Empire State University, Emma`s dorm room:
Ian and Emma are very surprised to see each other. He asks about her hair and she says her hair is now bleached blond. She asks why he looks different and he says contacts.
Christie is shocked at this turn of events. She asks them if they really do know each other. Emma explains it’s a long story. Ian tells Christie that he was Emma’s highschool art teacher. Christie thinks that their meeting now is definitely kismet. Emma thinks “Shoot me now” to herself. Ian tells her it’s really good to see her. Mentally she thinks “really?” and voices her agreement for her friends to hear. Emma tells them she was about to do laundry so he and Christie can do whatever they had planned after she leaves. Christie, however, grabs the laundry and volunteers to get it started so Emma and Ian can catch up. She is out of the room before either can object.
After Christie leaves, all Emma can do is stare at the door. Ian asks if she is ok. She replies she has never been better. Ian tells her that she and Christie have a nice dorm room. He says back in college he never had such style but then he was a boy and a slob. Emma suddenly tells him that she had no right to kiss him. He looks shocked so she says it again to convince both of them of that she has finally said it. Ian responds by telling her that every schoolgirl has the right to at least one crush.
Emma asks Ian if he blames her. He reminds her that it did cost him his job at Snow Valley but he also reminds her that her Dad misinterpreted the facts. Emma thinks to herself “on purpose”.
Ian tells her that he feels that the kiss set him free and that he is much happier being an academic advisor and mentor at Empire State University.
Christie bursts back in the dorm room and tells Emma that she and Ian are going to a gallery opening in Soho. She even invites Emma to join them. Emma tells Christie that she will pass but Christie insists that Emma is a recluse who won’t even go to class and then covers her mouth in a pretend oops. Ian is shocked and asks Emma if this is true and if her father is responsible. Emma does her best to convince Ian its nothing but he insists it doesn’t sound like nothing to him. He reminds her that this doesn’t sound like her at all, especially since she used to be his star pupil in high school. He invites her to his office early next week to discuss the situation and makes her promise to go to class in the meantime. Emma reluctantly agrees, and gives him her promise to attend class.
The next day, on the way to class Emma happens to walk upon the first anti-mutant demonstration she has ever seen. People are carrying signs stating that athletes should be tested for mutation. Some signs claim that mutants are a hazard, while other signs call mutants “cheaters” and tell them to “play by the rules”.
Emma thinks to herself that the signs she sees make absolutely no sense whatsoever. A familiar voice calls to her to ignore the protestors as they have been making noise all morning. Emma greets Max and tells him that she does not understand what they are protesting. He tells her that a star athlete in California was revealed to be a mutant. She replies “mutant?” Max asks Emma if she has been reading the papers or watching the news. She tells him no. Max tells her that mutants have been popping up all over for the last year or so. Even scientists think they are the next rung on the evolutionary ladder.
She asks Max what makes the mutants different from everyone else? Max tells her that they are born with “super powers” which enable them to fly, walk through walls, or read other peoples minds. Emma is so shocked by his last comment that she stops dead still and drops her books. Max asks her if she is okay as he moves to help her retrieve what she has dropped. She tells him that everything he has said just sounds very scary to her. He tells her that she can’t blame him for dropping her books this time. Emma replies “I guess not”.
She turns and does a quick scan of the protesters. What she finds scares her even more. She feels their hate and abhorrence of others just because they are different. There is nothing in Emma’s life that has prepared her to deal with this overwhelming hatred. Secretly, Emma wonders if she is a mutant? Emma starts to wander off and Max asks her where she is going. She tells him she has to run or she will be late for class. As she makes a hasty retreat, Max yells that he wanted to ask her something.
Later that day in class Emma is sitting in the lecture hall doing her best to listen to her instructor. She can’t get over the feeling though that she is shaking like a leaf. She is now extremely worried that she, herself is a mutant. She is frightened that others might find out and then realize that she uses her powers to pass her exams.
Her private thoughts are interrupted by the professors’ question on a home schooling pioneer directed at her. She stumbles for the answer and utilizes her powers to pick up the name John Holt out of the air. Emma uses that name as her answer. The Professor praises her and says that for a minute she thought Emma wasn’t paying attention.
Then the Professor asks if any other student has a question. Kai asks if mutants should be allowed to go school with normal kids. Emma answers Kai by saying that just because mutants are different doesn’t mean they should be denied basic rights such as the right to an education. Shannon, another classmate, says she has heard on TV that mutants are dangerous. Another classmate says they shouldn’t believe everything the TV says. Still another student voices concern that mutants might bully normal children for their lunch money. Emma says that would be because the bully is a sociopath and not because the bully is a mutant. Emma, out of desperation, redirects the question to Professor Mason. The Professor replies that she refuses to have this discussion in her class.
Immediately after class on Campus grounds Christie chases Emma down to let her know that she has spoken with Max in Spanish class. Emma offers her condolences. Christie asks Emma what he has ever done to her. Emma tells her that he only annoys her. Christie asks Emma if she is the kind of weirdo that hates someone because they might like her. Emma denies this. Christie tells her that Max has invited both of them to the party that he and his team are throwing this evening. Christie and Emma shake hands and Emma tells her that she is “on”.
