Author's Note: Short-ish chapter because I'm getting used to the sudden thirty degree increase in temperature. Next chapter should be longer, with a bunch of Zephyr to make up for the fact that she hasn't been in it much. And some evil good-ness. And ahhh! I miss you guys so much! sniff

Chapter Eleven

With classes, Danger Room sessions, and healing, the rest of the week passed quickly and before everyone knew it, it was Friday. By now, all of the new people pretty much felt at home there. Although it had made some of them nervous, the battle the week before had only served to strengthen their bonds.

Kurt had eaten breakfast with them every morning, although he still ate lunch and dinner with the older adults. Samantha had finally realized that she still had his coat and had reluctantly given it back to him at their German class on Wednesday. He didn't seem to mind the delay, though, as he didn't comment on it. Besides the lessons and sitting next to him at breakfast, Samantha didn't see Kurt much. It was fairly obvious this disappointed her, though, since she had been caught more than once at other meals staring in his direction. She never commented on it, though, and any teasing just resulted in her saying he was pretty. Samantha spent some more time with Logan, since she had martial arts with him three times a week, and was starting to become a little suspicious of the way she could nearly always pick up Cassandra's scent on him. Samantha had yet to say anything, though, so no one else was aware of anything going on.

And there was something going on, although Cassandra wasn't entirely sure what it was. But she and Logan had held impromptu make-out sessions two more times that week, once more in her room and once during a Danger Room session. Neither of them talked about it afterward, although surprisingly they weren't at all awkward around each other. It was sort of like nothing unusual was happening. Cassandra wasn't saying anything, not even to any of her friends.

Anorra was completely avoiding Piotr. If she saw him in the hall or walked into a room where he was, she would casually turn around and walk the other way. When the group hung out together, Anorra said as little to him as possible, even though their other friends seemed to constantly be trying to get them to talk. When they tried it too much, Anorra would quietly leave and go hang out with Beast. She still hadn't figured out what to do with those pictures of Bobby and Rachel, although she and Zephyr had told Cassandra, Samantha, and Rogue about them.

Rachel and Bobby had been hanging out quite a bit, both flirting although neither seemed to realize it. The rest of their friends had noticed and probably would have done something, but they were more concerned with Anorra and Piotr. At least Rachel and Bobby were flirting. Rachel also spent some time Gambit, who she got along with pretty well. Which was sort of odd, since Gambit liked the ex-girlfriend of the guy that she liked. But it seemed to work for them, so oh, well.

Gambit and Rogue were nearly inseparable. Rogue always had that 'I'm only putting up with him' air about her, but her friends knew better. Gambit flirted constantly, mostly with Rogue although he did occasionally turn his attentions elsewhere. Only in fun, though, as it was obvious where his affections lie. Rogue had become more or less part of the group of girls, and now the six of them hung out randomly in people's rooms late at night, usually accompanied by Bobby, Warren, Piotr, or Gambit.

Zephyr and Warren had gone on another date Wednesday night, and this time they managed to finish it without any interruptions. They had also made plans to go out again Saturday night, and they seemed to be becoming pretty exclusive. Nothing on that topic had been discussed, though, so neither of them were entirely sure where the other stood.

There had been no further attacks on the mansion, although Xavier had had little luck in finding out what the reason behind the first attack had been. Cerebro was unable to locate any of the mutants that had been responsible for the battle, which meant that Magneto had somehow found a way to hide more than just himself from Cerebro's power. Xavier hadn't given up, though, and he was currently devising a plan to try and locate Magneto's headquarters.

"You're stupid." Samantha commented, invading Anorra's room and plopping down on her bed.

Anorra blinked at her. "Excuse me?"

"Stupid." Samantha repeated. "You."

"Thanks." Anorra said. "I love you, too."

Samantha rolled her eyes. "Talk to Pete. He's moping and it's frightening. Guys that big should not mope."

Anorra frowned. "Why is he moping?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you refuse to hold a decent conversation with him?" Samantha said. "What is with you and not talking to guys that you like?"

Anorra blushed. "I do not like him."

"Yeah." Samantha said. "And that's why you turn that really amusing shade of metallic pink and make random excuses every time we try to make the two of you talk. Come on, it's been a whole week since the kiss thing. Just go talk to him."

"I don't have anything to say….You know how I get." Anorra muttered.

