Yes, I know it's been months. Yes, I should be locked in a box and forced to write more. Yes, I am evilishful. But here I am- presenting you with the over 10000 words of Candee really needs to get a life fluff. I haven't actually written anything for this story in two months now. What I've been doing is writing another story. It does have Rocky in it, but it's made up of entirely OC characters. I didn't think anyone would want to read that, so I haven't posted it. Let me know if you're interested.

By the way, this chapter isn't finished. I get way to caught up with detail (somebody needs an editor). Theres maybe 1500-ish words written in a notebook somewhere, and I'll try and post those as soon as I can find the book and get them typed up. Other than that, don't expect to see too much more of this story.

The Visitor

"LIKE OH MY GOD LETS LIKE TOTALLY GO TO THE MALL!" shouted Kitty as she ran into the room.

Rocky couldn't take it any more. She pounded her friend into the wall. Kitty phased through the wall. Rocky growled and lifted Kitty into the air. She smashed her through a window and let her fall. Kitty hit the ground unconscious. Rocky jumped through the broken glass and slowly lowered herself to the ground.

She checked Kitty's pulse. There was none.

"I did it!" cried Rocky, "She's finally gone!"

Rocky began to do her victory dance, when suddenly; a pink and yellow clown carrying a spork fell out of the sky and landed on her head, knocking her over.

Rocky woke up on the floor, rubbing her neck.

"Well that was kind of weird" she said to herself.

-BAMF- "Rocky are you alright?" asked a rather shocked looking blue elf.

"Yeah…" said Rocky, "Other than the fact that I just had a dream that I killed Kitty, just fine. Wait… what are you doing here? It's…" Rocky looked at the digital clock on her night table, "TWO AM!"

Rocky held up her hand, so that she could throw Kurt out the door, but before she could attack, he teleported on to her bed.

"Easy, easy" he defended, "The professor sent me to come and get you."

"Why now?" complained Rocky, "Can't this wait until the morning? He knows we have training in a few hours." She knew that her complaints wouldn't work, but anything was worth a try.

"Rocky…" said Kurt nervously, "Your Dad's here."

No! No, no, no, no, no. This could not be happening. He was supposed to stay in Canada and leave her alone. He was supposed to stay out of her life forever. He was supposed to disappear. He was not supposed to decide he wanted her back and come find her. She started to cry.

"Don't worry" said Kurt comforting her, "He can't make you do anything, and you know it."

"Thanks" she said as she wiped her eyes and put her hand on his arm, "Lets just get this over with."

-BAMF-

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Kurt had brought Rocky to right outside the door to the library. For a few awkward minutes, they just stood outside the door.

"We could go in" suggested Kurt to break the silence.

Rocky sighed. "Why not?" she said disappointedly, "I'm gonna have to eventually."

She opened the door, and she was surprised to see all four other students standing there. Ororro and Logan were standing by the door. Kitty ran towards her and embraced her in a bone shattering hug.

"We won't let him take you away." promised Kitty.

Rocky just wanted to stand there forever. She wanted time to stop. She wanted anything to happen that would mean that she would not have to go around the corner where she knew her father was waiting for her. She wanted to be with her friends, her family, not go back with her dad.

"YOU GET MY DAUGHTER IN HERE RIGHT NOW OLD MAN!" bellowed Rocky's father from around the corner, "OR SO HELP ME, I'LL HAVE NEWS CREWS HERE BY MORNING!"

Rocky wiped the tears from her cheeks and put on her stone face. She pulled away from her friends. "I have to go now." she said.

"Just remember" said Scott, "We're right here in case he tries anything."

"Yes" added Jean, "I'll stay in telepathic contact. Just ask me for help and we'll be right over there."

"Thanks" murmured Rocky as she stepped around the corner. What she saw was terrifying. Her father was standing over Professor Xavier with a grip on his shirt.

"WHY ARE YOU HIDING HER FROM ME?" snarled Ian into the professor's face, "YOU THINK YOU'RE SPECIAL WITH YOUR POWERS! YOU JUST THINK YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT!"

"Please Ian" pleaded Professor Xavier, "It is rather early. After living with her from fourteen years, surely you must know how much she loves to sleep. I know that after only two months."

"WHY I OUGHTTA…" screamed Ian.

"Dad stop!" said Rocky loudly and firmly. She didn't yell. That would just add to the racket her father was making.

"Rochelle" said her father. His face softened. He let go of the professor and began to walk towards her.

Rocky stared at him. She was afraid of him. As he got closer, her fear turned to anger, and her anger turned to hatred; cold, deep unbridled hatred. She had never felt anything so strongly before. This man coming towards her had no right to be her father. None at all.

He tried to hug her. Rocky wouldn't let him. She put up her hand and pushed him slowly backwards.

"Get away from me." said Rocky in an incredibly cold voice. She was breathing hard.

"Rochelle" pleaded Ian, "I just want to…"

"No" Rocky cut him off, "You will sit in that chair and you will tell me what you came to tell me. Then you will leave me alone forever."

He didn't really have a choice. Rocky was pushing him towards the chair with increased force now. Ian's face was full of longing, grief, and regret. Rocky's face remained blank and expressionless.

Rocky didn't actually want to hear what he had to say, but she knew her father was not planning to leave until she heard him. Of course, she could just force him out, but he would come back. And if he couldn't get in, he would tell the world their secret.

Ian looked at Rocky tentatively before speaking. When he realized that she would never show any signs that she was ready to listen, he began.

"Rochelle, I…" he stuttered, "I don't know what came over me that night."

"You know, I'm having a hard time believing that." scoffed Rocky. It was obvious that she didn't believe him at all.

"Rochelle, you're my only daughter. I love you. Nothing should ever be able to change that." said Ian desperately.

Nothingshould be able to change that. Something did change that, however. Come to think of it, did Rocky's dad ever really love her? She had always felt insignificant compared to her younger brothers. Maybe deep down inside she wanted him back, but that part of her would be staying deep down inside. Rocky was entirely convinced that he only wanted her back so that he could torment her.

She let go of her stone face and felt her eyes well up with tears. "You never really cared about me." she said, choking on the tears that she had held back for too long, "I can tell. Why won't you just leave me alone?"

