[AN: Here's another chapter for you! It's a little scattered, but as I said before, I don't want to write a lot of 'boo hoo hoo, no one loves me... S/he won't be by me, s/he must hate me...' So this chapter covers about a month... lol. Also, keep in mind that Kerri has trouble trusting people, so she jumps to bad conclusions sometimes. Please enjoy, and feel free to message, review, or just read, and please don't hate me!]

Kurt's alarm went of on the table next to his bed, but he was already awake, and his tail flew forward, knocking it from the table.

He was still upset about how it had turned out a week ago, when he'd told Kerri they shouldn't be together.

He was only looking out for them, and what was in their best interest for the future, but she had started crying and flown away, angry at him, refusing to believe that he only wanted to protect her.

Kurt got out of bed, reluctant to leave the covers, wanting to stay there and hide. His foot touched a piece of dirty clothing, and he kicked the offensive thing away, even though he was the one who had dropped it there, uncaringly messing up his normally always clean room. The only thing he cared about and wanted right now was Kerri, and he wasn't allowed to be with her.

He reached into his closet, taking clothing out at random and putting it on. He'd rather stay in bed and hide all year until he could be with Kerri again, but he had a job to learn how to do.

Kerri was sitting in the library behind the big, almost L -shaped desk.

She had a book in her hand, but she couldn't focus on it. She kept thinking about Kurt, and how she had reacted to what he had said to her.

She loved him, and he loved her, and he was right. It really would be safer if they didn't do anything together this year. She felt bad about how she had acted, feeling like she always looked like an idiot in front of him, especially when she was upset.

The drama class filed in, going to the play and poetry section of the library.

Gambit led them, talking about what they were supposed to do for the assignment, and she glanced up and away as Kurt passed her, her eyes full of regret.

She wanted to tell him she was sorry, that she'd had some time to cool down, and she understood better what he had been trying to say.

The rest of the class period dragged on as she waited to go talk to him.

Kurt stood in the back of the library, looking at the table he always met Kerri at. The good times they'd had at the table floated through his mind, making him even more down as the bell rang.

He didn't even realize that one of the students was trying to talk to him for a moment.

"Professor, are you ok?" She asked.

Kurt looked at her, tuning back into reality.

She was about three inches shorter than him, with shoulder length dark brown hair, bright hazel eyes, and lips that were always painted red. He tried to remember her name, Jill, Jane, Allie, Mellissa?

She was new this year, so he'd only known her for about a week.

"Ja, I am ok, vhat do you need help vizh?" He put on a smile, trying not to scare away the student.

"We~ll," she smiled and tilted her chin down a little, looking up at him cutely. "I was wondering; this part," she pointed to a line in the book she was holding, leaning close to him. "The guy is saying, "oh how lovely the face, like the sun glowing, radiating it's happiness on to me," but what does that mean?"

Kurt looked at her book, and told her, "he is saying how beautiful zhe voman he loves is and how happy he is vhen he looks at her."

"Oh, you're so smart, no wonder they made you a teacher." She smiled and giggled, putting her hand on his forearm, making him glad he was wearing a long sleeved shirt, so she couldn't feel the fuzziness of his arm. He smiled kindly and put his hand on hers, gently pushing it off of him.

Kerri had stopped, seeing Kurt and a student talking, wanting to let them finish so she could have him all to herself. But now, she could feel agitation rising as she saw the girl flirting with him.

It wasn't really that she was flirting with him, it was the way he looked down at her hand on his arm, smiling and putting his hand on hers.

Kerri turned and stormed away, her fluffy wolf tail angrily lashing about and her large wolfy ears laying back on her head as soon as she walked past someone that the image could bounce off of and manifest.

She marched straight down to the Danger room, finding Logan about to go in, and asked him, "Can I go in, or are you having a practice?"

"You got some fighting you need to do, Kid?" He asked her. She nodded and he let her in, going up to the control booth. "What do you need, Kid?"

"Just a punching bag," she told him. She waited, pacing slightly, while he typed codes and protocols, and a large punching bag appeared.

