Chapter 8 - "Feeling Freakish"
Kurt sat at the mostly empty dining room table eating a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. He glanced over at Logan who sat at the opposite end drinking his coffee as he silently read the morning's newspaper.
Taking another bite of eggs, Kurt heard steps outside the room and looked up to see who was about to join them. The door did not, in fact, open as he had expected; for it was the Shadowcat who simply walked through it. Catching sight of his friend, Kurt actually choked a little on his mouthful.
"Hi Keety." He managed to get out between coughs. "You look... vonderbar!"
To this exclamation, Logan had curiously peeked out from behind his paper just long enough to see what it was all about. The "half-pint" as he liked to call her had apparently taken on a new look.
As Katherine Pryde walked across the room to a seat next to her friend, Kurt was taking the opportunity to get a new look at her.
Her chestnut hair was down from it's signature ponytail, and as she had mentioned earlier that morning, it was indeed very curly. The spiraling brunette locks framed her face as they fell just past her shoulders. Kurt was unconsciously making a mental note about his new found appreciation of curly hair.
"Thanks." She smiled, blushing a little. "I figured, you had a new look today, so I would too."
Kurt started laughing.
"Ja. You've gone curly and I've gone blue and furry." He continued to laugh, "Eet's almost the same thing." He held up two of his blue fingers just barely an inch apart to visualize the small difference.
Kitty stuck out her tongue at him.
"Okay, or maybe I just waited too long to do anything with MY hair because I was busy helping you with YOURS after you "popped" in and interrupted my shower this morning."
There was a distinct, coughing while choking on coffee sound that came from the other end of the table. Kitty hadn't even noticed Mr. Logan in the room and her eyes went wide in fear to his reaction of what she had just said. The man who had taken it upon himself to be her over protective guardian set down his coffee and stood up. He looked as if he wanted to scream something, but couldn't find the words. He chose instead to shake his head, pick up his paper and leave the room; muttering something to the effect of "Kids..." to himself.
As soon as he had left the room, Kitty lost it.
"Oh my god, like, I think that was even more embarrassing then you seeing me naked." Kitty looked as if she were about to die.
"I told you zhat I didn't even see anything." Kurt added, trying hard to hold back his laughter. "Besides, even if I had, you vouldn't have anything to be embarrassed about." he added, a bit more coyly than his usual flirtations.
Kitty turned to face him and looked him in the eye, trying to read through his words. He opted to change the topic a bit before he had to tread into territory he was not ready to enter.
"You better hope Logan thought you vere being funny or 'yours truly' will most certainly be a pile of blue fuzzy pieces when he gets a hold of me."
"Let's hope." Kitty answered, still a little flustered from Kurt's earlier comment.
But before she had a chance to question him about it, the room had filled with hungry students all hurriedly eating before rushing off to school. Everyone had highly approved Kitty's new look, making her feel quite embarrassed by the end of the meal. She half remembered Bobby's statement, which consisted of the words: "damn" and "hot," making her cheeks flush. However, she also noted the warm feeling she felt when she noticed Kurt nodding in agreement to Bobby's wink in his direction.
All too soon, the students found that it was time to start heading to school. The morning had seemed to rush by so quickly, even for Kurt who had been up for hours.
The five seniors had made plans to carpool together that morning, so that Kurt could be among friends as he entered the school. They all arrived a bit earlier than usual, all a little nervous and prepared to stand up for their friend.
"Vell..." Said Kurt, making one last check that his holowatch was on and working well. "...here goes nothing."
The group made their way into the school, the halls were just beginning to get crowded as more students arrived all hurrying along to get to their lockers before class. It seemed that they were all distracted, however, by the group of mutants walking past them, particularly the small German one in the back.
Until the last couple of days, Kurt had never really noticed just how many kids went to Bayville High, but now, with every pair of eyes on him, it felt like thousands. Even though he had just double checked that he was well hidden behind his hologram, he still felt as if their scowling eyes could see right through it. The sensation was making him feel very xenophobic.
"Just ignore them." Kitty whispered to him, smiling. She reached out and squeezed his hand. This gesture, however small, had instantly helped him relax and he smiled in appreciation back at her.
