The mathematics teacher nods as he comes into the room, he'd expected Josette to be the first one to arrive. Opening his briefcase, he pulls out the teaching copies of the books and looks up as one of the office runners, an older student working in the office, arrives with the syllabuses and other material he'd had copied for the first day of classes.

"Josette, be a dear and put a set at each seat?" he asks. "We have a full class this period." he turns to the whiteboard and begins writing things out as Josette grabs half the first set of papers and starts putting them out, starting at the back for one set and the front for the other, sitting back down and 'reading' both sets of material. The other new students come straggling in, most of them clutching their copy of the school map in one hand and their schedules in the other. The books in front of Josette, and the words written on the whiteboard reassure them they're in the right place and the seats quickly fill. When the last person straggles in, Professor Eppes shuts the door and stands in front of his desk.

"Good morning students, my name is Professor Charles Eppes, I usually teach at Calsci, the California Institute of Science, in Los Angeles, but I'm taking a couple years off to write a textbook. when I was asked to cover this class for a friend, I jumped at the chance to warp students into loving math." Some of the students chuckle. "I'm afraid though that your usual math teacher will be returning next fall so I've only got one year to warp you to the dark side."

"come to the dark side, we have chocolate." one of the students snickers from the back of the room.

"mmmm chocolate." Somebody else says in a good Homer Simpson impression. Charlie chuckles and starts talking about algebra. The first class passes quickly and before the end he has given a short quiz to see where each student is and dismisses the class after they're handed up.

Josette checks her schedule and heads for the first floor for her language class. Students had the option to decide which foreign language they wanted but they had to take one their first year. If they chose to continue the course after their first year was their choice but they had to sign up for either Spanish, French, or Italian. Josette already knew Japanese, anybody who expected an oriental from her last name would be confused when they saw the obviously not Josette, but it wasn't offered. Spanish would have been offered at her old school her next year but the earthquake had happened and she'd chosen French instead. At least this year, she thought she'd sign up for Italian next year.

Her next class seems to last forever, and she's not the only student making a break for it when they're dismissed. Heading for the dining hall she settles at her usual table after filling her tray. The girls settle across from her, by the glazed looks on their faces they could have only had one teacher.

"Government?" She asks just to make sure.

"Yeah, who is Professor Zeigler?"

"Used to work with President Bartlett in the white house. Knows his stuff, but he crams a lot of information in his classes." Josette says. "That's why you have three books and handouts." The girls shudder and begin to eat. "Food is good, a lot better than normal school food."

"The principal hired away the entire kitchen crew from a restaurant that was going under. They have full reign on the kitchen and menu choices, the local government board for school meals tried to come in and cause trouble but all our meals meet their standards. . .as lax as they are, so they went away empty handed."

"Josette, Kennedy's father will be arriving at one with Dr. Samson." Druid says, coming over to the table. "They're going to look in on her through the door and then go to her room. They should be done in the dorm by one thirty at the latest, then going to see Kennedy."

"I'll be waiting for them." Josette says, looking at the clock. She's got another half hour before she has to head back to the dorm, time enough for a second and third trip to the buffet line. The lunch crew usually has a couple different selections for meals so unless it was something she absolutely loved and wanted seconds of, she filled her tray with a different main course every trip.

It's about five after one when the tap on the door brings her up from her desk and over to the door. Opening it she smiles as she's pulled into the arms of Dr. Leonard Samson. "How are you doing, Josette?"

"Taking it one day at a time Doc, just like you told me." Josette says, grabbing the clipboard and master key from by the door as she nods at Kennedy's father. "Mr. Buchanan."

"Sorry to meet you again under these circumstances." He says, shaking her hand. They walk to Kennedy's room, her father shaking his head at the box of cosmetics and other 'stuff' that the girls had taken from the bathroom and then the suitcase full of more 'stuff'. Josette taps on the bathroom door and asks if the other student is in there, then unlocks the door and shows Doc Samson, the school's psychologist and Kennedy's father the large dent in the door.

