KURT

Of course he decided to befriend them all. He knew first-hand how hard it could be to make friends in a new place (or any place, in his case) though Pietro didn't have much trouble making friends. With his loud, infectious personality he quickly developed a posse of equally obnoxious cronies, including Toad and Domino, two mutants Kurt had never been able to call friends.

Lorna was the easiest to befriend. She was shy but Kitty, Bobby, and some of the younger students quickly adopted her into their group. Kurt hung out with the freshmen and sophomore year students a lot, and was close with Kitty, so he reintroduced himself to Lorna one day after classes, when everyone was sitting in the common room watching a movie.

To his surprise, she smiled. "I remember you." Her voice was very soft and a little nervous. "The German one."

"Ja," he smiled a close-lipped smile, because he didn't want his pointed teeth to frighten her. "Schon Sie zu treffen." Pleased to meet you.

He spent the rest of that afternoon playing cards with Lorna and Kitty, and found, to his surprise, that the green-haired girl didn't find his appearance frightening at all. After a few rounds of cards she came out of her shell enough to tell them about Genosha, and how everyone on the island was free to be themselves, no matter what they looked like.

"I should like to go there someday," Kurt said sincerely. Then he asked, "Your sister, she misses it much?"

Lorna nodded. "Wanda didn't want to come here. She doesn't like it."

Wanda.

She wasn't going to be easy to befriend.

She never talked to anyone. She never participated in classes. She always had her nose buried in a book, and never a fun one. It was always pretentious literary classics the size of a dictionary, or weird indie Mutant memoirs. Aloof was the word for her. She always sat alone or with her siblings, and seemed to think she was better than everyone else. Too good for the Xavier institute.

She also seemed lonely.

He would watch her from across the lawn at lunchtime, sitting cross-legged under an oak tree with a book and a green apple, all alone. Every day he thought about going over and trying to talk to her again, but then he remembered how awkward he'd been when they were introduced, and how cold she'd acted.

WANDA

Two weeks went by and her father didn't come for her. She couldn't even get in touch with him from the war room, which she'd snuck into several times.

It felt like he'd forgotten her.

Abandoned her.

What was worse was that Pietro and Lorna didn't seem to notice or mind. They quickly settled into school life, and any time Wanda brought up their father or Genosha she was met with dismissal.

"Lighten up, Wan," Pietro said before classes started one morning, "it's just one term. And anyways, don't you like the change of scenery? Isn't it nice to not be stuck on Genosha? We can go to the mall, get coffee, go out to eat!"

"But what if it's not just one term? What if he leaves us here?"

"You're paranoid. And anyways, since when does dad really care about any of us? His real pride and joy is Genosha."

Ten minutes later she was crying in the girl's bathroom. She couldn't take this anymore. She wanted to know if her father would come for her. She wanted to know if he even cared.

Someone tapped on the door. A vaguely familiar accented voice asked, "Vonda? Are you...okay?"

The blue boy. What was his name? Kurt.

Oh no, oh no, oh no no no.

She scrubbed at her tear-stained face with her knuckles, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. If he came in...

But it was the girl's bathroom. He couldn't come in.

"I'm fine" she said, but her words sounded weak even to herself. "Go away."

The door inched open a crack, and he peeked in. He looked distinctly uncomfortable, but also very concerned.

"Do you want me to go get someone? Your brother-"

"No," she said sharply. She didn't want Pietro to see her like this; he was her brother but he wasn't exactly the type to offer a shoulder to cry on. "I don't need anyone. Just leave me alone."

"All right," he said, "I'll go."

He walked away, the door swinging shut with a creak, and she could hear his footsteps fade away down the hall. It was the middle of third period and everyone was in class. But Wanda didn't care about the classes here; she could teach herself everything she needed to know back home, or her father could teach her-

A sob wracked her again. Oh, god, she hated it here. She wanted to go home.

BAMF

Her head jerked up to find that boy crouched a couple of feet away, still with that uncomfortable but concerned look on his face.

"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically, looking sheepish. "I have big ears, and I heard you crying..."

Wanda covered her face with her hands, mortified that this boy-this cute boy-had found her crying in the girl's bathroom. And he wouldn't leave her alone.

He tried a few halfhearted jokes. "You know, I always imagined that the girl's bathroom would be much more interesting than this. If the Professor found out I was in here he'd give me detention for life, and for what? A glimpse of a few lousy toilets?"

Wanda wouldn't look at him.

"Would it help if you got out of here?"

She took her hands away from her face and blinked at him. "How?"

He grinned and held out a three-fingered hand, "I don't know if anyone told you, but I have super powers."