Author's note: I'm painfully aware of the butcher job I did on Kurt's characterization. For some reason I just can't get it right. I'll try better in this next chapter, I promise. I'm also fully aware that this story has a very high risk of going absolutely nowhere (self-depreciate much?)

Thank you, those who reviewed. I like my prologue but as for the first chapter I just can't seem to get the same kind of quality. I will try my darnedest not to center on just one character. I will also try my best to get Kurt a little more...erm...Kurtish.

Chapter Two: Friday

"There's something about him."

Sandra studied her friend closely. India's eyebrows quivered ever so slightly with a thought that she was trying to latch onto.

"You don't," Sandra started but then stopped. She put a pink finger up to her mouth and felt her face get red despite herself.

"I don't what?" demanded her shaven friend as she dug a plastic fork into some sort of hard brown substance that was supposed to be a substitute for meat. A prong snapped off of the plastic utensil and flew across the table.

Sandra smiled despite herself and then continued cautiously with her thought, gauging the reactions very carefully to her suspicions as they revealed themselves to her friend, "You don't...I mean, you're not attracted to him."

There was a pause. A look of confusion swept across India's sharp features. Everything about the girl was sharp. Her eyebrows went into points; her nose ended abruptly, like it was done in a fast stroke of a paintbrush. Even her chin pointed a bit at the end. She scrunched up that sharp nose and stared at Sandra sternly, not with anger but with confusion.

"Are you?" Sandra asked, her own eyebrows wavering in curiosity.

"No," a truer statement had never come out of India's mouth. "I mean, he's not ugly, but as far as romantically goes, no. That's odd..."

"Why?" her friend said between a mouthful of carrots. She gulped them down quickly as to not let the taste linger in her mouth.

"Well, he's just so darn interesting. Just look at him," India motioned towards the table where Kurt sat, never a still moment as he talked to his friends. He almost bounced with every word. "He doesn't seem to care about anything and yet..."

Sandra looked at her questioningly, giving up on the food for a moment.

"And yet," India continued, "Something's inhibiting him. I can tell. He's always looking behind his shoulder..."

"Why?" Sandra asked quietly, as if she were sharing a great mystery. She shifted a little in her seat.

"I don't know," India admitted, "But I'm going to find out." Unknowingly she stuck a piece of the meat substitute in her mouth, "YECK!" she exclaimed spitting the meat out, it glistening with either her saliva or something of its own accord. Sandra snickered, putting her hand over her mouth, her face turning red again.

*

"So, like, she asked you to come to her apartment?" Kitty twirled a section of hair around her finger absently as she looked down at the menacing food on her tray. Was it just her imagination or had it moved?

"Yeah," Kurt exclaimed shifting on the chair that he always felt uncomfortable in. If it wasn't his tail interfering with his seating arrangement it was his posture yelling to him that it wasn't natural for him to be sitting in such an odd position. He had learned to ignore the discomfort a long time ago but at times of confusion he was vulnerable to continuously shifting in order to get into some kind of comfort.

"Do ya know why?" It was Rogue who asked the question. She rested a gloved hand under her chin causing a stark contrast between the black of her glove and the pale of her face.

There was a silence as the usually talkative Kurt shrugged the question away shifting with discomfort again.

"Uh oh," said Evan. It was actually rather rare that the four of them were eating together like this. Since Jean and Scott had left the school after graduating (taking college classes at the Institute due to being too uncomfortable to be in an actual University with their secrets exposed) the four had not been very social to many other people. Some had even lost friends due to their mutant exposure. Well, except Kurt who was simply labeled a "mutant lover" thanks to the protection given to him by the ever-present hologram.

"Vhat?" Kurt asked. The other three looked at each other knowingly.

"Somebody," said Rogue, "Is not tellin' his friends tha whole truth."

"Vas?" Kurt said, defensive of being seen through so easily. Kurt sat with mouth open and, surprisingly, it wasn't opened for feeding purposes.

"What's wrong, elf?" Rogue asked smirking, "Mysterious girl who wants you to come to her apartment gottya tongue?"

"No," he said, voice rising. There was a silence again. Everyone looked at him expectantly, "She maybe, might have, sort of rubbed against me." There was another silence; it was more than a little awkward to have so many silences in a row.

"She touched you? Where?" asked Kitty.

"On my arm," Kurt said. The mutant felt the burn of all of his friends staring at him. He squirmed from a different kind of discomfort.

