Day Two: Revelations

[Drake 53]

Marcus decided to skip on lunch. As a junior, he was allowed to leave school grounds for lunch.

Once out of sight, he transformed into a bird and flew quickly towards the mall.

Once there, Marcus came to a landing on the sidewalk just across the street from the mall, outside of a familiar house.

Natalie's.

[Rogue 4]

Natalie looked from Brett over to her and raised an eyebrow in amusement. "What's that supposed to mean?"

[Vergere 1]

Kelly just grinned widely before taking a bite of her sandwich to keep from having to respond. Muffled, "Dunno what you're talking about..."

[Rogue 4]

"Uh huh..." Natalie rolled her eyes, looking to Brett and pointing a thumb at Natalie. "She wasn't implying anything."

***

Neil sat down alone at a table near the back corner of the courtyard. He had been the first one there, and he supposed that because of his disposition nobody wanted to sit near him, which was good because he didn't give a feck about any of em.

[Vergere 1]

"I wasn't." Kelly sniffed, then glanced up at the sky. "At least it's not raining out now... would have definately put a dampener on having lunch out here if it did."

[Drake 53]

Kurt walked into the lunch hall. He spotted Hailey at a table, eating with a couple other girls who were, no doubt, in her grade. She waved to him and Kurt waved back.

He was glad to see that she had already made some friends. He was having a little more trouble in that department. It had been the same for the first little while at Bayville High. The foreign accent and vocabulary laced with the occasional German phrase seemed to turn people away. However, once people got to know him, they liked him.

Looking outside, Kurt saw that the clouds had broken up a bit and the sun was shining through. He brought his lunch outside and noticed a few familiar faces. Natalie and Brett, the two people he was working with on the biology project, and Kelly, the girl from the Cove a few nights before.

Not wanting to intrude on their conversation, he went to find a nearby table to eat at.

***

Marcus flew up from the sidewalk and onto the front porch of Natalie's house. Perching on the ledge beneath the front window, he looked in. The curtains were drawn shut save for a small crack in the middle. Between it, Marcus could see Natalie's father sitting in a well-used and worn chair watching TV.

He hopped off the ledge and walked over to the door before shifting back into his human form.

Then Marcus rang the doorbell.

[Rogue 4]

Natalie gave her a skeptical expression. "Uh huuuuh." She rubbed the back of her neck, looking around and wondering where Marcus was anyway. She had thought he'd be around for lunch today.

***

Mr Brook rose slowly, cursing as the bell rang a second time. "Calm down already, I'm coming! And you better not be one of those damn religious recruiters---"

[Vergere 1]

"What's up, Nat?" Kelly watched curiously as Natalie looked around for someone. "Looking for Marcus?"

Brett nudged Kelly and motioned to where Kurt was sitting. Softly, "He's also in our group. He seems pretty nice as well."

Just as soft, Kelly responded, "Of course he's nice. Lotsa people are. You just gotta give them a chance."

[Rogue 4]

"Yeah," Natalie said, looking around. "I thought he'd be here for lunch. And Kurt does seem nice. Seems like we have a lot of new kids from out of the state, foreign countries...but he seems pretty chill."

She turned around to the table and asked, "Hey Kurt! You don't have to sit alone. Come join us."

Then she turned and smiled at Brett. "I hope you don't think I'm bad."

Edited May 15, 2008 by Rogue

[Vergere 1]

Brett opened his eyes wide in suprise as he looked at Natalie, then just shook his head and fell silent again, his cheeks slightly red. Mumbled, "Of course not..."

Kelly just raised an eyebrow at Natalie, but said nothing.

[Drake 53]

Kurt looked over. "Huh? Oh, yah. Sure!" He got up from his table and went over to theirs. Sitting down next to Natalie, he said, "Danke, mein freunds! Not many people have been as welcoming as you these past few days."

***

The front door opened and Mr. Brooks looked out, only to find no one there. He grumbled something about stupid children and their pranks then pushed the door closed before returning to his chair.

He didn't see the spider crawl around the door frame and into the house right before the door closed.

[Rogue 4]

"I know. Lesson one about Californians: Most of them are self centered. You'll learn to deal with it, or get around it." She half joked to Kurt.

Kelly was giving her a strange look. Maybe that earlier comment was something that was supposed to be between her and Brett? Shoot...this hearing thing was going to make her crazy.

Natalie smiled uncertainly at him. "I'm just teasing, Brett. Besides, it doesn't really matter to me what people think of me anyway. I think that everyone has the right to make their own opinions."

[Vergere 1]

Brett just smiled faintly at Natalie before lowering his eyes as he ate again.

"Well, a compliment from Brett is saying a lot. If he says anything that's saying a lot." Kelly gave him a quick hug around the shoulders with one arm again. She gave a small wave to Kurt. "Hullo, again. Long time no chat."

[Drake 53]

Kurt smiled. "Howdy, fraulein," he said, mixing American slang with his native German. "Sorry I havn't been able to make it to the Cove yet. Been busy! How have things been there?"

***

Marcus, in his spider form, scurried across the floor. Natalie's father was back to watching TV. Once out of sight, he transformed into a black cat and silently padded down the hall and into the kitchen.

He reverted back to his human form. Marcus noticed a stack of beer boxes filled with empties up against the wall. Opening the fridge, the boy smiled. At the bottom of the fridge was a case of beer. Most of the bottles in it were still full and unopened.

Picking up the case, he promptly threw it on the ground, creating a loud and satisfying crash.

A moment later, he was a fly on the wall. Literally.

Edited May 15, 2008 by Drake

[Vergere 1]

Kelly smiled and shrugged. "Been busy. Between working to keep things running smooth there and working and surfing and spending time with my boyfriend, just been busy. But the Cove is, of course, doing really well. And how has school been for you?"

