Chapter Four

"Do you know what I've been thinking? We are basically just a really crappy version of the X-men. I mean, they have powers; we have powers, etc., etc. But they get a jet, and all this really awesome equipment. We have a Greyhound bus and an old private airplane. I do believe we have gotten the raw end of the deal on this one." Jenny stated matter-of-factly.

It was two weeks after they had first entered the void, at Sunday morning breakfast. Classes at the local High School were beginning the next day, and each of them had been given various school supplies. No one was very happy to be going back to school, especially Dereth, who hadn't been to school since he was nine years old.

True, he had read almost all of the books at the various shelters he had lived at, so he wasn't very concerned about reading and writing classes, but he was worried about math, even though Dr. Spear had promised to tutor him outside of school.

Gabrielle was seated beside him, her arm almost touching his. They had grown closer over the last two weeks. He hoped she couldn't feel his emotions at the moment, though it was a blind hope, even though he knew Dr. Spear had taught her several techniques to blocking the constant barrage of emotion that she had to deal with daily. Of course, it didn't matter, he was certain that she would never feel the same way about him that he did about her. He had grudgingly come to terms with his feelings for her over the last couple of days. There was no way anyone would ever like him, so he tried as much as he could to block his thoughts from her. The most he could hope for was for them to be good friends. He wouldn't even try for anything else. He wasn't stupid.

"Well, Jenny, at least we don't almost die every other day. Is that worth a hover jet to you?"

Jenny grinned sheepishly, and bent her head over her cooling hash browns. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But wouldn't it be awesome to have all of those cool gadgets? I mean, come on."

Ken leaned in. "They don't have a continuously open portal to another world they built themselves." Everyone was silent then, realizing the truth in his words. It was rather strange that their real-life was weirder then the comic-scape of fictional superheroes.

Barely anyone looked up when the maple syrup magically floated over to Dereth's outstretched hand. It had become normality for strange things to happen at the mansion, from things floating around unaided, and the light shows that seemed to fallow Angel around, all the way up to ghosts showing up to talk to Amanda. But what could you expect after rounding up a bunch of teenage psychics so they could learn their craft? Dr. Spear had warned them about such things happening.

Standing in front of the registrations office at Montgomery High the next morning, Dereth didn't need empathy to tell he was not the only student from The Institute that was nervous. Gabrielle, Angel, Ken, Jenny, and Amanda were all standing nonchalantly beside him, but he could tell from the wringing of hands and scuffing of feet that they were almost as worried as he was. With the exception of Ken, whom Dereth knew had been star quarterback at his old High School, Dereth was sure none of them had ever had too many good experiences with school. Well, the students in school, at least.

The line slowly dwindled down, and it was Dereth's turn to talk with the secretary. He handed her the paper Dr. Spear had given him that morning. He had looked over it on the bus ride over, and stopped where the parents/guardians were supposed to sign. Instead of the usual stamp declaring ward of the state, there was Elizabeth Nightingale's neat little signature. He wondered if it were really true, or if she had just signed there to avoid suspicion. The secretary quickly read over the paper, then printed something off of an ancient-looking computer.

"Here's your schedule." She smiled as she handed him the slip. He studied it carefully, and started to walk out the door, but Gabrielle's hand reach out and grabbed the edge of his jacket.

"See you after school," She said. He wondered at the irony of that statement, then told her goodbye and left.

He looked again at the slip of paper. He had missed Homeroom with Mrs. Willoughby, and was now supposed to be in American History with Mr. Realms. He walked down the hallway until he arrived at the appropriate door, took a deep breath, and walked in.

He showed the secretary's signature on his schedule to the ancient man at the front of the room whom he assumed was the teacher, and then took an empty seat at the back of the room. This should be interesting.

It was third period, and Jenny was in pre-science with Amanda. The two girls had naturally gravitated towards each other, and were now working on the lab the teacher had assigned.

It wasn't a real lab. Mrs. Odulga had given each of them a snack packet of M&Ms, and they were instructed to guess how many of each color were in the bag. It was a lab on probability. At the end they were permitted to eat the M&Ms.