"Why would she have hit a door?" the school psychologist sneers.

"Because that's where the other girl's head was dumbass," Josette snorts. "If she didn't have a mutation that allowed her to get out of the way, Kennedy would have killed her." A tap on the door across the room shuts him up and Druid comes in with Becka, the girl who lives in the other room. The door shuts behind them and the school psychologist whimpers when he sees that Josette was telling the truth about where Kennedy had struck the door.

"Miss Jamieson, please allow me to apologize for my daughter's actions. She is a spoiled selfish little brat thanks to her mother giving her whatever she wanted. She was supposed," he turns to the school psychologist, scowling. "to be receiving counseling to deal with her attitude problem, why wasn't she?"

The psychologist makes gobbling noises. "My. my sessions with her. . ." his voice trails off as everybody gives him disgusted looks at two of the school's maintenance come in behind them and start removing the door, taking it outside to place on sawhorses where a boy is waiting. He places his hand on the dent, slowly smoothing it out with his powers until the dent vanishes. The men return it to the bathroom, this time on the other side so Becka doesn't have to look at it.

"How many clothes does one girl need?" Kennedy's father scowls as he looks at the full drawers, stuffed closet, and full suitcases. "Well, first things first, everything that's not unpacked yet gets taken out of here. If my daughter returns, she'll have do deal with only having seven or eight changes of clothes. Professor Druid, does your dorm have some sort of storage area that's secure?"

"Yes sir."

"Then once we check these suitcases to make sure there's just clothes in them, you can put them in there for the time being. Then we'll start going through the closet and dresser, leaving her with just a few changes of clothes. If my daughter does return to the school, and with her problems that's going to be a major 'if', she's going to learn that my money isn't going to be around anymore."

"Mr. Buchanan, do you mind if one of the women from the office comes to take my place? I have classes in about fifteen minutes. And you girls should be heading off too." she looks at the clock. "Josette, Becka, what classes do you have?"

"I have your science class, Professor Druid."

"Then you can walk to class with me." Druid pats her on the shoulder. "Josette?"

"English with Professor Fletcher." A tap on the door heralds the arrival of Joyce with Principal Madison standing behind her. A handful of envelopes are in her hand and she grins as she hands Josette one and then looks at Becka. "Becka Jamieson?"

"Yes?"

"Your weekly allowance from your scholarship loan." she hands her an envelope with her name on it. "I'll put these others in their mailbox slots and then take over for you, Katrina."

Josette heads to her room, pulling her book bag from the table and shoving the envelope in a zippered pocket inside the bag before heading back down the hall. If she hurries, she can check the board for the shuttle into town before she gets to class. Josette signs up for a spot, she grins when she sees Susan's name already wrote down, and hurries to class. She's still five minutes early and settles in a corner seat, the other students coming in and taking seats around her. Susan looks at her and she nods, taking the seat at the two person table next to her while the twins settle at the table in front of them.

"Hello everyone, this is English One. I'm your teacher, Jessica Fletcher. Before anybody asks, yes I am the author JB Fletcher." She smiles as she hands out papers at the front of each row of tables. "I'm handing out your course syllabus for the year, when you look it over you'll see its broken into individual semesters. I'm also handing out a list of topics, the rows that you're seated in are going to be your workmates for a project due at the end of the semester, you can arrange your tables into groups and go over the list of topics to decide which one you want to work on."

"How are we going to do this?" Anna asks, looking first at the boys in front of them and then at the girls behind her.

"Anna, Abby, turn your table sideways with your chairs on the outside. Alan," she recognizes the twins brother, "turn yours so it's next to the girls, the boys in front, turn yours around and push it up next to the others." A few minutes later has the tables turned into a rectangle and papers handed around.

"Anybody have a preference on topics?" Susan asks. "Why don't we introduce ourselves to the others? I'm Susan James, I'm fourteen and I'm a precog."

