Alina folded the brochure in her hand in half and looked up at her new school. It seemed nice enough, but Alina wasn’t sure. She had never really been “school shopping” before. In Croatia, she had been in the same school with the same people her entire life. Now she was in a new country and starting a new life, logically meaning new school and new friends. The idea didn’t sit well with her.

“I wonder if they have summer programs…” Bryan muttered to himself, leafing through the paperwork.

Alina rolled her eyes. She knew her step-dad was uncomfortable with her mutation and was surely glad to be rid of her as soon as possible. Why had her mother married such a closed-minded person? But of course, that was none of her business.

“I wanna go to school here too!” Alexi whined. He was holding Alina’s hand in one of his own and staring at the mansion with his wide, captivated brown eyes.

Alina laughed. “Maybe when you grow up, fratello minore.”

Her mother looked up from her paperwork and put down her pen. “Alina, why don’t you go take a look around on your own? We have some things to discuss.” As an afterthought, she added, “Alexi, I want you to stay with me and Bryan, se ti va bene.”

Before he had a chance to protest, Bryan scooped Alexi in a hug and whispered something in his ear. Alexi nodded and they looked at each other with devilish smiles, meaning they were plotting something. With a slight chuckle at her brother’s typical short-attention span, Alina walked the steps up to the front door of the school and pushed the door open. She tightened her grip on her little brochure and straightened out her black t-shirt. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and took a began to wander.

Here I go, she thought. What new and exciting people would she meet today?

(Italien Translation: Fratello minore= little brother, se ti va bene= if that’s okay)

It had been a while since Sam had decided to throw most of his work to the side just to spend a few hours roaming the mansion and the grounds and seeing as his new team of mansion staff had been hired most of the work had been cut down significantly. The only things he had to do now were teach his classes, head out on patrol and keep order while the headmistress and Neena were busy and or away. Round the clock new residents were coming in and round the clock paperwork needed to be filed and seeing as Streak was busy with security it was up to him and Shin to tackle that huge load and seeing as Shin was about as busy as he was carrying the weight till some of the workload could be lifted.

Walking down the hallway with a large Saint Bernard inches behind him his tail wagging happily Sam continued humming the song that was stuck in his head and on occasion he even busted out into song, through mouthfuls of his ham sandwich of course. A small whine behind him and Sam turned his good eye to his dog and nodded his head, ”No one like a begging dog Bruno!” hearing his name Bruno let out a small bark and tried to play the ‘I’m cute so feed me card’ everyone in the mansion occasionally gave in all except Sam. That was the problem of having a dog at the mansion it got spoiled too easily.

The humming broke as he cleared his throat slightly, ”Some one told there is a girl out their with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair,” he took a bite of his half eaten sandwich that was hole a few minutes before when he made the meal. Rounding the corner to the stairs he spotted someone new he had never seen before, something he now had to investigate seeing as it was part of his job as greeter.

”Hello there,” he walked a bit closer with a warm smile on and waved slightly with his sandwich free hand as Bruno inched closer to Sam and sniffed the air in front of him. Letting out a small whine Bruno lowered his large frame and started to wag his tail always excited to meet new people. ”Can I help you?” he asked curiously.

So far, the mansion excursion had been very quiet and surreal. Alina had plenty of time to think and to stare at her possible new home. A strange noise broke the silence, a noise she wasn’t expecting. The bark of a large sounding dog.

Alina looked up to see a man approach her with a dog at his side.

>> “Hello there.” He said, smiling. “Can I help you?”<<

She looked at him shyly, unsure of what to say to this man with the eye patch and the very large dog. He looked too old to be a student, but he didn’t look unfriendly either. She shook her head inwardly and scolded herself. This is why you’re here, to make friends, she thought. Say something. She straightened her shirt again and blurted:

“I like your dog!” Wow, what a great first impression. Her cheeks flushed red, which really wasn’t in character for her. Her English was pretty good, but she wasn’t as sure of herself as she normally was. She smiled and laughed at herself, trying to act normal.

