"Alright Darcy, you're free to go now. I'll go grab you some clothes and then I'll take you to your room."

I lope back over to my bed and pick up the books and pens sitting on my bedside table and slip them into a brown leather messenger bag with a shiny brass buckle that Laura found, sitting the bag on the bed while I wait for Laura. She returns after a few minutes with a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and black canvas shoes. I change and sling the bag over my shoulder, following Laura out of the infirmary and into the school. She leads me to an oak door with a brass plate reading Girls' Dorm on it, opens it, and then we head down the corridor until we reach room number 16. It too has a brass plate on it, which has the single name Morgan Johnson engraved in it. Laura knocks twice on the door and waits for a few moments until we hear footsteps, and the doorknob twists until the door swings open, revealing a dark haired girl with blackish-brown eyes and pale skin, wearing a pair of black Adidas trackpants, a faded blue Volcom hoodie, and brown slipper boots. She runs her eyes over me wordlessly, nodding slightly to herself after a moment.

"Morning Morgan," Laura says. "This is Darcy, your-"

"Roommate. Yeah, I got that," she replies sullenly. She holds out a hand to me, which I take, wincing slightly as she shakes my hand in a crushing grip. "I'm Morgan. Come on in and I'll tell you how it works around here."

Laura squeezes my shoulder before I walk in, and Morgan shuts the door behind me. She strides over to a made-up bed, and gestures for me to sit on the other bed, which has sheets folded neatly at the end. I sit down and face her, and she looks me over again, frowning slightly.

"I have some rules in here," she begins after a minute. "My stuff is on this side. You don't touch my stuff unless I say you can. You don't borrow my stuff unless I say you can. Got that?" I nod. "Good. Now, you don't make noise unless I'm not here, or if I say it's fine. That means if you want music, you go somewhere else, or you get some headphones. Also, don't wake me up if I'm asleep, unless there's a fire or something else drastic like that. And if I am asleep, or trying to sleep, you don't make any noise."

I nod again. "Seems fair." It doesn't, but I don't dare disagree.

"So; what can you do?"

"I've got an electrical charge on my skin. If anybody touches my skin, they get an electric shock, and the power of it depends on my mood. Apparently I might be able to learn to control it, but that will take time. What can you do?"

"My skin is impenetrable, unable to be pierced or cut. I can also go indefinitely without air."

"That's pretty cool. So why are you here? Your gift isn't a curse; people can't notice it."

"I got sick of my family, so I ran away. I found this place while I was wandering around the streets a couple of years ago, and they took me in. Why are you here?"

"My parents found out about my power and tried to kill me. I ran away and lived in the bush for a few months, but these guys came and found me and brought me back here with them."

"Why did they get you? What's so special about you?"

I shrug. "How should I know? I only went with them 'cause I was dying out there. They gave me the choice, but I didn't have another option."

She looks at me carefully again, before nodding slightly and standing, heading for the door. She pauses with her hand on the doorknob and turns back to me. "I'll leave you to get settled in." She doesn't say it in a friendly tone, more annoyed than anything. I don't really care though; this is better than anything I've had in a long time, so I'm not complaining.

I stand up after a few minutes of just sitting and looking around and make my bed. I slip on the plain, off-white fitted sheet, and slide the matching pillowcase over the cheap looking pillow, tossing it up to the top of the bed. I unfold the fleecy navy blue blanket and lay it over the bed, then flop down onto it, lying on my back and staring at the ceiling. I lay there for half an hour or so, until I hear the door open. I sit bolt upright, my head whipping round to look at the door. I relax when I see it's only Kitty, and give her a small smile. She smiles back and sits on the bed next to me.

"Where's Morgan?" she asks.

I shrug. "No idea. She talked to me for a bit and then left. She didn't say where she was going," I add.

"And she was fine with you coming in here?"

I shrug again. "I guess. We didn't really talk that much, so I wouldn't know. She didn't sound too angry or anything like that."

She sighs softly. "I'll talk to her at dinner, then," she murmurs to herself. "I'll leave you to it," she says to me, leaving the room. I lie back down on the bed and stare at the ceiling until I fall asleep.

I wake to the sound of someone calling my name and roll over to see Morgan standing impatiently in the doorway.

"It's time for dinner," she says. I get up and head out the door, closing it behind me. I follow her through the building until we reach the dining room and see everyone else in there. I get a few stares when I walk in, but they're curious looks, not accusatory looks. Morgan takes two plates from the counter and hands me one, which I take gratefully. It's spaghetti Bolognese, and I sit down next to Morgan, who's sitting with some of her friends. They watch me as I sit down, take in the gloves, and a couple shuffle uneasily in their seats. Morgan introduces me to them while we eat, and they keep asking me questions; none that I wouldn't answer, but I still find it odd to be around so many people.

