Janelle loved being a college student in New York.   

Like everything else in New York, NYU's campus was larger than life.  People from all walks and talks made their way to their classes, to study groups, to social events, and pretty much everything else you could think of doing on a college campus.   

There was also food.  It was a little known fact that there were 16 different dining hall locations across Brooklyn and Manhattan, and Janelle had made it a personal mission to eat something at every single one of them.  Today's venue was the Jasper Kane Cafe.  It didn't look anything like Janelle had pictures dining halls looking.   

There were no cafeteria tables, no sneeze guards, and there wasn't a hairnet in sight.  This place was almost like a restaurant.  Turned out the food was good too.  For that, and many other reasons...the place was absolutely packed.  

This was not conducive to a working lunch.  

Janelle sighed and held her tray, waiting for someone to get up and leave.  

They did.  

Well that was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.  

Making her way to the empty table as quickly as possible, Janelle set down her tray.  There.  Territory claimed.  Dropping her backpack and beginning to pull out her books, Janelle did her best to establish that despite the fact that she was the only one at the 4 person table, it was hers.  

Freshman English was the order of the day.  Final drafts of their argumentative essays were due soon and Janelle had been horrifically procrastinating hers in favor of playing with her powers.  Since her meeting with Gawain on the Mansion lawn, it was something the little redhead had been doing a lot.   

In fact...the table needed a little pick-me-up.

Reaching inside the little baggie she always carried in her purse, Janelle removed a small pinch of seeds and set them in the palm of her hand.  A  little bit of energy and a few moments later, a small bouquet of wildflowers had sprouted.   Sitting in the middle of the table, Janelle smiled. 

Much Better.  

Why did going to college have to be so complicated? Max shook his head as he stood in line at Jasper Kane Cafe. His binder smacking against his knee. He was settling in at Haven and Inferno, and was finally getting around to considering going to school for some higher learning. A marketing degree would be a hell of a back up plan to Max's dance career.

He of course did not have nearly the money to pay for NYU. He couldn't ask his parents for help, they still thought he was dead. While hanging out Devon had mentioned a scholarship program through Haven that Max could apply for. First thing first Max needed to know where he wanted to go.

The exploration day at campus had been a nightmare. Peppy student reps taking the wanna be students for a tour of the campus. Nervous high school seniors packed together like scared little animals. And Max. Of course. He had been given a temp meal card which had cost him fifty bucks to "like totally check out all the dining halls" as the cheerleader had said.

Which brought Max to the crowded Cafe. He finally got his food and scanned the room. Tables were all occupied, which meant it was time to pick where to socialize. He glanced around.

Frat boys, pass. Giggling girls, pass. Larping group, pass. Red head sitting alone, Ding Ding Ding.

Max walked over to the table the girl was sitting at. There was a bouquet of wild flowers on the table alongside a healthy stack of books. The chair opposite her had a sliver of space on the table available and he approached it.

"Hey do you mind if I sit here?" He asked politely.

He scanned the covers of the books. Grammer book, MLA books, and varies source books. Having a mother who was a doctor and a father who was a lawyer Max had not been allowed to relax scolastically for most of his life. Being prepped to go to law school and medical school at the same time at sixteen almost gave him a shiver of fear in remembrance.

"English paper?" He guessed.

Ugh. Someone had failed to take the hint...now Janelle was going to have to socialize.

Looking up from the essay she was editing the redhead studied the interloper with slightly narrowed eyes. Was he a creep? A frat boy? None of those things seemed to be true, and he was kind of cute. Who was Janelle to stand in the way of a hungry dining hall goer? Janelle nodded her head to his question and moved the large stack of books to the empty chair to her side so there was space for him to set his tray.

English? Janelle nodded again and rolled her eyes slightly, "Yes" she said, the single word containing all of the exasperation she felt with the assignment. "Freshman argumentative essay. Finals are coming up, and my professor insists that the three drafts we've already turned in aren't enough. We need to find a few more things wrong and turn them in again."

Janelle looked at the newcomer again. He only had a single notebook, "What about you? Light load this semester?" 

For a moment Max thought she was going to say no. He stood under the girls critical gaze and held his tray awkwardly. Finally she moved her books and made a place for him and he let out a sigh of relief. He sat and she remarked on her paper.

"Sounds like he's just giving more busy work to keep you guys going," He said with a smile, "What's your paper on?"

She asked him about his course load and Max felt his face redden. She thought he was a student already. He took a small bite of his sandwich as he pondered a response. Somehow "actually I'm a bit of a loser and I'm not taking any classes yet" seemed like a bad reply. He finished chewing and addressed her.

"You could say I have the lightest course load. I haven't taken anything yet. I had a tour today looking at taking some summer classes to get started." He said.

