Chapter 10: New Arrivals

Ace's POV:

"Yo Ace?" Kyle called. I looked over at him. "You want some pizza?" He asked. "Sure." I said, as I got up. I walked out the door and downstairs. The smell of fresh pizza hit me. "Oh yeah buddy." I said. Everyone came downstairs and began to eat. Suddenly, we heard a loud alarm. "Uh oh. You know what that means." Kyle said. "Yes. It means Rachel found the new mutant who got hit by that meteorite yesterday." Christina said.

"We have new arrivals!! Everyone greet them and be nice." Douglas said, looking at me. "I will." I said. "I mean it Ace." He said. "I'll be good!!" I said, irritably. He ran over to the door and opened it. "Oh it you three?" He asked. Three? Suddenly, the smell of vanilla filled the air. No way. Angel walked in the door, with Rose and Bailey behind her. Rachel walked in and looked around.

"Okay ladies. Here we are." She said. "Hey these are the new kids from school." Rose said, happily. "Okay I can already tell that one if perky." A girl said. Everyone chuckled. "Yeah I'm perky and?" Rose said. Everyone ooh'd at her. "Alright let's calm it down." Douglas said. Angel looked around at everyone til she got to me. "Ace?" She said. "Hey." I said. "You're a mutant?" She said.

"Yep. And I'm guessing you are one too." I said. She nodded. "Yeah." She said, softly. "Okay girls, I'm sure you have lots of questions." Douglas said. "Yes. We do." Bailey said. "And they will get answered but first, why don't you girls go put your suitcases up and get settled in?" Douglas said. He looked at me. "Ace, Kyle, and Mike, go show these girls to their rooms. Here's their room numbers."  He said.

DOUGLAS!! "Sure thing." Kyle said. I reached for Bailey's card but Mike snatched it from me. Kyle grabbed Rose's and I was left with Angel's. Ugh. "Come on Angel." I said. She followed me upstairs and down the halls. I looked back at her and saw that she had her head down. "You all right?" I asked. She didn't answer. "Well here's your room." I said. I opened the door. We walked inside looked around.

She immediately set her stuff down and sat down on the bed. I looked at her. She looked so sad. "Angel what's wrong?" I asked, curiously. She sighed. "I've had a bad morning." She said. "What happened?" I asked. "Long story short, everything I thought I knew is not true. My Mama doesn't really love me, she destroyed my surfboard, I got powers, and now I live somewhere else." She said.

"Well damn." I said. A tear escaped her eye. "And I know you don't like me." She said. "What gave that away?" I asked, sarcastically. She scoffed. "No but foreal Angel. Living here isn't so bad." I said. Minus Rachel's crazy ass. "Is she really crazy?" She asked. "Is who crazy?" I asked. "Rachel." She said. I stared at her. Did I say that out loud? "No you didn't say it out loud Ace. I can read minds. I can hear people's thoughts." She said.

"Prove it." I said. "I just did." She said. Banana. "You want bananas now?" She said. "So you can read minds?" I said. She nodded. "Yes. And that's how I found out my Mom didn't really love me. She wished that she never adopted me and that she was only doing it for my check." She said. "Damn. That's harsh." I said. "Yeah well that's how my morning went." She said. "You okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. After I go out and buy me a new surfboard. I've had that thing since I first surfed." She said. "Angel is that really your passion?" I asked, curiously. "What? Surfing? Of course." She said. She began to unpack. I walked over towards the door and was about to open it. I sighed. "Angel can I ask you something?" I asked. She nodded. "Sure." She said. "What was it like?" I asked.

"What? Surfing?" She asked. "No. Being adopted." I said. She stared at me. "Ace have you never been adopted?" She asked. I shook my head. "After all these years, you've never once been adopted?" She asked. I shook my head. "Well I did stay with Douglas and Christina for a bit but they never adopted me. For some reason, the orphanage didn't want me to be adopted. So I've been here all my life." I said.

"Is Douglas that black dude who opened the door?" She asked. I nodded. "Yeah." I said. "Does he love you?" She asked. I nodded. "Well how come you've never been adopted by them?" She asked. "No one will allow him. We just recently found out that I'm too old to be considered adopted so right now, I'm just a drifting orphan." I said. She stared at me. "Ace that's terrible." She said. I scoffed.