"Because…" he said, looking at his feet, "I've already made this mistake with your mother."

There was now a rush of mixed emotions tearing through Rocky: anger, confusion and many others. He had neglected her for years. Decided he wanted her dead when she developed her powers. He showed up at her home in the middle of the night, threatening Professor Xavier. And now he'd been lying to her for her whole life?!

"You lied to me about her?" shrieked Rocky, "You know what! I just don't care what you do any more. Figure something out with Professor Xavier, but I'm going back to bed and I am not going with you!"

With that, Rocky stormed out of the room. She stomped past her friends with her stone face in place again. They ran after her.

"Rocky!" Kitty shouted after her, "Like what's happening?"

Rocky turned around and yelled in Kitty's face, "Why don't you ask them?" She extended her arm, opened her fist and sent the small group of mutants sailing back into the wall. The last thing Rocky needed was them trying to get her involved with the decision again.

She thought about attacking again, but only for a split second. What was she doing? She was hurting her friends. This wasn't what she wanted to do. She wanted to hurt her father, not them. This was the first time she had felt this way, since the night the X-men had tracked her down.

She felt like a monster, hurting innocent people who only wanted to help, possessing deadly power. Rocky instinctively ran. Last time she had attempted to run home, but this time she was already home. She got to the top of the stairs, was disoriented to a minute, and then took off towards her room.

As she was running, someone suddenly grabbed her wrists. At first, Rocky thought it was her dad. She tried to get him off, but whoever it was had a grip on her that prevented her from using her powers. She thrashed around and looked into the face of Wolverine.

Rocky fell on to her knees and attempted to regain control of her breathing. The big man let go of her wrists and helped her to a sitting position, leaning against the wall. Ororro kneeled down at her side.

"Take off the mask, Rochelle" comforted Storm, "We all know, and besides, you need to relax."

Rocky let go of her stone face and instantly, her face turned bright red. "He lied to me!" she shouted, "He lied to me for all these years about my own mother!"

Ororro and Logan looked at each other.

"Well that wasn't what I was expecting the hear." said Logan, sounding confused and slightly shocked.

Rocky just sat there in her cloud of confusion and misery, ignoring everything else. She could hear the voices of Ororro and Logan, but didn't pay any attention. She couldn't believe that her father had managed to convince her that his stupid lie was true for her whole entire life. It was just ridiculous. On top of that, he had said she had killed her. That idea had haunted her ever since she was told it.

After what seemed like an eon of blubbering, screaming and struggling, Professor Xavier suddenly appeared out of the haze of commotion. He put his hands on Rocky's temples and her vision went from limited to nothing.

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When Rocky awoke, she was in the medical room in the back corner of the mansion on the basement floor. There were small windows all along the top of the outside wall, which light was streaming in through. Not morning sunrise light, but full on daylight. She gasped and sat bolt upright, she had missed the training session, and probably most of the school day. Then Rocky noticed a pressure on her wrists. She looked down; she was still in her pajamas and her wrists were strapped to the table.

Rocky's head was swimming with distorted fragmented memories of what must have happened the night before. They began to confuse her, so she tried to focus on freeing her hands.

This task proved it's self to be quite impossible without either of her hands. The only power she had without them was her stone face, if that was even a power at all. Boring the metal bands off her wrists was not going to work. How did she even end up in these things anyways? Was she really that out of control that they were forced to do this?

"Good Morning Rochelle, I presume you slept well."

Rocky jumped at the professor's sudden appearance. "Uh… yeah, I think" she said confused, "Could I ask what happened? I remember my dad coming, the conversation we had, and then… hurting them… but what after that?"

"Ah, yes" replied the professor as he undid the metal bindings on her wrists, "I thought you might be curious."

"And…" pushed Rocky. It was slightly nerve-wracking not knowing your own actions, she decided.

"Well, you were rather upset. However, you've seemed to have brightened up quite a bit." continued Professor Xavier casually.

"Yes, well that's nice. But what brought me to the handcuffed position I woke up in?" asked Rocky impatiently. She immediately winced in regret of her rudeness. "Please?" she added awkwardly.

"Very well." he said seriously, "Like I was saying, you were very upset. You were thrashing around shouting things that none of us could make out. Even your thoughts were practically impossible to read they were so jumbled up. The point is you were out of control, not thinking straight, and you were becoming dangerous."

Rocky rubbed her temples. "Oh man." she groaned, "Do I want to know what happened next?"

"With everyone's help and a few seconds gap between your spazzums, we were lucky enough to get you down here." continued the professor in the same serious tone "You were still out of control, so we had to strap down your hands. Eventually, as a last resort, I was forced to go into your mind and put you to sleep."

"Okay… that's not all that bad; but not all that good eith…" Rocky trailed off. She didn't know if she was imagining it or not. She thought she could see the head of her father in the side of the doorway, behind Professor Xaiver. Rocky just sat there staring with her mouth slightly open.

The professor turned around. "Ian, please leave" he ordered calmly. When he turned back to face Rocky, she was glaring at him with her arms crossed.

"What" asked Rocky through clenched teeth, "is he doing here still?"

"Rochelle you have to understand a few things for this to make sense." the professor tried to explain.

"What else is there to understand?" cut in Rocky, "He's here, he shouldn't be, he has to leave and get out of my life!" She knew that she sounded like spoilt brat, but this wasn't fair to her.

"Rochelle listen to what I have to say" pleaded Professor Xavier.

"No!" shouted Rocky, "If you're going to let him stay, then I'm going to go give him a reason to leave on his own." She stood up.

"Rochelle!" yelled the professor angrily, "You will sit and listen or so help me, there'll be one on one training sessions with Logan every day for a month coming your way." This shut her up.

"Rochelle, you are a wonderful girl." began the professor, "If you were my own child, I would be very proud. For this reason, your father does not want to lose you. Did you know that he's been tracking you down ever since the night you left?"

"No, but now he found me. All is well." remarked Rocky sarcastically, "He's found his 'perfect', 'wonderful' daughter. Gee, I bet he really missed ignoring me."

"All I expect of you is to tolerate him for one week" said Professor Xaiver.

"Fine." grumbled Rocky, "What time is it?"

"I believe it's almost 11 o'clock." he answered, "Why?"