Samantha nodded. "You clam up and make interesting squeaky noises. But you're still talking to him. He thinks he did something wrong. If you don't talk to him, we're going to lock you two in a closet until you do. Rach, Cass, Zephyr, and Rogue are already picking out the perfect one."

Anorra paled, her eyes widened. "You guys wouldn't."

Samantha beamed. "We so would, and you know it. We're giving you ten minutes to go knock on his door. If you don't, we'll start plotting. And then, when you lease expect it, closet time."

Anorra stared at her as Samantha slid off of the bed and headed out of the room.

"Ten minutes." Samantha repeated before she closed the door.

Anorra opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, trying to decide what to do. Finally, she stood up and walked out of her room, marching over to Piotr's door. She knocked, then waited, taking a deep breath. She could do this. She could. Then the door opened and her mind went blank, except for the incredibly strong thought that she hated her friends.

"Hello, Anorra." Piotr said, sounding surprised, although there was a smile on his face. "I haven't talked with you much lately."

"No. I, um. Hi." Anorra managed.

Piotr's smile faltered a bit, then he held the door open. "Would you like to come in?'

"'Kay." Anorra said softly, walking inside almost on instinct.

Piotr closed the door behind her. "I was going to come find you soon. I wanted to ask you if I had done anything wrong."

Anorra shook her head immediately, and probably a little to enthusiastically, since her hair began flying in her face. She stopped, biting her lip. "No. You didn't."

"Then why haven't you been speaking with me lately?" He asked.

She shifted slightly. "It's just….I…that thing, when you were hurt, and…"

"Oh." Piotr said. "Anorra, please do not be uncomfortable around me because of that. I understand it meant nothing. That it said nothing about your feelings for me. I do not wish for things to be awkward between us. I enjoy your company very much."

Anorra did, too. Or at least she had been starting to before everything was pretty much reversed. "Umm…"

"I understand that it may be difficult for you." Piotr said. "You don't act the same way around me that you do around everyone else. You seem to be much shyer. I do not understand why, yet, but I would enjoy the chance to find out."

She blushed slightly. "I'm sorry. I…"

"It is all right. Will you try, though?" Piotr asked, locking his eyes onto hers.

Anorra found herself nodding. "Okay, Piotr. I'll try."

Rachel watched with an amused smile as Bobby tossed a tennis ball into the air and swung his racket at it. He hit it, but too hard, since the ball soared over the net, out of the court, and smacked into a nearby tree.

Bobby grinned sheepishly. "Oops."

She shook her head, still smiling. "You're getting that."

He ducked his head slightly and started jogging to retrieve the wayward tennis ball. Bobby had asked Rachel for a private lesson, telling her that he knew absolutely nothing about it but it sounded interesting. Really, though, he just wanted to spend some time with her. And he had wanted to impress her, but, well, that wasn't going to happen. Bobby had only been exaggerating a little when he said he knew nothing about tennis. He was better at sports with more contact, like football or soccer. He was pretty good at baseball, too. But apparently not tennis. Oh, well. At least he could hit the ball.

As he picked up the ball and headed back for the court, he decided that if he couldn't impress Rachel, he could make her laugh. Bobby was usually pretty good at that. He liked hearing Rachel laugh, and seeing her smile. Both of them were beautiful. And if he was the cause of it, then that was just even better.

Getting an idea, Bobby grinned and tossed up the ball to hit it again. As he swung, he iced the handle of the racket to his arm, making the tennis racket an extension of his hand. The ball connected and this time, he managed to actually keep it in the court. The ball even hit the ground inside the line.

Rachel blinked at him. "Um, what's that?"

"It's my new and improved tennis technique." Bobby said. "I'm tennis hand!"

"Tennis hand?" She repeated, trying to sound like she thought it was the stupidest idea ever. It didn't work, though, because even she could hear the amusement in her voice. She gave in and laughed, shaking her head.

Bobby grinned back at her, pleased. "You think they have any rules against tennis hands playing in the professional games?" He asked, taking a few exaggerated practice swings. "Cause, you know, I – ouch!" Bobby cut off his own sentence as the iced racket slipped a bit on one of his swings and smacked into his forehead. "Okay, I'm no longer tennis hand."

Rachel dissolved into laughter, trying to hold it back unsuccessfully as she asked between giggles, "Are you….okay?"

"Yeah." Bobby muttered, rubbing his forehead gingerly. "Just apparently really stupid."

"I won't argue with you on that one." Rachel told him, then grinned. "But it was funny. Even before you hit yourself. Then it was just hilarious."

