Chapter Two

After spending half the lunch period searching, Scott Summers finally found the object of his wrath perched on a tree branch in a decidedly not-normal way. A normal boy would sit on the branch with his legs dangling, perhaps even straddle the branch. Kurt crouched with his long toes curled invisibly around the branch and his elbows leaning against his knees in a perfectly balanced position that would be impossible for a normal human to keep up for more than a few seconds. To Scott's ruby-quartz shielded eyes, he looked for all the world like a giant monkey, just - thankfully - without the tail.

"The purpose of that image inducer is to make you inconspicuous in a crowd, Kurt," he snapped angrily, startling the younger teenager so badly, he had to stick his tail out to regain his balance. Scott gasped at the sight of the long, blue tail, which seemed to float in mid-air several inches from the rest of Kurt's hologram-shielded body.

Flustered and disoriented by Scott's intrusion into his happy, Kitty-oriented daydreams, Kurt gracefully leaped off the branch and quickly curled his tail around his leg, where it once again became invisible behind the holographic projection.

"Oh, hi, there, Scott!" he said, offering the older boy a weak smile. "I did not hear you come. You were looking for me, ja?"

"Ja," Scott repeated acerbically.

Kurt's hologram-brown eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Is something wrong, mein Freund? You look kind of upset."

"Wrong?" Scott snapped, using his greater height to menace Kurt backwards until his back hit the tree trunk. "I'd say something is wrong. Your complete and total irresponsibility is what's wrong! I heard a group of kids talking today by my locker. Can you guess what they were talking about?"

Kurt shook his head with an attempt at a carefree shrug.

"No. I don't have a clue."

Scott snorted.

"You got that right, Fuzzy Elf. One of them was saying how she thought she had seen a blue 'creature' with a long tail standing near Kitty yesterday afternoon." The tall teenager took another menacing step towards the cringing Kurt. "I wonder who that 'creature' she was referring to could be?"

Kurt tried to flash an innocent grin, but it came off as more of a pained grimace.

Scott glared invisibly behind his ruby-quartz glasses and took another step forward.

"When you asked Kitty out yesterday, did you by any chance happen to turn off your image inducer?"

Kurt could no longer hold his gaze. He looked down at his holographically shod feet and slumped his shoulders.

"I didn't think that anyone would see me under the trees," he said softly. "I just-I just wanted to ask her as me, you know? I wanted her to see me when she answered." He grinned, a touch of humor lightening his pained eyes. "You know how chicks dig the fuzzy dude!"

Scott rolled his eyes behind his shades.

"Oh, grow up, will you, Kurt! You could have ruined everything pulling a stunt like that! You, better than any of the others, should understand how important it is to keep the nature of our true powers a secret, at least for now. Do you want to cause a panic at this school? Because it's just that kind of stunt - that and the little balancing act you were doing just now on that tree branch - that will make it happen. Get it?"

"Got it," Kurt whispered, his eyes downcast.

"Good," Scott said, stepping back a little. "Just keep that in mind the next time it comes into your fuzzy blue head to pull a stunt like that. And at the dance - make sure the batteries are fully charged, OK?"

Kurt nodded dejectedly.

"Ja. Fully charged. I got it."

Scott looked down at him and sighed, shaking his head.

"Come on man, I know it's hard, but it's for your own good, you know."

Kurt looked up at him, his large eyes blazing with an incandescent fury.

"Oh yeah? What do you know about it? What can you know about it? You've only got to hide your eyes. Ooh, big deal! How would you like it if you had to walk around in a costume every day just so that people won't scream and run away, or even try to kill you? You're telling me to grow up? To get a clue? Well, right back at you, dude!"

With an unusually bright, smoky BAMF, Kurt was gone.

Scott leaned against the tree trunk, a hand to his forehead.

"Well," he said to himself. "That went well."


"You're right, Scott, Kurt can be totally immature at times. But you have to keep in mind that before he came here he lived a pretty sheltered life. I mean, can you imagine what it must have been like growing up looking the way he does, and without an image inducer?"

"I know, Jean..." Scott sighed. "But, when the safety of all of us is on the line, I'm not going to lighten up on him. He's got to learn some responsibility."

"I agree. But you must be careful, Scott. Kurt is still coming to terms with his identity. Believe it or not, the image inducer may actually make that more difficult for him. If you push him too hard, he could either come to resent you and it, or else become completely dependent on that thing and still resent you for it."

"Hey, guys," a chipper voice came from behind them. Scott and Jean turned around to face the newcomer.

"Hey, Kitty," Jean said, and smiled. "What's up?"

"Like, have either of you two seen Kurt?" Kitty asked. "I've been, like, searching for him since school, like, ended! I, like, totally need to tell him something and it's really important."

Jean turned to Scott, who looked slightly sheepish.

"Yeah, well, I haven't seen him since lunch. Maybe you should ask Rogue where he is."

"That's, like, the first place I went after the bell rang, but she hasn't seen him since, like, this morning."

"Well, maybe he went back to the Institute," Jean suggested. "It's not like he has to drive there like the rest of us."

Kitty rolled her eyes and clapped her palm to her forehead.

"Oh, right! Duh! I'll bet that's where he is. Thanks! See you two at the dance, OK?"

Jean smiled back.

"OK. Bye, Kitty."

"What do you think she wanted to tell him?" Scott asked once she'd gone, running as fast as she could to catch the late bus, the school bus that departed an hour after the regular buses to accommodate students who participated in after school activities.

Jean shrugged.

"What do you think I am, a mind reader?"

Scott smirked and shook his head.

"Ooh, that was bad, Jean. Really bad."

Jean smiled and stood up from the bench where they had been sitting since Jean's soccer practice ended.

"Well, the dance starts at six, but Duncan Matthews and his friends are picking me up at five-thirty. That means I've only got about three hours to get ready. We'd better get going!"

Scott's eye twitched at the mention of the blond football star's name, but he shook off his anger and stood to take her hands in his.

"Do you really think it'll take that long for you to make yourself beautiful?"

Jean flushed slightly.

"Well, you don't expect me to go looking like this, do you?"

"Why not? From where I'm standing, you don't need any improvement. Even in jeans, you'd be the most striking girl on the dance floor, Jean."

Scott squinted behind his glasses, recognizing something awkward in that sentence but not quite sure whether it was what he'd said or how he'd said it.

Jean smiled.

"That's sweet, Scott, but we really should be getting back. Come on, I'll race you to your car!"

Scott sighed deeply as he watched her departing back, then he straightened, a familiar mask of friendly indifference settling easily over his pained features.

"Hey, wait up!" he called, loping forwards on his long legs. "Even if you beat me it won't do you any good! I'm the one with the keys, remember!"

To Be Continued...