High School X 7

Hey readers and I hope I have a few fans, I really like this story and want to update but ideas don’t come all the time and I don't want to seem like I'm taking ideas from other people. So I'm adding a few more characters four to be exact. These are guaranteed to be very long chapters. Might make this two chapters or four. I hope you all enjoy it and the new characters. I also want to say that any characters I make will more than likely be super mutants like the three characters I already have. Love hearing what you guys think so let me know.

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A nice suburb in Trenton, New Jersey.

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I didn't know what was happening. Things weren't supposed to happen like this. My parents were supposed to accept me. Not this. I had a good life. My parents were great. I'm trying to figure out why this is happening to me. I was 17 and a good kid. We were one of the only two Puerto Rican families in this suburb, the other being Seven’s family and I had grades that were way above average. I was getting looked at by three different colleges that wanted me on their basketball teams and who wanted to give me a full scholarship.

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- 14 -

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What the fuck??? This isn’t happening. This is not happening to me. I was to scared to look in the mirror. If I did that then I would know that it was true. I would be able to confirm that I had fucking fire coming out of my hands. This is bullshit. Today is my birthday and I'm upstairs spazzing out.

..." Jude! Jude get down here!"

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

"Uhhh... I'll be down in a minute mom. I spilled soda on my clothes."

Mom: "Jude come on. We're gonna cut the cake without you."

"Ok Mom. Just make sure you save me a piece."

What the hell is going on? I can't be a freak. I've got to much to lose.

..."Jude get your butt down here! Story get down here."

Story!!! My dad saying that shocked the hell out of me. My hands suddenly went out and I was relieved for the moment. I turned around and there she was. Story was my little sister. Well she wasn't that little. She was two years younger than me so that made her 12.

"Story... Story what did you see?"

Story: "........"

"Listen Story you can't say.... I mean you can't do anything different. If Mom or Dad finds out about this I don't know what'll happen."

Story: "......."

"Story are you listening to me?! You can hate me if you want to just don't say anything to Mom or Dad."

I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. If she told my parents there was no telling what would happen. My parents had never showed any hate towards mutants, but you know how it is. It's alright as long as the shit stays out of our house. I was in my own little world until I felt arms wrapping around me. I had never felt such relief in my life.

Dad: "What are you two doing?"

I spun around and there was Dad.

Dad: "Everyone is downstairs waiting for you Jude. The ice cream is half-way melted."

"Sorry Dad. Story was just giving me a hug because I'm 14 now.... I think."

Dad: "(laughing) Boy get downstairs."

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- 16 -

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"Shawna this is the best party ever."

Shawna: "Well it's only gonna get better."

Ever since I turned 16 I had been partying all the time. Well let me tell you a little about myself. My full name is Jude Santiago, I’m 5’11, about 160lbs, and with all the basketball practice I had a nice six pack and had very little fat on my body. My grades didn't suffer and I was still MVP and now Captain on the basketball team. I hadn't had any incidents with my powers since my birthday two years ago and I was hoping I didn't ever again. That's not to say that I didn't use my powers because I did. Whenever I knew for sure that I was home alone or I knew only Story was home, I would draw all the blinds in my room and practice with my powers. I was getting pretty good with them, well the ones I felt secure practicing with. I had almost lost control when I was seeing how much fire I could control. I was scared shitless because I almost burned down my room. Anyway... Shawna was my best friend and we did everything together. We studied, partied, got drunk, got high and a bunch of other shit. We were at my team mate Seven's party when things got little wild for me. Make no mistake, Seven and I were not friends at all. To be honest I thought he was a cocky S.O.B and we only really talked during practice and games. I hadn't seen Seven all night and by the time he finally did appear the party was going strong.

I was getting really wasted and was talking to Shawna when someone's arm grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into a hug.

..."How you fuckers gonna start the party without me?"

"Well if you would have had your ass here on time you wouldn't have missed it."

I turned around and there was Seven in just a towel. I don't know what the hell was happening but the next thing I knew I had a semi and it was making a pretty obvious bulge in my pants. I'm not anything special in the dick department (8" uncut and pretty thick) but I was extra hard right now.

Shawna: {in my ear} "You ok down there Jude?"

Bitch! She jinxed me. She always told me that I was to soft to be all straight. I never boned up because of a guy before so why was it happening now? If that wasn't bad enough Seven was looking at my pants and if it's even possible I got even harder.

"Yeah I'm fine. Marra is just looking really sexy in that bikini."'

Shawna: "Uh huh. Whatever."

She walked to go get another beer and Seven and I were still there. The music was blasting and it was hard to hear anything at the moment.

