X2

--------

(Auckland, New Zealand)

She sat on her bed, looking at the white carpet with mild interest. Her lips went further into the frown as she heard her parents discuss about what to do with her down the hall. "Why don't we have a normal girl?" whispered the mothers voice. Their daughter cringed at the sorrow in her mothers voice. She wasn't in the mood to deal with the anguish they were so 'happily' bestowing on her. She sighed and her voice shuddered as she vainly tried to stop her tears from flowing. She wiped her few tears slowly and looked around her room as the tears started again. Her soft brown eyes landed on the picture of herself and friends after a Rugby match they won. She smiled sadly and walked across the room to the stand that held the precious sight. She picked the frame up and stared at the picture, conjuring up the game. It didn't work and she sighed in frustration. She placed it back gently and flopped on her bed, hoping that the coming images would disappear. But as always, they came and haunted her.

(Flash Back)

"Mel hold still!" giggled a breathless blonde as they drew on the young girls hand.

"Oh come off it! My hands are sweaty from the game Kirsten!" Cried Mel as she tried to pull her hand away, giggling madly. "So! Who cares! We won!" Kirsten said as she marked Mel's face with the black marker, making the line right under the eye. Another girl turned around in the front seat looking at the two. "Now she looks like those ridiculous football players in America!" she replied smiling. Kirsten turned to the girl and marked her face on the nose. "Now you look like one that met the mud!". They giggled and started to mark each other. "Are you guys having fun?" yelled a brunette from the drivers seat. "Yep!" they all said and went back to drawing on each other. "Kirsten loves Jeremy.." Mel said slowly while writing it on Kirsten's arm as she tattooed Amy's. "NO! Don't put that!" she yelled and jerked her arm away, getting laughter from the rest.

"So, where do you guys want to go for a party celebration?" asked the one driving, glancing in her rearview mirror at them. "Umm… Pizza Hut?" Amy said for a suggestion. "How about the rest?". Kirsten and Mel looked at each other and back to the driver, "YEAH!". The four girls giggled and went back to what they were doing. The driver smiled brightly and sighed as she put on a song. "This is Jimi Hendrix live, so to speak, and we're listening to… he's ever-famous, guitar solo!" the driver announced and the girls clapped as they listened to the solo. The driver giggled as Mel sat up a bit and pretended to be playing the guitar. Kirsten joined as she acted to be playing the drums. Amy and the driver giggled madly at the faces they were making. Amy bent over, gasping for air. "Stop! Stop it! It's so funny watching you two!" she gasped and tried to sit up, only going back to fits of laughter. The driver was trying her best to see straight from the laughing tears in her eyes. "Stop it! I can't see!" she went giggling again.

Amy finally gathered her sanity and looked through the windshield. The next thing the driver knew was that Amy was screaming. She looked forward to see an on-coming semi-truck, it's headlights glaring down on them. She turned the wheel wildly and barely missed the semi-truck. The car went around wildly and sailed close to a water-filled ditch below. The driver rose her head up and looked around at the others. She sighed as everyone was okay and the car hadn't flipped over. "That was close." she said and rubbed her bleeding head. "Yeah." the girls said and looked around. "Okay, how are we.." Amy started as she leaned her head out the window, but was cut off as the car turned over on the left. The girls screamed as the car rolled down the narrow hill into the ditch. The driver looked around wildly only to discover they we under water. She turned her head to see Amy struggling wildly with her seat belt and then to the other two who were knocked out.

She unbuckled her seat belt and went for Amy's. She unbuckled it and motioned for Amy to help her with Kirsten and Mel. Amy nodded and helped her with Kirsten out first. They surfaced the water and gasped for air. "God she's heavy!" Amy exclaimed as she dragged Kirsten across the water. "I'm going to get Mel, you go for help!" the driver said as she went down again for her friend. When she went back to the car she noticed that it was starting to sink. She panicked and went in through the broken windshield to find Mel trying to get out of her own seatbelt. She tried and pulled but couldn't seem to get the seatbelt to come out. *Not again!*. Mel looked at her friend with panicked eyes as her friend tried desperately to get her loose. She placed her feet on either side of Mel and started to pull back on Mel's seatbelt. She and Mel freaked as they felt the car sink even more. She looked at Mel and saw that she was starting to give up. *Oh no she doesn't! I need her, she's like my family!*. The driver started to frantically yank and pull and bite the seat belt, but it wouldn't give. They felt the car sink even more and Mel cringed as she was wanting air. The driver looked at her friends face and felt determination set through her to save her friend. She pulled once more as hard as she could and felt the belt give completely.

The force that was sent to get the belt loose was so great that she 'floated' back fast and hit the car door. The car started to take it's sinking faster. The driver looked around and started to freak out as their only way out was the windshield. She grabbed Mel and they went for the windshield together. They were almost out when the car sank even further and trapped Mel's legs, holding her hostage. The driver swam back to her friend and pulled with all of her strength to get Mel out. But it didn't work as she friend sank with the car. She held up her finger and went for the surface like a bat out of hell. She broke the surface and looked at the man who was coming down to help. "Hurry! She's stuck!". The driver went back down to find Mel had freed herself to her ankles but had still sank with the car. The driver went to the now half free part of Mel and started to pull. In these fast moving moments were like slow motion for the driver. She pulled and pulled but couldn't budged her friend. *No! I can't lose her! I won't! I can't live without her!*. The driver grabbed her friends bare arms and everything went still.

She almost passed out by the electrical shock. She could feel and see and find out every thought and every feeling her friend was going through. She looked at her friend to see her body go limp, her eyes glazed over. She immediately let her go and saw the man grab hold of Mel, successfully freeing her. The driver resurfaced with the man, him dragging the limp body of Mel. The driver looked around and saw the ambulance and everyone else there. She suddenly became confused about who she was. *Who am I?*. She looked at her hands as she climbed out of the water. She felt herself change and looked at her hands as the glowed slightly. Knowing better than to let everyone think she was a mutant, she hid her hands in her sweater coat pockets.

~~~~~~

She snapped out of her memory and looked at her own hands. "What am I? Why am I like this?" she asked herself quietly as she laid on her bed. Her mind drifted to her friend Mel. "Mel." she whispered, wishing she could see her friend like none of the horrible events happened. But she couldn't, her friend was now in a mental institution; in a padded cell, eight by ten, with a stray- jacket on, mumbling and drooling with eyes glazed over. She sighed and cried harder than she ever did as she knew she did that to her friend.

-------

--So, what do you think? Tell me PLEASE!!!

~Disclaimer! The characters of the original X-Men are not mine. But the new mutants, some of them, that you are about to meet are mine. So is the story plot!