Chapter 15 – Secrets and Revelations
Author's Notes – indeed, what could possibly go wrong? Needless to say, things won't go as smoothly as they might have hoped, and Kurt will quite likely end up playing hero. But first, he has to deal with a problem that he has not been thinking about very much recently…please read on.
"Take off your watch," said Mrs McCann, watching Kurt struggle as he tried to get the sleeve of his fancy shirt over the top of his watch, with decidedly limited success.
Kurt looked up at her, worry and panic filling his eyes. Of all the problems he had had to deal with since coming to America, this was one that he had not really considered. There had been all sorts of rumours ever since the Halloween party, with reports on the news of strange occurrences, and Kurt was pretty sure that there had been some attacks on mutants, and even a few murders, even though the news had never mentioned whether or not the victims had been mutants. It seemed that a lot of people who had been dressed up for Halloween had been attacked, and by the time that their friends had realised that it had not been just part of a Halloween game or prank, it had been too late. And the Human Defence League had been on the radio and television more and more in the last few days, making their opinions about mutants clear; that mutants were a danger to 'real' people, and that they needed to be controlled for the safety of civilised society. Kurt had no proof, but he was fairly sure that they had been guilty of at least some of the recent attacks. Not that the mutants themselves were afraid to fight back; Mystique and the Brotherhood had been discussing about the time when they would be using their giant robot in order to, as they put it, 'reverse the social order under which mutants experience oppression from lesser beings'. Most of the time, Kurt had just wished that they would realise that they were not so very different from the HDL themselves. Although both sides did have a point, neither was exactly expressing it in a way that was likely to lead to the other side feeling sympathetic towards them, which just meant that the animosity was growing and growing, and Kurt would not be surprised if this eventually led to all-out war.
But he had to get on with normal things despite all of this going on around him. He had school to attend, homework to do, and rehearsals for the play. Mrs McCann had rented some costumes from a fancy dress store that specialised in school plays, and had asked Kurt to try on his Romeo jacket. Kurt had done so, without really thinking much about it. Except that the sleeve was too tight to cover his watch, and now Mrs McCann was watching him impatiently as he tried to hide the watch, failing miserably at his task. "I'd rather not take it off, if you don't mind," he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking, "I was told to wear it all the time as soon as I came to America, and that it would keep me safe," he looked up at her, his disguised eyes pleading.
Mrs McCann frowned down at Kurt, "You can put it straight back on afterwards," she said, "I just want to see if I need to order a slightly bigger shirt. You are in no danger here," she added.
"I can't take it off," Kurt said, sounding desperate, "I was told never to take it off!"
Mrs McCann folded her arms across her chest, and glared at Kurt over the top of her glasses, "Mr Wagner," she said slowly, "Romeo did not wear a sports watch. You cannot wear a sports watch and be Romeo. So take off your watch so that you can be Romeo."
"How do you know?" Kurt asked desperately, "it never said that Romeo didn't wear a sports watch, you can't be sure that he didn't!"
"It is also never stated directly that Harry Potter was not a goldfish," she replied, still glaring at him, "some things do not need to be stated directly, that is all part of the creative writing process. You should know that, having attended my classes. Now take off your watch."
Kurt looked up at her, trying desperately to think of a good excuse not to remove his watch. Could someone please activate the fire alarm now? Could there please be an earthquake or some other distraction? But nothing; nothing happened to save him from his fate. He had run out of ideas, and gulped slightly, as he fiddled with the strap of his watch, "Just remember that you insisted that I do this," he muttered miserably, "if you don't like what you see, it's your own fault."
"Thank you for the warning. Now remove your watch," Mrs McCann replied.
Kurt sighed, looked around himself for some means of escape in a last, desperate attempt not to remove the protective cover that the watch provided, realised it was futile, and, ever so slowly, removed his watch. A moment later, he looked up at Mrs McCann, smiling sadly, "I did warn you," he said quietly.
Mrs McCann continued to watch him, perfectly calmly. She looked at where Kurt's tail was swaying from side to side, and nodded once to herself. "Right, so that means I'll need to make a hole in the leggings for your tail," she said, then calmly picked up the leggings and began to actually make this hole within them.