"That describes my whole life." I said. "Angel?" Someone called. We turned to see Rose and Bailey. "Rachel wants us." She said. We walked downstairs to the living room. "Okay girls. I'm sure you all are very confused about all of this." Douglas said. He walked over to me as I sat down on the counter. "Yes we are." Rose said. "First question: what is this place? Rachel you said something about this being part of your job." Bailey said.

"Yes. This place is a house for mutants such as yourselves." Rachel said. "What are mutants?" Angel asked. "Mutants are the next generation and evolution of humanity. Of mankind." Rachel explained. "How did this happen? How did we get powers?" Bailey asked. "Mutants have powers that comes from...well radioactive alien waste." Rachel explained. The girls all looked confused. "Radioactive alien waste?" Angel repeated.

"Yes. This happened eons ago though back to the Stone Age. Aliens made contact with humans, but since we didn't know how to communicate quite yet, there was a fight of some sort. Some humans got contaminated with the radioactive alien waste. The genes were passed down to numerous families, therefore becoming mutants. The genes mutated to help blend the radioactive alien waste with your DNA." Rachel continued.

I remembered this speech back when I first got my powers. "The genes are passed down as the generations continue. As we humans tend to multiply, the genes also multiplied and mutated, therefore mutants exist. It varies on what you will be. The meteorites also play a part on why and how you are mutants. Meteorites, as you know, come from space. Aliens come space. They are out there, just hidden." Rachel continued.

I looked at Angel. She was so focused. "You see girls, the meteorites are attracted to mutants. You were always mutants, since you were born." Rachel began. "Wait. Does that mean our parents were also mutants?" Rose asked. "Yes. Your parents were also mutants but I thought they would've told you all this by now." Rachel said. "My family didn't tell me anything." Bailey said. "Same here. My parents never said anything." Rose said.

"I was put up for adoption so I don't know who my parents are." Angel said. I forced myself not to feel bad for her. "As I was sayin, all mutants get individual powers from these meteorites. These meteorites crash into the earth near the closest mutant they can find. It's like...a magnetic attraction." Rachel continued. "But wait. There's three of us. So you're saying all three of us are the exact same mutant?" Angel asked.

"No. Since there was three of you, the meteorite had combined with two other meteorites. That's why the meteorite looked like an enormous asteroid. So you three should all be individual mutants." Rachel continued. Angel raised her hand. Rachel pointed to her. "How come we're just now getting our powers?" She asked. "Because when you haven't gotten your powers yet, you had a protective shield around you." Rachel asked.

"That doesn't make sense." Angel said. I held back a laugh. "Your shield was keeping your powers away and therefore, keeping you safe. But now that you have your powers, the protective shield is gone. Now you must practice your powers and build up your own shield." Rachel answered. "But wait. If these meteorites just drop from the sky, why hasn't NASA said or done anything about it?" Bailey asked.

"Yeah. NASA would've done something about it or at least, let people know." Angel said. "Well girls, you see NASA is already keeping aliens a secret. Now their keeping these meteorites a secret. Why do you think they cover up every suspicious thing and call it something scientific? I mean what do you they're doing down at Area 51?" Rachel said. The girls look dumbfounded.

"Huh. That makes a lot more sense." Rose said. "But how can these meteorites know whose a mutant and whose not? And why does this shield leave when we get our powers?" Angel asked. "Yeah I have a lot of questions." Rose said. "Listen, since you were young, your shield prevented you from getting your powers. When the meteorites crash into you, you absorb them. That's when you get your powers afterwards." Rachel said.

Bailey scoffed. "So that's why we woke up all smokey. I thought it was from Rose's car." She said. "But we got our powers today." Angel said. "Yeah they needed more time to develop." Douglas said. "So this whole time, we've been mutants and our parents never said anything?" Rose asked. "I can't believe they haven't said anything about this to us." Bailey said. "I know this is a lot to take in but we need to do something important now." Douglas said.

"Like what?" Angel asked. "We need to figure out what you all are and what powers you possess." Rachel said. "Angel can read minds." I blurted put. Everyone looked at me. "What?" Rachel said. "Yeah. I can read minds." Angel said. "Prove it. What am I thinking of?" Rachel asked. Angel stared at me. "You like you play spades." She said. Rachel gasped. "Wow Angel. That power is incredibly rare." She said.