What Mrs. Odulga had not counted on was Amanda being psychic. Giddily, she predicted that there would be six browns, four greens, four blues, two oranges and one blue. Of course, when they opened the bag, her predictions were correct. The girls laughed as though they shared a deep secret.

"What are you two? Freaks or something?" said a deep, burly voice from behind Jenny's head. She turned around. A pudgy boy with Sandy-blonde hair glared at her threateningly. His clothes were ragged, dirty, and torn in places.

Jenny began to feel angry. No, No, not again…. She silently moaned to herself. Then she decided to fight back with humor.

"Don't make me angry, Red. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

"Yeah? And what, exactly, are you going to do 'bout it?" He pushed her backwards. Not enough for her to fall, but enough so she almost lost her footing. The teacher was at the front of the room helping another student, and didn't notice the commotion going on in the back.

Suddenly, two test tubes resting on a table by the door burst open, sending a clear, translucent liquid flying two feet in any direction. The room went suddenly silent; as Mrs. Odulga left the students to go investigate.

"Nothing serious, luvvies, just a couple broken test tubes." She pointed at the puddles on the floor. "Nothing but water. I wondered why they burst, though. No one was near them."

She continued to bustle around the front of the room, and Amanda glanced at her friend from across the table. Jenny had a horrified look on her face, one of fear, like a rabbit being cornered by a coyote.

"Are you alright? What just happened?"

Jenny looked down at the floor, so all Amanda could see was the top of her fiery red hair. After a while, as though she was ashamed of something, quietly said, "I haven't lost control in months. I thought it was getting better."

Gabrielle had agreed to allow a certified student show her around the school the first day of school. The counselors had tried to convince her to accept a full-time aid, but Gabrielle had refused. She didn't need an aid. She already had half the building memorized from orientation anyway.

Now she was seriously beginning to regret the decision. This Kid- Melvin was his name- waited for her outside of class, regardless of whether she had already memorized the hallway or not. And that wasn't the worst of it. He treated her like she was disabled or something. Like she was retarded instead of blind.

She was sitting in advanced math, formulating a plan to ditch him, when a voice from across the aisle addressed her.

"Nice shades." It was a husky voice, female, deep and textured. It sounded like its owner smoked. Not that she needed to hear the voice to know that- the person smelled like she had rubbed her hair in an ashtray.

"Thanks." Gabrielle attempted to appear as though she was concentrating on something, though the teacher had not even begun to talk. Gabrielle doubted he was even in the room- everyone around her was shouting and goofing off.

"My name's Elvira, though everyone calls me Elf." Gabrielle wondered at the odd name, Elvira did not sound like someone who should be named Elf, but whatever works. "What's that?"

"What?"

"That black thing you're holding in your hand. Hey, is that a stun gun?" Gabrielle almost laughed out loud. She held up the tape recorder in her hand so Elf could she it. "It's a tape recorder. For taking notes."

"Are you allowed to do that?"

"Yeah. At least I am."

"Cool." The conversation ended abruptly, as the door opened in the front of the room. Feelings of intense loathing hit her, breaking through the shields Sr. Spear had taught her to put up. Man, this must be one evil teacher. She turned on her tape recorder.

"Good morning, children. Welcome to Advanced Mathematics." His voice was oily, and sounded slightly hissy, like a snake might sound if it suddenly sprouted vocal chords. He breathed in, his breath resounding in his throat like winds through an immolated field.

"Being in the advanced group, I expect you to have an, er, higher caliber of work ethics then the normal math group. Do you understand?" There was a brief moment of murmurs and 'uh-huhs'. "Good. You will not be given homework this evening, but I suggest not getting used to it. You will all be assigned bookwork almost daily. Anyone who fails to complete the days assigned work will not be allowed into the classroom until it is finished."

He paused, and then began walking over to Gabrielle. She heard his footsteps approaching with growing unease. While most people's steps sounded like a 'clap-clap' noise, His footsteps made a definite, almost guttural, thunk, one syllable for each step. The noise grew closer until he was standing directly in front of Gabrielle's desk. She waited.

