When one walks into a room full of kids who are eating breakfast, one might think one might be able to find a spot and sit down, without having the whole population stare intensely at oneself.

One would be wrong.

At least I had the forethought to wear a new shirt, without my trademark slits in the back. Though my wings had gotten bigger and the tips stuck out from the hem a bit. I hadn't minded, until now.

There were at least thirty kids in the room, and there appeared to be some rivalry. While it was a huge room, which I liked, and a huge table, there was still a gap in the middle. And the kids from different sides were throwing glares at each other, and me.

One kids stood up, a huge beefy jock of a kid. I wouldn't surprised if he had been genetically modified to look like that. He was at least a foot taller than me, and I gulped.

"Geek or freak?" He asked, his voice surprisingly high.

I stepped back, being me, the choice between fight or flight would be to get the heck out of there. But there was little I could do in this situation. Especially when his gaze drifted down to the feathers growing along my shoulders, painfully visible with this shirt. Before I could even think, he had reach down and plucked one.

"Ow!" I yelped, jumping away from him.

He held up the feather. "New kid's with us."

There was some soft cheering from the side of Beef Boy here. And I was pushed into a chair, and a plate set in front of me. Even though I was kinda stunned, I was also hungry.

"So what makes you special?" A girl right next to me asked.

Beef Boy handed her my feather. "Kid's got feathers."

She took it and ogled, "sweet, what's your name kid?"

"Will," I answered, feeling rushed. Although the girl was very pretty now that I looked at her....

That feeling forgotten when I found there was food on the table.

Toast, all types of eggs and bacon, hash browns, cereal orange juice and milk. Anything breakfast food you could imagine. I helped myself to bacon and eggs, ruefully thinking this was the first meal I had with Mrs. Santos.

And of course I went back for seconds, then thirds, by my fourth most kids had left. Except for the girl sitting next to me, and a few others.

All of a sudden Justin appeared in the doorway, walking half-heartedly in and slumping down in the middle.

"Hey Justin," someone said, he twitched a hand in response.

The girl next to me leaned in close suddenly. "He's usually up earlier than this, I wonder what's gotten his hat in a twist?"

Truth be told, Justin was wearing a hat similar to I first saw him in, only this one was black. He grabbed a small piece of toast before the girl next to me tapped my shoulder.

"My name's Genevieve, but my friends call me Genny, if you need someone to show you around, I'll be your guide." She brushed her blonde hair away from her eyes, which were a startling silver.

I blushed. "I would love that, this place is very confusing."

For a moment, which seemed to last a millennia, we just stared at each other. Then I looked down quickly, my face feeling hot. She was blushing as hard as I was.

"Um... Do you have your syllabus?"

My blush deepened. "Oh, yeah." I dug around in my back pocket, pulling out the crumpled piece of paper.

Genny took it from my hand and her eyes widened. She stood suddenly, glancing oner at Justin. She grabbed my arm as I stuffed a piece of bacon into my mouth. I was pulled around a corner and pushed against a wall. Her silver eyes flashing at me.

"You share a room with Justin?" Her tone was viper serious.

"Yeah?"

Genny glanced around, as if warding off others who might be listening in.

"Justin's hiding something, and I've wondered about it my whole time I've been here." She was whispering now.

"How do you know?" I asked, copying her whisper.

"I can feel people's emotions, but only if I touch them." She explained, flipping her hair.

Oh, make a note not to get horribly embarrassed when she holds my hand.

"Justin's been here the longest, the second being me, I arrived here when I was eight. One day we were just playing when I pushed him, and when I helped him up again, he was feeling super relived. Not the normal kind, but when someone's keeping something to them self." She spoke quietly, however excitedly, waving her hands in the air for emphasis.

"And you want me to find out?" I asked.

"No, we're gonna find out, tell me, can you do anything else besides grow feathers?"

She poked my chest accusingly. When she touched my mind instantly opened up to hers, and I got lost in the free flowing stream that was Genevieve's subconscious.

I gasped, from the shock of just how different her mind was, it seemed to latch onto mine. There so many colors, and I got a tingly feeling all over.

And right in front of me, her eyes turned yellow.

The she blinked and took a few steps away from me. "What did you do?"

"I... I can sometimes read minds, but it's been out of whack lately-"

"You can read minds? Telepathy?" She was up in my face again, her eyes silver once again.

"Well what about you? Your eyes turned yellow." I accused.

"Oh, that's means you were surprised, forgot to tell you that, my eyes are like mood rings."

Then the spotlight was back on me. "You must read Justin's mind for me."

I frowned. "Now?"

She shook her head. "No tonight, we have classes to get to."

She flipped her hair and started down the hall. I followed, wondering where she was leading me.

"First class we have together, it's history, second and third classes are different, but our lunch period and rest of the day match." She informed.

"Oh," I stopped, smiling. "Cool."