He opened the binder and showed her the brochures and paperwork sitting in it.

"Figure better to start late than not at all." He said sheepishly.

Janelle nodded her head when her table mate pointed out that the professor was probably just giving them busy work so that they had things to do until the end of the semester.

"Probably...but that's about the dumbest thing I ever heard. It's not like we don't all have like 5 other finals to study for." The redhead considered the pile of books she'd stacked on the chair next to her.

"I think it's a conspiracy. College is really just about breaking us down so that the real world can mold us in whatever image they want."

That said, Janelle frowned slightly and shook her head as her new friend (she'd let him sit, that meant they were friends) called himself a loser and said he'd just started the registration process.

"No no no. See, what you need to tell people is that you took a year to find yourself and you're just getting around to the whole school thing. It'll sound very hipster chic." she finished with a grin.

The redhead offered a hand, "I'm Janelle by the way. If you have any questions that need answers that aren't sales pitches, I'd be happy to help."

College is really just about breaking us down so that the real world can mold us in whatever image they want."

Max nodded his head and looked at the girl in her frustration. She seemed sweet he liked that.

"Don't let society tell you anything. Be the you that makes you happy is the way I see it. What's the paper on?" He asked.

He let out a laugh at her advice on being chic as she offered her hand and name. Pretty, solid sense of humor, Max found himself very happy with his choice of seats.

"I'm max." He said shaking her hand, "Thanks. I'm thinking of going into marketing, good backup plan if dreams fail ya know. What's your major?"

Apparently, Janelle thought, she had gotten so caught up in her ire towards her professor that she'd completely forgotten to answer one of the questions she'd been asked. How rude of her! Also, his name was Max. Max the prospective marketing major. Alliteration made everything easier to remember!

"My paper is on whether or not cities should provide free wi-fi within their limits. Would you believe that we literally drew out of a hat?" she asked, tapping her fingertips against the table. The redhead sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm still a bit salty about the whole thing. It isn't bad though, the resources I found for evidence are actually really interesting. Just not what I would have picked for myself."

Hmmm. The question of her major again. It always seemed to come up when people found out she was in school. It made sense though, and it was small talk.

"Botany." she said simply, nodding towards the flowers "I've got something of a green thumb, so it made a lot of sense."

That said, the redhead dug into her salad. It really had been worth the walk to this dining hall. Between that and her newfound company, Janelle was very quickly moving the Jasper Kane hall to the top of her list.

"Marketing is one of those wide reaching majors. Any plans for specializing?" Best to keep the conversation going.

Max listened intently as Janelle described her paper. It would be the kind of thing he would soon find himself struggling to make time for. He gave a sympathetic shrug as she finished.

"Kinda reminds me of that story about the city paying homeless people to wear battery powered routers as a way to provide free public wi-fi. Not a bad idea in concept but seems a little dehumanizing to me." He said.

She told him her major. Botany eh? He stopped himself from vocalizing the fact that he didn't even know that was a thing you could major in. He found it might be insulting.

"Sounds interesting. All about life and beauty. I approve. Not that you need it." He said playfully.

As she tucked into her salad Max found it was now his turn to answer the questions and he sipped his coke and leaned back in his chair. He placed the can back on the table and his arms went behind his head as a makeshift cushion.

"Honestly I dream of being a performer. Dance and acting are my passions. But I figure with marketing I can help promote myself or get a kill myself nine to five desk job. Right now I work for Inferno, the night club near central park, it's a cool gig." He explained.

"What about you? What does a botanist do once you finish school?" He asked.

Paying the homeless to walk around as wi-fi hot spots? Janelle frowned at the thought. Max voiced that he thought the practice to be humanizing and the little redhead nodded her head vigorously.

"Oh, I'd never advocate for something like that. My approach is that access to the knowledge that the internet provides is a basic human right. Denying it to anyone is akin to forcing ignorance. It's like putting people on a registry simply because of their genetics." That was something Janelle would never understand.

Max sipped his soda and leaned back with the casual confidence that only someone comfortable in their own skin could assume. Janelle was impressed, he couldn't be much older than her, but he seemed to have it all figured out. He was a dancer, apparently, and wanted to be an actor. Marketing made a great deal of sense. It all made her chosen profession pale in comparison.

Still, he asked, and Janelle smiled in appreciation for his interest, "You research, or your teach." she said simply, "It's nothing as exciting as acting or broadway...but with my particular talents, it's what makes sense." .

See, Janelle thought, she could be confident too.

It's like putting people on a registry simply because of their genetics."

Max didn't know if it was just the cliche "liberal college student" thing or if perhaps Janelle was as forward thinking as she appeared. Max gave a nod in response, there were still plenty of good people in the world.

