ZERO: SAND.

Ow!

Something jolts me awake. A sudden, unexpected prick on the top of my skull. It's like an itch, something I have to touch, something I need to get rid of. However, my drunk-like sleep state halts me from moving my arm to raise, to brush against my forehead. A faint groan escapes my lips. My try at a plea to stop this something fails. But as quick as this something came, it disappeared.

My eyes flutter open, I'm looking at the roof of my bed room. The white ceiling smiles down at me, beckoning me to rise and shine. I don't, however, not at first. I do what I do every morning, roll on my side and curl my arm under my head in a more comfortable position, an attempt to avoid the inevitable rise and shine.

A short fragment of time passes before the jolt from before returns, but this time harder and more abrupt than before. My back is hit, only to knock me over on my stomach. I feel the shape of a hand that pushed into my back. My face presses against my bed, a groan ripping from the back of my throat.

I finally sit up, and speak, "what?"

My sister, Bree, stands at the side of my bed, a smirk tugging on her lips. Her eyes glaze over my tired expression, she is fully clothed, not a touch of exhaustion on her face. Her body is hugged by her olive green sundress she decided on wearing this morning, her brown booties on her feet. She grins, chewing on the cranberry she just placed in her mouth, similar to the one she had threw on my forehead moments ago. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you're coming down with something."

I yawn, sitting up to lean against my bed post. The cranberry she threw at me before is stuck to my hair like a magnet. "Uh huh, why do you say that?" I manage to fish out the small cranberry and toss it in my trash can.

Bree sighs, turning away from me, her olive green dress fanning out while she twirled slightly in the direction of my bedroom door. "Because you're late," her head nods towards my alarm clock on my counter. "And you're never late."

Her words were like setting my hand on top of a stove. My heart thumps hard against my chest, the adrenaline shooting through my veins. She's kidding. She has to be kidding. I am not late. She's right, I'm never late. And I am not going to be late today. I go to my alarm clock for evidence, to make sure that my sister was simply pulling my leg.

The illuminated digits on my clock don't lie. I am late. Or, I will be if I don't hurry.

"Oh, shit..!" I scream from the back of my throat while I dash into my closet, throwing down the outfit I had hung up the prior night. "Uh, is- is Scarlet ready?" I manage to ask Bree while I rush over to my dresser, yanking out a fresh set of underwear for the day.

"Yep," Bree nods her head, placing a hand in front of her mouth to keep from laughing at my rushed state. "She's downstairs making breakfast, want me to put in a rush order?" She laughs out her question.

I stop, mid yank of my faded jeans to glare at my sister. I huff, blowing a strand of hair from my eyesight. "Yes, only because you asked. I don't care what she makes, just tell her I'll be down in a"-

Ow!

I trip, my arms tangled in my sleep night tee. My entire body is momentarily paralyzed with pain, I stare at my hardwood floor my body just plummeted into. "Ouch..," I squeal quietly. My head turns to see what I've tripped over. Gumbo, our wiener dog is on his back, waiting for someone to rub his belly while his tongue is hanging out the side of his mouth. As cute as he is, his presence doesn't stop the pain from spreading through out my body, starting from my hip I landed on to the soon-to-be bruise on my forehead. I feel Bree's palms place on my back. She exhales, in unison with me, while I feel her healing abilities take over and my pain is washed away. I may not be in pain any more, but the anxiety creeping up my spine doesn't subside. Nevertheless, I look up and flash a grin at my sister, "thank you."

"You're welcome, Lina," she chuckles, helping me to stand on my two feet, then bends down again to rub Gumbo's belly. "Okay now, remember you're not indestructible, so take it easy. We'll be at school, sooner or later."

"Sooner rather than later, hopefully." I grumble mostly to myself before brushing off my clothes then walking with Bree into the hall. She goes downstairs, Gumbo waddling beside her, I go across the hall into our bathroom. As I brush my teeth, now fully clothed, the door at the end of the hall opens up. Our mother saunters out her room, yawning, stretching her arms over her head. She spots me and smiles brightly, "good morning, Lina. How did you sleep?"

