Secrets in the Stars

Sunrise was falling over the trees when I pulled up to the school. It reminded me of all the years I spent walking the grounds, alone. I was alone often as a young girl; the other kids didn’t concern themselves much with me. I never wondered why.

But the sun creeping through the stunningly green leaves took my breath away, as it always had. The school was completely surrounded by so much beautiful nature; the building itself was covered in the greenest ivy vines I had ever seen. When I got older, I would spend a lot of time reading in the white gazebo in the flower garden. Uncle X (my nickname for Xavier) told me all the time about how long it had taken my mother to plant the flowers… She was responsible for nearly all of them.

“The roses were her favorites,” He would say. “Especially the pink ones. She would pick them after bloom and rub them gently on her belly while she was pregnant with you.”

My mother arrived at the school at sixteen, pregnant and alone. She discovered her powers around thirteen, and kept them a secret from everyone. Then, she got pregnant and everything changed. She told Uncle X why she had run away…

After she told them that she was pregnant, my father was murdered by her abusive father, upon whom she unleashed her abilities. She could control elements of the earth, mostly plant life. The last time she saw him, he was being choked nearly to death by the limbs of the maple tree she had spent her childhood playing on.

“Your mother told me once,” Uncle X explained, “that it had taken all of her strength to let your grandfather out of that tree. When she ran away, all she could think about was how he had spent her whole life blaming her for her mother’s death. You see, your grandmother had died giving birth to your mother, just had she had passed on giving birth to you. According to your mother, it was a pattern for the women in her family. Every time a girl was born, the mother would die giving birth to them. Your grandfather blamed your mother for the passing of his wife, even though it wasn’t her fault at all.”

It was always a hard story to hear.

After Xavier had sent me away to Seattle (my mother’s hometown), I tried to track down any living relatives I may have had. The search didn’t go well and ended quickly. My grandfather had died of cancer, and there were no living extended relatives on either my mother or father’s sides of the family. My father was an only child with dead parents and my mother’s only brother had died in the military before getting married or having any children.

Except for Xavier, I had no family. My first few months in Seattle was the saddest time of my life. But eventually, I made friends and began to live whatever “normal life” a teenager could live, alone in a new city with no parents to keep me in check. I had a teenager’s dream for my life, as my friends would say. But I was always quick to remind them that I’d rather have a family than be alone.

That was why I felt tears pouring out of my eyes as I pulled up to the school. The only family I had ever known was behind the large double doors, and I couldn’t wait to find him and feel his hugs again.

Uncle X and the Professors hadn’t been expecting me, as I hadn’t told anyone I was coming home. They were sure to find my return surprising.

Will they even remember me? My brain echoed my fears.

I parked my VW bug in front of the garage and grabbed my bags out of the trunk. I ran back around to the front doors and up the steps, my heart racing hard inside of my chest. It would be just after dinner right about now, and the students would be winding down at the end of a beautiful summer day spent taking classes outside. My hands shook violently as I opened the doors—

I walked inside to find that everything looked almost exactly the same, even some of the faces. Kids were running up and down the halls, teenagers whispering into each other’s ears while leaning against the walls next to paintings of the First Class, some of Xavier’s brightest students, and of course, the star members of the X-Men. The decor was mostly the same, the mahogany walls and floors hadn’t changes a bit, either—still polished to perfection.

As I entered, coming down the staircase was a beautiful woman with flawless skin and long, white hair. She wore a smile you wouldn’t soon forget.

“Hello there,” she said curiously, and a bit cautiously. “Are you lost?”

I shook my head, unable to say a word. Of course I knew who she was… But she didn’t remember me, apparently.

I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt during that first look, considering my chestnut brown hair was much longer than it used to be, with platinum blonde and pink highlights running through it. I had finally grown into my Marilyn-esque curves, though I hadn’t grown much in height. But I knew she’d recognize me once I showed her my golden brown eyes. I kept my sunglasses on, waiting for the right moment. She had to come closer to me.

“No,” I replied, my voice was surprisingly calm. “Not lost at all.”