"I'm Josette Takahawa, I'm 13, and my gift is knowledge transference." The others except the twins look at her. "I can touch any book and instantly know anything in it. Because of this, the teachers are allowing me to take the full eight classes offered to students each semester. I have a computer and a photography class on Fridays."

"So we're going to have to work on the paper after school and on the weekends." One of the boys says. "Yes, but I can't make it today, I'm heading into town after class to get some food and other supplies. I'm also the girls dorm monitor with the twins."

"I'm signed up for the shuttle into town also." Susan says. Anna and Abby look at each other. "One of us should get some groceries, I didn't know the dorm monitor room had a kitchenette."

"There's only two people signed up so far, so there's room. I don't know if anybody else has a scholarship loan too, but if you do check your mail when you get out of class, Joyce was putting the allowance envelopes into the boxes when I was getting ready to head to class."

"Allowances?" Alan asks.

"Yeah, while classes are in session, students who have scholarship loans get twenty dollars a week for expenses. . .and of course you can put your purchases on your card if you have to. Boarding students get their money Monday, day students get their money Tuesdays."

"My name is Alan Covington, the twins are my younger sisters. I'll be turning seventeen in October." the others look at him. "I lost the cutoff date for starting school, and I think Josette won hers?"

"Yeah, and I skipped kindergarten since I was already reading and writing at a first grade level."

"Well, you're just a little bookworm, aren't you?" One of the other boys grins. Josette nods. "And my school didn't have the classes I needed to transfer schools straight from the eighth grade. The school sent me a list of what classes I needed and the books to study, I passed the test a year later."

"And we saw what we needed to do, so we studied with Alan and we all passed the test together." Anna says. "Oh sorry, I'm Anna Covington and this is my twin Abby, I'm a telepath and my sister's a telekinetic. We're fourteen."

"And I can open subspace pockets to put things into." Alan finishes.

"My name is David Sanders, I'm fourteen and I can create tesseracts. I'm one of the dorm monitors for the boys."

"We're Michael Addison and Alexander Jackson, we're the other dorm monitors. I can mold metal. . .Alexander has similar powers over wood. We're fourteen too."

"You're the one that worked on the door earlier, right?" Josette asks Alexander.

Alexander nods. "You did a good job, You'd have had to known the dent was there to see it. They were going to move the door to the other room so Becka didn't have to see it when I left."

"What happened?"

"Spoiled little biotch didn't like the idea of having to share a bathroom even though she knew she'd have to eventually. But then her daddy's rich so she thought she was better than everybody. When Professor Druid told her to clean her belongings out from around the sink so the other girl could use it too, she snapped and threw a punch. Since her mutation is strength, she nearly put her fist though the door. The other girl has a vanishing mutation, otherwise it would have been her head instead of the door. This isn't the first time she's attacked another student, hopefully she's not allowed to come back this time."

A cough from the front of the room has them turning their attention back to the list of topics, finally they settle on one and start assigning topics to research after classes. Once they've written out what the topic is and what each student would be doing, they hand it over to Professor Fletcher and after looking at the clock she assigns homework and sends everybody off. Josette drops her bookbag on the table, pulling the envelope with her allowance out of the bookbag and pulling her wallet from the locked drawer of the desk. A knock on the door has her looking up, opening it she finds Anna and Susan outside.

"A little nervous about catching the shuttle?" Josette grins as she pulls a light jacket on and leads the way to the administration building.

"A little, I read the rules for the shuttle, just get on and tell the driver where we want to go?"

"Yeah, if you're getting something besides groceries I'd hit the superstore, it's got a grocery section and everything else you'd find under one roof. We only have one hour weekdays, if you want to go a couple of places the weekend is the time to do it."

"The superstore is good, Abby and I have been making a list of what we wanted in the way of groceries when we realized we had a kitchen." Anna pulls out a list. "You? Susan?"

"I want some food, I can't get anything that won't fit in my dorm refrigerator or microwave but I can get some groceries. . .and caffeine."

Josette chuckles. "Yeah, I gotta get some food too, and a cheap tracfone from electronics. My case worker told me that I have to have a way for them to get hold of me. Leaving a message with the office isn't good enough for them."

