Super Normal

A Story by LetMeLoveYou

A short story about some time in the future where super powers are the new normal :)

Xavier sat locked in his room listening to his parents and sister talking downstairs, he was supposed to be sleeping but their conversation poured through the hall into his room. “He is far too young to go there yet, Mary.” stated his father. “I went there when I was in second grade. He will be fine.” Stated Xavier’s older sister, Alessa, matter of factly. Mary was quick to step in always being the voice of reason for John. “His powers have come in, we need to get him the proper schooling before he can’t control them. Every other kid goes to school after their powers come in. Why make Xavier any different?” Xavier sitting quietly in his room could not help but wonder what they were talking about. He knew that Alessa was a psychic, but was there a special school for her powers? Many of Xavier’s friends had their powers and went to the school for the super human, but Xavier had not yet learned about such a place. Non-supers were a dwindling demographic that Xavier’s parents were both a member of and his father secretly hoped Xavier would join them.

Growing tired of the senseless banter down the hall Xavier curled up on his bed under his blanket. He fell quickly asleep, but woke up a few short hours later. There was no audible conversation coming from the hall, but Xavier knew that his family was still up. He could hear their voices in his head. Alessa was in her room getting ready for bed. He could hear her, “What should I wear tomorrow? Not my purple skirt, how about my- No, I’m seeing Ben tomorrow.” “Who is Ben?” thought Xavior. Alessa’s voice faded and was soon replaced by his mothers. “Damn John. Why should we treat Xavier differently than Alessa. She got her powers at his age and off to super school she went. Why should he wait.” Then her thoughts were replaced by his father’s. “Why does he have to be a super too? Why couldn’t I have one normal kid? All these kids being born supers. I already have one super kid to deal with. Why couldn’t it be like the old days when supers were just something you saw in a movie?”

Xavier sat up confused. The house was silent, yet he could still hear his family’s voices. What was going on? He jumped out of bed and walked over to the window and looked outside scanning the backyard for some sign of abnormality. Something that would tell him that he was dreaming. He reached up and pinched his left arm. “Ow!” No, he was awake. What did the voices mean? Was that his power hearing weird voices? He hurried back to his bed and tried to fall back asleep. The voices of his sister, dad, and mom scrolled through his brain until he grew so tired that his eyes forced themselves shut.

The alarm sounded and Xavier awoke with a start. Rolling over he peered over to his alarm clock and read the time: 6:30. Time to get ready for school, “Can’t I wait five more minutes?” Then he heard his mom shout from the kitchen, “Come on X, its time to get up.” “Coming.” He sat up and got out of bed and walked over to his dresser opening it and pulling out a clean pair of pants. “X always takes so long to get ready. He better match today. Crap, burning the eggs now. Mary, get yourself together.” Xavier stopped mid putting on his jeans. “Yes, mom?” he said. No response. “Must be hearing things.” he told himself and continued getting dressed. He reached into his dresser and pulled a wrinkled, stained, red t-shirt and started to put it on. He then remembered what his mom had said before or what he had thought she said and put it back. Grabbing a folded shirt off the top of his dresser he threw it on, grabbed his backpack and scrambled down the hall into the kitchen. “Does this look okay, mom?” Mary turned around and glanced him over, a smile lit up her face as she stated, “You look very nice today Hon. What’s the occasion?” “I heard what you said and I wanted to match today.” answered Xavier innocently. Her face dropped and she looked at him confused. “I never said that.” “Yes, you did. I heard you while I was upstairs getting ready.” “Baby, I didn’t say that.” Xavior then heard her say, “I thought that earlier. I never would say that out-loud to him.” He looked at his mom who had gone back to finishing the eggs. “Mommy I heard you. You didn’t say it, but I heard you say it.” She turned off the stove and faced Xavior. She had a mildly panicked look on her face and she bent down to his level and placed her hand on his shoulder, “X, can you read my mind?”

