[center][color=PeachPuff][h2]Gwen[/h2][/color][/center]
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Amid the arriving students and families stood the Kirlin party of three. Each with expectant looks on their faces, the youngest had her eyes on the school, they gleamed with hope but also with a darker desire even her parents had never deciphered. The elders, dear Gwen's parents, had their attention turned to their daughter as if waiting for her to tell them this was all a joke.

Her mother twisting her wedding ring in endless circles around her finger, seemingly trying to loosen the tension she felt, was the first to break her silence, "Oh, honey are you sure you don't want us to help you get settled?"

"[color=peachpuff]Thanks for the offer Mom, but I think I'll be alright.[/color]" Gwen said, her hands clenching slightly, she could sense where the conversation was going next. Susan exchanged a look with Hank who shook his head slightly and shifted the duffel bag on his shoulder. Susan inhaled sharply and looked at the other students, she began to turn her ring even faster. 

"Darling its just that your father and I are worried that this is not a good fit for you. We were lead to believe that this is more of a high school rather than a college. You should be going to a real college, you have so much ambition, you want to be a diplomat and a politician, how will this school help you with that? You were accepted to UVA with a sizable scholarship and if you're going to be going to school in Virginia you should be going there. I'm sure if we called we could find a way to-"

"[color=peachpuff]No mom, I've made my decision. We've had this talk so many times. This is where I'm going, maybe for just a year to get a handle on what I can do, but what is happening this year is final.[/color]" Gwen said, cutting her mom off who just looked more agitated now. She sighed, that was a pretty good cue for final goodbyes. These Kirlin family issues would not be fixed in the next five minutes, Gwen had a room to set up and a schedule to finalize, there was not time right now to work through the deep tension emanating from the three of them. She looked at her dad who seemed to recognize this as the classic college drop off it essentially was, the gruff and typically stoic man had a strange look of sadness on his face. "[color=peachpuff]Dad, is this the last bag? My trunk and my sheets are already in the room, so just this last bag of clothes.[/color]" There was a lot more she could say and wanted to say to her dad but didn't. Hank just nodded and passed off the bag, quickly redirecting his attention to the grounds, muttering something about the landscaping. Classic Hank move, avoiding feelings. Then in a flurry of hugs and goodbyes they were in the car driving away. 

With her parents, and perhaps much more of her life, fading away into the woods Gwen began the trek back to her room. She passed by other students, a number of whom seemed to have some very noticeable 'thing' about them that was different, indicative of the fact they had abilities. Perhaps Gwen would be underestimated, maybe rightly so. Her powers might be considered weak compared to others, after all something about this place felt loud. Like the power stations that funneled electricity to entire towns. She couldn't tell which people were making so much of this 'noise' but the place was practically humming. One of the world's dangerous time bombs, this was going to be quite the freshman year.