Title - Reversed
Chapter Four - Shopping
It was Saturday. She was supposed to be sleeping in until mid-afternoon and then lounging around in the pool for the rest of the day with everyone else. But no, what had she done? After an uncomfortable night's sleep with a metal belt pressing into her hip, Kitty had gotten up at nine o'clock. Then she had dragged Jean, who had been peacefully drinking a cup of coffee, out of the kitchen, thrown her into the passenger seat of the car and told her they were going to the mall. Why? Because she had convinced herself that she needed some new clothes for her wardrobe when, really, she still felt horrible for implying that John was a killer.
They arrived at the Bayville Mall in one piece, the car included. Though now as Kitty flitted from store to store, half-heartedly trying on the outfits Jean handed to her, she realized that she didn't even know what John liked. More importantly, she didn't even know where – or when – she was supposed to meet him again.
"Hey, this is cute," said Jean, holding up a flower petal purple shirt.
Kitty's eyes lit up delightedly. "Oh and flowy too!"
She took the shirt, admiring the wide sleeves and outward curl of the hem.
"Now we need, like, pants," said Kitty.
"You mean like those pants?" Jean pointed to a rack of light blue jean flares.
"Yes!" she squealed and quickly rifled through for her size.
Wow, I really needed this. It's like, totally keeping me sane, she thought as she rushed back into the fitting room. Now what about John? As she pulled on her new pants (while holding up her belt) she began ticking off the obvious choices: a hat, a watch, a coffee mug, a wallet. Too bad he wasn't a girl because then she could just buy him a huge teddy bear. Kitty pulled on the shirt and looked at herself in the mirror. All of her metal gadgets were hidden except for that pesky necklace, which she needed to decorate.
She stepped out of the dressing room and let Jean have a look at her new ensemble.
"Gorgeous. You are going to have to let me borrow that shirt sometime," she said appraisingly.
"No way. You're boobs will totally stretch it out!" Kitty laughed.
Jean folded her arms and huffed. "They will not."
Kitty stepped back into the small room and shed the outfit. Okay, now let's see… John was Australian, the accent made that apparent, and he seemed to have a good sense of humor. So what would he want? A pet crocodile? An Australian flag? A Paul Hogan movie? A full collection of the Crocodile Hunter episodes?
She paid for her new outfit and strolled out with the bag slung proudly over her shoulder. Jean glanced at the mall clock handing above the square.
"Are you ready to head back to the institute? It's almost eleven," she said.
Kitty shook her head. "No, I've got one more thing to get."
"What?"
"Well, uh," Kitty smiled weakly, "I don't know yet."
Jean gave her an odd look. "How can you not know what you're shopping for?"
"I'm shopping for someone else, but, like, I don't really know what he wants…" she explained.
"He?" The corners of Jean's lips began to turn upward into a smile.
"Hey, he's totally not a boyfriend. So don't look at me like that," Kitty said defensively.
"Alright, alright. So what does he like?" Jean asked.
"I don't really know…"
"You like him, don't you?"
It was more of a statement than an actual question, but the comment had Kitty waving her arms, shaking her head and talking loudly – well, louder than usual.
"No! It's so not like that. It's just like an apology present, ya know? And I really don't want to talk about it."
Jean nodded sagaciously. "Right."
"And like, no mind-reading either!" she added, pointing a finger at her companion.
There was a small arts and crafts shop wedged between a large clothing store and an equally as large c.d. store, making the poor little shop almost invisible. They were about to walk right by the tiny place, but Kitty snatched Jean's arm and pulled them in.
"I just want to get some beads or something. This necklace really looks like a dog collar or something," she said.
She quickly went down the small aisles of multi-colored fabrics, passed buttons and safety pins until she finally found shelf that had what she wanted. "Aha!" she declared, holding up a fat tube.
Jean looked at the label. "Glitter Glue. Uh, that's fabric paint, Kitty."
"So? It still like, works the same."
