the familiar and comforting smell of Eloise's childhood home flooded her senses as she unlocked the front door and stepped in. she had decided to have dinner with her father tonight, having been so busy marking work from her students, she hadn't seen much of him recently.

Eloise and her father, Tony, had always been close. It had always been just the two of them, meaning they were a lot closer than other fathers and daughters. Tony hadn't ever mentioned the exact details of what happened to her mother, the whole experience was often too painful for him to talk about and Eloise -having been only around four months old when she passed- didn't remember her in the slightest. The only thing she had ever seen of her were the photos around the home and her uncles house.

since she was too young to know anything about her, it never particularly pained her: sure, she always felt that stress of her chest when she saw others having mother daughter time, shopping and getting their hair done, but she always had her dad. He would brave the shops with her and sit through every pair of jeans, skirt or dress she tried on, even helping her chose stuff to try on from time to time.

"dad!" she called out, only attracting the attention of the dog, "hello Ozzy!" she knelt down beside him, ruffling his dark fur and scratching his ear. she continued to play with the dog for a short while before shouting her dad again, a lot louder this time, "DAD!"

still, she received no answer. rolling her eyes slightly, she raised herself from the floor and stepped into the kitchen, helping herself to a glass of water and peaking in all of the cupboards in a hopes of finding something to momentarily ease her hunger before they ate dinner.

The noise of the key turning in the front door pulled Eloise away from what she was doing and towards the kitchen doorframe, seeing her father and little cousin walk in. "Ellie?" Tony shouted, not seeing his daughter six feet in front of him.

George however, did notice his cousin, running up to her, "Ellie!" he called out as he launched himself up into her arms.

She just about caught him, lifting him up off of the floor and holding him close, "hey Georgie! God, you got so big!"

the boy only laughed, bringing a small smile to Tony's face, "do i get a hug too or do you only like George?"

"i only like George." she told him dryly, waiting a minute before putting the boy down and engulfing her father in a bear hug, "hi dad."

__________

"where were you two then?" Ellie asked as the three sat around the wooden table eating their food.

"Matt had to work late so i picked George up from football." tony informed her, taking a bite out of his dinner.

"soccer, not football!" the boy corrected with an amused smile.

"yeah dad, soccer not football." Eloise teased her father, laughing at George as she did so.

"oh, i'm ever so sorry. no fucking difference." He spoke sarcastically, pretending to be annoyed at the two of them.

Tony had moved to America one year before meeting Ellie's mother, and even after twenty five years of living there, he still never said things the way the Americans did. This caused some great confusion for Eloise growing up, she was American and had no English accent but spoke just like her father did. It had always made him laugh, hearing a little girl with blonde pigtails call the old man who had cut into the line in front of them a 'bald twat' was honestly one of his favourite memories.

"hows work?" he asked her, looking up from his plate.

Ellie shrugged, "good... just wished other teachers actually did their jobs. i have to cover for a seventh grade class today, right." she paused to take a bite of her dinner, waiting until she had finished chewing to carry on, "two months into the semester, they haven't even finished chapter one of the book. they study that book for tests in senior year and no one is teaching them anything."

Tony furrowed his eyebrows, "surely someone's said something?"

Eloise shook her head, "nope, i can't either. i'm new, if i report it i look terrible to all the other teachers."

"what does that matter? it's the kids who are more important." he tried to point out to her, hoping she's see what he was getting at.

once again, ellie shook her head, "then they say thing about me, say i was lying and then my exam year students have the exact same thing." Tony drew his lips into a line, considering what she could do. "i just wish there was a better school hiring but there isn't."

that's when tony realised. he looked to George, to see if he was listening to them before speaking, "remember by old friend Charles?"

"the one who went to Oxford and was practically my second uncle for the whole of my childhood?" she asked, making sure she had the right man in mind.

