X-Men: The Gifted Ones

43. JANE'S CLASSROOM, XAVIER MANSION, WEST CHESTER, NY

A lone castaway wasn't the most exciting subject matter, Jane could admit that. She knew the best way to get children to appreciate stories was to be read to, and learn about the stories as they grow. She was teaching language class and she was going over some of the points from Island of the Blue Dolphins. She tried to get the children to identify with the main character, Karana, and the changes in the changes that take place over the girl's time on the island.

Jane turned to see Jean swatting at her face as if a fly was buzzing around her. She was confused. It was too cold for any flies to still be alive, and Jane didn't see any. Still, Jean continues to swat at her face. Jane looked over at Jason. He was smiling deviously. Another illusion, she sighed to herself. He was at it, again. She made eye contact with him and he stopped.

Jean returned Jason's laugh with a glare. He could only laugh silently.

Jane tried to return to teaching. "One of the key points about Karana is that she continued to adapt-," she turned to look at the students. She turned in time to see Jason's book fly up and hit him in the face. He cried in pain as blood dripped from his nose. She grabbed a tissue and went to the boy, pinching his nose shut and healing the bloody nose to make it stop. The other students in the classroom cringed and screamed at the blood. "Jason... are you okay?"

The boy nodded.

"Go wash your face off and come back," she instructed.

Jason walked out of the classroom, holding the tissue to his nose to clean up the blood. Jane was relieved to see some of the bleeding appeared to have stopped. She walked over to Jean. The girl looked worried that she may be in trouble. Jane tried to be understanding. She knew Jason would take advantage and annoy whoever he could. "Jean, I know why you did it," she whispered, leaning down toward the girl's ear. "I know he upsets you, but please just let me know he's doing that next time, okay?" Jane gave the girl a smile and an affectionate pat on the shoulder as she walked back to the board.

Jean managed a weak smile.

Jane resumed her lesson. "For Karana to survive, she had to take on roles once held by men. Can anyone name some of these roles?"

Ororo raised her hand, "She made her own spears!"

"Very good, Ororo," Jane smiled.

Jason returned to class, his face clean and he was smiling. Jane felt her stomach churn. Jason smiling never boded well. She knew a book to the face wouldn't humble him too much. "Jason, please have a seat and do not antagonize your classmates, OK? Just because I can't hear it or see it doesn't mean I won't find out," she warned.

He sat down and glared at Jane. She could handle that. She thought it was a strange state of affairs when a glare was more reassuring than a smile.

"So as Ororo mentioned," Jane said, continuing the lesson, "Karana had to make her own spears. Anything- OW!" She dropped the chalk and cried out as if it burned her. She turned and looked at Jason. She shook her head. She picked up the chalk and tried to resume her lesson.

Jean couldn't continue. She hated whenever Jason tried to hurt the teachers. "Stop it, Jason," she shouted.

Mark felt emboldened by Jean's outburst. "Stop picking on Mrs. Xavier," Mark stammered. "She's the only one here who likes you!"

"Yea," Ororo joined in. "The rest of us are sick of you!"

Jane shook her head. "Class, that's enough! I understand you all feel frustrated, but saying these things doesn't help you, either. Are we ready to continue?"