The School for the Naturally Ungifted and Untalented (SNUU)

Chapter 1: Della

A/N: So the most main character of this series is a girl named Della, and she'll kinda be giving the main introduction. Also, if it's ever just a plain story about all the kids together, it's probably going to be from her perspective. Anyway, enjoy!

(Della POV)

Can I just say how hard it is to be me?

No, I'm serious. For a girl like me, life kinda sucks. What do I mean by a girl like me? A loser. A total nobody. Someone who thought she was a diamond until she compared herself to others and realized that she was just a rock.

Yup, that's me. Della Merret. The one and only. See, when I turned ten and "activated" my power, I was hyped. I was ready for it to be something cool. Maybe flight, or invisibility, or something that was super impressive.

But no, my ability is fire. Now, you might say, but Della, fire is an awesome power! And yes, it is. But not for me.

See, my fire only works if I'm in the air. But that's not even half the problem. My power gains strength the longer I'm in the air. So say I was jumping, I might have a flicker of flame, and on a trampoline, maybe the power of a small blowtorch. But honestly, not much.

See, what I have is a mutation. A disease. A curse. Everyone around me has super cool superpowers, and I'm just a nobody. I can't even do anything when I'm just plain on the ground.

My mutation isn't noticeable at all in the DNA tests when I was younger. Nobody knew. But when most people's bodies made the superhuman genes once they turned ten, my body mutated those genes.

Maybe having my horrible power is better than none, but not really. See, if you have no powers, the DNA tests show that you don't have the glands that make supernatural abilities at birth, and you are immediately sent away to the Earth colonies, but that's pretty rare. Which is good, because parents are almost always devastated, but being a no-power child on my planet would be the worst, so sending kids to the Earth Colonies is not allowed. Anyway, it's fairly rare for this mutation to occur.

But people like me, we can't go to the Earth colonies. Not only because our parents were already emotionally attached, but because the Earth colonies didn't want second rate superheroes.

So I'm stuck. A loser in both worlds. Unaccepted everywhere. Everywhere, that is, except for SNUU, the School for the Naturally Ungifted and Untalented. Just the title alone makes me cringe. Especially it's nickname, Loser Academy. Which is unfortunately true. Anyway, I'd heard about it just like everyone else. Across the Great Sea on Orris Island, it's like a different world, away from the main Colony.

That's where I'm going now. Most people like me go when they're young, like 10 or 11. But me, I'm special. I've spent over eight years among my peers, always feeling like I'm not enough. Regardless, Mom and Dad decided to send me away to the island for college, because they felt like they couldn't protect me enough. And it true, the streets are dangerous because of some supervillains, especially without significant powers. And at 18 years old, I will be very old for administration to Orris Island.

I spend a good 3 days of traveling on the boat; it had to be timed just right so I could get passage on the cargo ship to the island. It's the only way, as the place doesn't serve as a tourist attraction, so no one really wants to visit unless they have family there. But the cargo ship has a very effective crew, and they've told me that visitors can come, but most board before the ship leaves again, about two hours later, or they would be stuck on the island until a month later when the ship came again.

So yay. I get to see my family for at most two hours a month, and there's no guarantee that they'll even come. So I'm basically alone.

As we are going in towards the island, I am surprised by its appearance. Almost... disappointed.  The school looks like your average boarding school; brick walls and the school's seal above the doors. I look to my left and see a small glowing sign with the seal again and the letters SNUU; the school's abbreviation.

Disappointing. I'd have no scary story to tell my friends. Then I remembered that I didn't have any friends; no one wanted to be friends with a talentless loser like me.

I shrugged and walked inside, my luggage weighing heavily on my shoulders. I quickly walked towards the woman at the front desk, trying to avoid all the stares. I was used to that by now.

"Hey pumpkin, you must be Della!" The pudgy woman at the desk greeted me. "Did you know that you're the oldest person to enter the island? Previously it was a then-sixteen-year-old boy. But don't you worry! There's plenty of people your age here. We accept all," she said proudly. "I'm Ms. Druzul. The secretary here. You need anything at all, you come to me. Here's your room key, 248," she rambled.

"Thanks," I muttered, and turned and started to walk in the direction she had pointed me towards.

"Hey!" a girl said, falling in line beside me. "I'm Maddi! You're new here, right?"

"Um, yeah." Why was she so friendly? Before, I was avoided; no one wanted to be around me because I was powerless. How powerful you were dictated your popularity, and I was at the bottom of that food chain.

"So, what are you in for?" Maddi asked with a grin.

I looked up, startled. "What?"

She let out an airy laugh. "What's your lame superpower? We've all got one, but everyone thinks that yours isn't that bad because you joined so late. So, what's your ability?"

"Oh, um, I can shoot fire from my hands—"

"What!" she interrupted. "That's so cool! Why are you here then?"

"Only when I'm in the air," I finished. I started to explain my powers, and she started to lead me down the corridors. We chatted for a good while, and I asked her what her ability was.

"Oh, I can become completely transparent. Bit boring if you ask me." She shrugged "Anyway, here's your room," she said, gesturing to a door with a pretty little 248 sign on it.

I must have been giving her a weird look, because she amended, "Sorry! I overheard Ms. Druzul telling you your number. I only knew the way because I'm in that room." She pointed at a door with a 252 written on it.

Suddenly the door next to Maddi's room opened and a young girl stepped out. "Madison, I'm bored," she said, groaning.

Madison gave me a grim smile. "This is my sister, Megan." I blinked. Two children both got the mutation? One was practically unheard of nowadays, but two?

Maddi continued on, "See, Megan here has the ability to be incredibly stupid. And to annoy me with all her little problems." She grinned and ruffled Megan's hair.

"I do not!" Megan cried out. She then turned to me, puffed out her chest and said proudly, "My ability is way cooler than that! It's advanced photographic memory; it's like a real picture. And I can do little video clips too," she boasted.

"Yeah, Meg, she probably doesn't care, considering how it's classified as a lame power just like everyone else here," Maddi said smiling. Meg stuck out her tongue and left. Maddi looked at me and said, "I came when I was twelve and have been here for six years, but Meggy here got to this lovely place almost immediately after she turned ten. My parents thought I'd worked well enough for me, so why not my sister?"

She leaned in closer. "They never visited. I was a disappointment. They didn't want to have to face me. And then they send me my sister, who I haven't seen since she was five, and expect me to parent her. I didn't even know who she was when she came. But now... I mean, everyone here is basically family anyway, but we have an extra close connection. I love her to death."

Maddi grinned and turned to me. "I think you're gonna like it here. Come on, let's get you settled in.

— — — Two weeks later — — —

Living among society's outcasts is better than I thought. Here, no one judges me, and I have friends; Madison and Sasha, a girl who Maddi introduced me to shortly after arriving here. I go to my classes and listen. I like it. Everyone's so nice, and I can be myself. I can finally laugh and express myself with people who get me.

My life is not perfect; really, far from it. But for the first time in over eight years, I'm doing fine. Not the fine when you're really not okay, but fine as in I'm gonna be okay.

In the Colony, I don't belong. But here on Orris Island, I find my place, and I truly do belong.