"It's fear really. Human nature is to look at anyone who isn't exactly like us a label them as something. Just so happens that this time the labeled people have some unique ways of fighting back." He said with a sly smirk.

She replied about her future plans.

"I don't know. Science is pretty awesome. Maybe you'll discover a new type of plant, or something crazy like that. Gotta have a little adventure in life right?" He said with a wink.

"So are you from around here or did you move here for school? "

Well, if we all acted according to human nature than we would have never progressed past loincloths and clubbing women over the head to find a mate. The world has adapted to lots of things...this is just one more."

Max was, in general, very kind about her chosen course of study and Janelle grinned and shrugged. "You never know. I could be on the cover of horticulture monthly in a few years. Wouldn't that be something new?" The redhead demurred.

As for the next question, Janelle shook her head, "I'm from upstarts. I moved down about a year or so ago to finish high school at Xavier's. Got done a semester early, took some time to apply to schools, and here I am. What about you? Are you one of those rare people who are actually from New York?"

Are you one of those rare people who are actually from New York?"

Xaviers alum huh? Interesting. Max took another drink of his coke and lazily played with the tab on the can. Janelle had been a student at the mansion, which made it very likely she was a mutant. Pieces began to fall into place and Max gave a charming grin.

" me? Nah I'm from Virginia. Richmond to be precise. It's a city yes, but nothing like here. Moved here a few years back." He said with a shrug.

The lunch crowd seemed to be thinning, turning the gentle roar of conversations to something more skin to simple background rumbling. Max leaned in slightly and looked at Janelle. Hells bells she was pretty, might as well go in for the real stuff.

"So what's your power?" He asked curiously quirking a brow.

Virginia. That sounded...exotic. Janelle sighed a bit wistfully, sometimes it was frustrating to be a Northeasterner who had spent most of her life closer to Canada than a lot of people ever got.

Sure, she wasn't actually from New York, but "upstate" was just as bad.

"Must have been a bit of a change, moving up here." she said. "I'd been up here a number of times in the summer and actually living here was a hell of an adjustment.

Janelle had known that Max might put together the fact that she was a mutant when she mentioned Xavier's school. It was one of those things...the redhead liked to get the info out upfront though. Especially to friendly, good-looking guys who were good conversationalists. Leaning forward on the table, Janelle smiled a bit conspiratorially, plucking one of the flowers from the bunch on the table and holding it out. The petals grew larger and more bright as the flower swelled in size.

"Plant stuff. Shocking right? Don't be too impressed."

actually living here was a hell of an adjustment

Max gave a little laigh. Janelle seemed like a pretty straight forward girl. She gave direct answers and had a cloud of truthfulness and honesty surrounding her that was quite refreshing in this day and age.

"I know what you mean. Virginia was nice but I lived in a city where a ten minute drive could get you to farms and ranches. Not to mention the somewhat outdated moral and social situations" He replied.

Max watched in surprise as the girl held out a flower and the thing seemed to bloom in her palm. It swelled in size and the colors flared in a vibrant flash of life and energy. Max could smell spring itself imitating from the flower and he gave a little impressed whistle.

"Plant stuff. Shocking right? Don't be too impressed

"Explains a lot of the botany stuff. That's pretty amazing though. How much power do you have? I mean you literally interact with life itself. I'd say that's worth being impressed about." He replied.

He gave the room another glance and pulled the tab he had been fiddling with off the can. With a small effort of power he sent his energy over it and it floated a few inches above his open palm.

"I like to think I have some fun tricks too." He said with a flirtatious grin.

Ten minutes from farms and ranches. Having grown up in suburbia her whole life, one might have suspected that Janelle had little to no experience with such things. She'd ridden horses growing up though, and had spent a fair amount of time in stables and barns.

"People think it's weird, but I always liked farm smells. Hay and oats and horses." Commiseration could not be overrated, and she was a long way from those days now.

All of these positive interactions with her powers were starting to go to Janelle's head, she decided, as Max pointed out that she literally interacted with life itself. When put that way, it did sound awful cool.

Max grinned and Janelle watched with mild interest as he pulled the tab from his soda can and placed it in his palm. Then the thing started to float. Janelle put the flower down and leaned a bit closer, trying to see if anything was holding the small piece of metal in the air.

Nope. So he was a mutant too. Sure people could pull of things like this Janelle had heard of bar tricks, but this wasn't a bar, and something about this didn't seem like a trick, no matter what Max said.

Now it was her turn to be impressed, "So, magnetic fields? Telekinesis?" she tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowed in feigned suspicion, "Have you been reading my mind this whole time?"