"Rina?" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the familiar voice. "Rina,
where are you?" It was Gwen. I couldn't shut her out this time because
she wasn't talking in my head. She was yelling for me.
"Yo, Carrottop! Come on out! C'mon, Rina! Was just kidding! I promise if you come out I'll never call you Red or Carrottop again! Please!" I chuckled. As tempting an offer as that was, I didn't think I was in any condition to make a public appearance yet. I was still glowing and worse yet, I was still sobbing. I couldn't let anyone see me doing either of those things!
Unfortunately, quiet as I was being, they found me. The glow kind of gave me away.
"There you are," said Randy, "Are you.Woah! Umm.Have either of you looked in the mirror recently?"
"I know! I'm glowing," I snapped, "Now would be a good time to shut up, Randy." I didn't look up at first, but there was a long awkward silence, and I couldn't help it. I looked up at Randy and saw that he was looking back and forth from me to Gwen. Glancing over at her, I got a huge shock. Her skin was covered in a sheet of ice. Her hair had frozen over and she looked as freaked as I was. Even through telepathy she couldn't make her words come out right. I.er.um..uh.I.Rina? What the.er.what the heck is going on?!
You're asking me because.?
Well, because you're more likely to have a clue than Randy, and he's the only other one around.
We both all of a sudden started cracking up. It wasn't all that funny, but at that moment, we could've used a little humor. Then we stopped laughing as suddenly as we'd started when we saw the look on Randy's face. We had never seen him look so scared before. His mouth was open wider than the Mississippi River, and his eyes were as round as golf balls! "Y.You guys are.are."
I knew what he was trying to say. It hadn't dawned on me before. Gwen either. It was possible. I mean, they could exist, and Gwen and I might be.but we couldn't be! They get treated like dirt.worse than dirt! And I wasn't too keen on running through the mall with an angry mob behind me. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and keep any sign of fear off my face. Randy and Gwen had seen me upset before, and that was bad enough, but if they saw me as scared as I was and it got around, well, let's just say it'd be really bad for my rep.
Suddenly, we heard a snapping noise behind us, and whirled around at the same time to see who it was. By then, Gwen and I had regained our normal appearances. We saw three kids coming toward us. One was a tall, pretty girl with hair almost as red as mine. The next was a shorter, skinny girl with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. The last (And least as far as height was concerned) was a boy with long, dark blue hair. Well.long by boys' standards.
They stopped and looked at us. It was really weird, like they recognized us, but we had never seen them before. "Are you Rina McGrath and Gwen Stiliano?" asked the redhead.
"Who wants to know?" said Randy cynically as he stepped between them and us.
"Yeah, who the heck are you and how do you know our names?" I demanded.
All that will be explained, Rina, if you'll just listen to what we have to say, said a voice in my head. It wasn't Gwen. It was a man's voice. Apparently Gwen and Randy had heard it too because they too were looking around for the source of it. The three kids seemed to have heard it, but they didn't seem to find it very strange.
"Who.who said that?" asked Gwen. I didn't have to use telepathy to see that she was really freaked out.
Relax girls. Randy, it's alright. We mean your sister and your friend no harm.
He didn't back off. He stood in front of us protectively and said with a defiant tone in his voice, "Oh yeah? Then why don't you come out where we can see you?!
Suddenly, a translucent image of a man in a wheelchair appeared in front of Randy and the three kids. He looked about forty years old and was as bald as they get. He had a sincere look in his eyes that made him seem easy to trust.
I'm projecting a mental image of myself so that you can see me. Is that better?
Randy didn't answer. We all just stared at him in amazement while the others watched us closely. It was a very awkward feeling. After a long moment of silence, I finally found my tongue. "Who are you?"
My name is Professor Charles Xavier. I run a school for gifted youngsters. These are a few of my students. Jean Grey, he gestured toward the redhead, Kurt Wagner, the boy, and Kitty Pryde, the girl with the ponytail.
They all smiled and waved at us in a friendly way. Even though it wasn't supposed to be, it was creepy because we had no idea who they were and we had just had a bit of a scare a few minutes before. There was another long pause, and then Randy spoke up. Well, sort of. "So.?"