"yeah, that's him. he's opening a school for m-" he cut himself off, checking on George one more time, "mutants." he lowers his voice, changing it back to his normal volume before speaking again, "maybe you could get in touch with him, see if he needs an english teacher."

Tony first discovered that Eloise was a mutant when they had both just rushed through the door, having been caught in torrential downpour when running home from the café around the corner. suspicious of why she hadn't taken her coat off or even taken her hood down, he asked her.

it was at this point she knew she couldn't hide it any longer. she pulled the black fabric from over her head to reveal the streaks of aquamarine throughout her hair where the water had got to. At first he didn't catch on, thinking she had just dyed her hair without him knowing, but when she dragged him over to the sink, turned it on and curled the water to travel up her arms without touching her skin, he realised that she was like the people he had only heard whispers about: a mutant.

he was naturally worried at first, as any father would be. he knew she would have to grow up hiding it for her safety, but after about a year or so, on her twelfth birthday, he took her to a secluded beach. it was cold, being the end of October, but he wrapped her up in a warm coat,  packed a flask of tea and some money for food afterwards, telling her to show him some things in the water as they sat on the rough, pebbly shore.

she showed him a multitude of things, making waves curl over themselves and throwing bits of water in the air, even managing to make a few odd shapes with water she had lifted up. the sea spray littered over them, giving the girl an entire head of beautiful blue highlights in her blonde hair. she desperately wanted to get in the water, despite how the water was defiantly almost freezing, and show her father what else she had discovered she could do.

"what you thinking about, lou?" he asked her, noticing how she stared a little too longingly at the water.

she took a strand of hair between her fingers, looking at how the blue stood out against the blonde, debating whether to tel him or not.

"if i was different, would you still love me?"

tony furrowed his eyebrows, "you are different, ellie, and i still love you-"

"no." she cut him off, "if i looked different. just sometimes."

once again, he furrowed his eyebrows, "what do you mean?" he asked, catching on to the fact that this wasn't just a hypothetical question.

"when i was in the bath the other day, my legs started feeling really funny. and it started to go all up my waist and my arms and it hurt and i thought i was gonna stay like it-"

"like what?" it was his turn to cut her off now.

she looked into his eyes, nervous to tell him but knew that she had already dug herself too deep of a hole to climb out of, "my legs stuck together a-and loads of like... gold and blue scales went all over me and i couldn't get rid of them for ages. i just sat there trying to get them to go away."

tony sat thinking for a moment, "how did they go away?" he asked, voice gentle and non judging over the sound of the lapping waves before them.

"yeah, once i calmed down and focused. was sort of like when i control the water." she told him, once again fiddling with the strands of her hair.

the two sat in silence, neither really sure what to say to the other. the idea scared Tony, worried his daughter would face a lot of backlash if she ever tried to be who she truly was, "i love you no matter what, lou. remember that. scales and all." he joked at the end, bringing a smile to his daughters face.

Eloise brought herself back from the memory, considering what her father had said, "i can't just go to your old drinking buddy and ask him for a job. it's weird."

he shrugged his shoulders, "okay then. you won't care that he already called me and asked me to give you his details so he could offer you the job."

she dropped her cutlery on her plate, startling George who let out a slight gasp. Tony laughed at this, burring his face into his fist in an order to quiet down his amusement, "sorry Georgie, you did?"

tony kept laughing for a second, only speaking once he could at least talk through his laughter, "yeah, he remembered how much you used to love reading and he mentioned how he heard you were a teacher now so he offered the position for you. said he wanted someone the kids could relate to and still teach them,"

"how did he know i'm a teacher? or that i'm a mutant?"

"the man reads minds, lou, he knew even when you were younger that you were a mutant." he pointed out, thinking it was obvious.

"oh yeah, makes sense." she shrugged, "when was this?"

"this morning, said he'd call you when tomorrow."

Eloise smiled to herself, the idea of a job in a school with people like her warmed her heart. she couldn't wait for tomorrow.