Day One: Introductions

[Mara 29]

"Muchas gracias. One of my last requirements. That and calc." He knit his eyebrows. "Hopefully that one is not so bad."

[Vergere 1]

Catalina nodded. "Mmm. You are smart. I would not do well in those classes."

[Andy 60]

Danny smiled at her joke, and just then they spotted Marcus waving to them and went over. "Hi," he said as he sat down, "Natalie invited us over hope you don't mind too much."

[Vergere 1]

She smiled as she sat down. "You're Marcus, right?"

[Drake 53]

"Yeah, that's right," said Marcus, talking with half a mouthful of sandwich. "How was your classes so far?"

[Rogue 4]

"Boring as ever." Natalie didn't seem so keen on the subject, taking her bag lunch out of her backpack and plopping it on the table. "Mark, this is Kelley Reed. She's a senior, but she's way cool anyway. So how were your classes?"

[Drake 53]

"Same as always. Nothing worth paying much attention to." He took a drink of his pop. "Can't wait for today to be over already."

[Rogue 4]

"I'm with you." She said, lazily unwrapping her sandwich. She couldn't wait to get out of here, hop into her truck and drive down to the Cove. She could practically smell the salt air already, and hear the waves against the ocean.

[Andy 60]

"So what do people do for fun around here anyway?" Danny asked, "Chase and I haven't had a lot of time for finding that out, what with moving and all".

[Vergere 1]

Kelly idly raised her hand as Natalie introduced her, then bit into her sandwich without another word. Glances over at Danny, "Who's Chase? And as for fun, Nat and I surf... usually one of the big things to do around here."

[Andy 60]

"Well I guess surfing was obvious," Danny conceded. "I've not tried surfing but I'll try anything once... Chase is my brother; he's my twin so if you see me walking around looking emo then that'll be Chase".

[Vergere 1]

"Actually, speaking of your brother, I don't think I've really caught your name yet. I'm Kelly, in case you didn't catch it earlier." She held out her hand to him to shake. "And as for stuff besides surfing, I'm not the best person to ask. Only other things I do are go to school, do homework, and hang out with my boyfriend. Speaking of which, you should come to the Cove with me and Nat after school if you don't have anything better to do. We're gonna catch some waves before homework conquers us all."

[Andy 60]

"Sorry, I'm Danny Mitchell. You can call me Danny, Dan, Mitchell, Mitch, whatever... Just not Daniel," he laughed.

[Drake 53]

Hailey met up with Kurt again at lunch. They sat outside and didn't talk much, instead they kept an eye on some of the other mutant students they had met. Hailey was keeping a particular interest on Chase's brother, Danny. The X-gene was often shared in the case of siblings. It was almost guaranteed if they were twins.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted three big guys make their way towards Danny and the others he was with.

***

Trent Anders and his two friends walked over to the table where Natalie, Marcus, Kelly and Danny were eating lunch. Trent was the captain of the football team and the two guys with him were a couple of his star players.

"So, you're one of the new kids, huh?" Trent said, sitting down beside Danny. He grabbed Danny's yet unopened can of pop, opened it, and took a drink. "Say, do you Brits play football over there in jolly old England? Or do you just have tea parties and debate at eachother?"

Trents friends, who were standing behind Danny, both laughed.

Everyone else around, knowing Trent and his boys well enough, turned back to their own business.

Two kids, however, watched with interest.

[Andy 60]

"Just tea parties," Danny said sarcastically, "occasionally we'll sit around comparing who has the worst teeth."

[Vergere 1]

Kelly covered her mouth to resist a giggle, but the grin was hard to completely hide.

[Drake 53]

"Yeah, thought so," said Trent. "Hey. Maybe you should try out for the football team here. We can show you how to play a real sport."

Marcus smirked. "Maybe you guys should try playing with kids more in your IQ range."

Trent stood up. "What was that, Connor?"

Shrugging, Marcus said, "Oh nothing. I just thought that maybe you and your girlfriends could find some different people to butt heads and grunt with." After absently looking around, he added, "Where's the special needs table again?"

"Funny guy, Connor," Trent said, while coming around to Marcus' side of the table. "Maybe we should show you and your British mate here just how funny we can be?"

Trent's two friends grabbed Danny by the arms to pull him from his seat.

Under the table, Marcus' fingers sprouted inch-long claws as Trent neared him.

Nearby, a girl with short brown hair and pale skin stood up from her seat.

[Vergere 1]

Kelly growled and stood up as well, a faint breeze being felt around the table, coming from virtually nowhere to having enough of a movement to make hair blow around when the breeze moves.

[Ayingel 24]

From her corner of the lunchroom, one where she wouldn't have anyone watching her on her laptop, Lila had set up a little station for herself to find out more about Kurt and Hailey. "Ugh. Nothing." Lila pulled out the paper she was given from her pocket. Typing it in, she also found nothing. "Odd." Lila stood up and started looking around. He's got to be around her somewhere...Seeing Kurt she walked over and sat down next to him, laptop in tow. "Is this for real or not? I need a serious answer, and I'm not going to be pulled around by a leash." She had more to say, but a commotion nearby had caught her attention.

Edited May 4, 2008 by Ayingel

[Drake 53]

Kurt glanced nervously from side-to-side as Hailey took a step forward, towards the confrontation with the other students and the football jocks. "Don't do anything I'll regret," he said to her.

Danny was pulled up from his seat by the two football players flanking him. They looked ready to drag him off for a beating but, before they could, Danny suddenly wrenched himself free from their grips. The jocks tried to grab him again, but Danny pushed them away. Both were knocked back a meter; one landing on the paved walkway while the other fell backwards onto a table, much to the surprise of those sitting there.

Marcus was about to sink his claws into Trent if the football captain took a step closer but something happened that stopped the jock in his tracks.

Hailey concentrated on the earth beneath her. She could feel the vibrations created by everyone around her. Time seemed to slow as she felt Trent's foot land on the ground next to Marcus. Focusing on that, she slid her foot across the ground and transferred that motion to the earth several meters away.

The jock captain stopped as his foot suddenly slipped. It was as though the ground beneath pulled it out and away from his body. In a second, Trent was on the ground, doing the splits.

The entire quad burst into laughter.

Having recovered from their landings, Trent's two friends rushed over and picked him up. He was groaning and holding himself in pain as they rushed away in embarassment from the group of students and their laughter.

***

As Hailey sat back down to casually continue her lunch, Kurt turned to Lila. "Is what real?"

Edited May 4, 2008 by Drake

[Ayingel 24]

Lila pulled out the paper and slapped it on the table in front of him. "This. This, place."

[Vergere 1]

Her fists clenched, Kelly's eyes had changed from green, to blue when the wind started up, and back to green as the wind faded back into nothing. Her hair fell back into place, and the quad's breeze was simply gone. She sat back down and took another bite of her sandwich. "Sorry about Trent. He's a jerk like that."

[Drake 53]

Marcus changed his fingers back to normal and continued eating his sandwich, as though nothing had just happened.

"Welcome to Greendale High, Danny," he said as the British teen sat back down. "Sorry about your soda."

***

Kurt raised an eyebrow, confused. "The Institute? Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?"

[Vergere 1]

She just smiles faintly over at Danny and takes another bite of food before glancing at Marcus. "Did you really think it was a good idea to irritate him like that, though?"

[Ayingel 24]

"I just don't want to be messed with. I'll come see it, but I'm not making any promises." Lila put her computer into her bag and got up from the table without saying anything. Looking at her watch, she began counting down. Five, four, three, two... And the fire alarm went off.