"Do you know if any of the others were pulled out?" Jean asked when she saw Kitty.
"Not that I know of…"
"I wonder what this is all about."
Ororo was sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting room of the office. When she saw the girls, she rose. "Let's go. The professor is waiting for us."
On the car ride back to the institute, the car was dead silent. Ororo hadn't told the girls anything. Jean sat patiently with her hands folded on her lap. Kitty, on the other hand, looked out the window tapping her fingers impatiently on her wrist.
When they got there, Storm ushered the girls to the x-jet. Inside, Professor X was waiting for them. The strapped themselves in, and soon enough Storm was flying the jet.
It was still quiet. Frustrated, Kitty finally said, "What's going on?"
"Oh, sorry girls, I forgot to tell you. We are going to Florida to recruit a new girl. Her name is Haley."
"Is Magneto on her trail or something?" Jean inquired.
The professor shook his head. "I still haven't sensed any activity from him. However, it's good to reach this girl as soon as possible."
"Why us?" Kitty asked.
"You are the same age as Haley. You two should relate well. Jean is here because she too will be able to relate to the girl. It will be good for her parents to see two smart girls representing the institute."
With that, the jet was quiet again. Kitty didn't want to let her thoughts wander. Although, Jean and the professor probably already knew that she was going out with Lance, she didn't want to risk it.
Luckily, the flight was short. They soon landed in the sunny state if Florida. Kitty raced to get out. She stretched out and inhaled. "It's so sunny!" she giggled happily.
---
Kurt wasn't in as quite as a good as a mood. He was sitting in his math class…not paying attention. He tapped his pencil lightly on his desk. Of course, he was happy for Kitty, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel jealous.
After all, who would love him, the blue, furred freak? Well, forget love. Nobody would even like him the way that Lance liked Kitty with his good looks.
He looked down at his image inducer. That thing was god sent. For once, he didn't have to worry about people looking at him and being afraid. However, the inducer still didn't fix the way he felt. He'd never be able to get close to another kid at school…for they would feel his fur and know he was a freak.
The bell rang, and Kurt meekly got up and gathered his things. His stomach growled. It was definitely time for lunch.
He made his way to the cafeteria. After getting a large meal, he went to go find a place to sit. The first person he saw was Scott. He was sitting alone. When Scott saw him, he waved him over.
"Where is everyone?" he asked as Kurt sat his tray down at the table.
"I don't know, why?"
"Jean's usually here by now… I saw Rogue, but I also haven't seen Kitty…"
"I don't know any more than you do."
"Okay…Oh…there's Evan. So we're just missing two…"
"Would you relax, Scott?" Kurt jammed a burger into his mouth. "It's nothing to worry about. You need to calm down."
Scott rubbed his head. "Yeah… I guess you are right."
"Of course I'm right! The fuzzy dude is always right!"
"I wouldn't push it," he said with a laugh.
On the other side of the cafeteria, Lance was scoping out the crowd for Kitty. He sighed in frustration when he couldn't find her.
"What's wrong? Can't find the kitty cat?" Toad chirped annoyingly.
Fred scratched his head. "I don't even know what you see in that loser, Lance."
Lance snapped his head towards the lumbering boy. "Watch it Blob!"
At that, Fred snarled. The two were about to go at it for a moment, before Pietro rushed in between the two and pushed them apart. "Fellows, let's not get out of hand!" he began running his mouth off. "Besides, Blob, it isn't like you haven't liked one of those X-freaks before."
"Oh yeah," he said suddenly embarrassed by the memory.