It was bad enough that I missed the bus and it's raining, What makes it worse is that the squirrels are taunting me from their dry trees. They taunt everyone actually, It's just people don't know that and think it's just nonsense chatter. How do I know they're taunting me? You may ask. It's because I am one of those mutants you hear about on the news. Okay, not exactly one of those mutants, I've never robbed a bank or vandalized a playground or anything else that the news may cover. But I am still a mutant or as normal humans call us, 'freak'.
I wade through the large puddle that covers the sidewalk. As soon as I get home, I know my mom will snap at me, "Laiken Starr, what do you think you are doing? You're soaked through! Don't you dare track mud in the house! Take off your shoes!"
I cut onto the alley that runs behind my house. If I had stayed on the sidewalk, I would have passed out neighbor, Mrs. Drake, and I am not making that mistake twice. She was a widow at age twenty-something because her husband was killed. She doesn't say how, but her yappy chihuahua, Sugar, says that men with guns came and took him away. I can only guess that he was a mutant because it is very rare for anyone else to be arrested like that nowadays. Unless he was an international jewel thief or something.
I get to the backdoor of my house and dig under the flowerpot of dying pansies to find the spare key. I kick off my muddy converses and strip off my soaked sweatshirt. Our dog, a German Shepard beagle mix named Luke, is the first to meet me.
"Your Home! Your home!" he says, jumping onto me. '"There is a strange man here. He has a moving chair and he wants to speak to you."
"Calm down, Luke. Is he from the MRD?" I ask.
"I don't think so,He smells like pumpkin spice ." he tells me.
An agent of the mutant registration department came a few weeks ago and asked my mother about me. Luke told me he smelled like Motor Oil and sweat, Anyway, since she does not know about my powers, my mom told the man he was out of his mind and slammed the door in his face. I have to applaud her for speaking her mind sometimes.
"Stop upsetting your dog, Laikyn, we have company!" my mom calls from the living room. Even though I hear him talking, everyone else just hears it as barking.
"Sorry mom!" I reply. "Can you be quiet for a while, Luke?"
"As quiet as a mouse, Lai." he says.
I pull my soggy brown hair over my shoulder and follow Luke into the living room.
A woman with brown, going gray hair, bags under her blue eyes, and pale skin sits on the sofa. She wears a black pencil skirt, a white blouse, black heels, and a grumpy expression. It is not hard to imagine her as a lawyer.
An older, bald man sits in a wheelchair close to the stairs. He has kind dark blue eyes, a pressed suit, and shiny black shoes. He definitely is not an agent.
"This is Professor Xavier, Laikyn." my mom says.
"Hello." I say shyly.
"Yes, Hello Miss Starr." Professor Xavier says, offering his hand to shake. I'm self conscious of my weak handshake, but I shake his hand anyway.
I sit next to my mom. "You apparently have not been honest with me." she says, "what's this about you being able to talk to animals?"
"Gosh mom." I say. "How was I supposed to tell you that I have been having conversations with Luke and Lilly?"
"Don't blame your daughter for not telling you, Mrs. Starr, these are troubling times for her." Professor Xavier says. "Now, Laikyn, how old are you?"
"Fourteen." I say shyly.
"Excellent, and so I am assuming you are in eighth grade?"
I nod.
"She is in advance biology and chemistry." my mom brags.
"Oh that's wonderful. We have a great science division at the school. You will love it." Professor Xavier smiles.
"Wait, what school?" I ask. It is the middle of the second nine weeks, it seems too early to be interviewed for a school for next year, but this is a terrible time for my mom to consider enrolling me in another school.
"Professor Xavier's school for people like you, Sweetie." my mom says as if it was the most obvious answer ever.
Professor Xavier then goes on to tell me about the 'Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters' a school for mutants. My mom is impressed by the beautiful campus and 4.6 star rating ("Colonie Central only has a 2.4 star rating, you know."). The only issue is that it is over two hours away. I do not want to move so far away from everyone.
"Of course this is a matter that we must consult with your father." my mom reminds me.
I'm fairly hopeful he will say no since the school is so far away.
After Professor Xavier leaves my mom does nothing but ask me about my powers.