“Sorry,” she said. “My name is Alina and I was hoping to take a look around my new school.”

He smiled and nodded his head in response to the girls compliment, ”Thanks…” Sam said with a smile as he looked down to Bruno and patted the dog on the head, and Bruno responded with a deep breath and then yawned. ”His name is Bruno, go say hello!” Sam said as he nudged Bruno forward from the back of his head. The dog’s large paw lifted and his head lowered as he sniffed the air then started to trot forward with a happily wagging tail.

”Alina, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Sam said as he took a few steps forward following Bruno and extended his hand with a smile still on his face, ”My name is Sam,” he paused for a second then nodded his head acknowledging her purpose. ”Just so happens I handle some greetings/tours and all the residency paperwork.”

Taking a bite of his sandwich he looked from the girl to the door and then back to Alina who Bruno was now sniffing curiously, ”Your not moving in today are you or did you leave your bags outside?” he shrugged slightly then added, ”And if you like I could give you an official tour of this place.”

Alina smiled and reached to scratch the dog, Bruno's, ears. She looked up from the ear scratching and replied to Sam's offer:

"It's nice to meet you too, Sam. I'm new to the mansion. I've never been here before, but I just wanted to take a look around before I made my official decision to go here." Not that I have anywhere else that I can go... or be welcome at, she thought. "I would love to have a tour."

He seemed like a very nice person and was a very efficient greeter in her mind. She had a brief thought and wondered where he had gotten the sandwich but quickly shook that thought into the back of her mind and walked up next to him. Inside she was excited by the whole experience. Maybe life in New York wasn't going to be as hard as she originally thought if everyone was nice enough to take a complete stranger on a tour.

"Lead on." She said with a grin.

Nodding his head he smiled and turned his back towards her turning his head slightly revealing his good eye in her direction, ”Hope you don’t mind if we start the kitchen, I remember the first time came here a few years back and I ended up eating half the fridge…” he paused slightly and shrugged his shoulders, ”It’s usually where I start most of the tours just for that reason,” he paused and took a bite of his sandwich, ”You hungry, our kitchen was recently restocked so there will be tons of options to choose from if your hungry, this is a school after all so there are a ton of sweets.”

Sam let out a small laugh and took another bite of his sandwich before he snapped his fingers for Bruno who came obediently to the master’s side knowing they were heading for the kitchen. ”So Alina, care to tell me a little about yourself? Starting for example,” Sam paused and turned into the kitchen and waved Bruno over to the floor where a piece of lunch meat seemed to have slipped away from his sandwich when he created it.

”I’m twenty-one years old, I’m not only a greeter here but am the self defense instructor here at the mansion, and when the weather holds up, I enjoy spending my day outside either by the pool or chasing the big lummox over here around the grounds.” he looked over to Bruno who lifted his head with a piece of ham dangling from his mouth. Sam let out a small chuckle before he turned his attention back to Alina, ”What do you like to do, I like to make the tour as interesting as possible starting with the things that interest you.”

Walking over to the fridge and opening the door his eyes traveled around for a carton of milk, which he shook once and smiled when the sound revealed it wasn’t empty. Closing the door and going for a glass that was on the counter drying due to the unusual back up of dishes in the dishwasher he filled the glass and took a sip of the milk, ”So can I get you anything to eat or drink?” Sam asked to the girl.

Alina listened attentively to everything that Sam was saying and followed him closely, afraid she might get lost. They would start out in the kitchen, he explained, as was tradition. When offered a drink she answered with a polite, “Yes, milk would be great.” While she waited for her milk, she began to tell him about herself.

“I'm sixteen years old, and I just moved to New York about a month ago. I was born in Croatia.” She paused and thought of her home almost longingly. “I helped my dad with his fishing business back home, so I really enjoy sailing and swimming. I also really like reading outside and playing with my little brother.” She shrugged. What else could she say without rambling on for hours?

