Chapter Text
Jean Grey was the girl everyone knew. The jocks, the preps, the cheerleaders, the nerds, and even the goths smiled and waved when Jean Grey walked by. Unlike the girls that obsess with gossip and deceit, Jean Grey wore her heart on her sleeve. Her promises rang true, and she listened intently to everyone’s problems. She was a star A-student, a people pleaser, and a good girl.
Then, she heard whispers. It was quiet, first, like a gust of wind blowing past. She shrugged it off, but she kept hearing more whispers.
“OMG, She looks soooooo fat in that outfit!”
“Who said that?” Jean would ask around, but no one owned up to it. She shrugged her shoulders, and went on with her day, hearing no whispers for the rest of the day,
“My God, look at that piece of meat!”
“Gross,” Jean said as she rolled her eyes, not realizing no one even said anything,
“What a bitch!”
“Excuse me?” Jean would say, calling out those who said that they were her best friends,
“God, Grey is weird! I bet she’s possessed by a demon!”
“What?” Jean said, turning her head around, finding no one there every time. She began to shift her eyes around, Who the hell was doing that whispering? And it just wouldn’t stop, not even when Jean put her hands over her ears. Like she was hearing these whispers without actually hearing it like she was… “I’m not crazy,” Jean said to herself, every morning as she was greeted with whispers.
Over time, Jean Grey realized these whispers were not her thoughts but were actually the people around her. It had to be! The whispers in the morning sound like her parents, wondering what’s bothering their daughter lately. The whispers in the afternoon sound like the classmates around her, bits of gossip floating around as Jean learned horrible truths and harsh words from the people she thought were her friends!
“Are you alright?” Said one of her friends, when Jean heard those words, “Why is she so freaking weird?” Janet didn’t eat as much anymore. She wasn’t as lively anymore. She didn’t hang around with people who were just using her, lying to her right to her face. But no matter what, the whispers were still there. And worse yet, they were getting louder and louder.
Jean would lay awake at night, hearing every dream and nightmare within the square block. She tried and tried to block out the blood-curdling screams of those falling forever or trapped in a box. She tried and tried to block out the wants and desires of everyone around her, getting an up-close look at just how human everyone around her is.
She ate alone at lunch, not having to look up to know who was watching her. How their whispers talked about how weird she was, how crazy she’s been lately, or how she was a freak. Jean before the whispers would’ve been hurt, her heart shattered to know just how everyone felt about her. But now? Jean began to become numb to the insults and comments, the whispers had worn down her stone-cold heart.
It was one day, surrounded by everyone who glanced at Jean, the whispers now deafening as Jean felt nauseous. They drilled into her brain, hammering against her forehead as she felt sweat bead down. She would’ve thrown up if she ate enough food. And Jean would try to go about her day, failing to restrain her shock at the knowledge forcibly entering her head. But today, she felt something burst inside her. Something that made her heart race, burning and alive as something in her soul finally had enough.
“SILENCE!!!” Said a voice that was not Jean’s, which floated out of her mouth and rang through the minds of everyone in the school. For a split second, everything and everyone floated. Books, papers, bikes, pencils, students, teachers, everything floated from the ground as Jean screamed out, stomping her feet as every electrical light shattered. Everyone was pulled back to the ground, their minds filled with the secrets and lies that floated around them, looking up in horror as Jean Grey’s eyes burned an ember red.
Jean blinked, and stood in the middle of the hallway, her nose bloody as everyone looked at her like she was the devil. She stepped forward to try and help someone up, but everyone pulled away from her, student and teacher alike. The announcement immediately called Jean to the office, and the cacophony of gossip and whispers blended together, as though they were one.
Jean sat outside the office, the muffled sounds of her parents and teachers yelling at each other deafening the school office, all the staff glancing over at Jean as though her face were melting. Jean curled up in her chair, her hood hiding her tears from the world,
“I WILL OWN THIS SCHOOL!!! I WILL OWN YOU!!!” Jean’s father roared out, slamming the office door as Jean’s mother hugged her daughter. Their whispers were the sweetest, though they still wonder what’s causing their daughter to be… different .
