Chapter Four: Local Movie Star

"It's not bad enough that she's staying with us," Lance grumped the next morning as he hauled his backpack over his shoulder. "But now she's going to the same school as us? What a bummer!"

"Quit bitchin'." Switch snapped behind him. "Can't say I'm all that thrilled about it either, but it came with the deal package. Besides, what did you think I would do? Sit here and fester all day?"

"In a matter of speaking…" Lance grumbled.

"Welp, that's not gonna happen." Switch said, approaching him so they were face to face. "So moaning won't help." She reached up and flicked him on the forehead before walking towards the front door. Lance ground his teeth at her and stomped one of his feet, making the ground shutter violently under her. With a cry of surprise, Switch fell down once again. Lance smirked and Switch pulled herself up, rubbing her backside but obviously trying to keep her temper back to keep her power from activating. His moment of joy was broken when Mystique in her principle disguise reached forward and grabbed his ear roughly.

"Not in the house!" She snapped into it before releasing him and walking out the door. Lance glowered after her, rubbing his ear. Now it was Switch who was smiling back, then stuck her tongue out and also left the house.

"C'mon, Lance." Pietro said from behind. "Do you really want this one to leave like Rogue did? Wait, maybe I shouldn't ask that. Just try not to fight with her too bad, all right?"

Lance growled. No, he knew that they couldn't afford to loose another one to Xavier's side, but Switch was almost an exception. Hiking his backpack over his shoulder, he walked out the door and towards the massive jeep that they drove to school.

"And look on the bright side, yo." Todd said as Lance climbed into the driver's seat. He was sitting in the back, with Switch squished between him and Freddy. "You two may not even be in the same classes together, so the only time you have to deal with each other is when we're home."

"Amen to that." Both Lance and Switch grumbled as the jeep pulled out of the driveway and they headed for Bayville High.

It seems that Toad hit it on the head. Switch thought later that day as she leaned back in her chair in Biology. After the little episode that went on last night, Mystique seemed to go through desperate steps to make sure that she and Lance were not in any of the same classes together. And a good thing too…maybe that could mean that she could stay in one place for a while without having to get chased out by the authority.

"So, tell me." She whispered, leaning over to Todd in the middle of Biology while the teacher's back was turned. "Who are these X-guys you're always telling me about? Perhaps you should actually show me so I'm not jumping around at everyone talking to me. Not a good think for me to be doing, if you get my meaning."

Todd nodded and pointed to the front of the room, where two students were sitting in the middle of the front row; a girl and a guy. The girl had medium-length brown hair that was pulled into a high ponytail and was wearing a pink sweater that made Switch wince. The boy was African-American, his hair bleached blonde. "Them?" Switch asked.

"Yeah. That's Kitty Pryde and Evan Daniels, yo. And anyone you see them is probably an X-geek too. Stay away from them."

"Why?" Switch asked, and Todd shot her such a look that she thought that she did something blasphemous. "What's the big deal with them, I mean?"

"Besides making our lives a living heck, nothing." Todd snorted, kicking back in his chair and putting his feet up on the desk. "Believe me, as soon as you'll meet one you know. Stuck-up jerks, always thinking…"

"Mr. Tolansky. Miss…uhh…Switch." Came the teacher's voice from the front of the room. He was peering at them through those creepy beady eyes that all science teachers seemed to have. The rest of the class was staring to. Todd fell back into his chair the correct way with a loud clump. "Is there something that you would like to discuss with the rest of the class?"

"No, sir." The two mutants answered at once.

"I thought not. Mr. Tolansky, this is a common procedure to you. One more word, and you have detention for an hour. And Miss Switch, I suggest that on your first day as a new student, you not push it."

"Yeah, frog-face, shut up or we'll use you for dissection!" One of the Frosh jocks sneered at them from the back of the room. When the teacher turned back around, he high-fived one of his equally dull buddies.

"Stupid jocks." Switch scoffed.

"Uh-oh." Todd whispered.

"What?"

"Those two X-geeks saw you."

"And?"

"They're gonna wonder what's up. I mean, people usually try avoiding talking to me. They're gonna be all over you by the end of class."

"So what do you suggest?" Switch asked.

"Get the hell out of class as fast as you can afterwards, yo. I'll cover you."

Switch nodded, still slightly confused. She wondered what it was possibly about these people that the other members of the Brotherhood were so paranoid about. But from the way they made it sound, she wondered if it was really something she wanted to find out.

The bell for lunch finally rang, and Switch and Todd were ready. Before anyone was out of their seats, they had their bags over their shoulders and walking briskly out the back door before anyone could track them down. "So those two were mutants, too?" Switch asked as they walked down the crowded halls towards their lockers.