Xavier inhaled sharply. “That’s what it is!” he shouted excitedly and jumped up and down in place. “I can read minds!” He ran down the hall as though his pants were on fire and stormed into his parent’s bedroom to find his father in the bathroom shaving his beard. “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” he shouted as he darted into the bathroom, “Guess what I can do! Guess! Guess! Guess!” “Calm down there champ.” said John as he placed his hand on his bouncing son’s head and ruffled his perfect blond curls. “What can you do?” “You have to guess... I can read minds Daddy!” John paused and looked down at his son. He picked him up and sat him on the bathroom counter. “That is so cool X! When did you figure that out?” “Last night I could hear you and mommy and sissy thinking after I went to bed.” “That’s great champ. Now get your mind reading butt downstairs and ready for school.” John took Xavier off of the counter and set him on the floor and he quickly ran out of the room. Shaking his head John continued to shave his face. “I’m surrounded by mental supers.” he said as he dragged his razor down his shaving cream covered face.

At school Xavier informed all of his friends that he had gotten his powers and that he could read minds. Although he was met by many “That’s so cools” and “Congratulations!” he knew what they were thinking and that was more along the lines of “Shut up”s “Just leave already”s and a few “Stop rubbing it in”s. After leaving school Xavier’s ecstatic mood had simmered down to a mild excitement. He opened the front door of his house slowly and walked into the living room to find Alessa sitting on the couch awaiting him. Upon seeing him she jumped up out of her seat and scooped him up in a tight embrace. “Congrats lil man! I’m so glad you finally got your powers. I’m so proud of you!” her praise was met with a “Let go. You’re crushing me.”, from Xavier. She set him down and kissed the top of his head. “Aren’t you excited to go to super school?” Xavier did not reply. “What’s wrong?” His head hung low as he answered, “The kids at school don’t like my power. They say they do, but I heard what they think. They just want me to leave now.” Alessa look at him unsure of what to say in order to console her little brother. "Why don't you invite Michael over to play?" she suggested. Xavier's face lit up and the tore off into the other room to call Michael.

Alessa heard Xavier in his room talking on the phone with Michael and ending the conversation with an excited, “See you soon!” Shaking her head and chuckling to herself she walks towards Xavier’s room. Xavier scrambled around his bedroom shoving things under his bed and into his closet so that it would look clean. Alessa, standing in the doorway cleared her throat and Xavier froze. “Well I don’t think that’s how you clean your room.” He looked at his big sister fearfully but let out a sigh of relief as she stepped into the room and helped him to put his belongings away correctly. “Thanks Ali.” Alessa despised being called Ali by anyone other than her brother but at times still cringed at the name. “So I’m going out on a limb here, but I guessing that Michael is coming over.” she asked jokingly despite knowing the answer. “Yes! He is coming over right now! We are going to play cars and go outside and watch--” “Calm down Bud. That’s awesome but you need to get your room cleaned up first.” “Oh yea!” At that Xavier continued to clean his room.

“Geez X is off the walls. He needs to calm down. If he doesn’t I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle this.” Xavier turned to Alessa and looked at her quizzically. She did not look as though she had said anything yet he heard her. Xavier let out a loud sigh and sat on the floor. “What’s wrong? You okay X?” “I can’t stop reading minds. I can’t control it. I can hear everyone’s thoughts. I can hear yours more than mom and dad’s... Ali I don’t like it!” Xavier sobbed and looked to the floor lost in his own thoughts and trying to block out his sister’s voice in his head to no avail.

From outside there was a shout, “Hey X! I’m here. Can you come out now?” Xavier’s head picked up and he put his shoes on as quickly as he could and ran outside to meet Michael leaving Alessa standing in the middle of his room dumbfounded. Picking the phone up off of his bed Alessa walks through the house into her own bedroom and throws herself into a large purple beanbag chair that sits in the corner of her room. She enters her best friend’s number, one of the few numbers that she knows by heart. “Oh my god! Gwen you’re not gonna believe it. Ben complimented my shirt today. He was totally checking me out.” A short, “No suh!” from Gwen was the only response needed to encourage her rant on how “perfect” he is leaving Gwen stuck resorting to a periodical, “Yep.” “I can’t believe it.” That’s cool” or “Mhm.” “Get your butt over here, X is outside with his friend and I’m babysitting.” Alessa heard the phone click as Gwen hung up followed shortly by a loud “bzzzzhh,” and the materialization of Gwen in front of her. Xavier outside was absorbed in an intense game of tag with Michael when he heard Gwen’s thoughts chime up among those of his sister’s. “I hope this Ben kid either gives in or stops talking to her, I’m getting so sick of these one way conversations.” thought Gwen.