"Morning Mom," I say to her with a mouth full of foamy toothpaste. I spit out the blue clouds quickly, only to rinse my mouth out with mouth wash right after, "I slept good. A little too good, I over slept, actually." Our mother never really had any real conception of time, she usually just did her own things her own time. Which was the leading reason why I made sure I got my license the day I turned sixteen.

She grins at me, then strokes my cheek down to my chin, "oh Lina, you know, time is only an illusion."

I ring out my wash cloth, smirking at her iridescent face. "Not when you're in high school, Mom."

The familiar honk of my Jeep causes me to snap back into my hurried state. I speed past Mom, mumbling both an apology and good bye on my way down the stairs. "Please be careful today. Oh, and what time are you girls coming home tonight?"

I look away from my gray converse that I'm trying to pull on my feet, without unlacing them. "Um," I pause, grunting once I tug one shoe on, then move onto the other, "probably right after school. It's homecoming tonight, so we're going to come here, get ready, then go there."

Mom nods, leaning against the balcony, "will Sebastian be coming by here to pick you up?" She makes the face she always does when she talks about boys, or girls, with us. The all knowing curl of her lip as she tries to hide her smile.

I scoff, not wanting to even think about that boy of mine. I finish pulling on my shoes, I reach for my back pack and suddenly feel drained. "I.. I guess, maybe. I don't know?"

She tilts her head at me, her lips puckered, "did something happen with the two of you?"

"I"-

The car outside honks again, this time longer, followed by a distant shout. If I have to guess it was Scarlet yelling, "we're leaving without you in ten, nine, eight..," which meant I need to leave right this second.

"Have to go," I smile up at Mom, before waving goodbye. "I'll see you tonight. Love you."

"Love you, too, sweetie. Be careful," she shouts at me as I rush through the corridor and out the front door. I don't bother locking it, knowing that: One, Mom will be off on her morning run soon and two, if any intruder dare to enter our home uninvited, Mom could handle herself.

The second I shut the car door, Scarlet presses down on the gas, seeing as though she already had the car in Drive. "Good morning to you, too, Scar." I finally say aftershocks launched us backwards into the seats due to the car's speed.

Bree turned around, presenting a bagel with scrambled eggs and hash browns in between the two slices of bagel. When Scarlet simply hums a response to me, Bree translates. "She means good morning," she explains while I take the breakfast sandwich from her. I bite into it, sighing thankfully when I taste ketchup. She didn't forget. 

"What I mean," Scarlet begins, catching my eye in the rearview mirror and raising an arched brow, "is what's up? You're never late."

"I guess I slept in for a little too long." I shrug in between bites of my sandwich. "Plus, we'll be at school right on time. It's seven forty-eight now, we can just take the short cut and be there by eight, no sweat." In two minutes we'll be passing the old church, and then it'll just be a straight shot for ten minutes of traffic lights.

"Are you stressing out because of what you and Sebastian talked about last night?" Bree asks, knowing exactly how I feel. Her hand hangs lazily out the window, her light blue sunglasses on her face. She catches my eye then tips down her shades, "I mean, I could practically read you through the walls last night. You're a tangled ball of emotions right now."

"Uh, speaking as non-empath in the car, I'm going to need some sort of explanation," Scarlet told the two of us, while making a right turn at the old church, before managing to merge into the left line.

"Sebastian called last night," I sigh, with exhaustion.

"I'm guessing this wasn't a sexy call?" Scarlet asks with a straight face, then her eyes flash to my own in wonder, "or, er, it was a sexy call? And it was bad..?"

Bree was the first to chuckle. I was at a standstill, and surprised that I was so shocked, seeing as this was Scarlet I was talking to.

I shook my head, and my humor away. "Not exactly. He.. said he wants to have sex after homecoming."

"With who?" Scarlet's eyebrow pops up.

"With me, you dummy!" I slap her arm playfully.

"Uh, why would he tell you that?" Her eyes narrow as she stopped at a red light, then turns around to look at me. "What did you say?"

"I changed the conversation." I pause from taking another bite of my breakfast to look at my sensual sister. "Wait, Scar, why aren't you jumping for joy? I thought you were a sex goddess," I exaggerate just to poke her buttons.

