A/N: Long chapter. A lot had to happen on Friday.
**********
"No way! I am not doing your dirty work for you!" Kitty protested.
Kurt had hoped she wouldn't make this difficult. "You explain to me, Kitty," he said as they stood there in the parking lot during lunch time. "How am I supposed to hold the can and press down the nozzle?"
It really bugged him sometimes. Why wasn't anything designed for people with three fingers? And they said lefties had it tough.
"Ugh, fine," Kitty said, defeated by this logic. Kurt handed her the spray can.
**********
"Hey Speedy!" Evan called as he approached Pietro in a corner of the cafeteria.
His old adversary eyed him suspiciously. "What do you want, Daniels?"
"Whoa, I got no fight with you today," Evan held up his hands. "Just thought you might like to know, Lance is telling all the girls you've had plastic surgery."
Pietro's eyes narrowed. "Where is he?"
"By the big tree out front, last I saw him."
Pietro stormed out of the room.
**********
Rogue put down her lunch tray and slid onto the bench next to Lance.
He glanced at her. "Rejoining the Brotherhood?" he asked.
"Nope," Rogue started to pick at her lunch. "Just wanted to tell you what's been goin' around."
"I ain't interested in girly gossip," Lance turned his attention to his burger.
"Not even if it's about Kitty?"
If he had been in a bad cartoon, hearts would have appeared over Lance's head just then. "Fine, what is it?" he said, trying not to sound too interested.
"Word is, Pietro's got eyes for your girl," Rogue said casually.
Lance growled. "That kid is asking for it. Where is he?" he demanded.
"Think he's out by the big tree," Rogue answered.
Lance stormed out of the room.
**********
Lance and Pietro marched towards the old oak tree in front of the school, looking daggers at each other. They met in the shade and stared each other down.
"So you think you can steal Kitty?" Lance said accusingly.
"No, but if I did, I would charm her with my natural good looks!" Pietro spat.
"Liar!" Lance screamed.
"Slanderer!" Pietro shot back.
"Two-timer!" Lance took a swing.
"Ruffian!" Pietro ducked.
That was all it took to get them brawling on the ground. Rogue rolled her eyes. "Boys..." she sighed.
"Fight!" Evan shouted, turning towards the school. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Every kid in the vicinity took up the chant. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" A crowd gathered rapidly around the screaming, wrestling heap that was Lance and Pietro.
**********
The hallway was empty, thanks to the free entertainment currently being provided in front of the building.
"Quick, do it now," Kurt said, glancing up and down the corridor.
Kitty phased the spray can into Amy's locker. "Okay, done," she said, pulling back her hands.
The bell rang.
**********
Kelly walked out to the parking lot, twirling his key ring on his index finger. Ah, lunch time. One peaceful hour away from those crazy kids.
He reached his car and stopped short. The silver compact was covered in red spray paint. Most of it was squiggles and other abstract designs. But, there on the windshield, in big letters, was some hooligan's honest opinion of Kelly, expressed in brief but colorful terms.
The enraged principal stormed back to his office and slammed his fist on the intercom button.
"Inspection!" he screamed into the microphone. "All students to their lockers NOW!"
There was a rush and flurry of kids escaping from class. Kelly sat down and took an aspirin.
**********
Locker inspection was always frightening. Kelly really didn't want to see what those delinquent BoM kids had in their lockers, but since they were the most likely culprits, he started there. Fred had a mess of antique food. Pietro's door was plastered with mirrors. Lance's locker was filled with pictures of Kitty. Tabitha's locker had mysterious dents and char marks. Todd's contained a familiar looking green slime. Kelly made a note of that. No spray cans.
Eventually he came to the locker of one Miss Amy I'm-Very-Popular-And-Never-Make-Trouble. She was looking very scared. Not surprising, because an empty spray can was sitting prominently on the top shelf of her locker.
"Suspension!" Kelly yelled in a rage. "One week for defiling private property!"
"But-" Amy protested.
"You have five minutes to get off school grounds, or it'll be two weeks!" That was the end of that discussion.
"And you!" Kelly shouted, turning to face the BoM, who had been following him around. "You two young men, I am aware of the incident outside. You will stay after school today and wash my car!"
