Normal disclaimer stuff goes here. I only own those who I have made up.
Chapter 1: Mutant
Not a mutant…the voice echoed in her head. Her parents were Jean Grey and Scott Summers; two of the most powerful mutants in the world. She was their only child who hadn't inherited their gift. She was a freak, an outcast, a failure. She was the one who would bring shame on the family. The one who would bring it down.
Katherine tried to pry her mind off of the subject by surveying her room. Jenna's things were still strewn all over the place. Her oldest sister wouldn't be returning for days now that she was off in college. Jenna had always held her head high and ignored the taunting of those around her. Her eyes would flash, green-blue-yellow and she'd continue down the hall without noticing the bullies. Every once in awhile, a rotten egg would magically 'appear' in one of their lockers. Katherine and Jenna had always had a good laugh about that. Jenna would move something over to the bed from across the room and laugh about how nice it would be when Katherine finally got her powers.
She never knew how wrong she was. The two would never joke and compare powers. The others life would always be a mystery. How does she get along in her life without powers? Everybody in the family had been counting on all seven children to be mutants. From the day Madison came home, they'd known that there was something special about her, but the rest of them had had to prove themselves. One by one they'd taken the test, they'd passed with flying colors. All of them except Katherine.
"Katherine?" she heard. She quickly eyed the door, wishing that she could just see right through it. The tone of voice and lack of knock suggested that it was her mother, but Jenna's voice had always been similar.
"What?" she called back. She didn't want to see anybody. Her mother always knew what was going on, even if she wasn't using her powers.
"Can I come in?" her mother called. Even without powers, Katherine could detect that her mother was impatient and that there was somebody out there with her, prodding her along. Maybe Jenna had returned from one of her infamous trips out and needed to get back into the room.
"Fine," Katherine called, not trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. The door opened and her mother walked in--followed by her father. Katherine let out a groan as his red-quartz glassed face surveyed the room. His distaste for her decoration style was evident.
"Didn't I tell you to-" he began, but her mother cut him off.
"Scott, not now. Katherine, we have something important to talk about." She tried to say it with a soothing tone of voice, but there was something different about it. Her tone sounded forced, as if she didn't really want to be there.
"You can skip the act, Mom." Katherine said, surprising both of her parents. "I overheard everything. There's nothing to hide anymore."
"You overheard everything?" her mother speculated, looking surprised. She raised her eyebrow. "How much of everything?"
Katherine looked at her mother. She seemed cocky and sure of herself. She looked different then all of Katherine's friends at school and at the Institute. All of her friends who were mutants had the same glow to them though. A glow that set them apart. A glow...that meant they were a freak. "I overheard Professor Xavier saying that I wasn't a mutant. I'm not a freak like you." Her parents recoiled at the remark, but it made Katherine feel a slight twinge of something she hadn't experienced in a long time. Something called happiness.
"Well," her mother began coolly. "Since you are not a freak like us, then you'll agree with Professor Xavier. We're sending you to boarding school. He doesn't think that you growing up among mutants is healthy."
Katherine took a sharp intake of breath. They were going to pull her away from her home, her friends, her life. And all because she wasn't a mutant? "No."
"No?" her father cut in before her mother had a chance. "No? I don't think you have a choice, Katherine. I think that you need to listen to us. We know what's best for you. Growing up with mutants; people who you'll never be like is unhealthy. You need to grow up with your own kind."
"No." Katherine said again. "You're pulling me away from everything I know. I'm not going anywhere."
Her parents looked at her sadly. This time it was her mother who spoke. "Do you really want to stay here that much?" Katherine nodded. "Then you may. But I'm warning you. Growing up with people this different from yourself is harmful."
Katherine nodded again and pointed towards the door. Her parents got the 43hint and left the room. Katherine pulled her diary out from under her bed and grabbed a pen off of the headboard.
I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving. I'm going to stay here. I'm going to be different. I'm going to defy the odds. But still, I don't understand. Why am I different?