Seven: "I have those shoes that you wanted..."

"Huh?"

Seven: "The shoes you wanted. I have them upstairs."

"What? I can't even hear you over the music."

Seven: "I HAVE THE SHOES YOU WANTED!!! MY UNCLE JUST DROPPED THEM OFF TODAY!!!"

He grabbed my shirt and started pulling me towards the stairs. I looked around and Shawna was looking at me with an 'I told you so' expression. So I gave the finger and went upstairs behind Seven.

I didn't expect his room to look like it was. At school, outside of the court he was a very clumsy and sloppy person. His room was sparkling. He had all his books, videos, games, and things in order. His floor was vacuumed. It just wasn't what I expected. He had a few posters of various rap artists on the wall and he had a CD player on the bed which showed that he actually was in his room at times.

I saw Seven throw the box on the bed and I went over to check them out. My family was well paid but even I didn't like paying full price for things that would cost a grip compared to my measly allowance. There was a pair of Limited Edition Burberry Nike's and at full price they would have cost about $350. With Seven, I could get them for half. He wasn't a bootlegger but he had an Uncle who worked as a rep for several fashion Empires and he would get shoes and float them out and see how the sold. I tried on the shows and when I was going to put them back I noticed the lump in the bottom of the box under that paper. I lifted it up and there was a big ass bag of weed.

Seven: “I threw that in for free. I know how you and Shawna like to get high so consider it a gift for one of my best customers."

I turned around and Seven was standing there with his back to me and his towel was on the floor.

Only in the showers had I seen the guys naked but I had never looked at them like this. I stopped looking when I imagined a hole burning into his asscheek.

Seven: "You like what you see?"

"Huh?"

Seven: "Papi there is a mirror right here."

Damn.

"I'm going to go back downstairs. Shawna is probably ready to go."

Seven: "How do you know that? You psychic or something?"

I knew he was joking but it freaked me out all the same. I had the door open and was about to leave when I saw Seven’s arm reach out and slam the door back.

Seven: "Dude I'm sorry. Just stay and chill for a minute."

I turned around and Seven was really close to me. I'm about 5'11" and he was a good 3" taller than me and about 190 with a well defined six pack. I looked up and when I did I felt lips touching mine. I tried to push him off…or I think I did but he wasn't budging. It's not that it wasn't nice because it really was but I this was probably some sick joke. On more than one occasion he had done things to try and get me out of the Captain position and this might have been another stunt of his. After a few more seconds though, I didn't give a fuck. If it was a trap I'd wipe his mind after we done. My dick was mega hard and it was starting to hurt in the jeans I had on. I finally managed to push him off of me and get some air back in my lungs.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

Seven: "What do you mean? Didn't you like it?"

"No... Yes... I don't know. Why did you do that?"

Seven: "Because I like guys. You're a guy. You boned up looking at me. I think that's about it."

"I didn't bone up because of you! I told you that...."

Seven: "Yeah I know Marra and her bikini."

"Yeah that's right."

Seven: "Then why are you so hard right now? It looks like your fucking pants are about to tear in half. Unless Marra got you that excited."

"Why are you doing this?"

Seven: "Because you're a cool guy and I'm tired of the bullshit guys I'm used to fucking around with. You like guys. I like guys. What the fuck is the problem?"

"I don't like guys. This has never happened before and to be honest I don't know what the fuck is going on. And second we're still in high school. If someone found out we'd be dead."

Seven: "No one is going to find out. I can lock the door. The party is going strong downstairs and

no one is even worried about what we're doing up here."

I was trying to come up with something to say but to be honest, there wasn't anything else to do.

There was no denying that I found him hot. He was naked, hard, and he was hanging. I don’t know why but I was willing to do anything right about now. Seven stepped back up to me and we started kissing again. I heard the door lock behind me and after that all my inhibitions went out the window. I took off my shirt and pants and went and laid on his bed. Watching him walk over from the bed just made me want him even more. He was packing about 8.5” inches and he was really thick. He laid down next to me and we started making out again. I would have never thought that I would be so turned on by a guy but here I was.

Seven: “You are so hot.”

I pushed Seven off of me and to the side. I rose up to look at him and he was perfect. No fat on his body, no bumps or anything like that. I looked at his dick and I was fascinated. I grabbed it and just started to stroke him and it was hard for me to even wrap my hand all the way around it. Seven laid me back down and slipped my boxers off.

Seven: “How far are you willing to go?”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what the hell I’m doing.”

Seven: “Don’t worry. I’m gonna make this the best night of your life.”