"Third block just started. Today that's Science. Okay, I'll be there by the time the class is half way through." muttered Rocky, "Sorry Professor, but I can't stay here practically alone with him." With that she left the room headed towards the stairs.

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As she was walking up the stairs towards the bedrooms, Rocky caught sight of Ian coming around the corner. She put on her stone face.

"Hey!" he said in an exaggerated joyful voice, "The Rocky has come back from the dead!"

Rocky didn't show any signs of hearing him, other than 'accidentally' ramming her shoulder into his. She tried her best to ignore him.

"Don't you remember?" asked Ian in the same voice, "I used to call you Rocky. It was our special thing. Come on, it hasn't been that long."

"Everyone calls me that here" said Rocky in an emotionless, bored voice as she walked into her bedroom and closed the door in her father's face.

She turned around and let out a sigh of relief as she walked towards her dresser. "Pretty nice room you got here. Is this the real reason you don't want to come back?" Rocky winced at his voice.

"Get out!" she yelled in frustration, "I have to get ready for school. You can't change my mind, so why don't you just go home?"

Ian ignored her last comment. "You don't have to go to school today." he laughed, "Come on, get dressed and show me where the best place to get ice cream is in this town."

"No"

"There has to be at least one good ice cream shop in a cute little place like this."

"No"

"Alright, you don't like ice cream? How about pizza?"

"No"

"Tacos?"

"No"

"Sushi?"

"NO!" screamed Rocky, losing control of her temper, "Leave now! God, you're annoying!"

"You know you're hungry!"

"That's it!" Rocky sent him flying out into the hallway and slammed the door using two force fields that were probably a little stronger than they should have been. She kept a palm towards the door as she got ready so that he wouldn't be able to get back in. She threw her science book into her backpack on top of her X-men uniform, which she carried with her at all times.

"Yeah," said Rocky to herself as she gazed at the shiny golden buckle with the red 'x' trademark in the center, "I belong here."

When she stepped outside her door, Ian was waiting for her. He had put on one of his hideous checkered shirts and a pair of old sneakers. He jingled his keys with the large, tacky Donald Duck key chain. "Want a ride?" he asked.

"No" replied Rocky, now more annoyed than ever.

"Okay, then we'll walk together." said Ian cheerfully, "Just like on your first day of school."

"It's… not… my… first… day… of… school." said Rocky, fighting hard to keep her voice under control.

"Minor detail" said Ian.

Rocky sped up, making distance between the two of them. She put her open hand against her lower back, forcing Ian to stand alone in the door way of the large mansion. "Finally" thought Rocky as she sprinted towards Bayville High.

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Rocky ducked awkwardly into her science class in the middle of a lecture. She tried to get to her seat without being noticed. Unfortunately, Rocky was not so lucky.

"Miss Thomas," questioned the teacher, "Would you like to provide an excuse?"

Rocky sighed, threw her backpack down on her chair, threw Kitty and Kurt a glance and walked up towards the teacher. "Just call Professor Xavier." said Rocky, trying to make it seem like nothing was wrong, "He'll explain everything." She wrote down the phone number of the institute on a piece of scrap paper, handed it to her teacher, and went back to her seat. The lecture continued.

"What are you doing here?" hissed Kitty.

"This is school, I go to school, I am supposed to be here, so I'm here." answered Rocky. She tried to seem completely immersed in what the teacher was saying, but Kitty wouldn't buy it.

"Yeah, but like not today." she persisted.

"Listen" said Rocky firmly, but quietly, "He was following me around wanting to go get ice cream. What would you have done?"

"I would have like totally gotten ice cream." whispered Kitty, "I mean, like duh. Who wouldn't have?"

"Just forget it." sighed Rocky, "You wouldn't be able to understand this, no matter how hard you try."

"Girls!" The teacher shot them a threatening look. Rocky smiled at her friend and was content with the silence.

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Lunch dragged on forever in an awkward silence. Gym class went by in a similar fashion, with the addition of Rocky scaring the whole class with her aggressive hockey playing. After school, Rocky approached Kitty at her locker. Kitty pretty much ignored her.

"Hey" said Kitty dryly.

Rocky attempted to break through the tension. "Do you wanna go do something before we go home?" she asked, "Ice cream, maybe?"

"Nah." replied Kitty in a bored voice, "I've got some homework to do."

"Come on!" complained Rocky, "Why not?"

A brown ponytail whipped around, almost hitting Rocky in the face. "Because you need to get over this. You're being unreasonable, and unpleasant to be around. I know it's hard for you, but this is an important decision that you'll regret later." Then Kitty was gone in the flood of students leaving the school.

"But you were there," sobbed Rocky to nobody, "why don't you understand? I need you…"

"Rocky!" shouted a cheerful voice from behind her. Great, just the person she wanted to see. Rocky put on her stone face and walked away, completely ignoring her father. She saw Terra standing alone by the street, and walked up beside her.

Terra looked over to see who was standing next to her. "Oh, hi Rochelle" she said, "We didn't see you this morning. What happened?"

"I just had some uh… stuff to take care of." answered Rocky, suddenly realizing that she couldn't confide in this girl.

"What kind of 'stuff''?" asked Terra, staring at her curiously.

"Just… stuff"

"Stuff involving what?"

Rocky took a deep breath. How was she supposed to get out of this one? "Stuff…" said Rocky, while holding her breath, praying for this to be the last question she would have to answer, "involving the reason why I'm at the institute that I'm choosing to keep private."

"Oh, sorry." said Terra awkwardly, "I didn't know you were uncomfortable talking about whatever you don't want to talk about." She smiled. "Hey, my dad's here to pick me up. I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, okay" replied Rocky. It kind of made her sad to see other girls with their fathers. All she could think of was that the lucky girl didn't have a father that tried to kill her. Rocky turned back towards the school. Her father was leaning against a tree and waving. Not only being just 'there', but also embarrassing. She glared at him and began to walk away.

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When Rocky arrived in the danger room, she was surprised to see it set up as a gymnastics gym space. There were mats everywhere, bars had sprouted out of the floor, and large platforms towered over bigger, cushionier mats. This was all very exciting, but everyone knew the feeling would not last too long. In fact, it was being smashed to pieces at that very moment, as a certain large, burly man in black and orange spandex suit came walking in one of the doors.

