April was a wet month. A very wet month. While Abby like the rain, this much this often was something else. She had already completed all her homework and read several books for fun. She had played a bit on the piano too. Now she was doing something completely new.

It hadn't been hard to locate DJ. Nor was it hard to convince DJ to stay still long enough for her to do her work. The task itself though?

That was a bit harder.

She had swiped some supplies from the art room and was now sitting on the living room floor with glue, plastic gems, sequins, and some pipe cleaners arranged around her and DJ Roomba. The little bot was apparently as bored as she was because he had helped her bring all the supplies to the room and he seemed to be setting up his own small patterns for his knives.  He was also playing some of her favorite songs from his speakers.  That made her sure he was okay with the project.

She idly wondered what the little bot did regularly that had him so bored now that he agreed to this.

Though it really didn't matter now that they had started.

Holding the bright pink gem with two fingers, Abby patiently waited for DJ to stop moving long enough for her to stick it to him. She was trying for a spiral pattern that had colors to represent all the X-Men. The pink was for Papa.

She had light blue for Sam. Red for Serena. Yellow for Juliette. Purple with Missus Taylor. Pink for Cafas. The white ones were for Momma. The sequins was for Maya/Gawain. She was still figuring out the other colors and what the pipe cleaners would be for.

But she wasn't bored!

Allegra still couldn't believe she was here. She certainly didn't want to be.

She had been living in denial for the past week. Ever since she registered for this school she pretended she wasn't really a mutant.  And she certainly wasn't uprooting her entire life because she had out of control powers that made her deadly dangerous. Only thugs, lowlifes and drug users were mutants, right?

Even on the plane ride here, she was able to push the whole idea aside. Riding first class will help you with that. Allegra spent the trip texting her friends, listening to music, drinking many plastic cups of ice tea and just letting her mind drift to anything other than her new life as a virtual carnival freak.

Her blissful thoughts ended when she landed. She met her driver who escorted her to the limo. Soon they were on the road to her new school. Cold hard road. Not nice fluffy clouds. Reality came crashing. Allegra thought about how much she missed all her friends and how messed up her life was about to become.

The school was even more impressive than the pictures online made it seem but that also made it scarier. She was expecting flying mutants to be zooming over the roof or students firing laser blasts all willy-nilly. Not so much as a mutant Quidditch game. So far, so normal.

Allegra put on her Gucci sunglasses, perfect for avoiding eye contact and hiding the fact that she had been bawling her eyes out in the car. She wore a light gray double breasted wool suit jacket and skirt to make a good impression on her first day. Allegra felt she looked every bit the assured professional student even though every impulse in her body was to run back into the limo screaming to be driven back to the airport where she could hop the first plane back to Beverly Hills.

But she put one high heeled foot in front of the other straight to the mansion trying to look as confident as possible. The crisp weather was downright chilly by California standards and that helped helped motivate herself to rush inside.

Allegra's driver started unloading her many bags. Quite a few were flown here before the flight. Allegra couldn't decide what to leave behind, so it was best to bring just about everything.

Check in was fairly painless. She met the headmaster Dr. Kipperling (or just 'Ruddy.') She liked him instantly even though he did seem a little unhinged. Despite the tweed suit and bow tie, he seemed like he was 60 going on 16. He even invited her to come with him and some other students on a field trip bungee jumping in Belize. Plane leaves in an hour. Even though Allegra was usually up for adventure, she politely declined. She was barely getting her balance here and getting whisked out to places unknown wasn't going to be on her agenda for today. Maybe next time.

She then headed to her new room. It was...well....adequate. It was a fine room but it paled to her residence back home where she basically had the third floor of the mansion all to herself. This would take quite some adjustment.

Allegra plopped down on her bed. Not lumpy or anything but certainly not the fall-into-the-clouds luxury feeling like bed back in her room. And she already missed her lavender scented sheets. She didn't know how she was going to get any sleep tonight.

Even worse was the closet space. Or lack of it. There wasn't enough room for all her shoes, let alone the rest of her wardrobe. Now, this was unacceptable. Allegra took a couple pictures of her sad new cozy cave to share with her friends then decided to find someone to talk to about this.

