Back in California Locke hesitated to go to his school's guidance counselor. The guy was utterly useless, trying to get him to take extra years of a language to get a sequence that he already had. Thankfully by the time he'd gotten into high school and had that horrid guidance counselor most of the academic complications caused by the crash and rehab had been sorted out. Gym was the only thing that he had to be concerned about. He might not like Kendra all that much, but he trusted her to get him in the classes he needed to be in. It did not mean that he could turn to her about his future. She hadn't want to talk about the present, his being a mutant, and he didn't want to talk about the past. Technically speaking she was the closest thing he had to a parent, but he couldn't talk to her about this ball of confusion that was thrust onto him when he turned seventeen.

Never before had there been this much pressure to perform well in school. Yeah his Dad wasn't happy when Locke came home with a D on his math tests, but he accepted that it was the best that he could do, and they celebrated the C's when they came as if they were an A. Just last year it didn't even make a difference to him as long as they weren't F's. Now it was like he needed to get perfect grades in all his classes, and that was an impossible task for him. Even more annoying was that he didn't even know if his struggles were worth it. Kendra wanted him to go to college, and he was pretty sure his dad would want that as well. There were days though when Locke didn't even know if he wanted to finish high school. There was no way he was getting out of taking the SAT. He just needed someone who could help him figure out what to do with his life.

Perhaps the most frightening thing about his future, other than the lack of a plan, was that he really had no clue what he could do. There wasn't much that he was passionate about, and the things that he was, probably wouldn't be a good life plan. Nobody pays heroes, so just using his mutation was out. The whole baseball thing was out the window. He loved his little brother and sister, but there was a serious doubt that Kendra would allow him to just take care of them the rest of his life. No financial income with that.

So with his misgivings towards meetings with guidance counselors Locke asked if he could talk to Ms. Taylor about some things. He was running a little late. After knocking Locke entered the office. Not even five minutes ago he'd been wrestling with himself. Literally. Locke had made a golem about his size and was trying to fight it. The task was deliciously difficult. Yes he had the advantage of knowing what the golem was going to do, since he was the one commanding it, but the golem was stronger. His hair was all sorts of messed up, meaning that his eye was exposed, and his clothes were rumpled. When he had been controlling the golem he had been careless, and now sported a split lip. "I'm sorry I'm late Ms. Taylor," he apologized, "I was doing a little training and didn't hear my watch talk.".

Locke took a half step into the office and froze up for a second. He had seen Ms. Taylor on Halloween, but that wasn't when he was in his right mind, and he had no recollection of what she did. The entire left side of his vision suddenly vanishing and the lack of anything familiar feeling in his brain filled him in on what he had missed out by thinking he was John Kramer. He licked his lips, being careful, and stretched his hands ever so slightly in front of him. This was his first time in the room, so he didn't know how far things were, and he didn't want to look stupid by crashing into the furniture.

Gemma didn't spend much time in her office. She had one, because she needed to have one, but she preferred to talk to students in settings that were more comfortable for them, like the living room, the kitchen, or during a walk on the Mansion grounds. It was better for everyone and they knew that; she rarely ever had anyone wantig to come and see her at the office.

She looked up from her book when the boy entered; she had been waiting for a while now, wondering if he would show up at all, or if he'd changed his mind. It happened, every once in a while.

>>"I'm sorry I'm late Ms. Taylor. I was doing a little training and didn't hear my watch talk.".

"It's fine, Locke" she smiled, putting the book away. She didn't walk closer to him; she could see he was taken aback by the effect of her aura, and gave him time to get used to it.

"Take your time" she said, watching him "Most people need to get used to my powers before they feel comfortable. Take a seat." she nodded towards a chair. "Do you need something on that? I have a first aid kit." she asked, looking at his lips. Training, he said. She smirked. That seemed to be the primary cause of wounds and injuries in the school. Or at least, so they kept telling her.