"Come with us ladies." Douglas said. We followed them all the way down to the basement. The girls looked around. "It's so cold down here." Rose said. "Yeah it's the only way to keep the equipment from overheating when we use them." Rachel said. We stepped into a glass panel. "Okay, whose first?" Douglas asked. Angel and Bailey both pushed Rose in front of them.

"Well dang. I guess I'll go." She said. "Okay Rose just step one that red line please. Hold still for the scan. Okay next. Bailey hold still. Okay good. Angel hold very still. Very good. Step down and now we wait for the results." Rachel said. Then everything grew quiet. The only sound was the sound of the machines buzzing. "Okay the results are in. Rose....you are a banshee. You can scream and cry incredibly loud." Douglas said.

"Apparently it's ten times louder than the blue whale, the largest and loudest animal on the planet." Rachel said. Rose frowned. "That makes it sound like I'm a big ass crybaby." She said. Angel and Bailey both hugged her. "You're still cute and adorable." Angel said. Rose giggled. "Okay Bailey, you're next. It says here you are....a psychic. You see into the future and you can see the different outcomes of people's actions." Douglas said.

"Oh good. That explains my visions." She said. "You will also be able to have visions when you're both sleep and awake." Rachel said. She looked at Angel. And now Angel." She said. "Oh wow." Douglas said. He showed Rachel the papers. She gasped. "Wow Angel. You are a dragon. Incredible. It's actually rare to be a dragon. You rarely spot one." Douglas said.

I looked at Angel. She looked pale. "Angel you okay?" Douglas asked. She shook her head then turned around. Then she threw up. "Ugh. Angel I know this is all news to you and it's hard to accept but you- oh God that's disgusting." Rachel said, gagging. "I'm sorry. This is just a lot to take in. And me being cold isn't helping." Angel said. "Angel I know this is all too much right but this is your life now." Douglas said.

"What if I don't want this life?" Angel asked. "You don't really have a choice Angel." Kyle said. She sighed. "Fine. What now?" She asked. "Let's go back upstairs and continue to unpack." Rachel said. We all walked back upstairs. I headed back to the kitchen and ate the pizza. "Hey man. So what do you think?" Mike asked. "About what?" I asked, without looking at him. "All of our crushes now live with us and they're are mutants like us." Kyle said.

I growled. "I don't like Angel. I made that clear." I said. "Oh yeah. The way you saved her last night and nearly beat that dude to death shows that you don't care about her." Kyle said, sarcastically. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever." I said. "Ace why can't you just admit that you have feelings for Angel? We see how you look at her. You look at her like you ready to eat her out." Kyle said. "No I don't." I said, lowly.

Suddenly, we heard screaming. Me, Kyle, and Mike ran out the back door to the backyard. We saw Angel, Rose, and Bailey standing front of wolf. I stared at it. "Chris don't!!" Someone yelled. He snarled at the girls. They turned around and took off running towards the house. Chris ran after them. Rose and Bailey then tripped and fell. Chris ran right past them.

"He's going for Angel." Kyle said. "Ace!!" Angel cried. "Angel!!" I cried, as I ran towards her. She ran as fast as she could. I could see the fear in her eyes. "Ace run!!" She cried. "Angel duck!!" I yelled. She fell to the ground as I transformed into a wolf. Me and Chris collided, rolling around on the ground, fighting each other. Our jaws snapping at each other.

He scratched and hit me. I did the same. He was not about to beat me. "Ace stop!!" Angel cried. "Chris!! Ace!! Both of you stop!!" Douglas yelled. Me and Chris both stopped. Douglas ran over and got between us. "Stop this!! Why are you guys fighting?" He asked. "Chris was about to attack Angel." Kyle said. "She punched him!!" Someone said. "Only because-" Rose was cut off by Chris snarling.

I snarled too. "He pissed Angel off." Rose said. "All he did was talk about Ace." A boy said. "Don't talk about someone if they're not there to defend themselves." Angel said. "Awww Ace. You got your girlfriend fighting your battles." The boy said. I snarled loudly. "Angel your hair is on fire." Rose said. I looked over and her hair was on fire. "Look go calm down Chris." Douglas said. Chris looked at me before backing away into the woods slowly.

I looked back at Angel. She glared at Chris as he ran away. "Go after him. Make sure he doesn't go far." Douglas ordered. Guards ran after Chris. I shifted back into a human. Angel turned around and stormed off back to the house. I followed her. I followed her to her room. "Wow Angel. Not even twenty minutes and already you've made enemies." I said. "Shut up." She said.

