Two.
Bless you!

'Oh man, I totally zoned out halfway through that stupid test,' said a black-haired girl with tanned skin as they relaxed on the grassy hill outside the school hall.

'Same here, it was weird. Like I forgot what I was thinking,' replied what looked like her sister, though her dark hair was cut into a short bob around her chin.

'Hey Jaz, how did you guys go?' a shorter, plumper girl sat down next to them, addressing the sister with longer hair.

'It was tough, Jess finished before all of us though,' Jasmine nodded towards her sister who smirked casually. 'How about you?'

'Don't get me started. Half of it was jibberish,' said Miranda, leaning back on her bag.

Lacey sat quietly, staring at the hall as if waiting for it to sprout legs and run off. She was still in a state of shock; what had happened in that hall seemed so outlandish that it felt like it never happened at all, as though she had dreamed it.

But she handed her paper in, completed and probably near perfect, no thanks to her notes.

'Lace?'

'Huh?' Lacey turned to face Jessica who was looking at her with a perplexed expression.

'Are you alright? You look really pale,' she said.

'Yeah… I'm alright, that was just a really hard test,' replied Lacey.

'We were just talking about how weird it was that we all seemed to zone out at the same time,' said Jasmine shaking her head.

Lacey had no idea what they were talking about; she was too preoccupied with the fact that she may have frozen everyone. Though, it was pretty cool now that she wasn't worried about remembering information or trying to un-freeze everyone.

Would that mean she would have to get registered? Lacey didn't remember if they still made mutants do that anymore.

Though, there was the possibility that what happened had nothing to do with her – that it could have been another mutant. Or some space-time anomaly. And besides, what did it matter? She wasn't exactly using her mutation – if it was hers to begin with.

'Do you guys have any exams left?' Miranda asked, breaking a thoughtful silence.

'No? Well, I was thinking we could go to the mall and have a celebratory lunch? I'm sure my mum's restaurant will pay,' she smiled, hoping everyone would come along.

'Sure,' said Lacey without thinking.

Sure enough, they were trekking their way through the maze of streets, careful to avoid the boy's high school that lay somewhere within.
Jessica and Miranda walked ahead, discussing their answers to the questions with such intensity that both Jasmine and Lacey decided to lag behind.

'Lace, are you alright? You look like you're going to be sick,' said Jasmine, looking at the ground.

'I'm… right,' Lacey began wondering if she should say anything about what happened earlier.

They continued walking in silence, trying to block out the conversation from Jessica and Lacey that drifted over to them.

'Hey Jaz, um, have you heard anything about mutants recently?' Lacey asked, finally deciding that this would probably be the best way to talk about what had happened.

'Why?' Jasmine shot a quick glance at Lacey who was careful not to catch her eye.

'No reason, don't worry,' Lacey said quickly.

'Well, there's still all of Alistair's group…I haven't heard of any new kids joining,' said Jasmine, Lacey was thoroughly glad that her friend liked anything that sounded remotely like gossip.

'Though… I heard from Bernadette that there may be rumors of a few new kids,' she continued.

'Really? What's Alistair done about that?' asked Lacey. Alistair was well known for his forceful tactics to have any new mutant at their school part of his little group. He made it obvious to everyone that there were only two groups; mutants and everyone else.

'Nothing yet, but you can be sure to expect something. Thank god it's summer break, so we don't have to witness another brawl,' said Jasmine as they turned down a short street that led to the doors of the mall.

Jessica and Miranda were waiting for the two other girls to catch up before walking in. They both looked a little frazzled, as they usually did after an intense conversation about exams.

'God you guys took forever,' Jessica rolled her eyes, opening the door. They stood in the small corridor that opened into the main center for a few minutes, chatting amongst themselves.

'Can we go to the arcade? Please, I need to get my mind off that exam,' Lacey pleaded, knowing that a nice first-person-shooter would definitely distract her.

'Yeah, sure, it's just over there,' Jasmine flung her hand out unnecessarily and pointed towards one end of the mall, hitting Lacey's nose in the process.

Jasmine looked at her apologetically and began walking out with her sister and Miranda, leaving Lacey struggling not to sneeze. The door swung open behind her, and someone stormed through the corridor.

'Hey!' she exclaimed as they bumped into her shoulder, but she was broken off by a rather loud sneeze, much to her relief. She opened her eyes, and a guy wearing the same putrid green and yellow school bag stalked off shaking his head.

'Huh?' someone called. Lacey walked apprehensively down the hall and gasped.

It had happened again. Everyone and everything had stopped.

Everyone, except that one guy that had bumped into her.

She walked cautiously around, looking closely at all the people who had stopped dead in the tracks. Lacey looked over at the guy who was doing just the same; waving his hands in front of their faces and poking them. And then a thought struck her.

'It was you!' she called out, startling so much that he jumped back, hitting a stationary figure behind him, causing them to fall to the floor like a block.

'How come you're still moving?' he asked, looking at her from afar.

'How am I meant to know, you did this!' said Lacey.

'What?' he took a step closer, being careful to avoid the person he had knocked over.

'Yeah, and at school during the exam. You must've done this!'

'Uh, no. I didn't,' he replied walking closer. 'From the looks of it, I'm pretty sure you did this.' He was now standing barely a meter from her, looking somewhat intrigued.

'But I'm not a mutant!' she stammered. The guy shrugged.

'Look, I know what I can do… and freezing time isn't included,' he flicked his messy light brown hair that reached his jaw in annoyance.

Lacey didn't quite get what he meant until she had noticed that he was right; it wasn't just the people who had stopped, the clocks all did too.

He looked at her as though he was expecting her to realise sooner, with a condescending smile etched onto his face.

'Wait, you're a mutant?' said Lacey in shock. The boy bowed in response, disappearing right before her eyes.

A/N: This is what happens when I say I'm going to stick to a time-table. I don't! This story may be out a little slower, because I'm still unsure on how to end it. What that means is that I know how I want it to end, it's just a matter of adding/fixing/taking away parts of the story to make it work!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter!