The tissues Nate’s shadow fetched went to immediate use, dabbing the wetness from Celeste’s eyes. She was not yet a sobbing mess, but it was clear she was approaching wit’s end. Nate offered her his ear, because he knew sometimes talking about problems out loud made them easier to deal with or move past.

Celeste was going through a cocktail of classic high school struggles that were hitting her all at once. She felt out of place, she lacked direction, and she was being targeted by a girl she did not know. All the progress she made felt like it was offset by the things keeping her down. ”It definitely feels that way,” he agreed, shrugging his shoulders, ”but you’re moving forward. It feels slow, but you are.”

Nate folded his arms on the small desk in front of him, leaning in closer. ”You’re still new to Xavier’s. Mutant school or not, this is still school. It’ll take you some time to find your place, but you will. Mariah has her own issues she must have to work through, but don’t let one person spoil your impression of the place.” He still needed to talk to Mariah, because the one thing he did not want was for students to feel unwelcome at Xavier’s because of their peers. There was too much of that in the real world. ”This class has no assigned seats, but I will let Mariah know that, for the time being, I would like you two to stay apart. This is your school too, regardless of how long she’s been here.”

Being the new girl was hard, but Nate could think of one or two ways to make it easier. ”If you have the opportunity, I’d also recommend spending some of your downtime in the public areas of the Mansion. The lounge, the kitchen, or maybe take advantage of the good weather before New York turns on us.” As a Southerner, Nate was not exactly predisposed to cold weather conditions. ”That might sound intimidating, but you’d be amazed how much easier it is to connect with your peers when they can see you.”

Celeste was a perfectionist - she wanted everything to be perfect. Whether it was her work, to her grades, to various assignments. It was more of a defense mechanism than anything - if she was perfect, her parents had to eventually love her and protect her, right? That wasn't what happened, her parents still ignored her, but it was a trait that Celeste was left with after her difficult upbringing - she needed to be perfect. That meant she shouldn't have enemies, she should be great at drawing, she should know what she wanted to be 'when she grew up' - and she already felt grown up to begin with. That's part of the reason - it seemed like she wasn't a high school student but she was stuck going through the motions even though she should be somewhere else.

She took a deep breath as she tried to regain control of her emotions. She just wasn't sure if she would fit in here. 

>>  ”It definitely feels that way, but you’re moving forward. It feels slow, but you are. You’re still new to Xavier’s. Mutant school or not, this is still school. It’ll take you some time to find your place, but you will. Mariah has her own issues she must have to work through, but don’t let one person spoil your impression of the place. This class has no assigned seats, but I will let Mariah know that, for the time being, I would like you two to stay apart. This is your school too, regardless of how long she’s been here.” 

She nodded slowly. He was right after all - she had come very far from where she was just a few months ago, back in Regina. She had trekked to a whole new country, integrated, had a good job, was finishing her school, and was going to college in a few months. That by itself was a pretty significant feat that she shouldn't discredit. But it still felt like she didn't belong. Plus, her mutation. It was best for attacking people and that's something that always weighed heavily on Celeste. She wasn't an offensive or even defensive kinda person - she was a 'get along with everybody and avoid conflict' kinda gal, which led her to a whole new confession. "Plus, Mariah is right. My power is dangerous. I can control it very well, but it's still offensive, it's still defensive, how am I suppose to help people with it? You can't blast someone with radiation and hope there cancer goes away. The best I can do is make people very sick and that's it. I can't bring world peace, or see things, or do anything useful with it." Maybe she was getting a little too deep? 

>> ”If you have the opportunity, I’d also recommend spending some of your downtime in the public areas of the Mansion. The lounge, the kitchen, or maybe take advantage of the good weather before New York turns on us.That might sound intimidating, but you’d be amazed how much easier it is to connect with your peers when they can see you.”

She nodded - that was a good idea, "I will do that, Mr. Holloway." It might be hard but for the most part, Celeste was an outgoing person. She enjoyed talking with people. She might could find at least one person she clicked one. 

It was never nice dealing with a mean girl, but Nate had wondered why Mariah’s brand of catty bullying was getting to Celeste so badly. He had to remember that, just because Celeste was not a physical mutant, it did not mean she could not be self-conscious about her mutation. Radioactivity had a stigma associated with it; regardless of the ways it could be used in medicine, people were never going to stop associating it with the bombs it was synonymous with.

Mariah was pushing a sensitive topic for Celeste, who seemed to resent her powers because they could not help her do good in the world. It was a noble frustration and it said a lot about who the girl was as a person. She wanted to make the world a better place, and she saw her mutation as an obstacle keeping her from having that power.

Nate was definitely going to direct Celeste to Gemma in the near future, but she was not the one Celeste was talking to in her current time of need. He smiled warmly, shaking his head. ”I understand where you’re coming from. Radioactive waves are not a neat healing beam or an aura of peace or anything like that. But Celeste, you may be a mutant, but you’re more than your mutation,” he reminded her.

