Welcome to Mutant High

I stretched out as far as my muscles would go, straining each one I could feel - and a few I couldn't feel before - so that I could get them to relax. I let my head fall against the window, and I breathed a small sigh of relief. No cops, no cars, no worries. We were flying down the freeway at 120 mph, bound for Las Vegas.

Now, why am I flying down a freeway at 120 mph, bound for Las Vegas? Well, I'll tell you. My name is Terra Birmingham. I'm from Derbyshire, England originally, but for the last 7 years, I've been living in Los Angeles, California. I've been basically single-handedly running a gang of punks during those 7 years, including my best friend and accomplice, Vera. Her and I are unique. It's this uniqueness that has caused me to move from Derbyshire to Los Angeles, and this uniqueness that has caused us both to be orphans. It's also what has allowed me to control a gang of punks - or, for lack of a better word, rebels - without causing too much trouble. Her and I? We're mutants. I can read and control your thoughts, and I can see the future. Vera can cast a purple spectral wolf that she controls. The only problem is, Vera has problems controlling said terrible beasty, and controlling her anger. Tick her off enough, you might get ripped to shreds. Literally. It's really why I became friends with her. My self-control is strong enough that if she ever has, let's call it an "episode", I can step in, take control of her mind, force the wolf back into her head, and calm her down. BUT, if we're ever in a fight, she's too scared she'll kill someone with her wolf, so I take control of her thoughts and use it myself. If someone dies, then their blood is on my hands and not hers, clearing her name. It's not much, but it's all I can do to help her feel better.

Because of her anger issues, though, and me not always being able to be there to help her, four days ago, some kids starting picking a fight with her. She warned them to back off, that they really didn't wanna make her mad (which I agree with), but they ignored her warnings and continued to make fun of her. She got hecka mad, and unleashed her wolf on them. She sent three kids to the emergency room, and four to the doc's office. When I found out, I ran down to the hospital and forced the kids to think that they received their injuries in a gang fight, and not by a spectral wolf. For the next two or three days, Vera basically moped around our place, depressed and feeling guilty because of what happened. I tried to cheer her up in the few ways I knew how, but I didn't have to be psychic to know none of them were going to work. When she left to go run an "errand", I tried to have a vision of what she was doing, but I didn't see her running an errand. She was going down to the train station to leave forever. If you thought I was going to just let my best friend walk out of my life like that, you'd be wrong.
Fortunately, while I had been gone a few days prior when the accident happened, someone told me of a place out in New York that welcomed mutants and trained them to use their powers and gave them a proper education. If you think I tore out of that place like hell was at my heels, you'd be right. I had to run down to the train station at top speed to catch up since she had left an hour prior and had taken the car (though that didn't really matter, since I didn't have my license yet anyway). When I arrived, she was still in line waiting to buy the ticket. I grabbed her by the arm, pulled her out of the line, and told her that if she thought she was leaving without saying goodbye, and that if even she had said goodbye I wasn't leaving her side anyway, then she would be wrong. We hugged, hijacked a car, and hit the road. I had never been so grateful for being psychic.... except for one time, but that was a weird situation anyway.

"So," I asked after several long minutes of a very awkward silence, "how much longer until we get to Vegas, Vers?"

My thoughts were all on those boys. I could see their fear, then their pain... then the blood. All I had done since I discovered these powers was hurt people. Some days I would wish that I was never a mutant and some days I would wish I had never been born. The latter was on my mind currently. Terra was the only one who seemed to care about me. The gang avoided me after a few accidents. Those boys, however, were young and new to the group. They didn't know any better and yet I still sent my wolf on them.
I heard rumors about someone with my powers, someone capable of summoning a small pack of wolves... I hoped I would never become like that... but then if this school exists if they could help me control it.. I could use that pack, and my illusions to help instead of harm. I could make up for all the pain I had caused others. The best part would be that I wouldn't have to worry about harming anyone while I trained, because these people would be mutants as well. I smiled at the thought.
It took me a minute to register that Terra had spoken to me. I glanced at her and then at the clock on the radio, "We have another 2 hrs yet." I smiled, I knew right then, that the school was real, it had to be, and I was going to learn to control my curse and make it a blessing.

I smiled, and patted Vera's knee. I could sense her distress, and her depression. I felt so badly for her, seeing as losing control of my power was an incredibly hard thing to do, but for her, was so easy one wrong word could set her off.
"I wish I had never born." I heard Vera think to herself, and my head whipped around so fast I wondered about the potentiality of whiplash. I narrowed my eyes at her dangerously.
"Vera." I said, hopefully getting her attention. "If I ever hear you think such things like that again, I'll push Hannah Montana lyrics into your head so hard, you'll never be able to forget them." It was an excessively empty threat, and I was nearly certain she knew that, since I didn't actually know any Hannah Montana songs, but it was there all the same.