We started to kiss again and Seven started to move his hand down my stomach to my dick. He stroked me for a little while and then he started to work his way down. I had gotten blow jobs before but nothing like this. He grabbed my dick and started licking the head before he took it in his mouth. It was pretty obvious that he had done this before because he knew exactly what he was doing. He knew just when to slow down or speed up and I felt like I was about to lose it. I was going crazy with the way he was sucking me off and again I almost lost when he took me into his throat.

“Seven. Seven stop. I don’t want to cum yet.”

Even though I had never given a blow job I wanted to return the favor. I moved down the bed until

I was looking right at Seven’s hard on and started to stroke him because I didn’t know what the hell to do.

Seven: “Jude just take it slow. Don’t force yourself to do anything you’re not comfortable doing.”

I started to tongue the head of his dick and just got used to doing that before I took his head into my mouth. It wasn’t as weird as I thought it would be to be blowing a guy like this and I started to take more of him into my mouth. I sucked more and more of him into my mouth until he reached the back of my throat.

Seven: “Take it easy. I’ve had a lot of experience and this is your first time so take it slow.”

I pulled off of him sat back. I could have kept going but I could feel him growing and didn’t want this to be over so fast.

Seven: “You’re pretty good at that for a newbie.”

“I guess I learned from the best.”

Seven: “Yeah you did. Like I said before, how far are you willing to go?”

“Why? What do you want to do?”

Seven: “Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

Seven: “I wouldn’t mind getting my dick in a nice cozy spot.”

“It’s gonna hurt?”

Seven: “Like hell at first. But it’ll feel good after a bit.”

“I’m not sure about this. Before today I would have never thought about any of this shit.”

Seven: “Look I’ll let you fuck me too. That way it’s an even deal.”

I laid back down and scooted back to the top of the bed and just relaxed. I had no doubt in my mind that Seven would make this as comfortable as possible but I was still nervous. He got off of the bed and went to his nightstand and got out a bottle of lube and some condoms.

Seven: “Put that pillow under your back then life your legs up.”

I did what he told me to do and waited for him to do what he needed to.

Seven: “I’m gonna lube you up down here so that I can slide in easier.”

“Ok. Umm… just make sure you go slow.”

Seven: Don’t worry. I will.”

He lubed up my hole and then he slid a finger inside. It was an uncomfortable feeling at first but it really did start to feel better. I felt myself loosening up and I felt Seven add another finger in me.

Seven: “How do you feel?”

“I’m fine and I’m ready. Remember just go slow.”

He scooted up to me and I felt the head of his dick pressing on me. He pushed harder and I felt him enter me.

“Oh GOD!!!”

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- 17 -

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Dad: “GET YOUR SHIT AND GET OUT!”

“Dad please?”

He was dragging me down the stairs screaming at me.

Dad: “No son of mine is a faggot.”

“Dad just listen to me.”

Dad: “And even more important no son of mine is a fucking mutant freak.”

You see? This wasn’t supposed to be happening. My dad had known for weeks that there was a possibility I could be bi. He caught me on the phone talking to Seven but he never said anything. But he was supposed to be at work today. He wasn’t supposed to walk into my room and see me playing with fire. Literally… When my dad walked into the room and saw me, he dragged me down the stairs and threw me out the door.

I was remembering the situation when my mom walked outside carrying my stuff. She had tears

in her eyes but she was still carrying my shit.

“Mom please.”

Mom: “Jude será el mejor si usted apenas va. Váyase y no se vuelva aquí.”

“Mom this isn’t something I can control! I didn’t ask for this.”

Dad: “¡Consiga su mierda y consiga la cogida de aquí!”

There was no use arguing. They didn’t want me anymore because I was different. I didn’t fit into their perfect world so that meant I had to go. My parents were straight from Puerto Rico and they were completely intent on being as American and socially perfect as possible, and as of this moment I no longer fit in either category. I looked up to the top floor of our house and there was Story with tears in her eyes. She probably hated me now too. She already knew that I liked guys so it wasn’t that, so it had to be that I was a mutant. She turned away from the window and that was my cue to leave. I grabbed up the little bit of shit that I had and started to walk down the street. I was almost to the end of our street when I heard someone coming up behind me. I turned around and it was Story.

“I know you hate me. But like I said this isn’t something I have control over.”

Story: “…..”

She walked up to me and in her hand was a big stack of cash.

“You know I can’t take that. All Summer you worked for that and I won’t take it.”

I was about to turn back towards the street but before I could she hugged me real tight. I felt her slip the money into my pants pocket and I just broke down. I was looking up and that’s when I noticed that she had bags at her feet.

Story: “You’ll probably be more careful with the money?”

