As the weeks go by and I'm introduced to the other students at the school and settle in, I find myself expecting to wake up. It doesn't seem real, any of it. All these kids, with all these… powers. Not too long ago I would've drawn back in fear and distaste, considered them freaks.
But I'm one of them now… and somehow they don't seem so freaky anymore.
Of all the students I've met, I'd probably say I like the one they call Rogue the most. I'm not sure if that's her real name, probably no more than Wish is mine, but somehow it's who she is. A lot of the kids, I've noticed, call themselves by names that have something in common with their powers, but just as many hold on to their normal names. Like Bobby and Kitty.
After dinner, I'm sitting on the couch between Rogue and Bobby, feeling stuffed as a turkey at Thanksgiving, when I realize Rogue is asking me a question.
"Sorry, what?" I ask, snapping myself out of my thoughts.
"Wow, you really were a million miles away," she says smiling. "I was asking you what your power was."
I shrug, doing my best to seem cool about the question. I should get used to it. "I'm not quite sure. I make things happen by wishing for them, sometimes. But it doesn't always work. And I get nosebleeds and headaches."
"Wow, that sounds really cool!" he says enthusiastically. "So you can wish for anything? Like a million dollars or a Porsche?"
I laugh at his enthusiasm. "I said it only works sometimes. And it really hurts after, if I get what I wished for."
Rogue makes a sympathetic sound. "I know what it's like to have a gift with drawbacks."
"What's yours?" I ask. I've only figured out the most obvious ones so far, and I can't find anything at all unusual about Rogue. Except maybe her outfit…
"I can absorb other mutant's powers by touching their skin," she says quietly.
"That doesn't sound so bad," I venture, sensing that it's not that simple.
Bobby is quiet next to me, and I almost regret asking. "I'm sorry, it's none of my business," I mumble, embarrassed.
Rogue shakes her head, the white streak in her hair fanning out over the rest of her hair, which is red. "Nah, s'okay. My gift is useful sometimes, but like yours, I can't really control it. And while it doesn't hurt me physically, it sucks the life out of whoever I touch."
"That must be really tough," I say sympathetically, instantly understanding why she wore opera gloves even through dinner.
Rogue nods, a slight teary sheen in her eyes. "I wish I could touch people without hurting them," she sighs wistfully.
As the words roll off her lips, I gasp, my heart starting to beat frantically. "Shut up," I choke out, knowing that it's too late and that she can't take back her wish and that I can't stop it. Pressure rolls out in waves in my head, building just behind my eyeballs. I slide off the couch and sink to my knees, clutching my head as my vision becomes blotchy and the pain reaches a crushing crescendo. I can vaguely feel someone's hands on my shoulders (Bobby's, I think, but the world is too far away to know for sure) and concerned voices all around me.
"Shut up!" I scream, feeling like my head's going to spilt with all the pressure inside it. My eyes roll back and I feel the world slip away from me. The last thing I feel as I fall to one side and my head connects with the carpeted floor is the ticklish sensation of blood trickling from my nose and over my lips.
When the darkness finally recedes, I can barely open my eyes. There is an unbearably harsh white light in my eyes and I can't see anything. My ears feel funny too, as if they're stuffed with cotton. I open my mouth, but my throat is too dry to do more than croak out a few quiet noises.
It's enough to attract attention however, because soon enough a woman's face comes into focus.
"How are you feeling?" she asks, smiling down at me. I notice that she's very pretty, with the most amazing red hair.
"Who- who are you?" I whisper hoarsely, swallowing a few times.
"I'm Jean," she says, checking something on her clipboard. "How's your head?"
I smile a little. Actually, except for the fuzzy vision and weird cotton-in-ears feeling, I feel fine. "It doesn't really hurt… but my ears are all funny. My eyes too."
She nods. "That's normal. We've had you on some pretty strong painkillers. You last dose was…" She checks her watch. "Three hours ago. It should be wearing off in another half hour."
"Ok." I close my eyes and sigh. "I did it again, didn't I? I granted a wish."
Even though my eyes are closed, I can almost see Jean's expression. "Yes Wish, you did."
My eyes are feeling more normal, so I open them again. "There's a catch isn't there? It wasn't completely what she wanted."
"No, you're right, it wasn't. Rouge can only touch without danger those she's touched before."
I look hard at Jean, and I realize it's the truth, but not the whole truth. "There's more, isn't there?" I feel sick with worry, but I have to know. I have to know what I've done. "Tell me. Please. I have to know…"
Jean sighs and I notice she can't look me in the eye. "Rouge's mutation has increased in potency. Before the wish, Rogue's touched sapped a mutant's powers and life force through skin contact lasting 10 seconds or more." Jean finally looks me in the eye. "Now Rogue's touch saps life almost instantaneously. The results are… quite deadly."
I can feel my eyes grow round and frightened as I process this last bit of information. "Deadly? Has there been- I mean- was someone-?" The question hangs in the air as I trail away.
Jean shakes her head, a reassuring smile on her lips. "No, everybody is allright. There was an incident with one of the lab rats Rogue was feeding but thankfully she only brushed the poor thing's tail, and the rat was merely stunned for a few hours." Her expression turned serious. "But it did illustrate how much more dangerous Rogue's touch has now become."
I close my eyes against the headache that is slowly returning, and I'm surprised when Jean touches my arm gently. "Wish, the professor and I have been talking about setting up a mental barrier in your mind… to protect you from people's wishes."
I open my eyes slightly. "I don't understand it. Usually I have to wish it myself… and even then it isn't a sure thing."
"Rogue has longed to be able to touch others without draining them ever since her gift manifested itself. Perhaps…. that made her wish very powerful."
"I wish I could've stopped it somehow," I say, leaning back into my pillow. My head is pounding now, and I believe Jean picks up on it because she hands me some pills without a word. I watch her turn, and before she closes the curtain around my bed she gives me a warm smile. Strange I think, as I drift off, that I should have found such nice people despite everything.