It was difficult to keep my mind safe from a mind reader. He read minds constantly.
So when I developed a crush on my professor, I had an extremely difficult time not letting him know. I generally kept my mind guarded. If not blocking him from what I didn't want him to see, then shoving my brain with anything to distract him from it. The only time I didn't guard myself was when I was asleep, but I got the feeling that Charles Xavier wasn't tempted enough to go that far. Plus he was respective of my space.

Let me clarify one thing, though.

Yes, he was my professor.

No, he was not ridiculously older than me.

In fact, Charles was only two years older than me. It just seemed weird. The way he talked and his intellectual level all around made me feel like I was in high school all over again. So to call him "Professor X" as well... Needless to say, I felt naughty when I daydreamed about him. It felt... Wrong. And anyway, it's not like he felt the same.

One day, after school and training, I snuck out to enjoy the sunrise. This is the only time I allowed myself to relax. Charles was busy with people and not especially focused on me ever, really. I sat on the grass and leaned back on my hands, letting my legs stretch out and breathe as I finally let my guard down.

I bet you're asking why I'm not a teacher, right?

Well I wasn't one of the few original. I was an adult, hiding in plain sight, losing control of my powers I'd had for years, when they found me. And I'd been here a while but my powers were kind of sporadic. Glitchy and disobedient. As if they were a being on their own. A being which I had to tame. I felt myself relax and I exhaled. The sun revived me. Reenergized me.

The question I can picturing you asking now is what my power is, right? Well: my body is more plant than human. Yup. You read that right.

I inhale carbon dioxide and use the sunlight to exhale oxygen. I can turn my skin into plants around me, not so much blending in as more simply melting into the plant life. I'm what mythology would call a Nymph, except it's genetics and not being a Godly offspring which offers me my Mother Nature kind of powers. I can bend plant life to my will as well.

Unfortunately, that's where things usually went wrong.

Plant life seemed to be okay enough with accepting me into itself, but if I told it to do something? Nah. It'd do something else, usually very harmful to the goal and the people around me. Something different than what I originally wanted it to.

So while I wasted my days blocking my mind from Charles and suppressing my powers, I was surviving day to day, my only actual fun time when I got to watch the sun go up in the morning then fall back down at night.

Being inside all day was a struggle and getting those amazing sun rays was just.... amazing. I could let my powers loose, my skin turning brownish and my hands shifting to roots, my fingers melting into the ground. Sighing, I relaxed, a dreamy smile crossing my lips as my eyes fluttered closed.

As my powers were let free and the sun soaked over me, a little off from setting, and I sighed oxygen out, and my mind wandered. To absolutely no surprise, it wandered to Charles.

I let myself think of him because really this was the only time I could. His hair, which he seemed to take much pride in. That made me laugh, eyes still closed. His cheesy, nerdy flirts that made me roll my eyes on the outside but blush like nothing else on the inside. That made me blush. His eyes and how they light up when he got super into something I'd never understand in a million years. His lips, and how they always seemed to be turned up in a fun, carefree smile... Unless something bad was going on or someone needed a good talking to. How he could never really be serious for long.

Just generally everything.

Of course, as I kept thinking, I started imagining too. Imagining him sitting next to me, wrapping his arm around my hip as I leaned my head on his shoulder. Or him intertwining  his hand with mine on the grass.

Allowing myself this time to think freely and use my powers without fear was good in a different way too. Suppressing everything was emotional and stressful and physically painful sometimes.

Relaxing was great through. So was thinking of Charles.

"Well, if thinking of me is that great then I guess I shouldn't stop you from thinking of me ever again, don't you think?"

I was immediately on guard, shifting to my regular self instantly and shielding my mind as I spun around, shooting to my feet.

There, to my utter horror, sat Charles Xavier. I gawked at him. He chuckled lightly and motioned me closer. Blushing horribly and no longer able to meet his eyes, I looked at my feet as I walked to him. I stopped as I got close enough.

I felt a hand on my arm and I looked over just in time to be yanked forward. I gasped and caught myself on Charles' chair, but now my face was millimeters from Charles'. My eyes went wide and my mouth slightly opened in surprise. I stared at Charles, frozen. Petrified. Then he leaned in.

Easily said, I didn't respond at first. I was shocked and confused and not sure what I was doing or what he was doing. But then after a second, I also leaned in, kissing him back. Suddenly the courtyard was full of cheers. We broke apart, looking over. There was the entire mass of our small school, Alex and Sean in the front, teasing and making kissy faces. Everyone else cheered.

Blushing and embarrassed, I went to lean back. But Charles caught my hand again, stopping me, and pulled me to him once more to kiss me softly and quickly. The cheers grew. "Why are you-?" I began.

"I think that is an obvious question with an obvious answer," Charles interrupted, smiling amusedly.

I nodded. This was probably the best day of my entire life. Then, on top of all of it, I never had to hide my thoughts ever again. Not from Charles. Everything else seemed to just... fit after that. Fit perfectly.