A/N: Okay, it's come to my attention that some of you nice reviewers want a chart detailing who is in whose body. I understand. I have a chart. I made it up before I even started writing this thing so that I wouldn't get confused. The only problem is, with this chapter, I'm about to confuse things even more, but that's all I can say without spoiling Chapter 4 for you! But I'll go ahead and map things out for you as they currently stand:

KURT is in Kitty's body.

EVAN is in Kurt's body.

KITTY is in Evan's body.

ROGUE is in Scott's body.

SCOTT is in Jean's body.

JEAN is in Rogue's body.

Eek! There, now you can go make a nice little chart all for yourself, if you should need it! (Work with me, people - things like this are not easy to write in a comprehensible manner! Ever have an idea that you know, you just *know*, is going to be impossible to write, but that stupid little voice insists that you do it anyway, against your better judgment? Yeah. 'Nuff said. But I really am having fun! :-D )

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Chapter 4: "The After-School Special"



Kurt stopped dead in his tracks at the entrance to the gymnasium. Standing in the doorway, he allowed girls to pass him as he gazed into the gym in dismay.

Somehow, he had forgotten that Kitty's last class wasn't coed.

Okay, so it was girls' physical education. He could deal with that. Running, jumping, playing volleyball. No big deal. But then, of course, there was the matter of the girls' locker room. And after all the hassle they'd gone through about not "peeking" . . . . Well, he was pretty sure that also applied to not peeking at the girls in the locker room who wouldn't hesitate to undress in front of "Kitty". He was afraid the temptation might prove too great for him to resist.

He sighed. Nope, better skip this class. Besides, maybe Kitty would give him points for staying out of the girls' locker room. A smile spread across his face. Yeah, maybe Kitty would be impressed by his decency and honor!

"Pryde!" Inside the gym, the coach turned and glared in his direction. "Get in here! The bell's about to ring!"

So much for cutting class.

Kurt trudged through the door and approached the coach, who was a very scary-looking woman who could have crushed bricks with her biceps. Looking up into her stern face, he gulped. "Uh, Coach? I don't think I should play today. I don't feel too well."

"Oh? What's wrong?" she demanded.

"Um . . . girl troubles?" Kurt suggested hopefully.

The coach glared down at him. "Pryde, this is the third time this month that you've complained of 'girl troubles'. You're either a true medical oddity or you're trying to get out of gym class. Now go get suited up."

The woman obviously meant business. Kurt hung his head. "Yes, ma'am."

When he reached the locker room door, he paused for a second. No-Man's Land! Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and dropped his eyes to the floor. At least that way he wasn't likely to see anything that would get him in trouble. On the other hand, he couldn't see the lockers or tell how many girls were still in the room.

He reluctantly raised his head for a quick glance around. About half a dozen girls were standing in front of open lockers, changing into their gym uniforms. Kurt tucked his head down again and edged along the wall until he was behind the occupied row of lockers. He sat down on a bench to wait for the rest of the girls to finish.

After the door had opened and closed several times, he stood and listened closely. All was quiet on the other side of the lockers. He peered around the corner, ready to pull his head back if he saw anyone. He was alone. Walking out into the open to face the row of lockers, he was suddenly faced with another dilemma.

He had no idea which locker was Kitty's.

He turned in a circle, taking in the sight of all the lockers. How was he supposed to figure out which one was hers? Well, he supposed there was a way, but they'd all promised the professor they wouldn't use any powers . . . . He sighed. What choice did he really have?

Starting at the end of the row, Kurt faced the group of lockers Kitty's classmates had been standing in front of. He chose one and concentrated on it. Leaning forward, he brought his head toward the locker. His head smashed into the metal door with a thunk.

"Ow!" Kurt jumped back and rubbed his head. "Guess I didn't concentrate hard enough," he muttered.

One more time. This time, he really focused on passing his head through the locker. He leaned against the locker and slowly pushed forward with his head while he concentrated. After a few seconds, his head popped through and he was staring directly into the locker. Directly into the pitch-black locker.

He groaned. There was no way he could see anything inside without a flashlight.

"Pryde! What's taking you so long in there? Hurry it up!" The coach's voice was right outside the door.

Kurt yanked his head back just as the coach stomped into the room. She scowled at him (it seemed to be her permanent facial expression) and crossed her arms. "Well? What's the problem?"

"Would you believe I can't remember which locker is mine?"

The coach snorted. "You? Yeah, I believe it."

Kurt frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Had this horrible woman (and he used the term loosely) just insulted his Kitty? He glared at the coach while she checked something on her clipboard.

