Sorry for taking SO long! As always, thank you for the reviews! I know that last chapter was a bit boring. I'm getting a tad confused though. I've had many people ask me to have Kurt speak more German words but I've also had some people telling me to get rid of them. SO…. I have decided to obliterate them EXCEPT when he is angry/swearing haha. But thank you so much for all the suggestions! And now I'm excited because now we can get into the juicy stuff! I hope you're still enjoying yourselves! And I'm so sorry for how long it took me to put up this chapter and how dry the last one was. The end of the school year approached too quickly and I needed to get all my projects done, and I had one exam haha, and of course going to the beach and such, and I got a full time job which I quit because I was allergic to it, then the new school year started where I went back to high school for half a year (kind of like grade 12 x like Scott, Jean and Rogue) and now I have a new job where I work a lot but it's a good place and I'm done high school and I got accepted to the university I wanted. But now I CAN WRITE! Enjoy and sorry again! I might rewrite this chapter in the future. I wrote so many different parts of it at so many different times.

Chapter 6

Rogue, Scott, Jean, Evan and Kitty had pulled into the parking lot of the school. The unruly silence since the day before had lingered through the night and into the morning. Nobody was looking forward to the accusations made by the staff and students, and especially what would be the verdict for Kurt. Kitty had been in the back seat the whole time just staring out the window. It had started to rain on the way to school, and she was mesmerized by the rain drops streaming across the windows. The click of the keys and the sudden stillness of the engine brought her out of her daze.

"Today is just like every other day, alright." Scott didn't even turn to look at anybody. He kept his gaze on the windshield. "And no matter what, we're going to stand up for Kurt. Don't let anybody get away with anything. Okay?"

Everyone nodded, even though Scott didn't see them. He didn't need to; it was an order not a suggestion. When the four mutants got out of the car, they were already greeted with unwelcome stares. They hadn't faced that much non verbal discrimination since they were first exposed to the entire school. In fact, it was almost worse. Not to mention that the person, or "thing" that all their derogatory glares were directed to was absent. The Xavier students walked solemnly towards the steps of the school, hoping that they could avoid the silent persecution. Unfortunately, they were wrong. As soon as they walked through the doors of the school it was almost as if everyone simultaneously stopped what they were doing just to give their unspoken resentment towards their mutant peers.

"Yeah, today is going to be just like any other day." Kitty thought to herself.

They continued to walk to their lockers. Scott, Rogue and Jean's lockers were in the west side of the school, while Kitty and Evan's were in the east side. Usually it would be Kitty, Evan and Kurt walking together, but today was going to be different. Kitty and Evan walked down the hall. The "normal" students who happened to be in the hallway at that time would lean in closer to whomever they were talking to, to make some snide remark.

"Wow, it's pretty sad that one person can cause the whole school to act like this." Evan whispered to Kitty.

Kitty kept her stare straight ahead, although she knew people were snickering at her and probably saying horrible things about any of the Xavier students, especially Kurt, she wanted to pretend none of it was happening.

"Hey, where's blue boy?"

Evan and Kitty both shifted their eyes to look at one another. That unforgettable, pompous voice that all the X-men came to know and loathe: Pietro. They tried to ignore him and continued walking until, with a flash of silver, there he was right in front of them.

"What the hell do you want, Pietro?"

"Oh nothing… I was just wondering where my fuzzy blue pal was today." He grinned. "I knew he'd be too much of a chicken shit to come to school again. Typical."

Kitty could feel the blood rush to her face. She would have given anything to be able to punch Pietro right in his arrogant face. Before she knew it, her hands were clenched into little white balls at her side, and her bottom lip almost became numb as her teeth bit hard into it. Evan put his hand on her shoulder in attempt to stop her before she blew up.

"Oh my God, Pietro! Shut up! Do you have any idea how much pain you've caused him? What on earth did he ever do to you? What purpose did revealing his appearance to the whole school serve, other than for your own sick pleasure?"

