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    The car ride to the campus was unbearable. There was nothing but awkward silence the whole drive. Mary’s parents didn't say a single word, leaving her to squirm in the backseat as they stared ahead at the road. She knew there were a million thoughts racing through their minds, but their minds were silent. Everything they thought had already been said aloud, during the many shouting matches they have had over the past couple of months, both with her, and each other when they thought she wasn't listening.
    She shared many of their thoughts as well. Will this new school help her? If not, what were they going to do? The brochure said that the school was specially designed with students like her in mind, she desperately hoped so.
    The cause for all of the fighting in her family suddenly reared its head, literally. Sam could see the impression of a tiny little face push against her distended stomach. She giggled softly, her child’s kicking always tickled. One of the few upsides of being pregnant at sixteen, the physical sensations of it can be great, at times. Now, if that didn't come with psychological ruin and financial chaos, that would be great.
    “Well,” she thought while rubbing the spot of movement through her shirt, “At least this place should be better, there won't be any more harassment.”
    “We’re here.” her father said, trying to sound excited and failing. The car was pulled up to a massive wrought iron gate. Metal bent and twisted every which way, forming elaborate patterns, as well as showing off the money this school could throw around. A brick wall stretched out from either side of the barrier as far as Mary could see. She strained to see if there was an end, but her burgeoning stomach pressed against the back of her mothers seat, stopping her in her tracks. A speaker next to the gate burst to life.
    “May I help you?” the voice on the other side. Mary’s father rolled down the window of the car, and peeked his head out.
    “We are the Yaral’s. We are here with our daughter, Mary?”
    The sound of rustling papers could be heard over the line, along with some incoherent mumbling.
    “Ahh!”, the voice exclaimed after a minute, “Here you are. Come on in, we have been expecting you, and we can't wait to meet her.” The gate began to swing open, and Mary’s father pulled through into the campus. The members of the vehicle looked out in awe. The school looked liked it had been a mansion in its earlier days. The facility soared into the sky, massive, victorian style points all over its many roofs, as the architect was jealous of the clouds and tried to rip them from their home. Ornate Masonry, gargoyles, and a stained glass window or two dotted the building as well. In front of the campus, a sprawling front yard lay to either side of a very long gravel driveway. Mary could see a hedge maze, hedge animals, and what looked a couple of greenhouses further away from the main campus. She could also see the dense forest behind the former mansion, with foliage so thick, she would have thought the entire thing all belonged to one being if she didn't know better.
    Mary sunk into her seat, with the brick wall, the gigantic grounds, and the forest, Mary was feeling more and more like a prisoner than a transfer student.
    "It looks like the students enjoy themselves." Her mother said, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. Mary turned to where she pointed and she could see several kids on the lawn. Some were walking the grounds, others seemed to be talking, and they all seemed happy. Mary could also see why her mother was a bit nervous. Every student out there was like her. A foot nudged her ribs, as if the unborn child sensed others nearby.
"Don't worry," she whispered to her belly, "mommy is going to meet a lot of kids just like her."
"What was that?" Her father inquired.
"Nothing."
"Oh. Okay."

The gravel drive ended in a roundabout to the front of the mansion, with a fountain in the center.
Mary's father pulled up to the front of the building and let the the car idle. Mary unbuckled and squirmed her way to the edge of the car. her father offered a hand outside the vehicle, but she pushed it away, preferring to stand of her own accord. It took longer than she would liked to have admitted, but she eventually stood, and the Yaral's turned to face the front to the new school.
    They barely moved before a man came bursting through the front door and walked right up to family. A smile spread across his face, and and he extended his hand.
    "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Yaral. I am the Vice Headmaster, but you can call me Scott. It's a pleasure to have you come. I hope the drive went well?" He went to adjust his tie, and combed his fingers through his his mess of short, maple colored hair. Not much could be done to tame it though. Mary had a feeling he had just managed to squeeze into that suit, and didn't have enough time to check himself before coming out to meet her and her family.
    Mary's parents gave each other a look, and her father cautiously offered his hand. They were a bit off put by this man's cheery attitude. This was a very serious situation. At least it was to them.
    "The drive was fine, thank you. Although you guys are quite a ways out here, aren't you? And it's Joe, By the way."