She punched the bag over and over, hard, viciously. Her fang like teeth gritted, her jaw clenched tight in anger.

'I can't date a student, you'll get into trouble, it's only for this year... She's a student,' Kerri raged in her head. 'She's new, but definitely a student. And a junior,' she realized. 'Wow, seems pretty similar to when I got here, is that how he gets his kicks?! Coming on to new juniors and making them think he loves them?! Or did he think he was leaving after last year, so he didn't have to worry about how to deal with being around me?' Her slightly longer, but definitely sharper nails had tore open the bag and she was just tearing at it now, throwing stuffing everywhere.

That night was the first time in a long time that Kerri didn't leave her room. Instead of going out, she sat and watched outside, wrapped in her blankets.

Her anger had faded, but she was still upset, mostly depressed, questioning if Kurt had ever loved her, if any of the things he had said to her were true.

The morning came, and she was still sitting next to the window, asleep against the wall.

Kurt on the other hand, was a pile of blankets on his bed, again hiding from the world, wishing he could give in and be with Kerri.

At least it was Saturday, though, and he didn't have to leave his room all day.

Kerri had gotten up and went on her way to the store to do the grocery shopping, but stopped at the mall. She wasn't sure exactly why, she just felt like being there.

She went in, wandering around, ending up at the arcade. She walked through the door, feeling a little more comfortable in the dark noisy room.

Kerri wandered through the arcade, playing a few games. She was playing a fighting game when someone came close and started watching her.

"Mind if I join in?" He asked.

She turned and recognized him, but couldn't quite remember his name. "Sure."

He popped in a quarter and they fought. He wasn't much of a challenge for her, and when he lost he let go of the controls and turned to her. "Fighting games were never really my strong suit."

She looked the three or four inches up at him as he brushed his shaggy, dishwater blonde hair out of his brown eyes. "Why did you come and challenge me, then?"

"To have an excuse to talk to you. You don't remember me, do you?" He asked.

"Sorry, I'm just bad with names," she told him.

"Chance," he told her.

"Kerri," she reached forward and shook his offered hand.

"So, I don't see your boyfriend here," he commented.

"Yeah, we, uh, we broke up," Kerri admitted, leaving out all of the complicated, confusing details.

"That's too bad," Chance said, although she could tell by his voice that he wasn't entirely sorry about it. "So are you here with a friend or something?"

Kerri could tell what he was trying to get at. "No, no quarter runners today," she told him.

Chance nodded, then looked around for a second. "I could run for you, or... You still owe me that game of DDR, you wanna play?"

She knew he was hitting on her, but she went with him anyway. It wasn't like he was asking her out on a date, and she did want to play DDR.

They played a few games, after which she looked at the watch she kept in her pocket. "Sorry, I have to go, I've got grocery shopping to do."

"Ok. Are you coming back next week?" He asked, not pressing her.

"Yeah, probably," she told him and left.

On the next Saturday Kerri was at the mall, in the arcade, playing a video game, when Chance found her. "Hi, glad to see you came, Kerri."

"Hi," she repeated back.

"Chance," he said.

"Yes, I remember," she told him.

"So, do you want to play something?" He asked.

"Ok," she told him, and they found a game to co-op on.

That night she sat on her bed, a long skinny shoe box next to her, a picture in her hand. It was one of the pictures from the formal the last year; she and Kurt were standing together, his fingers were on her cheek, holding it as he kissed her on the other cheek. Her eyes were a little wide in surprise, and she remembered the shock and joy that had flooded through her.

He was so kind and wonderful...

How could she think that he would be capable of what she'd thought before?

Kurt heard a knocking on the door, but he didn't answer, the knocking continued until the person gave up. The door was opened and he heard someone enter. "Vhat do you vant?" He asked.

Ororo stood by the door. "Kurt, no one has seen you since Friday, you need to eat. Please come down." He shifted in the blankets, but didn't answer. "Kurt, maybe you should talk to someone about what you are going through."

"I can't," he said. "I can't talk about es." 'I vill get Kerri and myself into trouble...' He thought miserably.

