It would have to be tonight. No, not because time was running out or because it was his last chance. Or even his best chance. It would have to be tonight because, quite simply, Kurt was going nuts.

He was perched on a cabinet in the kitchen, studiously ignoring both his breakfast and the two sets of eyes watching him like a hawk. He was certain neither Kitty nor Jean had blinked in at least two minutes and it...was...driving...him...batty.

Scott luckily chose that moment to enter the room. "Okay, guys, time for..."

bamf

"...school?" He blinked behind his visor and followed the girls' gaze to the wall, perplexed. "What're you looking at?"

Kurt arrived behind the school with a cloud of sulfur and made his way to his locker, which he promptly began pacing in front of. Today was the day. He would give his speech and make preparations for his speech. And hopefully not see Amanda. She hadn't called after he had walked away and he hadn't waited for her to. He knew he was being incredibly unfair—and felt incredibly bad for it—but he just wasn't...ready. Ready to make her understand. Ready to understand himself.

"Are you okay?"

Kurt jumped, slamming his back into his locker. If he had a nickel every time... Crystal looked at him at him like something rabid but harmless and shook her head. "O—kay, sorry I asked. Just, um...I'm going to be grading you later. Try to keep it simple, you know, look at the audience, clear voice...all that good speech nonsense. And try not to start anything, okay? I don't think Kelly's heart can take it." Was it his imagination or did she snicker at that? "Anyway, good luck later."

"Um...wait!" he called when she turned to go. She looked back at him expectantly. "Um..." Her lips pursed and she looked at him like...it was unfortunate. He tried desperately to read further into her expression, to know what she seemed to, but she took a step forward, breaking the spell.

"Look, Kurt, relax. You're a decent person, which is pretty rare around here. I know this is hard. Just get in there, get it over with, get your grade and get out." She looked like she wanted to say more, but she just shook her head again and walked away, heels clicking down the empty hallways.

Empty hallways...! Kurt took off for class at a dead run.

"According to Juan Martinez, 'in the interest of proportional response, mutant powers must be measured and catalogued in order to train those who would safeguard the population from their misuse'..." Kurt's voice droned through the room. Only those from Xavier's Institute seemed to be awake and determined to glare him to death. Oh, and Amanda was refusing to look at him at all. But other than that, it seemed that someone had declared nap-time.

"And so, like the different licensing of guns according to how powerful they are, mutant registration will allow the government to keep tabs on potential threats to public safety." The flat buzzing having stopped, the audience began to wake and a few scattered applauses were issued. Kurt was relieved to see his English teacher looked happy, even if Crystal was yawning as she scribbled down his grade.

"Thank you, Mr. Wagner," Principal Kelly said, shooing him off stage. "Thank you very, very much. That thankfully concludes our proceedings for today. We will start our closing statements off with Duncan Matt—" He stopped speaking as the auditorium began to clear. "Yes, yes, class dismissed." As if anyone was still listening.

Kitty waited around, looking for Kurt. Though she was still mad like everyone else, his boring speech hadn't done much for the enemy and so she was willing to cut him a little slack. But as the school cleared, the hologram-covered mutant was nowhere to be seen. "Like, how rude."
Kurt clung to the sides of a warm, brick building, watching Crystal as the senior walked quickly down the street. She seemed lost in thought, absently keeping herself walking in a straight line and not paying attention to much else. Seeing his opportunity in the form of a dark alley, Kurt 'ported with a soft bamf just before she reached it.

This is probably the worst possible way to go about this, he thought to himself. Oops, too late. Reaching out with his tail, he snagged her wrist and pulled her in the shadows. She gave a small yelp, but was otherwise still as he placed a furry hand around her mouth—just in case.

"Please don't scream," he said, too nervous to be pleased with his mangled accent. "I'm not going to hurt you...I'm a mutant. I just want to talk to you about the debates." She nodded—barely—and he let go.

She spun, predictably, but he had sunk back into the shadows, and she could only see his two glowing eyes. Kurt watched her carefully. He could catch her, if she ran, but he wouldn't. She peered at him for a moment, her expression oddly thoughtful. "Well then, let's see you."

Kurt's mouth opened and closed. He watched in astonishment as she stepped farther into the alley and checked the streets as he had been doing constantly since turning off his watch. Then she crossed her arm and struck a pose, as if he was wasting her time.

Here goes...Kurt stepped out of the shadows. A small gasp caught in her throat and her eyes widened in surprise. Kurt felt his cheeks grow hot, but whether he was angry or blushing, he couldn't tell. She stared for just a minute before her expression shut down completely.

"You're the Bayville Demon," she stated. He started to object, but she cut him off. "What do you want?" Her voice caught as if she was trying too hard to make her demand sound harsh.

"I am the Bayville Demon," he said softly. "Just not in the way everyone thinks." She didn't react and he felt himself slipping. "I just want to be heard."

She reacted slightly to his whispered plea. "I'll arrange for it. Be there and wait for me to announce you." She turned on her heel but stopped again when she reached the end of the alley. "Word to the wise? Have an escape route and work on that accent. It's so obviously faked, it isn't even funny."

Crystal left then and as she did, Kurt could have sworn she muttered something about being murdered by Kelly in her sleep.