ISSUE #36

" Hey, man what's your next class?" Ian asked Julian as they both walked out of the school and into the front yard.

" I got flying class, with Mr. Beaubier next. Ah it's gonna suck man. I swear he just loves to fail me." Julian complained.

" What about you?" Julian asked.

" Well, I've got science next and then after that I've got leadership class with Summers, and then after that I've got a meeting with Dani, she still is my advisor, though only because I couldn't get Logan to agree to becoming mine." Ian told the boy.

" Why, Logan? I'm telling you man; Miss Frost is awesome." Julian exclaimed.

" Nah, she's not my type. I just don't trust her to not do something crazy." Ian replied.

" Yeah, that's true. Hey, I'm going this way. I'll see ya later man." Julian spoke. He took off into the air in a hue of green leaving Ian to walk to his next class alone. Ian began wondering through the courtyard mindlessly, just bidding his time over until his next class.

" OoF!" Ian suddenly felt something bump into him. He opened his eyes and looked down at the young lady who landed on the ground. " Owie!"

" I'm sorry, young lady. I wasn't paying attention." Ian told the girl. He bent over and helped her back to her feet. She was a young African American girl around the age of eleven or twelve. Ian held her hand as she brushed her pants off. " Are you okay?" Ian asked the young girl.

" Yeah, thank you." The young girl replied.

" Are you a new student here young lady?" Ian asked.

" No, I'm just here visiting my brother and his friends." The young girl responded.

" Kim, are you alright?" David asked as he ran up to the young girl.

" Yeah, I'm alright." Kim told the boy.

" Oh, I get it. Yuir David's little sister aren't ya?" Ian asked. Kim nodded and Ian laughed. " Well, ain't that topical. Well, Kim it's a pleasure tae meet ya little lady. Ma name's Ian. Ian Sinclair."

" Oh, you're the friend my brother said got locked up. Are you okay?" Kim asked.

This surprised Ian, he didn't think David was the kind to tell his family about anyone. But then again David's family wasn't like his.

" Yes, that's me. And yes, Kim. I am alright. Thank you very much for asking. How about you? Are you excited for your visit?" Ian asked the girl.

" Of course, I am. I get to meet all my brother's friends and all these cool people too! It's very exciting." Kim exclaimed.

" All right, Kim. Stop bothering Ian, Laurie and Sofia are waiting and I've got to get to class soon." David told the girl.

" Aw, But I wanted to see what he could do." Kim whined.

" Ian's busy, we don't want to waste his time." David told the girl.

" Nonsense, David. I've got time to show off for one of my fans." Ian told the boy. " My power gives me the ability to adapt to certain situations. It's my powers that gave me super strength, enhanced durability, a healing factor, enhanced senses, super speed, and more!" Ian told the girl.

" Really? All that?" Kim asked.

" Yup, I can jump really high too. I'm quite awesome!" Ian pointed to himself and smiled at the girl. " In fact, I'm the strongest person here."

" Can you show me?" Kim asked.

" Sure, but it'll have to be later. David's got class, and he doesn't like to be late." Ian told the little girl.

" Aw, man." Kim whined.

Ian patted her on the head and laughed more, which confused David, because the last time they spoke Ian made it clear he did not like him.

" I promise, later. Until then have fun and enjoy your time here. I'm sure you'll make memories you'll never be able to forget." Ian told the girl. He walked past her and looked at David. " Don't worry." He told the boy. He may not like David entirely, but that didn't mean he would treat his sister unkindly. She was a child after all and had no hand in anything that might or might not have happened to him.

Ian walked all the way to class, just thinking about what Logan had told him hours ago. It was weighing heavily on his mind.

" Hey, Ian!" Ian was once again pulled from his thoughts, this time by a more familiar voice and a very familiar flapping sound.

" Hey, Megan! Good tae see ye. Are ye ready for class?" Ian asked.

" Yeah. Are you still coming to our danger room session today?" Megan asked.

" Of course, I said I was didn't I." Ian replied. " Besides, I really want to get a chance to stretch my legs in there myself. Maybe, Miss Sinclair will let me try it out with you guys." Ian spoke.

" That would be amazing!" Megan exclaimed.

Ian was glad Megan was happy. She was one of the few good people in the world who deserved it.

Ian walked with Megan all the way to their science class just talking about their day and when they entered class, Rahne saw just how happy the two looked together.

" Welcome, Mr. Sinclair, Megan. I'm glad to see you two getting along." Rahne spoke.

" HELLO, MISS SINCLAIR!" Megan exclaimed. She was happy to see her teacher, just like always.

' Yes, Ma'am." Ian replied. " Hey, I'll see ye after class Megan." Ian told the girl.

" See, ya!" Megan replied.

Ian sat on one side of the class while Megan sat on the other, meaning they wouldn't usually be able to communicate with each other.

Once class started that was usually not much of a problem.

Later.

" All right, students, for the project you will be broken up into pairs. Each of you will perform the analysis and record their results on the work sheet provided. Miss Sinclair is handing them out and will be the one to break you up into groups." Hank explained to the class.

Rahne picked up a stack of papers and began passing them out to the class.

" Ian, you'll work with Megan." Rahne told the young man as she handed him his paper.

" Alright, teach." Ian whispered. He took his paper and got up to leave

" Hey, Ian we got partenered up, this is awesome!" Megan flew across the class and shouted.

