A story to tell.
One.
Exam nerves.
It was a day unlike any other, except for the fact that she was sitting her end of year physics exam. The exam hadn't begun, but already her concentration was wavering, as her gazed flicked to the windows that let in the sunshine.
The plump exam official walked down the aisle, watching out for any students who had answers tucked into their scientific calculators, and for those who were flicking through the question booklet trying to get a glimpse at the paper.
She picked up her 2B pencil and began filling out her name and colouring the small ovals.
Lacey Vanders.
Lacey glanced up at the clock just as the supervisor called out for everyone to start their exam.
She skirted through the multi-choice questions with ease – no doubt her ability to slyly look over the shoulder of the student in front of her helped, but her concentration left her as she looked at the long response questions.
They wanted her to apply her knowledge of the theory of special relativity. Did she know anything about the theory of special relativity to begin with? Did any normal seventeen year old?
Her stomach was beginning to turn as she flicked through the rest of the questions, pausing quickly on each to see if she could answer anything. Her breathing began to quicken and she realised that this exam was near impossible; she had no idea how to answer any of these. Someone's arm shot up in the air in the row next to her. Lacey turned her head and felt the blood drain from her face. Someone was already asking for another booklet.
She gripped onto the corners of the desk, her legs entwined around the legs of her chair forcing herself not to stand up and run out of the hall. She whimpered, wondering why she had bothered to come to the exam at all; why she had bothered to turn up early to cram before they were called in.
Her bag was sitting at the front of the hall. It stood, slumped against the wall, zipper slightly opened, teasing her with the answers that rested within. Lacey moaned, biting the end of her pen.
An hour and a half later, and she had scribbled a few vague answers, but it was no help. Her panic had risen significantly as more and more students asked for another answer booklet, and it was harder for her to maintain her spot in her chair. She pushed back her chair and rested her head in her arms, trying to slow her breathing.
'Excuse me?'
She knew someone was trying to talk to her. She hadn't exactly made the effort to hide her struggles, and was sure that at least one of the supervisors had noticed.
'Are you alright dear?'
Lacey nodded her buried head.
'Did you want to go to the bath- ', the woman stopped suddenly. Lacey slowly looked up, wondering if the woman had given up on her, but she was still standing there, looking over her desk.
'No, I'm alright,' Lacey whispered, not wanting to get into trouble for talking too loud. She glanced at the clock; she still had an hour and a half left, and returned to her work.
Lacey looked up again, the supervisor still looking at her with the same look of concern. She tried not to stare at the woman, but she couldn't help but notice that she wasn't blinking.
Or moving.
Her panic started up again as she looked around the room; everything else seemed to have frozen. Or, it looked that way.
She pushed her chair back quickly, looking around to see if anyone had reacted.
Nothing.
Lacey stood up from her chair and walked over to the person next to her, her heart racing, though not from nerves.
The whole hall seemed to have stopped; everyone except her.
Not taking the chance of losing this perfect opportunity, Lacey ran to her bag, exam paper in hand and began looking through her notes
She finished within what she assumed to be something near an hour, and after making a few deliberate mistakes, she sat back down at her desk, waiting for whatever started this phenomenon to make everyone start moving again.
Lacey looked around the room; everyone still paused over their papers. Nothing had changed.
'C'mon,' she murmured, feeling a little anxious. Was everyone stuck like this?
She knew there was only one reason for why everyone would've been frozen like this. One logical reason; whoever did was a mutant.
She was the only person who was moving in the hall, so the mutant couldn't be in here. It had to be outside. Right?
'It can't be me…' she whispered, 'I'm… not a mutant.' Lacey looked around the hall, trying to find someone move, but none did – proof enough that she had to have been the one to do this.
'Oh my god,' she muttered loudly, closing her eyes tightly. Only a moment ago she was happy that she had finished the exam without worrying about what this situation was.
With her eyes closed tight, she tried to imagine everyone moving again. She went red with effort before a slight murmur echoed through the hall.
Everyone began moving with a confused gasp.
The woman at Lacey's desk stumbled a little, shook her head and continued walking down the row.
A/N: New story! Hope you guys find it interesting.
Disclaimer: I own every single character! Yes, that's right. Except the two references to the movies; mutant registration and the...events of the third movie (I can't say much without giving a little too much away).