"Just because she's not a virgin does not mean she's a sex goddess, Lina," Bree shakes her head, still finding some sense of humor in her own words.

"First of all, 'virginity' isn't a real thing. It's just a social construct men made to make women feel bad about having sex and owning up to our sexuality because they're too afraid to admit that we're better than them. Second, thank you, Lina for recognizing that. And lastly, that's exactly what it means, Bree," Scarlet tells Bree before turning back around and speeding through the now green light. "I just don't understand why he didn't feel the need to ask you how you felt. Or maybe bring it up as a conversation, not just tell you what he wants. I swear, as much as I love them, guys are the worst sometimes."

"Not all guys," Bree corrects Scarlet, earning herself a glare.

"See? That's why I'm upset. The way he told me. He said, 'Look, Lina, we've been dating for a while now. I want to have sex with you, tonight. It'll be romantic you know, because it's homecoming night.' Just like that. Out of the blue." Saying the words out loud sounds just as bizarre as when he said them the prior night.

"I mean, it's kinda sweet.. right?" Bree pipes up from her seat. This time, she earns glared from the both of us. She pushes her sunglasses over her eyes once more. "Er, never mind."

"Dump him," Scarlet deadpans the second we hit school property.

"What!?" I laugh, in shock of her demand. "Scar, I'm not going to dump him. He didn't mean it to be rude, he was just suggesting."

"Seriously, Lina, you should listen to me." She suggests, turning off the car and handing me the keys. I take them from her, along with the last bite of my bagel sandwich and exit from the Jeep. "Plus, you know, he's Anti-Mutants." Today Scarlet is wearing a pair of faded high waisted jeans. Now that I get a better look at them I realize they're my high waisted jeans, along with a Micheal Jackson t-shirt from his Bad album that she found at Goodwill last summer. She trimmed the bottom of the shirt so that you could get a peek of her abs she was so proud of herself for maintaining for the past year and a half. The red booties she's wearing were from Mom.

I shut the door and pause, "no he is not."

Scarlet crosses her arms. The both of us turn to Bree. She's playing with her sunglasses and looking at her reflection. I can tell she's trying to decide where to place them for the day; on her forehead, on her shirt her shirt, her eyes, her nose. She doesn't make a final decision because she turns around to look at us, "uh, what?"

"We want you to read Sebastian." Scarlet takes the words right out of my mouth.

Bree squints her eyes, looking between the both of us. "Uh, Mom said never to use our powers on other people. You guys know this."

"Well, what we don't know is if my boyfriend is an asshole who hates mutants."

"Oh, we know. Or, well, I do," Scarlet shrugs a shoulder in my direction then turns to Bree, "I just want to prove it to Lina."

I glare at her, before returning my focus back on Bree. She's biting her lip in thought, I can tell she's considering it. I also know that she never likes using her empathy on others, especially on people who don't give her permission. But this is an emergency, and I would do it for her. "Please, Bree?"

She looks at me, only to shake her head. "I'm sorry, Lina, I can't. It just feels wrong to read people when they have no idea."

I sigh. "That's okay, Bree. I understand," I say this as a lie. I have no idea what she means. If I was able to know the emotions of others by just the bat of my eye, I would get - as we call it - a 'read' on anyone and everyone all the time. But, then again, I wasn't a mutant, so, who was I to say?

The morning bell rings, indicating that we have five minutes to be sitting down at our first period. I huff, pulling my backpack over my left shoulder and make my way to Marine Bio. I don't have this class with Bree and Scarlet, they have AP Lit together first, which is only a few classes down. I do, sadly, have my first period with Sebastian.

I waltz into class, with two minutes to spare. His stuff is at our table, he is looking inside our fish tank, feeding our two clown fish: Penny and Wise. I idiotically think that maybe if I sit down, without so much as a hi, he won't notice me. He sees me in the tank's reflection and spins around.

"Lina!" His smile widens, his eyes squinting, trying to decipher something. Then he looks at the clock and back to me soon after. "Hey, uh, you know you're late?"