"But it's Friday!" Lance countered, as though this were a debate.
"After the final bell has tolled on a Friday afternoon," Pietro began, as though reciting a passage.
In fact, he was. The excerpt in question was statement 8b of "The Unethical Student's Bill of Rights", an ancient and much-revered manuscript which had been passed down from one group of high school delinquents to the next, and was currently in the possession of the Brotherhood.
"What?" Toad said, obviously confused. "Who's the bell tollin' for, yo?"
"For whom does the bell toll," Pietro corrected absently. "After the final bell has tolled on a Friday afternoon," he repeated, "no student's freedom shall be impinged upon by any involuntary school-related activities, be they detention, homework, sporting events, etc., until the following Monday morning."
Kelly was not impressed. "You, parking lot, 3:00," he said, with an indisputable tone of finality. "Bring sponges."
**********
Lance and Pietro worked in silence for a while, each lost in their own fantasies of gory deaths for the other. However, Pietro's short attention span soon brought him to another train of thought.
"You're just jealous," he said, out of the blue.
"Jealous of what?" Lance grumbled, scrubbing at a particularly persistent design on the passenger door.
"The perfection that is me, of course," Pietro answered as though this were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Get over yourself."
The conversation was replaced by the annoying squeaking of the soapy sponges.
"I have to know," Pietro broke in again. "Did you start that rumor, or were you just passing it on?"
Lance threw down his sponge. "Why would I start a rumor that you like Kitty?" he said in exasperation.
"What?" Pietro looked up in surprise. "Who told you that?"
"Rogue told me at lunch!"
"But-" Realization crept slowly over Pietro's face. "Daniels, I am going to kill you!" he screamed, slamming his fist on the hood of Kelly's car.
Lance rolled his eyes. "Any particular reason this time?" he asked sarcastically.
"Try to keep up, Lance," Pietro said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Those X-brats spread some lies to set us up for a fight."
"They are really asking for it now," Lance growled. A tremor shook the ground. Several car alarms went off.
"I'm outta here." Pietro grabbed Lance's wrist and took off.
**********
"No way! I am not doing your dirty work for you!" Kitty protested.
Kurt had hoped she wouldn't make this difficult. "You explain to me, Kitty," he said as they stood there in the parking lot during lunch time. "How am I supposed to hold the can and press down the nozzle?"
It really bugged him sometimes. Why wasn't anything designed for people with three fingers? And they said lefties had it tough.
"Ugh, fine," Kitty said, defeated by this logic. Kurt handed her the spray can.
**********
"Hey Speedy!" Evan called as he approached Pietro in a corner of the cafeteria.
His old adversary eyed him suspiciously. "What do you want, Daniels?"
"Whoa, I got no fight with you today," Evan held up his hands. "Just thought you might like to know, Lance is telling all the girls you've had plastic surgery."
Pietro's eyes narrowed. "Where is he?"
"By the big tree out front, last I saw him."
Pietro stormed out of the room.
**********
Rogue put down her lunch tray and slid onto the bench next to Lance.
He glanced at her. "Rejoining the Brotherhood?" he asked.
"Nope," Rogue started to pick at her lunch. "Just wanted to tell you what's been goin' around."
"I ain't interested in girly gossip," Lance turned his attention to his burger.
"Not even if it's about Kitty?"
If he had been in a bad cartoon, hearts would have appeared over Lance's head just then. "Fine, what is it?" he said, trying not to sound too interested.
"Word is, Pietro's got eyes for your girl," Rogue said casually.
Lance growled. "That kid is asking for it. Where is he?" he demanded.
"Think he's out by the big tree," Rogue answered.
Lance stormed out of the room.
**********
Lance and Pietro marched towards the old oak tree in front of the school, looking daggers at each other. They met in the shade and stared each other down.
"So you think you can steal Kitty?" Lance said accusingly.
"No, but if I did, I would charm her with my natural good looks!" Pietro spat.
"Liar!" Lance screamed.
"Slanderer!" Pietro shot back.
"Two-timer!" Lance took a swing.
"Ruffian!" Pietro ducked.
