Us Mutants Prefer the Term "Special"

x3x

Strategy learning was completely focusing on fundamentals and technological advances in a seminar class setting. Hence the name, apparently. We even started to learn navigation and survival tactics.

And before the last class of development, there was dinner. I grabbed our food and started to go back to our room, but Wib grabbed my arm and nodded towards the cafeteria.

"No," I whined. All my life I had been sociable, but here...I don't know what it was. Maybe I didn't want to associate with anyone because I didn't want to be here.

He placed his hand at his chest and moved it in a circular motion, meaning: 'sorry.'

But like his request for a new education, I obliged because I wanted Wib to miss as little in his life as possible. So we went to the cafeteria, just to get some of the premade food, and then an arm was thrown over my shoulder and it scared me.

"You know, you're one of the only people who won't attempt to beat my ass for doing that," the guy from earlier said.

"Why? Because you mess with a lot of people?" I guessed as I noticed the twins arrived as well.

"Um, it's the Academy; everyone's on their guard," Anthony smirked. Hence the training classes.

"...especially when you mess with them," Andres snickered.

"Good to know," I said, grabbing his hand and removing his arm from my shoulders.

"Wait, wait, wait," he said. "Where are you going?"

"To our room..." I answered. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"You're in Sentara's Unit, now; that means you eat with us," he informed. I paused. This is what I didn't want.

"I'm not even sure if I want to eat this food, let alone sit with people I don't know nor want to know," I told him, bluntly. He still looked at me, expecting more. "No one wants to eat this stupid soup, or stand a room of noisy kids. I rather be in my room making fettuccini alfredo without anyone but my brother."

He rolled his eyes and I hope his jerk side would awaken to just leave me alone, but then all he did was smirk. I narrowed my eyes at him. He gestured towards my tray and then took it from me. Suddenly, he flipped it upside down and before I had the chance to get mad, he had flipped it right side up and revealed a plate of steaming fettuccini alfredo with an icy drink in a glass—opposed to the laws of physics which suggested that the food would fall off of the plate and oh I don't know, remain as its own form!

"How did...?"

"You have your food, now let's find your friends," he said and then pulled me along how the twins had done to my brother before now. As we walked through the cafeteria, I didn't make eye contact with anyone, but noticed all long tables inside for the younger kids and the circular tables for separate units of varied teens. We made it outside and we had a huge table underneath the only tree in the upper courtyard.

The twins and Wilbur took a seat on the empty half of the table where there were three more empty seats. We took up two of them. Aside from the twins and Wib, the rest of the table looked at me, aside from Jane. She was more focused sitting back in her chair, reading a book.

"Babe, you should take a picture. It lasts longer," the guy told the gorgeous girl from earlier as she and her blonde friend stared at me. Suddenly, there was a fry thrown at her face, but it bounced off an invisible shield of some sort.

"Cut your crap, Cheshire," she hissed at him with a soprano voice. Cheshire? That's his name?

"You first," he retorted.

"You're just jealous," one of the twins said.

"—afraid of some competition," the other added.

"Please," the blonde girl scoffed.

"You too," the twins chimed at her, extending their accusation. Both girls scoffed.

"How rude," a beautiful, blonde girl muttered with an interesting blue sound emitting from her Aussie accent glaze. Her clear cerulean eyes flashed over to my plain, brown ones. "I'm Cariba and you are...?"

"Aspen," I answered. She nodded and produced a genuine smile.

"Welcome to the Academy. Hope you like it," she said.

"I've actually been here for two years," I gulped.

"Oh..." everyone said.

"Whose courses were you taking?" Cariba asked.

"No ones," I answered. "My brother and I stayed in our room and we studied the entire time."

"So you've had no training at all?"

"Nope," I shook my head.

"Then why'd you come now?" the gorgeous girl asked. I looked over to Wilbur.

"Well, Wi—"

"Hello, students," Professor Maxwell greeted out of nowhere. They all greeted him back, but then I put my focus on the fettuccini.

"Wilbur, how are you liking your first day?" he asked. He started signing his reply and I watched everyone's faces not turn to shock, but amazement for Wilbur's deafness.

'It's fine I want to get started already' Wilbur said.

"Well you have Development left," Maxwell reminded. "I usually let my new students have their first lesson with me."

Oh the joy, I thought. Maxwell looked down to me.

"Are you enjoying your new friends?" he asked me.

"Friends? More like unit," I commented. He then looked over at the three girls on the opposite side of the table than me.

"I hope you're all welcoming her," he added to them all.

"Yeah, but you know it's Skye's job more than most," Cheshire snickered. Huh? The blonde girl glared at him. "You know; to take cutie, here, under her wing and all."

"Shut up!" Skye yelled at him, throwing a fork at him, but when he held up his hand to catch it, he lowered his fist to the table. When he fingers flattened, there was only a white feather. What?

"Speaking of welcoming, where is Isaac?" Maxwell inquired.

"Not here," Andres answered.

"Like usual," Anthony added.

"I'll go find him," Jane said abruptly, putting her book down.

"Wilbur, please accompany her," Maxwell suggested. Jane's eyes met Wilbur's and seemed to encircle with gold. She slid her chair back, creating a loud, orange sound and I saw the orange mist move against the wind and wrap around Wilbur's neck. It melted into him like sand pouring into the ocean or something.

"Yes sir," he choked out and then started walking away. How did he do that?

"Well Development is about to begin...will you be participating in the private study, Aspen?" Maxwell asked me.

"Absolutely...not."

Cheshire laughed at that.

"Well then you can do your team a favor by finding its leader," Maxwell suggested. Leader? Who else was—oh. The "man of steel" Cheshire and the twins were making fun of. He never left the secluded room even after Sentara came back.

"But h-he's busy right now and surely won't give up his Development period," Indica started to say, protectively.

"I have a different feeling, Miss Dupree," Maxwell smiled sarcastically. "And who else is better for a debriefing?"

"Well—" Cheshire started to say and everyone groaned at him.

"I'll escort you," Professor decided for me. Jerk.

"You'll thank me later," he said as if he had something up his sleeves.

"Yeah right," I scoffed and stood up only to have to endure wherever the hell we were going.