SIXTEEN

Chapter One

Beep Beep Beep.

Rogue smacked the alarm with a brutal force as the beeping coursed through her head. She groaned and fell out of her bed, landing with an undignified clunk on the floor. It was at this moment Rogue opened her eyes, blearily taking in the scenery around her. Her warm bed, the large window that looked over the institute grounds, and the mass of clothing on the other side of the room that symbolised Kitty choosing what to wear for school that morning. Rogue groaned again, and picked herself up off the floor, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

It was only as she was getting into the shower that she realised what day it was, her sixteenth birthday. She wrapped a towel round her, muttering to herself.

`Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me'. The words were half hearted, sounding flat and dull. Rogue didn't like birthdays, she hated to be the centre of attention, and had absolutely no idea how to respond to so many people around her, wishing her good things and grinning like idiots. She threw on her usual clothes, pulling down her top so that it covered every last inch of her body, and plastered her dark makeup on her face, eager to hide away her true self from the world. She descended the stairs of the Xavier Mansion like someone going to a funeral. This would not be a good day.

Kitty and Jean were in the kitchen, sipping glasses of orange juice whilst being careful not to smudge their makeup. Rogue steeled herself for the shrieks and screams that were to follow from the two girls, but surprisingly enough, none came. Her companions just smiled as she came in, and then continued with what they were doing. Rogue raised her eyebrows a little bit; maybe Xavier had told them that she didn't like people making a fuss on her birthday.

She picked up a breakfast bar to eat on the way to school, being that she really wasn't that hungry. She went to pick up her school things, and ran into Scott on her way up the stairs. He looked her up and down, and grinned at her in a friendly manner, as tiny little spots of pink touched Rogues normally pale skin.

`Hey Rogue, we're leaving in about ten minutes, I've just got to talk to the professor about something, ok?' and he turned around and fled down the stairs, leaving Rogue in a state of bewilderment. Nobody had said anything to her, perhaps they didn't know it was her birthday, or maybe they'd forgotten. She picked up her bag, all the while telling herself that this was a good thing, and she ran down the stairs to catch a ride to school with Scott.

By the time the red convertible pulled to a stop, Rogue was convinced that one of the two reasons she'd thought about really was true, because not one of the X-men had bought up the fact that she turned sixteen today. Even though she hated the attention that birthdays usually bought, Rogue was a little bit hurt about this fact by the time they arrived at school. She wasn't about to remind them though, that would be so sad.

She rolled her eyes as she saw who had pulled up next to them. Lance Alvers and the rest of the Brotherhood were currently climbing out of the car. Lance looked up and met Scott's eyes, and a smirk began to spread across his face. He leant on the edge of the car, and called over to them.

`Morning Summers, taking care of the x-geeks are we?' he hooted, and then he noticed Kitty climbing out from the car.

`Excluding you of course, pretty Kitty!' Lance grinned, and Kitty giggled, earning herself a glare from Scott. She ducked her head and started to go into the building, the smile still clear on her lips. Kurt moved to follow her, and Tabitha stepped out of Lances shadow to run after him, her blond hair bouncing with every step.

Scott started to close the distance between himself and Lance, the glint of his red sunglasses showing the hate that was radiating from beneath them. Rogue rolled her eyes and walked away, making her way towards the lockers. She had no particular wish to see the battle of testosterone that morning, even if Scott did look particularly good when he was mad.

It was as she was putting her books into her locker that she noticed something odd, a little piece of folded up paper fell out of her bag. She bent down to pick it up, her expression one of curiosity. Still crouched on the ground, she read the hastily scrawled note.

I need your help, please meet me by the maths room after school, come alone.

Rogue was even more mystified. The handwriting was familiar, yet she just couldn't place it. So caught up was she in her thoughts, that she jumped a mile when somebody tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

`Risty!' she cried, `don't do that!' she almost collapsed with relief as she saw her friend standing above her. Risty smiled and helped her to her feet. The two made their way to class.

`So,' Risty said. `How are you, you feeling all right?' the question startled Rogue a little bit, did she look sick?

`Ah'm fine, thanks.' She said, sounding a little colder than she'd meant to. Risty gave her a look, and excuse herself, saying that she had to see a teacher before class. As her friend disappeared into a classroom, Rogue sighed in frustration.

`Great, yet another person who forgot my birthday'. She stormed down the hall, throwing angry looks at those who were watching her.

Behind the doorway, Risty morphed into Mystique, and spoke softly to herself.

`Not everyone has forgotten Rogue, me especially. Very soon, you are going to be very very hard to ignore.' And she grinned to herself.

By the end of the day, Rogue had gone from slightly depressed, to completely fed up. It seemed that nobody cared enough to recognise her sixteenth birthday. She remembered the note that she had received that morning, and angrily stomped her way to the maths department, throwing herself against the wall in frustration. Pretty soon, the entire hall way had cleared out, and she was alone, thinking to herself that the note must have been a really pointless joke.

`Psssst' came a voice, soft and insistent, she rounded the corner, and found herself staring at the last person she expected to be there.

`Pietro Maximoff, what the hell da you want?' she asked, indignantly. She had barely spoken to him whilst she had been a member of the brotherhood, and had no idea what he could possibly need her help for.

`Hey Roguey, I need a teeny tiny favour.' He said, speaking slowly so she could understand, his white hair glinting in the dying sun.

Rogue crossed her arms and tilted her head, looking sceptical.

`Ah'm listenin'

Pietro walked forward, looking a little bit hesitant, which was an extraordinary feeling for the over confident speed demon.

`I, um, Ineedyoutoteachmehowtocook'. He said, blushing a tiny bit.

It took Rogue about one second before she started to laugh hysterically, rolling on the floor. Pietro sighed, and continued.

`I signed up to the cookery class to, well you know, be in a class full of girls. But the thing is, they actually expect you to do cookery in there, and I don't do cookery. And I was thinking, you used to cook all the things when you were, well with us, and they were pretty good. So can you teach me, or give me some recipes or something. Please.' He finished, looking pleading. He gave her blatant puppy eyes, and Rogue stopped laughing, sighing in exasperation.

`All right, speedy, Ah'll give ya lessons, just don't tell anyone, ok?' she said, putting a hand on her hip. Pietro ran forward, pretending to kiss her hands over and over again.

`thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou' he said, ridiculously fast. Rogue pushed him away half heartedly, and began to walk away.

`Hey Rogue' Pietro shouted. She turned round, wondering what he could possibly want now.

`Happy Birthday'.

DISCLAIMER: The characters are property of Marvel and WB.

AUTHORS NOTE: So, what do you think? And should I make this Rogue/Pietro, or Rogue/Scott? It's your choice!