Finally, he spoke. "My dear," He said with a fake, oily sweetness, "Wherever are your notes and books? And" He took the tape recorder from her fingers, "What is this? Radios are not allowed on school property. Neither," - she could feel his enthusiastic glee growing inside of him- "Are sunglasses." He reached out and pulled off her glasses.

She felt his pleasure at making such a kill turn to horror as he saw her eyes. He slammed her shades and tape recorder down on her desk, and stalked back up to the front of the room.

At the end of the class, Elf walked up to her. "Girl, you shut him down! Props." Gabrielle smiled at the girls praise, and decided she liked her, even if she did smell like smoke.

"Thank-You." She took out her cane and began walking towards the door, using the noisy chatter as a guide. She began wondering if the school would allow her to bring Seth into the building. She wanted him more for comfort then actual need.

"So, listen," said Elf. " What class do you have next?"

"American History, Realms." She had the entire schedule memorized, as for the layout of all the hallways where her classes were located.

"Really? Me, too! We should sit next to each other."

Gabrielle thought for a moment. "OK, but first I have to take care of a little pest problem."

She walked to the doorway. Sure enough, she could hear Melvin's signature heavy breath, and smell the slight essence of anchovies that seemed to fallow him around. "Ready to go to your next class?" His voice was whiny, and its pitch was high. She disliked anyone who had such a voice.

"Listen, Melvin, you and I both know that you're doing this so it will show up on your transcript. Let's say we both go our separate ways, and I tell the office that you did your duty." When she felt him hesitate, she moved in with the big guns. "Or I can tell them that you left a poor, defenseless blind girl in the hallway without an escort. It's your choice." She walked over to where she had left Elf, and they began walking to American History. She was satisfied Melvin wouldn't open his mouth. He was too scared about his perfect record.

At lunch, Gabrielle and Elf were still hanging around together. Gabrielle soon learned that Elf was in an emo-punk band. She chatted happily away about the bands fruitless search for a bassist.

"The mansion has basses," Gabrielle put in thoughtlessly as she reached deftly for an apple off of the lunch line. Elf thoughtlessly picked one up and put it in her hand, but Gabrielle found she didn't mind. Elf was helping her because she was a friend, not because she was blind. She could feel it.

"Really? Have you ever considered playing? Maybe you could be in our band."

Gabrielle had always steered clear of musical instruments, afraid of breeching the cliché set up by artists such as Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. She really didn't like the whole blind musician thing. However, she liked this new idea.

"Maybe I'll teach myself how to play," she said.

"Awww that would be so cool!"

They paid for the food, then set out in the cafeteria in search of a place to sit. Gabrielle heard a blind chatter that was distinctly familiar. She pulled Elf over to where Jenny and Amanda were sitting.

"Hey, Gabrielle."

"Hello. This is Elf."

Jenny and Amanda eyed the girl Gabrielle had brought with her. She was clad all in black, with mesh fabric on her arms. Her hair was the color of a young raven's wing-but without the shiny blue-ness that would have cued it as her natural color- and her eyes were smeared with black makeup. A silver ring glinted from her eyebrow.

"Hey," said Jenny uncertainly.

Amanda quickly directed a thought at Gabrielle. It was a new concept that Dr. Spear had begun teaching the telepaths a couple days before, and she decided this was the perfect time to test it out.

Gabrielle, can you hear me?

Yes. The message was garbled and slow, but they were communicating none-the-less. She wondered if her thoughts sounded the same from Gabrielle's side of the conversation.

A Goth? You brought a Goth to the table?

What is a Goth?

Oh, never mind.

Frustrated, she ended the conversation. Of course Gabrielle couldn't know what a Goth was. But wouldn't she have known after talking to her?

She's just a person, Amanda. The same as you or me.

Amanda wondered whether she had broadcast her thoughts, or if Gabrielle had read her mind. Maybe she just knew, somehow.

Elf was busy giving Jenny hair tips. "If we dyed part of your hair a crimson red, it would look so totally awesome."

