Welcome to Mutant High

"Scott, Jean, Storm,"

the Professor's voice rang loud and clear into their minds. They couldn't help but notice how he sounded a little troubled. Scott and Jean were in the middle of a defense class, ending it early due to the urgency in their Professor's voice. Storm on the other hand was in the middle of a science class but also abruptly ended it to be at the side of Scott and Jean.

They found the Professor using his prize possession, a machine he called Cerebro. Cerebro can locate any and all mutants at any given time, or it can also be used to find humans. While his school functioned normally and he wasn't teaching a physics or philosophy class, the Professor enjoyed spending time here in the chamber that contained Cerebro.

The door opened and his three most advanced students, or as he preferred to call them now, 'colleagues' stepped inside, the students that the Professor proudly proclaimed on a daily basis were not only just students but friends and some of the finest teachers the school would ever see. The Professor removed the head-gear that must be worn to allow Cerebro to work properly and turned his attention towards his students, no: friends.

"I'm picking up a new mutant. It seems she stopped a car crash and now everything but herself is frozen around her. We're dealing with someone very strong and someone who is not in control of her powers. Get to her, immediately. I'll send the coordinates to the jet. Quickly, quickly!" The Professor exclaimed.

The three 'friends' had no time to ask questions--those would have to wait for later. Without another word uttered by the Professor, the three excelling students suited up in the hallway into what is known as their "X-Gear" and ran as quickly as they could to a jet that looked very much like something out of a futuristic movie or perhaps something from Area 51, untested and unheard of, unseen by the normal persons eye. But it was real, very much so.

Jean took the pilots seat, activating the jet and Storm took the right-hand man's position, Scott taking the left side of the helm.

"Right, Professor, we've got the coordinates. I will let you know when we get there."

Jean said within her mind. Jean could read minds as well, but not nearly as well as the Professor could. The three of them, Jean, Scott and Storm, they could be miles, states, countries away and the Professor could still hear them...being so accustomed to their mind. The Professor had known Scott for twenty-five years all thanks to Scott's brother. He'd known Storm even longer. Then there was Jean, who the Professor loved unconditionally--he'd met her for the first time twenty years ago almost.

From underneath the basketball gym, which currently wasn't occupied, thankfully; the floor parted, then the ceiling sixty feet above opened, and the jet came out in a blur. Of course the school probably felt the jarring of the speed but the jet itself sailed peacefully through the sky thanks to the know-how of Jean who had become an ace at flying the X-Jet.

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When the day started, it felt normal. I thought today would be just like every other day. I knew my Mother had errands to run and I felt bored at home, so naturally being a Saturday the only thing I wanted to do was go with my Mother. I had just turned fourteen about a week ago now. Life had never really been going so well before.

I felt as if I had the best of friends, the best family that anyone could ask for and the best life there could ever possibly be. Nothing could have prepared me for what was about to happen. No sign, no warning, nothing. I was staring straight into death's menacing gaze. I didn't notice, of course...until it was almost too late.

No one can ever prepare you for these things. The most you can wish for is for everything...to stop.

"MOM WATCH OUT!"

I shrieked as another car swerved over to miss something in the road and was on a head on collision path now with my Mother's car. There was nothing we could do. Sure Mom could hit the breaks and try to turn but we'd hit the car in the next lane in a T-Bone accident as they referred to it.

We were stuck, no way to get out of this situation. Going fifty miles an hour surely, if our cars hit head on, it would kill us. It would kill us all. I could see my life start to flash before my eyes. The bad times, the good times. Putting my hands out in front of me as if it was the only thing I knew how to do to protect myself at that moment, as if that was going to do any good, I screamed....

"STOP!"

And everything did. I had drawn up on that left side, facing towards the right, hiding my face sort of; my arms still out in front of me. I was bracing for impact, for the worst...but impact never came. Slowly I came unglued from around myself and looked around...everything was frozen, at a stand still. I turned my attention towards my Mother, hoping I wasn't alone in this situation.

"Mom?"

I asked quietly, waving my hand in front of my Mom's terror stricken face...but she didn't move. I was alone. Utterly alone. Slowly I got out of the car and looked around after I had settled down just a bit. I couldn't worry about the car hitting me now, it would be silly: everything was frozen. A balloon was up in the sky, like it had been let go by a little kid a moment or two ago and even it was frozen. A flock of birds going over as well; this looked straight out of a Bob Ross painting. My life was now a painting. Not a very good one at that. Who would paint this scene right here? The one I had just stepped out of the car and into the street to witness. Two cars about to collide. Three peoples lives about to be taken.

