Yang: Told you the next chapter would be up immediately. Anyway, look forward to Kevin and Kitty interaction, a nightmare and Evan freaking out… although he does have due cause.
Kevin stepped out of the principles office and stared at the timetable in front of him in confusion. He looked up and down the empty halls in despair. How was he supposed to get to class when he had no clue as to where the class was held? His first class was English in room 24. He had tried to ask the principle's secretary where the room was but she had been little to no help. How was he supposed to find the room when she hadn't even told him where the English block was?
Suddenly he heard a noise coming from further down the corridor; he looked up to see a pretty brunette, with her hair in a ponytail and short bangs at the front, walking down the corridor towards him. He wasn't totally sure where she had come from, not that it really mattered. She glanced in his direction and caught him looking at her; he quickly turned his gaze back towards his timetable. As he tried once again to figure out where the class was by staring at the timetable he felt someone tap his shoulder, he looked up to it was the pretty brunette.
"Are you, like, lost or something?" She asked him, smiling helpfully at him.
"Ummm… kinda yeah." Kevin replied sheepishly. "I just join this morning and I don't know where my first class is."
"Oh cool!" She cried in a surprised tone. "Your from, like, England too…"
"…too?" Kevin interrupted her confused.
"Yeah, there's, like, a new kid at the institute. He's from England as well; he's from, like, London and has, the coolest accent. I'm, like, Kitty by the way." She told him. Kevin smiled slightly at he. He had never heard anyone who used 'like' that often out of context. He thought it was cute.
"Yeah, I'm Kevin, does the guy go to school here too?" Kevin asked, curious about this English guy and what Kitty defined as 'the coolest accent'.
"Nah," She said shaking her head. "He hasn't, like, been to school for a few years so he's, like, staying at home and is going to, like, be tutored for a bit."
They talked for a while longer and Kevin had become so absorbed in his conversation with Kitty that he had completely forgotten about getting to class, until he heard another voice slightly behind him.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The voice asked. Kevin turned around to see his white haired housemate. "Is the Pretty-Kitty trying her charms on my friend here?" He asked throwing an arm around Kevin's shoulders. Before Kevin could respond Kitty had started for him.
"Like, very funny Pietro!" She snapped. "Just because you don't have any, like, charm and, like, can't get anyone doesn't, like, mean that others are the same way." Pietro just smirked at this. "And don't, like, flatter yourself, Kevin is not your friend and I, like, seriously doubt that he would ever associate with someone like you." With this, she linked her arm though Kevin's and walked off, with Kevin slightly trailing behind. He shot an apologetic look back at Pietro, who just smiled and waved his hand letting him know that he didn't mind.
Kevin was surprise by how extremely Kitty had reacted to Pietro's comments; he tried to ask her why she had reacted so extremely, but the only response he got was her repeatedly telling him that Pietro was a jerk and it was that simple. When he tried to tell her that Pietro was his friend and he was probably trying to tease him not Kitty he was met by a blank stare.
Kitty blushed, she hadn't realised that Kevin was actually friends with Pietro. She wondered if he was also friends with the rest of the Brotherhood. She hoped not. Kevin and Pietro were in the same grade so it was possible that they were just friends without the rest of the brotherhood being involved.
***
Diego was worn out. He had spent the day talking to Professor Xavier about his education, or rather, his lack of it. He sighed heavily as he flopped down on the sofa and curled up in the corner of it, head rested against the back, elbow on one arm and his legs curled up under him. He was alone in the mansion (who would've thought? A mansion) except for Ororo and Xavier. He didn't care where Wolverine was and neither did he want to know. That man just scared him. He ignored his paranoid subconscious and thought about the meeting with Xavier instead.
"So, Diego. How did you do at school? You're how old now?"
Diego had squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, tense in this funny office-like room under the friendly scrutiny of the imposing man in front of him.
" 'm 15, sir." He mumbled back.
Xavier smiled. "It's ok Diego, you don't have to call me sir. Now. Did you have much schooling back in England?"
Diego gave him a sidelong glance from under his long fringe. "Wouldn't you already know that? Seein' as you're a telepath an' all?"
Xavier shook his head. "I told you before that I wouldn't look without your permission child, and that still stands. I won't violate the privacy of you're head unless I think there's a problem or certain circumstances arise. It's all right for you to tell me how much education you've had so far. I understand that some of the classes in England are different to those in America and I wanted to make sure that you got entered in the right class."
Diego swallowed uncomfortably, unsure how to say this without revealing the shame of his past. He was sure that once Xavier heard about it, that he would be kicked out of the mansion faster than he could say 'Ouch'. And, strangely, he was starting to feel welcome here.
"I, ummm. I didn't do too well at school. I went through the normal system 'til I was, well, 'bout 13. Like I said, I really wasn't doin' good. I went but… I din't actually learn nuffin'. Family problems, ya know." Diego closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steadying himself from the memories and the backwash of emotional baggage that came with them. He opened his eyes and carried on. "Plus the whole 'eyes' thing made me a bit of a outcast. I got… picked on quite a bit. My… family… decided that I… would do better off inna, uh, kinda like instituty place. But, they din't really, um, teach me nuffin' so, I s'pose, I don't really sorta. Have that much education." He finished.