The problem was that this mansion was so huge and she had forgotten how to get back to Ruddy's office. She was given a folder with a class schedule and other information including a map of the school. Allegra wasn't exactly known for her sense of direction so the map would probably be next to useless. But even if she had to just amble around aimlessly, she was sure to discover something exciting in her new home. Or maybe she'd get eaten by a hungry, rabid monster mutant.

Okay, best not to think about that.

Putting her (possibly) irrational fears aside, there was the deep gnawing feeling of homesickness. With none of her friends here, Allegra really needed someone just to talk to. Hopefully that someone would be able to get her a decent sized room, but right about now anyone would do. It had been a long time since Allegra had to actively make new friends and the prospect was daunting. But she had to start somewhere.

Allegra walked out in the hallway passing a few people but she didn't dare to make eye contact. She cursed herself for being like that. She was a party girl back home, but here she felt like such a outcast and a freak. She knew she only had herself to blame. How hard would it be just to smile at someone and say 'Hi, I'm new here.' Or maybe something just as simple as 'hello.'

A guy walked by and smiled at her. Allegra panicked and that simple 'hello' got caught in her throat. Instead she just marched straight ahead without even a nod.

"What is wrong with me?" she muttered to herself. She was stressed and completely lost now. Could things suck even more.

Then she heard some music. One of her favorite songs. Okay, that was a sign. Allegra put on her best 'fake it til you make it' smile and stepped right into the living room.

There was a girl sitting on the floor engaged in some sort of crafting project. That was cool. And there was a roomba with an old Ipod and speakers mounted onto it. Allegra remembered reading about it on the school website but had thought it was a joke. Nope, the robotic DJ janitor was real. Allegra still wasn't sure if this was a sentient robot or just the school mascot. She nodded to it and smiled. Best to err on the side of caution and not be rude.

The girl in the middle of the room looked a year or two younger than Allegra and thankfully not like one of those threatening scary mutants people always talked about. What was up with her legs, though? Were those grey fish scales? WTF?

Allegra then realized she was staring. She was grateful she was wearing her dark shades so the girl hopefully wouldn't notice.

"Hi there," Allegra said in a shaky voice. "My name's Allegra and I'm new here. Um.. you can probably tell that by the fact that you've never seen me before. And maybe by the clueless, lost expression on my face."

Allegra hoped she didn't sound half as dorky as she imagined she did. She slid her glasses off, smiled and tried to generate some confidence.

"I just love this song!" she said. "So, what are you working on? It looks like fun."

Abby was looking at her design. The spiral was pretty much done around DJ's station. There was about an inch and a half that she left empty. Time to figure out what to do with the pipe cleaners.

>>"Hi there."

The blonde jumped and looked over to the door. She hadn't been paying attention and now there was a new person in the room. She didn't look familiar either.

The following introduction and explanation from the (probably) older girl. Huh. She smiled big when the girl, Allegra, professed a love for the music.

"So, what are you working on? It looks like fun."

"I'm Abby. I've been here for a few years now. And I'm decorating DJ. We're both bored so..." Looking down at the supplies, she wondered if the other girl would think she was being childish. Probably. But Abby was used to being seen as younger than she was. She was pretty small for her age. "I'm trying to figure out what to do with these pipe cleaners. Any ideas?" she asked, holding up a green and white fuzzy bendable stick.

"Hi Abby," Allegra smiled. She was relieved that Abby didn't seem dangerous like many of the mutants she had read about. Allegra was even able to ignore the strange scales that covered the girl's legs. Abby had a youthful and almost childish energy. After bawling her eyes out and stressing, this was just what Allegra needed to decompress.

"So you've been here a few years, huh?" Allegra asked. Allegra was only 15 years old, but looked a bit older dressed in her formal suit jacket. Looking formal and professional would serve her well when she went back into the office to demand a bigger room. For right now though, she just wanted to relax and hopefully make a new friend.

