Chapter Two

Lance pulled up into a parking spot near the front of Bayville High School.

As usual, the school was bustling with activity. Toad stared ahead then gulped,

"Guys, can we sorta leave school for today?"

The other members looked in the direction Todd was looking at and eyed Duncan Matthews.

"Oh Toady," said Tabitha giving him a small hug. "I'll walk with you to class, O.K.?"

Toad gave a feeble nod of thanks and they continued walking.

As they walked towards the entrance, Scott's car screeched ahead and parked perfectly in an open space.

The X-men piled out and started chattering away till they eyed the Brotherhood.

Scott immediately stepped forward when he noticed Lance looking at them.

"What doyou want, Alvers!"

Lance stared hard at him, disgust written all over his face.
"For you to get your stupid face outta the way so I can say hello to Kitty!"

Scott shifted to the left. "Yeah right," he muttered.

Lance noticed Kitty shifting from one foot to another uncomfortably, she obviously was not happy with the idea of Lance saying 'hi' to her.
"You know what? Leave it!" He turned around and the ground gave a small tremor.

Pietro and Tabitha gave the X-men dirty looks and began to follow the Earth mutant.

Toad was a bit too slow and Scott stepped forward and grabbed the Frog boy by the arm.

In a blur, Pietro was looking up, right in his face, he gave a small hiss, "Let go of him, now. Before I do something that you will regret." He said in a deadly whisper.

Scott took a step back but a second later stood right up to Pietro, chest out, sunglasses glinting in the morning sun.
"I just wanted to tell your little green buddy that he can't skip school now; it's just started."

Pietro stepped down and crossed his arms.
"Fine," he said, then looked over to Todd. "Toad, no skipping school now."

Scott released the boy and Toad quickly took place by Pietro.

As they turned Pietro said in a clear voice, loud enough for the X-men to hear.
"No skipping school now, but you have my permission to skip after lunch, got it?"

They both laughed and walked off to an awaiting Tabitha and Lance.

Scott clenched his fists.

"Damn them!"

Toad sat in class while the teacher droned on and on. His stomach growled hungrily and a girl near him gave him a weird look.

Toad patted his stomach sympathetically.

Sorry Buddy, I'll nab something at lunch break.

He still felt something gnawing at him besides hunger.

I hope the others are o.k.

Pietro ran the 5th lap around the basketball court.
He was sweating heavily but no way was he going to shed his long sleeved top for the others to notice his cuts and bruises.

The new coach who had replaced Mr. McCoy signaled to come over to him.

Pietro slowly jogged over to the coach.

"Maximoff, where is your gym kit?"

Pietro took a deep breath of air.
"Sorry coach, at home."

Mr. Pent stared at him.
"FOR THE LAST SIX WEEKS?"

Pietro stood straighter and without batting an eye, "yes sir."

Evan noticed this and ran up to the coach.
"Mr. Pent, I have a spare set in my locker, see?" he held up the extra pants and shirt.

"Good Daniels." Then the coach turned to Pietro. "Maximoff, go change! I want you back here in 5 minutes!"
He turned round to Evan again but noticed Pietro hadn't made a move. He whipped around.
"NOW!"

Pietro stared back, giving him a cool look.
"No thank you, I'm fine in the clothes I'm in."

The coach was going red now. "IT WASN'T A SUGGESTION!"

Now the whole court was staring at the unfolding scene, all waiting for Pietro's response.

"No." he replied calmly.

"YOU AND ME ARE GONNA COME TO BLOWS ANY SECOND MISTER!"

Pietro bent his head to the side, "Its you and I, if you are going to speak the English language, do so correctly."

The coaches face was like thunder now. Pietro knew he must have sounded cocky but in truth, he was scared spineless. He was just trying to hide how scared he was. All that needed to happen was the discovery of his injuries for disaster to happen.

A voice rang out across the court. "Mr. Pent! May you and I speak in your office for a few minutes, perhaps if Pietro joined us?"
It was Mr. Workman, the second gym teacher and guidance councilor.

Everyone beat a hasty retreat when they realized the confrontation was over.

Evan watched wide-eyed as Pietro was taken to the office at the end of the gym.
I have to tell Scott and the others.

Tabitha was in English, and she was feeling unusually dizzy.

The teacher asked the class to hand in their book reports.

She pulled out hers from her bag.

Neatly at the top it said:
TABITHA SMITH
WORDS OF STONE --- KEVIN HENKES.

As she stood up she felt lightheaded, still she walked up on shaky legs.

As she handed in the report, the teacher asked, "Are you alright Ms. Smith?"

The teachers voice seemed so far away.

No, I'm not alright. I want to curl up and die.

Instead she smiled and said, "Yeah."

She tried to walk to her desk but she couldn't make anything out. Everything seemed to be a blur. Her legs buckled beneath her. Tabitha opened her eyes. She tried to get up but her body wasn't responding. Someone loomed over her.

I'm fine, just fell.

But her voice couldn't put the words out.

Then her world went blank and Tabitha happily sunk into the darkness.

Mr. Workman stared at Pietro pacing the room. He wasn't stupid, he knew something was up with Pietro, all he needed was proof to confirm his suspicions.
"Pietro," he said in a coaching voice. "Just bear with me."

Pietro glared at him, "You want me to take my shirt off? Whar are you, some kind of sicko freak! No freaking way!"

Mr. Workman rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Even if you just roll up your sleeve."

Pietro was freaking out, outside in the gym, he could see Evan talking to Scott and Jean, they were joined by Kurt and the small group were now heading towards the office.

Think! Think!

Lance was in Chemistry, he was sitting opposite Kitty.

It felt like a drum was in his head, the pounding was intense.

Suddenly there was silence and Lance realized the Science teacher was yelling, "Mr. Alvers!"

He looked up, the teacher was right in front of him. Kitty was giving him an 'Are you okay?' look.

"Y-Yes sir," he said as he ran a hand over his brow trying to rid himself of the drops of sweat that was running down his face. "C-Can I just go to the bathroom?"

"Yes, of course."

As Lance stood up, he felt a searing pain rip through his head.
"AAGGHHH!" he yelled, falling to his knees.

"Mr. Alvers! Mr. Alvers!" then he heard "Lance!" in Kitty's high-pitched voice.

Lance struggled to his feet.
"I'm fine! Just gotta go to the bathroom!"

Noone seemed to notice the chairs and tables lightly rattling.

Lance pushed himself forward and out of the door. He ran blindly to an old bathroom on the second floor where he crashed to the floor in front of the sink.

Grabbing the edge of the sink, he pulled himself up and stared back into the pained eyes. The pain mounted and Lance squeezed his eyes shut.

"RRAAAuuGG!"

With a yell he slammed his fist into the mirror.

As the glass shattered onto the floor in a hundred pieces, Lance felt as if his mind was

doing the same thing.

He crouched in the corner, willing it to all end.

Not just his nightmare, but his comrade's as well.