Jean’s parents took her to church. Of course, their first reaction is demon possession, how do you explain almost blowing up a school? The priests did their thing, spraying water onto Jean in silence. Their thoughts are just verses and phrases from the Bible, and it gives Jean some rest from the constant judgment. But, of course, there are no signs of any demons in Jean Grey, letting her know that at least she isn’t unholy.
Jean’s parents were stressed, their daughter the talk of the town. They love their daughter, and they’ll fight the whole world for their daughter… But it is weighing down on them. The constant stress of Jean’s condition was wearing their marriage down. Jean, unable to mute the constant voices, saw her parents' marriage slowly disintegrate before her eyes.
“Mom… Dad…” Jean said one day, almost hiding behind the door frame as tears welled up in her eyes, “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, I don’t… I don’t know what’s happening to me! I don’t--” Jean couldn’t even finish her apology as her parents bear hug their little girl,
“Oh honey,” Her father said as he rubbed her ginger hair, “You have nothing to be sorry for, hun. You are a good person! You make everyone’s day brighter!”
“But… But everyone hates me!” Jean said as she stepped away, trying to keep her emotions locked in, “Why does everyone hate me!? Everyone hates me, and I don’t know why!?” Jean lost herself in her tears, her parents keeping her up on her feet,
“Jean,” Her mother said as she held her daughter’s cheeks, wiping away her tears, “We don’t hate you, and nothing on this earth could make us hate you. You are our little star, our little angel!” They held their daughter tight, clearly haunted by some affliction, “No matter what happens, I and your father will stick side by side and be in your corner.” Jean wished she could smile, that she could be magically cured from this heart-to-heart talk. But the whispers of divorce still hovered over them.
It was three days later, and Jean lay in her room, music blasting her eardrums. Each day Jean stayed home and dared not to go outside, trying anything to drown out the whispers. It was that day Jean heard knocking on the door, the whispers of her father. As Jean got up, she suddenly no longer heard the whispers. She took off her earbuds, and for a moment, enjoying the silence with bliss. More knocking came, and Jean slowly lifted herself from the bed. She stumbled towards the door, her baggy eyes trying their best to close themselves shut. She cracked open the door, expecting her dad to try and get her to eat something,
“Sweetie? Could you come downstairs real quick?” Jean’s father said, Jean for the first time in weeks not being able to hear any voices, any whispers, any secrets, any lies. Jean followed her father down the stairs, wondering if this has to do with her parents’ thoughts on divorce lately. Hell, it could be a new sibling for all Jean knew!
“Hi, honey!” Her mother said as Jean and her father walked into the living room, the house was nice, clean, and bright. Jean, meanwhile, wore dark clothes as she looked around the room. If it weren’t for the man in the chair catching her attention, Jean would’ve noticed that her parents must’ve cleaned the house together,
The man in the chair was very notable for a couple of reasons. He was an older gentleman, with no hair on his clean, wrinkled scalp. He wore a dark green suit that
“Hello there, Ms. Grey,” The bald man said, lifting a cup of tea as Jean raised an eyebrow, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you!”
“Mom, dad, who is this guy?” Jean asked, trying to see if she could peek into his thoughts. Jean couldn’t believe it, but she was so used to those whispers that she has begun to rely on them!
“Jean, this is--” Jean’s mother stopped as Jean waited for her response. Jean looked over at her mother, only to find her frozen solid. Jean swiveled around to look at her dad, seeing that he was frozen as well
“Don’t be alarmed,” The man in the wheelchair said, strolling casually as Jean’s parents remained motionless, unblinking, unbreathing,
“What is this?” Jean said as she looked at her father, waving her hand in front of his face, “Am I having a seizure? Is this a coma dream?”
“You’re right about one thing, Jean. This,” The man said as he waved around, “Isn’t real. Well, to them, at least. To us, it is real in our minds.” The man rested his fingers on his temples, causing numerous amount of whispers to float around Jean,
“How are you doing this?” Jean asked, feeling her breath race as she moved back a step, “Who are you, what the hell is happening?”