“It’s just been awhile since I had to fly solo,” Locke told Ms. Taylor. For the last five years and some odd months his mutation had helped him navigate the world. Even on Halloween when he thought he was someone else his power was still there, he just didn’t know how to read the vibrations. This time there was nothing, and he was sure of that. Locke wasn’t going to lie to himself and say that her powers didn’t bother him. He was frightened, but not nearly as much as he had been when he got stuck in the wall. If she turns off your powers forever, then anyone who spoke with her before wouldn’t be a mutant still, and I don’t think she’d be hired if she did any permanent damage.[/i] he reasoned.

Sitting down felt good after his training session and the dash to get here. As always using his powers ended up making him really thirsty. Ms. Taylor asked if he wanted anything for his lip. Locke considered it briefly, before shaking his head no. “Just a tissue,” Lips were sensitive and he cringed to think of putting anything on it. It stung enough as is. How much worse would it be to put any sort of antiseptic on? He made a quick mental note to avoid Listerine for the next few days. “Tongues and lips heal fast,”

As he gently dabbed at his lip with the tissue Locke took the time to study the office and think of how to succinctly explain the situation he found himself in. You could tell a lot about someone by what they choose to surround themselves with. Locke’s room had a few books in it, the majority of them being his textbooks, a neatly made bed, and pictures of his family on the nightstand. “I think,” he said slowly, giving pause to find the right words, “I think I’m wasting time with school.”

Gemma gave him a tissue; the injury was nothing to be concerned about, she'd seen worse every day. Scratches and bruises gained during tranings were just as normal as they were in any other, normal school. She turned her attention to what he wanted to talk about instead.

>>“I think... I think I’m wasting time with school.”

One of Gemma's eyebrows arched just the tiniest bit; she looked at Locke without glancing at his file. "You came here about... a year ago, right?" she asked, them smiled a bit "You have been here much longer than me, that's for sure. So, I'm going to work with you on this, and not give you the standard 'school is important' speech I have ready for emergencies." she winked "It's stupid anyway. So, Locke. Why do you think you are wasting time with school?"

Ms. Taylor didn’t shoot Locke down right away when he said what was on his mind. He didn’t really have anyone he could speak to about these sort of concerns. Tarin had kept trying to turn the conversation to love and girls when they were at a baseball game. Locke wondered how Ms. Taylor knew so much about him. It wasn’t worrying. Quite the opposite, because it meant that she looked into the students here, and most likely would be an improvement on his last counselor. “Not high school. I get that it’s important,” he clarified. McDonalds might be willing to hire him now, but they might not be too happy if he never got his diploma. Since he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life it didn’t make a difference if he settled on a mediocre retail or food service job.

“Ok, so it’s a little stupid,” he confessed under her gaze, “I’m suppose to take this test, the SAT.” He hadn’t even heard of it before Kendra sent him the prep books prior to his birthday. It wasn’t like he had any older siblings that had done it, and his friend back west, while a year older, had failed English enough times that he was held back. Kendra impressed upon him that the SAT would be the single most important test he would take in his life, and that his junior year of high school was the only year that made a difference in the end. Taking the SAT was one of those things he couldn’t argue with Kendra about. She had the legal custody and she made the big choices. If it was something detrimental to his health or well being then maybe he could have gotten into another one of their debates. Ms. Taylor did not seem shocked about the existence of this grave exam, and it made Locke doubt his dad. He had to have had some sort of plan for Locke’s life. “Half the thing is math, and I’m pulling D’s in that, so my score is going to be lower than the stock market circa nineteen twenty nine. There's no point in trying on it. I'm going to score low. Low scores and bad grades don't get you into colleges, and that's just a waste of money.” Technically speaking the math was one third of the test, but Locke was pretty sure that the SAT board had just chopped the English portion in half. Besides which the average score had math being higher.

It all boiled down to a future that was unclear and he was hurtling towards. Lip stinging from the talking he asked, "How'd you end up here? Not here the school, here in life.". Locke never thought to ask Kendra about the choices she had made in life, and part of the guidance he needed now could only come from hearing other people's experience.