"Alright X-men!" shouted Wolverine, "We're about t start a skill building unit. Today we'll be developing our agility; tomorrow morning we'll practice alertness; tomorrow afternoon there'll be a test involving lasers."

"Hey, wait." said Cyclops, confused, "Alertness tomorrow morning?"

"Yeh got a better suggestion, kid?" growled Wolverine.

This was obviously a rhetorical question, but it didn't stop Rocky. "Tomorrow afternoon?" she suggested.

The big man gave her a look, but continued speaking, "The best defense is a good offense. I want all of you to remember that. Cyclops, you're on landings; Jean Grey, I've got an obstacle course for you over there; Nightcrawler and Spyke, the two of you sill be working with the un-parallel bars; Shadowcat and Rocky, you two can practice your basic rolls and flips on the mat of your choice."

The team dispersed and Wolverine left the room. Shadowcat and Rocky still weren't talking, but they forced themselves to cooperate enough to spot each other. After a couple unsuccessful back flips, Rocky was getting frustrated. She rubbed her knuckles. They were aching like crazy, but she couldn't complain. Everyone already hated her enough at the moment. Just then, Wolverine walked over to the pair of less than talented gymnasts.

"Give me your gloves, Rocky" he ordered.

Rocky handed them to him, and he gave her an identical pair in return. "Oh, those ones still fit." said Rocky who was very confused by Wolverine's actions.

"That has nothing to do with this, and you know it." growled Wolverine, "I'm getting tired of your sarcasm big-shot."

Okay, she had definitely rubbed Logan the wrong way. Not good. "Actually, that wasn't sarcasm." corrected Rocky, "So, really, what's different about them?"

The big man turned around. He shoved her hands into the gloves. "Handstand, now." he barked.

"But why?" protested Rocky.

"Now!" growled Wolverine.

Rocky wasted no time. She bent down and placed her fists on the ground. There was definitely something different about these gloves. She kicked her legs up into the air. The usual, painful, pressured feeling in her knuckles was not there. She came out of the position with a summersault, as it was getting hard for her to maintain her balance.

"Squishy stuff!" she shrieked, "Yay! If you were anyone else, I would hug you!"

"Yeh, yeh." Wolverine shook her off, "Now get back to it. In twenty minutes you're switching stations." He left them alone again. Rocky looked over at Kitty and smiled weakly. Kitty just looked away and went back to practicing.

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The next day at around 4:30 pm, Rocky was in her room getting ready for her dodging test. She stretched the neck of her training suit open and stepped into it. Rocky looked in the mirror. She had never really been a girly girl at all. In fact, her suit was the most flattering item of clothing she could remember putting on in her entire life. In kindergarten, she would sneak the clothes of her little brothers to school in her back pack and change in the bathroom. When she was found out, her parents begun to just buy her the boy's clothes she loved wearing. As she got older, she started wearing girl's clothes, but only because of problems with sizes. Even now, with all her confidence, Rocky wouldn't wear anything but t-shirts and jeans.

She checked the clock. Less than half an hour until the test started. Rocky decided she needed to practice. She pulled her new gloves out of a drawer and put them on. Thanks to them, she no longer had a disadvantage.

There probably wouldn't be mats in the danger room, so it would be a good idea to practice on her own floor. Rocky stood at one end of the wide space at the front of her bed and did a back flip. She landed in a crouch position and shoulder rolled over to her desk. Then she stood up and did a front spring back to where the space was.

Rocky was beginning a dive roll when she heard clapping coming from her doorway. She was so surprised that she ended up sailing towards the floor head first. She put out her hand just in time to stop herself, and rolled on to her side instead. From the ground, Rocky looked up at her father. She groaned.

"You know," she said sarcastically, "You choose the best times ever to show up."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." defended Ian, "You don't want me showing up at all. Oh, by the way. You've got some sweet moves. Since when can you do that?" He offered his hand to Rocky. She ignored the gesture and got up on her own.

"Notice how when you came in I messed up?" she snarled at him, "I have a test on this stuff in fifteen minutes. You need to leave."

"I was standing there for a while, actually. I just surprised you, that's all. It could happen to anyone." he said, trying to start conversation "So, that's a pretty nice outfit you've got there. I always said you should show off that figure of yours." He reached out to touch the fabric.

Rocky put her hand to stop him with a force field. "Don't" she said.

"Okay, if that's the way you want it, then it's fine with me." said Ian, he gestured to her hands, "So what is that, anyways? Some sort of invisible wall maker?"

"Force fields." replied Rocky. She pushed him out the door and pointed him in the opposite direction she was heading with her powers, "I have to get to the danger room. Don't follow me."

Rocky held him back until she went around the corner. After that, it was obvious he was following her, but she pretended not to notice. After all, he'd just find his way there once she was in the waiting room and unable to stop him. When she reached the intersection in the hallway nearest to the danger room, Rocky stopped and turned around. Ian awkwardly tried to hide behind a potted plant. It looked rather pathetic.

"I know you're following me." she said calmly, "It's the third door to the right. Don't go with me, unless you want to be shot at by lasers."

Ian came back out into the center of the hallway. "Thank…" he trailed off. Rocky had already stepped into the elevator leading down to the bottom of the enormous room.

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It had turned out that none of the students were talking to Rocky. This made waiting for her turn very awkward. When they were done their own test, they would go to the observation room to avoid cheating. So far, Scott and Jean had finished their tests, and Kurt was in the process of doing his. They were getting called in alphabetical order by their code names. Rocky was next. Although she was nervous, she was also anxious to get in the room that could possibly kill her. It was just so aggravating sitting there watching her best friend talking to Evan, and completely ignoring her.

The thought of doing poorly to upset her father had crossed her mind a couple times, but it was really a useless thing to do. She didn't care about him at all, and it would only be sacrificing herself, and possibly her safety. It was very important to do your best during the tests. A failing grade meant much more than just having to re-do it.

She heard the sounds of firing lasers die down; the big metal doors leading to another elevator opening and closing. "Rocky, please enter the simulation." boomed Logan's voice. The doors to the danger room opened and Rocky walked through them. They slammed shut behind her.

