Carne Vale

CARNE VALE CHAPTER THIRTY NINE (NC-17)
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, Tim is bringing wonderful tea that helps with headaches...and he's wearing bunny ears again... InterNutter, TC and Maxwell Pink are frabjuous for archiving. :) Readers/Reviewers: First, I once again profess my undying love for you people. Really. I build shrines in your honor, complete with dancing girls/boys/gender neutral beings and everything. Second, the Killer Kitties (tm) and the Killer Minions (tm) have raided my garden. I think they're trying to make on massive bouquet for Rei...All I can say is better her than me! ;)

"Fucking funny April Fool's joke, huh?" Duncan said loudly, pressing close behind Kitty. "You, a cheerleader. No way in Hell you're gonna be on top of that pyramid, huh? Fuckin' break their backs!"
Kitty closed her eyes as hot tears pricked her lids. She knew everyone in the hallway could hear Duncan and knew they were waiting for a reaction, expecting it nearly as much as the football player goading her. "It's no joke," she said, forcing blitheness into her voice. "We start practice on Monday with the current squad, except for Jubes and Jean, since they're on other teams and don't have time, but we're the new ones for next semester."
"I thought the girls were fuckin' with me when they bitched about it last night," Duncan snorted, leaning just a little too close. "Tell me, Kitty," he said, his breath hot on her neck, "what're you waiting for? You haven't done a damn thing with that picture, have you? Well let me tell you," he said, pressing even closer, "I've got a doozy on you...You wouldn't believe how screwed you are."
Kitty felt a palpable wave of fear as Duncan laughed loudly, as if he told her a great joke, and shoved away, nudging her into her locker. She plastered a smile on her face and turned to face him and the students in the hall. "Sweetie, I'm sorry, but you know I'm with Kurt...Besides, I don't think you should really be dating anyone until they find out what that rash is down there!"
Duncan glared for a moment then rejoined "Well, you should know, you gave it to me!"
_Damn it, why do smart ass comments never work for me? _ "In that case," she sighed, "I'm sorry-there's no cure. It'll fall off in about a week...." She pushed through the staring, laughing students and trudged to the bathroom at the far end of the hall. Jubilee and Rogue had snuck home after the assembly, and Amara and Jean were due to leave in half an hour. Kitty would be the last to go due to her class schedule-her small, AP classes would notice her absence and report it. After lunch, all of her classes were larger and she was less likely to be missed. _Why the Hell did Kurt stay home today? Damn it! I need him here! And I don't care what Jubilee says, I don't lean on him for support too much. What does she know? She and Remy don't need anyone... _ Kitty locked herself in the handicapped stall and sank into the corner, making sure her feet were out of view. _Blau...Blue. That's a weird name for a person. Well, like Pryde isn't? Prydakos, that's fine, but Pryde? Should've been a dead giveaway about my dad right there. _ She looked up, startled, as the bathroom door swung open and admitted several girls, obviously skipping class themselves and using this far flung bathroom to hide out. _ Fantastic. Now I'm stuck here..._
"Oh, my God! Did you see Kitty and Duncan? I don't know what he sees in her..."
"Nothing, girl...she's easy! That's it!"
"Kitty? Easy?" There was a snort of laughter. "Her legs are welded at the knee..."
"That's not what I heard," the first girl said. "She and that freaky German guy are together and apparently they go at it like rabbits in heat... Duncan saw 'em once under the bleachers at the last soccer game."
"He's a liar! Why didn't he say anything?"