"How do you like it here? What are the classes like? Are the other kids here nice? Is there a bunch of cliques or is everyone pretty cool? This is my first time at a brand new school, so I'm kinda nervous. "

Allegra sat on the floor next to Abby and took a pipe cleaner. As her hand came close to brushing Abby's, Allegra panicked for a second. Ever since that night her powers kicked in, Allegra had been afraid that it would happen again.

Allegra had to remind herself that the school had assured her that as long as she kept focused, it wouldn't. Before Allegra was allowed to come here, she had to send a blood sample to the school so they could evaluate her mutant powers. They had to make sure that potential students weren't going to emit deadly radiation, morph into poisonous gas or anything else that would put the other students lives in danger. Of course, there was always a risk with mutants but Allegra was assured that her powers were at the acceptable risk level. Even so, Allegra was worried. Abby seemed like a sweet girl and Allegra would never forgive herself if she did something to hurt her.

"Let's see," Allegra said as she twisted one end of the pipe cleaner in a circle then did the same on thing on the other end. She then twisted a pipe cleaner around one of the circles and another pipe cleaner around the other circle then folded both newly attacked pipe cleaners on the end so it looks sort of like a pair of eyeglasses. She then fit the eyeglasses over the DJ's Ipod.

"Now you can see better and you look like a hipster," Allegra smiled at the robot. "How's that?" she asked Abby.

"Yeah. Fo-ur years? I think."

Then Allegra was asking lots of questions. Lots. The shifter tried to keep track but it was kind of hard. "It's okay to be nervous. Most people are nice here. The teachers are really nice and they help us even during weekends and summer if we need it." Abby tried to remember what a clique was. It sounded a little like she meant the groups. "I'm not sure about cliques. We all kinda hang out together. There aren't a whole lot of places here at the school to really hang out. You'll probably like Art if you go." Most of the girls their age really liked going to the art class.

"The worst thing I've had happen is be mistaken for a shark when I was swimming. But that was when I first got here and no one knew me. And I kinda do look like a shark when I'm in the water." Abby held out her leg, showing Allegra gray skin she had. "I'm a sharkmaid," she giggled.

She giggled more when DJ shifted to let her see his new glasses straight on. "Very nice. You'll have all sorts of ladies following you," she giggled. It was a on-going joke that DJ got more ladies then Ruddy. The little Roomba took off before she could say anything else. Abby kept laughing as he did circles around the room. "Silly DJ. I think he's done staying still. Are there any questions about the school I might be able to answer for you?"

"Four years, huh? Wow. That's a while. You must have discovered you were a mutant really young. How did you find out about this place?"

Allegra was wondering if Abby's parents were around or if she was just put here. Abby looked even younger than Allegra and she had to have been pretty young when she came here. She had heard of some kids being left on the street when their parents discovered they were mutants. Allegra wasn't going to push the subject though. Abby could choose to volunteer it. Or not.

Abby assured Allegra that it was okay to be nervous which made her feel better. "I'm so glad the teachers are nice. I've had a few dweezers at my old school. My first class tomorrow is Home Ec. Mr. Turner. Do you know him? I hope he's a laid back nice guy."

The fact that Abby didn't know about cliques was a good sign. If there were huge groups of snobby Mean Girls, Abby would probably know about it. Unless she was in one herself, but she seemed too nice for that.

"I love Art!" Allegra said. "That's my favorite class and my teacher at my old school is just so incredible. My teacher here is named Mr. Holloway. Is he cool? I'm not much for school but that's one class I can't wait for."

"Sharkmaid. That's funny," Allegra said. It was a funny joke but Allegra kind of felt sorry for Abby. Allegra would die if her legs looked like that.

"You know, my mom knows a plastic surgeon. Actually, lots of plastic surgeons. If you ever wanted to do something about that, I could maybe set you up."

Allegra's voice trailed off. Was that even the right thing to do? Did she just insult Abby? Abby didn't seem too self conscious but maybe she was proud of her mutation. Allegra couldn't understand why a pretty girl like Abby would be proud to look freaky and mutated, though. Of course, there was a lot about mutants that Allegra didn't understand.

So instead Allegra turned her attention to the roomba to change the subject. "Yeah, he's a charmer for sure," Allegra laughed. "So, what is there to do for fun around here? Other than decorating robots, of course."

