Long silver hair with red tips. Red handkerchief in her hair tied at the
nape of her neck. Black baggy pants and a black, button down shirt that
looked like it belonged on a guy. The only thing that really gave her away
as female for sure was the slight bump of her chest under the baggy shirt
and the lack of facial hair. She was also a new student at Bayville High
who looked like she would fit in just fine with Rogue. In fact, that's what
she was thinking as she spotted the confused newcomer trying to find a seat
in the overcrowded school lunchroom.
"Hey, over here!!!"
Rogue managed to yell loud enough to attract her attention over the constant droning of her fellow students. Luckily, the new girl heard her and made her way through the swarm to the table Rogue was at. She seemed wary at first but settled her inner demons and sat down next to the white- striped girl.
"You're new here right?"
Rogue looked the girl over and decided she was doing pretty well for her first day.
"Yeah, the name's Aria. Do I stick out that badly?"
"Ah'm Rogue. It's just the fact that not many people dare to dress like us. Plus, not everyone can get away with having silver hair and look good with it."
"Thanks. Nobody has good taste anymore. What about you? How'd you get stuck in a town like this?"
"Ah live at the Institute. It's lahke a boarding school that's co-ed and doesn't suck that bad."
"That's cool. So is the food here edible or does it just look disgusting?" Aria wrinkled her nose at the mystery meat sitting on her plate.
"It's edible if ya have a cast-iron stomach. Mah friend Kurt went to go get some burgers for us. Ya can have one of mine," she offered.
It wasn't every day she met new people and this girl seemed friendly enough.
"Thanks," Aria flashed Rogue a smile. She was a bit surprised when she saw the long pointy canines. Fangs. They reminded her of Kurt all too easily..
"So is it just me or do these kids seem to like staring and throwing dirty looks at you?" Aria scratched at the paint on one of her blue fingernails and fished in one of her many pockets for some gum.
"Well Ah hate to put a damper on this wonderful chat but have ya been keeping up with the mutant stories in the news?"
"Yeah. My dad was one."
Rogue blanched at the outright statement but continued with her mini- speech. "Well Ah'm one too. Ah understand if ya want to leave the table now, considering Ah can suck the life right outta ya." She finished with a sigh and leaned back in her chair a bit.
Aria chewed on her lip, the gum long forgotten. 'I wonder if I should tell her..' Her thoughts were interrupted by a person plopping down next to Rogue and dumping burgers out of a bag onto the table.
"Thanks Kurt."
"No problem. I'll do anything for a starving Rogue."
Kurt began chomping into a burger that dripped condiments all over the foil wrapper. He chewed and swallowed the delicious chunk of meat before noticing the other girl at the table.
"And who is this fine addition to your table, mein Rogue?"
"That's Aria, Kurt. Ah told her she could have one of mah burgers instead of mystery meat," she began going through the wrappers and picked out one she figured Aria would eat.
Most of Kurt's were covered in ketchup and other things that he tended to overdo himself on. As Aria began to chew on her burger thoughtfully, Kurt whispered into Rogue's ear.
"What's with her? Is she mute?"
"Nah, Ah just told her Ah'm a mutant."
"Ach! Rogue you certainly know how to make friends, don't you?" He plastered a smile on his face and waved a hand in front of Aria's face. "Hello, Aria. Nice to meet you too."
She blinked when his hand passed in front of her eyes and she smiled over at Kurt. He noticed her fangs too but wasn't able to hide his surprise as well as Rogue. His smile fell and his jaw dropped open. The look on his face was of pure shock and Aria immediately wondered if she had done something to give herself away. A smile slowly crept onto his face and he got a mischievous look in his eyes.
"Forgive my staring. Would you please come with me, Aria?"
"Uhhhhhh..... sure."
Rogue looked at Kurt strangely before he flashed her a holographic smile and led Aria away. She continued to wolf down her burger and followed Kurt at a safe distance. If he brushed against her he might notice. As she walked outside she placed her hand on her handkerchief rather quickly in an attempt to hold it in place against the breeze. He led her over to a table full of students from all grades. They seemed to be enjoying themselves thoroughly, despite the fact that all of the other students were casting them weird looks.
"Ahem," Kurt raised his voice above the others, "Everyone, I would like you to meet Aria. She's new here and I thought she deserved to be introduced to you guys."
"Hi everybody!" Aria waved a hello greeting and flashed them all another one of her peculiar smiles.
The reaction throughout the X-men was very similar to Kurt's initial one. Jaws dropped and they stared. The first one to speak was Kitty.
"Like, oh my gawd."
