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"Neat!" Alex opinioned, looking around curiously. "You'll have all sorts of room here, Mike. We shoulda bought more posters. Does he have a roommate coming in?"

The pigtailed girl skirted out of the way politely, holding her hands out for her bags so Mike could put things away. Although knowing him, he'd probably just upend everything on a bed to sort later. She volunteered quietly to the teacher, "I brought my laptop from home."

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"What does work-study mean?" Erin asked curiously. "I don't have any money to buy a computer." She stayed in the doorway to assess the room, keeping one eye out to make sure that no one was coming at them from the corridor. "Can we get jobs here?"

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Mike glanced around the room briefly before striding across the room to deposit his bags on the bed least likely to get morning sun in his opinion. That taken care of he checked out the dawers on the desk and doors on the wardrobe quickly and rather cursorily. "Is there like some check in thing I gotta do?" He asked as he began rumaging in his pile of bags.

After a moment he pulled a black backpack bedecked in buckles out of the mass and slung it over his shoulder. As Alex asked her question he looked to Mrs. Harcourt "Yea, should I expect a roomate soon?"

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"As soon as the three of you put your stuff down, here and upstairs, we'll go down to the main office and get you all signed in. As for your room-mate, Mr. Harris, that's strictly up to you. We don't have the numbers that require doubling up in the summer, but some of our students do request to be doubled up. If you would like a room-mate during the summer, make sure to let us know while you're getting signed in. If you test into the freshman or sophomore class, you will be assigned a room-mate in the fall; if junior or senior, again it'll be up to you."

Mrs. Harcourt looked at the others. "As for jobs, we do have a work-study program for students who would like the skills training...or just to have the pocket money," she added with a smile. "It's arranged either here on campus or through our contacts in the Freedom business community. Given your situation, Ms. White, you might want to look into arranging that or one of our similar programs. I'll make sure you talk to Mr. Marquez, our counselor, who can steer you towards our financial aid programs."

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Alex didn't wince but her glance flicked from the teacher to her soon-to-be roommate. She didn't know what 'situation' Erin had, but she seemed to be as fond of people bringing it up as Mike was as of the 'incident'. Without really knowing the situation, she tried to ease any tension by asking, "Neat, what sort of work-study?" as if the teacher had been addressing both of them.

"I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do after school, I mean, it would be nifty to try a few things out. I've been considering trying to work with locating missing kids with my talents but I don't even know what sort of job that would be. I mean, probably law enforcement but the whole meta-human thing comes up then. What do you think, Erin?"

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Erin started to fidget when Mrs. Harcourt talked about her "situation," shifting her bag from arm to arm and scratching her ear. "I dunno," she said with a shrug in response to Alex's ideas. "I'm not good at anything special like that. But I guess there are jobs anyone can do, dishes or yardwork or things like that. Can we see our room now?" she asked abruptly.

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Mike watched the exchange with slight confusion of the subtext. "Uh, I think I'm good with solo if they don't need to put someone in here I'm pretty used to my own space." He said as awkward re-entry into the convorsation. "I'm all done here." He said gesturing to the pile of bags, "I'll sort out the rest later."

He waited for everyone else to file out then followed takeing note of the surroundings and room number so as to not lose track of where he was staying. Then waited on Mrs. Harcourt to lead them to the girls room.

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Things were much of a sameness upstairs, where Erin and Alex's room adjoined a small lounge similar to the one they'd seen down on the first floor by the lobby. Mrs. Harcourt stepped to one side as the kids walked in, engaging Alex's mother in a quick conversation about financial aid. She'd been a bit concerned at the idea that the school was putting underage children to work, but Harcourt confirmed that jobs like that were completely voluntary. "We actually provide funding for all our students, but some students and parents appreciate the chance to work on their own for the first time."

As the students were looking around, a perky blonde teenager appeared in the doorway, a smiling young woman with big eyes and a Hello Kitty shirt that exposed a hint of belly. "Hello!" she called with disarming perkiness. "You must be the new people! It is so nice to meet you! I will shake your hand, as that is the style of professional people," she said, obviously imitating someone else's voice. Beaming so brightly she was practically glowing, the girl shook Alex's hand with an air of mock-seriousness. "You are the first new people I've met all week!"

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Alex was just turning away from putting her things away on her side of the room at the bubbly greeting. She'd dropped the bag of clothing on the bed to be put away later and had been setting the much larger collection of books and other assorted more important things on her desk.

Alex gave a bewildered smile as her hand was vigorously pumped, "Hi, I'm Alex and certainly a new person. We're just dropping our things off in this room. It's going to be ours."

She nodded to Erin to include her in the 'ours' statement and continued cheerfully, "I didn't catch your name? Are there a lot of new people here?"

