

"What the hell’s up with you ?"

" You know what’s freakin’ up with me, grey . I’m being treated like a leper , that’s my fuckin’ problem ."