Aria visibly cringed. The staring combined with the valley girl accent had done her in for the day. A disgusted look crossed her face and she turned to walk back into the cafeteria. She threw away her wrapper right inside the door and made her way back to Rogue. Rogue was waiting patiently and seemed to be absorbed in her own thoughts. Aria sat down and burst out.
"Ok, what is it? Why are people staring at me?"
"Whaddya mean?"
"Well that boy took me over to some of his friends and introduced me to them. I smiled and said hi and they all stared at me. Is it customary to stare at people now?"
"Ah don't think it's that. Ah'm pretty sure it's your teeth."
"My teeth? Do I have something stuck in them?"
"Nah, it's yah fangs. Kurt made a bet to the others that he could find someone else with a set o' fangs just like his."
"So I just made Kurt a bunch of money?" Aria got a hurt look on her face. "I wish he would have told me. Then I wouldn't have had to feel so crappy after getting those stares. It was like I was a freak at a show."
"Ah know whatcha mean. He was probably overjoyed to find someone with the same dental anomaly."
"Still, I wouldn't have minded if he had told me," Aria paused and laughed to herself, "Too bad, I thought he was kinda cute."
Rogue stared at Aria and tried to sift through the millions of thoughts going through her head. Sister mode was trying to kick in and save Kurt from any unwanted followers. Amanda was almost too much as it was. She shook her head and smiled one of her rare smiles at Aria.
"If ya only knew.."
The two girls shared a good laugh before being interrupted by a few troublesome students.
"Hey mutie scum. What are you doing here? You're a danger to my safety."
"Back off Duncan. You know ya shouldn't mess with me. Or would yah rather spend some time in a coma? Miss some of those brain killing football practices?"
Aria watched the exchange in silence. Rogue almost seemed to enjoy spitting that last part out at the boy she called Duncan. Aria placed her hand on Rogue's shoulder to get her attention. The reaction she got was a lot more than she bargained for. Rogue had grabbed her hand and spun around so their faces were almost touching.
"Aria, if you know what's good for ya, you'll never touch me again, and you'll leave now before this gets ugly."
She just nodded dumbly and stood up. She backed away slowly and as an afterthought Rogue added, "Go fahnd Kurt!"
With a last glance at her new friend, Aria went outside to find Kurt. She took off at a run and headed towards the table he had led her to earlier.
****************************************************************************
Well there you have it. First chapter and I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I intend to not leave this as a one-shot but my inspiration is in a bit of a lull. Feel free to review *ahem* *cough cough* and uhhhhhhhhhhh.. Leave me your thoughts. If I get enough input this one could go real far. R&R if you want more.
"Hey, over here!!!"
Rogue managed to yell loud enough to attract her attention over the constant droning of her fellow students. Luckily, the new girl heard her and made her way through the swarm to the table Rogue was at. She seemed wary at first but settled her inner demons and sat down next to the white- striped girl.
"You're new here right?"
Rogue looked the girl over and decided she was doing pretty well for her first day.
"Yeah, the name's Aria. Do I stick out that badly?"
"Ah'm Rogue. It's just the fact that not many people dare to dress like us. Plus, not everyone can get away with having silver hair and look good with it."
"Thanks. Nobody has good taste anymore. What about you? How'd you get stuck in a town like this?"
"Ah live at the Institute. It's lahke a boarding school that's co-ed and doesn't suck that bad."
"That's cool. So is the food here edible or does it just look disgusting?" Aria wrinkled her nose at the mystery meat sitting on her plate.
"It's edible if ya have a cast-iron stomach. Mah friend Kurt went to go get some burgers for us. Ya can have one of mine," she offered.
It wasn't every day she met new people and this girl seemed friendly enough.
"Thanks," Aria flashed Rogue a smile. She was a bit surprised when she saw the long pointy canines. Fangs. They reminded her of Kurt all too easily..
"So is it just me or do these kids seem to like staring and throwing dirty looks at you?" Aria scratched at the paint on one of her blue fingernails and fished in one of her many pockets for some gum.
"Well Ah hate to put a damper on this wonderful chat but have ya been keeping up with the mutant stories in the news?"
"Yeah. My dad was one."
Rogue blanched at the outright statement but continued with her mini- speech. "Well Ah'm one too. Ah understand if ya want to leave the table now, considering Ah can suck the life right outta ya." She finished with a sigh and leaned back in her chair a bit.
Aria chewed on her lip, the gum long forgotten. 'I wonder if I should tell her..' Her thoughts were interrupted by a person plopping down next to Rogue and dumping burgers out of a bag onto the table.
"Thanks Kurt."
"No problem. I'll do anything for a starving Rogue."