"Usually the day goes pretty smoothly, unless somebody new comes, but you came in the middle of the night so nobody was up. In case you felt like you didn't have warm welcome or something." She turned around, staring at me.

"I hope you weren't offended."

"No, not at all," I shrugged as she continued down a hall.

"Oh, and sorry at breakfast, even though Principal Wales thinks the kids get along, there still some rivalry between sides. Normal kids just don't like socialize with kids like us." She kept on walking.

"I can understand that," I admitted.

She opened a door suddenly and ushered me inside. I was pushed into a classroom half-full or students more or less my age. More were filing in behind me. Desks, instead of being single, were long and gray, and Genny had reserved a seat next to her for me. I felt my face heat up again, and my feathers tingled.

After a few minutes the teacher tapped a stick on her own desk an announced we would be covering the history of Vikings.

Going to a history class after all I had been through in the past months was well, boring. But once the teacher got out some costumes and reacted famous battle herself, things got interesting. I can honestly say I enjoyed the class.

The next two were more regular things like math and literature. Genny had shown me where the rooms were and I was starting to build up a mental memory of the layout. Though this school had some serious caverns.

Lunch, despite what you'd think it be, was delicious, half baked a potato covered in cheese and bacon. Of course I took five of them, and Genny eyed my plate when I sat down at the table.

"Hungry?" She asked.

"Oh, you have no idea," Justin put in, dropping his plate across from us.

He waved a fork at me. "Will burns carbs way faster than us humans, said something about flying being exhausting or something."

Genny raised an eyebrow at me, her gray eyes seemed to sparkle. "Flying?"

I blushed, rubbing the back of my neck.  "Um, yeah, not just feathers and mind reading."

She smiled at me. "That's why your back looked so funny, I didn't want to say anything, in case, you know, sensitive topic what not. You have wings?"

I blushed deeper, nodding slowly.

"Quick, touch him now and your eyes will turn the color of his cheeks." Justin joked, Genny flicked some cheese at him.

"You don't mind if I see them right? I mean you have to eventually for our next class." She asked sweetly, I caved in, there was just something special about those silver eyes.

"Um, I guess, what's our next class?"

"Self defense, where we learn how to fight using our skills." She answered, as I lifted up the back of my shirt.

I let my wings drop from the tense position they'd been in all day. And I spread them out a tiny bit, trying not to whack someone accidentally. A few kids had stopped eating to gawk at me. Genny's eyes widened, and she reached out to touch one. I flinched, not used to touch, and she looked like she regretted it.

"I'm sorry! I should have asked-"

"No that's okay, I just didn't see it coming," I interrupted, hating the way I had made her feel sorry.

She gave me a smile, and stroked her hand along the edge. Her hands were soft, and I actually enjoyed it, though I blushed again when her eyes turned a soft white green, and according to my embarrassment, a pinkish red.

She drew her hand away. "You know, you don't have to be embarrassed here."

I looked down as my wings folded back in, and I dropped my shirt back over them. Careful to avoid her touch so she din't know the warm, accepted feeling I had in the middle of my stomach. After all my life of hiding my specialty, this was a place I could walk around proud I had wings growing out of my back.

---------

Turns out Principal Wales himself taught the next class. Even though it was smaller then the other ones I had been in so far, but the crowd was a whole lot nicer. He had us lined up facing him, and then he started giving a pep talk.

"Each person on this earth has a gift, it's just goes to show, some gifts are a little more obvious than others." He said, then pointed to me.

"We have recently received a new student, and as you all know that doesn't happen everyday. William, would you please come up here next to me?"

I shrugged nervously, walking up with about thirteen pairs of eyes on me. Genny gave me a small wave and I felt instantly better. Meanwhile Principal Wales coughed to get my attention back.

"William would you mind removing your shirt? I have one that will fit you better right here for todays topic." He handed me a white shirt that amazingly was the right size for me, and I noticed immediately  that instead of two bit slits down the back there was just one long oval shaped hole

I slid off my shirt, and someone gasped when the feather along my scapula became visible. Before I could pull on the adjusted one, Mr. Wales stopped me.

"Now William, have you ever stopped to think about these feather right here?" He said, pointing to my shoulder.

It felt like a slap to the face. "Uh, no sir, I guess I never had."

Mr. Wales gave me a knowing smile. "They're to cut down on sound and wind resistance."

"I guess that makes sense," I answered, feeling more confident, and pulled the new shirt over my head. It slid so easily over my skin and didn't cause my feathers to itch, the fabric was so airy I didn't realize how stuffy my other one hand been till now.

"Turn around if you will, Will." He started chuckling, but when nobody followed he stopped.

My wings popped easily through the larger hole and was  much more comfortable than my previous ones. I turned around knowing full well my wings were exposed, and there was some collective breathing at my awesomness.

"This is what makes Will a gifted students, as you can see, it's very obvious, and not easy to hide I assume." He gestured to me and I nodded.

"Good good, you can stand back with your peers now." I scooted back.

"Now, let's get to work."