It was late afternoon by the time the train from Wisconsin pulled into Grand Central station.
Faye Roberts waited eagerly by the door for the train to come to a halt; she was excited to be in New York but the long train journey had taken its toll and she desperately craved a cigarette. [/img]
The train stopped and Faye stepped out onto the platform dragging her suitcase behind her, its wheels squeaking abnormally loudly to her enhanced sense of hearing as she made her way towards the escalators.

She reached the hub, its marble floor and pillars forcing the eye up some five stories up to the zodiac signs painted onto the ceiling . It was all very pretty, she decided, just like something from a movie… but then the crowds parted and she caught sight of the kiosk: that wonderful kiosk and the nicotine that it held captive within its metal racks.
Raising her headphones to her ears to ward off the noise, she made her way into the crowd, the sounds of busy people going about their business nullified and rendered silent by her Bose headphones.
Faye reached the kiosk and joined the queue of city workers; if they noticed the blonde teenager in the red hooded sweatshirt amongst their suited mass they gave no sign.
Two more people in front of her,
One,
None; Faye stepped up to the counter and ran her grey eyes over the wares.

“A bottle of water and a pack of redtops please” she asked the man behind the counter as he ran his eyes over her. He knew she was underage at only 17, and she knew it too, but this was how the game was played.
He blinked first.
Smiling she paid the man and moved to the side of the counter, taking a cigarette and going to light it, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning to see who it was she was confronted by a man: middle-aged and wearing a nice suit, his mouth moving as he clearly tried to say something.

“What?” said Faye, trying to make out his words as her tried again but this time with gestures.
The man appeared to give but then reached out and pulled her headphones off her ears, the sounds of the station rushing back unexpectedly before she could focus her sense of hearing.
“I said you can’t smoke in here, what are you deaf?” he said pointing at the no-smoking sign mounted upon one of the pillars behind her.

Wincing from the pain that the sudden influx of noise had brought, Faye bit back a scathing retort. Mumbling an apology, she made her way out off the nearest exit and huddled with the rest of the smokers by the doors, as she lit her first cigarette since she boarded the train to New York.
Glancing at her watch she judged the time. It was mid afternoon, Plenty of time to get to the mutant school, her new school she corrected; she had her transfer papers in her bag.

If Faye was honest with herself she was a little apprehensive about starting a new school, never mind one filled with mutants. She’d never met another mutant before, at least she didn’t think she had, and the idea both intrigued and worried her. She hoped she would be able to find new friends; it’d been pretty lonely once everyone found out about her power back home.
From hero to zero in less than a week, she hadn’t helped matters along by abusing her powers to score high on the finals, but to be honest it wasn’t really cheating. It was more like using a natural advantage that she had over others; Antelope don’t have any right to moan at Giraffes for using their long necks to eat the top-most leaves so why had her old principal been so angry when Faye had gone from a C-grade student to an A+ overnight? It just wasn’t fair, Faye decided.

Sighing, she flicked the remnants of the cigarette onto the floor so it exploded in a shower of sparks, and walked out into the city.

It had been overcast and threatening rain for the entire day, right from the moment Amber got up (which admittedly wasn't until noon) right up until the present moment. For most that would be a bad thing filled with the disappointment of no beaches or fun but for Amber it was different. For Amber it meant a rare day of going outside during the day without worry about her sensitive skin. Or at least without quite so much worry about her sensitive skin.

There was always the chance of the weather changing, of course, because that was something weather did at times. It was also something Amber had previously had bad experiences with, but at least now she had better control of her powers and if it did change she could just shift and hide in some tiny crevice until nightfall when she could go home safely. Plus, even with it being overcast she still had to cover her body and wear her veil, opting for a soft purple theme on this particular day. But still, it was a rare and happy day for her when she was actually able to enjoy the daylight hours.

Amber intended to use her few hours of daylight to good use, as in she was planning to go shopping. Her adopted father Abyss provided her all the money she could ever desire for pretty much anything she wanted but the problem with being forced into nocturnal habits were that stores had a tendency to be closed almost all the time. She needed more robes and, even more important than that, she wanted something in the way of normal clothes. Sure they weren't practical when going outside, nor were they practical when she needed to shift, but she still wanted them. Maybe, just maybe, normal clothes would help her look and feel more normal. She love being a mutant but sometimes she hated being a freak.

The shop Amber had in mind was right near central station and she got on the subway near Sanctuary and began making her way over there, staring at the floor so as to not catch anyone's eye for fear that they'd spot her rather unusual eyes and make things difficult for her. More and more she was feeling abused by the human race as a whole and being in a crowd of them, especially in a small area in which she couldn't escape, made her feel more than a little nervous. The trip was uneventful, however, much to her relief.