Ororo sighed and left, going to Charles's office.

Kerri was in Professor Xavier's office, sitting on her usual couch. She still had a class with him, or at least, what they called a class, it was still really more like therapy.

"You look a little better than you did last week, Kerri," he told her. "But you still seem to be coiled tightly. Are you sure you don't want to talk with me about it?"

"I can't." Her eyes were on the floor as she told him. "Not to you. Not to the person I want to talk to. I have no friends to tell."

"Kerri, I'm sure that if you talk to people they would like you, you could make friends," he told her.

"It's not that. If I made a friend, I still wouldn't be able to tell them. It's- just... Hard to trust people. Especially with this."

"Have you tried talking to Kitty about it? I'm sure she would love to hear from you," he assured her.

Kerri shook her head. "I- I have a hard time on the phone. And Kitty is busy with college, it's harder, you know, more demanding."

Charles took a deep breath and exhaled it. "Well, you know, many people who feel they have no one to talk to keep a journal, or a diary." Kerri nodded. "You could get one with a lock, and at least you'd have somewhere to put your thoughts," he suggested.

Kerri was starting to feel depressed, she had been feeling that way all week.

She was in the library, sitting behind the desk, staring at the book in her hands.

She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be with Kurt. She wanted to tell him she was sorry, that she still loved him, that it was ok, that she'd wait, that she wasn't mad at him.

But she couldn't.

Maybe she was paranoid, but she thought that Scott still had it out for her. He was probably watching her every move, just waiting for her to put one toe out of line.

So she had to wait until they were together for some other reason to talk to him.

Which made her feel even more depressed.

Kerri went to the arcade on Saturday, she was playing a fighting game, but she wasn't feeling into it.

Chance found her and joined in the fight. "So how are you today?" He asked as they fought.

"Ok," she told him. She won, but lost against the next computer.

They wandered around, playing games, and, as if he could sense that she needed a little time, Chance told her about himself, his likes, dislikes, only prodding a little when he asked about her, letting her come out at her own pace.

After a while, Kerri ran out of quarters, and Chance asked if she wanted to get a drink, so they walked to the food court.

They sat at a table and Kerri sipped at her water.

"I could get you a drink, you know," Chance told her.

"No, it's ok, I like water, it's good for you." But mostly it was because that sounded a little like a date.

There was silence for a moment. "So, how long have you and your ex been apart?"

Kerri looked up at him, startled. "We- well, I guess it's been about a month," she told him.

He nodded, taking a drink from his straw, but she didn't continue. "How long were the two of you together?"

Kerri looked down at the table, chewing the straw in her cup. She hardly knew him, but she felt like she could talk to him, and he was completely separate from the situation...

Maybe she could talk to him about it, she might feel better...

"We, um, liked each other for a while first, then he asked me out and," she paused as she counted. "About five months."

"Wow, that's a while," Chance said, and she made a noncommittal noise in answer. He played with the straw in his drink. "So, do you think you're ready to get back on the horse?"

Kerri looked up at him, confused. "What?"

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" He asked more simply.

"Oh, I- no, I'm not ready yet," Kerri told him.

As she walked through the checkout at the grocery store later, she thought about how much going on a date with Chance would feel like cheating on Kurt.

She wasn't interested in Chance anyway, but it seemed like she should be, somehow; they had a lot in common. And she could tell that he liked her; every time she told him she had to go, he asked if she was going to be there the next week.

Kurt sat in front of the drama class, listening as Gambit taught about the way you read a line. He was really trying to focus, but he could only give it half of his attention, the other half was stuck moping still.

If only he hadn't taken this job, then he could be with her, kissing her, touching her, loving her...

But that was ridiculous; if he hadn't taken this job, where would he work, and how would he support them when she graduated?

The bell rang, and the class filed out, leaving him and Gambit there, until Gambit went into the office to grab another stack of papers, then it was just him.

Kurt gathered all of the papers the students had handed in as they left, and someone came back in. He looked up to see the girl from the library, Capra.