"The center of the room, hurry it up!" Rocky began to jog. She stood on the x-men trade mark, directly underneath the observation room. A siren sounded. Laser guns came out of the walls in various places and then went back in. There were broken bits of dialogue coming out of the speaker.

"You better get my daughter out of there right now!"

"Ian, please…"

"She can do this…"

Oh dear. Rocky smacked her head with her hand. He didn't want her doing this. "Dad, stop it!" she yelled, "I have to do this, leave them alone and just watch."

There was no answer, but one again, the siren sounded and laser guns came out of the walls. The first laser fired. Rocky avoided it diving to the left. Another one fired and she did a backwards summersault. She saw a row of guns warming up to shoot. Rocky began to run, laser after laser scorching the floor behind her. The continuous trail stopped. Rocky looked around. Suddenly, two guns shot at her from different angles at the same time. She did a back flip, bouncing off the jelly in the fingers of her gloves. This continued for about five more minutes.

When the room finally shut down, Rocky collapsed on the floor to catch her breath. Although she was in good shape, it was hard to be on your toes for that long. She stood up and walked over to the elevator. It took her to the same hallway that she had been in when she went into the waiting room. Rocky took a deep breath and prepared to bombarded by her father.

She opened the door, and discovered that her predictions were correct. Ian was right there holding a bottle of water and shoving it in her face, smiling and rambling on about how great she had done and how amazing she was. Rocky pushed the bottle he was holding out of the way and picked up on from the tray.

"Yeah, that's great." Rocky attempted to brush him off, "Kitty's great too. Go see her." Rocky gestured over to the girl in the large room below them who was about to start her own test. Luckily, there would only be about ten minutes before the teachers' lecture began.

Rocky made her way over to one of the bench seats around the circular room. She chose a place against a pillar and leaned against it. She sat on her knees in a semi-kneeling position. For some reason, this position seemed more comfortable for her, ever since she developed her mutation. Sometimes, when she was alone in her room she would even rest her chin on her knees and tuck her arms in against her chest. This felt even better. It was also the way she slept.

Ian sat down beside her. "Well I don't want to watch them." he said, "I want to get a word in with the star of the show."

"Go away" said Rocky. She looked out the window.

"Hey" Ian said comfortingly, "I'm sorry about trying to stop your test. I hope I didn't embarrass you too much." He tried to hug her. Without taking her eyes away from the window, Rocky put up her palm and knocked him off the bench with her powers. He scooted back over towards her across the floor. She pushed him over to the other side of the room. Again, he tried to come back. He just didn't get it. Rocky rested her open palm on her lap. Eventually, unable to move forwards, Ian gave up and sat down.

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Wednesday started way too early as usual. Today, there would only be a session in the morning. Rocky wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing. She would have time for once, but unfortunately, it would be filled with constant pestering from her least favorite person in the world. Hopefully, that particular person would still be asleep.

Rocky cautiously opened her door and looked up and down the hallway. It was clear. She sprinted down the short stretch of hallway and around the corner. She flattened herself against the wall. She looked around.

"Rocky?" She jumped and looked to where the voice had come from. It was only Jean. "What are you doing?" asked Jean.

"I don't want him to find me." replied Rocky in a whisper.

"He's still asleep," said Jean, "and you have to stop avoiding him."

Rocky didn't even reply; she just stormed off. Why did everyone want her to spend time with the man who had tried to kill her? Why was everyone being so stupid?

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During the morning's session, Rocky had been extra aggressive. It had impressed Logan, but had really scared everyone else. Afterwards, the other students had stayed around to talk for a little bit. Obviously, they weren't going to pay any attention to Rocky, so she just left.

On her way back to her room, Rocky heard a loud crashing sound coming from the kitchen. She instinctively flung open the door. During the session, they had been practicing fast reactions to certain sounds. Crashing was one of them.

"Oh no," groaned Rocky, "not you."

Ian was lying on the floor covered in pots and pans. "How does one get any food around here?" he asked her. To Rocky, this seemed like the most irrelevant question that he could possibly ask. She walked over him and pulled him up with her powers. Then she faced her open palms to the ceiling and brought the pots and pans that Ian had managed to spill everywhere to the height of the counter.

"Put them back" she ordered. Ian looked at the pots nervously. Then he looked at her. Rocky rolled her eyes. "Just take them, you coward." she said impatiently.

Ian picked up the pots as if they were about to bite him any second. When he finally finished, he asked again, "So how does one get anything to eat around here?"

"You go to the dining room and you eat the food that's on the table." replied Rocky, "It's pretty simple."

"Well, if it's that simple, then how come every time I reach for something it either floats away, slides away, has claws over it, or it gets grabbed by that annoying, freakish, blue friend of yours?" questioned Ian.

"Oh yeah," said Rocky, "you're not a mutant. Yeah, that complicates things for you. There's still about 15 minutes before everyone will be downstairs. Grab as much food from the room as you can and eat it in your room."

"Is this a scheme to get rid of me for breakfast?" asked, who was having trouble believing her.

"Trust me," said Rocky firmly, "nothing is safe from Kurt. He will take food right off your plate. Hey, I've gotta get changed. You better get going." Then, she ran out the door. She had actually just added the part about Kurt stealing food to trick her father. However, she considered, it could quite possibly be true. There had never actually been a human in the mansion with food on their plate.

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During science, Rocky sat with Kysha and Lindsay. The teacher was beginning a unit on force. This was boring Rocky out of her mind. She had reviewed all this with Professor Xaiver during her first week at the institute. She knew it backwards and forwards.

In gym, the sport was volleyball. Rocky got out of playing, by making up something about tender bones. That was everything that happened of the slightest significance for the entire school day.

When three o'clock finally came around, Rocky found Terra at her locker. This was what Rocky usually did at the end of the day, except with Kitty.

Rocky slammed her back against another locker. She sighed, closed her eyes, rubbed her temples, opened her eyes again, and smiled at Terra.

"Hi" said Rocky, noticing that Terra had been staring at her the entire time.

"Hi…" said Terra awkwardly, "Um, I'm not asking you to leave or anything, but don't you usually hang out with your other friends after school?"

"Well…" said Rocky, twisting her face up, trying to figure out what to say, "They somewhat all… hate me at the moment."

"Oh." replied Terra. It was obvious that she had no idea what to say. "What did you do?"