As they rounded the corner to Kurt's locker bay, Rogue let out a low moan.
"Those bastards." She added.
Spray painted in red across Kurt's locker were the words, "GO BACK TO HELL, DEMON FREAK!"
Kurt's heart sank at the sight of these words. The little bit of hope he had for the day to go well was gone in seconds.
"Hey...K-man..." Evan looked apologetically at Kurt, obviously not knowing what to say.
"At least zey are not actually trying to send me zhere." Kurt said as he shrugged his shoulders and opened his locker to stash some of his books.
The five minute warning bell wailed through the busy halls. Evan turned to Kurt.
"Hey man, you sure you'll be all right?"
"Ja. See you next period."
"Awlright, we'll meet you here fer lunch, kay?" Rogue said, looking very protective towards her brother.
"Eet's fine, zanks you guys. Now go to class, before you're late." He waved to Rogue and Evan as they took off towards their classrooms at the other end of the large building.
"You ready man?" Ray asked, the two of them had their first class together.
"I'll be right there." Kurt responded, knowing that Ray wanted a few last minutes to look over his notes before the test.
"Hey." Kitty said, causing Kurt to turn around and look at her. "Don't give up yet. It'll get better, it just takes us thickheaded ones a bit longer to realize how great you are." She pointed to herself as said this and Kurt knew that not only was she talking about the school, but herself. A genuine smile spread across his features and Kitty pulled him into a hug. "Good luck on your test."
"Zanks, Keety." He hugged her back tightly.
"See you in a little bit." She smiled as he walked away towards his class.
Upon entering his small classroom, all twenty-nine pairs of eyes turned to him. The room went so silent that Kurt imagined that had it been a cartoon, you would have heard crickets chirping in the background. The start of class bell rang, breaking the awkward silence as Kurt sat in the empty desk next to Ray.
"So..." Began his Chemistry teacher, Mr. Garner, "I will assume that since none of you are frantically trying to memorize a few last minute facts... that you are indeed ready for the test."
The majority of the students were so preoccupied by keeping an eye on the "demon" in their classroom, that they had temporarily forgotten about the exam. Their was much commotion and shouts of protest after Mr. Garner had brought it up.
"But sir, you can't really expect us to be able to concentrate when there's that... that mutant FREAK in our room!" One of the boys in the front of the classroom shouted.
"Mr. Davis, there is ONE thing that I will not tolerate in my classroom, and that's a prejudice towards any other person." Kurt had never heard his teacher talk in this tone of voice before, it came across as a low roar, and he was serious about what he had to say. "I should hope that you have learned in your history classes, that America is a country of tolerance, where "all men are created equal." Or are you failing that class as well?" He had slipped in the last comment a bit quieter than the rest and it gained quite a few chuckles from the other students.
The student who had started it all, Alan Davis, seemed to have claimed defeat. He crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back in his chair, with a rather unhappy look on his face.
"Now does anyone else have a problem with sharing their classroom with a mutant?" The teacher paused for a beat. "Because if you do, I suggest you find a different school." This again led to a few more chuckles around the room, even Kurt and Ray managed to crack a smile. Kurt swore that he saw his teacher wink in his direction.
"Now, if you will please clear off your tables of everything except a pencil, I'm going to pass out the test."
After about twenty minutes or so Kurt sat at his table, feeling pretty confident about his test. This was quite an impressive feat, considering he doubted that he had gotten more than hour of studying done.
The test had been short and Mr. Garner had everyone getting in their assigned pairs to do a quick experiment before the end of class. For the last month Kurt had been paired up with a girl named Janie, the two had become casual friends over the course of the class and she was one of the few that continued to talk to him after the Xavier's Institute had been outed as a school for mutants. She made her way over to their table in the back to join him.
"I can vork by myself if you prefer." Kurt said quietly to her.
"It's okay." She said smiling as she sat down.
Kurt smiled back and they began their project.
It didn't really take that long and Kurt was helping Janie finish filling out the worksheet where they charted their results. They had fallen silent as he scribbled in the last few numbers, when Janie spoke up.
