The week she was supposed to graduate, Helena received many cards and letters from former friends. On one hand, she wished she could be there celebrating with them. On the other hand, she recognized their letters as sounding contrived and insincere. She wasn't one of them anymore. She was a mutant. And she wasn't even that. Helena didn't even fit in at the place she was banished to.

Once upon a time there was this girl who chose only to look at the bright side of life. She didn't see the sense in being angry, being sad. She had dreams, hopes, wishes. She stated time and again "I will change the world." That girl, sadly, died with Donny. Little by little, until the last bit blew away with the aftermath of his death. At this time, Helena was still a prisoner of her own consciousness.

And it wasn't that nobody tried to help. Her elders at the school sensed her distress. She chose not to talk to them. She began to feel comfortable around them, so it wasn't a matter of that. Helena just had the urge to keep things inside. The number one thing a person like her should never, ever do.

It was a week after she was to graduate. Her parents had somehow scraped together enough money for a visit.

"When am I coming home?" Helena demanded, the second she caught sight of them. "After I turn eighteen, right? I've been taking classes, I can control this power I have."

"Helena…dear…" Her father seemed to be struggling to let out a sentence that just FELT like it was better left unsaid. "We can't DEMAND that you stay here after you turn a legal age, but we CAN demand that you not come back home-"

"It's not that we don't WANT you!" her mother interjected, trying to save face. "It's just--we don't feel like it would be in your best interest to come back."

Her father continued, "You know how poorly mutants are received. We made the mistake of not hiding where you were going…I just don't think that if you came back, it would be an entirely welcoming atmosphere."

Three hours and a million tears later, her parents were gone. God knows when she'd see them again. The professor assured her that when she had her birthday, she didn't have to leave if she had nowhere to go. In fact, he had said, there were plenty of wonderful opportunities here awaiting a girl with her talents.

"Bullshit." Helena said aloud, sitting in the den and rethinking all that had happened that day. She-didn't-even-belong. She was included in a sideshow without being a freak.

"What's bullshit?" Logan asked, coming in and sitting next to her.

"Being banished from your hometown. Being told not to come back home. Being told there's a place for you here when you're NOT A MUTANT!" Helena tried to stare him down. He just laughed. She wanted to laugh after realizing her failed attempt at being tough, but her inner self was always on guard, never letting the happiness shine through.

"Kid," Logan began, "You and I may be different scientifically, but there sure as hell are a lot of similarities between you and I. You may as well be one of us. And hell, If I get attached to a place like this, then why can't you?"

Her eyes were glazed over, she was only half listening. "Let me tell you a story," She suggested. "It's about a boy named Donny. Let me add that there was this girl. They were friends." Helena began to tell the tale. It was the first time she was able to speak about it. Wounds from the near past were ripped open. Why did it feel good?