For years, Alicia Cunningham had to keep her true self secret. The world did not support those who were different. She finds more like her and decides to form her own team so she can prove the government and society wrong.
I hugged my books to my chest as I pushed myself through the crowded halls of high school. I kept my head down and my hood up as I headed to my math class. Nobody even threw me a glance, which I was thankful for. I walked into the class with ease and took my seat in the back corner of the class. I lowered my hood to avoid being called out by the teacher. I took out my math book and notebook and started copying what was on the board. This was my daily routine. I mainly kept to myself. As I looked up at the board again, I saw a new kid. He had brown hair and deep blue eyes. I caught myself staring. He was cute. As the teacher checked his schedule, he met my gaze. He shot me a smile with perfect, white teeth. My breathing stopped. I quickly looked back down at my notes.
“Take a seat anywhere, Jason.” The teacher said.
I heard footsteps as someone walked in my direction. The seat in front of me moved. I hesitantly looked up to see the guy there. He was looking at me.
“Hi, my name is Jason.” He held his hand out to me.
I furrowed my eyebrows. He was talking to me?
“Not the talking type? No worries.” Jason chuckled slightly. “You can call me Jay, I prefer that anyways.” He shrugged.
In came the rest of the class. Of course the preppy girls had to lay their eyes on Jay. They all almost freaked out.
“They always like this?” Jay whispered to me.
I nodded slightly and covered a laugh with my hand. He smiled and faced forward in his seat as the teacher started teaching. I knew this stuff already so I admired Jay from behind. He had broad shoulders. His hair went a little past his neck. Then the worst thing happened.
“Alicia is admiring the new kid!” One of the preppy girls yelled.
The whole class looked at me, including Jay. I looked down and felt my face get hot. I picked up my backpack and books and rushed towards the door.
“Hey, wait!” Jay reached out to me.
I jogged to the door and left the class. I heard hurried footsteps behind me.
“Man, you're fast!” Jay said behind me.
“Stop following me!” I said quickly.
“You can talk! Good.” Jay grabbed a hold of my backpack.
“Let me go!” I tried to pull free.
“Hang on, there.” Jay turned me around to face him. “Relax. Alicia, is it?”
I nodded.
“I prefer you over those cheerleaders.” He chuckled. “There's nothing wrong with it.”
I refused to meet his gaze.
“I can tell you're shy.” He grabbed my wrist.
I jumped back as a jolt of electricity hit me. I stared at my wrist in confusion. Jay stared at his hand. We met each other's gaze at the same time.
“What was that?” Jay furrowed his eyebrows.
I shrugged. Before I get ahead of myself, I had powers. But none of them had to do with electricity. Jay looked around before grabbing my wrist again and pulling me into the Janitor's closet. He shut the door and turned on the light.
“Do you have powers?” He looked shocked.
I didn't answer. I just kept my gaze on him.
“Don't worry, I do.” He spoke low. “I shocked you, that means you have powers.”
I glanced at my wrist again. Why did it only happen once?
“Watch.” Jay held his hand up with his palm facing the ceiling. A blue spark went from the light to his hand. He let it move through his fingers like a snake.
I watched in amazement. He sent the spark back up to the light and met my gaze.
“What can you do?” Jay looked at me.
“Um…” I glanced around the closet. I found a pair of scissors. “Hold these.” I handed Jay my books before grabbing the scissors.
“What are you doing?” Jay looked terrified.
“Just watch.” I opened the scissors and slashed the palm of my hand.
“Hey!” Jay went to grab the scissors from me.
“Watch!” I raised my voice slightly.
He stared at my hand in amazement as the cut shrunk and healed completely. Jay grabbed my hand and studied it.
“Regeneration.” He smiled and laughed slightly.
“That's not the only thing.” I said.
“It's not?” Jay furrowed his eyebrows.
“What happened to your arm?” I noticed a scratch.
“I have a cat.” He chuckled. “She got me.”
I put my hand over the scratch. My hand started glowing. Jay stared in silence and wonder. I moved my hand away and the scratch was gone.
“That's awesome!” He laughed as he studied his arm.
“It would be if we weren't hated.” I grabbed my books back from Jay and adjusted my backpack.
“Yeah.” He frowned.
“What if we weren't?” An idea came to my head.
Jay furrowed his eyebrows.
“We can find more like us, and create a team. Then the team can help the government and individuals.” I said.
“You're absolutely correct. But how are we going to find more people? I can't just touch everyone.” Jay smirked.
“You're right.” I frowned.
“We'll figure something out. Do you have a phone?” Jay asked.
“Yes.” I reached in my pocket and unlocked it.
“Let me give you my number.” He held his hand out.
I put my phone in his hand. He typed his number in and took a selfie doing a peace sign. He texted himself briefly and handed my phone back.
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“There you go. Now we can text each other.” Jay said.
I nodded. The bell rang.
“We'd better get going.” Jay opened the closet and we both stepped into the crowd.
Jay's shoulder brushed against mine as we walked side by side in the crowd. A small smile grew on my face. Maybe he liked me. I hugged my books close to my chest, like I always did, as Jay and I walked on.
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I hope you guys enjoyed chapter 1. Have no fear, it gets better. Here's a small recap of the powers of the two heroes you've met so far (I will do this after every chapter that introduces a mutant just to ensure you understand the powers.): Alicia Cunningham: Healing and Regeneration Jason "Jay" Jackson: Electric Manipulation
