"RENEE!" a familiarly annoying voice bellowed. I slowly lift my head up from that particularly fascinating dream I was having, to see an angry face with a ruler in her hand.
"Yes?" I answered innocently. My teachers always like me, except this teacher. She is nice and all, but boring. There are no jokes, just a straight face. She has black hair, maybe 5' 5'', thin, and her face is flawless. However, her face was red and her eyes were bulging out at me.
"YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SLEEP IN MY CLASSROOM YOUNG LADY! THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME THIS WEEK. COME OUT INTO THE HALLWAY, NOW!" Mrs. Wakes ordered me with her voice raised. I sighed, got up and followed her into the beige hallway. She calmed down with her head in her hands. I knew what she was going to say.
"Mrs. Wakes, I am sorry. I should have listened to you in the first place. You can give me a detention, I am sorry." I said with a hint of guilt.
"Are you taking medication for anything? Cold, allergies, headache?" Mrs. Wakes asked me with concern.
"Yeah, for anxiety." I answered quietly, embarrassed.
"What is it and when do you take it?" She wondered.
"I forgot what it was called, but I take it at lunch." I admitted.
"So that is why you fall asleep in your last class. It makes you calm which makes you sleepy, huh?" She patted my shoulder.
"Listen, there is only 5 minutes left of school, why don't you go to your locker and get ready to go home." She whispered.
"Thanks, and I truly am sorry." I gladly accepted though I carry my backpack around school with me. She hugged me and I went back into my small classroom. As I was walking down the row of desks, someone tripped me, and of course, I fell right on my bruised elbow.
"That is what you get!" A big, intimidating girl taunted.
"For what? Being smart?" I laughed. I got up, but immediately was knocked to the ground with a punch in my face. My head hit the ground, and I just laid there half conscious.
"Stop it June!" A low soothing voice ordered.
"Mike?" I answered, dazed. His well built body, short brown hair and brown eyes was standing in front of me, blocking the punches that were thrown by June. Suddenly, two guys were in my vision; one was big (his name is Chuck) and when I say big I mean overweight big. He had shorts, boots and a t-shirt on. The other guy (his name is Chad) was big as in muscular and was wearing the exact same thing. Honestly, they looked silly and didn't intimidate me, but I was wrong. Chad started towards Mike, and Mike did the same. Then they started a fistfight on the other side of the small room.
Pain shot up through my arm and I started to whimper. Where was Mrs. Wakes? Why was nobody doing anything? A large muddied boot was crushing my hand. I managed to twist to my other side and grab hold of his hairy leg to push it off of my hand. Chuck just bent down to me and smiled. Which was more of his large, hairy face being scrunched up and his eyes red. That is when I pushed my hand against his leg and Chuck was blasted into the wall, knocked unconscious and bleeding.
"What the—" I whispered.
"Look what you did to my boyfriend? You freak!" June yelled. Her fat hands took me by the throat and started to squeeze. Everything was slowed down in my mind. I could not breathe and I knew I was going to die.
"What…are….you… doing….to….me?" June croaked. I opened my eyes, and June was holding her throat as she fell to the ground.
"I can't breath. There is no air." She managed to croak once again before she passed out. And at that moment, I realized that everyone in my class had gone somewhere, but I don't know where. I patted my curly blonde hair down and fixed my shirt as I sat up.
"Renee, come on!" Mike exclaimed with my backpack in his hand. I looked up at his face and took my orange backpack and put it on. I stood up and looked around the empty classroom. Chuck, Chad, and June were unconscious. There was a hole in the wall as well. At that moment I knew I was different and that Mike might be different as well.
"Come on!" Mike took my hand and started to run out into the small hallway. Everything was surreal to me. Not only could I not think, but I also could run. I have never been able to run like this ever!
"AH!" I screamed and held on Mike's hand even tighter. We fell straight through the second floor onto the first floor without the second floor breaking. Mike didn't react at all, but I thought I was crazy and started to freak out. Then, again, I noticed that no one is in the hallways. Finally, we reached the front doors. Mike's hand and my hand let go of each other, but the doors were locked.
"Renee, blow the doors open." Mike stopped and stared at me.
"What?" I exclaimed.
"Just do it they are coming." Mike urged, his eyes looked scared, but about what? I shrugged and I casually put my hand in front of me as if I was signaling to someone to stop. I then concentrated and air came out of my hand and blew the doors off of their hinges! I was in shock. What am I? Mike grabbed my hand and led me to his car. We got into the car and he drove. I looked at my hands. They looked normal. I looked at myself in the mirror, I still hand my light skinned face and blue eyes. But what is different?
"Don't worry." He looked at me and smiled.
" What do you mean?" I yelled.
"You are like me." He said with truth sounding through his words.
"Huh?" I sounded.
"You can control air. You can make it, control the air that is already there, and absorb it. That is why June could not breathe. You unknowingly choked her." He explained to me.
"And you can go through solid objects… Does that include people?" I asked.
"Yup." He said bluntly. The rest of the time, we were silent. What am I going to tell my dad? That I am a mutant and that I can choke people by breathing? Desperation was pulsing through my veins. I just accepted it. During the car ride, I took out my small, pocket-sized journal and stared at it.
"Here we are." Mike broke the silence. I looked out the window, and there was my grey, two story house on my street in my secluded neighborhood. Two trees were on the front lawn and my dad was standing in the sea of green grass waiting for me.
"How... How… How do you know where I live?" I whispered. Nothing made sense anymore.
"I will explain when we are inside." He explained. I just nodded.
The living room was still the same. The room was blue and had grey couches, a bookshelf, TV, and a patterned carpet on top of the wooden flooring. My dad was sitting with Mike, and I sat on the couch across from them.
"Sweetie, I am sorry I did not tell you this when you were younger, but you did not show your abilities yet. I thought you were going to run away or do something stupid if I told you. We are mutants, you, Mike and I. I am a shape shifter. What can you do Ren?" My dad explained with the hope of me understanding. My dad was tall, six foot two. He has grey hair and was wearing a suite.
"I can control air... Are there others?" I said in shock of it all.
"Thousands, but in Kentucky there are only ten. I don't know why." He frowned. Everything was silent. It was cold, as it was November and the heater was not on. I looked at Mike and Dad and put on my grey sweater.
"If you are wondering, your dad found me a couple years back in the hospital. It was the day of your mom's death. I was running away from the doctors and I ran straight through your dad. My parents were not at the hospital, so your dad took me back to my room and talked to me. He has been my mentor ever since." He explained.
"Why don't you guys go for a walk? Ren, put your extra clothes in your backpack and take it with you. Now that your school knows what you can do, you have to be careful." My dad suggested. I nodded and headed up the stairs to my small room and packed my backpack. I wondered if that is why Serenity disappeared. Was she a mutant too?