”I make my shadow do things,” he reminded his student alongside the visual reminder of his shadow forming an arm to wave at her. ”Fat lot of good it’ll do me for making a difference. But I’m here teaching and I work with a group in the city trying to make a difference.” Nate did not make a habit of bragging about his good deeds, but they served his point for once, so it felt less selfish.

The shadow merged back into the ground and Nate continued. ”Your powers can be the thing you have to defend yourself with or even the thing you experiment with. You never know what secrets your mutation will reveal one day.” Nate knew for damn sure he did not expect to develop the ability to turn into a living shadow. Mutant genetics were a mystery. ”They won’t be the thing that stops you from doing the amazing things you want to do. And you, little missy,” he added, pointing to her, ”sound like you have the drive to do some truly amazing things.”

Celeste gave another small sigh. Even Celeste didn't really think that the girl got under her skin as much as she did, but the more she talked about it, the more insecurities that kept bubbling to the surface. Maybe she could become a police officer? Nothing like stopping bad guys with a dose of rads. She'd probably get charged under the Geneva conventions for human rights violations or something just because it's radiation. If she had laser vision, or super strength, it wouldn't matter. She was a minority within a minority. Ugh.

>> ”I understand where you’re coming from. Radioactive waves are not a neat healing beam or an aura of peace or anything like that. But Celeste, you may be a mutant, but you’re more than your mutation,”

He was right. She was more than just her mutation - but since she had been given this type of mutation, shouldn't she be using it for a higher purpose? It felt like a waste to just leave it there but it also felt like there wasn't much she could do with it. It was a catch 22. 

>> ”I make my shadow do things. Fat lot of good it’ll do me for making a difference. But I’m here teaching and I work with a group in the city trying to make a difference. 

She chuckled at his shadow waving, "See, you're using it right now to make a difference for me. Can I do anything cute? Nope, unless you want to be puking everywhere. And that's not very cute." Too bad she couldn't make cute mutations on peoples bodies. That would be weird but maybe cute?

>> ”Your powers can be the thing you have to defend yourself with or even the thing you experiment with. You never know what secrets your mutation will reveal one day. hey won’t be the thing that stops you from doing the amazing things you want to do. And you, little missy, sound like you have the drive to do some truly amazing things.”

Maybe she could experiment with it more. She had never tried anything besides blasting or absorbing it - maybe there was something else she could do? Maybe her training classes could help her with that. "I suppose that is true... Maybe something will come good of it." She smiled, unsure of what to say, "Well... I mean, I really hope so. I want to leave the world a better place than I came into... I guess it's just how the world is, though, with jerk faces and stuff."

Celeste was almost trying to be down on her powers. Nate’s demonstration of his power only gave her another opportunity to point out the flaws of her own abilities. When someone was trying to disparage themselves, it was easy to see a chance to do so in any topic. Being hard on one’s self was depressingly easy to do.

Fortunately, his confidence in her and his reassuring words seemed to land. She still wanted to find a way to apply her power for the sake of good and Nate did not want to take the opportunity to remind her she might never find that chance. It was more important that Celeste eventually realized she could be a benefit to the world with or without her powers.

The jerk face comment made Nate laugh loudly. For a young woman, he appreciated her world view. ”There are definitely plenty of jerk faces out there. But there are people like you who are committed to balancing them out. There are plenty of paths you can take to make a difference, but you don’t need to figure that out yet,” he reminded her. Celeste seemed to feel like her destiny was looming along with her first semester of college. That kind of pressure was unnecessary and toxic. ”You don’t have to choose your path before you get to college. Sometimes, when you’re there, you figure the path out then.” There were also people like him who chose to forgo the collegiate experience for a life of crime, but he passed on that additional analysis.

”Do yourself a favor,” Nate said, slowly getting up from his seat. ”Don’t think you have to rush to anything. Find friends at your own pace. Figure out your future at your own pace. You’ll do great things, Celeste, but you don’t have to start them tomorrow.” She was still too young to let life crush her under the weight of her own expectations.

Celeste was feeling a lot better, at least compared to how she was feeling before. Mr. Holloway was good with words and made her think things through - plus, maybe she was just in a rump. There was a lot of good things going for her in her life, despite the little set backs. She was going to college, she had a place to live, she had a future building for herself.

Mr. Holloway seemed to think her jerk-face comment was funny - it was, but she was dead serious. People were jerk faces. Everywhere. But, people have there own things going on in their lives that make them that way. Even Mariah had a reason to be a d*ck bag, despite Celeste not knowing anything about her. 

>> ”There are definitely plenty of jerk faces out there. But there are people like you who are committed to balancing them out. There are plenty of paths you can take to make a difference, but you don’t need to figure that out yet, you don’t have to choose your path before you get to college. Sometimes, when you’re there, you figure the path out then"

She was flattered he thought of her as balancing out the world out. She didn't know if she was all that much good - she still had her days where she was moody, irritable, but for the most part, she did do her best to be as nice and friendly to people. His last bit of advice was very true - she had a year or two to decide what she wanted to do ultimately. Most people went into college not really knowing what they wanted to do, right? Maybe she could get some internships, explore her options, do something to help her get where she felt right.

>>”Don’t think you have to rush to anything. Find friends at your own pace. Figure out your future at your own pace. You’ll do great things, Celeste, but you don’t have to start them tomorrow.”