Abby lowered her eyes as she thought about how her mutation came out. While she was proud of her mutation now, she still felt some guilt to how it came to be. She often wondered if her parents would still be alive if she hadn't wanted to go sailing for her birthday.

"I've been a mutant for over half my life now. My Aunt helped me find this place after I told her."

She hums a little as Allegra starts talking about the teachers. "Mr. Turner is nice. He lets you use the stoves and ovens if you want to bake secret birthday cakes." Something Abby had done once. "I don't have art so I don't know how Mr. Holloway is in class. I know lots of girls like him though. I take music instead of art. I play piano."

The blonde blinked at the offer(?) of plastic surgeons. What? Taking a look at her legs, she noticed her flaking scales were showing. "I'm fine. It's a 'growth of mutation due to changes caused by puberty.' Or something like that. I think I'll end up with scales like I have shifted, just all the time. It'll probably mean less pain when I shift so it seems like a good idea once it's done."

>>"So, what is there to do for fun around here? Other than decorating robots, of course."

"Well there's the library, the maze and the pool. Sometimes we have movie nights or the guys will have gaming tournaments. The staff puts together field trips pretty often too. I know some girls go shopping every other weekend. Older kids can use the Danger Room, with permission, to work on their powers. That kind of stuff I guess."

“That’s awesome you had help finding this place,” Allegra said. “I had a friend help me but mostly it was just me and the internet looking for a safe place for mutants. I haven’t even told my mom that I’m a mutant. She could always google ‘Xavier’s’ and find out, but she won’t. They would mean she cares about me and she really doesn’t. I just told her that this place is oh-so-exclusive and that’s all she cares about. So are you and your aunt close? Does she come to visit you here?”

Allegra listed to Abby hum. It was like nothing she ever heard before. A little bit hypnotic. Of course, it probably had more to do with how tired Allegra was. Still, her voice was beautiful.

“So are you pretty good with your powers?” Allegra asked. “After four years is it kind of like second nature? I just found out I was a mutant last week. I sure wasn’t expecting that. I mean mutants are things you hear about on TV. I still can’t believe it. Me, a mutant? I’m just not like that. I'm just not the mutant type, you know?”

“So secret birthday cakes? That sounds awesome,” Allegra said. “I bet me and Mr. Turner are gonna get along just great. So, the girls like Mr. Holloway? Is he cute? There seriously need to be more hot teachers or else everyone’s gonna fall asleep in class. If I was on the Board of Education, I’d work on that right away.”

“So, you play piano? Awesome. You can sing really good too. Could you play for me sometime? I’d love to hear it.”

“So your legs hurt?” Allegra asked. “Are your legs ever going to look…..normal?” Allegra was trying to figure out how Abby could be fine about this. Allegra would just hide in her room all day and not come out if she had legs like Abby’s.

“Oh my god. You don’t think something like that could happen to me, do you?” Allegra looked completely horrified.

Allegra tried to smile when Abby listed off the things to do. The library was definitely out. The maze might be fun, but Allegra would have to learn her way around the mansion first. “Movie night sounds fun. Um, gaming? That’s not a bunch of nerds playing video games, is it? Oh, the principal invited me on one of his field trips. Bungee Jumping in Belize or something. Are the field trips always so exotic?”

Abby mentioned shopping trips and Allegra’s eyes lit up. “When’s the next shopping trip?” Allegra asked. Not only was shopping her favorite pastime but she could also get a chance to meet others with similar interests. She figured she’d make more friends that way than showing up to (yuck!) gaming night.

“Next shopping trip, we both have to go!” Allegra exclaimed. “I'm just thinking of a million outfits you'd look adorable in. Um, what’s this about a Danger Room? Why would anyone want to go in a room that’s dangerous?”

Is she close to Aunt Teresa? Maybe. Though not as close as she is with her uncle.

"Sometimes she'll visit. I'm closer to my uncle. He's not mad I have a Papa again," Abby tried to explain.