"What's with the gloves?" one girl, Jessie I think, asks me. "One of the older girls wears the same kind of gloves. She can do something that knocks people out, that's why she has to wear them."

I think back to Rogue, and spot her watching me from the other side of the room. "Yeah, I'm kind of like that. But I'm more…" I pause for a moment, thinking of the right word. "Electric."

"So if we touch you, we'll get shocked?" another girl, Bec, asks. She seems pretty clever, and she's managed to make the connections before any of the others. I nod, and the girls exchange nervous glances.

"Can you do it now?" Holly asks.

I shake my head in alarm. "No, I can't control it. I'd only end up hurting someone."

"So it's powerful?" Bec asks thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure how powerful it gets, but it can kill people."

They shift uneasily again, and I sigh. I've done it again; managed to scare them off.

After dinner I get ambushed by Laura. She takes me down to the lab, saying she wants to show me something. I see complicated diagrams on her whiteboard, and data flashing on the computer screens. She grins at me and hands me a crisp sheet of paper. The words and numbers mean nothing to me, so she elaborates.

"I decoded it," she says simply, a huge smile on her face. She laughs. "I figured it out; I managed to break it down."

"So this is…" I say, realisation slowly dawning on me.

"Your mutation," she says proudly, finishing my sentence for me. "You have an electrical charge on your skin that will not conduct through anything, except for certain rare metals. Aside from that, the only way you can shock someone is to have direct skin-to-skin contact. The power varies, ranging from a static shock to a Taser, though the exact range is unknown. I'd have to test that. You can control this, with extensive training. It is exhausting, but Rogue has managed to control her gift, and I have organised for her to train you. It will take time, but it can be done. Rogue is a shining example of that."

"When does it start?"

"Your regular training begins tomorrow, and I will organise a time for Rogue to train you separately."

"How long will it take?" I ask.

"To be honest, I don't know. Rogue is a very powerful mutant, and it took her over five years to learn. She's much more experienced than you, and her powers are much greater. It might take a decade or more for you to learn."

"It's better than nothing," I say. And I know I'm right. It's at the very least something to hope for.

"Come on now, it's time for you to go to bed. Training starts tomorrow morning, and you'll need to be well-rested." She leads me back to my room, the path still unfamiliar to me, and leaves me at the door. I open the door and step inside, and find ten pairs of eyes staring at me. Morgan and her friends are lounging around the room, and I have a funny feeling they were talking about me. They leave somewhat awkwardly, not making eye contact with me, but still looking at me warily. Morgan hands me a stack of clothes.

"These are for you. I don't need them anymore, and they'll do until you can buy your own."

"Thanks," I say, placing the stack on a shelf in the small wardrobe on my side of the room. I put on a pair of simple blue and pink check pyjamas and slide under the blanket, letting my eyelids slide shut gratefully, my first night sleeping in a proper bed.

The ray of sunlight beaming through the chink in the curtains wakes me up. It's shining right in my eye, and I sit up and rub my eyes groggily. Morgan is stirring, but I don't try and wake her. She wakes up herself in a few minutes and glances over at me. We get changed, her into what she was wearing yesterday, and me into a pair of fleecy charcoal grey trackpants and a loose navy blue t-shirt, along with the shoes I got yesterday and my gloves. We head down to breakfast and eat quickly, not wanting to be late for training. One the way, Morgan explains what we do in training.

"We train in the gym most of the time, but sometimes we train in the Danger Room. It's this massive room that make illusions, to simulate situations where we might need to use our powers as a team, or sometimes individually. We work on controlling our powers and strengthening them, and sometimes it's just like P.E. class."

"So how long does it go for?"

"Until lunchtime, then we have regular classes until mid-afternoon."

We reach the gym and go inside, and Kitty approaches me as soon as she sees me, handing me a package wrapped in brown paper.

"Here's your training uniform," she says with a smile. "Your locker's number 17. Morgan will show you where it is."

Morgan leads me to the locker room and we change into our uniforms, skin-tight black leather jumpsuits with X shaped buckles on the short belt around the waist, and matching boots. I find my locker and put my clothes inside, but leave my gloves on, following Morgan out into the gym. The group of thirty or so students stand in a loose semicircle, waiting for our teachers to arrive. Storm enters the room and smiles.

"Good morning, are you all ready to begin?" We all nod. "Good. Today we're going to be working on controlling our gifts. We have set up various things to aid you in your training, and we will come around to help you as we see fit. Darcy, these will probably be easier to work with than your regular ones." She tosses me a wad of something black, and I unfold them and see that it's a pair of black leather gloves that match my suit. Storm dismisses us and I head back to the locker room to change my gloves. This new pair is a normal length, just past my wrists and tight around my hands. I return to the gym and glance around at everyone. They're all training, and I wonder how I'm meant to train if I just end up hurting people with my power. I hear footsteps behind me and spin around in alarm.

"Come with me," Rogue says flatly. "It's time to begin your training."