"Did I do this?"

My voice was quiet, as if I was ever going to receive an answer, I was alone; I kept saying that in my head. I'm alone. I didn't know what to do. The only thing I knew to do was get my Mother and the male driver in the other car to safety. So that's what I began doing. Taking my Mother out of the car first, I laid her down on a bench at a restaurant right across the street. Then I did the same with the guy in the other car.

As if by magic, or perhaps just sheer dumb luck, the minute I laid him down on a bench at the restaurant, things unfroze. You could hear the cars pummel into each other...but no one was in them. Other cars screeched to a halt and you could hear drivers say,

"What happened to the people that were just in these cars?"

I just hoped they didn't look over here...but they did. What would they say, what would they think? Would everyone brush it off as an act of God? A miracle... No. Accusing eyes and pointing fingers came my way.

"Look! That's the young girl that was just in that car!"

A few of the drivers pointed over to me. Looking down, my Mother and the other man of course were looking around, dazed and confused. I didn't know where to begin explaining. How could I? I honestly hadn't even wrapped my head around it yet myself.

"Winter...where am I? We were...we were about to crash,"

My Mother said kind of breathlessly as she looked towards the road, seeing the cars crashed in a horrendous way. I was right, no one could or would have survived that tangled catastrophe.

"How the fuck did we get out of that?"

The man asked and looked right at me. I was baffled that he sounded so...angry. Angry not to be dead, perhaps? Did he purposely try to cause the accident?

"You did something. You, how did you do that? You got us out of that."

The man seemed rather grateful all of a sudden, not angry, that he had been saved, but my Mother on the other hand....that was a different story entirely.

"Winter, what the hell did you do? What kind of a freak are you?"

My Mother asked, sounding rather icy. I started to feel tears come to my eyes and I shook my head, taking off and running away. I ran as fast as I could--as if I could outrun what had just happened. I couldn't face her. I had just saved her life, mine, and another innocent man and here she was...calling me a freak! I.. I saved her. She could be dead if I'd have chosen not to get her out of that car!

Her life was in my hands and I had chosen to save her. I had saved my Mother's life, yet I was a freak?! I knew I was a freak! No one should have the power to stop a crash from happening... It didn't make me different, it made me a freak. A sideshow experiment. How had I done it? I've never...done something like that before!

I found myself running all the way back home and when I got there all I wanted to do was run up to my bedroom and pack a bag and run as far as I could in another direction. I was so scared that I knew my legs wouldn't give out for hours...

I didn't expect to run into three people; two women and a young man, older than myself of course but still young enough to look attractive, standing in my living room. How they got in, I didn't know. What they wanted, I didn't know that either. I'd never seen them before. I had to admit, the moment I took to actually look at them, their suits did look pretty cool.

I was going to freak out and scream--a flash of them being robbers or kidnappers coming into my mind, but just as soon as it came into my head, something took it out and calmed me. Finally as I caught my breath and my tears stopped coming down so heavily, which ruined every bit of makeup I had spent an hour in front of the mirror putting on that day, I got up enough energy and courage to ask...

"Who are you people, what are you doing in my house?"

It came out sounding like a dog panting, but that was understandable to me even if it wasn't to them. The first one to speak was the red-haired female. I couldn't help but think, she was very beautiful. Tall, athletic figure and her long gorgeous red locks.

"My name is Jean. We've come to help you. This is Scott and Storm. We're like you, Winter. We can do things that others can't."

I shook my head a little in disbelief, biting on my bottom lip as I did so. Her voice was kind of enchanting and a piece of me wanted to believe her but I was far too skeptical. Maybe I got that from my parents.

"Wait so you know what I did? You know that I stopped the crash? What do you mean that you can do other things that people can't?"

I asked inquisitively. This wasn't setting well with me... How could these people know... I walked into the living room more so and looked out the window; I saw it going from sunny, to very cloudy, and rather fast at that. A storm could never blow up this fast. Of course, I thought I was doing this.

"I'm not meaning to!"

I shrieked but the three chuckled and Scott placed his finger on my cheek, pushing my head to look at Storm, whose eyes were completely white as if she was...dead. As the color set back into her eyes, the clouds outside started to disappear.

"My name is Storm for a reason, Winter. I can even control what you are named after, the winter elements. If it involves weather, I can control and manipulate it, even go so far as to create it."