"Locker number two seventeen. Now get a move on, Pryde." The coach turned and slammed out of the locker room.

Kurt stuck his tongue out at the door, then turned to locker 217. He didn't know the combination to the lock, but that wasn't really a problem.

Phasing his hands through the locker door was easy enough, but it took a few tries before he was able to pull the gym uniform out. The first time he tried, his hands simply came out empty. The second time, he managed to pull the uniform halfway out before it got stuck. Third time was the charm. He reached in and pulled the other half through the door without incident.

He kept his eyes trained on the ceiling while he changed, same as he'd done that morning and the night before. True, it made him feel a bit silly, but he wanted to be able to tell Kitty he'd honored the promise not to peek. Of course, it was a little difficult to tell what he was doing, but he managed to get dressed without putting anything on backwards or something goofy like that.

He shoved the clothes he had been wearing into the locker, this time getting them phased through on the first try. Taking a deep breath, he walked out of the locker room to join the volleyball game already in progress.

Everything went just fine for the first ten minutes. If he were to wager a guess, he'd say he was probably doing better at the game than Kitty usually did. At least, none of his teammates were acting like he was screwing up. The only problem with the running and jumping and volleyball was something he'd never really thought of. Being in a girl's body, there were certain things bouncing that he wasn't used to dealing with. It felt weird, and it was distracting!

Perhaps what happened next had something to do with that distraction. Or perhaps it was just Kurt's turn to have an unfortunate incident with powers he wasn't used to. Whatever the reason for the incident, the result was the same.

He was directly in front of the net, playing center forward, when a girl on the opposite side sent the ball flying his way. It should have been an easy return. He raised his hands over his head to meet the ball, and that's when it happened.

The volleyball made contact with his hands, then passed right through them and smacked him in the face.

The force of the impact knocked him back a few steps. He covered his eye and stumbled to the sidelines.

"Pryde!" The coach blew her whistle for time-out and rushed over to the bench. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I didn't really need two eyes anyway." Kurt collapsed onto the bench and rubbed his eye.

"Let me see." The coach pulled his hand away from his face and inspected the eye. After a few seconds, she drew back and held up one finger. "How many fingers do you see?"

"Uh . . ." Kurt squinted at her. "Three?"

"Okay, go get dressed and head on down to the nurse's office. I'll write you a pass while you change."

"Yes, ma'am." Well, that was one way to get out of gym class. Too bad it was such a painful way. He stood up shakily and began shuffling toward the locker room.

"Oh, Pryde!" the coach called.

Kurt paused and turned to face her. "Yeah?"

"How on Earth did you miss such an easy shot?!"



X X X X X X X



The halls were deserted as Kurt made his way to the nurse's office. He turned the corner of the appropriate hall and spotted Evan walking toward the door to the principal's office. Evan was shuffling along crookedly from the weight of Kurt's backpack slung over one shoulder. His eyes were riveted to the floor, and he obviously hadn't noticed Kurt yet.

A shudder of fear passed through him. What had Evan done to get sent to Principal Kelly's office? And, whatever it was, would it affect Kurt once he was back in his own life again? He froze on the spot and waved his hand at Evan. "Psst!" he hissed.

Evan stopped with his hand an inch away from the doorknob. He glanced up and grimaced slightly when he saw Kurt. Giving the door to the office an uncertain look, he seemed to consider something. After a moment of hesitation, he ducked and ran under the window in the door to meet Kurt at his position. From there, they slid around the corner and stood facing each other. Scuffing his feet on the floor, Evan asked, "So, what's up?"

Noticing that Evan was having trouble meeting his gaze, a fresh lightning-bolt of worry struck Kurt. What could possibly be so bad that Evan couldn't even look him in the eye?

Kurt cleared his throat. "Uh, why were you going to Principal Kelly's office?"

Evan gulped and continued to direct his gaze in the general vicinity of his feet. "Well, it's kinda funny, really. See, I was in the bathroom, and I was looking around and thinking about what a mess it was in there. Then, I kinda wondered what the girls' room looked like, you know, if it was maybe cleaner in there, and . . ." He trailed off and shrugged.

"Oh, no." Kurt closed his eyes for a split second. "Please don't tell me you're about to say what I think you're about to say."

"Yeah. Before I even knew what was happening, I was right there in the girls' room. Then a couple cheerleaders came outta the stalls and saw me and started screaming. I mean, I took off and went back to class, but they came in and told the teacher, and she sent me to Principal Kelly's office. Sorry, man."