All Pietro could do was let out an obnoxious laugh that rattled Kitty to no end. He was such a jerk that he couldn't even give her a straight answer, not to mention that his band of "loyal followers" weren't too far behind to back him up.

"My own pleasure? Why should he be able to prance around pretending he's just like everyone else?"

"Because he is just like everyone else!" Evan stepped in.

"Oh, so I suppose freaky, blue, demonic people are a common sight at the X-men household?"

"Pietro, shut up! Don't talk about him that way! He is just like everyone else! Even you! You guys are mutants along with us and Kurt exposed himself to the school as a mutant. Isn't that good enough?"

"Clearly it isn't. He may be a mutant, but he is far from being like any of us. Just tell him the Brotherhood says 'hi'. Can you do that for me? Thanks." Pietro smirked and patted Kitty on the cheek.

With that, the Brotherhood made their way down the hall. Fred and Todd had turned around to catch a glimpse of any frustration Pietro might have caused Evan and Kitty. Kitty blinked as she realized two members were missing.

"Kitty, don't worry about it. They're just assholes because that's the only thing they're good at. Besides, isn't there a meeting tonight to decide what's going to happen to Kurt?"

"Yeah, I have to go to that too."

"How come?"

"Because they want to know what happened after he left the cafeteria."

"Didn't you phase him to the basement?"

"Yeah."

"Is that going to get you in trouble?"

"I don't really care. Besides, I don't think I'll be punished too badly. It's not like I hurt anyone."

"True enough."

Evan looked over at Kitty as they continued walking to their lockers. He could tell she was totally distraught from the whole situation.

"Kitty, don't worry about it. I know it's hard when people tell you that, but the professor won't let anything bad happen to Kurt. Just get through the day. It'll be alright."

Kitty cracked a faint smile at the sign of Evan's unusual but genuine affection.

"Thanks."

The day went by just how it began: a lot of stares and whispers. The entire human population of Bayville evidently displayed their disapproval with the previous day's events. In all of Kitty's classes her teachers continued their lessons like nothing had happened, except for the suspicious glances they would shoot any mutant student here or there. Anytime a teacher did it to Kitty, she just stared right back.

Finally the day was over. Kitty couldn't remember anything that had happened. It was just a mindless day that proceeded with no real excitement or anything she wanted to remember. The student body was saving all the real stimulation for when Kurt would be there. All Kitty could focus on was what would happen that evening.

Kurt was sitting on the couch of the living room watching television. Usually he would have kept his image inducer on the whole day out of courtesy towards the other residents at the mansion. But now, he had just given up. What was the point? The rest of the X-men knew what he looked like, and now the entire school did. He had no reason to pretend he was normal anymore.

The students had all arrived home from school. Everyone either went up to their rooms to do their homework or to the kitchen to attack the refrigerator. Kitty hesitantly found her way towards the living room. She stood in the grand doorway looking in. There he was. On the long navy blue sectional bunched up in the corner seat with his left hand grasping his right forearm and the other hand busy flipping through the channels. Kitty could tell he was still bothered. He looked so disheveled. He wore a loose pair of denim shorts that displayed his legs he was so self conscious of, a green short sleeved shirt, no socks to hide his two-toed feet, and his tail slightly twitching alongside him. Kitty walked through the door and towards the couch where Kurt was.

"Hey."

Kurt's tail flickered at the sudden sound of another person entering his presence. He quickly looked over to see who had come to join him and then turned his attention back to flipping through channels.

"How are you holding up?"

Kurt shrugged slightly at Kitty's question. She stared at him and studied his demeanor. His eyes reflected the inconsistent image of the television; his steady breathing gave off the impression that he was calm, but she could see his tail, the appendage he hated the most about his body, fluttering acting as his own personal lie detector.

"I'm fine." Kurt said in an unusual monotone voice in comparison to his usual cheery German accented enthusiasm.

"What did you do today?"