>>“Ok, so it’s a little stupid. I’m suppose to take this test, the SAT. Half the thing is math, and I’m pulling D’s in that, so my score is going to be lower than the stock market circa nineteen twenty nine. There's no point in trying on it. I'm going to score low. Low scores and bad grades don't get you into colleges, and that's just a waste of money.”

Gemma smirked as she listened to Locke. He seemed to have a pretty good handle on what he did not want to do, and why. She'd heard those reasons millions of times from millions of students. They all meant it.

"If you can come up with a metaphor like that, I don't think it's a lost cause" she grinned "And if math is the only problem, I'm sure we can find someone here who would be willing to be your tutor. The only question is if you would like to go to college or not. We can figure out the rest."

>>"How'd you end up here? Not here the school, here in life.".

Now that was a change of subject. He seemed genuinely interested; Gemma decided she'd humor him; it was always easier to talk to students if they knew and trusted her.

"That's a long story" she smiled "The only thing I was really good at in high shcool was sports. I went to college, and after that, I worked as a coach... and then as a guidance counselor" she said "Of course it was a bit complicated than that... but I like being where I am now." she smiled "In my experience, the only thing that matters is to do a thing you really like doing. People usually find a way to make a living of what they really like."

“If you can come up with a metaphor like that, I don't think it's a lost cause.” Locke shook his head no. “That’s history and English. I’ll have to get high scores for the writing and critical reading to get close to the average.” No need to tell her that the higher the score he got overall, the better. Most colleges, he discovered, wanted to have at least the average. His high school grades were critical as well, but there was no fixing the past now, and he was struggling with the future.

A guilty look took over Locke’s face. He had already traveled as far from home without needing a passport or getting on a plane, so the distance from home wasn’t anything to keep him from going to college. Locke felt better for getting out of that house, even if it meant that he had to say goodbye to his little siblings. “That’s the problem with school Ms. Taylor.” he said, “I’m not going to jump into something without knowing what I’m getting into.”

Even though she said that it was a long story, Ms. Taylor kept it brief. Something inside of Locke’s chest sank. She hadn’t helped him with her story, only made the question of his future all the more puzzling. A hand went through his messed up hair, trying to get the tangles out and back into place. “Sports are out for me. I can’t play baseball. I like writing, but not for a living. Being a mutant won’t help me take care of my brother and sister, and I am not going to be stuck to a museum because I like history.” Could he do the same thing as Ms. Taylor? Probably not since he didn’t even like handling his own issues.

>>“Sports are out for me. I can’t play baseball. I like writing, but not for a living. Being a mutant won’t help me take care of my brother and sister, and I am not going to be stuck to a museum because I like history.”

Gemma listened patiently and allowed plenty of time for Locke to put his thoughts into words. In her experience, that was the beginning of the road to a solution; first the kids had to find what their thoughts and problems were exactly; dealing with them came after that.

"Not jumping into anything is very wise" she nodded "Look, I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but you have time. At your age, it's not the time to choose what you will be; it's the time to try a lot of things and figure out what you want to be. And there are more options you can imagine. Maybe you don't see them right now; but my job is to help you find them." she smiled "And the fact that you are a mutant is not a disadvantage at all."

She paused, before she brought up something else.

"When I discovered my powers, I had no idea why anyone would have the ability to cancel mutant powers. It just didn't make sense, and I didn't know what to do with it. And then, I slowly figured out it can be quite useful from time to time, and then, sometimes, it can even save a life. But it wasn't until much later that I found that out." she smirked "As I said. You have time."

She looked at the boy; he was young. A teenager. Like most of the others in the school.

"Are you the only one to take care of your brother and sister?"

Strange how Ms. Taylor said he didn’t need to know what he wanted to do. The few college applications that he had looked at said otherwise. All of them wanted to know what areas of study he was interested in. Even in high school classes were tailored slightly to suit interests. Unless you were Eaan and your guidance counselor thought that band was a waste of time when you wanted to go to college for music. Locke paused his mind’s current train of thought to contemplate if music was something he’d like to pursue. He did enjoy playing his bass, but he didn’t want to be up on a stage in front of a crowd. It was fine for his friend, but it wasn’t Locke’s dream. “Then help me,” he asked of Ms. Taylor, needing it. He hated asking for help.

