Welcome to Mutant High

I wake up in a room with crème colored walls. My eyes take a minute to adjust to the bright sunlight leaking into the room. I look down, noticing I'm covered with a white blanket. I glance around the room, seeing a drawer and a desk. I wasn't at home. Where was I at? I begin to panic, scared. My breath hitches in my throat and for a minute I can't remember how I got here.

Then it all comes back to me. My mom drugged me and brought me here. There was a man, Logan. He knew me. I sit up in the bed and reach around my neck, clasping the familiar chain and sighing. I still had my dad's dog tags. I'd never paid too much attention to them, but I'd had them for as long as I could remember and I couldn't stand to lose them. I relax a little and throw the blanket off of me.

I still wore my school clothes, only my shoes were by the door. I step off of the bed, my socked feet hitting the floor. I adjust the socks, one slipping below my knee, and pull my ponytail tighter. I try my best to smooth out the wrinkles in my skirt but I know I look like a huge mess.

I open the door, glancing around. In the halls, there are multiple kids running around. Some are my age, some younger, some older. I walk out, shutting the door behind me.

"Are you new here?" a girl's voice calls out.

I turn around and my eyes land on a blonde haired girl with blue eyes. She's pretty, I notice. She's about my height, maybe taller, and she appears to be around my age.

"Yeah," I say, "uh, where is here?"

"We like to call it Mutant High, I'm Clarissa. You can call me Claire," she says.

"Lydia," I tell her.

A dark-haired boy is walking by us, but she grabs him and turns him to me, "this is Tate Williams. He's another mutant."

"Nice to meet you, Tate Williams." I tell him.

"You, too."

"So," I say, "I'm not a mutant. Why am I here?"

"Are you sure?" he asks.

"What do you sense, T?" Claire asks him.

"I'm sure," he says, "but it's strong."

"I'm sorry," I say, "what do you feel?"

"Tate can sense other mutant abilities and track people. He can tell you're a mutant, but he's not sure your ability."

"Oh. Neat. Who's Logan? I need to talk to him."

"Oh, Wolverine. We were going to talk to him and Storm, too, you can come with us." Tate says.

"Okay. Lead the way."

I follow them down the stairs and in front of two large doors. Claire knocks on the doors, and after a moment they open. I see a black woman with blonde hair, an older bald man, and the man who took me into the room last night. They're all staring at us intently.

"Claire, Tate, I thought I told you this was a private meeting," the woman says.

"No, she can be here, Storm," Logan says.

I take a seat in the middle of Claire and Tate and we wait.

"So, we don't know what Lydia's abilities are, but we do know that she's powerful. Her mom just couldn't give us any specifics. She might be of some use to the special task force," Logan says.

"That doesn't mean that we can send her in blindly," Storm says, pointedly.

"I'm sorry, send me in where?" I ask.

"We've been recruiting kids with strong abilities so we can rebuild our task force. Claire and Tate are here because they're going on a recruitment. You can stay here and get situated, or you could come with us, stay close, and see if this something you'd want to do." Logan tells me.

I look at Claire and she nods.

"Why am I here?" I ask.

"You're a mutant," Logan responds.

"No, I'm a prep school varsity cheerleader and varsity soccer player." I say.

"Not anymore, Lydia."

I look down, then back up, "I'll go."

I just needed to get out of this building. I couldn't stay locked up in here. Claire and Tate share a look, the same way the adults do. Storm leaves the room and Logan and the other man stay. The two adults talk in hushed whispers while we wait. I play with the hem of my skirt while we wait for someone to talk to us, and I try to tell myself that this is a dream. I know it's not, though.

After a moment, Storm comes back in. She hands the three of us each a suit and a pair of shoes. I hold mine out in front of me, admiring the tight navy colored body suit. It has a yellow X on the chest.

"Go on, go get dressed then come back here," Storm says.

I listen to her and leave, making my way back to the room I'd been in earlier. I change out of my clothes and pull on the tight suit. I was pleasantly surprised when it fit. I take down my hair and rake my fingers through it, retying the high ponytail. I put on the shoes and leave the room, walking back down the stairs. I walk through the double doors again, finding that Logan, Claire and Tate are dressed and ready to leave, as well. I see older kids, two girls and a boy, but they aren't dressed like they're leaving with us.