"Nothing."

"Do you mind if I sit?"

"I don't care."

Kitty took a seat in the middle of the couch and kept her eyes on Kurt's face. She could tell she wasn't going to get much of a conversation out of him, unless she really tried.

"Are you all set for tonight?"

No answer. He just kept his zombie-like stare on the sixty inch plasma television screen. Kitty looked over at it when she realized he had stopped surfing the channels. It was some random commercial advertising an amazing brand of dish soap. Kitty figured he was probably thinking about a lot and he had forgotten to continue flipping through the TV stations. After a long pause he finally spoke.

"I kind of hope they expel me."

That caught Kitty off guard.

"Why? You're so close to graduation."

"The professor could probably home school me. Or I could go back to Germany. That works too."

That last one made Kitty's heart sink.

"Well, you've only got a few months left and you can forget it ever happened."

"How can I forget it ever happened?" Kurt said, quite annoyed.

"Well, you can move as far away as you want for college or university."

"Kitty, I appreciate what you're trying to do. But I don't think I'm going to be forgetting this… ever. I really don't care what they come up with. They can lock me in a basement and feed me fish heads for the rest of my life for all I care."

Kurt went back to aimlessly flipping through the channels while he shifted in his seat. His face was contorted with a sour expression. Kitty didn't want to give up on trying to make her friend feel better.

"Well, I don't think they'll do that. If anything, they'll…"

Kurt's eyes shifted over to Kitty's direction while she paused. He just looked at her while she sat there searching her mind for something to say. He couldn't help holding back a small grin. She was so beautiful in his eyes. At that point she reminded him of a young child trying to pronounce a big word.

"I don't even know where to go with that thought." She sheepishly chuckled.

Kurt allowed faint little smile to spread across his dark blue lips. Kitty couldn't help but smile back at him. He didn't need to be a mind reader to tell that Kitty was authentically trying to make him feel better.

Who would have thought someone so stunning would have the heart to match? He thought.

Kurt turned his attention back to the television and finally landed on some sports highlights. Kitty felt quite accomplished. She must have made some impact on his mood for him to crack a smile and to finally stop surfing channels on their one thousand station satellite dish. They both sat there in their comfortable silence. Time seemed to fly by. Both Kitty and Kurt had a lot on their minds. Suddenly, their silence was broken.

"Kurt… Kitty..."

They both turned to see Ororo's tall, dark frame standing in the entrance way to the living room.

"Are you ready?"

"For what?" Kitty blurted out.

Kurt exhaled and bit his bottom lip. Ororo caught his expression and compassionately smiled.

"It's time for the meeting at the school."

"Oh…" Kitty said looking over at Kurt.

"You two can get in the van while I get the professor."

Kurt sighed and turned off the television. He dropped the remote beside him and let his arm fall into his lap. Kitty didn't really have anything to say. Obviously he wasn't looking forward to this at all. Who would? Kurt didn't even wait for Kitty, he just teleported right to the garage leaving her on the couch.

I guess his good mood wore off a lot quicker than I anticipated.

The ride there was awkwardly silent. Ororo drove there while the professor sat in the passenger seat. Kurt could tell they were having a mental conversation. He figured they were talking about him.

That's so rude. If they have something to say, they should just say it in front of me... Again! If I were normal, I wouldn't have to deal with people having conversations about me in their heads!

Kurt and Kitty sat in the middle seats of the van in silence, both staring out the windows. The rain had stopped early that afternoon leaving puddles behind as the remains. The sky was a violet colour with splashes of vibrant oranges and reds leaving sparkles across the puddles on the sides of the road.

Kitty sat there just marveling at the sky. After such a cloudy and rainy day, there still managed to be a beautiful sunset. She hoped this situation would be the same way; beginning rough and ending smoothly. Very discreetly, Kitty shifted her eyes to Kurt. She hadn't even noticed that he had turned on his image inducer until she looked at him. The professor must have had an extra one somewhere. It was so strange seeing him in his "human" form now that his secret was out, even though he used to spend more time with that false image as his appearance than his true self. She didn't like it one bit. He looked so uncomfortable now that she knew all the precautions he used to take and how hard it must have been for him.

