Fuzzy Images; Forced Apart (Book two)

Chapter One / The Ending of Happiness?

[AN: First AN of the second book! Whoot! Here we go again! Firstly, working on a cover, sorry it doesn't have one yet! Secondly, I wanted to let anyone know upfront that this book will be shorter. Mostly due to how the story has to progress for the next book; I really didn't want the second genre of this story to be hurt/angst or whatever they call that here lol, so it goes a little fast to avoid moping and sorrow. I hope you'll thank me and not hate me for that... Anyway, on with the story! Please enjoy, feel free to message, vote, comment, or just read!]

It was late July, and Kerri sat in the grass against the wall of the Xavier School for gifted youngsters/ Institute for higher learning, looking up at the stars, reflecting on her life, and how wonderful it had become since she had come here; she didn't have anyone tormenting her and calling her ugly names, telling her she was worthless and was going to end up as a crack whore, she wasn't being bullied by everyone because she was a mutant, and the only time she was hit or kicked was in training.

It was past curfew, and everyone but her, Logan, and the night hall monitor were in bed. She had special permission to be out of her room, of course, due to her insomnia and restlessness.

Xavier had thought it better to let her wander so she didn't go nuts and tear her room up, or anything.

She heard footsteps coming toward her along the wall, and Gambit, who was the monitor for the night, crouched next to her. "What you up to, little chere?" He asked.

"Not much, just enjoying the stars," she told him. "Do you know what time it is?"

"'Bout two-thirty, why, you and Nightcrawler got a date or somethin' you wan' me to leave for?" He teased.

"No, what would be the point of that, we can't go anywhere, or do anything," Kerri said, not realizing until after she'd said it what exactly they could do if they met up at night, although Kurt was such a gentleman that they probably wouldn't end up doing that anyway.

"Oh chere, you're so innocent. S'a good thing he not really a devil, or he eat you alive." With that, he stood and left.

Kerri's thoughts turned to Kurt, who may look devilish on the outside, but anyone who knew him knew he was the gentlest, kindest, sweetest person in the world.

'Two-thirty,' she thought. 'Only a few hours until I was born. Then I'll be eighteen.' She hadn't told anyone that it was her birthday, and she didn't think that they couldn't look into her files in the office.

She smiled, thinking of when she'd come to the school. She'd only given them a first name, quoting the Pirates of the Caribbean; telling them they could call her Smith when pressed for a last name, so she wasn't going to be surprised when no one knew that she was going to be eighteen when they woke up.

It wasn't that she didn't want to tell people, just that no one had celebrated her birthday since her dad had died when she was nine; her mother had remarried so quickly that the bed had hardly gotten cold, and she suspected that her step-father didn't like kids, since she was still an only child, and he'd treated her like garbage. After that, there were her friends at school, but her birthday was in the middle of summer, so they didn't celebrate it, and in fact, had thought she just never invited them to her parties.

On her last birthday she had been living on the streets, having turned herself into a cat using her mutant powers, after being found out as a mutant.

It wasn't a great birthday; it had been a long time since she'd had anything to eat, and the garbage cans she usually went through had been empty for at least two weeks or more, so she finally had climbed the fire escape ladder and gone to the window of the old lady who sometimes tried to get her to come closer to pet her.