"They're the older kids. They go on different, harder missions." Claire informed me.

"Oh. Cool." I say.

"Are you kids ready to go?" Logan asks.

"Yeah, let's get it over with."

We touch down behind a building, landing harshly.

"What was that landing, Logan?" Claire groaned, snatching her seat belt off.

"No time for safe landings, Electra," Logan grins.

"Electra?" I ask.

"It's my name because of my ability. You'll see," she grins.

"Guys, there are a lot of mutants here. Who are we here to save?" Tate asks.

"His name is Corey Jones. He's fifteen and his ability is unknown. Here's a picture, pass it around." Logan says.

Tate got the picture first, then Claire, then me. It appears to be a school picture, and he's smiling. He looks to be Hispanic and his honey colored eyes beam in the camera. He was so happy here. I look up and see the school building in flames and there are three other mutants as well. Two are boys with dark hair and the other is a girl with red hair. I undo my seat belt.

"Lydia, I need you to stay close to Tate. He may be just a tracker but he's basically bulletproof. He can take a lot so just stay with him. Don't do anything unless I tell you to," Logan says.

"Okay. I understand." I say.

We all get out and the first thing I notice is that the two other boys were gone. Claire doesn't waste a second, she runs straight to the red-haired girl, waving her hand at a power line and sparks flying out toward her victim. She was amazing in action. I watch the other girl raise her hand, a metal rod flying at Claire.

Tate pulls me away into the building and I see the boy, Corey. He's hidden awkwardly behind a desk. Tate stands watch at the door and I run to him, kneeling down in front of him.

"Corey," I say, "you have to come with us."

"I-I-"

"We don't have time. Corey, they are here to kill you. We have to leave," I pleaded.

Oh, God, was this how my mom felt?

"Lyd, we have-"

Tate is cut short and I'm yanked behind Corey. I look from behind him and I see one of the boys from earlier, his hands ablaze with fire. He'd hit Tate into a wall, but Tate got back up as if nothing happened. He ran to the boy and hit him, using all of his force to push him out of the building.

"Get him to the jet!" Tate screamed.

I moved in front of Corey, grabbing his hand, "We have to go, let's go."

I begin to pull the taller boy behind me but I'm stopped as the last boy stands in front of me, his eyes a piercing cold shade of blue. There was a desk levitating in front of him and he slammed it forward, heading straight to me. Corey snatched me in his arms and turned around. He kept my arms at my side and made sure no part of me went past him. I felt the impact of the desk shattering against his back.

"H-how did you do that?" I ask him.

He doesn't answer me, instead the boy attacking us says, "Amazing what you can do. Join us, Corey. We could use someone like you on our team."

"Come with you?" Corey asks, turning around, "I don't even know you."

"My name's Houdini. There, now you know me. Come with us, Corey."

"No, he's coming with us." I say, stepping in front of Corey.

Houdini laughs, "Why would he go with you?"

"Maybe because we aren't throwing desks at him!"

"Oh, like this?" he asks, pushing another desk toward me.

Corey wouldn't be able to react in time. I was too far in front of him. I closed my eyes and screamed, putting my arms in front of my face to brace myself. I envisioned the face of a boy with elf like features, dark hair, and green eyes. Who was he? A second passes, and I realize the impact never came.

I open my eyes and find the back of a guy in all black clothing. His hair is dark and he isn't paying attention to me, only looking at Houdini.

"Oh my God," Houdini says, backing up, "I know who you are."

"Come, M'lady, we have to leave, you and your friend." the boy says.

Houdini doesn't attack us again. He allows all of us to run out of the building, and I find Tate huffing and hunched over. The other boy is knocked out on the ground, and the girl is also passed out a few feet away from him. My friends looked battered and beaten up, but they were as fine as they could be. We all rush to the jet, Corey following behind me. I take my seat, fastening my seat belt and the boy finally turns around.

It's his face. This is the guy I thought about.

"Who are you?" I ask him.

He smiles, "I can't believe you forgot about me that easily, Lydia."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Elliot. You should remember, you're the one who named me."