The night was warm and there was a breeze as I sat on the balcony just outside my room. I looked out at the forest. it looked like some sort of fairy land, the trees of all different kinds and flowers and vines crawling all over the place. It was quiet, but a few rooms down I could hear music and I could see lights moving as the party went on. A swarm of fireflies flew by, scattering as they reached the tree line. I guess you could say that I lived a fairly pampered existence. The balcony was more of a deck, with a couple of chairs and a coffee table. It was raised about ten feet off the ground, with no ladder. A;most everything about my home was made of wood, usually grown and cut here, some parts actually still living and growing with every passing year. My parents had died when I was seven, leaving me in the care of Mr. Myrkle, at a place called the Retreat. I had lived here in this essentially ginormous apartment building in the middle of nowhere with my parents when they were alive. They used to call it a permanent vacation because of its hidden location and the scenic acres on which we lived with about 100 or so other families. But my family was different, aside from our living space. You see, my mom could grow anything in a matter of minutes, if not seconds, and my dad was essentially the ultimate super computer, that could connect with any device. And between the overflowing flora and continually expanding array of technology, life wan't exactly what most would call normal. But for me, it was.
People that could change the temperature in the room, turn on a lightbulb simply by holding it, or turn themselves into animals or trees were just my way of life. That's the way things were, and would always be for me, whether I wanted it or not. unlike most kids, who dream of having super-powers or mutants like on Tv, I lived in a world where all of that existed. Most would call us mutants, or supers, or even freaks of nature, but to me, it was home. The Retreat was a place for my family and others like us, or kids who had no idea what was happening when the smell of carrots made them turn into a rabbit, or being excited caused thunderstorms. Anyway, after my parents died, everything was different. Maybe the trauma of my parents death caused it, or maybe that's just when things started to develop, and it would have happened anyway, parents or not.I had plenty of friends in my class, (we had a sort of boarding school, only you still lived with your family) but there was one girl who had decided we should be best friends, Maple. I agreed, having no idea what that meant. Friends were friends. I was quiet, shy, and in general silently afraid of new people. I was easily manipulated because of my naivete. No one had ever lied to me or been mean before, so I never expected it. I took it for granted that if someone did something mean to you, it would be obviously so and someone else would put a stop to it. I went along with her suggestions and plans, never thinking that she would ever purposely do something out of line or against the wishes of her elders. But eight grade was a whole different story. I had realized before that she did things that she shouldn't, but I kept them locked up, believing that there was no way she could be that bad. She had surfaced powers as a shape-shifter. Usually it was just voices, or non-violent animals. But then she started to hang out with Katry. It started as a common interest in books and shape-shifting, a gift they shared. But then Katry's habits began spreading, habits such as lying and cheating to appear higher in the social rank. Cedar was suddenly interested in Katry, and I was a thing of the past. Oh, sure we still called each other friends, and we still talked to each other. But I was now officially a punching bag. A rug spread on the floor to be trampled with her false claims to fame. I took it for a while, but it wasn't long before I grew past her. I had always been an advanced learner, and my grades proved it. But eighth grade was the last time I called her friend.
Freshman year I moved in with two other girls, one a heat-controller named Carla, and the other Kristi, who also did not know her powers, like me. They were boarders, with parents in the outside world, continuing their lives with their powers secret. But I spent my time doing homework, and being alone in the forest, practically a hermit though I lived with two very talkative girls. My reputation was set as the girl who talked little, and made good grades. I was put into advanced courses for most everything. I had fewer and fewer friends as the other girls spent their time more with makeup, clothes, and who was dating who. I simply wasn't interested. I didn't know, and i didn't care. I started to hang out with the guys. they were far more tolerable, and more willing to just talk it out rather than say stuff behind each others back, and for some, I felt that I was an outlet. Other guys might tease what they told me, and most other girls would have used their knowledge to their advantage. But I wan't part of that, so I saw a side of people that most others glossed over. It was easy to talk to them, and they weren't going to hold my words hostage. It was easier to have a logical conversation than deal with the drama and secret plots. I wasn't into dating, and a couple of guys took advantage of that, safe in the knowledge that I wasn't into them, and they weren't into me. I was not into dating, and against it, any way, shape or form. I wasn't interested in marrying anybody at least until after high school, and I definitely did not need romantic relationships on top of my everyday life. I had been asked out once before, and his refusal to believe me caused him much more pain than I, emotional and physical. That proved that I was off-limits. And then I got my powers.
It started as a few things moved around here and there, a little out of place. But then it turned into waking up with everything in my room floating about, including me. That was when i had to start training. I learned to control my powers, but it took time, and I had previously arranged to babysit for a couple of families. Between my babysitting, training, and schoolwork, I had no time for parties or weekend adventures. And when i did get a little time off, i spent it outside, where there was little chance of me harming anyone wit my experiments. Sometimes groups would go to concerts or to one of the few nearby cities. But I only went under force. I loved to watch the kids and play with them, and learning to move stuff with my mind was great, but it built walls between me and everyone else, and i didn't know how to take them down. Sophomore was similar, with me taking on extra classes. Junior year continued, but I began to break out of my shell, hanging out with everyone else and going on trips and adventures, sometimes even without force or bribery. Then came the summer before senior year, and everything changed.
My powers developed further than they had before. I was in almost complete control… but something had changed. With control of my mind came the growth of something new. I found myself hiding a secret. Yes, I was known for being a very powerful person around the House. But no one knew about what had changed. My powers had grown into something more fantastic than simple telekinesis. I found myself hiding away and backing out of the limelight. Of course, I could not completely disappear again because that would cause suspicion. But I no longer threw myself into parties and took time to be by myself again, to figure out what had changed and why my life had decided to take this new turn. In the day I found myself concentrating harder than I had in a while to make sure that no one knew. And when night came I would find myself having nightmares, terrible nightmares. In these awful dreams I would find myself trapped in the grand room outside of the dorms, unable to escape. Everything burning, unable to control myself, completely and utterly helpless as I watched everyone I knew run from the flames, running away from me, trying to escape the awesome power I could not contain. And the smoke would build, my lungs slowly clogging with the thickness of the air, incapable of breathing without choking as the world slowly grew darker and dimmer, the flames growing higher and closer. I did not feel the pain of the heat as I knew I should have, but longed to throw myself into their arms to end the blackness, and yet utterly stranded with no way to save myself. And then I would wake at dawn, always at dawn. The glow of the sun would fill my room and I would do my best to erase my memory of what had not truly been.