"Does your mutant power make you blue like that?" She spoke quietly so that no one else could hear. Kurt judged by her expression that she was honestly, just curious.
"Mein mother vas a mutant as vell, so unlike many first generation mutants, I vas born vith physical mutations." That was the simplest way he could think to explain it.
"If you were born that way, how do you hide it?"
Kurt looked silently at the girl, not really sure if he should talk about it.
"I'm sorry, it's not my place..." she said, feeling bad for nagging him.
"No, eet's fine. I vear a hologram. It sort of works like a full-body mask. Yesterday, in the cafeteria, it broke."
Kurt watched her face as she took in this information. It seemed to be making a lot of sense to her.
'That's why you won't ever touch anyone, you can hide how you look, but if someone ever shook your hand, they'd notice."
"Zhat I only have two fingers." Kurt added as he held out his hand palm up, fingers and thumb spread wide, forever looking as if he was making some sort of Star Trek reference.
She giggled a little bit and then reached out and placed her hand on his. Kurt was not expecting this and flinched a little as her skin touched his palm. He averted his eyes as he waited for a scream, but it didn't come. Looking back at her, she squeezed his palm and said quietly.
"You were very brave to come back to school today." As soon as she said it, her hand slipped out of his and she quickly gathered her books off the table. "See you tomorrow Kurt." She walked away just as the bell rang, signaling the end of class.
As Kurt gathered his own books, Ray walked over to him.
"I guess chicks really do dig the fuzzy dude." He said, making Kurt blush.
The morning passing period was short, which on most days seemed like more of an annoyance. But today, Kurt was greatful for anything that made the day seem to go by faster. Rogue came up beside he and Ray speeding up to their pace. Ray waved a casual goodbye as he split off down another hallway to his classroom leaving Rogue and Kurt to continue on to their own.
"So how'd yer first class go?" Asked Rogue a little cautiously.
"Actually, not too bad. I can only hope the rest vill go as vell."
The bell rang and soon the pair found themselves in their next class which proved to go a little less smoothly than his first. After only about ten minutes Kurt found himself in the middle of quite the argument with his professor about his distraction of the class.
"I am going to have to ask you to leave if you continue to disrupt my class Mr. Wagner." His math teacher, Mr. Stratford, stated forcefully.
"Vas? I haven't done anything!"
"You are making it difficult for the other students to concentrate." His tone remained harsh.
In reality, Kurt had been sitting quietly in the back, sinking deeper and deeper in his chair in an effort to "hide" from his taunting classmates. The words freak, devil and demon were being tossed around by the bullying students. As well as a few non-too-casual threats on his well- being. If anything, Rogue should have been the one to get kicked out of class. Against Kurt's plea, Rogue was taking her try at throwing back few threats.
The teacher's lack of respect and blaming of Kurt on the disturbance that was once his classroom infuriated Kurt. Not being able to take anymore, he abruptly stood from his desk causing his chair to fall backwards. There was a loud crash as the metal hit the hard linoleum floor causing the room to hush.
"All I did vas come to class! How can you punish me for that?!" His fist hit the desktop as he spoke, the anger oozing from his words as he unknowingly let out a deep growl along with them.
This brought a look of fear to the faces of many people he had once considered friends. Even Rogue was silent, a little shocked at the reaction from her care free companion. Kurt stood, his breathing heavy from the adrenaline. He instantly realized his mistake of yelling as he surveyed the terrified faces, including Mr. Startford. Kurt sent an apologetic glance in Rogue's direction before picking up his bag.
"Fine." He stated his tone was still a little harsh, but the volume was back to normal. "I'll leave." And he left the classroom.
He silently walked through the empty hallways, angry at the world and the unfairness of his life. All he wanted was to finish high school, he was so close and he wasn't about to let anyone ruin it for him.
As he rounded the corner to his locker bay, stomping a little more loudly than necessary, he came across a sight that brought him new hope.
There was Katherine Pryde, his best friend and teammate. The incredibly intelligent bookworm that rogue had gone to calling "Little Miss A+". She was obviously skipping class to be in the halls at this hour, but it wasn't this that touched Kurt so much. Here she was on her knees scrubbing off the foul red letters that had once adorned his locker.