Michael looked at Xavier who had stopped running and stood completely still with a glazed over look on his face. He gently touched his friend’s arm and was met with no response. Shaking Xavier’s arm gently he asked, “Hey. Are you okay? Do you wanna keep playing?” Xavier snapped out of his trance and looked at Michael, “Of course!” With that he took off running away from Michael frantically and Michael soon followed darting to and fro behind him.

John, Mary, Alessa, and Xavier all sat around the dinner table which was set with chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans with steam pouring off of the top. John turned to Xavier, “How was school today?” “It was fine.” replied Xavier while stirring his potatoes “You’re going to that damned super school tomorrow so best be ready.” Xavier looked up to his father, “I don’t know what happens there though.” “Well you are going to learn aren’t you.” Mary looked at John agitated by his bluntness with their frightened son, “It’ll be fine Babe. The teachers will help you.” Xavier looked slightly less frightened until he heard Alessa’s thoughts through the voices in the room, “He’s so little. All the other kids have super strength and all he has is mind reading. He is going to get chewed up.” Xavier excused himself from dinner and went upstairs where he fell fitfully asleep.

Alarm sounding Xavier got out of bed hesitantly, but there was an underlying excitement in his composure. Walking downstairs he sat at the counter with far less enthusiasm than the previous day and ate his cereal silently. “So are you excited for today?” probed his mother. His silence was eerie and out of character for him, “Mhm.” He finished his breakfast and walked slowly outside to the end of the driveway to await his new bus; it came thirty minutes earlier than his old bus.

Pulling up the school he saw a large plaque on the ground in front of it reading, “Super Elementary School. Opened in 2143.” Beside it was the High school where Alessa went with all of her friends. Xavier thought back to the kids who made fun of him at school the day before. He thought they were his friends. “Whelp. Here it goes.” taking a deep breath Xavier approached the school and walked through the large double front doors. Students were standing by their lockers, talking, and walking to their classes. The building was swarming with kids from first grade to fifth grade. Xavier saw a few that he recognized from his old school and walked over to them clutching his bag to his chest. “H-Hey guys. I was wondering if I could hang out with you guys. I don’t know anybody else.” The three kids that stood there silently for a moment then proceeded to welcome him warmly into the group. The four of them found their places among the rest of the supers and had several classes together through the day. Xavier found himself relaxing and enjoying much of his day, although he was met with many uninvited guests in his head. Attempting to ignore them he continued through his day and after a while the voices stopped altogether.

At home Xavier was his old self; he was more active and happier than he had ever been because he finally had a place among the rest of the supers. He had no homework that night so he invited Michael over to tell him about his day. Xavier spent hours talking to Michael and telling him everything he could remember about what had taken place that day. They discussed different super powers and Xavier told his best friend all about his power. Michael was the first non-super who was excited about his power besides his family. Michael stayed for dinner but went home shortly after because it was a school night. Alessa spent the night at Gwen’s because they were both going to the Super High School so they could take the bus together.

Xavier awoke before his alarm and jumped out of bed; it was finally Friday. He quickly got ready and bolted downstairs. He scarfed down his breakfast and ran out the door. Today was the day they were learning how to control their powers. It was great timing for him because the constant voices in his head were driving him crazy. He was so excited that the entire bus ride to school he could not help but bounce in his seat.

His teacher Mr. Collins was able to help many of the students but was hardly able to help Xavier, but it was enough to stop many of the voices. The thoughts of others would flood his mind when he was not focusing on anything, when his mind was completely relaxed. While Mr. Collins was working with one of the students with invisibility the alarm in the classroom began ringing. The students simultaneously jumped and let out a shriek from being startled. Xavier, like many of the other students looked around frantically looking for an answer to the universal question running through each student’s minds: “What do I do?” Mr. Collins stood up and shouted over the alarm, “Calm down! Grab your things and follow me.” He started to move towards the door and was followed by a herd of frightened students. One of the upperclassmen had broken a beaker of gas that had worked its way through the school. The entire school was sent home immediately.

