Two months and she was already so settled that some days would go by and she wouldn’t even remember that she was from a time before, that she had woken up in a lab just over two months ago; although there wasn’t much for her to remember to reflect on. She was a full-fledge citizen now, both American and Canadian.
She was a mutant and she was considered to be a person. No one in the small town of Oak Line knew she was a mutant though, not that it would have mattered it seemed. Many walked around proudly displaying their mutations and no one tried to knock them out and throw them into the back of an unmarked black van, taking them away to forever become an unknown statistic of disappearing mutants.
She was just a young woman making her way through the world. She was Sam Spence a kind natured but shy waitress at the local diner who had a reputation for giving hard working truckers an extra slice of apple pie when it looked like they needed it. Apple pie never comforted her but if such small things did good for those around her it was something for her to cling to.
If sometimes she was a little too quiet and her eyes would drift off gazing unfocused through the glass windows, or if suddenly she would back up and avoid being bumped into un-necessarily no one said anything.
The family that owned the diner had gladly taken her into their little fold. The older couple named Suzie and George were exceptionally nice and she found herself enjoying their little jokes with each other and the way Suzie would threaten not at all seriously that any day now would be the real day her real man came waltzing through the door picking her up off her feet and she’d end up throwing her spatula at George as she was twirled around. Usually, George would just snort and say no man was looking to throw their back out that badly and that there was an order ready, but his eyes would say another story as they would gaze at each other in amusement and something else. She found herself envying them in a way but she found so far she never felt the need for companionship.
Their daughter Fran took care of the entire inventory and was only ever around once a week. She was nice and studious, the two of them got on well when she did see her. Stan was Fran’s younger brother and Sam figured he was about the supposed age she was, the final papers she had been given put her age at twenty-seven. Stan joked just as much as his parents and even playfully flirted with her, especially when he was flipping burgers. Once he had taken the time to show her the tricks he would do flipping the burgers and she had accidentally burned herself, she had tried to hide it but the wound had healed by the end of the day, Stan never made a comment and his flirtations still continued.
Today, she found herself sitting along the clean counter with her chin resting on her hand as she stared out the window. She was never one for idol chit-chat and while she found herself easily becoming a part of the world around her, she still felt different and she had a feeling it wasn’t just because she was mutant. It would be the little things. Like how she’d find herself calculating how many steps it would take from each entrance to exit, which spot gave her the best view of everything. Noting the number of unfamiliar license plates that would drive by, the way certain customers would carry themselves, calculating their weight and height and knowing what point on their body to hit and make them in-disposable. She gave a small shiver as she heard the bell chime indicating more customers had walked through the door. It was a slow day.
With her mind still in a funk she turned around grasping her tray of dirty dishes and just barely missed crashing into a young man. At the last second she had felt his presence and was able to avoid him but his chest did not avoid the tray as it crashed and spilled down his front. However, before each and every cup and plate could smash to the ground the man’s hands moved quickly and each cup landed still on the tray inches before the ground.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped, yanking at the towel that hung around her waist, furiously moping up the mess.
“No,” a smooth voice spoke. “It was entirely my fault, in fact I think you should stop what you are doing and let me clean up this oily sludge they try to pass for coffee around here.”
“Hey!” Stan’s voice called from behind the counter. “I’ll have you know that oily sludge is the best in the county, Summers.”
Slowly, she found her eyes moving up the young man’s body. He was lean and extremely muscular, evident by the way his navy blue t-shirt strained across his chest. There was a nice big stain of cold coffee now on the center of his shirt but it did not deflect from the sharp lines of his body.
“What’s all the noise out there?” Suzie called from the back.
Her eyes moved up his smooth neck, taking in his clean and square jaw, somehow finding the way it clenched familiar. His lips quirked in a friendly smile at her as she noted the sunglasses he wore covering his eyes. It didn’t seem odd to her, even though it was cloudy out, it felt common somehow. Two dimples lined the edges of his lips. He was a strong man but his smile was what immediately disarmed any apprehension she might feel. She was struck by the fact that his short hair was a stark white, it seemed odd for such a young man, and she figured him to be in his late twenties, earlier thirties.
It took her three minutes to realize his warm hands were touching hers trying to get her to calm down and leave the mess. She found she didn’t even mind the touch, no alarm bells in her head telling her to jump back.
“Let me help,” he spoke quietly, a kindness in his words that matched the smile on his face.
It was fifteen seconds until she realized she was leaning into him, her nose inches away from his head as she openly sniffed him. Her eyes flew wide open at what she found herself doing and pulled back, no one seemed to of noticed not even the man. She found his scent somehow recognizable and she had no idea why. She felt a growl in the back of her head and she passed it off as nothing. The man appeared to be no threat.
“Oh, Nathan, can’t you leave a poor man alone and stop trying to destroy his establishment,” George spoke behind them.
“Oh give it a rest,” Suzie added appearing beside her husband. “It was an accident.”
“Yeah well he shouldn’t be picking on our girl, Sam, here,” George continued.
Nathan’s lips twitched. “I didn’t realise you had such another beautiful daughter hidden away.”
“Oh, I’m not…” she found herself starting only to stop when Nathan turned and smirked at her and somehow she knew he had winked at her behind his sunglasses.
“Keep it in your pants, Summers,” Stan called over from the grill.
“Good to see you too, Stan,” Nathan called back as they both stood up with him placing the tray back on the counter and softly taking the coffee stained towel from her grasp.
“I’m sorry for bumping into you…” he paused glancing at her tag. “Sam, I’m usually more perceptive.”
“It’s alright.”
“I’m Nathan Summers,” he spoke holding out his hand.
She reached over and grasped it noticing his strong grip. “I’m…Sam Spence.”
He quirked his head to the side. “Funny, you don’t look like a Sam.”
She shrugged, keeping her eyes on him as she noticed George was already taking care of the tray.
“I like your hair by the way,” he indicated as his fingers hovered over the white stripe in her hair. He must have noticed the way her breath hitched as he pulled his hand back and rubbed it through his own white locks.
“I kind of like it. Yours is nice too,” she responded smiling.
“Yeah, something tells me though that we’re the only two with this particular fashion statement, not all the rage around here.”
“Not where I’ve seen.”
Suzie coughed behind them. “I believe your regular order is ready, Nathan.”
“Thanks Suzie,” he called over his shoulder and looked back at her. “I suppose I should let you get back to work.”
She gave a small nod as her gaze wandered around the diner taking in the one middle-aged trucker at the back and the small family who were almost finished already.
“I suppose you should,” she threw him a smirk of her own.
“I’d hate to get on Suzie’s bad side, my dad lives for her apple pie.”
“Where’s your dad?” she asked finding herself suddenly curious, for the first time she felt a spark inside of her as though she was finally figuring out how to care about what was going on around her and the man before her intrigued her.
“Oh, he’s back home. We live out of town. It’s just been the two of us for a while, so I help him with the land and today I’m picking up some supplies, Suzie’s home cooked meals are always on the list.”
“That’s right,” Suzie spoke up as she wandered out of the kitchen with three large bags and a box containing a pie. “You tell your pop he better come on by next time.”
“Will do,” he responded grasping for the boxes as he gave Suzie a quick kiss on her cheek. “Thank-you. See you all later,” he called out and a series of replies were heard back.
“It was nice meeting you Sam.”
“And you,” she answered nodding.
“Try not to let these two hags boss you around to much,” he winked.
“Hey!” George’s voice yelled out. “Get your ass outta here, Summers.”
Nathan smiled as he left and for the first time ever she found herself smiling in return.