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Erin dropped her bag on the bottom bunk and began doing a survey of the room, looking out the window, into the closet, checking out where the outlets were, and things like that. She startled just a little at the sound of a new voice before turning to study the new girl. Satisfied that this, too, was a stranger, she mustered a polite smile and extended her hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you," she said. "I'm Erin."

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Mike patiently waited near the entry way as Alex took his share of her bags and set about her unpacking once freed from his burdens he claimed an unoccupied section of wall to lean against as he waited for the girls to go about their unpacking or investigating while staring absent mindedly out the window.

Distracted as he was he didn't take note of the new arrival until she spoke. Mike boggled at her unused as he was to such effusiveness from anyone not Alex. After giving the girls a chance to introduce themselves he waved an acknowledgement and introduced himself as well "Hi, I'm Mike. I'm rooming downstairs for the summer."

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"I have a lot of names!" said the beautiful girl with a giggle that made her sound even younger than the sixteen or seventeen she used to be. "But you can call me Changeling. It's very nice to meet you new people! Hello Alex! Hello Erin! Hello Mike!" She shook Erin's hand too, and Mike's, giving them all a huge smile. "I guess we will be on the same dormitory floor together; how exciting! It will be a wonderful summer, with many wonderful things!" She did a happy dance, bid a friendly greeting to Mrs. Harcourt, and then twirled right out the door like a ballerina.

Mrs. Harcourt cleared her throat, repressing a wry smile. "Well, I'm glad everyone's been so friendly to you three. If you want to put all your stuff down, we can go over to the administration building and get started on your paperwork. Fun stuff, huh?"

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Alex smiled bemusedly at the girl's exit and commented to Erin, "It seems like everyone here goes by nicknames, hunh?"

She made quick effort to stow everything away in an organized enough way that it would be easy to finish unpacking later on. Clothes and eye-jarring bedding went on the top bunk to be put away later. The box of books was pushed next to her desk with the laptop and accessories carefully put on top of it. The smaller box of photos and desk accessories (also in bright colors) were set next to the laptop. And a tube of rolled posters was tucked next to the door. It took her a few moments to transfer things to a hot-pink backpack which she swung over one shoulder as she hustled back to the group.

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"I guess it's what they put in the admissions packet, that we should be thinking about what we wanted our hero identity names to be," Erin said, sounding a little uncertain. "I didn't know we'd be going by them all the time though. Mine's kind of stupid. Maybe we'll only have to use them every once in awhile, and some people just like theirs and use them more often." Erin shrugged and looked over to Mike and Mrs. Harcourt, then followed Alex's lead in emptying her bag. It only took about thirty seconds to dispose of her small cache of possessions. Her clothes took up one dresser drawer, her notebooks and pen one desk drawer, and the photo of her parents in its battered frame, the pink and blue Disney Princesses music box, and Bear all went on top of the dresser. She set aside the Ziploc full of toiletries on her desk, then put the duffel bag on one side of the top shelf of the closet and was finished. "What should we see next?" she asked Mrs. Harcourt.

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Mike watched the strange young woman twirl and leave and shook his head in mild confusion, 'Well at least Alex won't be out of place. People seem friendly enough if a bit odd.' he thought to himself. He pushed off the wall gently and made his way into the hallway while the girls finished unpacking.

"Now the real fun starts, paperwork." He said as they finished up and joined him in the hall. He quickly checked to make sure his bag had any documents or other things he may need and once satisfied said "I'm all set lets get this over with."

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Alex and Mike had it a little easier when it came to filling out forms; after all, they were minors and their parents were close at hand. Once they'd reached the administration building, the two kids were left in the waiting room to read old copies of Teen Hero and twiddle their thumbs while they waited for Alex's mom to finish the last stages of paperwork. Even at a generous school with deep pockets, there were still financial aid forms to fill out, consent forms to sign, and many other items that were thankfully the province of adults rather than teenagers. Mrs. Harcourt left them there, shaking Alex's mom's hand and the kids' too, promising to meet them all in science class as soon as everything was arranged. They got their summer class schedule to look over for the first time, a compilation of history, science, theater, and other exciting activities, as well as brochures about the various things to do in and around campus. The curfew didn't sound that restrictive, especially for kids who were willing to be creative.

Erin, emancipated in so many ways, got walked right into the office of Vice-Principal Martha Dugan, a short, squat woman with the look of a born administrator on her face. Despite her dour appearance, Dugan proved to be very sympathetic to Erin's situation, a fact she acknowledged without referring to it again and again. "Scholarship or work-study?" she asked. "It's up to you, but you might be happier with work study," she admitted. "Pocket money is a good thing to have. You can pick up supplies for your room from the front lobby in Jon Carter, and we'll take everyone shopping in a couple of weeks so you can find the local mall and shopping centers. Of course, your friends will probably help you with that." She half-grinned, then sobered a little. "I know you must be concerned about catching up, so I've made sure to arrange some tutoring for you in addition to our summer schedule. I've read your file and I know you're a bright girl. I think you'll find catching up on formal schooling is easier than you think."