Later that night in the dorm room Christie and Emma are getting dressed to go out. Emma admires herself in the mirror as Christie assures her she looks fabulous. Christie shows her 2 blouses (1 red, 1 white) and Emma tells her to go with the white. Of course, Christie immediately decides to wear the red one. Emma notices that Christie is in a very good mood.
Emma believes that Christie does have a crush on Ian and they did go to a gallery opening together. Emma really wants to ask Christie and then uses her powers to get at the truth. In one way she feels she has no business prying into another’s affairs. However, she does consider the possibility that she may in fact be a mutant. Emma uses this to justify this action to herself by convincing herself she would just be using the innate abilities she was born with.
Emma asks Christie and while her roommate says “it was cool’ she is really thinking “He is amazing”. Emma wonders what amazing means and asks “just cool?” Christie thinks “I had the best time of my life” even though she tells Emma that Soho is very stuffy. Emma says she is from Boston so she can understand stuffy. Emma wonders to herself why Christie is trying to pretend she does not have a crush on Ian.
Later that night at the party Max answers the knock on the door and is amazed to see both Emma and Christie standing before him. Max offers to take the girls’ jackets before he dies from shock. Emma tells herself that she thought she would hate the party, but since her powers are under control, this is a nice experience. Christie points out that it did not hurt Emma to go to the party at all. Emma has to agree with Christy on that point.
However, as Max approaches her she realizes that she can read his thoughts. He is agonizing inside over whether to ask Emma to dance with him or not. Emma decides to make it easy for him and asks him to dance with her instead. As they are going to the dance floor, Christie tells them waves bye to them. Once among the dancers, Emma starts to dance and notices that Max is just standing there.
She asks him why he is just standing there, but before he finishes his next sentence she reads his mind and asks him why asked her when he doesn’t even know how to dance. Max reminds her that she asked him and she sighs audibly.
Suddenly, a young man approaches them by bullying his way through the crowd. The music falls silent. Emma realizes these guys are the basketball team that lost to Empire State University. Max steps away from the crowd and asks of they have come to see how winners party?
The leader of the opposing team tells Max that they saw the news report about the mutie who used his powers to help him win at sports. “So, me and the guys got to thinking……”
Max asks them sarcastically just what they are getting at. The leader of the opposing team tells him that it doesn’t make sense for them to go through an entire season without losing a game; only to lose against Empire State University. Max accuses the leader of the opposing team of being a mutant with the power to ignore reality.
The leader gets angry and approaches Max to ask him to repeat what he said. Max tells him to get a breath mint and shoves him away.
This last comment causes the entire room to break into a fight with the opposing team. Emma thinks to herself that she knew she should have stayed home tonight. Emma turns to Christy to tell her that they have to get help. Christie points out to her that the door is blocked Emma looks at all the fighting boys that stand between her and the door and realizes that Christie is right. Emma knows that she has barely learned how to use her powers to control one person so there is no way she can control all of them so “crowd control” is definitely out. She decides to reach out to any other minds in the immediate vicinity and broadcasts a short range telepathic call for help.
Outside the on campus apartments two students are driving by the on the road outside the building. The boy picks up the telepathic signal and says the word “help” aloud while he is driving. The girl with him calls him Frank and asks him what he has just said. So he repeats himself and states that they must get help to the on-campus apartments right away.
Meanwhile, back at the party Emma sees a vase hurling through the air in the direction of herself and Christie. She has just enough time to tell Christie to “look out” and then duck herself as it crashes into the wall beside her.
Suddenly the door to the party swings open and standing in the entry way are the campus police. The policeman sternly tells the fighters to break it up while the policewoman stands behind him acting as back up.
Minutes later outside the campus apartments Emma and Christie stand and watch the fighters, including Max, be loaded into transport vehicles to take them to the local jail for processing. Christie remarks to Emma how weird it was for the police to just appear and take control of the situation. Emma convinces Christie that the police must have received an anonymous tip that the fight was in progress.
Christie tells Emma that she thinks the opposing basketball team was insane to crash the party just to accuse Empire State University’s team of being mutants. Christie tells Emma that everyone knows “mutants are disgusting freaks of nature” and Max is way too cute to be one of them. Emma completely agrees with her roommate.
The next day Emma walks to class hugging her books tightly against her. She can’t understand how even nice regular people, like Christie, could hate mutants so much. Emma is disturbed because she is not sure if she is a mutant or not but she does know she possess some kind of extra mental power that others do not. She wishes she had a close friend she could confide in. Someone she could talk her troubles over with.
Someone who would help her figure out this crazy mess. Most importantly, someone who would not be judgmental of her one way or the other. Suddenly, Ian’s name springs to mind and she rushes off towards the visual arts building.
Emma arrives at the building and hurries in. She spots Ian but he is talking to Christie. She realizes she should have known that as the two are becoming close friends.
“Men, they’re not worth it”, suddenly pops into her mind from no where.
It takes Emma a few seconds to recognize this thought is not her own. She sees a girl walking toward her in the hall. The girl is looking her directly in the eye and in her mind she hears “Bloom, darling, Astrid Bloom”.