    Scott chuckled. "Yes, we find its helps keep the students focused more on their schoolwork, as well as building relationships with the other scholars. Here, our children aren't subjected to the...pressures of the outside world."
    He was trying to make it sound nice, but Mary knew what he meant. She suffered through the abuse the bullies threw her way for what seemed like forever. She had no doubt every student enrolled here probably had to deal with the same things at wherever they went before, and judging by some of the students she saw on the lawn, Mary was willing to bet that she got off easy compared to some others.
    Her Mother put her hand forward, and Scott shook her hand. "Katherine" she said.
    "Its great to meet you Joe and Katherine, and you must be Mary!" Scott turned towards her and offered his hand, a grin spread ear to ear plastered on his face.
    Mary looked at the appendage like it was shooting lasers out of its fingertips. She didn't quite know what to think of this man standing before her. On one hand, she could tell that Scott was a born leader. He just gave a off an aura that he should be in charge. On the other hand, Mary could tell something was off about him. His smile, while dazzling, did not appear to be genuine. At first she thought that it was because he was hiding something, but after a second, she realized that was not the case. Mary had seen those before, the flash of teeth to show that you're trying to be nice, but in reality either hate them, or want something from them. That was high school to her.
    The closest she could have compared Scott's show of kindness was when a friend of her father's son came back from serving in Afghanistan. Mary was only a child at the time, but she remembered the event very clearly. Streamers were hung, balloons inflated,cakes were made, and everyone was talking and enjoying themselves quite nicely, except for the son, Lance. Now Mary was content to play with the dolls she brought and let the grown ups have their party, if it could even be called a party without presents and pin the tail on the donkey, (Savages), but she soon realized that out of all the adults walking by, she hadn't seen Lance. This was his party and he was missing it, and if he missed it, they couldn't cut the cake, and that simply would not do.
    So Mary went and looked EVERYWHERE! Under the couch, in the fridge, in the bathroom, in the fridge, the dog house out back, in the fridge, under the couch cushions, everywhere in existence! it wasn't until she walked upstairs, that she found him in his bedroom. Who would have thought to look there?
    Lance sat at the edge of his bed, and stared at nothing in particular. Mary looked at where he was staring, and only saw the floor, and simply could not figure out what make that specific spot of carpet so interesting. So she decided to ask.
    "what'cha doin?" she asked. Lance jumped, as if he hadn't seen her, but she was right there in front of him.
    "Oh, nothing" He said, a sigh escaping his lips.
    "Do you wanna have cake?
    "No thank you." No cake? Who ever heard of not wanting cake? He must be really sad if he doesn't want cake. Mary decided that the only way to cure his sadness was a hug, and she squirmed her way onto his lap and wrapped her arms as far as they would go around his waist. The man didn't even flinch. This was serious.
    "Are you okay?" Mary asked. Lance looked down at the little girl trying desperately to cheer him up, and he smiled at her.
    "yeah, I am fine, everything is okay." Mary looked up at that smile, and somehow knew he was lying. She didn't know why, though. It wasn't until years later that she understood the reason. it was because that smiled hid a lot of pain. It was the smile of someone who had seen too much, had seen horrors no human should ever see, and lived through it, while others had not. It was a mask, and it was the same mask Scott was wearing now.
    Mary took hold of the hand and, with all these thoughts running in her head, only managed to eek out a small "Hi."
    The internal struggle was lost on the man, and he simply carried on. "My, you certainly far along, aren't you? How many more days until the date, or am I going to have to call an ambulance in a minute?" He chuckled at his humor. Mary, for her part, only proceeded to blush further, her cause for transfer now the center of attention, and it only gets worse.
    "I'm seven months today." She squeaked. Scott's face fell, realizing his mistake.
    "I apologize, I should known."
    "No no no!" Mary hastily said. "It's okay. I get that a lot. I am huge for seven months, and I am still growing. You couldn't have known." In a desperate attempt to change the subject, she added, "I like your glasses."
    Scott adjusted the eyewear on his face and and smirked.
    "Thank you, they certainly help me out. I don't know how I could go through the day if I lost them. But enough small talk, you guys came for a tour of the grounds before you dropped her off?"
    "Yes," Katherine chimed, "just to reassure us our daughter's education is in good hands, and that the school is truly catering to our child's 'condition'. Is that too much trouble?"