Kurt sighed. "I understand. Don't worry too much about it. Actually, I was just thinking maybe we should both go on back to the Institute before we cause any more damage."

Finally Evan raised his gaze to meet Kurt's. Looking directly at him for the first time, his eyes widened. "Whoa, dude, what happened to your eye? Kitty's not gonna be happy you gave her a black eye!"

"Oh, right." Kurt touched the eye and winced despite the minimal amount of pressure he'd applied. "Is it turning black already?"

"Well . . ." Evan inspected it closely. "Right now it's more sort of purplish-brown. Kitty's still gonna kill you. What happened?"

"Volleyball accident. I had my hands up like this," he demonstrated, "and they phased right through the ball. So, of course, it hit me right in the eye."

"Oh, man. Hey, I think getting outta here is a really good idea. If you don't mind me missing the last half of your study hall, I mean."

"No problem. I say we go home and lock ourselves in the tv room until the professor figures something out."

"Now you're talkin!"

The boys began the process of sneaking out of the school, stopping only long enough for Kurt to retrieve Kitty's backpack from her locker. Then they continued on their way, ducking under windows and hiding around corners when necessary. Once outside the school, they began a mad dash for freedom that came to an abrupt halt when they turned a corner of the building and the flagpole came into view.

Standing under the pole, Lance and Toad had already brought the flag down. They were now busily working to attach something else in the flag's place. They had yet to realize Evan and Kurt were standing five yards behind them.

Kurt and Evan exchanged a glance. What were they supposed to do? Sneaking by wasn't a viable option. Turning around and trying to go back through the school was a bad idea. Standing there like doofuses, waiting to be discovered, wasn't the best idea in the world, either. It seemed they didn't have any choice but to walk past Lance and Toad, and just hope there wouldn't be a confrontation.

"Just play it cool," Kurt whispered. Evan nodded. They began walking again, this time at a more sedate speed.

Hearing the footsteps behind them, the two members of the Brotherhood started to turn. As they did so, they were far enough apart for Kurt to see the object they were attempting to run up the flagpole: a pair of pants. He hated to think to whom the pants might belong. It was a typical Brotherhood prank.

As Lance turned, his guarded expression melted into one of delight when his eyes landed on Kurt. He stepped closer to Toad, trying to hide what they were doing to the flagpole. "Hey, Kitty! Are you cutting class, too?"

"Uh, sort of. Well, gotta go. Bye, Lance." Kurt kept walking, hoping that would end things. Naturally, it didn't.

Lance jumped in front of him and gasped. "What happened to your eye, Kitty? Did someone hit you? You want me to take care of them for you? Tell me who it was!"

Evan and Toad rolled their eyes in unison. "Gimme a break," Evan muttered.

"Hey, get lost, you blue-furred freak!"

"C'mon Lance, quit wasting time with these losers," Toad insisted. "We've got better things to do."

"Oh yeah? You mean like running your pants up the flagpole?" Evan smirked.

"Hey, for your info, they ain't my pants. They're some football jock's pants. So there." Toad stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry their way.

Kurt put a hand on Evan's shoulder and pushed him forward. "Let's just keep walking."

Unfortunately, that didn't end things, either. Lance trailed after them, the pants-up-the-flagpole trick forgotten. Toad hesitated, then reluctantly hopped along after him, not wanting to be left behind.

"Hey, Kitty!" Lance called. "How about you ditch the fur-ball and go grab a burger with me?"

"I'm a vegetarian, remember?"

"Didn't look that way at lunchtime," Toad pointed out.

"Well, I had a little slip-up, but Kit - uh, Evan, showed me the error of my ways. I'm all better now."

"Is that who hit you?!" Lance demanded. "Why, that no-good little -"

"No, no! No one hit me!" Kurt sighed in exasperation, but didn't slow his pace. "It was an accident in gym class. Nothing to get upset about, okay?"

"If you say so. Hey, slow down!" Lance's breath was coming hard as he tried to keep up. "What about the mall? You wanna go to the mall?"

Kurt groaned inwardly. Would this torture never end? Didn't Lance get the hint? "Not today, Lance. Why don't you and Toad go play somewhere else for a while?"

"Yeah, like in traffic. Heavy traffic," Evan added.

"Shut up, hairball," Lance growled, then turned his attention back to Kurt. "Okay, look, can I call you later?"

"Lance, I really don't think you get it. I'm not exactly myself today."

"Oh. Who are you, then?"

"Don't ask."