"So all the times that Luke barks, he is actually saying something?"
"He's usually just going on about chasing squirrels or bacon or chasing squirrels wrapped in bacon." I tell her.
"And Lilly?"
I laugh, "She is very judgemental and usually keeps quiet."
"Lilly? Judgemental? Never! " My mom says sarcastically. "Just don't let your father hear you saying that."
Lilly is technically my dad's pet. He found her 'hopeless' and 'afraid' in our yard last year and took her in. She was actually the first animal I ever communicated with. I heard screaming from the bathroom and thought someone was being murdered. Turns out my dad was just trying to give her a bath. For the longest time I thought I was going insane because I knew cat meows do not sound like "get me out of here, girl! This peasant has no clue how to bathe me!"
I escape to my room before she asks me any more questions. I dig through my backpack and pull out my notebook and Chemistry homework.
Luke jumps onto my bed. " In order to extract isobutyric acid from a solution of diethyl ether, the solution should be cleaned with what?" He reads off my paper. "I thought you took chemistry, not gibberish."
"It's not gibberish, the answer is three times with ten milliliters of water." I write the answer onto the worksheet.
"So are you gonna go to the other school?" he asks. This is obviously what he wanted to talk to me about the entire time.
"I don't want to, but I don't have a choice if my parents insist that I go."
Luke considers this as he licks a spot on my bedspread that I spilled Kool-Aid on last night. "Bill won't want to send you away." He decides.
I smile at my dog. I know that my dad would not necessarily want me to go, but if my mom insists then she won't rest until I go. Maybe that's why she is a lawyer. She does not give up easily.
"Laikyn, your dad's home!" my mom calls from downstairs.
I restack my homework and leave my room. Luke is as at my heels as I jog down the stairs and into the perfectly cleaned kitchen.
I watch as my dad, 5'9 with blonde hair, gray eyes, a crooked nose, and a five O'clock shadow, peck my mom on the cheek as he sets his briefcase down on the counter.
"Smells good." he says, leaning over the pot of spaghetti sauce my mom is simmering over the stove.
"It's my mom's recipe." she says.
That is my dad's favorite meal, my grandma's special sauce over a bed of spaghetti. She is definitely trying to get him in the best mood possible.
"Laikyn, and how was your day?" my dad asks turning to me.
"I got an A on my biology test." I say.
"Excellent."
"Speaking of school." my mom pours the pot of sauce into a serving bowl and places it on the table. "Laikyn has something she needs to tell you."
"Did you get to try out for the cheerleading squad? " My dad asks hopefully. He seems to think (or more hope) I am 'popular' at school and not a shy girl who stays quiet until science class.
When I don't say anything my mom continues, "A man came today, he gave me this-" she hands him the brochure to the school. " And told us that our Laikyn is a mutant." she whispers the last word like the kitchen was bugged.
"Like those mutants on the six o'clock news that get arrested? Those mutants?" my dad asks.
"Yes, those mutants." my mom says.
"What are you power?" he asks me.
"I can communicate to animals." I say shyly.
It is amazing how someone's mood can change from being worried and down right scared to being amazed.
"Do you know how much money that would make? We could have a show called "The Whisperer' and you could figure out the problems of people's pets." My dad says. I forgot to mention he works for a television network. None of his ideas have even actually been aired, but he still enjoys bragging to company about it.
"Do you know how dangerous this could be?" my mom snaps at her husband while she bustles around the kitchen with a strainer of steaming pasta." Professor Xavier offers safety and education for mutants, I think it would be best to send her here." She points at the brochure.
"But it's all the way in Westchester, Sally." my dad says.
"Told you!" Luke says happily.
"I guess it could be good for her, after all we wouldn't have to worry about those agents finding her." my dad considers. "And it is only two hours away, she could visit over spring break and Christmas."
A lot more consideration occurs, but long story short, by the end of the night, my parents call to enroll me into Xavier's school for gifted youngsters.
Author's notes: hey all! thank you so much for reading my fanfic. I appriciate it so much! Please feel free to send kudos, critism and suggestions. I'm always up for improving my work. Cheers!
Disclaimer: I do not own the X-men, only Laikyn and any others that I personally create.