It wasn't until Amber had actually gotten off of the subway that Amber began to encounter the usual anti-mutant sentiment that she was, unfortunately, becoming used to. Perhaps she had accidentally lifted her eyes enough for someone to catch a glimpse or maybe someone was just looking for mutants. Nevertheless the mutterings from a nearby group about unnatural mutant freaks hurt her. What had she ever done to them? Nothing. Didn't they realize that mutants had feelings and emotions too? Just like humans? Apparently they did not. She tried her best to go forward without acknowledging the cruel snickers.

Lance hated goodbyes. It was a total waste of time since he was sure that his cousin and her family would be back to visit in a month or two. “See you in a month or two, Lance.” Jessica, his aunt’s eldest daughter said, enveloping him in a familial embrace. See.

The tender moments of sappy goodbyes between his aunt Phoem, Jessica and Jeanne was rudely called to a halt when the public announcement system announced that Jessica’s ride was now boarding.

Lance, his aunt and cousin stood there for about five minutes as Jessica entered the boarding area and vanished in the throng of commuters.

They stood there for a few minutes more before Jeanne suggested that they go home since she still had some unfinished school work waiting for her. The two offered to drop Lance off at his school, but the teen declined since the direction they will be heading is opposite to where he was going.

After saying their goodbyes, the three headed off to their respective exits with mother and daughter heading for the parking lot and Lance for the main entrance where he plans to hail a cab to take him to the mansion.

Lance was waiting for a cab outside the station when a rough looking man ran past him. The man was in such a hurry that he nearly ran into the teen.

“Thief!” an elderly woman’s voice cried from the direction the man had come from. The woman was trying her best to catch-up with the supposed thief.

Lance took one look at the woman and bolted after the man that nearly crashed into him a few seconds ago. Two other individuals bolted after the thief.

Being the youngest amongst the chasers, Lance was the closest to the fleeing thief. That was, until a girl stepped off the sidewalk into his direct path.

There was no chance whatsoever for Lance to veer off his course to avoid a direct collision with the girl. ”Look...” he tried to shout a warning but Lance already knew the inevitable outcome of the situation.

The seconds seemed to slow down for Lance as he neared the girl, who seemed totally unaware of the hazard she had just stepped into.

BAM!

Lance was not able to slow down his speed enough to veer away from the girl and the two of them collided in a flurry of tangled arms and legs. The others running after the thief continued the chase, carefully avoiding the two teen now sprawled on the pavement.

Lance quickly got to his feet. ”Oh, geez... I’m so sorry...” he profusely apologized to the girl as he offered to help her onto her feet. ”Are you hurt?”

Of course she’s hurt, you moron! his inner voice’s irritating monologue sounded in his mind. Running into her at nearly full speed like that... You’d be lucky if she didn’t break anything.

[/color]

Faye spotted the cab across the street just as it pulled up and moved to intercept it before any other would be passenger got to it first, After all she was in New York and that was a yellow taxi. It was like fate or something she reasoned.
She hurried forwards dragging her case behind her and stepped off the sidewalk into the street and that was when the boy hit her, Hard.
They both tumbled down, limbs entangled, her headphones slipping off her head and letting the sounds of the street in and she instantly focused on the sounds of running footsteps as two other people ran past them.

Gathering herself up she pushed herself up onto her knees, noticing with a wince her grazed knuckles. But there was worse to come as she saw that the contents of her handbag had spilled out into the gutter; The application forms as well as her purse, phone and cigarettes lay scattered around her and what was that in the road? A tampon? Great…

>>>”Oh, geez... I’m so sorry, are you hurt”

She looked up at the idiot that had knocked her down, noticing him for the first time. She had to admit he was kinda cute.
No her brain corrected, He just knocked you down. He is not cute. He is annoying and you are not happy. Remember pain? The embarrassment? Yeah you do girl…

Faye scowled and snatched up her headphones before jamming them around her neck.

“Don’t just stand there you idiot, Help me pick this up”

Amber hadn't really been expecting anything bad to happen. Even with the rather unpleasant people taking verbal jabs at her, they didn't seem the type to actually try anything physically against her. All she wanted was to go on a nice shopping trip and get herself some new clothes, but of course her life being as it was, that was destined not to happen. Her life was simply destined never to be simple and easy, that was for other more fortunate people.