Xavier had picked up on some of the real reasons behind Diego's story and felt sympathy for the boy, as well as slight pride in him, as he had managed to get this far and remain practically undisturbed. But then Xavier hadn't really known him before, so he couldn't really say.
He had smiled reassuringly at Diego and told him that they'd tutor him here for a few days, or weeks depending, and then assign him to a class at the school where the others currently were. Diego winced at the idea of returning to school. He'd had enough trouble before the- previous Institute – at school, trouble that had made him excessively paranoid about the colour of his eyes and the attention that they attracted. He had been called all sorts of things, from 'freak' to 'demon' to 'weirdo' and lately 'mutie'. That on top of his dad retreating into himself and everything else… He wondered why he had ever gone in the first place, it had definitely not done him any good.
With his head full of memories and anxiety about the coming days, Diego fell into an uneasy sleep, right where he sat on the couch.
//He lay in a dark bed, unable to see anything around him. He felt a body behind him, moving it's arm from his waist, where it rested, to his hair, brushing it aside and trailing randomly up and down his neck before curling around his chest to hold him firmly there. He sighed happily and snuggled back, shutting his eyes and tilting his head in the hope of a kiss as he felt something wet on his cheek. Nothing happened, except for another wet drop to land on his mouth. He licked his lips, still with his eyes closed, and tasted something vaguely salty, coppery and tangy at the same time. He frowned and opened his eyes to see a face that had once been beautiful and familiar now smashed into oblivion. The only way he could tell who it had been was through the red, red hair and the azure eyes that now hung haphazardly out of their sockets.
He gasped and froze in horror for all of five seconds until the thing leaned forward to try and kiss him. He opened his mouth and screamed. The apparition moved up and took him by the shoulders shaking him wildly. Diego thrashed, trying to get away, until he lunged like a cornered animal and bit deep into the things arm.
It squalled like some kind of cat and flung its arm about, trying to make him let go, but Diego wouldn't. He hung on firmly and drank the blood that came out of the thing's arm. Drank it and it tasted soooo good, the hungry feeling that he had always felt rising up in recognition. It was hot and liquid and rich and… and… he couldn't breathe! //
Diego came awake with a start, lashing out and kicking at whatever it was that had a grip on his nose, preventing him from breathing. As an arm came out in retaliation, hitting him in the cheek which stunned him into stillness, he realised that he could still taste the copper of blood in his mouth, and that Evan, who had been the one to clock him in the face, was holding a hand to a bite mark on his arm, a bite mark that dripped with the crimson liquid.
Diego looked up into scared and disgusted eyes, before he realised just what it was that he had done. After that, he had nothing to do but turn around and throw up.
***
Evan had finished classes early and had come straight home, hoping to chat to the new kid some more. The boy seemed a bit shy and timid, but Evan was certain that they could become friends once he had come out of his shell a bit. Evan pointedly ignored the small voice in his head that was saying *You don't normally show this much interest in a new student. There's something going on here. He's very pretty isn't he? * Evan absent-mindedly agreed with the voice before realising fully what it was saying.
"He is not." He said out loud, earning him some strange looks from passers-by.
*I am NOT attracted to that guy. * He told his subconscious firmly. He then ignored it, as it was being juvenile and was going *Yeaaaah right, whatever, you just keep telling yourself that. *
He threw his bag down near the coat rack and wandered into the living room to see if he could catch the end of the game. He stopped when he saw Diego slumped asleep in the corner of the couch, one hand in his lap, the other near his face curled into a loose fist.
*Awwwwwwwwwww. *
Okay, he was now officially ignoring his subconscious.
He sat at one end of the sofa and scouted around for the TV guide. Before he found it, Diego kicked out slightly and made a distressed sounding moan in the back of his throat as he turned his head away from the back of the sofa to face Evan almost directly. Evan stilled, worried that he had disturbed the sleeping boy, but then leant forward as Diego started to flail out with his hands, apparently pushing something away. When the boy started screaming alarmingly, Evan shot forward and grabbed his shoulders, trying to shake him awake. Diego responded by biting him in the arm and holding on.
Now it was Evan's turn to yell, as the wound was deep enough that it bled. He watched, frozen in horror as the living lamprey began sucking at the bite.
*Oh My GOD!!! * The annoying voice was shrieking. *He's drinking my BLOOD! He's some kind of vampire. Quick! Geddit off! *
Evan realised that shaking his arm only tore it up more, and opted to shut off Diego's air supply instead, pinching his nose closed.
Sure enough, Diego sprang awake, kicking at him crazily. Evan had had enough and slapped the kid to make him wake up properly. There was a nasty silence as the boy stared at Evan horrified, even more than Evan himself was, blood still painted round his mouth. As Evan heard his Aunt come up behind him, the Brit turned around and threw up.
Yang: (singing) Evan's in de-ni-al, Evan's in de-ni-al. Mmm, that was tasty, wasn't it (!) So Kevin is crushing on Kitty and Diego is having nasty nightmares. What's next? Want a sneak preview? Okay. Kurt angst's, Diego worries, it looks like Evan's developing split-personality disorder and Kevin and Diego meet at the mall. Oooo…I bet you're just dying for the next chapter. Review and we'll have it out.