"Hi, sorry, I left my bag," she smiled and went to her chair, grabbing her purse. She took longer than necessary as she came back down and handed him her paper. "I forgot that, too." Kurt took the paper and put it in the stack with the others. "Professor Wagner, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he told her, setting the stack of papers on the desk.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Kurt's eyes widened in surprise, and he answered, trying not to reveal his sad feelings. "N-nein... Not anymore..."

"Really? A handsome man like you?" She was smiling at him, lingering.

Kurt felt a little uncomfortable, after being with Kerri for a year, telling him she liked him better without his image inducer, and the few girls before her, who liked him until they saw what he really looked like, it was like people who said he looked good with his image inducer on were saying they preferred the image inducer.

Gambit walked back in from the office, and Capra waved cutely, turning and leaving.

Kerri was sitting against the wall outside of the school.

She knew she was just moping, but she also knew that she had to be smart about how she went about what she wanted to do next.

In the morning she went to her classes, sitting through class and doing her work.

She walked into the library for last period, and was glad to see the note Dr. McCoy had left for her on the desk; 'I am doing some work in the science lab, the drama class is coming in to have class.'

She was finally going to have her chance to talk to Kurt.

She waited through the class, waiting for the bell to ring, it felt like forever. Finally, a few minutes before the bell would ring, Kerri stood, picking up the books that needed to be shelved and walked into the shelves.

She stopped near the end of the aisle and searched for the call numbers to replace the book in her hand, but stopped as she heard voices.

Kurt was standing at the back of the library, a little away from the class.

Capra walked over to him, holding a book in her hands. "Professor, can you help me?"

"Ja, sure," he said, turning to the student, who had been following him around for most of the class period.

"This part in this play, can you explain what's happening?"

Kurt suppressed a sigh and put on what he hoped was a kind smile, even though he was getting agitated with her constant presence. He leaned closer to read, as she held the book close to her, and explained it to her.

Kerri poked her head around the shelf and saw Kurt.

He was standing with the same girl she had seen him with before. He was leaning close to her, almost looking over her shoulder at the book in her hands.

In the perfect position to stare right down her shirt.

Anger rose in her, making her muscles tense and her hand slide the book onto the shelf a little too roughly.

Kurt heard a noise, hoping it was Kerri, he excused himself from Capra and went toward it.

He saw Kerri glowering at the books and stopped. "Kerri," he wasn't sure what to say, only that he was glad to see her and that the urge to hold her was driving him mad.

She searched for where the next book went, glaring at the numbers. "What?"

"I'm glad to see you..." He told her, a strained tone in his voice.

"Mmmm," she hummed, disbelievingly.

"I am... I'm sorry, Kerri, I know zhat zhis is hard on you, it's hard on me, too," he told her.

"Yeah, I saw, with your new junior over there. So hard. She's why you wanted to break up, right?" She spat.

"Vas? Nein! Liebling, I vould never-"

Kerri cut him off, slapping the last book in her hand onto the edge of the shelf, her tail and ears appearing, angrily back against her head, as she turned to him, baring her clenched fang like teeth. "Please excuse me, sir, but aren't you being a little too familiar with me? Lehrer?" She asked with as much deadly calm as she could manage. {teacher}

"Kerri, don't, I lo-" He tried to tell her as the bell rang over head.

She clenched her hands, hurt that he was going to use that, not wanting to hear him. As soon as the bell rang, she turned and stormed away, too angry for her tail to even move around.

She went straight to the Danger room, but someone was in there, so she went to her room and paced.

How could he? He was with that girl again. He was standing really close to her.

Although she supposed that they were broken up, so it wasn't technically cheating, but it still felt like betrayal. After all, he'd said he loved her, made her love him.

Her thoughts must be true, he must have dumped her to go out with a new student...

Kurt teleported to his room, hurt. Kerri didn't want to see him, she wouldn't hear him, she wouldn't be near him...

He climbed onto the bars above his bed and his tail started flicking back and forth in agitation.

He knew that she was upset, he was upset, too, but there was nothing he could do about it. And he'd almost told her he loved her, which would get them into trouble.