X~Men
Aubree McKrea stepped out of a black car and looked up. Charles Xavier's school for the gifted may have impressed many with it's grand gothic style, but to a girl who had lived her entire life with such luxuries it was just another prison. One her parents were banishing her to because they couldn't deal with her mutation any longer; or should she say they couldn't hide it.
They tried. Aubree had to give them that much, but they never could get used to her picking something up without touching it, something she did constantly in hopes that they would get over their fear. They had seemed a little less jumpy after a while; at least until she started answering questions seconds before they'd ask them. The last straw came when her hair turned black and her skin turned blue six months ago. They couldn't even look at her anymore and not see a mutant, neither could their friends, and where would that leave them in the social ladder? Outcasts. Rich outcasts, but it was all the same. So before their mutant daughter became public knowledge, they would send her to a private school, in America, far away from McKrea Manor in southern Ireland. She still couldn't shake the underlying feeling of fear she'd get off them when ever they were in the room. She was almost certain it wasn't directed towards her; it was as if there was something else they were afraid of and she was a visible reminder; it hurt all the same. She had long since wrote it off as peer pressure, but now she wasn't sure. The fear had hit a new peak three days ago, as if they were waiting for something to stop them at any moment.
She made herself smile at the shofer. Hiding the pain they both knew was there. He warped a warm arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. Colin was a good man, he had decided to come with her and keep her company against her parents wishes. In many ways he was like a second father, always there when her natural father was away. The only problem was that he would now have to abandon her at her parents request, or lose his job. But she was glad he came.
"Thank you Colin." Aubree adopted the typical attitude expected of one with her status to cover up the lump in her throat. "That'll be all." Nodding his head he climbed back into the car, saying nothing when he saw a tear roll off her cheek or the slight slump of her shoulders as realization sunk in. Yes, he was a good man and a loyal friend whom she would miss bitterly.
Aubree looked up again to the cold dark windows of the school, paying no mind to the white haired woman and children who came to collect her bags and show her to her room. A prison, one with no bars except the ones placed by her parents half a world away. Following the cheerful woman down several hallways to a quaint little room, silently fuming, Aubree decided stubbornly to be miserable. The woman who's name was Storm chattered endlessly in a cheerful tone that Aubree all but ignored, retaining away only the important bits. The brunet with the streak was Rouge and her quiet companion was Bobby, she would love the school, make herself at home, so on and so forth. Home... The thought hit a cord; leaving her emotionally empty.
They finally left her alone in her room to unpack with the promise that someone would arrive in one hour to show her the way when supper was ready. Ignoring them, she sat on the low window ledge watching the sunset over the autumn landscape. Her cell phone started to ring. It would be Dianne, her mother, she would ask how the trip went. There would be a brief exchange of polite pleasantries ending in 'I love you sweetie', with her father Peter in the background yelling about how late they were going to be to some function or another. Feeling no need to have a conversation she could already recite, Aubree let it ring. They'd hang up.
~ Library ~Forward ~