Reveling in the feel of the wind whipping through her choppy hair, Rogue tore through the streets of Salem Center with characteristic abandon. She loved to ride her bike in the night. The freedom that it gave her was in acute opposition to the way she normally felt walking around during the day. A loner and an outcast, Rogue felt forsaken to living a bitter life alone. Her foster mother Irene had disappeared after her powers manifested over a year ago and Rogue missed her sorely.
After the incident with Cody, Rogue's life was turned upside down. Irene had vanished and Ms Darkholme had left her in a group home watched over by Guardian, a man she despised. Alone, scared, and homeless Rogue accepted of course, but she did so at a price. Withdrawing into herself even more, Rogue trudged through her existence with nothing to hope for and no-one to turn to. Living with Avalanche and Toad, she was surrounded by untempered hurt and rage, something she quickly learned to live by with a little help.
The only safe certainty in Rogue's life was Scott. Rogue knew that he didn't really like her initially, but after a run in with the X-men he sought her out and Rogue could do nothing but love him for it. She lived to see him every day at lunch but when Scott invited her to hang out with his friends on the weekends, Rogue would refuse adamantly. She was afraid to let him see who she really was, and in time learned to spend her weekends in a semi-conscious haze to forget the fact that she was all alone. Rogue was sure she loved Scott, the only problem was that he was in love with someone else and like Avalanche so often reminded her, Jean was perfect and she was anything but.