The already uneasy silence was interrupted by the sudden stillness of the vehicle as Ororo pulled into the school's parking lot. Kurt looked out the window as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep. His dull, holographic blue eyes looked at the school in newfound perplexing horror. He felt as if someone had dropped three hundred pounds into each arm and told him to walk a mile.

"Kurt, I want you to know that Principal Kelly agreed to have this meeting with us. Therefore, I believe that he is just as eager to settle this situation as we are. It will be alright." Xavier's calming voice filled the van.

Is that everyone's favourite word to say to me? When will they see that it's not always going to be alright? I've been told that my whole life and nothing ever is!

Charles' brow furrowed. Kurt cringed knowing that the professor probably heard his little mental outburst.

"Well, nothing is going to get done if we just sit here." Ororo said. "Let's get this over with."

Ororo got out of the car and helped the professor out of the van and into his wheelchair. Kitty unbuckled her seatbelt and looked over at Kurt, who was still strapped in.

"Kurt? Are you going to get out?"

Kurt slowly exhaled and hesitated as he finally undid his seatbelt and rested his hand on the handle of the door. A million thoughts were rushing through his head like twenty people crowded into a small room.

Why do I need to be here? Why can't the professor do this by himself? I don't care what they come up with... Why does Kitty need to be here, for that matter? What's her role in this?

Kurt flopped his head back against the seat and looked up at the ceiling of the van.

"Kurt…"

Kitty bit her lip. She didn't know where to go from there. She had no words left to say to him. Nothing she could say would comfort him and nothing would make the situation any better. Kurt slowly opened the sliding door and unhurriedly got out of the van and dragged his feet to the front of the school. He looked as if he was leaning forward on an awkward angle that looked painful. Then Kitty remembered Kurt's remark about walking upright. She figured the professor still hadn't changed his inducer and that he was walking at his comfortable angle.

Kurt felt so empty. It was a feeling he couldn't quite describe. He pushed on the front doors of the school. The sound startled him and sent a quick shiver up his back. Kurt was standing in the front hallway of the school. He looked around. Painful memories burned into his mind that happened only a day earlier. Even the smell of the school hit him like a flying brick.

The professor, Ororo and Kitty had walked in the school and headed for the principal's office. Kitty kept walking but noticed that Kurt had fallen behind.

"Kurt?"

Kurt was walking about ten feet behind the rest of the group. He felt as if his stomach was performing some kind of circus act. He didn't even bother to hide his tail. Instead, he held onto it, gripping the unwanted appendage so securely that he actually felt pain, almost like someone putting a tight rubber band on their finger. It looked awkward from the outside looking in but Kurt really didn't care. He could feel his fur matting up. He hadn't groomed himself leaving his fur feeling like a curly dog as opposed to the usual satin soft feel.

Kitty slowed her pace so Kurt could catch up. Kurt looked up and noticed her. His tail writhed in his hands as if it was trying to escape. The thought that he had to physically hold his tail so it didn't thrash around irritated him as his hands gripped tighter around the limb. However, when Kurt looked at Kitty and the compassion she was showing for him just by waiting made him feel strangely calm and he relaxed his grip. But he figured the professor had something to do with that.

Even though his inducer hid a lot of his true emotions Kitty could see the pain and confusion in his face.

"Kurt. I know this probably doesn't mean much right now, but everything will work out. It always does."

You got that right.

"Thanks, Kitty. But honestly, I think what I would like to happen, never will."

Kitty knew what that was and how unlikely it was.

Even walking at a slow pace, it seemed to take only seconds to get to the office. Ororo and Charles turned around to face Kitty and Kurt.