    "Not at all," Scott said, "You aren't the first parents who had reservations last minute, and you certainly won't be the last. We will do anything to help show that our students are brought up in a safe, enriching environment where they won't be judged by what they are and what they have done previously. Shall we start?"

    The tour was simultaneously exhilarating, exhausting, and embarrassing all at once. Throughout the halls, Mary and her parents walked past several students, many were friendly and said hi to them. Mary smiled and waved back. Joe and Katherine, though, were less receptive Their shoulders were hunched, the huddled together, and acted as if they were in a bad neighborhood, and any interaction with the residents would trigger an assault. Mary could understand their reservation, even if she didn't agree with it. The amount of late nights and tears spent on being the parents of a teen like Mary were full of stress. Suddenly, they are surrounded by further examples of these kids who had a certain..stigma about who they were, and its easy to see how they could be nervous.
    Mary was astounded at some of the facilities of the school, and at each stop the vice headmaster provided tidbits of info and the credentials of the department. It was a dream come true, and if she wasn't coming here under her current circumstances, she would be be squealing with excitement and bouncing up and down, but be that as it may, she can't even jump with her belly without exhausting her reserves, and she really needed those right now, because the tour was also exhausting. The group was forced to a slow walk to keep up with Mary's frantic attempts at waddling fast. There were also frequent breaks, as her stamina wasn't the best these days.
    "Our last stop on our little walk leads to the student dorms," Scott said, "Your room is rather close by, would you like to see?"
    "Yes..Please.." Mary said, struggling to the top of the longest staircase ever invented ever, "Then can...we rest?"
    "Of course." Scott replied.
    The room in question was a lot nicer than Mary thought it would be. It certainly wasn't a palace, but there was space to move freely, and by what she saw from the other dorms, more room than others. It appeared she received a room on the corner of the building, as she could see their car through the windows, as well as the greenhouses off the side of the building. A four post Queen Bed was against the wall to her left along with a nightstand, and a desk sat near the wall opposite the doorway, in between the windows. Two doors were on her right, and she correctly assumed they were the closet and bathroom respectively. Mary would notice this all later, as right then she was too exhausted for any form of higher thinking, and waddled over to the bed, flung apart the bed curtains, and fell on to the mattress, out of breath.
    "I hope you like it." Scott said. A tired thumbs up from Mary was his answer.
    "I am sorry we put you on the top floor, but we have a very full student body this year, and this was the best room we had available, And we thought you would enjoy having your own bathroom a little more. It also has other advantages, like being right above the cafeteria."
    "It's also close to the history classrooms," a new voice said. "A course I hope you will have with me."
    Mary's eyes lit up, and her face turned to a fountain of joy.
    "Ms. Munroe!" she exclaimed. All tiredness left her in an instant, and Mary sprang from the bed, and waddled so fast towards the teacher, one would have thought she was walking. Her belly beat her to it, but Mary went and (tried to) wrap her arms around the woman in a tight hug.
    "Careful Mary!" She said, chuckling and wrapping her arms around the teen mom, "you almost bowled me over with that womb."
    Mary giggled. "I will try not to. This place is amazing!"
    "We try our best. Nothing is too good for our students." Ms. Munroe said, brushing Mary's hair as they embraced.
    Mary loved Ms. Munroe. First and foremost because she was exactly like Mary. She went through everything she is going through right now, and not only survived, but thrived. In fact, Ms. Munroe had her personal hell when she was even younger than Mary, at only 13 years old! A lot of the teachers at this school were like that. She gave Mary hope that she could pull through this, and that things can still work out for her.
    Ms. Munroe was also the one who first came to their house to tell them about his school, and how it catered to kids in Mary's position. She sat down, talked with her parents, and just seemed to get them all. She listened when Her father raged and worked out his stress and worry for his little girl, she comforted her mother as she cried, and she knew not to treat her as this girl who screwed up, and that it wasn't her fault.
            Mr. and Mrs. Yaral smiled behind their daughters back. It warmed their hearts to see her happy and smiling again. Ever since this nightmare started in that locker room, the only emotions they saw from their daughter was depression, followed by lots of tears and crying, and as her belly got bigger and bigger, Mary slowly retreated further and further, to the point where she would only come out of her room one every couple of days, and she would speak even less than that. So when Ms. Munroe came and not only made their once sweet angel come out their room and talk, but laugh, they knew they should listen to what she had to say.
