Hello my friends! Sorry about the long wait, but you know how it is. School and life keeping me busy as always. But i said to myself that i would get at least one chapter of this story done before the end of the year. So here we are. This is:

Slice of Life

It was another day in the town of Bayville. At the Bayville high school, it was just ringing in to the first lesson of the day, making students scramble towards their assigned classrooms. One such student was the new member of the Xavier institute, Kurt Wagner.

While normally he would be apprehensive when he was out amongst normal people, given his unusual appearance, now he was feeling a bit more confident. Because they want to keep mutants a secret from the general public as long as possible, Kurt had been given an image-inducer, a sort of holographic producing device disguised as a normal hand watch that will help him blend in when out with normal people.

When the device was turned on, he looked like a normal version of his true appearance, with normal, light skin color, five fingers instead of three and no tail. He had black, almost blue-ish hair and dark eyes.

Of course, this was just a holographic projection, it didn't actually change his appearance. In order to keep up the illusion he would need to curl his tale around on of his legs in order for it not to poke through the holographic image. While that would take some getting used to, he wasn't going to let that bring down his mood. He was being allowed to walk around without the fear of others screaming at his looks.

Right now, though, he had another problem. He was late to school, again. See, since he had come to the institute, he'd been introduced to what Laura like to call the "Breakfast Burger Gutbomb". Which Wanda had explained to him that it was just the name of a special menu at a burger joint Laura liked to frequent. Point is, ever since he tried it, he'd been hooked on it and for a week he'd always stopped by to get one before school, causing him to be late.

Kurt was currently running towards the school with a burger in his hand, taking a bite out of it before looking at his image-inducer, which also worked as a regular watch. "Late again..." He muttered to himself in frustration. As he'd been mostly homeschooled most of his life, he wasn't used to regular public school, much less the tight schedule.

Looking around to make sure no one was looking he hid behind a tree before teleporting behind a wall close to the entrance. Looking around once more, Kurt began to sneak into the school, hoping to not get caught. Just when he thought he was home free, he turned around and stepped back in shock at seeing principal Darkholme herself standing with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

"Principal Drakholme." he exclaimed in shock at being caught.

Before he could say anything in his defense, she reached out and grabbed his left hand and looked at his watch. After a few seconds she spoke, "Well, the watch seems to be working." before giving a stern look to Kurt "So maybe it's the student that needs to keep better track."

Kurt gulped and tried to stutter a response. In the short time that he's been here, Principal Darkholme has been keeping a close eye on him. Laura and Wanda say that she does so with anyone that she considers to be troublemakers, but Kurt had the distinct feeling that the principal was keeping an extra eye on him.

Principal Darkholme sighed before giving a less stern but still firm look. "Mr. Wagner, I know you have been homeschooled most of your life, but here you need to keep better track of your schedule. Especially if you're using that time eating junk food." she finished pointing at his half-eaten burger, making him scratch his head sheepishly.

"Hey Kurt. There you are." Came Scott's voice from the entrance. He walked up to Kurt and put a hand on his shoulder. "The teacher asked me to fetch you." Leading him into the building, away from the principal.

"You really need to stop with these breakfast burgers Kurt." Scott whispered to his fellow mutant.

"Sorry, it's an addiction." Kurt explained before they walked into the school.

This exchanged was heard by Darkholme however, who rolled her eyes in exasperation at Kurt's answer.

Despite the fact that Kurt didn't know her, or that she was his birth mother, it was still nice to have him around, even if she couldn't be directly involved in his life. From what she had observed so far was that Kurt was very cheerful and optimistic, at least when around his friends, yet still unsure and cautious when around strangers. Most likely due to his usual appearance having terrified others in the past and he was afraid of it happening again. Something she knew all too well.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, the disguised Mystique walked back to her office, hoping to find some work to distract her from past guilts.

Later during the day, Kurt was making his way to the lunch hall. So far, he was enjoying his time here. Sure, he wasn't the most studious guy around and the schedule did take some getting used to, but overall, he liked it here. It certainly helped that he had some friends who understood him and his situation.

He was brought back to reality when he turned a corner and slammed into someone, eliciting cries from both of them and knocking the other person to the ground.

Once he got his bearings, Kurt looked down at the person he had run into. It was girl, who was dark-skinned, with long brown hair and was wearing a black shirt, orange pants, and dark-brown sandals. He could also see that she was wearing a silver choker necklace.

"Gah, I... I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed in panic. "I wasn't paying attention."

The girl laughed a little at his panic before she started pull herself up.

"It's okay. I should've been paying attention as well." she said once she got back up on her feet, while rubbing her arm sheepishly.