Actually a little surprised that she hadn't heard him approach, he quietly stepped aside to watch her for a moment, hidden in the shadows of the corner.
Kurt had always thought Kitty was pretty, but lately, he had been noticing just how incredibly beautiful she was. And it wasn't just the curly hair. Although, as he watched the the spiraling tendrils dance along her back as she continued to scrub, he knew he preferred them. It wasn't just her outward appearance that had gained his attention lately either, the friendship she shared with him made it obvious just how beautiful her soul was as well.
Feeling a little guilty for watching her, he left his shadows as he walked quietly towards her. Although his image inducer made it appear that he wore shoes, his awkward feet weren't really designed for them and his almost paw-like toes padding softly across the linoleum.
"Danke." He said softly, failing in avoiding to startle her as he noticed her jump a little.
"Kurt? Hi. Why aren't you in class?" Her cheeks flushed and she almost seemed a little embarrassed as she finished up, dropping the scrub brush back into the bucket of soapy water.
"I should ask you zhe same thing Keety, but I guess I know zhe answer."
He offered his hand to her and pulled her up to her feet.
"I was going to surprise you and have it done before lunch break." She said sounding a little disappointed.
"Sorry I showed up early, but I'm still surprised. Thank you Katzchen."
They stood in a silence that was emphasized by the empty hallways.
"So," Kitty spoke up softly. "I take it class didn't go well?"
"Vell, Chemistry vas all right, but apparently just my *being there* vas too distracting for Mr. Startford." Kurt had fortunately had time to calm down, but he could still feel his blood boil a little as he explained this to his friend.
Kitty nodded in understanding, not really surprised for that particular teacher's rude behavior.
"People can be such jerks." She grumbled.
"Ja vell, people like you make up for them."
She smiled and looked away.
"Let me, like, go and ditch this" Kitty lifted the bucket by it's handle. "and we can hang out until lunch." She walked off towards the janitor's closet as Kurt put his bag in his locker.
The two spent the next hour or so sitting outside talking. It was starting to look more like summer everyday. It was actually a little hot in the sunlight so they found a big tree with some good shade and climbed up into one of the lower branches. Kitty was leaning comfortably against the trunk with one leg pulled up to her chest, her arm draped over her knee. Kurt noticed her scrapes from earlier that week.
"You seem to be healing nicely." He said pointing them out.
She yawned a little as she looked down at the red marks. "Yeah, it was just a few scrapes. I am still a little sore from the 'port though. I can't even imagine how you must feel."
"I'm used to it." He said as he shrugged and then flinched, having apparently moved his arm the wrong way. "For zhe most part." He added with a sheepish grin.
"Hey..." his voice changed to concerned. "Are you still having problems with your phasing?"
"Nah, I'm fine. I've just been a little "off" lately." She looked away as she smiled. She wasn't about to worry Kurt by telling him about all the incidents she'd had lately.
"You're a bad liar Miss Pryde." He used in what he felt was his most teacher-like tone, but he cut her slack anyway and continued on. "But I know vhat you mean about feeling "off". After zhe other day and zhis morning, I've been avoiding 'porting anywhere."
"Afraid that next time you might end up in the Blob's shower or something?" She began to laugh.
"Ugh! Don't even say zhat!" He made a disgusted face, sticking out his tongue as if he had tasted something foul.
As their laughter died down, he shifted back to his previous thoughts. "Ve should probably talk to zhe professor and see if he can figure out vhat is vrong vith us."
"Yeah, but let's focus on getting through today first." Kitty hopped down from her branch and looked up at him. "It's about time for lunch, you wanna go meet everyone?"
He hopped down beside her and let out a sigh. "Ja, okay."
The two wandered in, leaving behind the warm, fresh spring air for the cool stale air inside the school.
Rogue, Ray and Evan were already waiting for them.
End chapter 8: 'Feeling Freakish'
Sorry this took so long with all the holidays and such. I was going to put the whole day in this chap, but it was a good breaking point and I wanted to post before you all forgot about me. I hope you don't think that I'm dragging it out too much. Give me input please! And I promise that the next few days will not last nearly as long as the first. I hope everyone's holidays were enjoyable and relaxing!