Abby frowned as Allegra talked about mutants and types. "There's not really a type that are mutants. I've met people of all types and ages. Miss Gina looks like a gargoyle but she's one of the nicest people I've ever met. She does some of the movie nights. I know people who are mean and people who act mean." Miss Isabel (if you weren't a mutants) and Astrid, respectively. "There's more bad press than good honestly." Cafas and the Rally had taught her that.

"I don't know about singing, but I'll play for you. Sure."

Mutation talk was probably one of the most common topics Abby had found in the school. She didn't mind it as much as she used to. The shifter could remember a time when she hated when conversations took this turn.

"My legs only hurt when I shift, but Doc says that's 'cause the scales are growing really quick to cover my tail. He thinks that once my growth is done and my legs are scaly I won't have as much or any pain. I still have some though, when people touch me. But that's because of a difference in senses between people and sharks.

"At this point, looking 'normal' would make it more painful to shift. And since I actually like swimming, probably not a good idea. Most of my abilities are instinct. I know what I'm doing without thinking. So I've never really had to train my powers. I know a few who have powers like that though." The young girl winced as Allegra started to worry and fret. "Growths are really dependent on your power. Mine is pretty tied to my appearance since I'm a shifter, you know? You might not have this kind of growth to deal with."

She giggled as her new friend mentioned Ruddy's field trip. "Ruddy does the weird ones. Mostly. A lot of the teachers try not to go too far from the school. But it really depends. I heard about some students who stole the plane and went to Australia before." Abby smiled a little weakly as shopping was re-mentioned. While she liked dressing up, shopping for the clothes wasn't as fun for her. She blamed Astrid. "I'm not sure when the next one is. I know the girls usually put up a notice in our hallway though. So you'll see those before that weekend. I'm not a big fan of shopping, but I like trying new outfits." Best to be honest with her new friend.

Danger Room probably was misleading. Even she had gotten caught in that. But it could be dangerous. Seeing Cafas come out from training made that obvious. "The Danger Room is mostly used for training. If your power need work to help you control and use it, teachers will take you there to help. It's not really bad. Danger only happens if someone who doesn't know what they're doing try something. I know there are some simulations the team uses for practice."

Abby mentioned she had a Papa again. “So you got adopted or you have a guardian?” Allegra asked. “I haven’t seen my dad in years. He sends me a birthday card every year but that’s about it. I miss him.”

“Um, of course there’s not a mutant type,” Allegra said. She didn’t believe that but around here it was probably a good idea to be politically correct as far as mutants were concerned. “It just doesn’t seem real. I feel cut off from the rest of the world. It’s like that Scarlet Letter book we had to read in English class except I didn’t sleep with anyone to get my scarlet M. It just happened and I had to pack up and leave all my friends and now I’m here. It’s not fair.”

Abby was probably right that there was more bad press than good as far as mutants were concerned. “But you gotta admit when there’s bad press it’s pretty bad,” she said. “Like last week, there was a terrorist mutant that walked into a nightclub and blew himself and a bunch of people up. Except the mutant didn’t die. He just reformed and then blew more people up and kept doing it until the cops shot him. It’s kinda scary.”

Allegra normally avoided the news but that one was all over the papers and since it involved mutants, she paid attention. She had a bad experience with her own mutation. What if things got out of control and the cops had to shoot her? That’s why she was here at Xavier’s. She was learning to control her powers, but it was still very scary.

“I’d love to hear you play. Thank you,” Allegra said. “I don’t have much musical talent. I played clarinet in 7th grade but really all I did was make the instrument squeak loudly. I love art, though. I can draw you something or make some kind of craft for you.”

“Those scales look pretty painful,” Allegra said. She was glad she didn’t have anything like that. “So, you like swimming. Me too. I’m from California and I love the beach. So, where do you go to swim? Just the pool here or do you go to the beach?”

Allegra stopped short of asking Abby to join her at the beach. Allegra really liked Abby but she didn’t want to be seen with a mutant. Did that make her a bad person?

“Students stole the plane?” Allegra asked. “Did they get in trouble? It’s like, what. A two day flight to Australia? They’re lucky they didn’t crash or run out of gas or something. No, I plan on only doing the school sponsored field trips and probably will avoid Ruddy’s. I’m totally going to be looking for the notice of the next shopping trip. Tell you what. If you go with me, I’ll pick out the clothes then you can try them on to see if you like them. I’ve got a wicked eye for fashion.”