These gifted youngsters all have one thing in common. Do you know what that is? When no one answered, he decided to answer for himself. They're all mutants, like you.
"Yo, Carrottop! Come on out! C'mon, Rina! Was just kidding! I promise if you come out I'll never call you Red or Carrottop again! Please!" I chuckled. As tempting an offer as that was, I didn't think I was in any condition to make a public appearance yet. I was still glowing and worse yet, I was still sobbing. I couldn't let anyone see me doing either of those things!
Unfortunately, quiet as I was being, they found me. The glow kind of gave me away.
"There you are," said Randy, "Are you.Woah! Umm.Have either of you looked in the mirror recently?"
"I know! I'm glowing," I snapped, "Now would be a good time to shut up, Randy." I didn't look up at first, but there was a long awkward silence, and I couldn't help it. I looked up at Randy and saw that he was looking back and forth from me to Gwen. Glancing over at her, I got a huge shock. Her skin was covered in a sheet of ice. Her hair had frozen over and she looked as freaked as I was. Even through telepathy she couldn't make her words come out right. I.er.um..uh.I.Rina? What the.er.what the heck is going on?!
You're asking me because.?
Well, because you're more likely to have a clue than Randy, and he's the only other one around.
We both all of a sudden started cracking up. It wasn't all that funny, but at that moment, we could've used a little humor. Then we stopped laughing as suddenly as we'd started when we saw the look on Randy's face. We had never seen him look so scared before. His mouth was open wider than the Mississippi River, and his eyes were as round as golf balls! "Y.You guys are.are."
I knew what he was trying to say. It hadn't dawned on me before. Gwen either. It was possible. I mean, they could exist, and Gwen and I might be.but we couldn't be! They get treated like dirt.worse than dirt! And I wasn't too keen on running through the mall with an angry mob behind me. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and keep any sign of fear off my face. Randy and Gwen had seen me upset before, and that was bad enough, but if they saw me as scared as I was and it got around, well, let's just say it'd be really bad for my rep.
Suddenly, we heard a snapping noise behind us, and whirled around at the same time to see who it was. By then, Gwen and I had regained our normal appearances. We saw three kids coming toward us. One was a tall, pretty girl with hair almost as red as mine. The next was a shorter, skinny girl with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. The last (And least as far as height was concerned) was a boy with long, dark blue hair. Well.long by boys' standards.
They stopped and looked at us. It was really weird, like they recognized us, but we had never seen them before. "Are you Rina McGrath and Gwen Stiliano?" asked the redhead.
"Who wants to know?" said Randy cynically as he stepped between them and us.
"Yeah, who the heck are you and how do you know our names?" I demanded.
All that will be explained, Rina, if you'll just listen to what we have to say, said a voice in my head. It wasn't Gwen. It was a man's voice. Apparently Gwen and Randy had heard it too because they too were looking around for the source of it. The three kids seemed to have heard it, but they didn't seem to find it very strange.
"Who.who said that?" asked Gwen. I didn't have to use telepathy to see that she was really freaked out.
Relax girls. Randy, it's alright. We mean your sister and your friend no harm.
He didn't back off. He stood in front of us protectively and said with a defiant tone in his voice, "Oh yeah? Then why don't you come out where we can see you?!
Suddenly, a translucent image of a man in a wheelchair appeared in front of Randy and the three kids. He looked about forty years old and was as bald as they get. He had a sincere look in his eyes that made him seem easy to trust.
I'm projecting a mental image of myself so that you can see me. Is that better?
Randy didn't answer. We all just stared at him in amazement while the others watched us closely. It was a very awkward feeling. After a long moment of silence, I finally found my tongue. "Who are you?"
My name is Professor Charles Xavier. I run a school for gifted youngsters. These are a few of my students. Jean Grey, he gestured toward the redhead, Kurt Wagner, the boy, and Kitty Pryde, the girl with the ponytail.
They all smiled and waved at us in a friendly way. Even though it wasn't supposed to be, it was creepy because we had no idea who they were and we had just had a bit of a scare a few minutes before. There was another long pause, and then Randy spoke up. Well, sort of. "So.?"
These gifted youngsters all have one thing in common. Do you know what that is? When no one answered, he decided to answer for himself. They're all mutants, like you.