As the clerk rang up the tubes of yellow, purple and blue that she had picked out, Kitty distractedly plucked a ball of yarn out of a nearby box and read the label as she waited. Caution: FLAMMABLE. The clerk handed her the bag along with a receipt as he wished the ladies a good day. Outside the store, Kitty abruptly halted.
"Omigosh, that's it!"
"What?" Jean inquired.
"C'mon. I totally know what to get him now, but they don't sell it in the mall," she said.
"Okay, what?" she asked again.
"It's on the way home," said Kitty.
"Tell me!" Jean pouted.
"Like, you'll see!"
When Rogue woke, her roommate was thankfully scarce. She didn't know where Kitty had gone and nor did she care, but she did not want to be at the mansion when she got back. It wasn't cowardice. She just didn't feel like being the recipient of nasty glares and even nastier reproaches. So without breakfast and dressed in long-sleeves, a skirt and pantyhose, Rogue hopped onto her moped, kicked it into gear and went for a mid-morning ride.
No matter what Kitty thought, it was certainly not her fault and she clung fiercely to that reassuring belief.
She felt bad for what had happened. She wished that she had never touched her. Wished that she had never held on for so ridiculously long. But she had. Kitty hadn't known that she was there, she would have been left behind and Rogue didn't want to be a prisoner of her deranged "mother". However, if she had known what would have happened to her friend – her former friend – then maybe she would have accepted that fate. She didn't know what was worse: being forced to participate in some mysterious plan or losing the only person she really considered a friend.
As if mah life wasn't bad enough before… she thought dryly as she parked her bike in front of the record store.
There were several listening stations and Rogue chose one in the back, snatching up a Godsmack c.d. along the way. She covered her ears with the large headset, adjusting it until it was comfortable. If she turned the volume up loud enough then maybe she could deafen herself, that way she wouldn't have to listen to Kitty place the blame on her.
It wasn't her fault.
Sick of my life,
I'm tired of everything,
In my life.
Maybe she should apologize. She wanted to apologize, but apologize for what? Rogue turned the volume up louder, knowing that that was only an excuse. She didn't apologize because she couldn't get the words out of her mouth.
I wanna know,
Why I've always felt unknown,
I wanna love,
Why am I untouchable?
The song wasn't cheering her up. It was only making her feel worse, which she deserved right then. She regretted holding onto Kitty for so long, but how could she have known what a lingering touch would do to her?
I never wanted to be sick,
Of my life,
I'm tired of everything,
In my life.
Five seconds would have given her plenty of time to phase them both through a wall and get out of there before anyone knew they were gone. Instead, she had held on for almost half a minute… and she knew why she did it. Not for insurance to be certain the powers lasted long enough. Rogue did it for herself. Because she wanted to know what it was like to be Kitty Pryde. To know what it was like to be loved, to be completely happily, to remember what it was like to touch someone without sucking the life out of the them.
Kitty had lost control of her powers because Rogue had been thinking purely of herself.
It was her fault.
Author's Note – Oh look, I'm alive. And I would like to apologize for the, erm, extended delay of this chapter. It was not due to writer's block or a lack of inspiration, and I am in no way putting this fic off to the side, but my computer crashed some months ago and I lost my Word program. So I made do without it, however could not save things in .html format – and have no fear! I can do that now. *grins*
For fair warning, updates will be slower now that school is back in session, but hopefully not this slow again.
Thank You's To- My favorite girl, Freeverse. And to the Ice Princess, my other favorite girl. And thank you to my super-spiffy, super-wonderful reviewers: Vinter, LotusPen, Kumiko *Kaylin* Eharu, Smitten Kitty, IwillmarryJustinTimberlake, CaSsiEnOvA, melissarxy1, Lady Meru, Incrediblecuznz, SkyDancerHawk, Arielle2, allerdycegirl, and hyperwriter. I feel loved knowing that I have fans – and incredibly special knowing that people are still reading my story. :)
Planned Update – Two weeks, which I can safely say since the chapter is already complete.