Anna looks at her. "Maybe I'd better look at phones too then, our Mom is going to want to talk to us."

They get on the shuttle, the driver nodding when they tell him where they're going and get off ten minutes later, grabbing carts and heading first to electronics so Josette can get a phone and card for it, Josette grabbing a couple of dvds and throwing them in the cart before they head to the grocery section, filling their carts and checking out. The shuttle pulls up just as they walk out of the store, and the driver nods. "Thanks for being prompt girls," he gets out of the van and opens the back door, the girls pile their bags in and an employee takes their carts as they get in the van.

It's another ten minutes back to the school and Josette suggests taking everything to her dorm room to sort out. Between the four of them, Abby had been waiting for her sister to return, they get everything into Josette's dorm room and start looking into bags and deciding who it belongs to. The bag containing the phone, phone card, and dvds is put on Josette's desk while the cat food and kitty litter is put in the closet and they check the receipts when they can't figure out who brought what from the bags contents.

Soon everything is sorted out and Abby helps Susan carry her bags down the hall to her room while Anna carries her and Abby's bags to their room, putting the stuff that needs refrigeration away first. Abby opens the door and walks in, taking the bags of canned food from the table and starts filling cupboards before putting the bags away in each other. "Did the store have a place for these?" Abby asks her sister.

"Yeah, there was a box by the door as we walked in." Anna looks at the clock and drops into a seat at the table. "Wanna go eat in a half-hour?"

Abby looks at the clock too. . .and nods. "Yeah, that will give me time to get a couple more questions done in my government homework."

Anna moans but reaches for her own school bag. Meanwhile Josette grabs her laundry bag, hurrying across the campus to the laundry building past the boys dorm. As she'd thought, the building is empty except for the student covering the room and she starts sorting out her wash into two machines, sliding her card through the slot on the supplies machines before starting them running. An hour later she folds the last of her laundry and heads for the cafeteria, dropping her laundry bag on the floor by her usual chair and filling her tray with her first meal of the night.

"See, I told you we weren't the only ones eating late." Josette looks over as Anna and Abby come into the dining hall. She points to a her table and they nod. "We were working on homework and lost track of time." Anna says when they bring their trays to the table.

"I was doing laundry." Josette points down at the bag next to her. "Ahhh," they nod. After Josette finishes off her third meal of the night, they put their trays on the conveyor belt and grab snacks for later in the room off the main dining hall. Josette puts everything away before checking the clock and filling Samhein's food and water dishes and turns to her algebra homework at her desk. It's finished when a tap on the inside dorm room brings her head up.

"Josette, it's Dr. Samson and Druid."

She grins and tells them to come in.

"We missed you earlier." Leonard says, looking around.

"I had to go into town and get some groceries, when I got everything put away I ran and did laundry." Josette puts down her pencil.

"Homework?" Druid grins.

"Algebra," Josette pushes up her glasses and rubs the bridge of her nose, then looks at the clock. "What's up?"

"I wanted to let you know what the final decision was about Kennedy." Josette waves them to her table, turning her chair around so she can look at them. "A cell phone?" Druid asks, looking in the open bag.

"My caseworker demanded I get one so they can contact me, leaving a message with the school office isn't good enough it seems."

Druid says something uncomplimentary under her breath. Josette cackles. "Oh Dr. Samson, can I get the name of a good opthamalogist in Boston from you? I need an eye exam and new glasses, but the optician at the local superstore isn't comfortable treating me without a guardian, he wants me to see a specialist."

"And you need a medical reference?"

Josette nods. "Headaches?"

"Yeah."

"How old are your glasses?"

"Over three years, I had an eye exam and new prescription before the earthquake. And Massachusetts doesn't cover dental or optical."

Druid shakes her head, getting up and taking Josette's glasses off her face before she starts rubbing her neck, shoulders, and face.

"You were talking about Kennedy?"