Kurt laughed nervously, not sure how to respond. He'd had little experience when it came to girls. Most girls who saw him would just run away screaming so he had little experience talking with them.

Seeing his nervousness, the girl asked, "You going to the lunch hall?" to witch Kurt nodded nervously. "Want to walk there together?" she asked a little nervously.

Kurt was surprised that she would offer him that after he'd run into her but quickly shook of his bewilderment and said, "y... yes. I... I'd like that."

She smiled and said, "Great. My name's Amanda. Amanda Sefton."

"Kurt Wagner." he gave his own name before they both started walking to the lunch hall.

"So, are you new here?" she asked him.

"Umm... to the school or this country?" Kurt asked nervously.

Amanda giggled a little. "I meant to the school." she clarified.

"Oh." he said before laughing nervously. "Well then, yes. I am new here. I started here last week."

"Ah, no wonder I haven't seen you around before. I noticed you in a few classes. So, do you like what you've seen so far?"

"Yeah. I do." Kurt answered honestly. "I was mostly homeschooled before coming here so it's nice to have people around, even if I don't know most of them."

Amanda looked a bit surprised to hear that he was homeschooled, but she quickly put on a smile and said, "Well, if you ever need a friend Kurt you can always come to me."

Kurt was shocked to hear her offer to be his friend, but smiled and said, "I... I'd like that." They had just made it to the entrance to the lunch hall and stopped just outside it.

"Great!" she said, "I know what it's like to be the new kid in school, I thought you might need someone to hang out with."

"Thanks. But I do have some other friends." When Amanda gave him a confused look, Kurt was about to explain but just then a voice called out to him.

"Kurt! Over here!" Making both turn their heads to see Scott standing at a table with Wanda, Jean and Laura.

Kurt laughed sheepishly and said, "There they are. I... better get going."

Amanda laughed and said, "Okay, I'll see you around." before walking away to get some lunch.

Kurt walked over to his friends from the institute. The girls were all smiling at him strangely.

"What?" he asked, not understanding the looks they were giving him.

"I see you're making friends with the locals." said Laura teasingly.

Understanding what she was implying, Kurt blushed and said, "I just ran into her in the hall, and we got to talking. I don't even know her that well."

Jean smiled and turned to Laura. "Stop teasing him, Laura. Kurt just wants to get to know some people outside of the institute."

Kurt sighed in relief, but then Wanda said, "Yeah. Just wait for him to get a date with her and then we can tease him all we like."

Everyone, even Scott, laughed at the joke while Kurt just pouted in annoyance.

"I'm gonna go get lunch." he said before going to do just that. He needed to get away from the teasing for a while. He also hopped that this wouldn't become a regular thing with them.

Scott turned to look at the three girls and said, "Okay that's enough. Let's just finish our lunch and head back to our classes."

The girls all agreed and were about to go back to eating and making small talk when they heard a familiar, unwelcome voice.

"Jean!" shouted Duncan as he walked over to their table.

Everyone glared at him, even Jean, who said in a cold voice, "Hey, Duncan. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine." he said cheerfully, somehow oblivious to the glares he was receiving. "I told you; I have a thick head."

"On that, we can agree on." whispered Laura to Wanda nodded in agreement.

"But enough about me, come on over and chat with us." Duncan said and gestured to a table further away from them where a bunch of jocks and cheerleaders were eating. "You don't need to sit with these losers now that I'm back." he commented and chuckled.

The glares intensified and Jean stood up from her chair and slammed her hands on the table, shutting up Duncan and drawing several eyes towards them.

"Don't you dare say that!" Jean shouted, shocking him, her fellow X-Men, and all the people in around them.

"They're my friends, and I don't like to hear you making fun of them." Jean stood up and want right up to Duncan and glared him right in the face, making him freeze up in fear.

"And by the way, you and I are through Duncan." Jean said, shocking him even more.

"What?" he asked dumbly.

"You heard me. But if you want me to simplify it, let me put it this way: I'm dumping you."

Their audience grew even more shocked at hearing this. Jean was dumping the most popular jock in the school and in the middle of lunch as well.

"Wha... why?" stammered Duncan before trying to regain his composure. He started glaring at her. No one talked back to him like that without consequence.

"Well let's see." Jean remarked before putting a finger on her lips and looking up at the celling in a mocking gesture "You're self-centered, you always look down on those around you, you keep mocking my friends, even in front of me!" Jean returned to glaring at him as she shouted the last bit.