"Yeah, but they seem to think that they're so much better than us because they get to live in this fancy mansion and get special training and everything. Don't have to worry about payin' for nothin', so they rub it in our faces because we gotta scratch for what we got. If there's anything I hate worse than some football jock, it's an X-geek."

"Sounds bad. So they're sorta a 'pity-me-although-I-don't-need-it' group?"

"Exactly." Todd grumped.

Switch only made a small noise in the back of her throat and decided to change the subject. "So, where do you guys usually eat?"

"By the football stadium. People don't bother us out there."

"Okay, I'll meet you there. I gotta find my locker."

"All right. Cya yo." Todd turned around, dropped to all fours and hopped out of the halls. No one seemed to notice. It was probably pretty familiar to everyone now. She found her locker quickly, and after much fighting with it (someone jammed the lock with gum), she was finally able to get it open and stuff her books into it. When she turned around, she did not see the group of seniors coming out from around the corner, and they didn't seem to see her as one of the boys, who probably weighed nearly a hundred and eighty pounds, stepped painfully on her foot.

"Mother of…!" Switch swore, clutching her foot and jumping around on her other. When she straightened, she noticed something that she had been trying to avoid all day. "Oh, great." He grumbled. He had let a little stubbed tow upset him so much that he transformed, right in the middle of the hall.

Quickly, he looked around, fearful of seeing a bewildered or horrified face. To his relief, the hall was remotely clear of people now. No one had seen him transform. "Well, that's just great." He said, slamming his locker shut with a bang. He had to get outside before anyone saw him like this, and had a chance to cool down. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and hastily made his way to the nearest exit.

"Hey."

Switch almost did not stop, and wondered why he did. Keep going, he thought. They might not even be talking to you. But for some reason, against, he turned around.

There were two people standing behind him, both older than him, a boy and a girl. The boy was taller than him, with brown hair and wearing strange red sunglasses. The girl was very attractive with fiery red hair. "You must be the new student." The boy said, extending his hand in a friendly jester. "I'm Scott Summers, and this is Jean Grey. Welcome to Bayville High!"

For a moment, Switch stared at his hand as if it was holding a poisonous snake. Then, not wanting to be rude, took it, and gave it a brisk shake. "Uh…hi. Thanks. Nice place…I guess."

"What's your name?" Jean asked, smiling brightly at him.

Switch's mind went blank. He couldn't tell him his real name, he'd be caught eventually. He blurted out the first combination of names that came to mind. "Jason Lee."

"Oh, like the movie actor?" Scott asked. Switch wanted to slap himself. He knew he heard that name somewhere before! "Anyway, do you want to have lunch with us and our friends? We can show you around the campus, and if you're free, we can show you the sites after school."

"Uh…thanks but uh…I really have…uh…stuff to do. Busy stuff. Oh, look at the time, I need to be doing some of that busy stuff now! I'll see you around!" Without waiting for an answer, he took off running out the door and onto the school grounds. But behind him, he heard Scott say, "Funny. I thought Kitty said that the new student was a girl."

Switch nearly took a face-first dive into the ground. Oh, crap. If these guys were friends of that Kitty girl, then he might have met some of the X-guys the Brotherhood were always talking about.

It took him about ten minutes to find the rest of the Brotherhood, near the back of the school stadium. "What took you so long?" Pietro asked as Switch ran panting up to them. "We were worried that you'd been picked up by someone else."

"Yeah. Real pity if that happened." Lance scoffed. Switch ignored him, picked up a bottle of water and dumped it over his head. Water sometimes helped the switching go quicker, and a few moments later, he was back to his girl form.

"Sorry. Got held up." She said, shaking the water from her eyes. "Um…I heard some names in the hall before I came here. Scott Summers and Jean Grey. They wouldn't happen to be these…uh…X-guys, would they?"

"Oh, no!" Pietro said, slapping his forehead. "Don't tell me you met them!"

"Hey, hey, don't worry!" Switch said, holding up her hands. "They met me in my guy form! I gave them a fake name, and I intend to stay in my girl form! One slip-up, I won't happen again!"

"What name did you give them?" Fred asked, looking up from his lunch. It was large enough to feed ten people.

"Jason Lee."

"What, like the movie actor?" Lance asked. Switch scowled.

"One of the foster families I live din watched Kevin Smith religiously. I couldn't help it!"

"Who?" Todd asked, his tongue whipping out and snagging a fly.

"Oh, don't tell me you guys never heard of Kevin Smith! You're in the need of some educating." Switch plopped down on the grass and opened her lunch, taking a huge bite of ham sandwich.

I don't care what they say. She thought. They didn't seem like such bad guys. I wonder what the big deal was…