We were a good distance away from my house and decided to call Shawna to tell her what happened before my parents could give her the distorted version. I called and she finally picked up the phone.

Shawna: “What the fuck do you want?”

“Shawna…”

Shawna: “I had you in my house. I had you in my house with my family. My brothers and sisters,

My parents and this whole fucking time you were one of them!”

“One of them? I’m not one of anything. I’m Jude. The only person who was there for you.”

Shawna: “I HAD YOU IN MY FUCKING HOUSE!!!”

“Shawna…”

Shawna: “Don’t call this number again. Don’t ever call me again.”

I didn’t expect that. She was supposed to be there for me like I was there for her. I cried for another 10 minutes before I finally got the nerve to make a second phone call.

“Seven. I really need to tell you something.”

Seven: “Tell me what? That you’re a mutant?”

“Seven I had…”

Seven: “Come over here now. My parents aren’t here.”

“I have my sister with me…”

Seven: “Come over…”

It took us about 20 minutes to get to Seven’s house and when we did I was shitting bricks. I didn’t know what he was going to do. I knocked on the door and waited trying to decide how I was going to explain myself.

The door finally opened and Seven invited me into his house. He offered Story a seat on the couch and then we went up to his room.

Seven: “How could you keep this from me?”

“What was I supposed to do? Shout it from the rooftops?”

Seven: “You could have told me.”

“And risk losing another friend?”

Seven: “What are you talking about?”

“Shawna. I called her before I called you. She told me never to call her again.”

Seven: “Yeah I think your Mom and Dad called everyone.”

“I’m leaving here. They ruined my life. All over some shit that I can’t even control. As a matter of fact this shit is their fault. I was born like this.”

Seven: “Listen just calm down.”

“What aren’t you going to start beating me up soon? I mean Shawna already gave me the tongue lashing but for you I’m here in person. You can take me right here, right now.”

Seven: “I’m not going to hit you. I have some money saved up that I’m giving you.”

“I’m not going to take your money.”

Seven: “I’m not asking you. I know that this is hard for you.”

“You don’t know shit!”

Seven: “I don’t?”

I thought I was seeing things when Seven started to disappear right in front of me. This was unreal.

Seven: “There are more mutants in this town than you think.”

“What am I going to do?”

Seven: “They have a school in NY. I know that they take in run-aways. I don’t know where it is but

I could look into it for you.”

“And what do I do until then?”

Seven: “Go to NY. See the sights. Get a motel room until I can get you the information you need.”

“Why can’t you come with us?”

Seven: “My mom needs me. She’s getting sicker by the day and I don’t know how long she has. I promise to keep in touch though, and as soon as I can I promise I’ll be there.”

After we made out for a bit I left Seven’s house. I didn’t know what I was going to do but with the money we had, Story and I could make it in the city for a few days. I knew Seven would come through for us so until he could get the info for me we could just kick back and enjoy the city.

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Story

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- 11 -

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… : “Wanna play a game?”

“What kind of game?”

… : “A fun game. Don’t you trust me?”

“Darren you know I trust you. It’s just the counselors told us to stay in camp tonight.”

Darren: “We aren’t going far. Just into the woods a little.”

“Ok I guess. We can only play for a little though. We have to get up early tomorrow.”

It was the Summer of 2002 and I was 11 years old. My parents had sent me off to camp like everyone else around our town and I was having a blast. I had met people from all over the USA and even a couple people from other countries. There were all types of activities: swimming, tennis, gymnastics, hiking. Any of the fun stuff a kid could think of was there. They even had an arcade where most of the boys spent their time after mandatory activities were over. It was all a bit overwhelming for me because it was my first year and everyone already seemed to have all of their groups already. Besides that I didn’t have much of a shape like the other girls. I was always a pretty looking girl but guys wanted something to grab on to I guess. It was lunch during the third day when I met my first friend. He was really sweet and he showed me all the cool stuff around camp.

Darren: “Hey.”

“Hi.”

Darren: “I’m Darren. What’s your name?”

“Story.”

Darren: “This must be your first year. You’re shy.”

“It’s a bit overwhelming. People here some to be so comfortable with each other.”

Darren: “Yeah. Mostly everyone has been here at least once before. You can always point out the new kids.”

“I guess we would stand out a bit.”

Darren: “Yeah. So how old are you?”

“I’m eleven. I’ll be twelve in two months.”

Darren: “Really? You look older.”

“How old are you?”

Darren: “I’m 14.”

“Cool! You’re the same age as my brother.”