I looked at Terra for a moment. I had forgotten to keep my thoughts quiet again. The strange thing was I never got mad at Terra about coming into my head. I suppose it was because she had as much a right to be in it as me since my thoughts told her when I was losing control. The thought of Hannah lyrics in my mind made me laugh. As much as I preferred metal and punk rock I knew she did too and neither of us knew Hannah Montana lyrics. I laughed so hard tears streamed down my cheeks, "Thanks Terra." I offered her one more smile and tried to concentrate on the road.
I watched exit sign after exit sign go by. I was looking for one of those signs that said "Las Vegas this many miles" but I hadn't seen one in awhile. Then I noticed the gas light turn on. I slowed down pulling off at the next exit. Now was the real question, "Are we gonna switch cars or pay for the gas?" One worry was that someone had probably already reported this car missing. The next worry was that if we hijacked another car we'd be even more wanted then we already are. Either way this was unfortunate.
The speed probably didn't help with the gas but if I could drive that fast then the quicker the better. Right? My stomach growled. But I suppose it was time to stop anyway. I just didn't like the thought. Contact with normal people was not on my list of things to do. And I'm sure if someone ticked me off it wouldn't be on their list of things to do either.
But Terra would know what to do. I wasn't sure how much range Terra had but she could see what these people were thinking and she would know whether they knew about the missing car or not. I waited for Terra's decision.

I allowed the glare to fade from my eyes as Vera laughed, and I chuckled with her. I was so incredibly grateful to have a friend so close to me, I could drift in and out of her mind without her noticing (because of how used to it she was) or caring. I nodded to her thanks. I knew better than anyone she needed a laugh.
As we pulled over, I heard my stomach growl as well as sensed hers. I considered her question. Technically, we're both minors still, so even if we did steal a thousand cars, when we turned 18 the records would be expunged. If we payed for the gas, the cops would be on our tails so fast we would wonder if they were mutants too. I mulled over for this for a long moment.
"We'll stop here; ditch the car, get a bite to eat, grab another car, and hit the road again. We can't afford gas, not with the prices they're going to be once we get to New York. Let's see if we can do it in..." I glanced down at the time. 1:40pm. "20 minutes." I gave her my wicked grin. I sensed her anticipation about being around others, and patted her knee. "Don't worry, Vera. I can push thoughts into people's 'eads, remember? I can keep us practically invisible to everyone... except to the guy we're going to be getting the food from, of course. Besides, I'm here. I'll keep things quiet, just you wait and see." I was referring to anger issues, but I chose not to mention them by name for a reason. I didn't want to upset her more than she already was. She needed to go into this with a clear head and a focused mind if we were going to pull this off, and we both knew it. My hand gripped the side door in the sheer anticipation of it. There's a certain thrill - a high, if you prefer - you get when doing this sort of thing, and I was eagerly awaiting it's arrival.

I pulled the car over and out of the way, turning the ignition off and opening the door in one quick movement. The closest place to eat looked like a McDonald's, not my first choice for food. I would just have to make do. We tried to look as normal as possible as we hurried towards our destination. I grinned a little and winked at Terra. We could do this, no problem. It was also helping that I was pondering what to eat now so that we weren't in there long. I decided just a double cheeseburger combo would suffice, as I was thirsty too. As we pushed open the door I inhaled deeply and tried not to show my fear.

I drifted coolly out of the car, trying not to show my nervousness to Vera. I didn't have to be telepathic to sense how nervous she already was, and I most certainly did NOT need to be feeding that. I knew that if I just played it cool, she would eventually relax.

I saw her wink, and returned it with a smile. This was going to be fun.

I stepped inside the McDonald's, hoping that the expression my face was one of cool serenity. Noticing that there was no line and barely anyone inside, I quickly walked up to the counter. The man standing behind it was barely as old as I was. Red hair, geeky glasses, bland uniform, and horrid acne. I did a quick check of his thoughts, and then had to refrain from rolling my eyes. Of COURSE I was probably one of the prettiest girls he had laid eyes on... and then I had to refrain from shuddering as he compared me to the girls in the porno magazines he hides in his room. Then I had to refrain from knocking his lights out as he did the same thing for Vera behind me. The only visible sign of my aggression was my jaw line tightening as I used every ounce of my self-control.
I checked Vera's thoughts again, this time to see what she wanted to eat. Figuring out our order, I quickly placed it and tried not to look too sexually appealing (difficult as that was, considering the last-minuteness of it all) since he was practically broadcasting his thoughts to me. He didn't seem to notice my slight wince as he checked Vera out. My disgust was rising, and I could feel my appetite start to slip.
I got my drink quickly, and then sat at the table in the far back of the room, away from the creepy counter guy. I whispered to Vera what the guy had been thinking, and then awaited her reaction.

As Terra told me the guy's thoughts I clinched up and briefly thought about giving him a bit of a scare but I quickly let that thought live my mind because I didn't have any control and definitely not enough to just frighten him a bit. I relaxed quickly and then said to Terra, "That's why sometimes I wonder how you can manage to listen in on people's thoughts. Sometimes I think we aren't meant to listen in. But then we'd be in trouble if you couldn't." I smiled a bit trying to lighten the mood as I took a bit of my cheeseburger. I knew we had to eat quickly but it was hard to force myself to rush as I liked to enjoy my food. I sipped on my soda and looked around. There was maybe one other person here. That was good, made it easier on us. As long as the pervert kept behind the counter then we'd be fine. Then I smiled at Terra. I had an idea. I kept it in my head though so people wouldn't overhear. Terra. I addressed her hoping she would tune in. We need a car. Let's jack his. I'm sure it won't be hard to find it. I smiled mischievously. This would be fun.

