A/N: Hey, this is my first X-Men story so please be nice! And also there's a girl named Kitten in the first chapter, but I just want to point out that she is NOT Kitty Pryde. Kitten is just some girl I made up.
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men comics, but I do own all the characters in this chapter (Tory, Kate, Kitten, and the mother)
(Tory)
Sometimes I felt like Cinderella… that is, without the fairy godmother, the prince, the crown, and the palace. My life was pretty much a crappy Cinderella story without a happy ending before I came to the DeAnjelo Institute.
"TORY, GET UP HERE NOW AND CLEAN OUR ROOMS!" sounded an outraged voice from upstairs. With a groan, Tory set her duster aside on the kitchen counter and hurriedly climbed up the stairs. "TORY!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Tory called out a bit shyly.
(Tory)
I had the most horrible twin sisters you could imagine. Their names were Kitten and Kate, and they were twelve years old. They were spoiled rotten and always expected me to clean up after them, cook their meals, do their chores, even their homework. They always had me working, and if it wasn't them who forced me to work, it was my mother, who was just as cruel.
The second Tory stepped into the room, the green laundry basket was thrown at her. "Pick up the laundry," Kate commanded, who was sitting on her bed and smirking at her sister. "Then, we want you to make our beds, dust the shelves, wash the windows, pick up what's on the floor, and make us breakfast."
"We're timing you, too," Kitten said, showing Tory the small timer in her palm. She pressed the button that started the timer. "You have ten minutes to do it all." Kitten got up from the chair she was sitting on.
"Yes, Sisters," Tory said, already starting on the laundry.
The two grinning twins shoved Tory on the floor before exiting their rooms. "And then mother would like a word with you about your daily routine."
(Tory)
When I was seven, my parents died one night from a car crash on their way home from the pizza place. It was rainy and very dark, and before they left I had no idea that would be the last time I'd be Tory Shepard. When I was eight, I got adopted into this family, and was then on called Tory Timothy. My mother and twin sisters pretended to be nice to me my first day here, but then they had me working like a maid every day after that.
Tory heard footsteps coming from the stairs and quickly tried to finish washing the last window. The door opened and Kitten came in with her timer. "Your ten minutes is up, and you still haven't made us breakfast."
Kate came in next. She stomped her foot down on the floor and shouted, "WE'RE HUNGRY! IT'S NINE O'CLOCK AND STILL NO BREAKFAST!"
Her mother came in last, and at this point she was literally trembling in her sneakers. "I'm sorry! I'll have it made in ten minutes, I promise!" Tory said.
"You know what this means," Mother said, ignoring what Tory had said last. "There will be no meals for you, today."
"But you didn't let me have anything yesterday, either!" Tory complained.
"You should've thought of that before being so sluggish this morning," Mother said. "Come, girls. Tory will make you breakfast, soon."
"Mother, she's so slow!" Kate whined on her way out.
"What in the world are we going to do with her?" Kitten asked, leaving the room.
"We'll think of something," Mother said, closing the door.
(Tory)
Yeah, I've thought about running away. But Mother kept all of the doors and windows locked when I was home alone, so ever since I was eight, I haven't been outside even once. I was too much of a coward to break the windows or doors down to get outside. That's just the way I was. When Mother wasn't home, I used the computer to go on the Internet and learn what any girl was supposed to learn at my age. I always thought I wasn't special at all, and it wasn't until I was fifteen years old that I discovered my mutant abilities.
Tory let go of the wet rag she was holding and dropped to her knees. She buried her face in her hands and started to sob. "What did I do?" She whispered to herself. "What did I do to deserve all this $&#?"
Suddenly, Tory felt utterly strange from head to toe, a little stronger. But she thought it was all account of her being sad, and that it was all in her imagination. She brought her face up and wiped her tears away with her hands. Tory looked at the clock. Okay, it's 9:10… She started dusting the shelves, which usually took her about ten minutes to do. When she finished, she looked up at the clock, again. "What the…? 9:10?" The clock must be broken.
Tory opened the door and traveled downstairs to check the other clocks, but they all read 9:10 am. "Mother!" Tory called out. She went to the kitchen and froze in her tracks. Her sisters were sitting at the counter, and her mother was reaching for something in the cupboard. They weren't moving at all. It all looked like a movie that was paused. "Mother?" Tory walked to her and tapped her on the shoulder, but she did nothing.
What's going on? How come I'm the only one that's moving? And all of the clocks are broken, too… Tory swiftly went to the front door and opened it. She ran outside and looked down the road, where three cars stayed in the same place. They weren't moving at all. She looked up and saw a flock of birds that weren't flying, but staying still up in the air. Oh, my gosh. The clocks aren't broken; I just stopped time! And this means that… I'm a mutant.
A/N: Please review and tell me what you think about it so far!