“So have you been in the Danger Room?” Allegra asked. “I have to get tested so they know the full range of my powers before they have me go in there, and I need a chaperone. I’m still kinda nervous about the whole idea.”

Oh. Right. Most people don't call unrelated people their parents. "Sorta? If Aunt Teresa let him, I think Cafas would adopt me. He's my Papa. He lives here too. He's one of the team."

Abby did nod as Allegra explained the type thing. Yeah. She could remember the 'why is it me' and 'how could this happen' thoughts from years ago. Though she had quite a few more years experience than the older girl. Seeing as she was really young when her mutation came out.

Well...She had to give Allegra that. Mutants could be rather dangerous. "Yeah, but regular people can be just as bad. Like Odessa." That had been really scary to find out about.

"Before New York I grew up in Florida. My daddy liked to sail," she offered in return. "I don't usually swim outside the school. People can get scary when they're scared. And people generally fear sharks so," she shrugged. The last time she had shifted in public had ended up with her needing to be saved. And that was just a fountain.

The Australia trip still made her giggle. "I don't know how it all happened. I just know some kids stole the plan, went to Australia, and got in trouble. Cafas told me about it after it happened.

"Ruddy's trips are kinda... silly. But sometimes the places he goes are really cool. I'm waiting for him to announce a trip to Spain. I really wanna go. We had one to Hawaii before. I got to go swimming there. It was fun."

Her face scrunched up at the thought of going shopping. But if she was gonna make friends... "So long as lots of people don't have to see me," she offered. "I don't like people staring at me."

"I've had some self-defense lessons in the DR. It's not really bad. Do you know who's gonna be going with you? I might know them. I know Sam does the defense lessons. Julliette is a nurse and helps with health classes. Mama T probably won't. She can stop our powers. Hmmm. Papa might, but I don't think so. Maya is really nice too.

"Do you already know where your room is?" she asked. Sometimes adults would look for them there instead of the public areas. Or there would be an announcement.

“I haven’t met Cafas yet,” Allegra said. “Actually I haven’t met anyone besides you and Ruddy. Oh, and the DJ of course. Maybe you could introduce me. Is this Cafas like your legal guardian?” Ruddy didn’t seem terribly responsible, so it was good to see there was someone here that was.

“I cried when I heard about Odessa,” Allegra said. “Those poor kids. That was just awful.” It still didn’t make some mutants less dangerous. And Allegra was afraid that a massacre like Odessa would make some mutants strike back in retaliation. Most likely they would target innocent humans. Whether it was mutants or humans, it always seemed like innocents were the victims.

“Yeah, I guess I’d be scared too if I thought there was a shark in the water. Good thing I know it's you,” Allegra said. “Is the pool nice? Maybe we can go swimming together sometime soon.”

Allegra laughed about the idea of the kids that stole the plane. “Most of my friends just get in trouble for borrowing their parents' car and they certainly don’t go to another continent. I plan on staying out of trouble while I’m here. No stealing for me.”

“Oooh! I would love to go to Hawaii! I went once and it was so beautiful. Beaches everywhere. It’s funny, going to the beach is what I do all the time in California but I never get tired of it.”

Allegra felt sorry for Abby when she said she didn’t like people staring at her. Allegra would feel the same way if she looked freakish. She certainly wasn’t going to use that word in front of her new friend but it was true. Allegra hoped her own legs wouldn’t start mutating.

“Hey, I don’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable,” Allegra said. “I’m sure we can find lots of cool things to do here. We could probably spend all day giving DJ makeovers.”

“No, I don’t know who is going to be with me in the Danger Room,” she said. “They have to run some tests to find out exactly what my powers are before setting me loose in the Danger Room. Don’t want to make the Danger Room even more dangerous, right? So is it just like a gym or something?"

Abby mentioned someone named Mama T who could take away powers. "So can she make people not mutants anymore?" Allegra asked hopefully. She just wanted to be normal.

