Getting out of the car, I gazed upon the neighborhood of my childhood and sighed. It was exactly the same as it had been. Much to my dismay, there was no grand welcoming committee to get me re-acquainted with Midtown. Luckily, school tomorrow would help with that. If you aren't picking up on my sarcasm, now would be the time to start.

"Were you expecting something else?" my mom asked with a chuckle. She popped the trunk, and I went to help her with my luggage. My mom was the reason that I was back in Midtown. She was diagnosed breast cancer, and, even though she was expected to make a full recovery, we all decided that it would be best if I spent some time at home. Where was I? Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. "Gifted youngsters" means mutants, for your information.

Yeah, that's right. I'm a mutant! Hold your applause, please. They call me Godstrike out in the field. My real name is Taylor Rhodes, though. "I dunno. I kinda thought it would look a little different."

"Come inside, then," she said with a suspiciously devilish grin. "You might change your mind."

I furrowed my brows and followed her inside. My dad and little brother were waiting for me. They hadn't changed. "Hey, sugarplum. Welcome home," my dad said, pulling me in for a hug.

"You really had to come back?" Ben said.

"Yeah, turdface. I did. Ready to get real snuggly in that room together, little bro?" I said, threatening to kiss him. Nine-year-old brothers were fun.

"That's what the difference is," my mom said, opening up the door to the basement. "Come on down, hun."

I wasn't really sure what was going on, but I obliged and followed her down into the basement. "Wow," I breathed, amazed at the transformation. It was no longer a mass of cluttered junk but rather an awesome new bedroom for me. It had everything a bedroom could need, including a door into the bathroom. "You guys finally redid the basement," was all that I could say.

My mom laughed. "Yes. What do you think?"

I hugged her tightly. "It's awesome, Mom! Thank you!" I heard my dad lumbering down the stairs with my bags from the institute. "Thanks, Daddy!"

"You're welcome, sweetheart. We figured it'd be better for the whole family if you and Ben didn't have to share a room." I laughed. "You have a lot of stuff." He dropped my bags with a thud.

I chuckled sheepishly. "My friends packed my bags with memorabilia as if it was the last time they were going to see me. They're ridiculous."

"Well, we'll give you some time to unpack your stuff and settle in," my mom said. "We'll send a shout down when it's time to eat."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks." They went up the stairs and left me to unpack. The first thing I got out was my laptop. I told the girls that I'd Skype them when I got home. Tori was the only one on when I opened everything up, so I shot her the call. She answered almost immediately. "Hey, baby!" I said, winking at her.

"Taylor!" she said happily. "Hold on; let me go get everyone else."

I watched as she left the frame and began to unpack my school supplies. And I'd almost forgotten about my inevitable return to Midtown High tomorrow. Silly me. I heard a scream through the computer and saw everything in Tori's room swirl as if a tornado had blown through. "Hello, Lex," I said before she had even entered the frame.

"Taylor! Baby! I miss you already!" She sat down in Tori's chair.

"I miss you too, hun," I replied sincerely. Kia and Tori walked in together and stood behind Lex. "Hey, Kia!"

"Hey, Taylor. How's Midtown?"

"Ugh. Exactly as I remember it. Like, absolutely nothing has changed."

"Maybe you can join a super-hero squad!" Lex suggested, getting really excited. "I won't be mad; I promise. You could get in with Spider-Man and his new crew."

I laughed. "Yeah. That'd be easy. Just 'Hey, I just met you and this is crazy, but I'm a mutant, so let me join your team maybe?'"

We laughed. "It's worth a shot," Tori said. "Were you planning on giving up your life of crime-fighting just because you're not at the institute?"

I sighed. "I wasn't planning on it, but I also wasn't planning on joining another team. I have a team. It's you guys. I'm an X-Man not one of Spider-Man's posse, you know?"

"Maybe you'll fall in love with someone on the team," Kia said with a laugh.

"Spider-Man's pretty cute! Ooh, plus Power Man is so buff," Lex said, her eyes getting a little dreamy.

"Okay, okay," I said, cutting her off before she got any momentum. "If the team offers, I'll consider it. Is that acceptable?"

"Very," Tori said with a chuckle.

"Taylor! Dinner's ready!" my mom yelled down the stairs.

"I gotta go eat dinner, guys. I'll talk to you later, though. Love you."

"Love you, too!" Lex replied, and she blew my a kiss. It ruffled the hair of everyone in the room.

I laughed and hung up, closing my laptop and heading upstairs.