Kurt did not know what he had been expecting, but he had certainly been expecting something, not this cool, calm and collected attitude. He had imagined that Mrs McCann would scream and shout, would panic, or perhaps worse of all, would pity him. She looked up from her sewing momentarily, and gave Kurt a small smile.
"Is something wrong, Mr Wagner?" she asked.
"No…" Kurt said, "I just was expecting you to be more…more, well more…" he said slowly.
Mrs McCann put the leggings down for a moment, and stared directly at Kurt over her glasses once more, "I've been teaching for over twenty years," she said, "do you really think that you are the first mutant that I have taught? You're not the only one I've met who had a rather unique appearance, and an understandable desire to hide that appearance from those who would not be appreciative of that which makes them unique and different."
Kurt grinned, then immediately stopped grinning when he realised that he was showing his fangs, since he did not want to frighten Mrs McCann. But then again, it didn't seem that much could frighten her, and Kurt supposed that if she had been teaching for that long she had probably seen so much by now that she was practically immune to being scared of mutants. "You knew?" he asked quietly.
"I suspected," she corrected, "when you said that you were a perfectly normal teenager – which by the way is perfectly true – it made me suspect that there was more to you than was immediately obvious. Only those that have unique gifts and talents tend to think of themselves as ordinary."
Kurt grinned again, then looked down, "I know about Oliver and his brother," he said slowly, fidgeting slightly, "I'm sorry."
Mrs McCann sighed. "What's past is past, and cannot be undone, no matter how much we would like it to be otherwise. There are still a lot of people around here that don't like mutants very much, and they tend to be very vocal in their dislike. But most people don't care that much, one way or the other, as long as they are left alone. Of course, these people tend not to be the most vocal ones when it comes to expressing their opinions."
Kurt nodded thoughtfully. "It's not just about me, though," he said quietly, "Oliver said that there's something big happening with the HDL, and I've agreed to go and investigate what it is, because Oliver does not want them to recognise him after all that trouble on Halloween."
Mrs McCann sighed again. "Olli's a good boy, but he does not always know when it is prudent to take necessary risks, and when it would be better to leave and fight another day. I just hope that you are aware of what you are getting yourself into with all of this."
Kurt shrugged, "I'm beginning to get an idea," he admitted, "although I'm really not sure what I am doing exactly. One more thing, this is going to happen on the Eleventh…" his voice trailed off.
"The day of the dress rehearsals," Mrs McCann said, looking down once more at the leggings she was altering. "Well, it seems that you're going to be having a very busy day next week."
"It's my birthday then, although I didn't know that until I came to America," Kurt admitted. He gave Mrs McCann a small smile, "I guess I'll never forget my seventeenth birthday," he said.
Mrs McCann nodded, "As soon as rehearsals are over, you must go and investigate what the HDL are up to this time," she said, "and I take it that Ms Pryde will be accompanying you on this little venture?" she asked, giving Kurt a small, knowing smile.
"Wait, how did you…" Kurt's voice trailed off.
"Oh, she's taken quite a shine to you," Mrs McCann grinned, "she hides it well, because she's scared of getting involved with another one of the boys from the Brotherhood Boarding House, but I think she's had something of a crush on you ever since you juggled chalk in my lesson that first day."
Kurt grinned, "The way to a girl's heart is through circus skills, is that it?" he asked.
Mrs McCann merely smiled, then looked at the shirt that Kurt had just taken off and handed back to her, "Well, this is Romeo and Juliet," she said, winking at Kurt, "just remember not to poison yourselves."
"Don't worry, I've got too much else that I need to accomplish," said Kurt, with a little laugh, "and I'm much too sensible to do anything so stupid. Besides, the HDL will probably do that for me if I give them half a chance."
Mrs McCann suddenly became very serious, "That's not a joking matter, Kurt," she said, "They're not beyond killing those they consider to be enemies." She shook her head, and turned her attention back to the shirt in her hand, "I think I had better order the next size up for you, because we need to be certain that it will cover your watch, and thereby not give away your cover."
Kurt merely nodded, and began to dread that fateful day when he would turn seventeen.