Beep…beep…beep…

Kitty Pryde yawned and whacked the alarm clock as hard as her small fingers could manage. Bright rays of sun streamed through her window, blue birds chirped, and the downstairs of the mansion the X-men called their own was bustling with activity. But Kitty was too tired to really notice. She had spent the sleeping hours chatting away mindlessly with her boyfriend, Lance.

"Kitty, come down here! Jean made pancakes for breakfast! If you don't get your lazy butt down here, you'll have to eat the ones I tried to make!" the familiar voice of Scott called from the mouth of the staircase. Shuddering at the thought of trying to swallow pancakes with the consistency of rotten bananas, she chose to ignore the comment and make her bed instead. Throwing on a jean miniskirt and pink sequin tank top, she ran down the staircase.

The sweet aroma of golden pancakes filled her nose, making her mouth water. Jena had always been the best cook since day one, and breakfast was her specialty.

"Are there any left?" she called desperately over the voice of the chattering mutants.

"You're lucky," Jean said, handing her a blue plate with a stack of the goody-goodness. "This is the last batch."

"Thanks." The small girl made her way over to the dining room table in the other room.

The fancy room was usually reserved for special occasions only, but no one was there to reprimand the girl and the less formal kitchen was crowded to the last inch. Sitting herself down in the fine-quality mahogany chairs, she indulged herself in the golden-brown pieces of heaven. She jumped and gagged as a blue creature and smoke furled in front of her.

"Hey, Kitty." Kurt greeted her, grinning hopelessly.

Kitty glared at him before replying.

"Hello. Did you get shoved out of the kitchen, too?"

"No, but I heard you in here so I decided to take a chance and scare you."

She swatted at him with a playful smile, only earning a smug grin from her furry blue friend. He easily dodged her clawing antics until the point that their sides were both bursting with giggles. Wiping tears of mirth from his eyes as Kitty finally managed to pinch his arm; Kurt lay back over the table.

"Scott is going to kill you."

"Scott isn't here, is he?" Kurt quipped triumphantly.

"KURT!"

"Aww, shi—"

"You better start running!" Kitty began to giggle as she watched Kurt run for his life from the angry X-men leader.

"Everyone in the car!" Jean yelled out over the commotion. Soon, the hyper crowd had dissipated into the super-sized X-car. The engine revved up, and soon they were all off to school to face the dangers of the world.



Lunch

"Hey, Kitty!" Rogue called cheerfully, sitting at the bench that the two had reserved for themselves.

"My history teacher is so annoying." Kitty said, sighing as she took her seat across from her friend.

"Do tell." Rogue urged, taking a bite into her plump red apple.

"He gave us this huge project just today and said it wall all due tomorrow. Every single piece of it! I was so pissed off. How am I supposed to balance it all with a track meet after school and training tonight after that?"

"I don't know…maybe Wolverine will be nice and cut you some slack."

"Yeah. Right." Kitty scoffed.

"I feel bad for you an' all, but I think you'll be okay."

Kitty exhaled slowly.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I guess I'll enjoy myself while I have the chance. This is lunch."

She opened her lunch sack and started on her carrots. She chose to listen to Rogue express the trail of her day rather than insert comments of her own. Her eyes lazily watched the many students pass by. But then she caught on to something that rather bothered her.

Kurt was storming straight towards them, an angry, vicious look on his face. His forehead was knotted up in raged; his lips were pulled back into a snarl. Kitty had never seen him look so angry. His fingers were curled up into fists, swinging maliciously against his sides. He was still marching their way.

"An' then this guys was like-"

"Rogue! Turn around!" Rogue held her tongue and turned around. Her eyes widened and she bit her lip nervously.

"What's up with him?"

"I don't know."

"Kitty!" he yelled. "I can't believe you'd do something like that to me! I…I…I just can't believe it! I thought that you were my friend! You've betrayed me farther than even an enemy would. I hate you!"

It was the last statement that cut cold to Kitty's heart. She was scared and confused. What was wrong with Kurt? She'd never seen her blue pal this emotional before. What had she done to him? She couldn't think of anything that would drive him to this state of fury.

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off as a pair of very strong hands locked onto her shoulders. Her breath caught in her throat; her heart pounded. She was too weak to retaliate. All she could manage to do was stare into his eyes and watch the devils inside taking over…

SLAM!

All time slowed and came to a gradual halt. The buzzing of the student body stopped. Kitty Pryde fell to the ground. A puddle of blood formed around her.

Kurt stared down at his hands, not able to utter a word. He looked at the tips of his fingers, and then at his fallen friend. His lips twitched, and his eyes slowly opened and shut. His eyes slowly traveled to Rogue, who was staring at him blankly. Then he turned and ran.

Scott and Jean made their way over to the scene. Scott's emotions were unreadable, but Jean's cheeks were stained with tears. Rogue was still frozen in the whirl of the moment.

"Don't cry, Jean. Everything's is going to be okay." Scott reassured the sobbing girl next to him.

She nodded slowly, drawing what comfort she could from this simple phrase. They both knew it wasn't true. How could it be okay? Kurt had wounded Kitty. She was drowning in her won blood right in front of them. Nothing was okay. Nothing.

Scott slowly lifted the limp girl into his arms. With Jean at his arm, they proceeded to the X-mansion. But it was too late. Kitty was dead.