For a second, Rocky considered telling Terra about her father, but they were still at school where people could overhear, and she didn't know for sure that this girl was trustworthy enough. She quickly made up a weak lie. "I was in a bad mood and I said some stuff I shouldn't have." said Rocky, "That's all. We're kind of like siblings. We get along really well sometimes, and sometimes we rip each other's heads off."

Terra giggled. "That's so cool." she said, "So, being the Rochelle's-temporary-best-friend, what do I do?"

"Well, we usually start with a few hours of boot camp…" said Rocky. Terra smiled at her. "No, actually, I was wondering if you had time for a movie or something this afternoon."

"Well, I don't have that much homework." replied Terra, "But I don't know. I mean, we should probably plan a little ahead. What about tomorrow or the next day?"

"Please Terra" begged Rocky. She really didn't want to go home. "This is the only day I'll not be busy for the next who knows how long. Come on, there's showings of Shrek and Pirates in 45 minutes."

"Rochelle, I would, but I don't have any money." she said apologetically, "I really do want to go."

"Well, then I can lend you money." said Rocky enthusiastically.

"Okay, I guess that would work." said Terra, "Are you sure, though?"

"Yeah, of course I'm sure." said Rocky impatiently.

"Alright, let's go wait out front." said Terra, "I think my dad might be able to give us a ride."

The two girls walked outside and threw their bags down at the base of a tree.

"So…" said Rocky, "Pirates or Shrek? I really want to see both, so you decide."

"Um… Uh… Hmm…" muttered Terra, "I don't know."

"Yes you do." said Rocky.

"No…" whined Terra, "You're so mean. You choose."

"Are you rejecting my kindness?" questioned Rocky sarcastically.

"Eeny meeny miney moe…" muttered Terra. Rocky laughed. "Shrek" announced Terra, "Hey, my Dad's here."

Terra ran over to her car and leaned in the window to talk to her Dad, leaving the bags under the tree. Rocky walked over to them. She put her own backpack on, and picked up Terra's bags for her. She saw Terra's art project in the slightly open front pocket. The bag turned out to be heavier than Rocky had anticipated. It slipped out of her hand and she instinctively caught it with her powers. A split second later, when she realized what she was doing, Rocky quickly lowered it back to the ground. She looked around, nobody had seemed to notice. Good, no damaged done.

Terra turned around and walked back to the tree, scooping up her bag with some difficultly. "Oof!" groaned Terra, "This thing is so heavy."

"I know." replied Rocky.

Terra looked at her questioningly, must have figured out her question for herself, and said, "Come on, get in. He's going to give us the ride."

They settled in the back of Terra's car. Her Dad turned around to face them. "Hi Rochelle!" he said in a friendly, warm voice, "I've heard so much about you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He held out his hand for her to shake.

Okay, how was she going to do this? Oddly enough, Rocky hadn't actually had to shake any hands since her powers had taken full effect. The hand was just another object that she was incapable of moving her palm towards without pushing it away. Professor Xavier had taught her how to do a great deal of things, but not how to shake hands. What had she learned that was similar? She could pick things up, she could do gymnastics, she could put on gloves. All these things proved useless for this situation. Wait! She could rest her hand on surfaces. All she had to do was slide her hand onto it from the side. She could just slide her hand into Terra's father's hand. By now, he was staring at Rocky very awkwardly, and was considering pulling his hand away. Rocky quickly slid her hand into his and shook it.

"Sorry, uh… memories." apologized Rocky, "It's very nice to meet you too." She forced a pleasant smile.

Terra's dad turned back to the windshield and started the car. Terra nudged Rocky. "Are you okay?" she whispered.

"Yeah, it was nothing." whispered Rocky in reply, "I just spaced out for a second, that's all. Don't worry about me."

They had been driving for a few minutes when Terra's dad asked, "So, Rochelle, would your parents by any chance be able to pick the two of you up?"

Okay, this was making things even more awkward. Rock decided that she didn't like meeting new people. She didn't want Terra to know that Ian was in town. It could lead to too many dead end questions. "My parents…" said Rocky nervously, trying to think of something to say, "Uh…" She looked at her feet. "Um… yeah… They… Uh…"

"Dad," interrupted Terra, "Rochelle lives at the Xaiver Institute."

Rocky looked at Terra, saying 'thanks' with her eyes.

"Oh," said Terra's dad, "Sorry about that, I didn't know. So, you're a gifted youngster, huh? I haven't heard much about that place, what's it like?"

"Apparently I am." replied Rocky, "Xavier's is cool. It's a lot of fun, actually. But… we're actually not supposed to tell people what goes on there."

"Really?" asked Terra, "Why not?"

Rocky glared at her friend. "I'm not going to tell you." she said.

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The rest of the ride passed equally as awkwardly as the first part had. The movie finished at around six o'clock that evening. Rocky decided to take the bus back to the institute instead of getting a ride with Terra again, for obvious reasons. When she finally returned home, her father was waiting for her at the door.

"Hey Rocky!" shouted Ian, "Long time no see. Where've you been all afternoon."

"Movie." said Rocky simply as she walked by him.

Ian followed her. "What movie" he asked.

"Shrek" answered Rocky. She didn't look at him, and started up the stairs.

"Did you like it?"

"Yeah"

"What was your favorite part?"

"Go away."

"Why?"

"Because"

"Because why?"

"Because"

"Because why?"

"Because"

"Because why?"

"I have homework." said Rocky finally. She opened her bedroom door, stepped in, and closed the door in Ian's face. She pulled her binder out of her backpack and slammed it on her desk. She only had some science to do. It would only take five minutes, and then she would be free to do what she pleased for the rest of the night.

Ian opened the door again. "Let me help." he said, "Just like old times."

"Dad." said Rocky in a confident voice, "My homework is about force. Tell me, who would know more about force than I do?"

"Uh…"

"That's what I thought." said Rocky as she pushed her father out the door.

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It was early Thursday morning, really early Thursday morning. Four am early. Rocky couldn't sleep. She had just had a bad dream. Another one about killing Kitty, but this one was very different. In this dream, Rocky had killed Kitty as a friend, instead of a person. In this dream, there were no clowns with sporks. Therer was nothing hinting that what she was experiencing in her mind couldn't actually come true.

