Disclaimer: Hey, if I owned X-Men: Evolution, Gambit's eyes would be the right colors.

A/NI: I'mmmm baaaaaccckkk! Well, kinda. I won't be posting this nearly as often as I did "Lovely Pointed Ears". I'm working on two other fics, a novel-length original, and school just decided to come back in. So I thought as a back-to-school treat, I'd post the prologue. For those of you who've read LPE this will drive you nuts, but trust me, I have a rather sinister and complicated plot in mind here. **lets out breath** I'm actually PLANNING this fic! And boy, are you people in for a ride . . .

A/NII: alright, here's another deal: I have a collection of XME songfics, "All I Ask of You", but I kept finding songs that fit perfectly with certain part I have planned. So I'm gonna put an applicable song at the beginning of each chapter. If I can't find a song in time, however, I'll post the chapter anyway, I promise.

I am soooo in over my head . . .

Prologue

"Alright. I'll see you later, though, right Candy?" Amanda asked.

Summer was nearing, obvious in the t-shirts visible around the lunch tables set outside. The air, still chilly enough to wear pants, was being whipped into action by a warm southern breeze. Finals were less than a month away, and kids in honors classes had started studying weeks ago. In the foreground were two girls who, up until two weeks ago, had been the best of friends. Candy Southern had auburn hair, hazel eyes, and a sour expression on her face. The other, Amanda Sefton, had chocolate-brown skin, dark brown hair and darker brown eyes. As Candy turned away from her and walked inside, Amanda's expression turned depressed.

"Amanda?" Another normal-looking boy approached behind her, and put a hand on her shoulder in a Vulcan-salute. "Is something wrong with Candy?"

She sighed, and he wrapped her shoulders in his arm. "It's the whole FOH thing. Candy still doesn't believe that I joined them after she told me about them, even though I quit. Then again, I really don't blame her. She got attacked by them; I wouldn't forgive them either. I don't. But, Kurt . . . This would stop if I could tell her why I joined in the first place."

There was a Pause.

"'Manda - You can't."

Amanda crossed her arms. "Kurt, Candy's my best friend. I've known her for years. Why not? Even if she wasn't already dating another mutant, I'd still say it was safe to tell her. But if she weren't dating a mutant herself, there'd be no need!"

"'Manda, she's dating an angel. You've met Angel; Rogue describes him with this look in her eyes like he really is an angel. In case you hadn't noticed, I don't exactly have angelic looks," Kurt hissed.

Amanda shook her head vehemently. "If Candy were that bigoted she'd never have spoken to me."

"That's hardly a good example! It's a security breach, Amanda. The more people know the more likely it is everyone else will find out!" By now Kurt's hologram was red in the face and trying to keep his voice down and argue with Amanda at the same time.

Amanda, however, was having none of it. "A security breach? It's not like she'd find out about the Institute; only you. Only so she'd understand - it's the only way to get her back! After all, she trusted me with Angel's identity - "

"Which you refuse to tell us," Kurt inserted crossly.

"Just because she broke a promise to tell me doesn't give me any reason to break my word to her!"

"So you're willing to break a promise you made me?"

By now even the pretense of a whisper was gone; curious onlookers and gossips were heading towards the arguing couple like bugs to a light.

"I don't believe it," Amanda threw up her hands. "You're making me chose between you and my best friend! Well I have news for you, Kurt Wagner: That's not how it works!"

With that closing statement Amanda stalked away, leaving an angry and hurt Kurt in her wake.