"Yeah, Sebastian," I sigh, tossing my bag on the ground and set my elbows on the table. I never use his full name, unless I'm upset, I do this unintentionally. "I know."

"Is everything okay..?" He closes the top of our fish tank before taking his seat across from me at our table.

I open my mouth to lie to him, but stop myself knowing what I truly need to say. To tell him how I really feel, but the bell cuts me off, and I never get the chance.

The remainder of the day is like this. Right as I'm about to tell him how I feel - about our relationship, or his stand on mutants, or us having sex - the bell rings, or a friend stops by to say hello, or he reminds me that he's coming to my house to pick me up tonight. All the small inconveniences pile up, and before I know it, Bree, Scarlet and I are inside the Jeep, driving home.

"Today went by so fast," I admit once on the way home. I was driving a little over the speed limit.

"Lucky," Scarlet muttered from the passenger seat. She was half awake, her usual sleepy state after school. "School felt like a million years today."

We arrive back at home at the usual time frame, between three and three-fifteen. Mom isn't home, there's a note on the refrigerator for us, from her, explaining that she would be back before we left for homecoming. In light letters near the bottom she wrote the word 'hopefully'. I pull the note from off the refrigerator and hand it to Scarlet who hands it to Bree.

"Thank God because I don't want her dropping us off and following us inside like last year," she says, tugging the refrigerator open and grabbing a Capri Sun.

"Ooh," Bree hums, going over to the refrigerator and grabbing a Capri sun for herself. She hands me one soon after, reading my want for one for myself. I thank her and lean back against the kitchen counter.

"Do you guys.. even want to go..?" I bring up the suggestion while piercing a hole through my juice box. "I mean, should we?

"Lina," Bree pouts and looks to Scarlet for support, "this is our last homecoming before we graduate. Of course we should!"

I purse my lips, placing myself on the counter before sighing. In all honesty, I do want to go to homecoming. I like dancing with my sisters, seeing some friends, and going to a after party after after party until I couldn't feel my feet anymore. Or, hopefully - like sophomore year - the first time I got drunk and stayed at iHop with a group of kids until one o'clock in the morning. "Yeah, I mean, we can ditch the game if you want, but we're definitely going to the dance."

"I know, I know, you guys are right," I groan internally as I lean back and hit my head against the cabinet. Ow. I wince, rubbing the back of my head, "I just don't feel like fighting with Seb, tonight, ya know?"

"Dump him." Scarlet shrugs, walking across the kitchen. Bree laughs, I gasp at her.

"Seriously Scar? I already"-

"Seriously, just.. just think for a moment Lina," she turns around, pausing from grabbing the stashed pretzel sticks in the back of the snack cabinet she thinks that she's hiding from everyone. "It's your senior year. Do you honestly see yourself with Sebastian after high school? Do you think he's - I can't believe I'm saying this - the one?"

My mouth just hangs open. I know my honest answer and I know the nice answer. I'm not sure which one I want to commit to. "I.. I don't know"-

"Think about it. Because if you do, you're stuck with this guy through the rest of the year and through college. Not to mention marriage, and somewhere during that time you're going to have sex. And when that happens, at some point you're going to have to have the very awkward conversation about his very passionate opinion towards mutants." She watches me, her eyebrow arching, seeing that her small speech has me convinced. I try not to show it. "I'm just saying."

I am not going to admit to her that she was right. I do not want to admit it to myself, and I knew the second I say those words out loud, there would be no going back. Bree took the opportunity to speak before me. "Well," she sighs, scratching her head, "when you put it like that.. But, Lina, just think it over. You don't have to know by tonight, there's no rush."

I huff, rolling my eyes, and hopping off the counter. I toss my now empty Capri sun pouch into the trash can. "Let's get ready."

With showers, make up, and washing a quick load of underwear, the three of us were putting on our finishing touches when Mom came home. I was lacing up my clean black and white shiny shoes, Bree was trying to remember where she put her jacket, and Scarlet was applying the last bit of mascara on her long lashes.

"Girls..!" Mom calls from the first floor, after the shut of the front door.