We started to hang out a lot after that. He was with me on my birthday when I turned 12 and we did everything together. He introduced me to a lot of people around camp and I started to make a lot of friends. Something really struck me as odd though. When my birthday hit I had started to develop a little bit of a shape and my chest and backside started to grow. When ever Darren would leave me for a few minutes his friends would start to warn me and say I should keep my distance from him. They never told me anything more than that but they always had looks of worry when ever they would have to go or me and Darren would leave somewhere together. I never really paid attention to that though because he was always really nice to me. It was the last night of camp when Darren asked me if I wanted to play his game.

We started to walk towards into the woods and I was starting to get a little nervous. It was really dark and we had never been anywhere at night. He had a flashlight but it wasn’t shining off much light. We walked for another 10 minutes until we go to a small clearing.

“Darren I don’t know about this. It’s really dark out here.”

Darren: “Don’t worry. We have the flashlight. Besides you said you wanted to play right?”

“We can play tomorrow. I’m scared.”

Darren: “Just for a bit.”

He started to move closer and he was looking at me kind of funny.

“Darren I’m going to walk back.”

I started to walk back the way we came when I felt him grab my arm really hard. He spun me around and the look he had on his face scared me so bad.

Darren: “You said you were going to play my game…”

“Darren you’re hurting my arm. Let me go.”

Darren: “What you think I was going to spend all that time with you and not get anything in return.”

“Darren let me go! You’re really starting to scare me.”

I started trying to pull my arm away but he was older and a lot stronger than me.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME DARREN!!!”

I tried to pull my arm away again and Darren pulled me back and then threw me to the ground. I tried to get up but when I did he kicked me in my ribs knocking the wind out of me. I fell back to the ground while I tried to get my breath back and he dropped to one knee beside me.

Darren: “Listen we’re just going to play for a while.”

“I… I DON’T WANT…… I DON’T WANT TO FUCKING PLAY WITH YOU!!!”

Darren back handed me across the face and then he started trying to take my top off. Even at that age I had started to develop over the summer and a lot of boys around the camp had noticed. I was really trying to get him off of me and kept struggling. He slapped me some more and I was disoriented so I couldn’t fight back as hard as I wanted to.

Darren: “Stop fuckin’ moving around.”

He was a completely different person from the one I knew and I was so scared. He had ripped my shirt and then he started to try and go for my pants. I got the courage to fight back again and I got my leg in between his and with all the force I could, in the position I was in I brought my leg up and got him right in his balls. He screamed in pain and rolled off of me.

Darren: “YOU STUPID BITCH. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?”

It was like I was in a daze and I couldn’t say anything. I just got up and ran as fast as I could. I didn’t know where I was going but I just kept running. I don’t know how long I ran for but when I felt I was a safe distance away I stopped. That was when I realized that I was lost. I had been in the camp for a long time but I hadn’t traveled much in the woods. I was so scared that I started to hyperventilate and the next thing I knew I passed out.

I don’t know how long I was out, but I had the scariest dream while I was. I kept playing back what had happened. Things went much further than what they had and I wasn’t able to stop him. There was another part of my dream though. A dark figure grew out of the ground and carried me away.

When I did wake up I was back in my room. I heard a lot of commotion going on outside my room but I was to detached to get up. I looked at my body and I had little cuts and scrapes all over. I was in my pajamas and when I looked around my room I saw that my torn clothes were in the wastebasket. I got scared all over again and reached into my pajama bottoms to make sure that everything was the same. I thought that maybe Darren had found me, done what he wanted while I was out, and then brought me back here and changed me so no one would know.

I heard voices and they were getting closer to my room. I wanted to get back under the covers and pretend like I was sleeping but I didn’t have the energy. Through the door I could hear my mom arguing with someone.

Mom: “¿Qué sucedió a mi hija?

… :” Ma’am please talk in English! I don’t understand anything your saying!”

Mom: “It’s Marta. Counselor Julien what happened to my daughter?”

Counselor Julien: “At the moment ma’am we’re just trying to get all the facts right.”

Mom: “So you mean you don’t know?”

Counselor Julien: “Umm… Yeah.”

Mom: “¿Qué la cogida usted le significa no sabe qué sucedió?”

Counselor Julien: “Ma’am please speak in English. We are just trying to get all the facts straight.”

Mom: “¡Hechos! ¿Usted desea hechos de mierda? ¿Qué sucedió a mi hija? Usted dijo que ella y algún muchacho fueron a faltar alrededor de cena. Y cuando alguien fue a comprobar si ella estaba detrás en cama la encontraron el temblar con los cortes todos en ella los brazos y las piernas. ¿En dónde está el muchacho? Dígame lo que sucedió el infierno a mi hija.”

Counselor Julien: “ WOMAN I CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOU!!!