“Ms. Jean Grey, I am Professor Charles Xavier,” The professor said, standing up as he walked over to Jean, “And I am interested in your student file!” Jean was stunned as Xavier paced around nonchalantly, “I mean, who wouldn’t? You’re a star A-student with good grades, a kind person who has a… well, had a positive outlook on things,” Charles said, his eyes looking at the sad girl, “Let’s have a walk, Jean.”
Jean and Professor Xavier walked through the living room and dining room, approaching the doors to the kitchen, “Is this magic?” Jean asked Charles,
“No, nothing about what we’re doing is supernatural! Rather, it’s fully natural!”
“So… Those whispers … they’re real people’s thoughts?”
“Intrusive thoughts,” Charles said, “I had to deal with them when I was your age. It’s always a wonder to meet another psychic!”
“Huh…” Jean said, looking down at the unreal floor, “It’s like a dream…”
“It’s the mindscape, Jean. A realm between the minds that you, I, and other psychic beings can enter, glimpsing into the minds and dreams of others, where anything is possible!” Xavier then turned the knobs on the two doors and opened them to reveal a magnificent garden. Jean walked through the doors to see a humongous mansion, one that was walled off from the outside world as the elegant architecture was no doubt a product of the enlightenment period.
“Oh my God!” Jean said as she marveled at the mansion, walking up the step stones near a water fountain, “This place is gorgeous!”
“Thank you, my grandfather built it for my family. It was my home for a while,” Xavier said, walking around the cobblestone steps, “But as I grew older, I began to hear intrusive thoughts as well. I thought I was insane, but then I discovered something about myself that I have discovered in other people all around the world!” Xavier said as he opened another door, Jean barely kept up as she walked into an auditorium, with chalkboards that reached toward the ceiling, “We are mutants!”
“A mutant?” Jean said, “No… No, I… I can’t be a mutant! My parents aren’t mutants!”
“No, but they are two of the few homo sapiens on earth with the ability to create the next advancement of humanity!” Xavier said, looking at the formulas that he wrote out in his college days, “A mutant is a new hominid, Jean. One that is no longer homo sapien. That you, I, and the many thousands upon thousands of people around the world are going under the effects of nature’s most powerful creation: the X-Gene!
“Homo Superior, as I called the new hominid, has access to the X-Gene, a gene in our DNA that can change the human body to go beyond the limits of normal people. For you and I, it is the gift of telepathy!”
“So… I am a mutant? I’m a… A freak?” Around Xavier and Jean, echoes of her classmates rang through the false reality, Xavier sighed as he heard the echoes,
“No, no, no my dear! You are… extraordinary!” Xavier said as he listened to the whispers, “Look around you, Jean! You have the ability to read minds, and the ability to move objects with your mind as well!” Jean shook her head as she paced around, “Is something the matter?”
“How is this extraordinary?” Jean asked as she pointed at herself, “You’re telling me because of some stupid chromosomes, everyone hates me? That I’m not even human!?” Jean said as she stomped away, that familiar burning emanating from her heart, “Oh no, AGH!!!”
Charles looked around, sensing the presence of… something else. Whatever it was, it came deep from Jean’s psyche, in the interconnected realms of the unconscious mind. He looked over at Jean, clutching her aching head as she cried out in pain, her thoughts of her parents being nearby popping through the realm.
“Calm down, Jean, let your mind unwind,” Xavier calmly said as he pressed his fingers against his head, and Jean could see some sort of wave exude from his mind, like a haze or a mirage in a desert. Suddenly, the burning rage that writhed inside Jean’s head cooled off, slumbering as Jean felt the dulling pain in her head fade.
“H-how did you do that?” Jean asked, smiling as she rubbed her head,
“I accepted the weirdest part of myself,” Charles said, leading Jean to walk back into the living room, “You desperately need someone to help you control your powers, to teach you how to handle intrusive thoughts and the great potential that dwells inside your mind. Perhaps, Jean, you’ll learn more than to hear just whispers,” Charles sat back in his wheelchair as Jean stood in the doorway, “Let me teach you how to control your powers, and I will ask for nothing from you.”