As if fate were reading her mind, that was when Amber heard the loudly uttered "thief!" and saw someone sprint down the street past her. A moment later a second figure sprinted after the first and it took her a moment to register that she knew the second figure from school, Lance if she wasn't mistaken. A moment later Lance ran right into a third figure, causing them both to tumble to the ground. By the time Amber mentally registered everything that was going on the thief was well beyond her ability to try and run after to catch. Lance, however, was not and she opted to run to him instead to make sure that he and the woman were all right.

"Are y-you two okay?" Amber asked, arriving only slightly out of breath. She looked from Lance to the stranger and back again. At least she knew that Lance wasn't going to say anything about her eyes and even if he said something about her veil, she knew he wasn't the cruel type. The stranger she wasn't so sure about but if it came down to it she could always just kick the woman in the shin. Only if she did anything to deserve it, of course.

Lance tried to assist the girl in getting to her feet, ignoring the looks they were getting from those outside the station. Some witnesses blamed the girl for the incident, but there were more that blamed him and deep down inside, he knew they were right. He acted recklessly and the accident happened. Nice going, hero...

“Don’t just stand there you idiot, Help me pick this up”

Lance winced slightly at being called an idiot in public. But he couldn’t, and he wouldn’t, blame the girl for acting that way. The teen reflexively scrambled around to gather the items he accidentally scattered on the ground...

Documents... check.

Purse... check.

Phone... check.

Cigarettes... check.

And... Oh hell... Was that a... Lance froze as he noted that the last item he had picked up from the ground was something very personal to every woman. He felt his face flush.

Lance ignored the sniggers he heard from several male onlookers, and more so, the stares from the female ones. He handed the items he had picked up to the girl. ”Sorry.”

Another figure appeared at the edge of his vision. A girl wearing a veil... A cold feeling of dread slowly crept inside of Lance as recognition dawned on him... Amber.

"Are y-you two okay?"

The familiar voice of Amber had confirmed it for Lance. From hero to zero... nice going, genius. His inner voice was having a field day.

”I... uh... I’m fine... I think,” Lance replied after a few seconds of nervous silence. ”Uh... Let’s get out of the road.” he suggested to both the girl and Amber. The accident had stalled vehicular traffic in the area and some irate drivers were already shouting at them. The teen moved to assist the girl back onto the sidewalk, while picking up her luggage with his other hand.

[/color]

The not-cute boy retrieved the spilled items and passed them back, a small grin sneaking onto Faye’s face as she noticed him blushing.

>>>”Sorry.”

Well at least he knew he was in the wrong. If she was honest with herself both of them had been equally at fault but he had said sorry first so she stopped feeling guilty. She was the victim in this her brain decided, so stop thinking you were mean when you called him an idiot.
Well, it was a bit harsh chimed in her heart, Look he’s blushing, why don’t you say sorry too?In the end she compromised:

“Thanks” she said flashing the not-cute boy a smile.

It was at that point her hearing picked up another set of running feet coming towards them and turned her head towards them; if this was another charging not-cute boy she wanted to be able to see it coming, but to her surprise it was a girl: A girl dressed head to toe and wearing a light purple veil that looking like one that people wore in the old movie Laurence of Arabia that her dad used to watch.

>>>"Are y-you two okay?"

Faye looked across to not-cute boy and from the look of recognition she realised that he must know her somehow; maybe they were neighbours or went to the same school. Maybe she was not-cute boy’s girlfriend?.

>>>”I... uh... I’m fine... I think,”

“I’m good” she chimed up at the girl in the purple veil, for the first time noticing that her eyes were all black.
All black? Who has all black eyes? Her brain interjected, that’s got to be an interesting story hasn’t it? Why don’t you ask? Yeah ask ask ask ask ask her brain egged her on, eager for its daily gossip fix.

Fine, I’ll ask! Just shut up a second she told her brain.

She was going to do it all sly she had decided. Open with a compliment then something about herself before steering the conversation in the way she wanted. It’d worked in the past in Wisconsin; it’d work now in New York.
Faye opened her mouth to speak, the question forming on her lips.
It was such a shame that it was at that point a driver chose to lean on his horn and shout a stream of abuse at them for holding up the traffic.

>>>”Uh... Let’s get out of the road.”

She was suddenly aware she and not-cute boy were kneeling in the gutter, gross. She went to get up; not-cute boy reaching his feet first before turning and helping her up, What a gentleman thrilled her heart; Pah said her brain in a huff at its cold gossip logic being ignored for squishy feelings.
She flashed him another smile as he passed he back her suitcase.