Mom: “Someone told me that her and a boy went missing. She turns up with cuts all over her body. What does that say to you?”

Counselor Julien: “We’re just trying to find all the facts. We are questioning him right now.”

Mom: “Where is he?”

Counselor Julien: “Ma’am we are doing what we can right now.”

The door to my room opened and my mom walked in. There was something different though. We were never close at all. She liked my brother Jude a lot more than she liked me but I still loved her. But when I saw her walk in, it was like I wasn’t seeing her at all. It was like she was a mirage and I was in a different world looking in on hers. She was speaking to me and it was like I was hearing her through water. I wanted to talk to her but I just couldn’t. I think it was shock or something.

Mom: “Story… Story do you hear me?”

“…..”

Mom: “What’s wrong with her?”

Counselor Julien: “I don’t know Ma’am. This is the first time anyone has seen her since she turned up.”

Mom: “How did she get back in her room?”

Counselor Julien: “Umm… we don’t… we don’t know Ma’am.”

Mom: “What the fuck do you know?”

My mom grabbed me under my arms and lifted me up. I got dressed on my own but every time I would try and say something to her I would get choked up or my mind would just shut down. We walked through the admission/health offices until we got outside. When we did there were about ten police cars and the majority of campers were outside looking at the scene. I was trying to hide behind my mom when the doors opened and Darren was coming out of them held by the police. I got so scared all over again that I thought I was going to piss myself. It was so overwhelming that I almost did fall out but before I could my friend Izabelle grabbed me around the waist and held me up.

Izzy: “Don’t worry. He’s going to get his. I’ll make sure of that.”

He was walking down the stairs and another friend of mine Arizona walked up to him and slapped the hell out of him.

Arizona: “Pig.”

Izzy was looking at me funny because she knew something was wrong with me. I guess she noticed the far away look in my eyes but she just held me until all the police officers were gone. All the friends I had made during that summer came up to me and hugged me and asked me all kinds of questions but I hardly recognized any of them. Every time one of them would go to touch me I would flinch away or cringe when they made contact. I was glad though because none of them took it offensively and all stood by my side. Even though I was scared shitless I managed to get all of their Email addresses hugged all of them goodbye.

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- 14 -

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It had been two years and I still hadn’t uttered a single word. I had started to fill out even more and I had a nice little shape. I was 5’6” and about 130. I had joined the tennis team and had been playing in order to keep myself busy. I had started trying to get my life back together and stop being so damn scared all of the time. Even though I didn’t speak whenever we could Jude and I would spend as much time as possible together. He would tell me everything and I would let him read my diary. I also kept in touch with all of my friends from camp. They were special to me and to lose them would tear me up. I had started keeping one to catalogue everything in my life. The good and the bad. My dad had also started getting me trained in martial arts classes.

Dad: “Story can I talk to you for a little while?”

“…..”

Dad: “I know you can’t speak back but you can listen.”

I sat down on my bed while he sat in my desk chair and waited for my Dad to speak.

Dad: “I know ever since you went to camp. Things are a lot different. I don’t know what that boy did to you but he stole something from you.”

My dad started to tear up and that was something I had never seen him do before. He was a strong Puerto Rican man and for him to cry was heart breaking. I got up and sat down in my Dad’s lap and buried my head in the crook of his neck.

Dad: “I want you to start taking some defense classes. I talked to a friend of mine and he knows a few schools that teach different styles of fighting from all over the world. They can teach you how to defend yourself.”

I raised my head up and looked at my Dad like he was crazy. He was crying softly but he was torn up. I could see it in his eyes.

Dad: “If you learn how to fight no one can ever hurt you like that punk did. I also want you to start going to the athletic center with Jude. He can teach you some of those flips or something.”

I thought he was joking but for the next couple of weeks I was meeting with different instructors and going over different beginners programs. It came pretty easy to me though. I excelled in all the classes they put me in and I surpassed many of the older kids that had been there for years. It was like I already knew all of this stuff but was just getting a refresher course. It had been a complete year and I had learned basically evetything that they could teach me. My dad started to bring me to different schools through his contacts and I started to take classes whenever I wasn’t in school. I had learned: Capoeira, Jujutsu, Karate, Kenjutsu, Taekwondo, and Judo. I had also learned a number of other styles and combined with my brother’s gymnastics training I was pretty skilled at protecting myself. I also understood a number of languages even though I couldn’t speak any of them.

I was always pretty scared to be around people though and late at night I would have funny dreams. They were usually incoherent and I couldn’t understand them but I always saw that dark figure in my dream. Drawing also became a passion of mine. I met a kid who was a really good artist. I wrote him a note asking him how he did it and he showed me how to doing simple drawings. The next day I came back with a picture that even I was surprised I did. I erased a lot of it but we were both pretty surprised.