I chuckled darkly at Vera's thoughts and sentiments. At times, I could honestly say I shared them. I wondered why I had been given such a splendid and horrendous gift of thought reading and control. There were no answers to be had, so I discarded them.

I wasn't as much into enjoying food as I was getting to our next stop, so I quickly 'wolfed' down my food. As I paused to take a drink from my soda, Vera's thoughts entered my mind, and I had to stop myself from sending the soda out my nose.
"That is a wonderfully awful idea, Vera." A heavy smirk was given to the girl across from me. "I like it. Now hurry up, we need to get going, slow poke." I teased.

My thoughts returned to the teen/man/boy at the register. I entered his mind carefully, trying to slide past the surface thoughts in case if he knew anything about telepathic detection. I knew it was unlikely, but still, you never know. And for Vera's sake, it was better to be safe than sorry.
I dug through his memories, sifting out the porno's and other disgusting things he had viewed and participated in. Finally, buried beneath all those, was what his car looked like. Quickly embedding the licence plate number into my mind, I searched for where he had left his keys that morning. Back room, locker 4, side pocket of his backpack. I retracted from him, and returned to Vera's comforting presence.
"I know which car is his and where he keeps his keys in the back room. I'm going to go get them. Be ready to go by the time I return." Taking the last few sips of my drink and last few bites of my cheeseburger, I stood. I said something about needing to use the ladies' room, and left.
I slipped into the women's restroom, grateful that no one was inside. There wasn't any stalls, just one toilet and one sink in a suspiciously large room for just one toilet. I locked the door, completely dried the toilet and the sink, and then climbed up on top of the toilet. Thankful that the sink was about three inches higher and only about a foot away, I gracefully hopped over to the top of the sink. My height made up the rest, and I pushed the panel on the ceiling out of the way.
I hoisted myself up and into the ceiling, grateful that these were made for people to be on top of them to make repairs and such. There was plenty of room up there, and it took me no time at all to find my way over to the back room where the employee's kept their things while on shift. I used my powers to scan the room below me, and detecting no one, I removed a panel and climbed down onto a set of lockers. Looking around, I realized I had jumped on top of the only set of lockers in the small room. A set of lockers, a table, a microwave, and a telephone. A hallway branched off into what I assumed to be office's for higher-ups. I scanned those areas, and found no one there as well.
Remembering the combination from the employee's thoughts, I quickly undid the lock on Locker #4. Everything inside was exactly as he remembered it. I reached inside the pocket, grabbed the keys, locked the locker once more, and using a chair, climbed back out into the ceiling. Making my way back towards the bathroom, I prayed that Vera was ready to go and was waiting for me outside.

I smirked and forced myself to eat faster without looking to suspicious. When I was finished with my food and drink I got up and headed towards the door. Not being able to help myself I winked at the guy behind the desk and slowly walked out the door shaking my ass. Then turning the corner where I was hidden from his view I burst into laughter. I waited for Terra hoping the guy wouldn't go on break anytime soon.

I jumped down back onto the floor of the bathroom as softly as I could. I had thrown my shoes down before me, so it was with a very dull 'thud' that I hit the ground. I turned, flushed the toilet as an extra measure, put my shoes back on, washed my hands, and quickly left the bathroom. I chuckled as I watched Vera go outside, and start laughing to herself.
I came up behind her, "Vera. Let's get going. I don't want to wind up in prison because you had to get your laugh in." I said with a smirk. I then pointed to the car we were taking, "It's right over here." I handed her the keys, and headed towards the small red car.

I opened the door and cranked the car, the teasing and jokes out of my mind. Now it was time to be serious. I crinkled my nose as I saw the filth that was in his car. Fast food bags that were starting to smell, a stack of magazines that were stained, that alone almost made me want to barf, and lots of drinks that had collected ants. When Terra got in the car I assumed she would have a similar impression, but all we could do now was leave. I sped out of the parking lot and back onto the highway. I rolled my window down and took such a deep breath that you would think I hadn't breathed at all, and believe me I was trying not to. "Somewhere along the way we have to clean out this piece of s***." At this point I had part of my head out the window, "I wonder if this is what all boys are like. I would really hope not. Wonder if Prince Charming has a clean car?" I laughed and then quickly frowned. It was hard for me to stay calm back there. I tried not to let on. If it wasn't for my jokes and teasing I would have unleashed my wolf. I shuttered, then quickly shook the horrid thoughts from my head. We would make it to the school, and then I would never have to worry about losing control again. Terra and I would be an awesome team, and maybe someday I would be capable of controlling multiple wolves. I smiled at the thought.