"Oh, and I overheard two of your jock friends talking about me last week. They said something about how I should give you proper 'motivation' when you got back because as you said, and I quote: 'You know what they say about red heads'" Jean's glare intensified along with those from the rest of her friends and even some of the other students who overheard this started glaring at Duncan.

Duncan turned around and glared at the jock table, where the two jocks that Jean overheard stiffened in fear. They both knew that they were in trouble.

"So, yeah." Jean said, turning Duncan's attention back to her. "We're through, Duncan." without another word, she turned around and sat back at her table.

Duncan was glaring at her with more rage than he could ever remember feeling. No one talked back to him like that, and he would make sure to get even with anyone that dared to cross him. But looking around at the people in the room right now and seeing their glares, even he knew that it probably wasn't a good idea to do so right now.

So, with a huff he turned around and started marching towards the exit.

As soon as Duncan had walked out of the lunch hall people started talking aloud about what just happened. Most were shocked at what had happened and the things that were revealed, although some weren't surprised, given that Duncan was a selfish jerk.

Feeling really pleased with herself, Jean resumed her meal while the rest of her friends smiled at her for standing up to Duncan.

"Jean." Said Laura with smirk. "That was amazing! You sure showed him."

"Indeed." Wanda said in agreement.

Jean smiled in return. "Thanks. That felt really good."

Scott agreed wholeheartedly. Now that Jean was no longer dating Duncan, maybe now he finally had a chance with her. But he knew that it wouldn't be good to ask her out right away, he settled for just being able to be around her.

"So, you guys wanna hang out later." he asked his three female friends. "I mean, if you're not busy or anything." Scott said the last part while looking at Jean.

Jean laughed and said, "No, I don't have anything else planned. I'd like that."

Wanda and Laura shared a smirk before Laura got between Jean and Scott and put her arms around them. "Yeah, it'll be like old times." she said before giving them a hug, making everyone at the table laugh.

While they were laughing, Kurt had come back to the table with his lunch in hand and a confused look on his face. Wanda was the first to notice him.

"Oh, hey Kurt." She spoke.

"Uh, hey. What was that all about?" he said unsurely while pointing his thumb in the direction Duncan went. He'd seen the whole thing from across the hall and wondered what had happened to make Jean do what she did.

"Well fill you in later." Wanda said in response. She didn't want to ruin the mood with the story behind Jean's relationship with Duncan.

Kurt was still confused but shrugged and sat down to begin his lunch.

Later that day.

It was the end of the day for Bayville high school and most of the students were either heading home or preparing to head home.

Kurt Wagner was putting away his books as he contemplated what he'd learned regarding Jean's now ex-boyfriend, Duncan Matthews. Hearing what he'd said about Jean and how he would act around the other students, Kurt wasn't surprised that Jean had dumped him, and he wasn't the only one.

Jean's break-up with Duncan had been the talk of the school for the entire day and while there were a few who were upset that she'd dumped the school's most famous jock, most people were supportive of her choice since while Duncan was popular, he wasn't very well liked due to his attitude.

But Kurt didn't want to dwell on that. He'd just finished putting away his books and was making his way towards the exit when noticed a familiar face coming towards him from another corridor, Amanda Sefton.

"Hey, Amanda." He'd said while he raised his hand. Amanda noticed him and smiled before walking over to him.

"Hey." she said in response. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Kurt said with a nervous smile on his face. He still was a bit nervous given that he didn't really know her all that well. Still, he was the one who called her over and she seemed nice, so he wanted to get to know her.

"How about you?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Just a bit surprised about what happened at lunch." Amanda said while grimacing a little. "I can't believe that Duncan said those things."

Kurt's expression soured upon hearing that. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I just hope whoever Jean ends up with next is a better person than Duncan."

"Yeah. She deserves much better." Amanda agreed. Then she smiled at him and said, "But let's forget about him."

"I couldn't agree more." Kurt said in response. They both started walking towards the exit.

"So, any plans for the day?" Amanda asked curiously.

Kurt shrugged and said, "Eh, nothing much, I'm just going to head home and hopefully get some of this homework done." he finished with little enthusiasm.

Amanda frowned and thought for a minute. "You know," she began nervously. "If you want, I could help you with your homework from time to time."

Kurt's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked, "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'm not great at all the subjects but I can help you with math. I mean, if you need it of course!" she finished, a bit embarrassed at her voice crack.

"Umm, yeah. I could use some help with that." Kurt accepted.

"Great." Amanda said while smiling. They had just arrived at the exit when she paused and opened up her bag before pulling out a notebook and pen. She quickly scribbled something down on it before ripping off the paper.