"Yes, when we went to the secure room, we'd found she had ripped up her assignments for the days and scattered them around the room, then threw herself at the door when we opened the viewing window on the door, threatening all of us because we 'dared' to take somebody else's side in the matter. Don't we know she's Kennedy Buchanan? We're supposed to do whatever she wants because she's . . ."

"A spoiled little bitch who got everything she wanted because Mommy says she's 'special'." Josette says sarcastically. "When somebody tells her no or makes her do something she doesn't want to do, she attacks?"

"Indeed, she was quite irate when we made her pick up all the schoolwork she'd ripped up." Dr. Samson's lips twitch. "We will be conducting intensive counseling sessions for the next two weeks. If it doesn't look like she's making any progress her father has agreed to send her to a treatment facility for a more structured therapy."

"So what classes did you have today?" Druid asks.

"Algebra with Professor Eppes and then French before lunch. I've got you in the afternoon tomorrow after history and government."

"What classes are you taking as your electives?" Leonard asks.

"A computer class and a photography class." She grins. "Next semester I might pick something more intense, this time I wanted something a little more fun."

"Good for you." Leonard says as they get ready to leave Josette's room. Josette opens one eye as the door shuts, looks at the time, and reaches for the bag. The dvds are opened and looked at to make sure they're all there before cutting away the plastic clamshell to open the packaging on the phone. Reading the quick start instructions, she inserts the battery in the phone and plugs it in to charge for 24 hours before pushing to her feet and heading to the door, grabbing her clipboard. Anna and Abby's door opens and Anna comes out, their clipboard in her hand. "You take the left side, I'll take the right, then we'll check upstairs?"

Anna nods. It takes ten minutes to see there's a couple of students missing besides the one that has a night class and Anna calls her sister to bring a couple demerit forms and stand by one of the hallway doors as she stands by the other and Josette covers the front door. The doors are locked at nine with three students still outside, Josette calmly filling out the demerit slips while they wait. The two girls shamefacedly come up to the front door and Josette unlocks it for them, handing over the top copy of the demerit forms as they pass her.

"Do you have an excuse, ladies?"

The one on the left looks like she's going to say something but the one on the right hisses at her. She glares at her and tells her to shut it. "Tammy didn't think you'd actually do it, she talked me into staying out after the doors were locked."

"Well now you know that I meant what I said when I said curfew was nine o'clock exactly, don't you?"

"Yes Ma'am." the one girl says, glaring at her friend. "She's just a kid mouthing off, she won't really do it." she says sarcastically. "You and your big fat mouth." They head upstairs, Josette shaking her head. "There's always one who doesn't listen." They walk back to their rooms. "I'll take the yellow copies and put them in a file until the end of the semester, that way we have a copy of the demerit in case a student complains that they shouldn't be in detention." The girls nod. "Pink copies go to Joyce in the office, she keeps them in a book. . .again until the end of the semester after putting a note in the students file about the demerit. We also can get new forms from her when we start running low."

"Do we need to keep an eye on Tammy?"

"Yeah, she seems to be pushing the limits, I won't be surprised if she gets the 'honor' of the first detention of the semester for ignoring my warnings to be in the dorm by nine p.m. If she does, she's going to get a nice little lecture from Principal Madison about missing curfew. Personally, I'd make her stay outside all night. That way she'd make damn sure she's inside when she's supposed to be. Though she keeps this shit up, I'm calling in Professor Druid and Principal Madison to be here the third night she comes in late."

A half-hour or so earlier after Dr. Samson and Druid had left Josette's room.

"She seems to be doing well?" Druid asks.

"She seems to be doing very well." Leonard says, looking back at Josette's room. "I would like all my patients to recover as well as Josette has."

"Then you don't believe the nonsense Kennedy has been spouting about how Josette is out to get her?"

"No, it's obvious both Kennedy and your school psychologist are trying to put the blame onto somebody else for their failure to make any progress." Leonard smiles. "The school psychologist also has a problem with Josette, or rather her refusal to follow the route he would have taken with her recovery. Entirely unprofessional and I've told him so."