She came to the bottom step and carefully approached me. “My name is Storm,” she said. “Who are—“ She was finally within perfect range; I removed my sunglasses. Storm didn’t say another word, just looked at me closely. Her eyes grew wide as she realized who she was looking at. “Oh my God…” She sighed, then smiled. “Star?”

I nodded, not sure of what else to do. I could feel my porcelain white skin turning cherry red as my eyes began to water.

Storm lunged forward, taking me into her arms as if she thought she might have never seen me again—for all I knew, that’s exactly what she had thought.

Behind her I saw Scott Summers and Jean Grey running down the steps. Something about the sight of them seemed new to me, as if they had been reborn.

“Star?!” Scott called out. He and Jean ran over to give me hugs as well.

This was surprising, to say the least. A welcome home I hadn’t imagined before.

“Come quick,” said Scott happily. “We have to take you to see the Professor—“

“But I—“ I was having a trouble with words. Every time I tried to speak, they came out in a jumbled mess.

Scott grabbed my hand and led me up the staircase. At this time of night, I knew exactly where Uncle X would be, and so did all of the Professors. Storm ran in front of Scott and the three of them rambled on and on about how grown-up I looked and how happy they were to see me.

“He’s going to be so surprised!” Jean said excitedly. “Unless, did you call him and talk to him before hand?”

That’s when the footsteps ceased, and the realization of what I had done came to them all.

“Oh boy…” Storm sighed.

“Wait, Star,” Scott began. “Professor sent you to the West because he thought it wasn’t safe for you here.”

The tone. Scott was using his “fathering” tone, as I had liked to call it. I stiffened and took my hand away from his.

“I’m almost twenty-two years old, Scott,” I folded my arms across my chest and stood firmly. “My birthday is next week. I think that means I’m old enough to make my own decisions about where I live and what it means for me to be safe. And I was no safer across the country then I am in the protection of some of the word’s most powerful people, especially Uncle X.”

He had no come back; it was always good when Scott Summers didn’t have a come back. He had felt the need to be a fatherly authority figure for as long as I could remember. Snapping at him with logic greater than his own always got him to shut up.

Plus, it helped quite a bit that he didn’t have the all the details as to why I wasn’t “safe” in their care.

“Star should have come back sooner, as far as I’m concerned,” said Storm, looking at me. “And the Professor shouldn’t have sent her off in the first place.”

Jean remained quiet, but her face read as though she had predicted exactly what Storm was going to say. She could do some telepathy, though, so she may have just read Storm’s thoughts.

Scott, however, wasn’t having it. “Xavier sent her away because he knew what was best for her—you’ve never questioned him before on this, Storm.”

“Oh,” Jean interrupted. “No, she did. The night before Star left, Storm was in the Professor’s office having quite the debate with him on the matter.”

I vaguely remembered the look of rage on Storm’s face the day I had left. Storm was always the one who watched me, protected me when I was a little girl. Like the big sister I never had.

But Jean’s comments made Scott hit the roof. Questioning the Professor was something Scott couldn’t tolerate from anyone, especially the other teachers. The three began to bicker, and I used it as my opportunity to sneak away from the group and head up the second flight of stairs, towards his study. My footsteps were quick, bringing back memories of running through the halls every day.

A couple of corners turned later, I finally reached the study of Charles Xavier. My heart was pounding, my mind racing. I was completely unsure of what to do next. It had been so long since I had seen him…

“Turn the nob,” I whispered to myself. My brain responded, Knock first. Breathe.

I lifted a fist to the door and knocked carefully. His voice carried through the wood, “Come in.”

I took a long, deep breath and turned the nob. When I pushed the door open, it took him half a second to realize who was standing in his doorway. The soft, kind smile he always wore fell from his face, his expression becoming unreadable.

“Star…” He sighed. A tear escaped his eye and began to drift down his cheek.

I ran to him, no words necessary. I collapsed onto my knees, wrapped my arms around his neck and began to sob.

“I missed you so much, my girl,” Uncle X cried quietly. He ran his fingers through my colorful hair and gently kissed my forehead.

Finally, I was back at home with the only family I ever had.