"We'll be down in a minute," I call back to her taking one last look at my reflection. It was a last minute decision to sport the navy pant suit with small peacock designs peppering the cloth. I wore no bra underneath my blazer. I pinned my hair to the side of my face. Scarlet stood beside me, brushing lent from her red slacks, her white blouse was translucent, and her black bra matched her black heels.

She huffs, grabbing her purse from off the counter. "Let's get these pictures over with."

Bree pops her head outside of the door before walking into the hall. She's wearing a golden jumpsuit, her hair brushed back in a sleek ponytail. She flips her hair over her shoulder, turning to look at us. "I don't know about the two of you, but I think we look hot. And not in the degrading way."

The three of us trot down the stairs. While I'm straightening out my jacket, Bree flipping her lengthy red hair over her shoulder, and Scarlet adjusting her bra, Mom squeals and flashes her camera at us. "My girls...! You are all so beautiful. Smile..!" She squeals as the three of us huddle together and grin. I'm blinking away the flash when the doorbell rings. I fought the urge to roll my eyes, I knew it was Sebastian, and I didn't want to deal with him. Sober, that is.

"I'll get it," Mom says, striding over to the door and pulling it open. "Oh, hi Sebastian. You look great, come on in."

The second I saw him, I heard Scarlett's voice ringing in my ears, dump him!

He walks inside, his eyes remain on me while he approaches, then sighs happily, "wow, Lina, you look amazing."

"Thanks, Seb," I grin at him, happily. Sebastian reaches out to stroke my cheek before pulling forward and kissing my lips. Once again, the annoying flash of a camera blinds me. I pull away from our kiss to glare at Mom who's grinning behind her camera, holding back a squeal.

"Alright, I think that's our cue to leave," I warn Sebastian, practically pushing him out of the house. Together we say our goodbyes and walk out the door, along with Bree and Scarlet. There was an awkward silence that passed over the four of us. I walk along side Sebastian towards his car, from beside me he brushes his arm against mine, then hugs my body against his own.

"So, I have to pick Rey, but I'll meet you guys at the dance," Bree tells us once we're far enough from the house.

Scarlet looks to Bree, then links her arm under our younger sister's, "I'll ride with you, Bree. Something tells me we'll be getting to the dance a little sooner than those two." Her sly eyes drift over to Sebastian and I.

Sebastian chuckles from beside me, hugging me a little closer. "We'll get there before you can say 'wow'."

"Wow," I sigh mostly to myself then pry myself out of his arms and stick with my hand in his. "I'll see you guys at the dance," I promise my two sisters who giggle as they whisper, and walk away.

We get to Sebastian's car and sit side by side. Before he starts the car, he turns to his side and looks at my face. "Hey, uh, Lina, everything all right?"

This time I don't try and avoid the conversation, I tell him the truth, about how I really feel. "Honestly, Seb. I don't want... to have sex.. tonight.. with you," I mumble under my breath, turning to look at him. "I just think we should wait, not plan it. You know, if it happens, it happens. Let's not rush this. If it doesn't.. then, we just have to live with it."

There was another silence between the two of us. I finally looked at him, Sebastian leaned his head back against his seat, grinning. "Why didn't you just tell me, Lina? Is that why you've been acting weird, because of what we talked about last night?"

"It was more of what you talked about last night, Sebastian," I told him, sighing heavily and placing my hand on my head. "It's fine, we can talk about it later, let's just, go to the dance."

"Okay, whatever you say," he sighed heavily, turning the car on.

We got to the school, and it felt as if the night were getting worse by the minute. The second we got there, Sebastian pulled me into his arms and tried to kiss my lips, I turned away at the last second, in protest, he kissed the corner of my mouth, just missing my lips. "Lina, you've got to be pulling my leg. Come on, loosen up a little," he suggested pulling a too familiar flask from out of his pocket. I took the flask from him, trying to hide my smile, which slowly disappeared once I felt the plastic circle cling to the back of his flask.

My eyebrows furrowed as I flipped the flask around and glared at the purple plastic wrapped condom. Sebastian pulled me close to him, pressing his lips against my forehead. "I bought it just for you. I know purple is your favorite color."