“Can you really help me?” Jean asked, tears streaming down her bright cheeks, stretched by her long-lost smile,
“Of course, Jean, of course!” Charles said, everything around them warping and changing back to the Grey Living Room, “Now then, back to positions?” Charles said with an arched eyebrow, sitting back down in his wheelchair. Jean chuckled and stood back to where she first was in the living room. Suddenly, her parents blinked to life again,
“--Professor Charles Xavier, founder of Xavier’s School for Gifted Students!” Her mother finished, the whole exchange between Jean and Charles taking only a second in the mindscape. The only hint Jean’s parents had was a quick flicker in the lights within the house. Charles waited, smiling as he knew what Jean was going to say anyways,
“I’m interested!” Jean said, smiling as she immediately sat down across from the Professor,
“Now, hold on a second,” Jean looked at her father, who had his arms crossed, “What about tuition? And is this a private school? Elaine, we’re not gonna send our daughter away, are we?”
“I understand your concern,” Xavier said, folding his hands as he leaned back, “Yes, my school is a private school, accepting a wide range of gifted students from all around the world!”
Jean could break through the fence that Xavier put her mind in, and saw her father’s thoughts. Distrust. Suspicion. Anger. Stress. All these emotions poured onto Jean’s mind like the waves of the sea against a shore. Jean reached into her father’s mind, and cleared his suspicions, tore down his distrust, cooled his anger, and numbed his stress. It was like playing music with a harp, plucking at the strings of the human psyche.
Jean’s father looked confused, then dropped his arms and smiled at the Professor, “Could we visit?”
“Of course!” The Professor said, “Though you would need to schedule it around Jean’s school schedule, as this school does offer the best education in the tri-state area.”
“Wait, your school is in New York?” Jean’s mother said, smiling as her cheeks brightened, “And here I thought you were in England!”
“New England, Mrs. Grey,” Xavier said, “Westchester, Upstate New York is where my school is. And as for tuition, we have none. Our school is funded by wealthy graduates and donors who are the parents of some of the students at the school. It’s practically free!”
“When can I start?” Jean asked, smiling brightly for the first time in weeks. Her parents looked at their daughter, then at the Professor,
“Our daughter could use a breath of fresh air,” Jean’s father then gulped, shuffling in his feet, “Uh… Any rumors you may have heard--”
“Just mere rumors, Mr. Grey, nothing more. I assure you, Jean is in good hands and can start class next Monday. However, she can move into her board of residence and set up her room as soon as tomorrow!”
“Mom, dad,” Jean said, looking at her parents who looked endearingly at their daughter, “Please?”
“Well… It seems the best thing for her, John,” Jean’s mother said,
“Jean,” Jean’s father said, “If it’s what you truly want, then yes, you can go.” Jean smiled brightly as the Professor smirked with a sense of victory,
“Excellent! I shall get things prepared, let me get my helper and star student of my school,” Xavier then leaned towards the kitchen, “Scott!”
“Coming Professor!” Rushing into the room was a tall, handsome-looking boy that wore a pair of thick, red sunglasses. The boy then paused and looked at Jean, smiling brightly as he held out her hand, “Hi.”
“Hi,” Jean said, blushing as she shook his head,
“Scott, meet Jean Grey. She’ll join our school and is moving into one of our dorms!”
“Great!” Scott said as he walked over to the Professor, unlocking his wheels, “We’ll look forward to meeting you!”
“Good day, Mr. and Mrs. Grey, I shall expect you tomorrow afternoon!” Xavier and Jean’s dad shook hands, and they left the home of the Greys. Jean made sure that they went to the car, their door closing as Jean jumped in the air, hugged her parents, and ran up the stairs toward her room,
Jean was practically squealing as she started to box up the most important things she needed, reusing school materials that she didn’t use at her school. Jean boxed up her clothing, her books, her supplies, her makeup, and her computer. She spent the remainder of the night with her parents, watching movies as Jean tried hard to do the things that the Professor did. She could see images of her parents' minds, though they were only flashes, showing no true insight behind them.
Jean was able to dream again, to actually visit the land of nod. She dreams of the mansion, walking down the halls of the school, and meeting people who actually like her for who she is. But Jean then came across a dark hallway and saw something in the shadows. Jean gasped, as she saw a burning flame echoing through the darkness. It flapped against the endless void, racing towards Jean as it stayed across the hallway.