My parents have banned me from the pop. Well, not really, but I get dirty looks every time I head for the fridge, so you're gonna be getting more sane chapters now. And just in case I forgot to mention it (which I did), my story takes place like a week or two after self possessed. Thus Rogue's reason for being in the hospital. My author's notes have been getting longer and longer. Must be love. Seriously though, I love all of you and all of your reviews! I hadn't planned on updating this often, but I can't help it! ;o) Note* I do NOT own these characters, just in case you guys were wondering, I sort of forgot to mention that earlier. . .

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The next morning Rogue was awakened to the sound of Evan shouting furiously.

"Who did it! I want to know who did it!"

Glancing at her clock, Rogue groaned and stuffed her head under her pillow. After last night, Logan had agreed to let them go back to their rooms. Then he had left to take care of some "unfinished" business. Their room was a lot closer to Evan's than the infirmary was, and you could hear every single word loud and clear. *Logan probably PLANNED this.* Rogue thought darkly.

"Mph." Kitty mumbled. "What is that noise?" She was only half-awake.

"Evan must have found Wolverine's revenge." Rogue peeked at the freshman.

"Someone kill him." Her voice was muffled by the layer of blankets over her face. Rogue shook her head. *And people say I'M the disturbed one.*

"Ya know you're not gonna be able ta fall asleep again. Not with him makin that racket."

Kitty shot her a look filled with murder. "I went to bed 2 hours ago. If I don't go back to sleep someone's gonna pay!"

"Good luck Sugah." The lack of sleep didn't bother Rogue much. Functioning without sleep had been a big part of Mystique's training. Too bad she had never thought to use the ability for parties before! She got dressed hastily, not wanting to disturb her roommate, and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning, Rogue." Ororo greeted her, lifting her coffee mug in greeting.

"Mornin' Ro." Rogue made her way towards the cereal cupboard. "Where is everybody? No one could sleep through Evan's hollerin'." *Excluding a certain freshman. . . .*

Storm took a sip of her coffee, "Jean and Scott are at the mall, Kurt claimed we had no good cereal and went to find some, Wolverine is working in the garage, and Evan. . . , well, Evan is trying to find his underwear."

"What?!" Rogue coughed on the word.

Storm nodded, "Someone took every last pair, and he can't find them anywhere."

Rogue hid a smile. Kitty would get a kick out of this. "Well, Ah, hope he. . . finds them." She closed the cupboard.

Ororo lifted an eyebrow. "No breakfast?" Rogue rolled her eyes. "Kurt was right. No good cereal." She opened a different cabinet and produced a stack of candy bars. "When in doubt, head for the sugah."

"I don't know how you kids can eat that stuff and stay in shape."

"Just lucky Ah guess."

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Kitty glanced at her clock. Five hours had passed since Evan had woken her and Rogue up, yet she still wasn't sure she could get out of bed. Muffling a groan, she turned so she was facing the ceiling. Last night had been fun. There was no getting around that. Catching Jean sleepwalking, picking out clothes, sneaking out, dancing, truth or dare, everything had been fun. She sighed contentedly. Life couldn't get much better than that.

It took her less than two seconds to remember why she had gone to the party in the first place. Stupid Pietro! HE was the reason Melissa had hit her with the dumb ball, and at the party he had humiliated her as often as possible. When they were dancing, during truth or dare, UGH! She wanted to strangle him! And THAT was his fault too! He was cocky, egotistical, bossy, and to top it all off, he smirked WAY too much! Against her will she found herself remembering other things about him too . . . The way they danced . . . They way he looked at her . . .. The way-NO! She would not, NOT think of Pietro Maximoff that way! So he could dance, so what? Lots of guys could dance, and THEY would probably be a lot nicer afterwards than he was. And he had nice eyes, bid deal! Nearly every girl in school had fallen for those eyes, and what did they have to show for it? "Nothing." She said firmly. "Nothing at all." She would get her revenge on Pietro . . . For . . . For whatever it was she was going to get revenge on him for!

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Everyone else was still asleep. Pietro yawned and stretched, thinking back to last night. People hadn't stayed long once the girls had left, the Acolytes barely even waited long enough to say good-bye. *They just didn't want to help with the clean up.* Pietro thought wryly to himself, remembering their haste to clean up all the leftover food and move the furniture back before Mystique came home.