Kurt sat at the mostly empty dining room table eating a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. He glanced over at Logan who sat at the opposite end drinking his coffee as he silently read the morning's newspaper.
Taking another bite of eggs, Kurt heard steps outside the room and looked up to see who was about to join them. The door did not, in fact, open as he had expected; for it was the Shadowcat who simply walked through it. Catching sight of his friend, Kurt actually choked a little on his mouthful.
"Hi Keety." He managed to get out between coughs. "You look... vonderbar!"
To this exclamation, Logan had curiously peeked out from behind his paper just long enough to see what it was all about. The "half-pint" as he liked to call her had apparently taken on a new look.
As Katherine Pryde walked across the room to a seat next to her friend, Kurt was taking the opportunity to get a new look at her.
Her chestnut hair was down from it's signature ponytail, and as she had mentioned earlier that morning, it was indeed very curly. The spiraling brunette locks framed her face as they fell just past her shoulders. Kurt was unconsciously making a mental note about his new found appreciation of curly hair.
"Thanks." She smiled, blushing a little. "I figured, you had a new look today, so I would too."
Kurt started laughing.
"Ja. You've gone curly and I've gone blue and furry." He continued to laugh, "Eet's almost the same thing." He held up two of his blue fingers just barely an inch apart to visualize the small difference.
Kitty stuck out her tongue at him.
"Okay, or maybe I just waited too long to do anything with MY hair because I was busy helping you with YOURS after you "popped" in and interrupted my shower this morning."
There was a distinct, coughing while choking on coffee sound that came from the other end of the table. Kitty hadn't even noticed Mr. Logan in the room and her eyes went wide in fear to his reaction of what she had just said. The man who had taken it upon himself to be her over protective guardian set down his coffee and stood up. He looked as if he wanted to scream something, but couldn't find the words. He chose instead to shake his head, pick up his paper and leave the room; muttering something to the effect of "Kids..." to himself.
As soon as he had left the room, Kitty lost it.
"Oh my god, like, I think that was even more embarrassing then you seeing me naked." Kitty looked as if she were about to die.
"I told you zhat I didn't even see anything." Kurt added, trying hard to hold back his laughter. "Besides, even if I had, you vouldn't have anything to be embarrassed about." he added, a bit more coyly than his usual flirtations.
Kitty turned to face him and looked him in the eye, trying to read through his words. He opted to change the topic a bit before he had to tread into territory he was not ready to enter.
"You better hope Logan thought you vere being funny or 'yours truly' will most certainly be a pile of blue fuzzy pieces when he gets a hold of me."
"Let's hope." Kitty answered, still a little flustered from Kurt's earlier comment.
But before she had a chance to question him about it, the room had filled with hungry students all hurriedly eating before rushing off to school. Everyone had highly approved Kitty's new look, making her feel quite embarrassed by the end of the meal. She half remembered Bobby's statement, which consisted of the words: "damn" and "hot," making her cheeks flush. However, she also noted the warm feeling she felt when she noticed Kurt nodding in agreement to Bobby's wink in his direction.
All too soon, the students found that it was time to start heading to school. The morning had seemed to rush by so quickly, even for Kurt who had been up for hours.
The five seniors had made plans to carpool together that morning, so that Kurt could be among friends as he entered the school. They all arrived a bit earlier than usual, all a little nervous and prepared to stand up for their friend.
"Vell..." Said Kurt, making one last check that his holowatch was on and working well. "...here goes nothing."
The group made their way into the school, the halls were just beginning to get crowded as more students arrived all hurrying along to get to their lockers before class. It seemed that they were all distracted, however, by the group of mutants walking past them, particularly the small German one in the back.
Until the last couple of days, Kurt had never really noticed just how many kids went to Bayville High, but now, with every pair of eyes on him, it felt like thousands. Even though he had just double checked that he was well hidden behind his hologram, he still felt as if their scowling eyes could see right through it. The sensation was making him feel very xenophobic.
"Just ignore them." Kitty whispered to him, smiling. She reached out and squeezed his hand. This gesture, however small, had instantly helped him relax and he smiled in appreciation back at her.