“I’m Faye, Faye Roberts” she offered looking at both of them in turn, God that girl really did have black eyes, she should totally ask her about them. Not now though, she had a more important question in mind:

“Ummm, do you guys know where this place is?” she said showing them her transfer papers…

Amber didn't like to see anyone hurt although a quick a assessment of the situation showed that there was more embarrassment, especially from Lance, than there was actual hurt. Embarrassment could be painful all on its own, as she well knew, but at least that particular kind of hurt wasn't too difficult to deal with and except in the most extreme of circumstances wasn't likely to leave permanent scars.

Amber followed the other two out of the middle of the road, immediately seeing the wisdom in such an act. Embarrassment might not leave permanent scars, but being hit by a moving vehicle most certainly would, if not worse. She was pretty sure not even her largest dinosaur form could survive a speeding car smashing into it, and presently all three of them were much smaller and more fragile than that.

"I'm Amber Thirsis." Amber extended a hand to the blond woman who she realized couldn't be much older than she herself was. Of course Faye had the advantage of not having pitch black eyes and looking completely normal in general. She wasn't cursed to constantly have to cover her entire body with layers of fabric in order to avoid the harmful rays of the sun. Because the sun was not supposed to be harmful, not to anyone but her.

When Amber finally looked down at the papers Faye was holding out, she couldn't help but grin. "You're a m-mutant?" It was said with a note of surprise but she was careful to keep her voice low so that others outside their little circle wouldn't be able to hear. Just because she couldn't hid what she was didn't mean that others couldn't and many of the human looking ones preferred to keep it a secret.

“I’m Faye, Faye Roberts”

"I'm Amber Thirsis."

”Lance... Lance Sandejas,” the teen introduced himself, extending a hand to Faye.

Turning to Amber, ”What are you doing here?” Lance asked his friend/classmate, slightly smiling to cover his embarrassment over the hubbub earlier.

“Ummm, do you guys know where this place is?”

Looking at the documents Faye was holding, Lance noted one name amongst the many information written there... Xavier’s Sister School for Gifted Youngsters.

"You're a m-mutant?"

Amber vocalized the question already running inside Lance’s head.

”Yeah. I know where Xavier’s is...” Lance answered Faye’s question. ”I can take you there, if you want.”

[/color]

>>>"I'm Amber Thirsis."
>>>”Lance... Lance Sandejas,”

So, thought Faye, not-cute boy is called Lance and his friend is Amber. They didn’t seem to be out and about in New York together as Lance seemed surprised to see Amber. At least they seem friendly and eager to help from the way they looked over her transfer papers.
She wasn’t really prepared for the suddenness of Amber’s next question.

>>>"You're a m-mutant?" asked Amber quietly, leaning in so her voice didn’t carry past the three of them. Lance seemed interested too as she caught his eye flicker up from Faye's transfer papers.

What should she say to that? Different responses flickered across her thoughts:
“Hello my name is Faye and I’m a mutant, Rawr gimme all your secrets!”?
“Mutant, moi?” Lying was always a safe bet Faye considered as she didn’t really know these people.
Or she could always run away.

Consider the facts her brain told her: Amber doesn’t seem normal, well less normal, plus she had those black eyes.
Lance was a different kettle of fish as, all in all, he seemed normal so he might be human but he knew Amber so that said mutant, or at least mutant friendly. Plus according to the internet one in four people in New York had the X-Gene.

Before she could answer Lance told her he knew where the school was and could take her there.
He wouldn’t know about the school if he wasn’t a mutant or at least mutant friendly her brain told her.

Mind made up Faye brushed a stray lock of her blonde hair back and looked at them both in turn and, following Ambers example, said in a quiet voice “Yeah, I’m a mutant. How about we find this ‘special’ school and get me squared away?”

“Cigarette?” Faye asked before taking and lighting herself one.

"I was g-going shopping," Amber answered, feeling just as embarrassed as Lance appeared to be. Maybe she didn't really have much to be embarrassed about, but she didn't want to come off as one of those shallow teens that just thought about shopping, clothes and boys and nothing else. She considered herself to be better than that, more intellectual and far more mature.

Amber smiled at Faye and the discovery that she was a mutant. In her experience mutants were often far less judgmental than their human counterparts. For one thing, she had yet to be chased by any mutant mobs and the same could not be said about human mobs. That had happened more than once, unfortunately. For another, only a single mutant had ever tried to do her harm and he had since been dealt with. Humans just didn't understand mutants and what they didn't understand they feared and what they feared they hated. It was an unfortunate reality and one she hoped to change.

"We b-both go to the Mansion for school. Its n-not too far from here." Amber gestured to be followed as she began walking towards the subway. In truth, most things were too far in the city so long as they were within easy distance of the subway. The subway wasn't always her favourite place but it was better by far than not having it.