Xavier walked into the house, his mother was supposed to be home but was not greeted by her like he usually was. He stopped in the doorway and willed his mind to relax. He heard his mother’s voice but also the voice of a man, but it was not his father. It was some other man that he did not know. He stood frozen in the front hall listening to their thoughts, “I’m so lucky that Mary’s husband had work. Wait was that a door? No. Must by my imagination.” “Samuel, stop talking please my lord. I did not invite you over so I could listen to your motor mouth. I should just kiss him to shut him up. Should I just ask him to leave?”

Xavier ran out of the house leaving his bag in the hall and the front door wide open. He ran down the street to Gwen’s house and banged on the door. “Alessa. Alessa. I need to talk to you. Alessa I need help.” Gwen’s mother opened the door frantically. “Hello Mrs. is Alessa here?” “Yes she is in the other room. Come on in sweetie.” Xavier walked into the house and found his sister sitting on the couch in the living room with Gwen. “Alessa I need to tell you something!” he stated frantically before running off into the other room. Alessa and Gwen got up and followed him quickly, unsure of what was going on. “Ali I think mommy is dating somebody thats not daddy.” Gwen looked at Alessa in shock. “You mean she’s cheating on him?” said Gwen. Alessa shook her head no. “What’s cheating?” asked Xavier. “It means that you’re supposed to only date one person, but you date somebody else too.” answered Alessa. “So why do you think mom is cheating on dad?” Xavier explained what had happened when he got home from school.

Alessa shooed Xavier out of the room and turned to Gwen. They ran off into her room and sat on her bed. “Gwen what do I do? What do I tell Xavier?” “That’s a tough one. I don’t know. I’m new to this, I still haven’t even had a boyfriend. I don’t know how to handle cheating... Do you believe that X is telling the truth.” Alessa paused and looked at the wall for a minute before answering, “Yeah. I believe him.” Turning to Gwen tears began to pour down Alessa’s face. “I can’t believe she would do this... What do I do? What is going to happen? What do I tell X?” She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Gwen rested her arm over her shoulder and held her close in attempts to comfort her and hoping to help as much as she could.

Xavier sat outside of the door listening to his sister and her best friend talking inside the room, he sat up with swelling eyes and walked into the living room. He knew what he had to do, he had made up his mind. Xavier went back to Gwen’s room and knocked on the door announcing through the shut door, “I’m going home. I need to get my bag. Are you coming with me Ali?” He heard his sister sniffle before she responded, “I’ll be out in a minute.” She stepped out of the room eyes puffy and red; she had definitely been crying.

They walked down the street hand in hand and into their house. Xavier knew what he needed to do and Alessa just needed to work with him and let the day go on like normal. Dinner was met by an awkward silence as Alessa and Xavier shoveled their food around on their plates in deep thought. No one attempted to start conversation, they sat in a mutual silence that continued through the rest of the night until each member of the family made their ways into their bedrooms. Xavier laid on his back in his bed in the consuming darkness of his room listening to the thoughts of his family. Alessa was crying again she was talking to herself like she had always done when upset, “This isn’t real. Mom loves dad, they love each other. She would never do that... Would she?” Xavier decided that he needed to get some sleep and focused on blocking out his family’s voices. He fell asleep and awoke the next morning exhausted to his alarm blaring.

Walking towards the kitchen Xavier was preparing himself for what he had to do. Alessa had left for school, it was up to him. Stepping into the kitchen he found his mom making breakfast, French toast, “Dad’s favorite.” he thinks. Turning to his mom he announces, “I’m ready for school I’m just going to go tell dad goodbye.” “That’s fine Sweetie.” Xavier walks out of the kitchen and takes a deep breath. He then walked up to his parent’s bedroom where his father was getting ready for work and knocked lightly on the door. He heard his father call out from inside, “Come in.”