As they rounded the corner to Kurt's locker bay, Rogue let out a low moan.
"Those bastards." She added.
Spray painted in red across Kurt's locker were the words, "GO BACK TO HELL, DEMON FREAK!"
Kurt's heart sank at the sight of these words. The little bit of hope he had for the day to go well was gone in seconds.
"Hey...K-man..." Evan looked apologetically at Kurt, obviously not knowing what to say.
"At least zey are not actually trying to send me zhere." Kurt said as he shrugged his shoulders and opened his locker to stash some of his books.
The five minute warning bell wailed through the busy halls. Evan turned to Kurt.
"Hey man, you sure you'll be all right?"
"Ja. See you next period."
"Awlright, we'll meet you here fer lunch, kay?" Rogue said, looking very protective towards her brother.
"Eet's fine, zanks you guys. Now go to class, before you're late." He waved to Rogue and Evan as they took off towards their classrooms at the other end of the large building.
"You ready man?" Ray asked, the two of them had their first class together.
"I'll be right there." Kurt responded, knowing that Ray wanted a few last minutes to look over his notes before the test.
"Hey." Kitty said, causing Kurt to turn around and look at her. "Don't give up yet. It'll get better, it just takes us thickheaded ones a bit longer to realize how great you are." She pointed to herself as said this and Kurt knew that not only was she talking about the school, but herself. A genuine smile spread across his features and Kitty pulled him into a hug. "Good luck on your test."
"Zanks, Keety." He hugged her back tightly.
"See you in a little bit." She smiled as he walked away towards his class.
Upon entering his small classroom, all twenty-nine pairs of eyes turned to him. The room went so silent that Kurt imagined that had it been a cartoon, you would have heard crickets chirping in the background. The start of class bell rang, breaking the awkward silence as Kurt sat in the empty desk next to Ray.
"So..." Began his Chemistry teacher, Mr. Garner, "I will assume that since none of you are frantically trying to memorize a few last minute facts... that you are indeed ready for the test."
The majority of the students were so preoccupied by keeping an eye on the "demon" in their classroom, that they had temporarily forgotten about the exam. Their was much commotion and shouts of protest after Mr. Garner had brought it up.
"But sir, you can't really expect us to be able to concentrate when there's that... that mutant FREAK in our room!" One of the boys in the front of the classroom shouted.
"Mr. Davis, there is ONE thing that I will not tolerate in my classroom, and that's a prejudice towards any other person." Kurt had never heard his teacher talk in this tone of voice before, it came across as a low roar, and he was serious about what he had to say. "I should hope that you have learned in your history classes, that America is a country of tolerance, where "all men are created equal." Or are you failing that class as well?" He had slipped in the last comment a bit quieter than the rest and it gained quite a few chuckles from the other students.
The student who had started it all, Alan Davis, seemed to have claimed defeat. He crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back in his chair, with a rather unhappy look on his face.
"Now does anyone else have a problem with sharing their classroom with a mutant?" The teacher paused for a beat. "Because if you do, I suggest you find a different school." This again led to a few more chuckles around the room, even Kurt and Ray managed to crack a smile. Kurt swore that he saw his teacher wink in his direction.
"Now, if you will please clear off your tables of everything except a pencil, I'm going to pass out the test."
After about twenty minutes or so Kurt sat at his table, feeling pretty confident about his test. This was quite an impressive feat, considering he doubted that he had gotten more than hour of studying done.
The test had been short and Mr. Garner had everyone getting in their assigned pairs to do a quick experiment before the end of class. For the last month Kurt had been paired up with a girl named Janie, the two had become casual friends over the course of the class and she was one of the few that continued to talk to him after the Xavier's Institute had been outed as a school for mutants. She made her way over to their table in the back to join him.
"I can vork by myself if you prefer." Kurt said quietly to her.
"It's okay." She said smiling as she sat down.
Kurt smiled back and they began their project.
It didn't really take that long and Kurt was helping Janie finish filling out the worksheet where they charted their results. They had fallen silent as he scribbled in the last few numbers, when Janie spoke up.
"Does your mutant power make you blue like that?" She spoke quietly so that no one else could hear. Kurt judged by her expression that she was honestly, just curious.