"Here." she said giving him the paper. Kurt took it and blushed as he realized she had written down her phone number on it.

Amanda, seemingly realizing what she'd just done, blushed as well and tried to explain. "J-Just so we can r-reach each other!"

Kurt, while also embarrassed, tried to pull himself together. "Y-Yeah, I-I get it." he said before coughing into his fist.

They both stood in front of the exit in awkward silence for a few seconds before Kurt walked over and opened the door for Amanda, gesturing for her to walk out ahead of him. Surprised and flattered, Amanda smiled nervously and walked out in the sun with Kurt following behind her.

"So, I guess we'll see each other later?" Kurt asked rhetorically/hopefully. This was the longest conversation that he'd had with a normal girl, and he really hoped that she would want to keep contact with him.

"Yeah." Amanda said before turning around and walking off. She paused briefly and turned around waved goodbye, with Kurt nervously doing the same.

Kurt stood there staring at Amanda's retreating form before he was brought out of his musings by a familiar voice.

"Hey Romeo! Get your mind out of the gutter!" came the loud and unmistakable sound of Laura, who stood a while away with the rest of the Xavier students. Kurt blushed at her comment before briskly walking over towards them. As soon as he caught up with them, they all started walking towards the institute. Normally Scott would have given them all a ride in his convertible, but because of a little 'incident' yesterday involving Kurt, Laura and water balloons, his car was currently undergoing repairs. Thus, they all had to walk home. As soon as they had walked of campus they started talking.

"So, what were you two talking about?" Laura asked Kurt with a smirk, making him blush.

"Eh, she was just offering to help me with math. That's all." Kurt said, hoping to explain things before they started getting any ideas.

"Well, that's nice of her." Commented Scott. "And it's nice to see you making friends outside the institute."

"Don't you mean Girlfriends?" Laura asked rhetorically.

Kurt was getting a bit tired of getting teased and said, "Hey stop that! How would you like for me to start teasing you about boyfriends huh."

Everyone besides Kurt started laughing, Laura more than the others. After she had stopped laughing, Laura wiped away an invisible tear before saying, "Good luck with that, Elf. I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now, so you don't have anything to tease me about."

Kurt paused in confusion upon hearing that. "Really?" he asked.

Laura sighed and said, "Yeah. I mean I've never really met anyone I've been interested in. And most boys don't really have an eye on me either. I'm too..." Laura trailed of, not sure what word to use to describe her.

"Intense." Wanda said in her friend's place.

Laura glanced at her best friend smiled. "Yeah, that." she turned back to Kurt and continued to explain. "If any boy wants a piece of me, they're going have to do a lot to get on my good side. And even then, they're going to have to do a lot more to earn my dad's approval."

"Your dad?" Kurt asked, not sure what she meant by that.

Laura groaned and rolled her eyes." Yeah. I love him and all, but he can be a bit overprotective."

Wanda decided to chip in. "One time when the school had another football game, one of the jocks from the opposite team tried flirting with Laura. She tried to blow him off, but he kept getting to close and even put his hands on her."

Kurt's eyes widened upon hearing that as he could only imagine what Laura's reaction might have been. He turned his attention back to her as she said, "That guy was so obnoxious even before he did that. I was ready to pummel him on the spot!"

"But you never got the chance." Jean said while smiling. "Logan beat you to it."

Laura laughed "That guy looked ready to piss his pants. My dad was so mad at him that if I Ororo hadn't been there, I'm pretty sure my dad would've killed him right then and there."

Kurt paled a little upon hearing that. He'd seen Logan get frustrated on a few occasions, and he always got the impression that if he wanted to, Logan could cause some serious pain. Hearing this story however, made him less eager to see Logan get genuinely mad.

"He didn't get the chance though, but he made sure that everyone watching knew not to mess with me." Laura finished with a smirk.

"Yeah, I think I get the picture." Kurt said. "Anyone stupid enough to make you or your dad angry must have a death wish."

"And don't you forget it." Laura said while pointing at him. Everyone laughed in amusement, which eventually evolved into small talk as they made their way back to the institute.

And that's a wrap. So yeah, Jean is no longer dating Duncan. Honestly, probably for the best. At least this way Jean won't have to put up with an asshole, her friends don't have to be annoyed that she's hanging out with one and I don't have to wright about about them being a couple. You can expect this to have some consequences, though mostly on Duncan's side of things. But anyway, i'm not sure if i'll be able to finish another chapter before the year is over (especially given my resent updates) but we'll see what happens.

Anyway, if this is my last chapter of the year, i'll just say that i appreciate your patience guys and i'll see you next time. Excelsior!