"What can you d-do?" Amber asked. Sure some mutants didn't like when you asked about their powers, but she couldn't help but feel a little curious.

Faye’s admission that she was a mutant too no longer surprised Lance. The documents she held in her hand were transfer papers to Xavier’s Sister School... a school catering exclusively to mutants. The next logical question would be, what can Faye do?

“Cigarettes?”

”No thanks...” Lance politely refused the offer.

"I was g-going shopping,"

Lance shot Amber a smile as she answered his question. So, his dino-shifting friend supposed to be doing some shopping.

"We b-both go to the Mansion for school. Its n-not too far from here."

Lance simply nodded in concurrence with Amber’s statement. The girl looked about his age, so there was a big chance that they would be classmates in the future.

As Amber signaled for them to follow her, Lance noted that she was heading for the subway. Was she going to accompany them back to the mansion? He wondered as he followed her still carrying Faye’s luggage.

”You’re coming with us, Amber? What about your shopping?” Lance had nothing against Amber coming with them. He was, however, concerned that they had intruded into her shopping plans and he did not want to keep his friend from her plans.

"What can you d-do?"

Amber had once again verbalized that he was contemplating a while back... at least she saved him from having to ask Faye himself. After the fiasco earlier, he was sure that he’d get an earful from Faye had he been the one to have asked that question.

Lance remained silent as the three of them descended the stairs that led to the subway terminal. Amber was carrying on a conversation with Faye, and he did not feel the need to intrude himself into their discussion.

He paid for the ride to the mansion for the three of them.

The subway was a bit crowded, it being a weekend. But thankfully, the trip only took a few minutes and before they knew it, they were already making their way towards the Xavier’s Sister School for Gifted Youngsters.

Faye popped the pack of cigarettes pack in her purse after Lance and Amber declined her offer and took a deep drag while Lance asked Amber what she was doing in New York, Shopping?
Oooh. Now that was her area of expertise, well along with stirring pots added in her brain and making boys blush.

Faye smiled as she remembered Lance’s face turning red earlier and she glanced over at him quickly,
Yes he was definitely cute, but maybe all mutant boys were cute? There was only one way to know, she’d have to check ‘em out for herself at the school. Maybe it was genetic? Like how celebrity babies where always waaay cuter than normal babies, a C gene?

Amber broke Faye’s erratic, and let’s be frank, idiotic thought;

>>>"We b-both go to the Mansion for school. Its n-not too far from here."

Ah, so they went to school together, that and the fact that Lance didn’t know Amber was out today probably meant that they weren’t boyfriend/girlfriend. Was that a good thing?
Faye didn’t know but still it was useful information and, as they say, knowledge is power.

“Oh cool, what’s it like? any cute boys?” she asked Amber as she led them towards the subway, adding in a wink and a shifty look at Lance.

She reached for her case but Lance got there first, another tick for being a gentleman she thought

“You don’t have to carry that Lance, It’s got little wheels and I can totally pull it on my own. 'sides I’d feel like a right queen B if I made you take it”

Lance seemed like he was working up to say something,
Why didn’t he talk to her? He hadn’t asked her anything about herself yet, neither had she but that wasn’t the point: He was a Boy and Boys had to ask the questions first. That was the rules, didn’t he know them or wasn’t he playing the game? Wasn’t she pretty?

Don’t be dense chimed in her heart you’re gorgeous, But that hoodie totally makes you look fatter than you are.

Faye slipped off her hoodie and tied it around her waist revealing the white polo/waist coat combo and the tanned tight lines of her arms. That’s better she thought, don’t hide yourself so much.

She looked up at Lance, He still looked torn between asking and not asking her something but before Faye could ask him Amber asked her what her power was.

Well what was it? What was the funky name her doctor had called it? Oh yeah;
“My mutation is called eidetic auditory mimicry, Basically if I hear what you say I record it like iTunes then I can play it back so it’s like your voice but out of my mouth. Also my hearing is wicked sharp; hence the earphones.”

By way of demonstration Faye repeated Ambers question back at her, it felt strange because of the stutter the girl had, it felt like her throat was ticklish and having hiccups at the same time.
Then she nudged lance with her shoulder,
“Yours too Lance, I wanna know what you can do too”

Faye swapped stories and gossip with Amber as they walked to the subway, pausing only to fish around her purse for some change for the train fare before she realised Lance had paid for them all.

“Thanks Lance, That’s cool of you”
Three times the gentleman added the inside voices

The train was busy and noisy; Faye had to pop her headphones back on for a bit and sat there in that dull soundless world she was often confined to.
But as the three of them left the station and started walking back on the road she was able to take them off and rejoin the conversation.