"Mein mother vas a mutant as vell, so unlike many first generation mutants, I vas born vith physical mutations." That was the simplest way he could think to explain it.
"If you were born that way, how do you hide it?"
Kurt looked silently at the girl, not really sure if he should talk about it.
"I'm sorry, it's not my place..." she said, feeling bad for nagging him.
"No, eet's fine. I vear a hologram. It sort of works like a full-body mask. Yesterday, in the cafeteria, it broke."
Kurt watched her face as she took in this information. It seemed to be making a lot of sense to her.
'That's why you won't ever touch anyone, you can hide how you look, but if someone ever shook your hand, they'd notice."
"Zhat I only have two fingers." Kurt added as he held out his hand palm up, fingers and thumb spread wide, forever looking as if he was making some sort of Star Trek reference.
She giggled a little bit and then reached out and placed her hand on his. Kurt was not expecting this and flinched a little as her skin touched his palm. He averted his eyes as he waited for a scream, but it didn't come. Looking back at her, she squeezed his palm and said quietly.
"You were very brave to come back to school today." As soon as she said it, her hand slipped out of his and she quickly gathered her books off the table. "See you tomorrow Kurt." She walked away just as the bell rang, signaling the end of class.
As Kurt gathered his own books, Ray walked over to him.
"I guess chicks really do dig the fuzzy dude." He said, making Kurt blush.
The morning passing period was short, which on most days seemed like more of an annoyance. But today, Kurt was greatful for anything that made the day seem to go by faster. Rogue came up beside he and Ray speeding up to their pace. Ray waved a casual goodbye as he split off down another hallway to his classroom leaving Rogue and Kurt to continue on to their own.
"So how'd yer first class go?" Asked Rogue a little cautiously.
"Actually, not too bad. I can only hope the rest vill go as vell."
The bell rang and soon the pair found themselves in their next class which proved to go a little less smoothly than his first. After only about ten minutes Kurt found himself in the middle of quite the argument with his professor about his distraction of the class.
"I am going to have to ask you to leave if you continue to disrupt my class Mr. Wagner." His math teacher, Mr. Stratford, stated forcefully.
"Vas? I haven't done anything!"
"You are making it difficult for the other students to concentrate." His tone remained harsh.
In reality, Kurt had been sitting quietly in the back, sinking deeper and deeper in his chair in an effort to "hide" from his taunting classmates. The words freak, devil and demon were being tossed around by the bullying students. As well as a few non-too-casual threats on his well- being. If anything, Rogue should have been the one to get kicked out of class. Against Kurt's plea, Rogue was taking her try at throwing back few threats.
The teacher's lack of respect and blaming of Kurt on the disturbance that was once his classroom infuriated Kurt. Not being able to take anymore, he abruptly stood from his desk causing his chair to fall backwards. There was a loud crash as the metal hit the hard linoleum floor causing the room to hush.
"All I did vas come to class! How can you punish me for that?!" His fist hit the desktop as he spoke, the anger oozing from his words as he unknowingly let out a deep growl along with them.
This brought a look of fear to the faces of many people he had once considered friends. Even Rogue was silent, a little shocked at the reaction from her care free companion. Kurt stood, his breathing heavy from the adrenaline. He instantly realized his mistake of yelling as he surveyed the terrified faces, including Mr. Startford. Kurt sent an apologetic glance in Rogue's direction before picking up his bag.
"Fine." He stated his tone was still a little harsh, but the volume was back to normal. "I'll leave." And he left the classroom.
He silently walked through the empty hallways, angry at the world and the unfairness of his life. All he wanted was to finish high school, he was so close and he wasn't about to let anyone ruin it for him.
As he rounded the corner to his locker bay, stomping a little more loudly than necessary, he came across a sight that brought him new hope.
There was Katherine Pryde, his best friend and teammate. The incredibly intelligent bookworm that rogue had gone to calling "Little Miss A+". She was obviously skipping class to be in the halls at this hour, but it wasn't this that touched Kurt so much. Here she was on her knees scrubbing off the foul red letters that had once adorned his locker.