The elder dark skinned woman explained. I looked back towards the male, seeing he was wearing sunglasses over his eyes, in the house no less.

"Your power has something to do with those glasses doesn't it?"

I asked, it was an assumption, and I hoped I wasn't wrong. The last thing I wanted to do was earn more chuckles from these three.

"I mean, who would wear glasses in doors, unless you just have sensitive eyes. If that's it, I'm really sorry." I apologized before hand, almost interrupting him from speaking.

"No, Winter, you're right. My power is a little too strong to show you unlike Storm's. I can describe it in a...laments way. I shoot beams from my eyes,"

he admitted, it wasn't the best way to describe it, though. Very vague. But I got the general gist of it.

"Like, laser beams, to put it another way. I don't have my proper visor on at the moment, or I could show you a low beam. I left it in the jet," the male said and my eyes widened just a little.

"A jet? Wow, are you guys from the CIA or something?" I could definitely understand if the CIA had sent them... the CIA knew everything, including when an idiot like me would freeze time.

The three elder adults couldn't help but laugh, shaking their heads no in unison.

"We are from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. The students, your age, younger and even older, all have powers. Just like we do. You aren't alone in this, Winter."

The red-head named Jean said softly and I raised my brow questioningly. She hadn't displayed her power to me, just yet.

"I haven't seen your power," I said to Jean and she smiled just a little and within a moment, I was starting to float up off of the couch. It didn't frighten me, in fact, it surprised and delighted me. I felt almost...giddy.

"W-whoa!" I giggled a bit, floating there in the air like I was as light as a feather.

"I can move things with my mind. I'm a telekinetic. I can also read peoples minds, and other telepathic abilities, but not without their permission of course."

Jean said honestly and let me fall back gently onto the couch. The three standing before me were most certainly rare and infinite. But I was very strong myself. I didn't know that at that moment, I'd ever become more powerful than I currently thought I was. I didn't know that in a couple years I would become even more unique.

"Jean, how are you doing with the girl?" Xavier's voice came into Jean's head and she replied to him with the thought, "Magnificently. I'll report more later, Professor."

The three of them took a seat next to me upon the couch. Jean placed her hand upon my arm and gave me a warm smile. Her smile seemed almost as bright red as her hair did. It warmed me from the inside out it seemed.

"Can you tell us everything that happened Winter?"

I nodded slowly and began explaining to them exactly how everything occurred. From getting up out of bed this morning and feeling like a normal fourteen year old girl who celebrated her birthday last week, to staring death in it's cruel face and somehow, preventing it. To even telling them, that my Mother had called me a freak. Just thinking of my Mother calling me such a thing made tears spring back into my eyes. Even more so: thinking of what would have happened if I wouldn't have prevented the accident. My death--or maybe even, my living and my Mother's death.

Storm felt rather blistered that a Mother, after being saved from a horrendous death, would say something so cruel to her young daughter. Storm immediately placed a hand upon my shoulder, looking deeply into my eyes.

"You are not a freak, Winter. You save lives, how could you possibly be a freak?"

When Storm put it that way, I felt better that I did what I had done. Maybe I wasn't a freak. Maybe I wasn't so alone as I thought I was on the run home. Here I was, sitting here with three other people just like myself that could do extraordinary things. Surely their gifts had saved people before. Surely my gift could save someone again if I needed to use it.

"It all happened so fast. I wish I knew how I did what I did. I'd do it again and show you but I just have no clue... All I know is, I shoved my hands out in front of me, what a stupid thing to do, like it could have saved me... And I screamed stop, like anyone else would have in that situation," I said quietly, sighing. Storm rubbed over my back gently, trying to sooth me.

"It's alright, Winter. You should probably take a rest until your parents come home. We'll be here waiting until they do. You won't be alone, not for a second."

The darker complected woman promised and I nodded, leaning back a little on the couch, sitting up right still and closed my eyes. It would be a while, I thought to myself before I drifted off into a slight doze.

It came in handy, Jean's mind reading, because when Winter thought that her Father wouldn't even get off of work for another three hours...it helped the three X-Men know that they had about three hours to talk with the Professor through Jean about Winter and her situation. Three hours to figure out what all they were going to say and do, to get Winter to come back to the Institute with them. Better yet, what they were going to tell her parents.

The Professor made it clear, her power is powerful, just as Jean's was when they first developed and Winter's power is just as unstable. Jean herself felt rather...dedicated, like she absolutely had to see this through. Make sure the girl would be okay from here on out. It felt, rather personal.