"Oh, ha ha." Bobby grumbled, but he was smiling slightly. "Go ahead and laugh at my pain."

"I already am." Rachel said cheerfully. "Do you need to go down to the med lab?"

"No." He said. "It's just a little bump."

"Okay." She said, then began gathering up her stuff. "I think we better call it a day. We wouldn't want a return of tennis hand."

Bobby stuck his tongue out at her as he grabbed his fallen racket, then turned and headed back inside, trying to hid the slightly throbbing red lump on his forehead. Of course, he couldn't, since the first people he ran into were Samantha and Cassandra.

Cassandra blinked at him. "Bobby, what happened?"

"Did Rachel hit you with her tennis racket?" Samantha asked. "She does that. You have to watch out for her."

Bobby darted his eyes around the hallway, then nodded. "Yes. That's what happened."

Rachel picked that moment to walk into the hall, so Samantha towards her.

"Rachel!" Samantha said. "Quit hitting people with tennis rackets."

"I didn't do it." Rachel protested. "It was 'tennis hand.'"

"Tennis hand?" Cassandra asked. "Who's tennis hand?"

"Ask Bobby." Rachel said. "He and tennis hand are very close."

Bobby turned red and ducked his head, causing Samantha and Cassandra to glance at each other.

"What, is tennis hand Bobby's new boyfriend?" Cassandra asked.

"No!" Bobby and Rachel insisted at the same time, before both of them blushed and fell silent.

"Awww." Samantha said. "She's defending his honor."

"How sweet." Cassandra agreed.

"Shut it." Rachel muttered, glaring at them. "Bobby's tennis hand. He whacked himself with a racket."

"Oh God!" Cassandra said. "So many ways to interpret that! Sam, hit me!"

Samantha obligingly reached out and smacked her shoulder, then threaded her arm through Cassandra's. "Come on, let's leave them alone. Maybe Rachel can be tennis hand for awhile and Bobby can be the tennis balls."

"You're not helping!" Cassandra said as they started off.

"I hate you both!" Rachel yelled after them.

"Yeah, you guys suck!" Bobby agreed.

Cassandra turned around and opened her mouth, then paused. "Not saying it. Not saying it. Come on, Sam, time to leave now before it gets worse."

Cassandra was dead. She really was. It was times like this that she wished she could get tired, so she could use that excuse. But, unfortunately, she didn't. Her stupid body was still full of energy, ready to go get itself beat up again. It was just the lovely bruises on her shoulders and hips from the many falls she had taken that were protesting any further movement. Unfortunately, she still had a long way to go before reaching her room.

She had just finished a Danger Room session with Logan. It had been almost two weeks since he had started training her to defend herself, and he had finally decided to let her have a go in the Danger Room. Of course, Cassandra sort of thought that it may have been because they hadn't actually gotten much work done in their lesson yesterday. With no one else around, working so close together, they had gotten a little carried away. They had ended up spending most of the time on the floor, making out. Not that Cassandra really minded. She didn't mind their random make-out sessions, even if she never could seem to predict when they were coming.

Although moving the lessons to the Danger Room hadn't really helped, either. There had been one point where the two of them were crouching behind some bushes, waiting for their enemies to come by….And, well, there had been kissing. But then they had been ambushed, which had ended that. The lesson hadn't lasted too much longer after that.

Now she was headed back to her room, looking forward to sitting down and not moving. But, of course, that plan was ruined when Samantha darted out from around the corner, very nearly tackling her.

"Ow! Bruises! Pain!" Cassandra commented.

Samantha let go. "Oh. Sorry. You're finished with Logan, though, right? Come on, we're going to play Truth or Dare!"

Cassandra groaned, but let the other woman drag her off to the recreation room where the usual group was waiting.

"Found her!" Samantha said, dropping down to sit next to Anorra and pulling Cassandra down with her. "Yay! And I get to go first. Okay, Anorra, truth or dare?"

Anorra stared suspiciously at her. "I hate it when you go. Either one I pick is going to be bad. Okay, dare."

Samantha grinned. "Oh, good. Go kiss Piotr."

"And none of that little peck stuff, either, you have to do a full on kiss." Rogue informed her, grinning as well.