There had been some miscommunication, and Locke hesitated to tell her that he meant that being a mutant wasn’t a job, it was just a part of who you were. It didn’t make a difference in the end he decided. “Their mom takes care of them too,” he said, “But I wasn’t in school when they first were born, and it was either let Kendra be overwhelmed and hear them cry all day, or help. They got bigger, I helped more. Doing their laundry, picking them up from daycare, making dinner, putting them to bed…”. He shrugged his shoulders, as if it wasn’t any big deal. It never occurred to him that he often did more of the work raising them then Kendra, not that she was neglectful. Locke just naturally took over. “Why?”

>>“Then help me.”

"That's the plan." Gemma nodded. She knew it was not easy for anyone to ask for help so openly; she appreciated his honesty, and was glad he made that first step. They will be able to work with that.

>>“Their mom takes care of them too. But I wasn’t in school when they first were born, and it was either let Kendra be overwhelmed and hear them cry all day, or help. They got bigger, I helped more. Doing their laundry, picking them up from daycare, making dinner, putting them to bed… Why?”

She nodded as she listened to him talk about his family. She'd read some of it in his file; not much though. Certainly not the important parts.

"I asked because you said you have to take care of them" she explained "And obviously you want to find your way in life as soon as possible, so you can help them too." she looked at him "I can't tell you the answer to your question. You are the one who has to know and decide what you want to do in your life. You know what you are interested in, or what you could imagine yourself doing. Once you start coming up with possible answers to that question, I can help you figure out how to achieve your goals, and make a living of it." she smiled. She let the words sink in, allowing him time to understand what she meant, before she went on.

"It is not easy being a mutant, even without a physical mutation" she continued "You can choose many things that have nothing to do with your abilities, and that is completely fine. You can also decide to do what some people around here do, use your powers for the greater good, saving people and all that. It doesn't pay as well though." she smirked "I think that as cliché as it sounds, the best way is somewhere in between. You, Locke, can literally move the earth if you need to." she smiled "But you are also more than just your abilities."

Locke’s eyes widened, or to be more accurate his right eye did so, while the left eyelid simply opened up more, the eye itself still facing blankly ahead. He never even realized that he had said he had to take care of his brother and sister. Did it mean that he felt forced into it? No, not really. It was what he wanted. Saying that he had to take care of his siblings made him feel more like he was their dad, and had to figure out his future for them, not himself. Locke absorbed her words. He didn’t get the direct answer that he was hoping for. To be honest Locke hadn’t expected that, but it still frustrated him. “It’s more like a million wrong answers, and I’m not finding the right one,” he said. That was his problem with math as well.

When Ms. Taylor mentioned him making the earth move Locke smiled. “I love being a mutant,” he confessed. Other than the super hero thing which had already been dismissed he couldn’t think of much that his powers would be useful for. Moving earth, the way that she said it, made him think of a loud and large piece of machinery on a construction site. “I don’t think I could be a construction worker. The whole cat calling thing…” Really he had said that as a joke, but it did make him realize something else about college that he wasn’t looking forward to. “If, and that’s a big if, I do decide to go to college and I get in one, I’d be missing out on something that is suppose to be so great about it. High school is bad enough with trying to fit in, but college? I’m more suited to be around kids and parents. I mean I have some friends here but…”

>>“I love being a mutant... I don’t think I could be a construction worker. The whole cat calling thing… If, and that’s a big if, I do decide to go to college and I get in one, I’d be missing out on something that is suppose to be so great about it. High school is bad enough with trying to fit in, but college? I’m more suited to be around kids and parents. I mean I have some friends here but…”

Gemma smiled a bit as she listened. He said he loved being a mutant. That was a good attitude. Kids wrestling with accepting their mutations were a lot harder to deal with; at least Locke seemed to have that part sorted out, more or less. Also, he didn't want to be a construction worker. She was not going to talk him into it.