I scoffed, shoving the flask into his chest and walking across the gym, only to find my two sisters walking in. Bree was in the arms of her recent crush, Rey Reynolds, Scarlet was looking around the room, when she saw me, her eyebrow instantly rose. "What's with the look?" Bree stepped away from her date, approaching me along with Scarlet.

"This'll just be a second, Reyna," Bree tells her date apologetically. Reyna gives her a squeeze on her arm before saying she'd be by the drinks.

"Sebastian just showed me a condom."

With those six words, Scarlet pushed passed me, "where the Hell is he? I will kill him." She hissed, her fiery eyes scanning across the room, when she finally saw him I had to yank her back, away from doing something I would regret her from doing. "What, Lina? Oh, did you want to kill him? You're right. I'll let you do the honors."

I pressed my lips together and shook my head lightly. "No, no, it's fine. I'll talk to him, don't worry about it."

"And by talk to him you mean break up with him..?" Scarlet asked optimistically.

I opened my mouth, stopping myself from saying 'yes' too quickly. "I mean talk to him, try and find some common ground."

"Screw common ground. He needs to be put in the ground, Lina. What do you"-

Bree interrupts Scarlet, scoffing before setting her arms over her shoulder. "What I think Scarlet is trying to say is maybe you're being a little too nice?"

I huff, chuckling at the two of them. "I can handle this, really guys, a little trust would be nice."

They both hum responses before I turn away from them and cross the now crowding dance floor that is peppering with couples. I squeeze pass the growing bodies only to fall into the arms of Sebastian. He squeezes me a little tighter than normal while he chuckles into my hair. "Hey baby," he sighs, skimming his lips against my forehead.

I huff, pulling away at arms distance. "Hi, Seb, uh, can we go somewhere to talk?" I have to lean in to him to make sure he could hear me over the music.

He pulls away, his eyebrows raising in surprise. "You mean it? Here?" He leans in, muttering close to my ear, "like, now..?"

I sigh, grabbing his hand and leading him off the dance floor, then through the hallway that was littered with empty cups and trash. Once we were far enough from the bumping music, I sigh, turning around to look at Sebastian, who was grinning down at me like he did on our first date. This was not going to be easy.

"Look, Sebastian.. I don't know how to say this..," I start, only to stop when he stroked a strand of hair behind my ear, a tactic he always went with whenever we were in a fight. He set his hand against my cheek, and I lean into his hand, chuckling, "Seb, don't start, please."

"You always like it when we mess around," he purred lightly before kissing my cheek, then trailing his lips down my neck. "You know I'm right."

"I know," I sigh, tilting my head back, trying to chuckle over my sighs. "We need to...," I was lost in thought, his lips trailing across my throat, the usual act that made me go weak.

"Get out of here..?" His attempt in finishing my sentence brought me back to reality. I unhooked my arms from around his neck and pushed him back.

"No, God, Seb. Just, listen to me for once," I pull back, straightening out my blazer. He groans, crossing his arms, a look of annoyance crosses over his face. When his eyes roll, I scoff feeling a familiar tick of anger. "Did.. did you just roll your eyes?"

"I don't get it, Lina, why are you being like this? I mean everyone's had sex but you!" He gestures to me with both hands, "I'm not gonna wait on you forever. Either get with the program or find another boyfriend."

I didn't know where to start. I wanted to scream at him for being so inconsiderate, disrespectful, and outrageous. He was so stupid. I want to slap him, to fight with him until we could come to an agreement. Scarlet was right. I need to dump him, she was right, I-

Before I can make another decision, the sound of a vacuum takes over my senses. I hear the air being sucked from somewhere behind me, I can barely hear Sebastian anymore. My body is being moved backwards, and I yelp, feeling the wind push my backwards. Something yanks me backwards and everything goes black for too long. I could only see the black, and when my eyes open I am staring at my bedroom ceiling.

Wait, what's going on? I think to myself, groaning internally before rolling over, my head is killing me.

Something from beside me nudges my back. I groan once again, sit up and press my palm to my forehead to try and subside my growing headache.

Bree stood beside me, in my room, near the door. She smirks, raising an eyebrow. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you're coming down with something."