Actually a little surprised that she hadn't heard him approach, he quietly stepped aside to watch her for a moment, hidden in the shadows of the corner.
Kurt had always thought Kitty was pretty, but lately, he had been noticing just how incredibly beautiful she was. And it wasn't just the curly hair. Although, as he watched the the spiraling tendrils dance along her back as she continued to scrub, he knew he preferred them. It wasn't just her outward appearance that had gained his attention lately either, the friendship she shared with him made it obvious just how beautiful her soul was as well.
Feeling a little guilty for watching her, he left his shadows as he walked quietly towards her. Although his image inducer made it appear that he wore shoes, his awkward feet weren't really designed for them and his almost paw-like toes padding softly across the linoleum.
"Danke." He said softly, failing in avoiding to startle her as he noticed her jump a little.
"Kurt? Hi. Why aren't you in class?" Her cheeks flushed and she almost seemed a little embarrassed as she finished up, dropping the scrub brush back into the bucket of soapy water.
"I should ask you zhe same thing Keety, but I guess I know zhe answer."
He offered his hand to her and pulled her up to her feet.
"I was going to surprise you and have it done before lunch break." She said sounding a little disappointed.
"Sorry I showed up early, but I'm still surprised. Thank you Katzchen."
They stood in a silence that was emphasized by the empty hallways.
"So," Kitty spoke up softly. "I take it class didn't go well?"
"Vell, Chemistry vas all right, but apparently just my *being there* vas too distracting for Mr. Startford." Kurt had fortunately had time to calm down, but he could still feel his blood boil a little as he explained this to his friend.
Kitty nodded in understanding, not really surprised for that particular teacher's rude behavior.
"People can be such jerks." She grumbled.
"Ja vell, people like you make up for them."
She smiled and looked away.
"Let me, like, go and ditch this" Kitty lifted the bucket by it's handle. "and we can hang out until lunch." She walked off towards the janitor's closet as Kurt put his bag in his locker.
The two spent the next hour or so sitting outside talking. It was starting to look more like summer everyday. It was actually a little hot in the sunlight so they found a big tree with some good shade and climbed up into one of the lower branches. Kitty was leaning comfortably against the trunk with one leg pulled up to her chest, her arm draped over her knee. Kurt noticed her scrapes from earlier that week.
"You seem to be healing nicely." He said pointing them out.
She yawned a little as she looked down at the red marks. "Yeah, it was just a few scrapes. I am still a little sore from the 'port though. I can't even imagine how you must feel."
"I'm used to it." He said as he shrugged and then flinched, having apparently moved his arm the wrong way. "For zhe most part." He added with a sheepish grin.
"Hey..." his voice changed to concerned. "Are you still having problems with your phasing?"
"Nah, I'm fine. I've just been a little "off" lately." She looked away as she smiled. She wasn't about to worry Kurt by telling him about all the incidents she'd had lately.
"You're a bad liar Miss Pryde." He used in what he felt was his most teacher-like tone, but he cut her slack anyway and continued on. "But I know vhat you mean about feeling "off". After zhe other day and zhis morning, I've been avoiding 'porting anywhere."
"Afraid that next time you might end up in the Blob's shower or something?" She began to laugh.
"Ugh! Don't even say zhat!" He made a disgusted face, sticking out his tongue as if he had tasted something foul.
As their laughter died down, he shifted back to his previous thoughts. "Ve should probably talk to zhe professor and see if he can figure out vhat is vrong vith us."
"Yeah, but let's focus on getting through today first." Kitty hopped down from her branch and looked up at him. "It's about time for lunch, you wanna go meet everyone?"
He hopped down beside her and let out a sigh. "Ja, okay."
The two wandered in, leaving behind the warm, fresh spring air for the cool stale air inside the school.
Rogue, Ray and Evan were already waiting for them.
End chapter 8: 'Feeling Freakish'
Sorry this took so long with all the holidays and such. I was going to put the whole day in this chap, but it was a good breaking point and I wanted to post before you all forgot about me. I hope you don't think that I'm dragging it out too much. Give me input please! And I promise that the next few days will not last nearly as long as the first. I hope everyone's holidays were enjoyable and relaxing!