"Dunno..." The bathroom door swung closed, the voices gone. Kitty was breathing through her mouth, trying to be quiet and not cry, but she had a sick feeling about what sort of rumors were going around school now. _ Why didn't any of my friends from class say anything? Hell, why didn't Jubilee say anything? I mean, yeah she broke my nose and thought I was doing Remy, but we're cool now...and Jubilee knows ALL the gossip at school... _ Kitty stood shakily, scrubbing at her eyes with her fist, her embarrassed tears spilling on her cheeks. "I have to go," she said to the empty room, her voice echoing off the tiles. "I need to go home now..." The original plan had for them all to go at varying times and tell the sign-out secretary that they had menstrual problems. He never bothered to question them so they knew it would be easy, but finally they had just decided the less of a scene they made, the better so the other girls snuck out, using whatever means they could to slip away unnoticed. Kitty sniffed again, trying to stop crying, and made a decision. Digging through her bag, she found her compact and, wincing, slammed it against the sink, the sound of glass breaking small and brittle in the bathroom. She chose the largest piece and cut her left palm, enough to draw blood but not deeply. "In for a penny," she whispered and smeared the blood welling on her palm onto the back of her skirt then pressing the cut to stop the bleeding. She splashed cold water on her face and noticed that it only made her wet and did nothing to erase the symptoms of her crying. _Here goes nothing... _

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Kitty," Storm soothed. "Every woman menstruates and sometimes we have accidents..." She glanced at Kitty out of the cornf hef her eye and tried again, noticing that the girl was still crying silently. "I'm sure that it's happened to you before now, hasn't it? At least when you first started..."
"I didn't have an accident, Storm," she said quietly, holding out her cut hand. "I faked it so I could come home."
"I see..." They were at a red light, several blocks from the school. "May I ask why?"
Kitty sobbed thickly, ashamed of skipping school, of letting rumors hurt her, and of deceiving people to go home. "Give me a minute..." Storm nodded and did not say a word, heading towards the mansion rather than back to the school as Kitty feared. As they turned onto the long road leading to the Institute, Kitty began. "I...I heard some stuff today that really upset me and I just couldn't face anyone at the school."
"What kind of stuff?" Storm had an inkling where things were going but did not presume to guess, just in case she was wrong. She knew that the problems with Duncan were not over for her charges nor would the forced extracurricular activities win them any new friends. _What ever happened comes from one of those... _
"Some girls...I was in the bathroom and they didn't know I was in there. They said...they heard I'm easy!"
"Easy? Oh..._easy _..." Storm stopped, waiting for the gate to open, and said, "Kitty, why do you think that rumor started?"
"One of them said Duncan saw me and Kurt...doing stuff at the last soccer game. We weren't!" she said vehemently. "We'd never do something like that where we'd be caught."
Storm murmured noncommittally and averted her eyes from Kitty's red face. "I trust not..." She did not speak until they reached the garage. "Kitty, I am not going to chide you for skipping out today but I will suggest something to you..onfronfront these people, these rumors. Don't seek them out to deny them but rather show that they don't affect you. As soon as it becomes known that you are embarrassed, they will see it as verification of their ideas on your moral character."
Kitty nodded glumly. "Sure, Storm... Can I just go to my room for a while?"
Storm sighed. "Tell Jean to keep it down. Logan will be back soon and I would hate for the girls to get caught..."
Kitty's eyes went wide. "How did you know?"
Storm offered a small smile. "I'm a goddess, child. I know everything..."

"I think we'll be fine down here..."
Kurt bit his lip at the sound of Rogue's voice outside the door to his hiding place. _Don't come in here, don't come in here! _ He grabbed his blankets and bag and scooted to the furthest corner of the storage area, hiding behind a large moving box and closing his eyes, blending in with the dark. The door opened and he heard Kitty say "I can't believe Storm won't say anything!"
Rogue laughed a little and said, "She's kinda mellowed out since Doctor Reyes got here. I think she likes having a woman her own age to talk to..."
"So you don't think she's Mystique anymore?" Amara asked, sitting on a box mere feet from Kurt's head.
"Nah...Logan would've ventilated her by now if she was Tall, Blue and Ugly." Rogue say next to Amara and leaned back. If she looked down, she would see Kurt's tail, barely illuminated by the light from the hallway. "Does the bulb in here work?"
Kitty sighed. "Nope. I keep forgetting to tell Logan about it...We'll just leave the door open.
"Bad idea, Kit," Jean said. "What if Logan comes down? Or Beast? Or even the Professor? We're dead in the water if this door's open. Hope no one is afraid of the dark..." There was a clicking noise and the room was nearly perfectly dark.
Rahne made a small growling noise. "Can't see me hand before me face..."
"Well, you know what we all look like so just imagine us all nice and pretty for ya..." Rogue said. She shifted and Kurt tensed as her hand barely touched his fur. "What the Hell you got in here, Kitty?"
"Clothes, mementoes...stuffed animals."
"Oh. Okay then...I was gonna scream cause I thought I felt a raccoon or something."