    It also helped that she was drop dead gorgeous. There were women who were worshipped as goddesses who were uglier than Ms. Munroe. With flawless chocolate skin, piercing blue eyes, and hair that went to her waist, Ms. Munroe turned heads. A lot of the teachers at this school were like that too.
    Mary let go of her teacher and smiled like an idiot. "You can count on me being in your class, I love history."
    Ms. Munroe chuckled. "I look forward to it then. I must go, but I will see you tomorrow. Take care."
    She turned went down the hall, but looked back and smiled at the expectant teen before turning a corner and was gone. She had the same smile as Scott.

    Mary and company had traveled back to the foyer. Suitcases and luggage lay all around her. Her whole life was in these containers. It's funny how an entire life can fit in so little. Her parents had set the last bag down, and walked towards her. Joe stopped a few feet short of her and Scott.
    "Is there something wrong?" asked Scott.
    Joe let off a huge sigh, as if the went of the world were upon his shoulders.
    "It's just a lot to take in, that's all. I mean, Jesus I am still not sure about sending our daughter to a school filled with...with,"
    Before he could finish his sentence, Scott's eyebrows wrinkled the tiniest amount. It was the smallest gesture, but it spoke volumes. It had the same effect as if he had screamed a command at the top of his lungs, and that command was not to finish that sentence.
     "with her all by herself, so far away from her family." He finished. Smooth.
    He hid it very well, but Mary could tell her father had hit a nerve with the vice headmaster, and was amazed that such a tiny notion caused her father to back off. Joe Yaral wasn't a pushover. She looked at the man in the glasses again. That aura of leadership began to show a little more prominently. This was a man who was used to people listening to his commands.
    "Joe, I can assure you. your daughter will have the best care, and be around people who understand her." He said.
    "Yes, yes of course." Joe said, head bowed.
    Katherine walked up to her daughter, tears in her eyes. She bent over to get face to face with her.
    "Now baby," she started, but choked up a bit before she could continue, "I know what it may seem like. That we're shipping you away. That we are....getting rid of you. But this. Is. A good. Thing. This is a fantastic school, with fantastic people who will take care of you." She put her hand on her cheek.
    "Now you be good, get good grades, don't get in trouble, and take lots of pictures. I wanna see every moment of your adventures here." Her mother said. Mary put her hand on Katherines.
    "I will mom."
    "I love you baby"
             "I love you too"
    Mrs.Yaral backed away, letting her husband take his turn with the farewells. He meandered his way up to his fecund little angel, desperately holding back his tears to appear strong.
    "Don't break too many hearts while you're here. It will be impossible to learn if every boy is smitten with you."
    Mary laughed, causing her belly to Jiggle, and awakening the little one inside her.
    "Oof. Okay dad, I will try my hardest to not be so adorable. It's gonna be tough."
    "I bet. If any of them give you trouble, get call me, and I will be over here before you hang up, ready to whoop some teen butt.
    "Daaad" Mary said, feigning embarrassment.
    "Alright, we're going, we're going. Goodbye my little babydoll. I love you."
    "Bye Dad. I love you too."
    Joe and Katherine turned and proceeded to walk out the front door. Mary could see her mother sobbing uncontrollably through the front windows, and her father comforting her all the way to their car. She watched them get in and drive off until they passed through the gate, and she could no longer see them. It was only then that hit finally hit her, and soon she burst forth with tears, and dissolved into a fit of crying. It wasn't pretty.
    "Oh crap," Scott said. He quickly looked around, and as luck would have it, the man he was looking for just happened to enter the foyer.
    "Kurt, could you take Mary's bags up to her room? She is in the corner room, west wing, top floor."
    "Ja" was the man's reply, and Scott turned towards the unconsolable teenage mother as he grabbed two bags with his hands, a third with his tale, and poofed away, leaving only a puff of smoke, the smell of brimstone, and a small BAMF! noise.
    "I know it hurts, believe me, but think of it this way. The Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning is one of the few places on this marvelous Earth where being a mutant is a good thing, And you being here is a good thing."