"Oh, I know where my room is," Allegra sighed. "It's so small! I don't know how I'm going to fit my clothes and shoes and everything else in there. At first I thought it was a closet but I'm expected to live in there. I don't know how I'm gonna manage."

"Cafas is... He takes care of me, but I think my Uncle still has custody of me. Maybe." That would probably be something to ask Maya or Cafas. It seemed like something she should know. Though it was doubtful Aunt Teresa would allow her to be adopted by Cafas legally.

The pool! "I love the pool. It's big enough for me to swim laps." Which wasn't as easy as it sounded since her tail gave her extra length. And sharks rarely grew bigger than the area they lived in. "I usually go when it's empty. At least I used to. I could probably go with others now. They shouldn't freak out anymore." She didn't think so at least. She was pretty well known now, having been here for years.

The blonde giggled as Allegra explained what her friends had gotten in trouble for. "The most trouble I've been in is I forgot to tell Cafas I was spending the night at a friends," she giggled.

"I only wish the beaches were cleaner. I hate having to swim in dirty water." And the water around New York was rather dirty. She hadn't gone swimming in the ocean in years. Abby was pretty sure a few years would not change the water's cleanliness a lot.

She was glad Allegra wouldn't make her go shopping. It was nice not to worry about that. The older girls had kinda forced her to dress up in the beginning. Now she rather liked trying new styles and clothes. So long as people weren't staring.

"The Danger Room is mostly like a gym, yeah. It just has a really cool holographic system which lets you create anything in there. I heard sometimes it gets used for things like dates. Though I think that was for adults. On its own it just looks like a giant room so yeah, kinda gym like." It was really hard to explain now that she thought about it. Abby didn't actually know how it all worked. Something to ask Cafas or Sam later.

Abby frowned at Allegra's question on Mama T. "I don't think so. It's temporary. I think she just... puts our mutations asleep." Maybe. That's what happened to Astrid. She couldn't feel her wings anymore. Though Abby still wasn't sure about it. "I can show you her office if you'd like. So you can ask more questions. I don't know a whole lot."

Small? Most of the rooms had to fit two people. So... "You might have one of the single rooms. Does it only have the one bed?" Well, no that wasn't a good indicator either. Adder's room only had the one bed and he had a roommate. But still... "How much stuff did you bring?" The rooms had always been big enough for her things. But maybe Abby didn't have as much stuff.

It seemed odd that Abby didn’t know who had custody of her but perhaps it didn’t really matter. From everything she had read about this place, it was a unique environment so Abby probably got a lot of support from everyone.

“So what’s Cafas like?” Allegra asked. “I’d like to meet him sometime.”

Allegra was glad to hear Abby was so enthusiastic about swimming. Allegra loved it too. “I was on the swim team Freshman year,” Allegra explained. “My best friend, Emma, still is. I promise not to freak out if we go swimming together. It'll be fun.” Sure, it’d be a little strange swimming with a shark girl but Abby seemed nice. Allegra kept telling herself that she’d see a lot of really strange looking people here and she needed to get used to it.

“That sucks that the water here is so dirty,” Allegra said. “Really makes me miss the Pacific already.” It had only been a few days and already Allegra was terribly homesick.

“The Danger Room has holograms? Aren’t those just light? Doesn't sound very dangerous to me.” Allegra asked. “Oh my god, that would be awesome for dates. You could make it look like anything, right? Maybe they call it the Danger Room to keep kids out of there.”

“Yeah, if you could show me Mama T’s office, that’d be great,” Allegra said. She didn’t think there was a ‘cure’ for mutation but it wouldn’t hurt to start researching it. She desperately wanted to be normal and to go back to her normal life.

“No, my room has two beds,” Allegra said. “When they gave it to me they told me I was lucky to get one of the larger rooms. Lucky! My shoe closet back home is larger than that room. I don’t know where I’m going to keep everything. The place is so full of boxes that I can barely walk though. You don’t know who I could talk about, do you? I mean this mansion is huge. I’m not gonna ask for a whole floor like I had back home but maybe something six or seven times bigger than I’ve got now.”

Allegra sighed. “I knew I’d have to make sacrifices but this is just insane!”