Part III: The mansion, late that night…

"Shhh!" (Giggle, giggle) "Close the curtains in case our resident lovebirds decide to take a late-night stroll."

"Relax, Kitty, if they came within eyeshot of our window, I'd hear 'em."

"Charlotte, you can hear every midnight liason from here to Lily Page's Tavern!" Kitty snorted.

"No I can't, just for about a mile-and-a-half radius."

"Well, keep your ears open for the Summers goon. If he catches us, we're all toast," Jubilee warned.

"If ANYONE catches us, we're toast!" Kitty corrected.

"No, we'd be in trouble, but not toast. Logan would just wink and say goodnight," Rogue argued.

"True, Ms. Munroe would just tell us to keep the noise level down."

"Ms. Grey would warn us to be quiet or Scott'll hear us and then we'll be toast," Kitty giggled.

"But they're in the same room, so if she hears us, so will he," Charlotte pointed out.

"And then we're toast!" (Giggle!) "Shh! How long 'till the boys get here?" Jubilee whispered conspiratorially.

"It's not eleven yet," Kitty replied, looking at her watch. "Twenty more minutes."

Knock! Knock!

(Squeal! Giggle!) "Oh crap, who's that?" (Rustle) "Charlotte, if that's a teacher, you better hide!"

"Don't panic, it's just Nadine!" Charlotte exclaimed, opening the door.

"Lemme in, I'm dying here!" Nadine hissed, staggering under the weight of several full grocery bags.

"Whadja get?" Rogue demanded, relieving Nadine of her burdens.

"I had to steal from the kitchen without being really obvious, but we've got the essentials. Chips, crackers, dip—"

"—Seven layer?" Kitty begged.

"We don't have any nachos! There's Ranch and cheese," Nadine replied as they continued unpacking the loot.

"Oh, jackpot!" whispered Charlotte, pulling out a huge jar of honey roasted peanuts. "Won't Mr. Summers miss those?"

"He likes dry roasted; Ms. Munroe bought that kind last week by mistake. He'll never notice. But he WILL notice if we don't replace this root beer by dinner tomorrow!" Jubilee warned, digging into one of the bags. "Nadine, what the hell is with this celery?"

"Whoops. I was moving kind of fast. I heard Ms. Grey open her door, so I just grabbed everything and ran."

Jubilee emptied the last bag onto the floor, then looked up with a mournful expression, "No Doritos?"

Suddenly, Charlotte hissed, "Shhh! Mr. Summers is up!"

"Oh crap!" Jubilee, Kitty, and Rogue began stuffing the purloined food under the bed while Charlotte and Nadine dove for the closet.

The girls were silent for several minutes until Charlotte whispered, "All clear, he just went to his office for his glasses."

"Girlfriend, you're the best lookout this student body ever had," Jubilee declared.

"You mean 'listen-out?'" Nadine replied, coming out of the closet. "Thank God for those supernatural ears!"

"Hey, Nadine, you and John are going to be the hit of the party tonight!" Rogue exclaimed. "We've got marshmallows!"

"Here come the boys," Charlotte announced, a few seconds before the girls heard the shuffle of tiptoed steps down the hall.

Knockknockknock! "Psst! It's us!"

Nadine opened the door, "You guys sounded like a herd of mustangs coming down the hall! You probably woke up the whole house!"

"Babe, you know you're glad to see us!" John teased, grabbing Nadine around the waist and shoving her out of the doorway so the other boys could come in. "Evenin' ladies!"

"Wussup!" "Hey girls!" "Nice pajamas, Rogue!" "How's it goin', girlfriends!" "Happy to see us?" "Let the good times roll!" "This is better than Mardi Gras!"

"Nobody's flashing in here, Remy!" "Hey guys!" "Get in here and shut the door before someone hears you!" "Hey, Bobby, I require your services!"

"Well, since you asked!" Bobby sauntered over to Kitty with an unmistakable leer.

"I need ice for the soda, you pervert!"

"My idea was more fun!" Bobby replied, but he generated a bucket of ice for the drinks. "We tried to get beer, but the lady at the grocery store carded Remy."

"Aw, I was looking forward to that!" Charlotte said in dismay.

John said thoughtfully, "I know Logan keeps a stash somewhere in the mansion. I just don't know where." He raised his eyebrows suggestively at Rogue.

She rocked back on her heels, "No way am I sneaking around campus to steal you some of Logan's beer!"

"Hey Rogue, cute bunny slippers!" Bobby exclaimed, and Rogue's feet became the center of the boys' attention. "Ooh, they're fuzzy! I LOVE fuzzy slippers!"

"So what're we gonna do first?" John asked as everyone found themselves a place to settle on beds and floor.

"Cards?"

"Gin Rummy!"

"I brought poker chips!"

"Yahtzee!"

"There's only four dice, Allen!"

"Sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll!"

"Wow, Bobby, the three subjects you're an expert in!"

"Sex, lies, and chocolate!"

"We haven't got any chocolate!"

"We have Hershey kisses!"

"I'd rather get real kisses!"

"Want a kiss from me, Remy?"

"I'll kiss your bunny slippers, Rogue."

"Questions!"

"Truth or dare!"

"Yeah!"

*****

To Be Continued…

*****

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