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At this point, Erin was more concerned about being singled out than about pocket money and shopping centers, so she merely nodded along with everything the vice-principal said, fidgeting like any teenager who's been dragged into the principal's office. "Right, um, if you want me to work, that's okay, I'm sure I can do some things around here at the school. I can do yardwork and stuff, or vacuum, um, make beds? Whatever. But tutoring would be good. Ah, Alex said, Alex out there, my new roommate, she said that she would help me some too. Do I need to buy books or something before I can start?"

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"We'll take care of all of that for you," said Mrs. Dugan reassuringly. "You're a kid. You're allowed to be one here." She smiled. "I've got your class list and your tutoring list, so I'll make sure all your books are in your room first thing in the morning. Your first classes will start on Wednesday, so you'll have a little time to unwind and get familiar with campus before you need to worry about your schooling."

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"All right, thanks." Erin took a breath and allowed herself to feel a little relief at the idea that things were going to be taken care of. There were a few papers to sign, there always were, but that was painless enough. She was still happy to escape the vice-principal's office and get back to her new classmates out in the lounge. "Classes start on Wednesday," she reported, "at least, that's when tutoring starts for me. I don't know if we're all going to have the same schedule or not. But I guess we get field trips and stuff eventually, out to the mall at least."

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Alex glanced up from having her nose burried in the schedual and various brochures to greet Erin with a welcoming smile, "Sounds awesome! I'm trying to decide what language lab to squeeze in."

She bounced up, braids flying with her usual abundance of energy to meet up with Erin, chattering non stop. Alex was obviously in near heaven between all the wonders of summer school and her enthusiasm showed. "I'd guess that we'll be in more classes this summer and then how many we're all in together in the fall depends on how much overlap we have have in our placement needs. And which electives we pick. Mike's thinking of theater though just probably the tech stuff. He likes building things with his hands."

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Never having had much choice in his prior education Mike was at first a little overwhelmed by the selections available even in the limited summer session but had settled upon a few that had piqued his intrest. None of them likely to push the scholastic envelope but they seemed cool to him. That done he had retreated to scribbling in a composition book he used as a journal.

When Erin returned he closed the book and slid it back in his bag while Alex expounded on the joys of summer school. At Alexes comentary he shrugged and noted "I like making stuff, its relaxing." He left unsaid his thoughts on having to balance for his breaking of stuff. "Anyway," He quickly moved on to say, "I the summer schedual didn't look too full I figure we'll have some stuff together."

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"I guess if nothing else, we'll have weekends and stuff," Erin said, picking up a brochure and looking through it herself. "Doing theater might be kind of cool. When I was in school, only the upperclassmen got to do that kind of stuff, but it looked neat. I wonder if there are tryouts and stuff, or if it's just everyone gets a part because the school is so small." She grinned a little. "Just as long as they don't do musicals, I guess. Or I could always do tech stuff behind the scenes too."

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Alex grinned and announced cheerfully, "Well, I'll happily come to any events the two of you put together but I am still not allowed near anything like powertools. I know it looks like they're all normal fingers, but I swear they're all thumbs."

She wiggled her fingertips for emphasis after putting everything carefully away in her backpack. "I bet we'll be busy, though. You were right, Erin. This place is huge and it'll take some getting used to. Not to mention placement tests and all that will take up some time. I'm trying to convice Mike that he should try out sports. Non-contact sports, but sports nonetheless. I'm not a physical person m'self."

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"Well, maybe with some training," Erin allowed. She looked over at Mike with some understanding. "I know I don't feel ready to play sports yet, but with the training they give here, maybe I will be pretty soon. I mean, if they make superheroes here, I'm sure they can train people to just control their own strength in the everyday world. It would be kind of cool to play games where we can, y'know, run and jump as fast and far as we can, without worrying."

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There was more mundanity on the agenda to come; some of it more entertaining than others. First came pictures for their student IDs, the kids all sitting before a blue and yellow background that matched the colors of the Claremont Academy. Next they traipsed across campus to get measured and fitted for their school uniforms, a quick, if embarrassing moment undertaken with Mrs. Dugan and a professional tailor they'd brought in. "Uniforms aren't a requirement for day-to-day wear," Dugan explained, "but you'll be glad to have them anyway. They're not quite as high-tech as what the Atom Family or the Freedom League wears, but they're insulated enough that your powers won't damage them." They were in the gym for this one, the kids having stepped into an empty coach's office for their brief consultation with the tailor, Mr. Mbuse.

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