The party had been okay. Not the kind HE was used to going to, but okay. Food, music, dares, dancing, girls-Not that there had been girls worth his time there anyway. Without warning, an image of Kitty's face as she danced with him flashed through his mind. NO! The thought came so forcefully he almost winced. What was he doing, thinking about HER face?! She wasn't even that pretty. Sure she had a sweet smile, great blue eyes, and a body to go with them-- Not that he had been paying attention to her body, he hastened to reassure himself. But she was annoying, and that ruined any good features she MIGHT have had. Annoying, snooty, stuck-up, bratty, and-and- Again his mind focused on her face, and to his annoyance, he forgot what he was going to say. Why couldn't he forget HER?! He knew that there were a million reasons why he should hate her and never want to see her again, but all that came to mind when he thought about her was the way it had felt dancing with her, the fun in making her mad (or even better-blush), and the sudden surge of emotions that overwhelmed him whenever their eyes met. None of that mattered though. She was an "X-geek", and maybe that didn't bother Lance, but HE knew where his loyalties lay. Still, he thought, a grin spreading over his face, he could definitely make her life miserable!

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Rogue stared off into space, vaguely aware she was eating her last candy bar. She still couldn't get him out of her mind. *You're an idiot, Sugah.* She told herself firmly. He was a charmer, a flirt, he even had an accent. *Guys like him don't fall for girls like you.* Girls who couldn't touch. Even if their personalities were compatible (which they most certainly were NOT), no guy would stick around long with a girl whose kiss was lethal. But then, why had he bothered? Her sane self answered that he was a scoundrel, and probably enjoyed the challenge. That, or flirting was just a second nature for him and didn't mean anything. *It's probably both.* She admitted to herself wryly. *Eventually he'll get bored and move on-if he hasn't already.* Hopefully sooner rather than later. Rogue didn't know how many times she could take him looking at her the way he did. *What am Ah thinking?! He's the BAD GUY. I do NOT have a thing for the BAD GUY! I do not have a THING for anyone!* She could feel that inner voice of hers getting ready to be sarcastic. "Life sucks." She said aloud, staring at the wall.

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Gambit smirked to himself as the phone range yet again. Magneto's worn and haggard face appeared at the living room doorway.

"DON'T answer it." He ordered, glaring with such intensity at the offending object Remy almost felt sorry for him. Key word there being 'almost'.

"Why not?" He raised an eyebrow innocently.

Before the boss could answer, Colossus walked into the room and picked up the phone, shooting them a look that clearly said 'You're supposed to ANSWER the phone when it rings'. So much for language barriers.

"Hello?" It was one of the few words Peter could say in English. The voice on the other end began to complain so loudly, he was forced to hold the phone away from his ear. He gestured for the boss to take it. Without a word, the Master of Magnetism turned and stalked away growling softly. Seconds later, a large metal object (that Gambit guessed was a frying pan) flew into the room and knocked the phone from Peter's hand, smashing it over and over until all that remained were jumbled bits of wire and plastic. Colossus looked at Gambit in utter confusion. Remy nodded, and pretended to be as lost as the Russian. But as he turned and headed towards his room, he let a small chuckle escape him.

That prank was priceless. Even Pyro had been impressed when the phone began ringing-and ringing and ringing and ringing. Peter hadn't really gotten the joke, having not understood much that went on at the party, but that was probably for the best. He was incredibly honest for a bad guy, and Gambit and St. John had learned long ago not to count on him to help stir up trouble.

Speaking of trouble--, Gambit allowed himself a grin as he thought back to the party. That girl with the striped hair had all the signs of a troublemaker herself. He hadn't really intended on showing up at Lance's party, but when he heard the X-girl was going he changed his mind. Rogue. He couldn't explain what it was that drew him to her, but it was nearly impossible to resist. He got a kick out of her angry retorts to his flirtations, and when she smiled it took a great deal of effort to remind himself she couldn't touch. And that was another thing that puzzled him. He was Gambit. A flirt, a heartbreaker, and on occasion, even a player. So why was HE spending so much time on a girl he could never even touch? He shook his head, trying to clear out the image of the green-eyed mutant. What did it matter? If he ever saw her again it would be when they were trying to kill each other. And it wasn't like he was feeling anything serious either. She was just a girl. Magneto was just a job. When all of this was over he'd go back to being a thief, and who knew where she'd be. Who cared? And with an ease that only comes after years of practice, he ignored the little voice that whispered an answer. He didn't care. He didn't.

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Sorry this one's so short you guys! There's not a lot of talking, it's mostly just thoughts, so it SEEMED like a lot when I wrote it all down. My hand hurt anway. . . Chapter 8 will be up soon, I've been waiting to write this one and the one that follows it so now I'm really excited! Here's a hint (If you don't mind my giving you one), Rogue has a problem, and there's only one person she wants to confide it. And he's a bad bad bad influence for sneaking her out of school. . . Hehehe. . . . I've probably told you too much already, but I didn't really leave much of a cliff hanger so I owe you. Thanks again for all the reviews! YOU ROCK!!!!!!! ;o)