Hey readers! This chapter's pretty long, I know. I couldn't find a decent cut off point. The next one will probably be shorter. Anyway, read and review!
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"Uh, Ken? You sure you wanna go in there? I've heard wolves in there. Other people say they've heard them too."
Kennedy laughed, "Tyler, there isn't-" She stopped mid-sentence. There was no way she was telling him that the 'wolves' were really her on a few midnight runs, "Uh… anything to be afraid of," She finished lamely.
Kennedy grabbed Tyler's wrist and pulled him into the woods.
There was an eerie silence around them. The calm was too calm, the quiet was far too quiet.
"Ok, I don't know if what I smelt was dangerous or not so keep on your guard."
Tyler nodded and clenched his fists and they became encased in flames. Kennedy shape-shifted into a sleek black wolf and an attack of scents and sounds hit her. She tried to find the same scent she smelt on their walk.
She got it after a moment and darted off to the left, Tyler not far behind.
After a minute of running, the scent became over-powering. The 'whatever-it-was' was close, very close.
Kennedy shifted back into human form. She didn't want to hurt or scare whatever it was if it wasn't dangerous. Tyler concentrated on his clenched fist and the flames vanished in an instant.
"It's close," She muttered to Tyler in barely a whisper.
"Yes, I am," a female voice said from behind.
Kennedy and Tyler whipped their heads around. An unintentional growl escaped Kennedy's throat. Her mutation sometimes brought about some very animalistic traits. Tyler's hands exploded in flames. He hated being surprised. However, he quickly extinguished the flames when he saw it was a person.
"Who are you?" Kennedy asked threateningly. This woman was tall and beautiful with thick red hair and sparkling eyes. She was wearing a long coat that went down past her knees.
"My name is Jean Grey. I work at Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters."
Kennedy bit back a laugh. She didn't think she'd ever heard a dumber name for a school. But she kept her face stoic, "I don't mean to be rude, Jean, but what are you doing running around here? I don't recognize your scent- I mean, I've never, uh… seen you around here."
"I drift in from time to time," Jean answered in a non-committal voice, "But this time, I was actually looking for you two."
"In the woods?" Tyler asked suspiciously. He clearly did not trust this woman.
"Well, I thought that Miss Taylor here might have been out for a run," She cast Kennedy a knowing glance.
Kennedy froze. She knew. This mystery person knew that they were mutants. She had been of course referring to Kennedy's wolf runs.
How could Jean know? She and Tyler had always been so careful about when they trained. They would train when it was dark or when they were by themselves, sometimes even in the woods.
Then it clicked.
"You're a mutant," Kennedy said. That was why she picked up on the foreign yet familiar scent. Jean carried a different scent than a human because she wasn't human.
"Yes," Jean said, "Just like you two."
Kennedy had a million questions, but her curiosity got the better of her and she knew that out of all the questions she had, there was one that see really wanted to know.
"What do you do?" Tyler beat her to it.
Jean smiled, seemingly pleased with this question. She switched her gaze to a large rock and in a second it was hovering five feet off of the ground. Then without even the slightest change in expression, she sent it flying through the air and it crashed into a tree.
"I'm telekinetic and a telepath," Jean said.
"Telepath?" Tyler asked.
"It means she can read people's thoughts and, you know, just like, enter their minds," Kennedy clarified.
Jean nodded.
"Cool," Tyler said, seeming more willing to trust Jean, "Like, can you tell me what Kennedy's thinking?"
"Well, I usually don't use my mutation for such things. I stay out of people's mind if I don't have their consent."
"Oh, come on!" Tyler pleaded, "I need to know if she's still pissed at me from when I accidentally burnt her history project last week!"
"Oh, you won't need a mind reader for that," Kennedy growled.
"Fine," Jean said, "I'll do it, but first let me tell you why I'm here."
Tyler and Kennedy nodded. They had almost forgotten that Jean had been looking for them for a reason.
"Ok, Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters is a school for mutants. When a mutant's abilities surface, we, or the professor rather, are alerted and we come to bring them to the school, assuming they want to go of course."
"But, that doesn't make any sense," Kennedy interrupted, "I found out I was a mutant when I was eleven. So did Ty. How come no one showed up then?"
Jean looked genuinely stumped, "I don't know. The professor told me a week ago that I had to pick up two mutants. I had a hell of a time finding you though. It's a good thing that you found me."
Kennedy nodded.
"Well, trust me, this will be addressed, but for now, that's not the issue at hand. This school is open to all mutants. If you wish to go, our doors are open."
Kennedy's mind whirled around at a million miles a minute. No more having to hide her and Tyler's gifts. They could be around people like them. No more practicing only at night or when they were alone. No more looking over her shoulder every time she wanted to change form. Never again would she be forced to give herself a headache when she tried to resist the urge to maul the people who called her and her friends freaks.