" Yeah, we did. Wanna group up and figure out what we're gonna do before lunch?" Ian asked.

" Sure, let's go." Megan replied happily. She and Ian quickly left the classroom to head to one of the science labs. Along the way Ian realized he had left his bags back at the class.

" Oh, my god. I'm sorry Megan, will you excuse me for a moment, I need tae run back to class. I forgot my bags." ian told the girl.

" Oh, I don't mind. I'll be here waiting for ya." Megan replied.

" Cool, thanks." Ian shouted as he took off down the hall.

" I can't believe I got all the way here without Megan or myself realizing I didn't have my bag. I really am an idiot sometimes I'll tell ya what." Ian spoke. he laughed at his own carelessness and just shook his head.

" For the last time, I said no. Now please, hurry along. You have other classes and I have to get ready for my teams' session. Don't bother me with this anymore." Ian heard Rahne all but shouting in the classroom as he approached it and moments later, he saw Josh from the New Mutants emerging with a sad look on his face.

Ian walked past the boy, looking over his shoulder suspiciously at him and then walked into the classroom.

" Hey, Rahne... Uh what was that about?" Ian asked the woman.

" Nothing, just Josh hammering me with more pointless questions." Rahne replied.

Ian walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

" You're exhausted. Are you sure you're, okay? You can tell me if something's wrong, Rahne." Ian told the woman.

" Nae, it's fine. i took care of it. But what are ye doing back here? Yuir supposed tae be at lunch right now." Rahne asked the young man.

" Well, technically we both are. But I forgot my bag. And now, I'm checking up on my girl." Ian explained.

" We shouldn't be doing this here." Rahne replied.

" Why not?" Ian asked joyfully. " Everyone's at lunch. Which means right now, it's just you and me in an empty class." Ian told the woman.

Rahne loosened up and relaxed in Ian's arms.

" Yeah, well. I'm hungry. So, hurry up and grab yuir bags mister forgetful. I want tae eat. Ye don't know how hard it is tae use the danger room without having fed yuirself. i swear it's like bloody murder." Rahne told the man. Her attitude finally seemed to brighten up and she smiled again.

" AHHHHH! There's ma girl. Hang on, I'll get my stuff and we can go. Oh, but wait a minute. I almost forgot, me and Megan are gonna plan our project first, so I'll be behind ya for about ten minutes." Ian explained.

" Oh... Okay." Rahne replied. " Just make sure ye don't take tae long okay, ye need to eat tae grow." Rahne told the boy.

" Don't worry, love. As long as I got you I'll be just fine." Ian told the woman. He kissed her softly on the lips and then grabbed his bags. " I'll see ye after class is over, I can't wait tae see yuir team in action." Ian told the woman.

" Careful, they might just surprise ya by how awesome they are." Rahne joked.

" HEY! No one's as awesome as I am. Got it." Ian told the woman, he blew her a kiss and walked out of the class.

After a few minutes, Ian made his way back to the classroom where he and Megan had set themselves up.

" Hey, Megan sorry I'm late." Ian spoke. " Miss Sinclair asked me some questions."

" It's fine, are you ready?" Megan asked.

" Yeah. Let's get started." Ian declared.

He pulled out his textbooks and his papers and set the lab up, placing beakers and other tools on a table. it was quiet for the most part with Ian and Megan telling each other what they found from the experiment.

" Hey, so quick question." Megan suddenly spoke.

" Sure, what is it?" Ian asked the girl as he placed a beaker that had boiling water in it down on the table and then turned to face her.

" Are you and Miss Sinclair related?" Megan asked.

" Everyone asks that question at least once." Ian laughed. But no, we may share the same name, but we're not related in anyway at all." Ian explained to the girl. " Why?"

" No reason in particular, I was just curious." Megan replied.

" Really? Just curious? Is that all?" Ian asked playfully. He turned back to grab the beaker but when he did, he saw that it was gone. " Hey, wait a minute, didn't I just put the beaker here?" Ian asked.

" Yeah. Where'd it?" Megan started asking when suddenly Ian shouted shocking her.

" Ah!" Ian shouted; he was suddenly doused in boiling water. " What the hell?!" Ian cursed.

" Oh my god! Ian are you okay?" Megan asked.

" Yeah, I'm fine. But what the hell?! How did I get wet?" Ian asked. He didn't really feel anything from the water, taking a few explosions to the face was much hotter than a small glass of boiling water. " Awh, man. Now I'll need to change my shirt." Ian complained.

" Uh, Ian!" Megan called out to the man in a panic.

" What is it?" Ian asked. he looked up at Megan and saw how scared she was. She pointed to the board and Ian saw what looked to be blood painted onto it and it read " LEAVE NOW!"

" Okay, Megan if you can move fast, ye gotta let me know, because now I'm getting freaked out." Ian told the girl.

" It wasn't me; I swear!" Megan exclaimed.

" Okay, this is just a prank. Someone's messing with us. Maybe it's Julian getting me back for ditching him last night." Ian spoke.

" Yeah, let's go with that." Megan quickly exclaimed.

" I think we've done enough for today, don't you?" Ian asked the girl.

" Yeah! Definitely." Megan told the man.

" Let's go!" Ian shouted. He and Megan ran out of the class as fast as they could, refusing to even look back for even a moment

' What the hell is going on at this school?' Ian asked himself.