She glanced over at Brett to make sure he was still there and not dying of fright by being around tons of people. Kelly furrowed her brow as she looked at him, as it seemed like at some points she could almost see through him or he was fading. She shook her head and looked back at Natalie, assuming it must be the sun playing tricks on her mind. She looked back over at Brett a moment later and he was fine again, so she just assumed she was hallucinating.

[Drake 53]

"Not much different here than in New York," said Kurt with a shrug. "I just have to make some new friends. Well...aside from the others at the Institute, of course."

[Vergere 1]

"The Institute?" Kelly smiled hesitantly, still shaken by Brett, and raised an eyebrow at Kurt. "What institute?"

[Drake 53]

"Oh!" Kurt seemed flustered for a moment. "Sorry. It's the place where I'm staying. Like a boarding house."

[Andy 60]

Chase got his lunch and looked around for people he knew. He spotted Kurt and a few others sat over the other side and began meandering his way through the other students towards them.

* * *

Mr Mitchell followed Peter into the study where he met Jean and Scott. "Good afternoon, Professors," he greeted politely.

[Rogue 4]

Jean smiled warmly at the man. She had taken the time to dress up appropriatly, as had Scott. She walked over to him, shaking his hand. "I'm so glad you decided to join us today, Mr. Mitchell. I'm Jean Grey, and this is Scott Summers."

"A pleasure." Scott said, shaking his hand in turn.

[Drake 53]

Kurt spotted Chase coming toward them and waved to him. To the others at the table, he said, "I hope you don't mind someone else sitting with us. He is one of the two brothers from England. He might be staying with me while he father returns home."

***

Mr. Brook came storming into the kitchen. He let out a long string of curse words the moment he saw the open refridgerator and his completely smashed case of beer.

If Marcus' fly body had the ability to laugh, he would have done so loudly.

While Natalie's angered father attempted to clean up the broken glass and spilt beer, Marcus flew out of the kitchen and back down the hall to the bathroom. Once inside, he reverted back to human form and looked around for what he needed.

Marcus soon found it. A stick of Natalie's red lipstick. He removed the cap and scribbled a message on the mirror. Then he plugged the drain in the tub and turned the hot water on full blast. Once there was a good amount of steam he flicked off the lights and started slamming the door, open and closed, as hard as he could. After slamming it closed one last time, he shifted back into a fly and flew up to the wall for a good vantage point.

He heard Mr. Brook come stomping down the hall. The door cautiously opened and the light flicked on, revealing a room full of steam. Natalie's father walked in slowly, clearly spooked by what was happening.

Once he saw the mirror, though, he just about made a mess in his pants. Mr. Brook staggered backward, slipping on the condensation-coated tiles. He grasped wildly with his hands and managed to grab hold of the towel bar, ripping it off the wall.

The mirror read:

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO HER!!!

Marcus wanted to laugh again. Instead, he flew out of the bathroom and into the living room for one last scare....

[Andy 60]

"Good to meet you," Philip Mitchell said, "Chase hasn't stopped talking about this place since he found out about it."

* * *

Chase idly wondered where Danny had been; his twin seemed to be avoiding him today. He smiled as Kurt saw him coming and waved to him, and when he got to the table he sat next to him.

"Hi guys," Chase said to everyone at the table. "Hey Kurt, how's it going?"

* * *

Hill Valley, California - ten miles east of Greendale.

Calvin lay in bed; he was off school sick again, as he often was. The air-conditioning was on full blast and he was drinking water like there was no tomorrow but still he had had a high temperature for a week now. He groaned as rolled over onto his front and slumped across the bed, wishing he could just cool down. He felt like he would burst into flame. Eventually he fell asleep.

Calvin found himself back in his old family home. He was in the kitchen, watching his parents cleaning up. It was dark out, so they were probably heading to bed soon. He walked through the rest of the house and somehow ended up outside his door, so went inside and saw himself a few years ago. He looked around his room, it was full of memories long gone, yet still so vivid. He realised what night he was recalling and tried to shut it out, but suddenly everything around him was burning...

He woke suddenly; or at least he thought he had. He seemed to be trapped in the nightmare of his burning room, but realisation hit him that this wasn't a dream: It was happening again. The entire room was on fire, yet somehow he was unharmed. All he could hear was the cracking of fire, the splitting of burning wood, and the sound of sirens from round the front of the house as the fire-fighters arrived on the scene. His window was already smashed from the heat, and his bedroom was on the ground floor, so he jumped out through the window--still wearing the shorts and old t-shirt he wore to bed--and into the garden at the rear of his foster parents' house.

He stopped for a moment lying on the grass to catch his breath as the roof of the house caved in, destroying everything he had for the second time in his life. Shaking, he stood up and ran into the woods at the back of his house. All he wanted right now was to get away from it all.

Edited May 16, 2008 by Andy

[Vergere 1]

Kelly just raised an eyebrow. "Some place called an institute is a boarding house.... sure." She shook her head. More strange things today. She smiled as she saw Chase. "Hullo there."

[Mara 29]

After his last class before lunch was dismissed, Mr Reynolds packed up his briefcase and headed to the teachers' lounge for a break. He made his way, all the while whistling tunelessly. Once inside, he waved to a couple of the others and then sat down, pulling his lunch out of his briefcase.

[Drake 53]

Kurt made a face at Kelly's comment about the Institute. "That's just what it's called...I didn't name it." He looked up at Chase, attempting a smile. "Hey, Chase. What's up?"

***

The TV, in the living room had been muted so Marcus, after reverting back to human form, grabbed the remote and turned the volume up all the way.

He transformed into a black cat and sat waiting for Mr. Brook to come in the room.