The dream took place in the future, but the near future. Rocky was in her room, but it wasn't the room she was in at the moment, it was a run down room with a sagging bed and paint peeling off the walls. Although she didn't know why, somehow Rocky knew it was in the brotherhood house. She was just sitting there, like a zombie. There was a knock on the door; someone came in, but Rocky couldn't see their face. The mysterious person told her that it was time to go.

The dream jumped to the clearing by the rocky cliff at the edge of the institute's property. The X-men, without Rocky, were about 10 feet away from where she was standing. Beside her were the members of the brotherhood. Rocky held up her hand and knocked her friends off the cliff. She ran over to the edge and looked down. Jean was supporting the whole team. They were all glaring at her in bitter hatred. Jean began to struggle. Rocky knew that soon they would all fall unless she did something. The real Rocky had been willing her dream-self to save them, but the dream-Rocky pushed them downwards. Then she had woken up.

Now, Rocky was just sitting there thinking; thinking about all the stupid things that she'd been doing. She was wrecking all her closest friendships. For what? One stupid week of ignoring one stupid person she didn't like. Rocky couldn't believe what an idiot she was being. What if it was already too late? What if they wouldn't forgive her? What if she did end up with the Brotherhood? She had to fix this right now.

Rocky rolled off her bed, stood up, and ran down the hall to Kitty's room.

"Kitty! Kitty! Kitty!" hissed Rocky in a panicked half whisper. Kitty grunted and rolled over. Rocky jumped onto the bed and bounced on her knees. She shook the sleeping girl's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Kitty, wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Kitty opened her eyes and crack. "Rocky" she groaned, "Like what are you doing? Go back to sleep." Kitty closed her eyes again.

"No!" said Rocky desperately, "IhadadreamthatIwasinthebrotherhoodandyouallhatedmeandIhavetoappollogizerightnoworthatwillhappend." She took a deep breath. "AndI'vebeensuchanidiotandI'msososososososososososorry…"

"Rocky!" Kitty cut her off, "Like slow down… please."

Rocky was trying to catch her breath. "Bream… me… brotherhood… you… hate… me… I… so… sorry… don't… want… come… true… idiot… me…" gasped Rocky between breaths.

"Okay," said Kitty nervously, "You just like try to stop hyperventilating, while I try and figure out what you just said."

"Kay…" said Rocky quickly, before resuming her heavy breathing.

A few minutes later, when Rocky's breathing was more or less normal again, Kitty broke the silence.

"So," she said, "you like had a dream…"

Rocky nodded.

"And you were in the brotherhood…" continued Kitty.

Rocky nodded again.

"And we totally hated you?" Kitty asked, "Why?"

"I don't know." said Rocky, "Like we hate the brotherhood, only more."

"Okay…" said Kitty, processing, "And you're like afraid that will happen if you didn't apologize right away, right?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Rocky, "I've been an idiot, and I'm so so so so so so so sorry."

"Apology accepted, but…" Kitty said whit a mischievous smile, "like don't forget about the other part of this."

"Rocky sighed. "Yeah," she forced her self to say, "I'll put up with him. Anyways, it's only for another four days."

"No." said Kitty, "remember, you have to get along with him… and no avoiding."

"Alright, fine." grumbled Rocky, "Do I have to be happy about it?"

"No, but you have to like at least pretend to be." answered Kitty, "Now, we should really like get some sleep."

"Oh," said Rocky awkwardly, "yeah, sorry. Goodnight…err…um…morning. Uh, yeah, bye."

When Rocky returned to her room, she suddenly felt very tired. It felt so good to have her best friend back. Making a sacrifice was worth having something, instead of nothing. She closed her eyes, thinking about all the fun she was going to have, and all the nice things she would do for her friends.

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Three hours later, Rocky arrived in the dining room. Although tired, she was smiling profusely. She sat down at her normal spot. Kurt hadn't taken her muffin, but he was staring at it longingly. Rocky smiled even wider than she already was and haded tlhe muffin to her fuzzy friend. She laughed quietly to herself. Fffuzzy fffriend; that was alliteration.

Jean elbowed her in the ribs. "Rocky!" she hissed, "I know you're very happy o be friends with us again, but this is a little creepy."

"I'm not being creepy." laughed Rocky as she slid the plate of toast down the table towards herself, "I'm just trying to be nice, that's all."

Kurt seemed to have overheard them. "I appreciate the muffin," he supplied, "but… the hugs for everyone during training vere a little too much."

"Fer once I actually agree with the elf." said Logan threateningly, "If yeh ever do that again, Big-shot, then god help you, I'll…"

"Logan!"

"Sorry Chuck."

"And the Brady Bunch songs were just scary, man." added Evan from beside Kurt.

"Okay, okay." sighed Rocky, "I'll try and tone it down a bit."

The rest of breakfast passed a little less strangely than the first part. When most of the students were finished eating and upstairs brushing their teen, Rocky overheard a conversation between Scott and Professor Xavier, just as she was standing up.

"So Professor," asked Scott, "When are you going to tell her?"

"I don't know, Scott." answered the professor, "When this good mood dies down a little. I doubt she'll even listen right now. Perhaps after school."

"Rocky knew they were talking about her. She turned to face them. "I can listen now." she stated firmly.

"You heard me Rochelle." said Professor Xavier, "After school.

"But…" protested Rocky.

The professor gave her a stern look. Rocky sighed. "Kay…" she grumbled.

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Later that day, during science, Rocky had her head down on her desk. Everyone else was taking notes. Rocky didn't see the point. F equals M over D, blah, blah, blah. She could do all this in her sleep. Literally. In fact, she did all these simple equations sub-consciously in a spilt second every time she used her powers. All Rocky had had to do was look at the question to get the answer, and bring her thought process into her consciousness to show work. While working on homework, she had automatically tried to make force fields to move the objects in the questions.

"MISS THOMAS!" The shrill voice jerked Rocky out of her thoughts.

"Y-yes Ma'am?" stuttered Rocky.

"Rochelle Thomas I've had enough of this ignorant attitude of yours." said the teacher angrily, "You have paid absolutely no attention for the entire unit."

"Sorry…" said Rocky trying to think of something to say that might get her out of trouble, "for not taking notes. I have actually been listening. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I was." This was a complete lie, but Rocky hoped the teacher would by it anyways.