"Do you think she...I mean..." Kitty stumbled over her words, hair twirling increasing as she spoke.

"How could she not?" Kurt asked.

"It was probably nothing," Evan said, pushing food around his plate. "I mean she probably didn't even know what she was feeling. You could always tell her you had a skin disease or something. It's not a big deal. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Yeah, like, it's not like she knows or anything. I mean...wouldn't it be terrible if, say, like, the entire school found out you were a mutant? No friends, everyone stares at you..." Kitty's hair twirling sped to top speed as her anger rose. "I mean, like, it would be the worse day of your life right?" With this comment she walked away, leaving her tray and leaving Kurt to sop up the impact of her statement like corn bread to gravy.

"Wow, Ah didn't know the girl had it in her," Rogue commented.

"Ugh," Kurt said rubbing the nape of his neck. "Do you zhink I should go and talk to her?"

"Naw," Rogue said, "She's just lettin' off some steam. She'll be fine."

"You're not really considering going to this chick's apartment are you?" Evan looked at the boy as he shifted once more on the seat.

"Oh yeah. Dat vould be a great idea. She felt my true form so I zhink that I'm just going to go down and stay at her apartment. I'm sure she won't notice zhat I'm fuzzy at all..."

"Just a question..."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get offensive. I just..."

"It's okay, Kurt. We all got our problems, ya know?" with this statement Evan left, not so abruptly as Kitty had, but with just as much conviction.

"Ouch, two strikes and you're out. Not scorin' so high today are we?" Rogue said scooting over to Kurt in the absence of Kitty and Evan.

"You zhink?" Kurt looked over at the pale girl beside him, "You're not going to leave too are you?"

"Got to be loyal to family right?"

Kurt smiled, "Yeah, sure."

"Kurt!" The boy jumped up at the voice. He turned around, wide-eyed, to face two strings of multicolored hair framing firm eyes. She tried not to laugh, "Oops. Didn't mean to startle you."

"It's no biggy," Kurt said laughing it off, though it was a nervous laugh bordering on manic.

"I was just wondering if you'd maybe thought about tonight any more. It's just going to be a movie night at my apartment. A few friends...nothing special. I think you'd really like it."

"Sounds interesting but..." All the time Rogue was watching the girl curiously. She pulled a piece of her pale hair behind her ear to get a better look. Why had she never seen this girl around school before?

"I mean," India was very aware that she was starting to sound desperate. She had no idea why it was so important for him to come, but for some reason it was. Perhaps the formaldehyde had really gotten to her brain. "We're going to have great food there..."

This gave Kurt a pause. He was always a sucker for food.

"Um..." she began listing the food items on her fingers as she saw that the mention of food got his attention, "Popcorn, Toffee Ice-cream for the movie," beside her Sandra squealed in excitement knowing what movie was being described in code, "and my friend mailed me a big bag of these candies called Dumies...I think they're from Finland or something..."

"Dumies?" India stared up at the tall German boy.

"Yeah, you like 'em?" she fingered her lip.

"Yeah...I do..."

"Here," she grabbed Kurt's hand holding a pen in the other. Rogue almost choked on her milk. Kurt grabbed his hand away quickly holding it with the other. "Oh, I was just going to write my address down..."

"I have a skin condition," Kurt said quickly. He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Oh," India paused, "Um...okay." She grabbed out a napkin from a nearby abandoned table and scrawled her address on it and handed it to Kurt. "I don't have a phone so...if you want to, you can just stop by. It's no big deal."

"Okay," Kurt said taking the address gingerly making sure that their hands didn't brush.

"Well, gotta go. I'm late for..." she picked her lip again and looked at Sandra, "What am I late for?"

"German," the girl offered helpfully.

"Right German. Auf Wiedersehen all!" And with this she left leaving a cloud of confusion across both Rogue's and Kurt's faces.

"You're not...gonna go are you, elf?" Rogue asked standing up next to Kurt.

"I don't know," Kurt said honestly.

***

You know that part of the story that you write and it's all just filler that helps the action get to the place that you want it to get to so that you can really start writing a great story after you've passed that point? Yeah.

p.s. I haven't had the Internet for a few days so this came later than it was meant to come. I'm also very aware that I've still not got Kurt characterized right. Anyone is free to leave any suggestion that they want to. Please, I don't care if you're flaming because, honestly, flames really can help. Kinda smack me in the side of the head will ya?