Kid: “Damn this is good. You keep practicing you’re going to be a great artist.”

I let him have the picture and I started to draw all the time. I had a little notebook and I would doodle and draw little animals and building when I wasn’t training.

It was one day when I was alone at the house when I just got the urge to draw. I don’t know what made me do it but I wanted to see if I could recreate the figure that was always in my dreams. I scaled him to the height I imagined he would be, and the weight, and all the other little things. I had been drawing for a little while when I thought I saw something move behind me. I slowly got up and turned around. There was a figure there that was half there and half not. I immediately took a defensive pose and after a second, I did a flying kick and I flew right through him. After I got up and got my composure back I walked back in front of him and noticed that he was frozen. I looked back at my desk and he looked exactly like the picture I was drawing.

“What the hell?” This was unreal. I didn’t know what the hell was going on. I sat back down and as quickly as possible I finished the drawing.

I heard a groan behind me and when I turned around again the black figure looked like it was un-stiffening or something. Like he was in stone and he was coming out of it. It was a few more moments and then he started to stretch his muscles and I just watched in wonder. He was just like the image in my drawing. I wanted to ask who or what he was but since I couldn’t talk it was impossible to do.

… :”You created me. I don’t know what I am. I just know that I was in white nothingness and then I began to take shape here.”

He could read my mind. “What is your name?”

… :”I have no name. I was nothing. Now I am something.”

“Can you think of a name?”

… :” I know no names. I am new to this world. I was nothing. Now I am something.”

“Can I name you? We can be friends.”

… :” What is in a name? Why must I be called anything?”

“Everyone has a name. Everything has a name.”

… :” If it is necessary for me to be in this world then yes, I will accept a name.”

I took me a while to think of it but only one name seemed appropriate.

“We can call you Dreamer. Since you were in my dreams and all.”

Dreamer: “Dreamer? I like it.”

“I still can’t believe this. How is this possible?”

Dreamer: “I do not know. But I am confused. If I was nothing how was I in your dream?”

“I don’t know but you were. I think you’re the one who brought me back to the camp. And I’ve seen you in my dreams before. Maybe you always were something. You just needed definition.”

Dreamer: “Definition?”

“Yes. You know… form. Maybe you just needed to be brought to reality.”

Dreamer: “If I needed definition, how could I have brought you back to camp? What is camp?”

laughing “Camp is a place where people go to have fun. Like a home away from home where you can do different things. And how you brought me back, I don’t know. But I know it was you.”

Just then I heard the front door open and slam shut.

Mom: “Story-honey come help me with these groceries.”

Oh Shit! What am I going to do?”

Dreamer: “Oh shit!”

“Sshh!!! Be quiet. My mom just came home. I have to find some place to hide you.”

Dreamer: “Please do not send me back to Nothingness. It is so lonely there.”

“I won’t. I won’t ever send you back there. We’re friends and friends look out for each other. Which is why I need you to help me figure out where to hide you.”

Dreamer: “I have no skills. I am still nothing.”

“Don’t say that. You are something. We just need to give you some skills.”

I ran back over to my writing pad and started to make a list. I drew a grouped the list together so that it covered his frame and started to give him attributes. For now he could: disappear, shape-shift, turn into a complete shadow, turn into mist, and I also gave him the choice to have a more human appearance. When I was done he was 6’3”, 210 of toned muscle, in his humanized form he was African American with short curly hair. When he was in his original form he was the same stats just completely black with a kind of lean armor suit. Something was still off because he had a kind of blur surrounding him.

After I had finished I looked back and Dreamer was standing stone still. It was a few more moments and then a look of intense pain crossed his face. He started to disappear, then he turned completely shadow-like, then he turned into mist, then he turned into his human form and then back to his original form. He fell on one knee and it took him a while to get back on his feet.

“Listen I’m going to go downstairs and help my mom. Just stay in here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I ran downstairs and started to help my mom put away the groceries.

Mom: “How was your day?”

I grabbed a notepad out of the drawer and wrote down the answers to her usual everyday questions. I wrote I was doing some research so I finished with the groceries and ran back upstairs. When I opened up my door and walked in my room was completely empty. I looked all around my room for him but couldn’t find him anywhere. I noticed that my window was open and I walked over to see if he was sitting on the bottom layer of the roof (we had three different roof levels). When I looked out he was floating to the side of the window.

“What the hell are you doing? If someone sees you we’re dead.”