"Well then." said the teacher, "If you've been listening so intently, can you tell me what the definition of force is?"

"That's easy." answered Rocky, "A force is a push or a pull."

"Give me an example of a force."

"The force of gravity."

"What is force measured in?"

"Newtons."

"Would you be prepared to write the unit test today after school?"

"Yes." replied Rocky without thinking.

"Good." said the teacher, "I'll see you at 3:00 then."

"No, wait!" said Rocky, "I'm busy after school. Would lunch be okay?"

"You're right." said the teacher, "You are busy after school. You have detention right here until 4:00."

"What?!" complained Rocky.

The teacher ignored her and continued on with the lesson.

Kitty leaned over and tapped Rocky on the shoulder. "You're fine." she whispered, "The session doesn't start until like 5:30 today."

"Yeah, I know." whispered Rocky, keeping her eyes on the teacher as she did so, "But Professor Xavier said he'd tell me something important when I got home."

Just then the bell rang. The teacher walked over to lecture her some more. Fortunately, Rocky was able to grab her stuff and get out the door in time, leaving her teacher standing there looking shocked and insulted.

Kitty caught up with her a few seconds later. "Are you like actually gonna write that test?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Rocky, "I do know it all. Professor Xavier taught it to me in my first week here. Come on, what can I do?"

"Well, you do have a good point." said Kitty, "Hey, I like have some work to do in the library after school today. I'll wait for you after your detention and we can walk home together."

"Great," said Rocky, "see you later!"

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A little after four o'clock, Rocky and Kitty were walking down the road towards the Institute discussing what to do about the library's wouldn't ugly, old computers. They had concluded that they would start a petition to put sparkly stickers on the monitors. It was a much cheaper and much more fun way of fixing the problem. As they neared the gates Rocky spotted a figure leaning against the brick wall surrounding the large grounds. As they got closer, it turned out to be Ian.

Rocky tried to ignore him, but Kitty elbowed her in the ribs. "Uh… Hi Dad." she said in a very forced pleasant voice, "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, only about a half hour." replied Ian, "I went to the school looking for you, but you never came out."

"Yeah, I had detention." said Rocky, looking at her feet.

"Would you like Rochelle to let you in, Mr. Thomas?" volunteered Kitty.

"Why yes." said Ian politely, "That would be nice."

Rocky walked up to the thumb-print activated lock at the side of the gate, grumbling about what an idiot her father was. She pressed her thumb against the green scanner and waited impatiently for it to let her in.

The gates opened, and the three of them walked through.

"Say, Kitty." said Ian, "Would you buy any chance like to see Pirates of the Caribbean? My treat. That is if you can convince your friend to tag along as well."

Kitty looked at Rocky. Rocky rolled her eyes. If she didn't go, then the crazed Orlando Bloom fanatic beside her would never stop bugging her about this. "Fine." she groaned, "I'll go."

"Yay!" shrieked Kitty, "Thank you so much Mr. Thomas!"

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"Split… personality?" said Rocky, questioning Professor Xavier's sanity, "Isn't that just a lame excuse used by authors who are completely out of better ideas?"

"Well, yes." replied the professor, "But none the less, in this case it happens to be true."

"Okay," said Rocky trying to make sense of what she'd just heard, "so you're saying that the guy who tried to kill me is actually another person who happens to share my dad's body."

"Precisely." said the professor, pleased that his student was beginning to accept the highly unbelievable information, "You see, this alternate Ian Thomas is triggered by times of high stress, or unexpected circumstances."

"Why do I still find this hard o believe asked Rocky sarcastically. She had gone into this office not really expecting anything, but this was just ridiculous. First she was supposed to spend time with the man who tried to kill her, and now this man wasn't the one who tried to kill her, it was him alternate personality. This whole thing was just getting way too strange.

"Alright, if you need proof, then I'll give it to you." said Professor Xavier, "As a part of our agreement for Ian to stay here; he had to agree to let me go into his mind. I have to say that I was not expecting to find the alternate personality any more than you were expecting to hear about it."

"So why don't you just do something about it?" questioned Rocky, "Can't you put a box around it, or whatever it is you do?"

"I could." admitted the professor, "However, I must respect Ian's wishes."

"You mean you're just going to let him go around with a dangerous person inside of him?" shouted Rocky.

"Of course not." defended the professor, "It's just that the idea of telepathy makes your father, well, somewhat uneasy. Therefore, I have been teaching him how to control it while you are at school. When he leaves, we will continue the sessions over the phone. I have made it very clear that you will not be visiting home until he has full control."

"Thank you Professor." said Rocky apologetically, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"You're welcome, and apology accepted." said the professor with a mischievous smile on his face, "Now, shall we discuss your detention?"

Rocky groaned and slumped down in her chair. Now this was the disadvantage of having a telepath for a guardian. She looked up with a flat expression on her face, and braced herself for the second punishment.

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The next day, the X-men were walking home together. Everyone was happy, as it was Friday, nobody had anything to do, and the training session was going to be a mock mission. Even though everyone was in such a good mood, not even everyone's high spirits combined could challenge Kitty's excitement. She wasn't walking; she was skipping, jumping, and cart wheeling the entire way back to the mansion.

"Like oh my god!" shrieked Kitty, "I am like so totally exited! Johnny Depp is soooo totally hot! Rocky your dad is like the coolest ever!"

"That's nice, Kitty." said Rocky nervously. She was trying to say as little as possible in response to her best friend's comments. When Rocky had accidentally said something negative, Kitty had freaked out and made her apologize to a movie poster. She decided that the best plan of action would be to just ignore Kitty. She turned towards Kurt and Evan who were walking on the other side of her. "So, did you guys all know about the weird split personality thing?" asked Rocky.

"Ja, we did." admitted Kurt.

"Only real men wear eyeliner!" interrupted Kitty.

"We woulda told you sooner, man," said Evan, ignoring Kitty, "but the prof said you had to get over it yourself before you could find out."

"He only told us to keep us from interfering." added Kurt.

"Just call me Mrs. Jack Sparrow…" sighed Kitty dreamily as the group approached the gates.

Ian was not standing by the gate as he had been the day before. Rocky assumed that someone had told him to back off.