"Wait, what?" I sit up in my bed, trying to shake the odd sense of deja vu that was coming over me, and the ever growing headache of mine.

"Because you're late. You're never late," Bree explains, nodding her head at my digital clock on my counter. Similar to this morning, the numbers were the same. I was late, again.

"Wait, wait, what happened last night..?" I shake my head, then slowing itch my sore head, "what happened at Homecoming? And with Sebastian.. and..," I turn over my shoulder. "I'm late again? I don't even remember coming home last night."

Bree slowly uncrosses her arms, "uh, homecoming is tonight.. Wait..," a new look crossed over her face, as she squinted her eyes at me. Her face grows into serious expression that always make me imagine the worse. Her hands go limp for a moment and she drops what cranberries she was holding. "Wow.. wow.. okay. I think you need to talk to Mom."

"What? Why?" I threw my covers off of me and scrambled to get to meet, "Did you just read me? What'd you- ow!" I fall on my face, just like this morning, my face against the floor. Gumbo yelps from under my feet, I had stopped him from eating the cranberries that had fallen on the ground. He's squished under my legs. "Sorry, Gumbo," I mutter, raising my legs and watch him waddle out my bedroom. I wince, until Bree's healing palms on my back. In a matter of seconds, my pain disappears. I roll on my back, then grunt as Bree helps me up.

"Thanks," I tell her then push my hair back behind my ears. "Why do I need to speak to Mom? What's going on?"

"Uh, I may be wrong, I've only seen this once before, but..," she squints her eyes once again, I watch her pupils flicker back and forth, getting a full read on my expression. "I think you just tapped into your mutant gene."

I open my mouth, my heart in a pauses due to shock. "Did you just.. what!?" My hands gesture wildly, causing Bree to gasp then move in too slow of motion.

I hear Mom's door swing open, followed by her hurried footsteps. "Lina? What's wrong?" She rushes through the door, staring at Bree's frozen back. "What's wrong with Bree?"

I look from Bree who's suddenly moving in an increasingly slow, almost frozen, motion. Almost as if she's moving through Jell-O, or like the dreams I have of me running really fast, but getting no where. "Uhm.., I think I might've done this..," I stare down at my hands. "Bree was just telling me how I have these powers and I think I might've froze her."

"You have powers..!?" Mom squeals then turns and holds my face in her hands so all I can see is her bright, appreciative grin. "Oh sweetie I knew it! I'm so proud of you"-

"Lina don't..!" Bree returns to her normal speed, snapping back into the moment. She looks between Mom, then back to me, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "When did Mom get in here?"

"Only a moment ago," I explain, then slowly lower my hands, "um, are you okay? I think I might've froze you a second ago."

Bree scratches her head, trying to fit the pieces together. "You can freeze people!?"

As if on cue, Scarlet storms up the stairs, huffing with annoyance. "Bree, I asked you to bring her down, not make Lina take longer. We've got to go"-

"Your sister has powers..!" Mom squeals behind her hands that she set in front of her mouth, a gesture she did when she was suppressing an excited squeal.

Scarlet's mouth drops open, her bag falls from her arm. "What!?"

"Okay. Wait a second." Bree holds up a finger and takes a calm breath. Everyone stops. "Lina. You're having some Deja Vu, right? Like you've seen all this before?"

I nod, "yeah, all of this just happened this morning. I woke up late, we went to school, then homecoming, Sebastian and I had a fight."

"About what happened last night?"

"What happened last night?" Mom and Scarlet question in unison.

Bree interjects. "Wait. One thing at a time. Okay, Lina, and then a moment ago you said you froze me, right?"

"Yeah," I answer, "I sorta just moved my hands and you started to move in slow motion. Why?"

"Mom, call Charles." Bree instructs Mom.

Her eyebrows raise, then she sets a hand on her head. "Right. How could I forget? Silly me," she chuckles as she waltzes out of the room.

"Really? You think it's time..," Scarlet steps inside, biting her thumbnail and standing beside Bree. There's a smile spreading on her lips that even I can't ignore.

"Who's Charles?" My eyebrow arches.

"Charles Xavier. He runs a boarding school for mutants."