A/N: Don't own anything. Well, maybe what characters say. I thank my friend Flyby for reading this and reading this, and reading this again. She also came up with most of the ideas while we walk home. I also thank my sister Rainbowings and her associates (Tubby, Teddy, and Bird) for putting up with me. Yes, it is child abuse. I promise to read your stuff. Honest.

*emphasis*

~thought~

Chapter 2: Monday. What fun.

Tarot was not having a good day.

Bzzzzt!

"Not now." She whapped her pillow on the offending clock. Stupid clock sounds so freaking cheerful in the mornings.

Grr. Morning. Anne checked her internal clock.

Triple grr. Monday morning. Anne slipped back into oblivion.

And of course, Jubilee's clock radio turned on. Of course, it had to be the Backstreet Boys.

Definitely not a good day.

**

Doug woke up immediately when he heard Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" over the radio. Great song, great lyrics (when you can understand them) but awful in the beginning of the day. In case you don't know Nirvana, they aren't the type to hop out of bed and yell, "Good morning! I love you all!" Well, maybe if they were on some really good drugs.

Anyway, back to Doug. He jumped out of bed, energized and ready to greet the new day. Then he remembered the day. ~I went to sleep on Sunday, so today is. Monday. Shoot.~ Doug slumped back onto his bed, getting into the Monday spirit.

"Might as well take my shower," he sighed. He grabbed a towel and change of clothes and headed for the line to the bathroom nearest his room.

**

Scott's alarm went off, yanking Remy away from an interesting dream concerning Rogue. He tossed a pillow at the offending alarm, and instead hit Scott.

"Hey!"

"Turn off that damn cloche!"

"Why not get up?"

"Monday."

"Oh." Scott reached out of his covers and turned off the alarm.

**

Doug finally got most of his morning routine finished and headed to the kitchen to complete the most important ritual: breakfast. Evan was already seated with a bowl of dry cereal, staring at the milk carton. It was too early in the morning to do something as complicated as pouring milk. Oh well. Dry cereal tastes the same, right? Evan scooped up a spoonful and shoveled it into his mouth. Nope. Needs milk.

Helpful as always, Doug silently offered to pour the milk for Evan. Most of the liquid made it into the bowl, too. Evan eloquently expressed his appreciation.

"Uhnn."

Doug responded in the same language.

"Euhr." He managed to get peanut butter on two halves of a croissant, and sat down. It was still too early to eat the food.

Anne finally came to the dining room to get some of her personal cereal for breakfast. Yes, personal cereal. The box was empty, and Evan was munching on some pretty incriminating cereal.

"It's okay," Doug said, "I'll share."

"No, I'm having toast, anyway," she answered, glaring daggers at both guys. They decided it was too early to be intimidated.

Rogue entered the kitchen, coincidentally at the same time as Remy. Each made a beeline for the coffee machine. Mmm, caffeine. They continued towards the coffee maker and smacked right into each other.

Rogue pushed away groggily. No matter how she wanted to kill him, she didn't want to drain him. Having his consciousness swimming around inside her would be claustrophobic.

Remy took this rejection easily, considering it was too early to be confused. He just needed his caffeine. Remy reached for the brewing pot.

The smell of sulfur filled the air as Kurt teleported in between them. He smiled cheerfully as he snatched the coffee pot from the two of them.

"Danke." He grabbed some pastries that were conveniently laid out near the caffeine. "Beautiful morning, isn't it?" He poured a half-mug of coffee for himself, and filled the rest of the mug with sweetener.

"Oh," he said, innocently, "Did you want some coffee?"

Gambit growled. Did this elf *want* an early grave?

"Kurt," Rogue muttered, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Vhat?" he replied, mouth full of food.

She revealed her bare hands. "Run."

Kurt followed her expert advice, keeping his food balanced all the way.

Remy poured two mugs of black coffee, and handed Rogue the one that had a smiley face on it. She deserved that one.

**

Somehow, everyone made it to school on time. Once Scott finished parking his convertible, the passengers jumped out. That car is supposed to seat six comfortably, correct? Well, I counted, and doggone it, if there weren't twelve people in that convertible!

Anne locked her Schwinn (fancy rich peopley bike) up at the bike rack, and shouldered her book bag. Time to start another week of school. The boys and she had been going to this high school for a week, and students still kept a five-foot parameter around her while she walked. Admitted, Tarot liked the space, but were these people so afraid of money?

The whine of a small engine grew closer, and she groaned. He always seemed to follow her everywhere.

"Hey Anne! Wow, we showed up at the same time! Imagine that!" Doug parked his gas-powered scooter and took off his helmet.

"Yeah. Imagine." Anne stormed past Doug. This guy just won't take a hint! Doug shrugged and turned to locking up his scooter.

**

Kurt plopped himself next to Rogue in the quad and opened up his lunch satchel. The elf had his usual rations: the complete contents of the Institute fridge. "Vhat do you zink of Gambit?"

Rogue's head shot up from the book she was reading. "What? Who?"