"You really think so?" Said Jenny, fingering her strawberry curls. Amanda knew she was very sensitive about her red hair.

"Of course."

Amanda decided she wasn't so bad. Anyway, she wasn't sacrificing them to Satan yet, and that had to mean something.

Dereth sat down at the table, on the side of Gabrielle that wasn't currently occupied by Elf. Dereth looked at the new girl inquisitively, shrugged his shoulders, and began to eat.

"Any chance that Ken or Angel might show up?" asked Gabrielle.

"Wouldn't count on Ken. I saw him sitting next to the Jocks a few minutes ago. Oh, well. It was to be expected." Dereth sighed.

"So what about Angel?"

"Haven't seen her all day."

"Hmm."

As they ate lunch, they told Elf about living at the mansion- sans all of the paranormal psychic stuff. Elizabeth and Dr. Spear had told them not to tell anyone the real reason they were at Red Rose. Instead, they stuck with the story Edward had given them: They were at the institute under academic scholarships. They hoped no one would realize that not all of them were in advanced classes.

Elf didn't seem to think anything of it. "You mean you live in a mansion? Without your parents? Awesome! Where do I sign up?"

"So, children, how was your first day of school?"

The daily session in the astral plane had ended. Dereth sat up in his armchair- the mattresses on the floor had been replaced as soon as everyone had gotten the hang of shifting- and rubbed his back. He still hadn't gotten used the falling sensation that procured in his abdomen whenever they re-entered the physical plane, a sensation that reminded him unpleasantly of roller coasters.

Everyone remained quiet for a few moments, deciding what information to tell. Gabrielle decided not to share her abandonment of Melvin. Though the students might find it entertaining, she was certain that Dr. Spear and Elizabeth would not. She wondered, briefly, if Dr. Spear would ever use his powers to read their minds. She shivered at the thought, and pushed it away.

"I met some of the guys on the football team today," said Ken. "Tryouts are next week."

"Splendid, splendid!" Edward cried. Everyone else rolled their eyes and snorted. "Anyone else?"

"I met a girl today. Her name's Elf. Apparently, she's a Goth." She allowed her statement to sink in for a moment, then said, "She wants me to join her band."

"Really?" Elizabeth sounded amused. "What kind of band is it, and what would you be playing?"

"Um, it's an emo band, and I would be playing the bass. There are basses here, right?" She hoped that they wouldn't make too much of a deal out of it.

Thankfully, they didn't. " Mmm-hmmm. Use whatever you need, dear. Make sure you tell us when and where band practice will be. Alright."

"Alright."

Gabrielle settled back down into her chair, and wondered if she would actually join the band. It was not her missing sight that kept her from joining groups and organizations, but her wariness of unknown people.

After a few moments of contemplation, she decided to sleep on it, and returned her attention to the group.

"Jenny, may we talk to you for a moment?" The rest of the students had already vacated the classroom, leaving Jenny alone with Elizabeth and Dr. Spear. Jenny raised her eyes to meet Elizabeth's, and nodded her head languidly. She wondered what they wanted. She wondered if they knew about the accident with the science vials.

Precariously, Elizabeth walked over so she was standing directly beside the girl, moving in much the same way one might move when in the presence of a frightened puppy, and placed a cool, soothing hand on her back.

"Are you feeling all right, dear? You've barely spoken a word all night, and haven't uttered so much as one mordacious comment." She hoped to bring a smile to Jenny's lips, but they remained in a distinguished moue. "I'm beginning to miss it."

"I'm fine, really." Jenny had considered telling the truth, but faltered when she thought of the humiliation that such a confession would bring. Nobody else had lost control over their powers, at least not to her knowledge, and she would not be the first to admit such a failure.

Jenny rose to leave. The look on Elizabeth's face held so much concern that the words that would reveal her secret formed on the tip of her tongue, but she pressed her lips together tightly, holding them in. It only happened once, She told herself. If it happens again, then I'll tell them.

"Remember, we're here if you need us," called Dr. Spears voice just as she stepped through the gargantuan door. "I know," She replied softly, and fled the room.