Dreamer: “No one can see me. Only you can. I walked right in front of an old lady on the street. I guess only you can see through the mist.”

“We just need to be careful. I don’t know what’s going on… but people don’t take to kindly to anyone coming out of a notebook.”

I went back over to the notebook and looked at the drawing, then looked back at Dreamer.

“Amazing.”

I grabbed the bottom of the sheet dreamer was on and started to tear it from the book.

Dreamer: “What is happening?”

I looked back and Dreamer looked to be frozen again.

Dreamer: “Please do not tear anymore.”

“Dreamer I think I know what this is. When I take you out of the notebook you’ll be fully part of this world. You won’t be in Nothingness anymore.”

I quickly ripped the rest of the paper off and for a minute Dreamer disappeared.

“Dreamer!”

All of a sudden there was a blinding white light and a really strong force that flung me across the room. When I looked back up there was Dreamer and he was completely solid. No blur at all.

“Dreamer…”

Dreamer: “Is this real?”

“Yes. You’re real. You aren’t in nothingness anymore.”

I got up and I went over to him. I touched his face and he was just as solid as me.

“Unbelievable. I mean there is no way to explain this.

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- 15 -

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It was finally my birthday, but it was the worst day of my life. We were setting up to have a party and I had invited all my friends from camp to come and stay at the house for the weekend while the party went on. But instead when everyone was in the back yard my Dad walked in on my brother with fire sprouting out of his hands. I could hear them arguing and fighting from downstairs and so could everyone else. I motioned to Izzy and Arizona that I would be right back and then I ran into the house. When I got to the stairs my Dad had my brother by his neck and he was dragging him down the stairs.

Dad: “GET YOUR SHIT AND GET OUT!”

Jude: “Dad please?”

I was going to try and calm my Dad down but before I could climb the stairs my Mother grabbed me and yanked me back.

Mom: “Estancia fuera de ella. Usted es hermano es uno de ellos. Uno de esos mutantes. Vaya de nuevo a su partido.”

I waited until they left the stairs and then I ran up to my room and started to pack all of my things. If they would do this to him then they would do it to me. If I left now then I could save myself the humiliation and disappointment or hurt in my friends eyes.

Dreamer: “What are you doing?”

“Leaving. They kicked my brother out because he was a mutant.”

Dreamer: What does that have to do with you?”

“Dreamer… I’m a mutant too. They way you came to this world isn’t natural. How you can speak to me in my mind isn’t natural. Moving things with my mind is not natural. It isn’t acceptable to the world so I need to leave.”

Dreamer: “I… Am I not going with you?”

“Dreamer I would love for you to come with us. You’re like my best friend. But you’re a person now so you can make your own choices.”

Dreamer: “But If I am not with you… Who will protect you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe if you come with us then you could protect me.”

Dreamer: “We should go. The others will be coming to look for us.”

I went to the window and saw my Dad and brother arguing. I left the window and grabbed my bag and ran down the stairs with Dreamer right behind me. I thought about going to tell my friends in person but there just wasn’t enough time. Just I was about to open the door my Mom and Dad came back in.

Mom: “What are you doing Story?”

Dreamer: “We are leaving. We are not wanted here?”

Dad: “Who the hell are you? And what does he mean you’re not wanted here Story.”

“Tell my Dad what I am.”

Dreamer: “We are mutants. We are not wanted here.”

Dad: “YOU TOO!!!”

“Dreamer let’s go.”

We started to walk out of the door when I felt my Dad grab my arm. I felt just like I did when Darren grabbed me and I panicked. On instinct I tried to protect myself and I with my mind I flung my Dad back as far as I could.

Mom: “Story what did you do?”

I was so scared that I just ran out of the door. I took out my PDA and messaged Izzy and Arizona and told them what happened. But they already knew. As soon as we left my mom mother went outside and told everyone at the party what had happened and then she called all over our friends and told them. I sent a mass message to all of them and then turned off my phone. Whatever the wrote back I would need to read when I was calmer. My parents had probably just ruined both of our lives and there was nothing we could do about it. I caught up to Jude and stopped him.

Jude: “I know you hate me. But like I said this isn’t something I have control over.”

“…..”

She walked up to me and in her hand was a big stack of cash.

Jude: “You know I can’t take that. All Summer you worked for that and I won’t take it.”

“You’ll probably be more careful with the money?”

We made a few more stops after that but from here I didn’t know where we were going. I was scared shitless. We had no parents, hardly any money, and we had no place to go. Not my picture of perfection but I knew we would make it as long as we stuck together.

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Feedback would be greatly appreciated from anyone who reads this. Let me know what you think. Another chapter with two more characters should be on it’s way.