Suddenly Toad's eyes widened and he stopped mid-hop. "Ew! I think she means it's that, uh, special time of the month for girls."

"Huh?" Lance's eyes also widened. "It is?"

"No!" Kurt exclaimed. He doubled his pace to a near-jog. From their current position, they could see the Institute on up the road a little way. Ten more minutes would bring them to the gates.

"Wait! Can I call you?"

Kurt stopped and cast a desperate look up the road. "How about if I call you after school tomorrow?"

"What's the point? We'll see each other in school tomorrow!"

"Then I'll see you in school tomorrow!"

"But -"

"You struck out, Alvers. Give it up!" Evan said.

"Stay out of it, you blue weirdo!"

"He's right, man," Toad broke in. "C'mon, let's lose these X-geeks!"

Before anyone could say anything else, the bushes by the sidewalk parted and a girl ran out. As if surprised to find other people on the sidewalk, she stopped dead in her tracks and stared at them blankly.

Evan nudged Kurt. "Check it out, dude, it's that girl from last night!"

Kurt nodded and addressed the girl. "Listen, Amanda, don't run, okay? We're not going to hurt you. We just need you to come back home with us -"

"Hey, what's goin on here, yo?" Toad stared at the new arrival.

Amanda glared at the four of them. "I thought I told all you freaks to stay away from me!"

"No, we're not with them!" Kurt backed away from Lance and Toad and shook his head. "Amanda, please, we need you to come with us. Do you have any idea what you did to us last night?"

She did have some idea; after all, last night hadn't been the first time she'd used her powers. Still, knowing it and taking responsibility for it were two very different things. "I don't know and I don't care. And I'm sure not going anywhere with you weirdos. Now leave me alone!"

Lance snorted. "Friend of yours, Kitty?"

As Kurt shook his head, Amanda made a break for ir. He shouted to Lance, "Grab her! Don't let her get away!"

Since Lance was closest to Amanda, he did as Kurt said and grabbed for her as she ran by. His hand came down around her wrist, pulling her to an abrupt halt and nearly pulling his own arm out of the socket. "Okay, Kitty, I got her! Now what?"

Almost the instant Lance grabbed her, Kurt realized what a mistake it was to restrain Amanda. He shook his head and began slashing his hands through the air. "No, nevermind! Let her go!"

"Huh?"

Too late. Amanda tried for a second to yank her arm out of Lance's grasp, then she let loose with another one of the shimmering bubbles. The bubble encompassed the four boys, knocking them all to the sidewalk. As Lance fell, his grip on Amanda's arm loosened and she pulled away from him. Before running away, she paused and looked down at them. "You guys can't say I didn't warn you." With that, she took off.

This time, nobody blacked out. The boys landed on their backs, staring up at the sky. An odd blurring sensation occurred in their minds and their vision, and suddenly they were staring up from different perspectives than they had been just a second before.

"Oh, no, not again," Kurt moaned. His tongue felt funny in his mouth. Even so, he hoped that maybe, just maybe, he'd been thrown back into his own body. His heart sank when he spotted his body laid out a few feet away. So who am I? he wondered. He turned his head and saw Kitty's body, then Lance's, so that only left . . . oh, no.

"Toad?!" he exclaimed incredulously. "I'm in Toad?!"

A few feet away, Lance pulled himself up and looked around, taking stock of the situation. "Oh, man, what're we gonna tell the prof?"

"Evan? Is that you?"

"Yeah. Kurt?"

"Yeah. Oh, no. You know what this means?"

They both stared at the bodies of Kitty and Kurt, realizing at the same moment who must be in those bodies if they were the ones in Lance and Toad's bodies.

"This can't be good," Evan moaned.

The person in Kurt's body sat up, still a bit dazed. When he spotted the people around him, all traces of film disappeared from his eyes. "What just happened?! What did that crazy girl do to me?! Oh, god, I'm the blue-furred freak!"

"This really can't be good," Evan repeated.

Whoever was in Kitty's body blinked a few times, then leaped to his feet and whipped his head around with a wild expression on his face. "Hey, what's goin on here, yo?"

"Toad?!" the three other boys exclaimed in unison.

Evan shook his head at Kurt. "Man, Kitty is really gonna kill you!"



to be continued . . .





***A/N: Yes, the Locker 217 thing was a little reference to The Shining and Room 217. Slick, huh? (I bet none of you even noticed that . . .)***

*A/N pt. 3: Should I make a chart of who is who at the beginning of each chapter now? If that'll make things easier for you guys, I'll go ahead and do that for ya. See, I'm a nice person! :-D