Nebula (k.w) [1]

Chapter 9: The Star

We are all born alone and die alone. The loneliness is definitely part of the journey of life.

-Jenova Chen

°°°°°°

DANIEL WAS A TALL MAN. So was Joanna. Emily seemed like she'd grow a lot too. Meanwhile, Edith was short as hell. No-one would say it to their faces, but it was obvious the blonde wasn't part of their bloodline. The whole Duncan family was brunette and brown-eyed. Their skin tanned. Emily had Joanna's nose and Daniel's smile. Edith was a blonde, blue-eyed, pale teen. She didn't know where she got her smile or her nose from.

Which was okay, because the Duncans turned out to be better than her real family. At least they didn't abandon her.

In Edith's eyes, their family pictures looked really odd. She often found herself admiring them, deep in thought.

"Hey, angel." Daniel appeared on Edith's bedroom door, his hands full of papers. The blonde thought none of it, he was a lawyer, always busy.

"Daniel." she watched as the man dropped said files on top of her study desk. The teen narrowed her eyes "What are those?"

"Oh, these." he feigned surprise, leaning against the wall with a cool facade "Nothing important. Just some brochures. I figured you'd like to start figuring out which university you fancied, Miss Duncan."

Edith whined "Daniel..."

"Edith..." he whined back, "You know your mother and I are worried about your future. Look, if you could get your Spanish grades from a C plus to an A..."

Daniel turned to grab a pamphlet and a few documents, pushing them into Edith's lap.

"Stanford?!" she exclaimed.

"Stanford! One of the world's leading research and teaching institutions! Dedicated to finding the answers to-"

"Daniel, no! I'm not going to Stanford. I'm not going to California."

The man deflated visibly, suddenly looking very tired. He sat down in front of Edith on her bed, taking a deep breath.

"Angel, you have a GPA of 3.63, 3.63! If you tried a little harder you could do it. You can do anything you want to do." Daniel sighed, looking briefly at the brochures "Emily looks up to you so much. Joanna and me too, we're really proud of you. We know how much you love Astronomy, just... think about it."

Edith glanced at the brochure and nodded slowly.

°°°°°°

Charles Xavier had a lot of ideas about what Edith should try or improve. She didn't find it really suspicious, it was becoming normal for her to accept that the Professor knew so much, though he let on so little. Every week he seemed to have a different challenge for Edith. Sometimes she succeeded and felt amazing, sometimes she failed embarrassingly. Charles Xavier always supported her no matter what. Hank too was usually around and helped as he wrote his usual notes about the teen.

"Could you transform this into a candle?"

"Wait, what?" Edith thought she had heard a joke.

"Your powers involve influencing objects you see and can touch." Charles Xavier explained "Gravity, teletransportation, energy control. If you can truly affect matter as you please you should know your limits and potential."