The X Gene Chapter 1

Intro — Before the Bell

The yellow school bus rattled into the cracked parking lot of Longwood High, brakes screeching as it finally lurched to a stop. The air outside was sharp with the chill of an early autumn morning, the sun barely cresting over the rooftops.

From the back of the bus, Shawn had to duck low, his shoulders brushing against the narrow roof as he made his way to the front. At just fifteen years old, he already stood an imposing six-foot-two, a frame that looked out of place among his classmates. He leaned slightly as he stepped down onto the asphalt. 

The morning light painted his dark skin in a golden hue, but it did little to make him stand out. Shawn wasn’t the kind of kid people stared at for his looks. Average face plus,  Average clothes gives you  nothing special about you — except his height, which was the only thing anyone ever pointed out.

He adjusted the strap of his worn backpack and followed the trickle of students toward the double doors of the high school. The crowd swallowed him, just another teenager starting another long day.

The rest of the morning passed like any other for Shawn. Math class was dull, English dragged on forever, and History had him fighting to keep his eyes open.

But, No one could have guessed that today — in this ordinary building, on this ordinary morning — his X-Gene would stir for the first time. That the boy who thought he was painfully average was about to become something that could never, ever be average again.