As the door was pushed open, the sunlight spilled into the room from behind, creating a silhouette of a tall and slender woman standing at the doorway.
'Who's that?!' one student thought.
'Is that her?!' another student exclaimed.
'So, she's a new teacher?' another one thought.
* WHOOSH *
The students saw her completely when the sunlight was out of Storm's way. Suddenly, when they saw her face, they all shot up from their seat and stared at her. They froze in their seats while staring at her with a stunned expression that each of them shared.
Storm was inwardly nervous seeing their initial reactions to her, but she maintained a calm face and walked forward.
She quickly studied their expression and commented, "I can see you all are surprised."
She walked up to the front of the class and stood with her hands clasped behind her.
She flashed a radiant smile and said, "I'm your new history teacher, Miss Munroe! Nice to meet you all."
At first, there was complete silence. You could hear a pin drop as the students continued to look at her dumbfounded, but gradually, a clamor started to resound.
"History teacher?"
"She's the new teacher? Awesome!"
"But... But wasn't she also there in Cairo in the fight?"
"That face! Isn't she the weather manipulator mutant? What's she doing here?"
"Wasn't she with that purple bad guy?"
"She's such a nice lady. Why would she go along with that stupid asshat?!"
But there were also dissenting voices...
"Hey, look! She's the one who controlled the weather and helped that psycho Apocalypse!"
"She looks nice, but there's no way she would be our teacher. Come on! That's like allowing a thief to guard your store."
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Maybe she won't work with that villain again, right?"
When Storm heard many students express their fears and questions about her, she smiled bitterly and stated, "Listen, children. I had taken side with an evil man in the past and let him affect my mentality and turn me into his puppet. However, now that I have returned, I've promised to change. I have decided to join you today because I wanted to repent from my mistakes. Those of us who have fallen to our most destructive selves sometimes end up in the history books as having done evil deeds. But, I wanted to join you and remind myself that is what happened once, and I shall change. Yes, I've done a horrible thing, but nobody will think of me as a villain when I stand up for myself and for peace."
Storm stared at all of their faces and waited for any reaction. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened until...
* CLAP *
* CLAP *
* CLAP *
Storm's eyes fell on Jean in the corner of the classroom. She had gotten up from her seat and delightedly smiled as she clapped with tears in her eyes.
Seeing her, Jubilee and Nightcrawler also began clapping. Scott, too, started clapping, and he nudged Emma beside him to do so too.
"Urghh! Fine!" Emma grumbled and reluctantly began clapping, too.
And this encouraged the others to do so too,
* CLAP *
* CLAP *
* CLAP *
Finally, the whole class started clapping, and it was no longer indifferent students but people applauding and welcoming their teacher in their hearts.
Storm's eyes became misty, and she smiled happily. Her mouth quivered joyfully as she looked at everyone supporting her in such a delicate situation.
"Welcome to Xavier's School, Miss Monroe!" Jean shouted, and everyone repeated the same after her.
"WELCOME TO THE XAVIER'S SCHOOL, MISS MONROE!"
"Thank you, everyone." Storm smiled brightly.
And thus, she got ready for her new life along with the new students.
* * *
A week later,
"Please, stop talking among yourselves! Kurt and Jubilee! Enough of your discussions, now!"
Kurt and Jubilee stopped arguing and looked ahead at Storm, who glared at them.
Storm nodded approvingly, seeing them listen to her, and pointed at the small screen beside her, which showed a medieval painting of Napoleon Bonaparte standing on a hill while pointing his finger toward the sky.
She turned to the class and stated, "Today, we will discuss one of the key figures in French history. The one and only Napoleon Bonaparte! Where was he born and when, Jubilation Lee?"
Jubilee nodded and answered, "He was born in Corsica when it was still a part of the Kingdom of Sardinia in the Republic of Genoa on August 15, 1769, ma'am."
Storm nodded, pointed her finger at the screen, and continued, "From a very early age, he was known to be very talented, and his teachers praised him even though he was initially quite arrogant. So, he studied subjects ranging from language to dancing and athletics. Then, on September 20, 1785, Napoleon passed the examinations at the Paris University of Louis le Grand."
"And, when he s—"
* TRING *
* TRING *
* TRING *
The bell outside the class rang, showing that classes for today were over.
"Looks like we will continue this tomorrow." Storm glanced at the clock and announced. She sighed and watched her students take their bags and leave the classroom.
"Have a good day, Miss Monroe!" Said a dozen voices as the students walked out of the room.
Storm merely hummed in reply and tidied up her papers from the table.