"Now, I want you two just to stay calm." The professor's calm voice crooned. "Principal Kelly is not going to be hostile. Even if he shows any tendencies, I won't hesitate to use any power on him. Understood?"

Kurt and Kitty nodded simultaneously. All Kurt could think about was what lay ahead.

Ororo lightly tapped on the steel violet door that read Principal Kelly in bold black letters on the glass before a muffled "Come in" made Kurt feel weak. Ororo gracefully opened the door and smiled at Kurt. It didn't help.

The room was large with a very high ceiling. Kurt hadn't been in there since his first day of school when he arrived in Bayville and no one even knew mutants attended the school. It had changed since Mystique posed as the principal. The desk was against the far wall with three empty, brown, leather chairs on the opposite side of the wall, which was where they headed.

Kurt never would want to admit it but, he would have given anything for Mystique to be the current principal. At least she had some understanding of Kurt's condition. But then again, Kurt hated her more than anything. If it wasn't for her then none of this would have happened.

Principal Kelly was sitting in his chair looking over what seemed like files. His desk was organized. Even the papers he had strewn across the surface looked like they were in order. He didn't even bother to get up when Charles, Ororo, Kitty and Kurt reached the desk. That did not settle any of Kurt's worries.

Ororo wheeled the professor to an empty spot beside one of the brown chairs. Kitty sat in the middle chair and Kurt seated himself beside her on the edge of his seat. He couldn't help but sit there and stare wide eyed at the man who was going to decide the course of his education. Kurt swallowed hard and his tail started to squirm from his agitation. He tightened his grasp again.

"Principal Kelly. I am Professor Xavier. This is Ororo Munroe, Kitty Pryde and Kurt Wagner."

After what was only a few seconds, but long enough for Kurt, the principal finally looked up from his papers. He scanned the four mutants in his presence over his glasses. When he stopped at Kurt he raised one of his eyebrows, eyeing him from head to toe.

"Well, I must say, the boy I see here certainly doesn't fit the description of what I've been told by the other students."

Kurt's stomach sunk.

"What have you been told?" Kitty blurted out.

The professor silently scolded her for her rudeness while Principal Kelly slowly turned his glance from Kurt to Kitty.

"Well, I took it upon myself to ask the other students what happened. I don't think I need to tell you that all their answers were very detailed."

Kurt was hard enough on himself. Kitty could only imagine what the school had said about him.

The professor spoke up.

"Mr. Kelly... It was my understanding that we would be meeting other members of the board as well. Have you already reached a decision or are you willing to negotiate the future of Kurt's education at Bayville High School?"

Principal Kelly paused. Kurt swore his own heartbeat was so loud, everyone in the room could hear it.

"Unfortunately none of them could make it this evening. However I am willing to negotiate… I've been told that Miss Pryde here helped Kurt sink through the floor… Enlighten me." He smirked.

Kitty felt all the blood escape her face as she recalled her role in Kurt's escape. She looked at the professor who nodded for her to proceed. Kitty took a deep unsteady breath and began.

"Well, I assume everyone has told you what happened before that."

There was an awkward silence and Kitty assumed Principal Kelly had heard everything that happened except it would have been the biased version. She looked over at Kurt who kept his stare straight at the principal.

"Anyway, I saw him standing up there all by himself like some kind of circus freak. So I grabbed him and pulled him through the floor to the basement so they'd stop staring at him."

"What do you mean when you say you pulled him through the floor?"

Kitty looked at the professor for some more guidance. His face was very calming and reassuring.

"My… gift, I guess you could call it, is this."

Kitty looked at Kurt and reached for his hand. Kurt hesitantly turned his gaze away from Principal Kelly's intimidating face to Kitty's angelic blue eyes. She smiled desperately and Kurt apprehensively let one hand relieve his tail from his grip and offered it to Kitty. When she grabbed his arm she was mildly shocked. No matter how many times she had seen him with his inducer on she always expected to feel normal human skin when they had any sort of contact. Usually Kurt would have worn a long sleeved shirt to protect his fur from exposure but she could see he had given up.