Both Piotr and Anorra blushed darkly. Anorra probably would have refused, but she had eaten more than her normal amount of sugar that day and was a bit hyper. Plus, she knew that her friends would come up with something even more embarrassing if she didn't do it. So before she could talk herself out of it, she leaned forward across the circle and pressed her lips against Piotr's. He responded, kissing her back, and for a few moments she was lost in the kiss. Then someone cleared their throat and Anorra remembered herself, pulling back.

"There." She said, sitting back down and trying hard not to blush. "Now it's my turn. So, um, Rachel. Truth or dare."

"Dare." Rachel said, still amused from Anorra's predicament.

Anorra considered for a moment. "All right, go sit in Bobby's lap. For the rest of the time we're playing this."

Rachel shrugged. "Bobby, do you mind?"

"Nope." He said cheerfully. "Go right ahead."

Rachel was already sitting next to him, so she just slipped into his lap, settling herself down and trying not to blush. It would be less fun for everyone else if she didn't seem embarrassed. "Cass. You're up."

"Somehow I knew it." Cassandra grumbled. "Truth."

"Aww, no fun." Rachel said. "Okay, then, how far do you want to go with Logan?"

"Eww!" Samantha said. "I don't want to think about that!"

Cassandra hesitated, then shrugged and said, "All the way. He's hot."

"Oh, yuck." Samantha said. "Nasty mental pictures."

"Gambit didn't need to know that information, either, petite." Gambit said.

"Yeah, well, just for that, you're up, Gambit." Cassandra said.

The game continued for nearly two hours. By the time it was drawing to a close, all of the guys had their shirts off, Gambit was only in his boxers, nine people had been prank phone called, the shower pipes on the student floors were iced over, Zephyr and Warren had kissed, Gambit and Bobby had gone streaking down the first floor, Cassandra, Rogue, and Samantha had run around the upper levels in their underwear, Warren had flown outside naked, and several other embarrassing things had happened.

Finally, the last person was up. And Cassandra was picking, so she had chosen Samantha.

"Dare." Samantha said cheerfully.

Cassandra paused for a moment, then grinned. "Go skinny dipping in the pool. And stay in there for an hour."

Samantha considered that. It was just past one in the morning, which meant no one would be in there. "Okay."

"And we'll take your clothes and keys, then bring them back in an hour." Zephyr said. "Just to make sure you stay in there."

The women headed for the pool, then Samantha stripped down and dove in. Rachel grabbed her clothes and they left, leaving Samantha alone in the pool.

Samantha treaded water for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "This is the most boring dare ever."

She began doing laps to pass the time, singing to herself quietly. Before long, though, she heard a bamf noise from the other side of the pool. Samantha's eyes widened and she froze, treading water. Kurt had appeared in the doorway to the pool room and was now heading over, carrying a towel and wearing a bathing suit.

He heard her strokes and smiled. "Hello, Samantha. Are you…." Whatever he had been about to say trailed off as he realized she wasn't wearing a bathing suit. Kurt's own eyes widened and he looked away, calling, "Tut mir leid! Es tut mir leid!"

"I, um." Samantha said. "It's okay. My fault. I'm stupid."

"You, um. Do you wish to get dressed?" Kurt asked, not sure what to say.

"Yeah. But, unfortunately, no clothes." Samantha said. "We were sort of playing truth or dare, so, um, I've got nothing for another twenty minutes."

"You were playing truth or dare?" He asked, sounding a bit amused. "I have never played."

"You haven't? How come?" She asked.

"No one ever asked me to." He said.

Samantha blinked. "Oh. Well, come play with us next time. If you don't mind ending up doing embarrassing things like skinny dipping."

"I would like that." He said, then hesitated. "Um, would you like me to get you some clothes?"

"Can't. I'm not allowed to have them before my hour's up." Samantha said, then smiled. "Besides, it's not like it's the end of the world. At least you didn't decide we had to be even and drop your bathing suit like Gambit did to Zeph." She paused. "Although that sort of sucks. I kinda would have liked that."

Kurt was so surprised that he turned to stare at her. "You would like to see me naked?"

Samantha's eyes widened and she blushed darkly. "Okay, that really, really is one of those times where I have to think before I say things. I, um. I'm going to shut up now."

Kurt opened his mouth, the closed it again. He wasn't sure how to respond to that. "I. I should probably go back to my room."

"Yeah. Sorry to ruin your swim." Samantha said, her voice soft.

"You did not ruin it. It was, I mean…I will see you later." He said, then disappeared.

Samantha sighed. "Bad brain. You're supposed to kick in once and awhile and save me from making a complete idiot of myself."