Dear Reader,

I am delighted by the fact that you have taken an interest in my story, the first of a series. I want to hear ever comment you have so please review, but avoid criticism, without explaining to me how I can make this story better. I admit I do write for my own enjoyment, but if you like it then it's ten times better.

Respectfully submitted,

KT

Chapter One:
Meeting the Girls


Part One:
Cameron

Cameron sat at her desk working on her math exam when the teacher announced: "Three minutes!"

She huffed in annoyance, realizing she had at least twelve problems left. This wouldn't be happening if she had just studied. She never had enough time to do everything she needed to do. Help her mother, help at the garage, eat, sleep, there weren't enough hours in the day.

"I need more time," she sighed letting her head fall into her hands. She looked up and saw her teacher staring, fixed, at a stopped clock. That was weird enough, but she soon realized that none of her classmates were moving either. Some were stuck in strange positions, like the boy in the back row with a pencil up his nose. Everything was totally still.

She got up and waved her hand in front of Mrs. Barns's face. She didn't react. So, wanting to try her luck, she poked her hard on the shoulder; nothing. A wry smile passed Cameron's lips. She didn't know what was going on, but she was going to milk this for all it was worth.

She sat at the teacher's desk with the answer book and her test paper. As she filled in the last bubble and set the paper on the pile on the desk and walked back to her desk. She breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in her chair. With that the world came alive again, and no one was the wiser.

The bell rang a moment later and the class filed out the door, not realizing fifteen minutes had gone by.

Part Two:
Katherine

For Katherine Rivers, at first, it seemed to be just another summer at Camp Saint Paul. It was just a place her parents dumped her every year to get her out of their hair, but she had grown to love every minute of it. Her only friends were here, her real family.

Katherine was standing on the edge of the pier ready to dive into the water. She was quite confident she could beat at least three of the other girls, water was her element. The camp lifeguard blew the whistle and all five girls dove into the water.

Katherine went under and didn't come back up, not for the entire twenty- yard swim. She didn't feel a need for air anymore; she was content under the water. She skimmed the bottom, looking at the shells. She forgot the race and began to explore. It was a rush of power and excitement. She loved it, she needed it.

When Katherine made it back to shore everyone was headed for the showers. She came up out of the water and found she couldn't breathe, and that she was covered in red scales. As the sun dried her face she could breathe again. Soon the scales disappeared. She decided to skip the shower and walked up the lawn to the mess hall.

Part Three:
Fallon


Fallon sat in the passenger's seat of her stepfather's truck as the rain poured down in the night sky. They had just come from the racetrack, and as usual, he was drunk as anything. He was a construction worker and liked being able to gamble on her mother's dime. He reached over and grabbed her behind the neck.

"You're going to make me a very rich man," he said. She pulled away. He took her to the racetrack everyday after school to pick the winning horses. She had never picked a loser, she wasn't sure how she knew winning lottery numbers and that a horse with 45 to 1 odds could win three straight races.

They ran straight through a red light. Suddenly an odd scene flashed across her mind:
A man stumbling drunk through a run down old house, she reconized it as the old Smith Bungalow in the developement where she lived. He was climbing to the second floor. She took in a pained breath as a sense of understanding hit her. His tool kit was upstairs, he kept his gun in his tool kit. He was screaming: "Ellen you btch!" Falling back against the railing that wouldn't support his weight. He fell fourteen feet, breaking his neck upon landing.

Her eyes opened wide in pain. Ellen was her mother, the man had been her step-father.

Part Four:
Ruby

Ruby walked up to the gas station convenience store and put her hand on the doorknob. It was all closed up. She felt the metal heat in her grip and the solvent chemicals dripping from her pores slowly melted it. With the lock liquefied the door pushed open and her body began to turn to dense liquid and cave in under her, sloshing to a puddle.

Moving in her chemical form was just a matter of will and changing back was just as easy. She just had to wish herself back into her human shape and she took it.

She was concentrating on burning through the cash box as she thought about the first time she ever used her power.

It was three years ago, she had been fourteen. It was the night of the end of the year dance. She was in the bathroom hiding from her ex-boyfriend who had broken up with her on the phone the night before leaving her dateless.

She wanted him to pay so bad it made her whole body tremble. Suddenly, all at once, her body sloshed to the floor in a puddle of a florescent purple substance. Moving out to the dance floor was easy enough. She slipped under Clint Smith's feet and sent him down to his butt.

The football star burst into tears and every one laughed.

Sweet revenge, she thought as she made her way out of the convenience store with stolen cash, cigarettes, and candy.

Part Five:
Carmen

Carmen opened the door to the science lab. It was dark as she crept in noiselessly and opened the professor's desk drawer. She pulled out his portfolio and filed through it for the answers to this week's final. Finding what she was looking for she went to go to the copy machine when she heard footsteps coming. She closed her eyes and held her breath as the door opened.

"Is someone there," called the teacher from the door. He entered the room looking around in confusion. He made his way to the desk and shut the open compartment. With that he left. Carmen opened her eyes in surprise to find she couldn't see herself. She nearly screamed but slowly her hand materialized in front of her face. She copied the test and slipped out of the room.

Part Six:
Opal

Opal was practicing her karate in her back yard. She went into a crane kick and as she hopped she floated up into the branches of a large tree. She got stuck there and began to yell in terror.

Help," she pleaded. "Someone help!" She clung to the branch of the tree as she watched the neighbor's lawn chairs float off into space. "Get me down!"

Like that the string pulling her up broke its hold and let her settle on the branch, which started to crack. She screamed as it gave way and sent her to the ground.

"Ouch," she moaned, luckily she wasn't as far up as the White's furniture, which hadn't faired too well on the way back to the ground.