“Hm...” She said. “I'm a mutant,” Obviously, or I wouldn't be here, she thought to herself dumbly. “It's been hard for me to adjust to life here in New York.” She shut her mouth with an almost audible snap. Was she getting too much into her personal life? She took a gulp to regroup. “I just want to find a place that feels like home, you know? I want to feel normal and have normal friends.” Eh, might as well get it all out there now. “Can I be normal here?”

Sam nodded his head and smiled as he placed his glass on the counter and reached for a fresh glass for Alina, ”Here,” he slid the glass on the counter towards Alina and then returned to his own glass taking a sip of it while Bruno laid down on the floor satisfied to chew away at what ever bit of ham was left over.

When she described her likes and dislikes Sam nodded his head and took another sip of milk, ”Normal?” he asked understanding the word but never being able to fully experience the meaning of it himself, secret assassin when he was a kid, fugitive in his teens and then in his early twenties teacher and leader of the X-men, anything but normal in his book but he nodded his head. ”Moves are always hard, new place, new people, can be a bit scary right?” he asked knowing where to take her after the kitchen.

Taking another sip of his drink leaving a small white mustache above his lip he finally answered her question, ”Normal by whose standards?” alright so it wasn’t the best answer to her question but he was intending to get her thinking, ”Will you have friends if you go here, I have no doubt, will you learn again I have no doubt, and will you grow and have fun?” he nodded his head, ”Yeah, as normal as it can be for us who are different.” he took another sip of his milk and added, ”There are tons of kids your age here, with mutations just like you, maybe not the same type of mutation but they would be labeled different elsewhere.”

Finishing his milk and turning to the dishwasher he opened it and placed the glass, ”Now how about we look at the swimming pool?” Sam asked with a smile, for the most part it is open for more than half the year, though a majority of the kids hear don’t really jump in when it’s cold but, I’m an exception.”[/color]

Alina felt much better about, well everything, after her glass of milk and Sam's answer. She was comforted by his words and instantly relaxed. She was also happily surprised that he was, at least in her mind, a pesce, or fish. He seemed to enjoy the water as much as she did. Well, almost as much.

“That was actually the next question I was going to ask you,” She said with a laugh. “If the school had a swimming pool. I would love to see it.”

She was excited to see the place where she would undoubtedly spend the most of her free time at. She was disgusted at the terrible state the Hudson River was in. She shuddered at the thought of swimming in it. But a pool, right in her house, seemed perfect. She was dying to shift soon. Her body craved the water, both in form and out. Her hearts beat faster at the exciting thought of her body flowing through the water with carefree ease. She couldn't help grinning as she followed Sam. Her mind was definitely made up. This was going to be her new home. It was perfect.

”Not had, have” Sam corrected with a smile, ”Right this way then!” he said whistling and slapping his side with his hand to get Bruno to tag along, purposely taking a longer route towards the pool Sam led Alina by the music room, and a few more classrooms before pushing one of the side entrance doors open and then waving her along.

”Right this way, now that is showed you a few of the class rooms I don’t feel like that bad of a tour guide!” rounding the corner of the mansion the entered the official ‘Backyard’ area Bruno took off running when he spotted a squirrel off in the distance near the more woodsy area, ”So this is our back yard and that next to the grill and patio is the pool, fully equipped with a water slide and diving board!” Sam said proudly as he walked on the stone pathway towards the large pool.

”Every now and then me and a few of the older students or teachers, will through some kind of pool party, get some music going and the grill cooking, great way to get to know the other mansionites better.” Sam nodded as he got closer to the pool he added ”Any questions, comments, or thoughts?” he asked curiously?

Alina was thrilled with the school, especially the pool. Sam was an excellent tour guide, and was very friendly. It was obvious that she would stay here.

“I only have one question.” She said, walking around the pool. She was excited to get to know people. This was the best place for that. This was her home now.

“When can I move in?” She asked with a huge smile.

(OOC: We can end the thread there if you like. It seems a nice way to rap it up.)