"There's no way a raccoon can get in here unless someone brings it in. Jubilee."
"No fair, Red! That was a one-time thing! And Scott got him out..." The Asian girl shifted and Kurt felt someone pass him. Her voice sounded much closer now and he realized that she was sitting right in front of him, facing away. He bit down hard on his fist as she said, "Besides, the only fuzzy things in this house are Kurt and Beast and sometimes Remy and none of them are down here. I don't think."
Kurt carefully drew his legs and tail as close to his body as he could, wrapping his arms around his knees to minimize his size. _ Please don't see me. Katzchen will kill me...or cry. Damn it! Too late... _ He recognized her sniffles without question. Kitty sound muffled, like she was speaking from behind a handkerchief, as she said, "I just can't believe people are saying that about me!"
Jubilee moved again and Kurt knew she was next to Kitty. "I swear, Kit, if I'd heard it, I would've told you!"
Rahne sighed heavily. "It's all Duncan's fault. I bet my last dollar that he started it to be mean..."
Amara made a tsking noise and said, "What about this Miss Blau person? I mean, isn't that why we're all risking detention or worse to be here right now?"
Jean said something under her breath that could not have been complimentary and sighed. "I couldn't get a read on her. That's weird first off. Most people who aren't mutants don't have shielding capabilities. Only very, very...special...people seem to. Those with especially developed mental capabilities that have nothing to do with mutations."
Rogue sounded thoughtful to Kurt as she said, "Do you think it could be...? I mean, Kelly retiring is weird enough."
Kurt peeked with one eye and saw Kitty not three feet from him, staring at her feet. His keen vision in the dark was a blessing and a curse-not only could he see her, her could see she was crying still, silent tears running on her red cheeks. She looked up and he closed his eyes quickly. "Rogue, you think every strange woman is Mystique now!"
"Think about it!" Amara took up for Rogue unexpectedly. "Mystique's run off somewhere, no one knows where, Kelly decides to give up Bayville High and this new woman, Miss _Blau _, Miss _Blue _ shows up to take his place? Sure, itar-far-fetched, but it's possible!"
Jean spoke first. "Granted, possible. We'll have to wait and see, though. This may just be one of those random school things that happens."
"Not even you believe that, do you Jean?" Rogue asked with a small bit of amusement.
Jubilee snorted. "Come on, Jean! I mean, seriously..."
Kitty made a noise of frustration. "Whatever happens, there's still that motion about getting us removed to that special school. I mean, how do we know if that's still on the table?"
Jean stood, her knees popping loud in the dark room. "We don't. We just have to wait and see..."
"Wait and see, wait and see!" Amara parroted. She stood as well. "Are we just going to leave here without knowing anything more?"
"No," Rogue stated firmly. "Y'all sit! No one goes anywhere until we have some sort of plan!"
"Plan for what?" Rahne asked. "We can't very well attack the new principal and demand she shape shift or something!"
"No," Jean said thoughtfully, "But we can put some things in place that might trick her into revealing herself if she is Mystique..."
There was some general movement in the room and Kurt smelled the unmistakable scent of Kitty's shampoo and lotion as she took the place Jubilee had vacated. Leaning back, she did not meet with the wall as expected but rather Kurt's legs. Both stiffened and Kurt expected to be caught out. Instead, she slowly relaxed and did not speak as Jean and Rogue launched into detailed ideas about how to expose Miss Blau as Mystique. He had never wanted to be telepathic more in his entire life than at that moment, Kitty' silence more unnerving than if she had cried out. He was only aware of her leaning against him as the others talked in the background. Occasionally, Kitty would say something and the vibrations of her voice against his leg through her back made him tense, the sensations heightened by the dark and the potential of exposure. After what could have been minutes or hours, the door to the hall opened and they began to leave, Kitty joining Rogue at the door. "Just a sec," she said. "I want to get one of my stuffed animals..."
Rogue snickered. "I'll hold the elevator."
Kitty took a few steps into the room and looked blindly towards his corner. "I don't know why you're hiding down here, baby, but I'm not going to say anything. I love you. Come back to me soon, okay?" She blew as tos to the room and shut the door behind her.
"Love you, too..." Kurt sighed. Looking ceiling-ward, he said, "You aren't going to make this easy for me, are you God?"