Kitty watched her hand as she took Kurt's wrist and phased right through Principal Kelly's desk. There was total silence except for the faint rustling of papers on his desk as Kitty demonstrated her ability, followed by another long pause. The principal's face morphed into an expression of disgust.

Kurt felt his tail moving around again. All he wanted to do was grab a pair of scissors from the principal's desk and cut it right off. It caught Principal Kelly's attention for the first time he noticed that Kurt was clutching the tail he had heard so much about that day.

Why didn't I tie it down? Of all the days!

"What happened after the two of you entered the basement?"

"Well, Kurt was kind of spaced out, I guess you could call it, and I was trying to think of how I could get him out of the school."

"So you used your powers in the school and tried to assist in truancy?"

"What? No. It was an emergency!"

"Just continue."

Kitty, Kurt and even Ororo were getting annoyed with the principal's pretentious attitude.

"Anyway, so I couldn't get him to respond to anything and eventually the other four showed up."

"And who might those 'other four' be?"

"They would be students of mine that also attend school here." The professor said.

"So how did you all get out of the school without using the front doors?"

Kitty proceeded to tell Principal Kelly everything about their escape, right down to the last detail. When she was finished, he leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head and sighed.

Kurt's whole body began to tremble. For once in his life he would have loved to hear those booming radio voices from his alarm clock to wake him up from this nightmare.

"How are you able to appear normal?" Principal Kelly questioned a little too bold for Kurt's liking.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you able to come across as a human being right now?"

Kurt looked over at the professor, who had remained rather calm throughout this whole conference, hoping for some direction. The "human being" comment was a little harsh. Those simple little words had so much depth to them when Kurt really thought about it.

"Umm… well its special… I'm not too sure how it works but basically it creates a fake image over my real one."

"Would you mind turning it off?"

"Sorry?"

Ororo, Kitty and the professor looked at Kurt. Kitty was fighting back tears. Once again Kurt turned to the professor for assistance.

It's alright, Kurt. I won't let anything negative happen.

The whole room went deathly silent again. Ororo and Kitty both felt the same sense of sorrow for Kurt.

Every thought Kurt had in his head vanished. There was nothing to distract him from removing his watch or to soften the blow of the reality. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as if he was jumping off a high diving board, and like a band-aid, took his watch off as quickly as possible and waited for Kelly's response.

"Hmm."

For Kurt, that was a new reaction. He opened his eyes to see the principal with a sinister grin on his face and almost what seemed like a sense of excitement. That wasn't something Kurt wanted to see. He started to feel panic stricken.

"Well. This makes my decision final."

That was not how he had anticipated that evening. He thought it would take at least a few days before a resolution had been made. And why did showing his appearance finalize this decision?

Principal Kelly rested his elbows on his desk and crossed his hands. The smirk on his lips looked as if he was getting some kind of satisfaction from whatever his decision was.

"You have two choices, as far as I'm concerned." He said, looking at the professor. "Choice one would be that all your students are expelled for using their powers at the school and denied graduation... Or…"

Kurt's head felt full of air, his eyes and throat burned while his stomach felt like it was turning inside out. Even his tail had finally laid still. He already didn't care for choice one.

Kitty took a deep, vacillating breath and looked over at Kurt.

"…Or I will dismiss that your students used their powers, considering none of the human students were affected by it, and everyone is allowed to continue their schooling here under one circumstance."

It was final. Principal Kelly really was getting a cheap thrill by leaving Kurt on the edge. His tail started to squirm in his hands again and his legs felt hollow.

"Kurt may attend this school and finish his final year as long as he promises to show up not as the boy that came in, but as the creature I see before me."

There it is. Like I said, it's kind of sporadic because I wrote it so broken up I guess you could say and I might change it. So many different ways to word things came up in my head and I was having a really hard time. But here it is… for now :P