"You know." Kurt clasped his hands and blinked wide lovesick eyes. He sang, "Ga-ambit!"

Rogue playfully swung at Kurt, who easily dodged her hand. She opened her mouth to say something just as someone moved in her peripheral view. Her mouth remained suspended as Remy walked toward the two. Kurt grinned and was about to say something when his foot was stomped on unpredictably.

Rogue gave him a warning glance and glowered at Remy. "What d' YOU want, swamp rat?"

Remy smirked and relaxed on the bench between the two students. Rogue remained where she was, but Kurt was crowded off the end of the seat. He landed with an abrupt thump on the cement.

"J'st wanted t' talk," the Cajun drawled.

"Vell, I'll leave you two to do zat!" Kurt danced away, enduring the glare shooting from Rogue's eyes.

"What about?" Rogue said snappily.

"About." Remy retraced the line of thought. He had never gotten this far in a conversation with Rogue before. "Math."

"What math ya in?"

"Trig."

"So'm Ah. Ah'm not tha-"

Remy cut in. "Gambit's worse." He laced his words with his charm and used puppy-dog eyes. He only used this evil combination in desperate times. "Tutor me? Please?"

Rogue's voice became monotone. "Aww, ya poah baby. Ah'll help ha." Blink. "What are ya still doin' here?"

"Merci, chère! Gambit meet y' after school fo' de firs' math lesson."

Rogue put her hand to her head. She knew she must have agreed to something, but she couldn't exactly remember the last six seconds. ~He really pulled one ovah on me. But can Ah blame him? Just look at that cute butt.~ Rogue followed her own advice. It *was* cute. ~No! Stop thinking that!~

**

Anne sat in the cafeteria, calmly munching her lunch. The table she was seated at was the only clear one. Tables to the left and to the right were filled to capacity, but no one would dare sit next to the mean rich witch.

"Hey, Anne!" She groaned. Not now. Any other time was almost acceptable, but she didn't want to deal with Doug now.

"That's great! Plenty of room for me!" Doug sat himself down and pulled out a peanut butter sandwich. "Want a bite?"

"Good for you." She packed her stuff up and left in a matter of seconds. Immediately, the lunch table filled up.

**

Rogue sat at the dining room table with Kitty, sometimes studying, sometimes chatting. There was a big Chem test coming up, and neither girl could really afford anything lower than a B.

"Like, Lance called yesterday."

"Really? Great. What's th' difference between alcohols an' ketones, again?"

Kitty twirled a hair around her index finger. "Umm. Alcohols are easier to draw?"

Rogue studied the diagrams, "Well, yeah, but what are the molecular differences?"

Kitty shrugged. "That's why we're studying. Can I see?" Rogue passed her the paper. "Ohhh. right! Anyway, Lance was saying that that Remy guy is in his math class. This isn't an aldehyde?"

"No, it's a ketone. Yeah, Ah think Ah'm helpin' him with his homework."

"Where is he?"

A big fat textbook was dropped on the table next to Rogue. "Gambit here fo' his lesson." He looked at Rogue's face. "Y' can't teach wit' y'r bouche open like dat."

Rogue picked her jaw up and opened the book. How come he always caught her like this? Her jaw didn't hit the floor for anyone, even Scott!

"Well, swamp rat, let's start wit' addin' an' subtractin'."

Remy took on an indignant face. "Merde! Gambit know how t' do dat!"

Rogue had an annoyingly calm expression, as she said, "Then what don't ya undahstand, Cajun?"

Remy weighed his options. On the one hand, she was talking to him. On the other, she thought he was stupid. Oh well. He'd be Forrest Gump if it made her talk to him. "De unit circle."

"Wow. We've got a lot o' work ahead o' us. Let's start."

Remy smirked. ~Bien! J'st gotta take it slow wit' 'er.~

**

Tarot's day had continued with Doug's constant interruptions, and now, to make it worse, Jubilee was caterwauling along with the Backstreet Boys.

"Backstreet's Back, ALL RIGHT!"

Come on! Those were the only memorable lines in the whole song! All right, let's face it, the whole CD! At least N*Sync had good lyrics, cute singers, great harmonies, cute singers, Justin, and cute singers! The Backstreet Boys were missing every one of these things. They also weren't cute!

Doug passed by, chatting with Roberto in Spanish. Tarot saw him immediately and lashed out.

"If you so much as say ONE MORE WORD to me, I will personally se to it that Death follows you for the rest of your days! DO YOU HEAR ME?"

The poor boy gulped and nodded slowly, backing away as if from a rabid dog. Roberto followed suit, practically running to get away. She had drawn the Death card her first time in the Danger Room, and the cowled monster was worth a month of nightmares.

A/N: Hey! Sorry this is a really short chapter. I just wanted to finish it. I've got more chapters in the works. I just need to flesh out Chapter 3!

Cloche: clock (French)

Danke: thanks (German)

Merci: thanks (French)

Chère: dear (French)

Bouche: mouth (French)

Merde: umm. dunno if this is good. don't really want to swear in English. let's say "four-letter word for feces" (French)

Bien: good (French)