Kurt began chomping into a burger that dripped condiments all over the foil wrapper. He chewed and swallowed the delicious chunk of meat before noticing the other girl at the table.
"And who is this fine addition to your table, mein Rogue?"
"That's Aria, Kurt. Ah told her she could have one of mah burgers instead of mystery meat," she began going through the wrappers and picked out one she figured Aria would eat.
Most of Kurt's were covered in ketchup and other things that he tended to overdo himself on. As Aria began to chew on her burger thoughtfully, Kurt whispered into Rogue's ear.
"What's with her? Is she mute?"
"Nah, Ah just told her Ah'm a mutant."
"Ach! Rogue you certainly know how to make friends, don't you?" He plastered a smile on his face and waved a hand in front of Aria's face. "Hello, Aria. Nice to meet you too."
She blinked when his hand passed in front of her eyes and she smiled over at Kurt. He noticed her fangs too but wasn't able to hide his surprise as well as Rogue. His smile fell and his jaw dropped open. The look on his face was of pure shock and Aria immediately wondered if she had done something to give herself away. A smile slowly crept onto his face and he got a mischievous look in his eyes.
"Forgive my staring. Would you please come with me, Aria?"
"Uhhhhhh..... sure."
Rogue looked at Kurt strangely before he flashed her a holographic smile and led Aria away. She continued to wolf down her burger and followed Kurt at a safe distance. If he brushed against her he might notice. As she walked outside she placed her hand on her handkerchief rather quickly in an attempt to hold it in place against the breeze. He led her over to a table full of students from all grades. They seemed to be enjoying themselves thoroughly, despite the fact that all of the other students were casting them weird looks.
"Ahem," Kurt raised his voice above the others, "Everyone, I would like you to meet Aria. She's new here and I thought she deserved to be introduced to you guys."
"Hi everybody!" Aria waved a hello greeting and flashed them all another one of her peculiar smiles.
The reaction throughout the X-men was very similar to Kurt's initial one. Jaws dropped and they stared. The first one to speak was Kitty.
"Like, oh my gawd."
Aria visibly cringed. The staring combined with the valley girl accent had done her in for the day. A disgusted look crossed her face and she turned to walk back into the cafeteria. She threw away her wrapper right inside the door and made her way back to Rogue. Rogue was waiting patiently and seemed to be absorbed in her own thoughts. Aria sat down and burst out.
"Ok, what is it? Why are people staring at me?"
"Whaddya mean?"
"Well that boy took me over to some of his friends and introduced me to them. I smiled and said hi and they all stared at me. Is it customary to stare at people now?"
"Ah don't think it's that. Ah'm pretty sure it's your teeth."
"My teeth? Do I have something stuck in them?"
"Nah, it's yah fangs. Kurt made a bet to the others that he could find someone else with a set o' fangs just like his."
"So I just made Kurt a bunch of money?" Aria got a hurt look on her face. "I wish he would have told me. Then I wouldn't have had to feel so crappy after getting those stares. It was like I was a freak at a show."
"Ah know whatcha mean. He was probably overjoyed to find someone with the same dental anomaly."
"Still, I wouldn't have minded if he had told me," Aria paused and laughed to herself, "Too bad, I thought he was kinda cute."
Rogue stared at Aria and tried to sift through the millions of thoughts going through her head. Sister mode was trying to kick in and save Kurt from any unwanted followers. Amanda was almost too much as it was. She shook her head and smiled one of her rare smiles at Aria.
"If ya only knew.."
The two girls shared a good laugh before being interrupted by a few troublesome students.
"Hey mutie scum. What are you doing here? You're a danger to my safety."
"Back off Duncan. You know ya shouldn't mess with me. Or would yah rather spend some time in a coma? Miss some of those brain killing football practices?"
Aria watched the exchange in silence. Rogue almost seemed to enjoy spitting that last part out at the boy she called Duncan. Aria placed her hand on Rogue's shoulder to get her attention. The reaction she got was a lot more than she bargained for. Rogue had grabbed her hand and spun around so their faces were almost touching.
"Aria, if you know what's good for ya, you'll never touch me again, and you'll leave now before this gets ugly."
She just nodded dumbly and stood up. She backed away slowly and as an afterthought Rogue added, "Go fahnd Kurt!"
With a last glance at her new friend, Aria went outside to find Kurt. She took off at a run and headed towards the table he had led her to earlier.
****************************************************************************
Well there you have it. First chapter and I'm not quite sure where to go from here. I intend to not leave this as a one-shot but my inspiration is in a bit of a lull. Feel free to review *ahem* *cough cough* and uhhhhhhhhhhh.. Leave me your thoughts. If I get enough input this one could go real far. R&R if you want more.