POV Atia (pronounced: AY- shah)

I woke up and looked around the room. Switch was fast asleep, her golden hair ruffled. I climbed out of bed and stretched out my chocolate colored wings.

You heard me right: wings. We all have them, well, except for Kimu. Kimu is an eraser, a half-human, half-wolf hybrid created at the School. The School is what we call the science lab that we were created in, grew up, and finally escaped from. My flock and me, we are 2% avian, as in, bird, and we can all fly (except for Kimu). Please, please, please don't ask if I know a girl named Maximum Ride. She and a few other bird-kids escaped the School with Jeb Batchelder, one of the scientists there. They left us there. For years. Oh, it was awful! They left us there without so much as a second glance, and I hate all of them for it. But back to me. My flock, we all have other powers, too.

Like me, for example, I can navigate as if I have a GPS installed in my brain. I can see what everyone is doing, and hear what everyone is saying, but only if I've met them. It only works if I'm focusing on it, though, so it's not like I'm a creepy stalker who watches your every move. It's really useful.

I walked down the hallway to the bathroom, flicked on the light, and stepped inside. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and brushed back my short, brown hair. I reached for my toothbrush and brushed my teeth. When I finished, I walked down the hall to Kimu's room.

Kimu was not much taller than I was, and she had dark hair flowing down to her tailbone. I brushed the hair out of her face and nudged her shoulder. She woke up almost instantly.

"Hey," she said. She rubbed her eyes and then sat up. "You want breakfast?"

I nodded and followed her downstairs. When we got to the kitchen, I took a seat at the table, resting my chin on my hand. After a few minutes of silence, I heard light footsteps coming down the stairs. I turned and saw Crevice standing in the doorway.

Crevice was taller than Kimu. He had dark, shaggy hair that would only be able to be cut if you did it while he was sleeping. (Once it got really long, but he wouldn't let anyone cut it, so Kimu snuck up on him while he was sleeping and just snipped it off with a pair of scissors). He had dark eyes and pale skin. He never said much, and he didn't show much emotion. His power was that he could burn things by touching them. Not like, catch them on fire, but sear and scorch, and eventually melt or burn through. He was usually quite calm, but if you did just the right thing, you could set him off, and that could put you in severe danger.

"Hi," he said as he lumbered to the table. He sat down across from me as Kimu brought over a large plate of waffles and bacon. (Author's note: Mmm… Waffles.)

"Good morning, Crevice. Did you sleep well?" Kimu asked sweetly. She looked over at Crevice, and he looked back at her and shrugged. "That's good. Have you checked on anyone today?" Crevice shook his head slowly, chewing on a piece of bacon.

Just then, Switch walked in, feet dragging. She yawned and sat down next to Crevice.

"Hey," she said. "Everyone's fine, I presume?"

Crevice shrugged. I gave smiled and Switch a thumbs-up.

"I'm fine, Switch," Kimu said. "Seen anyone yet?"

"Yeah," Switch said, "Tara and Smosh are both up, and I don't know about Kaito or Artie."

After that, we sat in silence for a while. Then Tara came bouncing down the stairs.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully. Tara was tall, taller than everyone, and she had long, strawberry-blond hair. She sat down next to me. Then Smosh came down.

He was muscular and very strong. That was his power; he could lift up to 7 tons, last time I checked. He had short brown hair and blue eyes the color that I had imagined the ocean is, although I'd never seen it. He gave everyone a polite smile and sat down next to Tara.

More silence.

Then Kaito flew in through an opened window and landed clumsily next to Kimu, his light brown wings beating powerfully. "Tada!" he said. Switch snorted and Kaito shot her an angry glance. "How is everyone today?"

"Well," Switch started grumpily, "it doesn't look like anyone is dead, injured, or sick. What do you think?"

Kaito glared at her. He turned himself invisible and was very quiet on his feet so that no one knew where he was (although I could've checked if I wanted to. But there wasn't much of a point; I knew what would happen shortly).

"Ow!" Switch shrieked, rubbing the back of her head. Kaito was back where he had been and was now visible.

He smirked at her."Oh, no," he said sarcastically. "Did I hit you? Oops. I'm so sorry, my hand must've slipped," he said as he sat down.

Switch snarled at Kaito. She morphed her appearance to Kaito's. They looked exactly the same; besides the fact that Switch's clothes that fit her small frame before were now tightly pressed against her skin now. I guess that's what Kaito would look like in girl's clothes, I thought. "Hey, it's me," she mocked. As always, her mimicking was perfect. You wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. "I'm the idiot who likes to sleep on the roof and fly through window even though the front door is unlocked." She morphed back to herself, looking satisfied. Tara smiled. Crevice chuckled and then tried to cover it up with a cough, which didn't fool anyone. Kaito glared at switch, and she glared right back at him.

They looked so similar, even when Switch wasn't morphed to look like him. They both had golden blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a menacing look that tells you to back off with just one glance.

I sometimes admired that switch stood up to Kaito, but other times I found it quite stupid. Kaito had a nasty temper, and was very creepy. For one thing, he could turn invisible, and he used that power on everyone. Also, he slept with his eyes open, which, if you ask me, is creepy no matter who it is. And with his temper, he was unpredictable.

Switch, on the other hand, was feisty and not nearly afraid of Kaito as she should've been. She, too, could be quick to anger, and nearly half the words that came out of her mouth were sarcastic. She was cynical and stubborn, and usually not in a great mood.

They were both not great around people, and if locked in a room together, they would be at each other's throats by the first hour. Nobody knew why they hated each other so much, not even me. A few years ago, at the lab, they didn't really mind each other. But I guess one of them did something to the other that I didn't know about. So for the past few months, or maybe years-I don't really know how long- they haven't gotten along. Like, at all.

"Hey," Smosh interrupted. "Where's Artie?"

Everyone stopped as we realized that Artie hadn't come downstairs yet.

"I'll get her," Tara volunteered. She ran upstairs.

When they came back downstairs, Artie asked Kimu, "Did you remember to save any for me?"

"Of course, sweetie," she replied. Kimu brought over a large plate, enough to fill the stomach of an 11-year-old bird-kid who requires about 9,000 calories a day and who hasn't eaten anything for the past 10 hours. As Artie was lifting up her fork, a small object came crashing through the window and landed under the table. It opened up and thick smoke started to fill the air.