"What happened?" I asked, curiously. She sighed. He was talking about you and I didn't like it." She said. "So? Let him talk. He won't step to me so I'm not worried about him." I said. She looked at me. "Why do y'all hate each other so much?" I asked. "He made jokes about no one will want me so I retaliated by saying how he will never be with a girl." I said.

She furrowed her brows. "That doesn't makes sense." She said. "Angel I lost my virginity when I ten." I said. She gasped. "Yeah. So I made a joke about him not ever losing his virginity. He did lose him but me and him still beef." I said. She shook her head. I looked at her arm. She had a cut. "Angel your arm." I said. She looked down at her arm. "It's fine. I'm not worried about it. Look, can you come with me to town?" She asked.

"For what?" I asked. "I wanna get a new surfboard." She said. I rolled. "You and that damn surfing shit." I said. She nodded and grabbed a fistful of my shirt. She pulled me downstairs and out the door. "Angel?" Bailey called. "I'm just going to get a new surfboard!!" Angel called. We got in her car and drove off towards town. I looked at her. I stared at her hair. Her hair looks so soft.

"Thanks I use Cantu." She said, smiling. I chuckled. "It's gonna take me some time to get used to you being able to read minds." I said. She giggled. We pulled up to a surf shop. "You go in. I'll wait out here." I said. "Boy bring yo ass on!!" She said. I rolled my eyes and got out the car. We walked inside. I was immediately hit with beach air. I looked around and saw dozens of surfboards. "Oh my God!!" Someone cried.

We looked over and saw a man staring at us. "You're Angel Starlight!!" He cried. "Yes I am." Angel said. "Yo you kick ass when your on them waves dude." Another man said. "Thanks so much." She said. "Angel Starlight? Oh! I heard that you were in town but I didn't think it was true. Oh man I'm a huge fan of yours." The owner said. "Thanks so much." Angel said. "Hey anything you want, it's on the house." He said.

"Oh sweet. I'm looking for new surfboard." She said. "Oh sweet. We actually just got a new shipment of surfboards. It's in high demand with the upcoming surf tournament." He said. "Oh wow. I wanna sign up." Angel said. "Oh well you can sign up this weekend at the beach." The owner said. Angel looked at a bunch of surfboards before she found the one she wanted. "I like this blue one." She said. She showed it to me.

"Yeah that's a nice blue." I said. "Or would you rather have this board?" The owner said. He pulled out a cart full of boards....with Angel's face on it. Angel stared at them. "Angel everyone here is a big fan of yours. People have been printed surfboards with your face on them." The owner continued. "No thanks. That's creeping me out." Angel said. Angel offered to pay for the board but the owner told her it was free for her.

"Well that was interesting." Angel said. I didn't say anything. I just wanted to go home and eat pizza. Angel then pulled up to a Sonic. "What are we doing here Angel?" I asked. "I wanna talk to you." She said. We got out and walked inside. We sat down at a table. "What about?" I asked. "Why don't you like me?" She asked. "What?" I asked. "Why don't you like me?" She repeated. "Angel...." I said. I didn't know to explain to her.

I decided to just change the subject. "Look I wanna talk about you being able to read minds." I said. "No Ace-" I cut her off. "So you being able to hear everyone's thoughts, what's it like right now?" I asked, curiously. She looked around then covered her ears. "It's all too loud." She said. She opened her eyes then looked up at me. She stared into my eyes. "What?" I asked. "I can't hear you." She said.

"What?" I asked, loudly. "No I mean I can hear you but I can't hear your thoughts." She said. I scoffed. "What is this, Twilight? Come on Angel." I said. "I'm serious. I can't hear your thoughts." She said. "Angel come on now. That's just a movie. This is real life." I said. She suddenly grabbed my hand and held it tightly. It felt kinda good. Keyword: kinda. Then she released it. "I still can't hear you." She said.

"Is there something wrong with me?" I asked. "I don't know. Is there?" She asked, smiling. I shook my head. "Ace please stop ducking the question. Why don't you like me?" She asked. "Angel I really don't want to talk about it." I said, as I stood up and walked out the door. She followed me. "Ace!!" She called. "Bye Angel!!" I said, loudly. I ran behind building and transformed into a wolf. I took off running. I didn't want to be bothered. Angel you don't understand and you never will.