"I don't need to read your mind to see that you really want to go, Ken," Tyler said with a chuckle.
"Don't you?" Kennedy asked, slightly nervous. She wouldn't do anywhere without Tyler, no matter how badly she wanted to.
"Of course I want to!" Tyler said loudly, "It's just well, we can't just up and disappear. We are gonna have to tell our parents."
Kennedy sighed. She knew they had to. She'd been trying to find a way to tell them for five years. Kennedy lived in a gated community with her very wealthy, very conservative, and not very opened minded parents. They didn't accept her for who she was and were constantly trying to force her into such horrors as floral print. Kennedy remembered vividly her fourteenth birthday. Her parents nearly had a heart attack when she came down for dinner in black jeans, a black tank top complete with red pentagram, a black studded belt, and silver guitar earrings.
They blew up worse when she dyed her hair. (Apparently they felt that hot pink streaks were very unbecoming of a young lady.)
Worse still when they found her stash of Metallica CD's.
And worse still when she started dating Tyler.
Tyler had shaggy black hair with a red streak thrown in here and there. He wore baggy jeans and concert tee-shirts. Her parents refused to believe that he was a straight A student. Kennedy hadn't believed it either until he showed her a few old report cards he had stashed under his bed. Kennedy's parents had just stuck up their noses and insisted that he had hacked into the computer system and changed them.
"We were gonna have to tell them eventually," she said finally.
"Might as well be sooner than later?" Tyler prodded.
"Might as well be sooner than later."
"So you'll go?" Jean asked, smiling.
"When can we?" Tyler asked.
"Whenever you're ready."
"Cool," Tyler said, "Now that we've heard you out, can you read Ken's mind?"
Jean looked at Kennedy, "Is it alright?"
Kennedy shrugged. She had nothing to hide, "Sure, go ahead."
Jean nodded and set her stare onto Kennedy, unblinking. After a minute or two, Jean shook her head, confused.
"What is it?" Kennedy asked.
"Your mind blocked me, it shut me out. How did you do that?"
"I didn't do anything," Kennedy said, "Wait, what do you mean, 'I shut you out'?"
"It was like I hit a wall, some kind of mental wall. It takes years for even the most advanced telepaths to learn to do that. It must be part of your mutation," Jean said more to herself than anyone else.
"But her mutation is shape-shifting," Tyler said, feeling the need to state the obvious, "Not psychic-blocking."
"Maybe I can do both," Kennedy said, "This is awesome! I'm going to a school where there's bound to be a few telepaths with crappy morals and now they can't read my mind."
"Lucky," Tyler muttered.
"The professor will be interested in this. I've never hit a block so strong that I couldn't eventually get through."
"Well," Tyler said, "Could it be that your power's, I don't know, broken maybe?"
"Broken?" Kennedy asked, "Come on Ty, powers don't break! Do they?"
"No, they don't break," Jean said, "They can malfunction, but mine aren't. I can hear someone thinking that they're husband's being an inconsiderate asshole."
Kennedy laughed, "So, if it's not you, it must be me."
"You think so?" Tyler said sarcastically, "Wow Ken, I'm proud to be dating someone so intelligent."
Kennedy growled and snapped her jaws. Tyler could see that Kennedy's teeth were longer and sharper than before; more animalistic. She bared her teeth at him, still snarling.
"Whoa, Kenny," Tyler said, backing up, "Chill out."
Kennedy slapped her hands over her mouth, "Oh my god, Ty, I'm so sorry! I don't know why I keep doing that!"
"Keep doing that?" Jean asked.
"I don't know!" Kennedy said, exasperated, "Lately when I've gotten pissed or, I don't know, like defensive, I get kinda feral. You know, growling and snarling and stuff like that."
"That's not uncommon, I hope you'll be happy to know. Often, when someone has a mutation that relates to animals, they'll experience a showing of animalistic characteristics when feeling angered or threatened."
"Oh, okay, good," Kennedy said, "I almost took Tyler's arm off when he burnt my project."
"As you gain a higher level of control over your powers, you'll find it easier to control your feral outbursts."
"Let's hope that doesn't happen when you tell your parents," Tyler said, putting a comforting arm around his girlfriend's waist.
"Yeah, that'll just give then even more of a reason to be scared crap-less of me," Kennedy sighed.
Jean quirked an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"My parents think I'm a 'disturbed child' who's going to do nothing with her life but live on the street while trying to outrun the cops," Kennedy shrugged.
"I can't wait to meet them," Jean muttered.
Kennedy scoffed, "Don't even attempt to fake enthusiasm, I can barely stand to be around them, and I'm their freakin' daughter!"
"So, you wanna get a move on, Baby?" Tyler asked.
Kennedy shrugged, "Now or never."
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