She nodded, "Okay..." Find friends at her own pace. "How did you end up knowing you wanted to be here, to be a teacher? Like... How did it all fall into place for you?" Maybe that was a little deep of a question, but she wanted to see how someone's else's life's puzzle pieces ended up... Matching.

Nate was feeling pretty good about himself as a teacher and role model. He took care of a student conflict and helped one of the girls with the personal struggles she had been dealing with at the Mansion. Celeste sounded like a young woman with a potentially bright future, and Nate wanted to keep an eye on where she would choose to go in life. Haven sought out the people who wanted to make the difference and had potential. When Celeste graduated, Nate would be sure to find out if her goals were something their organization could help with.

Celeste took Nate’s advice, but she had a question of her own. Nate chuckled at her curiosity because he very much knew the answer. ”Well, I was in a relationship that made me decide to give up the whole ‘art thief’ thing. I ended up falling into teaching. I didn’t realize this was the place for me until I was already here.”

Nate stood from his seat and stretched his arms over his head, yawning. ”That’s life. It doesn’t always follow a neat little path. Though in your case, I’d recommend skipping the whole ‘life of crime’ step. It’s exciting and flashy, but not exactly sustainable.” Of course, that was most of what Nate could say against his old life; he was always good at managing the stress of potentially getting caught. The big issue was a lack of stability; it was hard to establish connections and meaningful relationships on the road.

Mr. Holloway was a good teacher - he had made her feel tons better. She was sure the other teachers were just as great, like Juliette. But she was emotional and had confided in Mr. Holloway. That made him a special teacher in her book, especially how he responded. 

>>”Well, I was in a relationship that made me decide to give up the whole ‘art thief’ thing. I ended up falling into teaching. I didn’t realize this was the place for me until I was already here. hat’s life. It doesn’t always follow a neat little path. Though in your case, I’d recommend skipping the whole ‘life of crime’ step. It’s exciting and flashy, but not exactly sustainable.”

She nodded. Relationships, always the source of some drama but she hadn't thought he was seriously an art thief. She had heard the rumors, of course, but he actually was. It was kinda impressive, actually. Celeste had a whole can of worms of questions that she thought of about his past life. She laughed at the end of his comment but nodded, "Yeah, I don't think I'm really made for a life of crime." Celeste was a goody two shoes, there was no way she'd get involved in criminal activities. At least, she hoped she wouldn't. But that wasn't his point - things fall into place as they go and Celeste needed to accept that. "College will probably be better," she said, fairly confident. 

Celeste was still a new student, so it stood to reason she might not have gotten the full rundown of Nate’s situation. Rumors swirled around and Nate did little to stop them, but there were so many unreliable resources giving different details. Nate preferred that his past was mostly a matter of myth since it allowed him some flexibility on what he could confirm or deny. The only rumors he rarely ever squashed were rumors involving violence or mutant terrorism.

To her credit, Celeste did not flinch at the news that Nate was a former career criminal. Some people could be judgmental, as Mariah unfortunately proved, but the young Canadian did not look at her teacher any differently, which he appreciated.

He also appreciated she had the sense not to follow in Nate’s footsteps. ”Yeah, I’ve heard good things about college. Slightly lower chance you end up in jail.” Of course, anyone could really end up in jail, so Nate was not going to rule out the possibility entirely. ”I think you’ll appreciate your choice. You just have to make it through the semester and girls like Mariah first, and I’ll do what I can to help make that easier.”

Nate looked around at the classroom and the supplies left on desks spread sporadically around the space. He needed to get some cleaning done and Parker was bound to start literally climbing the walls if Nate did not get home soon. ”Alright, Celeste. I think I’ve kept you here long enough. But if you ever need to talk, my office hours are posted on my door, which is always open,” he assured her with a smile.

Celeste couldn't help but laugh at his comment before nodding, "Imagine me robbing a bank. Hands up! I'm rad girl, the evil irradiated villain. I'll make you all throw up!" She paused for a moment, considering how awful of a villain she'd be. She shook her head, "Yeah, that's never going to happen." finished putting away her binder, pencils, and colored pencils into her book bag and stood up. She slung it over her shoulder and slipped her purse on her shoulder too.

>>  ”I think you’ll appreciate your choice. You just have to make it through the semester and girls like Mariah first, and I’ll do what I can to help make that easier.”

She nodded more seriously. She thought she would appreciate the college choice, too. But he was right - she had another 3 months left of Mariah. He offered to help her so she gave a smile and nodded. At least she knew Mr. Holloway had her back if something did happen with Mariah. And maybe Mariah would have some type of epiphany and realize how much of a do**che nozzle she had been. Maybe.

>>  ”Alright, Celeste. I think I’ve kept you here long enough. But if you ever need to talk, my office hours are posted on my door, which is always open,”

She nodded and checked her watch. Yikes. She probably had kept him way over time when he should be at home. She nodded, "Thanks, Mr. Holloway." She went over and gave him a quick, friendly hug, "You're a awesome teacher, by the way." With that, she left the room to finish up her day.