Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men or Paul.

Set during 'Mainstream'. Paul's PoV.

Have you ever wanted to do the right thing and than you just simply didn't do it?

Well, that's what happened to me.

I mean in the movies the hero always has to make the decision between, you know, joining the dark side of the force or being a hero.

Naturally the hero always picks the side of good.

And why shouldn't he? It's a no-brainer, right?

You have to choose between good and evil. Most people sit in the cinema or in front of the TV and go: Duh, you always choose good!

Well today I had my chance at being a hero.

One of the good guy's.

But when it came right down to it I chose evil, because it was so much easier. So much safer. And so much more convenient.

So what have I done that is oh so evil you ask?

Well, I'd best start at the beginning. And the beginning of this story, for me at least, was about four days ago when I turned on the TV and saw a good friend and some other kids from my school fight a giant Robot on national television.

At first I thought it was a practical joke or something. I mean come on! Giant Robots, teenagers with superpowers that just screams comic-book or bad sci-fi-flick, right?

But than it sank in.

It was fuckin' real.

It was real.

Real!

Needless to say after I had somewhat grasped the situation I started to panic. Wouldn't you?

Then I got mad.

Mostly at Scott. Most of you probably know him as the Mutant Cyclops, but to me he was ... is Scott.

The others I understood keeping secrets from me, but I thought Scott and I were close.

We have been friends since he came to Bayville six years ago, when we both were thirteen.

I know that lately we haven't spend that much time together, but I thought that was mostly my fault since I spend more and more time with Kim. My girl.

But it's not as if I ignored Scott completely. I asked if he wanted to grab a burger or something, but he kept on canceling on me.

Well, basically I got mad at him for not telling me that whole Mutant-thing.

In my defense that was when it all was still a no-brainer.

Now I understand. But I'll get to that part later.

Anyway than I thought: Why the fuck don't I have cool powers? I would fight crime ...

That was the moment when I understood that the Bayville Sirens must have been Jean, Ms. Dark'n'Sullen, Kitty and some other girls from the Institute.

From there on in it basically all made sense.

Earthquakes: Alvers.

Demon in the boys bathroom: That blue dude.

That stormcloud that keeps appearing over the Institute: Ms. Munroe.

The dance: I saw Scott and the others hunt down the Dragons or what ever they were.

And just a bunch of other stuff.

That was when I began to doubt that the Institute kids were basically nice. I wanted to. I really did.

So for the next few days I was basically stuck in front of the tube and riddled with paranoia and self-doubt.

Wouldn't you feel freakin' stupid if you just found out that a bunch of superpowered Mutants lived in our relatively small town and you had now clue what so ever? I mean everybody knew that there was something strange going on, but people phenomenal powers? No one had that one.

And I thought it was a whopper when that scientist and his friends got powers through cosmic rays a few years back. Maybe they were Mutants too ...!?

But I'm getting of track here.

So what happened is that after some soul searching and seeing the footage of Rogue (what kind of name is that?) kicking that huge Mutants ass I decided to give Scott a hard time for a couple of days but let him know that I was his friend no matter what.

It was still a no-brainer at this point. But shortly after that it became complicated.

We, everybody, heard that the Institute kid would be back in school.

It was weird, as soon as I saw them walk up to school I couldn't move my legs. Or maybe it was when I saw the way everybody was looking at them. I don't know, but the fact is I didn't go up to my friend like I thought I would.

I stayed away from him.

I heard my classmates yell and scream the most hurtful things at him and his family.

And I know Scott considers the people at the Institute family!

I knew deep in my heart that I should stand beside them and tell everybody else to shut up.

It was as clear as daylight.

It was, as I said before, a no-brainer.

I knew what I should have done. But I didn't.

I just didn't. Yes, the situation was hostile but nobody threatened to kill me or something like that that would excuse my cowardice.

I knew with every fiber of my being what was the right thing to do.

But I didn't do it.

So that was my chance at being a hero.

One of the good guy's.

And I blew it.