"Well, in my experience" she said, and then paused "fitting in at college was a lot easier than high school. Of course there were problems sometimes, and nobody can protect you from stupid people, but... I think in any ways college is easier to manage than high school, at least in this sense. People are more mature, they have similar interests, they are more open-minded..." she said, and smiled "I think, as a mutant, you have a great head start on the whole issue of fitting in. You'd do just fine."

She sat back.

"So, you are saying you're good with kids?" she smirked "That's a tough job, that is. But it also happens to be something I know a bit about."

Locke really couldn’t say anything about what college was like. All he had to go off of were the impressions that movies and television had given him. Not all colleges had fraternities, he knew that, but it was certainly a strong impression. ”You also have people split up, by year, by area of study, even by where you live on campus.” he reminded Ms. Taylor, “And there’s that whole ring by spring thing that you hear about.” There was a slight ting of red to his ears at mentioning that. Locke wasn’t going to go much farther with the whole romance thing. He was already missing out on the high school sweetheart thing.

“Yeah, I mean they aren’t as intimidating,” Locke had to admit, “I can figure out what Chris and Mai want, and what’s wrong when they’re upset. When they’re young everything is more simple. There aren’t the politics of being popular, or at least it isn’t as big a deal.” Locke couldn’t think of when he had suddenly become so aware of how he looked and where he was on the totem pole of popularity. When he was Chris’s age about the only thing he cared about when it came to being cool was wearing the popular shoes. At age twelve it was much the same, though, he supposed, around then he wanted to be normal like everyone else. Maybe with him it was his circumstances that made him need to act a certain way. “But the younger you are the more the big things can hurt. Divorce, moving, any trouble at home and your whole world can shatter. It’s hard to get through, let alone past.”

Of course Ms. Taylor probably knew all of that. After all she was a guidance counselor. It doesn’t feel right calling her that. She’s not like any guidance counselor back in San Francisco.

>>”You also have people split up, by year, by area of study, even by where you live on campus. And there’s that whole ring by spring thing that you hear about.”

Gemma chuckled at that. "Nobody will force you into that unless you want to." she said "And I told you it's not paradise either. Just a bit easier than high school."

>>“Yeah, I mean they aren’t as intimidating. I can figure out what Chris and Mai want, and what’s wrong when they’re upset. When they’re young everything is more simple. There aren’t the politics of being popular, or at least it isn’t as big a deal.”

"They are also difficult to deal with, and require your full attention all the time" she smiled "Maybe it doesn't look like it, but working with young children is one of the hardest job you can choose. And it doesn't even pay that well."

>>“But the younger you are the more the big things can hurt. Divorce, moving, any trouble at home and your whole world can shatter. It’s hard to get through, let alone past.”

She nodded at that. Locke had a point. The boy was smart. And apparently he had a great deal of empathy.

"You are right about that." she agreed, and smiled again "And I can see you mean it. So, we already have one possibility to think about. And it happens to be one I can help you with." she smiled "See? It's not that hard."

A small smile planted itself on Locke’s lips. Ms. Taylor had no idea how easy it was for him to keep an eye on kids, even if he only had one eye. Locke could sense where people were as long as they had some sort of contact with the ground. Kids might climb up things, but it wasn’t as if they lived in trees or anything. While the kids were on the ground Locke could keep an eye on them as they ran about, and if they went someplace where he could not sense them, then he’d find them as soon as their feet touched ground. Locke liked little kids. They made him smile.

This was one of those moments when Locke got smacked in the face with how incredibly stupid he was. It should have occurred to him that he could try to make a living out of working with kids. After all the only thing he had wanted to do with his life for certain was to make certain that his little brother and sister grew up to be decent and healthy people. Ms. Taylor pointed out that working with children didn’t pay much. It didn’t surprise him, nor did it concern him too much. He couldn’t think of any occupation that he would be able to do that did pay well. The Californian knew a little bit about computers, but did not hold the same amount of interest in them that his father had. “Great, one option,” he said with his typical skepticism, though he was slightly pleased. Even one option was more than he had before he had gone in. “I’ll take you up on the help, but I don’t think I’d be a good guidance counselor. Too many personal issues.”