Us Mutants Prefer the Term "Special"

x23x

"How are we supposed to buy twelve plane tickets to DC, again?" Anthony asked once we were in the airport, looking like lost teenagers with large backpacks and few luggage.

"Easy," Cheshire said, flipping his hair out of his face and holding a plastic credit card between his fingers. Jane grabbed his arm.

"If that is charged with any of our names, we're dead," Jane warned.

"Fine, I have cash," he said, pulling out a deck of cash.

"Yeah? Well so do I," Zaine said for some reason. "That still doesn't distract from the fact that we all have to register for a ticket and our names cannot be in the system."

"Why don't we just go and do like Chance did?" Skye asked.

"Or instead we can have me, Indica, Isaac, Cariba and Skye go up to DC and then I can send down some ID's and you can get up there discretely?" Cheshire offered.

"No," everyone grumbled one way or another.

"Fine," he sighed.

"Well how are we supposed to get to DC without tickets?" Skye asked.

"Excuse me," a new voice said and we looked over to see the long-legged, brunette girl from the boardwalk. She was one of the girls I asked what she thought about Zaine.

"Hey," I greeted with a smile. She smiled back and looked over at Zaine even, but it was meaningless.

"I sort of overheard you all," she informed. Sh!t. "You may think this is strange, but I'm going to DC too and I sort of have my own plane, so if you guys need a ride—"

"You have your own plane?" Anthony asked. She nodded.

"My family has majority stock in an airplane company so...when I move between states, they insist I have my own jet," she explained.

"Jet!" the twins squeaked in admiration. The girl playfully rolled her eyes.

"I think it's over the top, but apparently it's perfect for a group of teens needing a lift," she joked.

"You'd offer us a ride thousands of miles from here for nothing?" Warren asked with narrowed eyes.

"I don't need all of that space and it seems like you all do," she shrugged.

"We'll take it," Cheshire decided.

"But we can't just—"

"Isaac, Jane...a word?" Zaine addressed. They glared and then stepped to the side, but not before Zaine looked down at me.

"Do you trust her?" he asked me.

"Yes," I said immediately. He parted from me and had a short discussion with Isaac and Jane.

"Thanks. This means a lot," I told her while she stood around, texting on her phone briefly.

"No problem," she assured. She held her hand out. "It's...Aspen, right?"

"Yeah?" I said, shaking her hand. I wondered how she knew my name, but maybe she was around me and Zaine long enough to pick it up.

"Sumer Bilberry," she named herself. I smiled and then the trio was starting to walk back over.

"We'll take the flight," Zaine nodded.

"Great," Sumer smiled.

"—but we're going to pay you in some way," Zaine insisted. Cheshire put his hand in his pocket to pull out magic money, but Zaine was already offering a roll of money instead. Where the hell did he get that?