Freaks

I

Your POV:
Since the beginning of human intelligence, there has always been a division; between race, between gender, and now, between species. I lived in a world where a tenth of a tenth of a tenth of the population is a sub-species of human called mutants, people with super abilities.
The odds of being mutant are practically non-existent, yet there I was, a part of that tenth of a tenth of a tenth of the population.
My mother was a mutant, but she died the second after I was born, and my father took off the moment he found out she was pregnant. Ironically though, I lived with my paternal grandmother, who had no knowledge of my mother's powers or that I inherited them. She would probably kill me if she found out about my abilities.
There was only one person that knew about my powers, and that was Bo, my blind neighbor that owned a music store nearby. He was a mutant too, in fact the very mutant that helped me when I first figured out what I was. He has super-powered hearing and can control sound waves. It was in his very store that I discovered my powers, and he's kept my secret ever since.
There's a lot of discrimination against mutants, and whether or not we should be locked up and/or experimented on like lab rats was currently a controversial topic on every newspaper in existence. The truth is, people were scared. People fear what they don't know.
Eight years ago in 1963, our previous president, Kennedy, was shot. His assassination caused people everywhere to fabricate these weird conspiracies that were borderline supernatural. Rumors started going around that this mutant named "Magneto" was the one that did it by controlling some "magic bullet" or something. After that, people became pretty paranoid that mutants are "beings of destruction hiding among society."
There were even people proposing mutant-deadly inventions to be patented by the U.S. Military, so most of us mutants were lying low and trying to go unnoticed.
And that was my golden rule for high school too.
I sat in the corner of the art room, sketching my hand until the ear-piercing bell finally rang. I hurried off to the abandoned back staircase.
Something you should know about me?
I try to avoid people. 
Not because I'm one of those pessimistic "mankind sucks" sort of mutants, but because of my powers.
I have the ability to control and transfigure emotions into a physical state, like streams and forces of energy.
However, this means I'm extremely sensitive to every living thing's emotions, which can get exhausting when you're walking through a hallway full of hormone-enraged, overdramatic teenagers.
I pushed at the metal door leading to the back staircase, but it wouldn't budge. I noticed a note posted on the glass window.
"Stairway closed due to wet paint. Do not enter."
Great.
I sighed and held my breath as I entered the heavy stream of people flowing throughout the halls. There were a thousand emotions to pick up on.
Stress. Jealousy. Insecurity.
I could hear the yelling of two girls as I walked past. Their anger burned. I kept my head down and ran into the bathroom, taking shelter in one of the stalls.
And there I waited until a majority of the students left to go home.
When I exited, the halls were empty. I made my way over to my locker and shoved books into my backpack. Meanwhile, I sensed a sudden flash of adrenaline whip behind me. I turned, but no one was there.
I raised an eyebrow in confusion but continued to sling my bag over my shoulder and walk towards the main exits. When I got outside I saw a boy with silver hair, a Led Zeppelin t-shirt, and headphones covering his ears. I had seen him before and I knew he was a senior like me. I attempted to recall his name.
Peter.
His presence was calm and cool, but I could sense a slight feeling of adrenaline still about him. Whatever I sensed before, it was from him.
He gave me a slight smile as I passed him. I gave him a half-smile in return as I continued on my way.
Something was definitely odd about him, that's for sure.