That was all it took to get them brawling on the ground. Rogue rolled her eyes. "Boys..." she sighed.
"Fight!" Evan shouted, turning towards the school. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Every kid in the vicinity took up the chant. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" A crowd gathered rapidly around the screaming, wrestling heap that was Lance and Pietro.
**********
The hallway was empty, thanks to the free entertainment currently being provided in front of the building.
"Quick, do it now," Kurt said, glancing up and down the corridor.
Kitty phased the spray can into Amy's locker. "Okay, done," she said, pulling back her hands.
The bell rang.
**********
Kelly walked out to the parking lot, twirling his key ring on his index finger. Ah, lunch time. One peaceful hour away from those crazy kids.
He reached his car and stopped short. The silver compact was covered in red spray paint. Most of it was squiggles and other abstract designs. But, there on the windshield, in big letters, was some hooligan's honest opinion of Kelly, expressed in brief but colorful terms.
The enraged principal stormed back to his office and slammed his fist on the intercom button.
"Inspection!" he screamed into the microphone. "All students to their lockers NOW!"
There was a rush and flurry of kids escaping from class. Kelly sat down and took an aspirin.
**********
Locker inspection was always frightening. Kelly really didn't want to see what those delinquent BoM kids had in their lockers, but since they were the most likely culprits, he started there. Fred had a mess of antique food. Pietro's door was plastered with mirrors. Lance's locker was filled with pictures of Kitty. Tabitha's locker had mysterious dents and char marks. Todd's contained a familiar looking green slime. Kelly made a note of that. No spray cans.
Eventually he came to the locker of one Miss Amy I'm-Very-Popular-And-Never-Make-Trouble. She was looking very scared. Not surprising, because an empty spray can was sitting prominently on the top shelf of her locker.
"Suspension!" Kelly yelled in a rage. "One week for defiling private property!"
"But-" Amy protested.
"You have five minutes to get off school grounds, or it'll be two weeks!" That was the end of that discussion.
"And you!" Kelly shouted, turning to face the BoM, who had been following him around. "You two young men, I am aware of the incident outside. You will stay after school today and wash my car!"
"But it's Friday!" Lance countered, as though this were a debate.
"After the final bell has tolled on a Friday afternoon," Pietro began, as though reciting a passage.
In fact, he was. The excerpt in question was statement 8b of "The Unethical Student's Bill of Rights", an ancient and much-revered manuscript which had been passed down from one group of high school delinquents to the next, and was currently in the possession of the Brotherhood.
"What?" Toad said, obviously confused. "Who's the bell tollin' for, yo?"
"For whom does the bell toll," Pietro corrected absently. "After the final bell has tolled on a Friday afternoon," he repeated, "no student's freedom shall be impinged upon by any involuntary school-related activities, be they detention, homework, sporting events, etc., until the following Monday morning."
Kelly was not impressed. "You, parking lot, 3:00," he said, with an indisputable tone of finality. "Bring sponges."
**********
Lance and Pietro worked in silence for a while, each lost in their own fantasies of gory deaths for the other. However, Pietro's short attention span soon brought him to another train of thought.
"You're just jealous," he said, out of the blue.
"Jealous of what?" Lance grumbled, scrubbing at a particularly persistent design on the passenger door.
"The perfection that is me, of course," Pietro answered as though this were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Get over yourself."
The conversation was replaced by the annoying squeaking of the soapy sponges.
"I have to know," Pietro broke in again. "Did you start that rumor, or were you just passing it on?"
Lance threw down his sponge. "Why would I start a rumor that you like Kitty?" he said in exasperation.
"What?" Pietro looked up in surprise. "Who told you that?"
"Rogue told me at lunch!"
"But-" Realization crept slowly over Pietro's face. "Daniels, I am going to kill you!" he screamed, slamming his fist on the hood of Kelly's car.
Lance rolled his eyes. "Any particular reason this time?" he asked sarcastically.
"Try to keep up, Lance," Pietro said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Those X-brats spread some lies to set us up for a fight."
"They are really asking for it now," Lance growled. A tremor shook the ground. Several car alarms went off.
"I'm outta here." Pietro grabbed Lance's wrist and took off.