Confrontation
X-men:Evolution is probably owned by Kids WB, and all characters are owned by Marvel comics; bottom line, they are not owned by me
Rogue sighed as she opened her locker. She knew she was in a rut. It wasn't that she was unhappy with her life, but she wasn't happy with it either. She had been living in the X-mansion for over a year and she still didn't feel like a member of the team. If anything she felt more disconnected as they brought more mutants into the house.
"Rogue! Rogue, wait for me!" someone called. Rogue turned and saw Kurt Wagner (pronounced Vaugner, with Kurt's German accent). Kurt was Rogue's "brother." Although Kurt had made a consistent effort to establish a brotherly relationship with Rogue, she was resisting.
"Hi, Kurt," said Rogue in her own southern accent.
"Scott, Jean, Kitty, and I are going to the ice cream parlor after school. Do you want to join us?"
"No thanks, Kurt," answered the southern belle.
"Aww come on. How can you turn down ice cream? It's ice cream! Ice cream!"
"I said no thanks, Kurt."
"Rogue what's wrong? You've seemed so sad lately."
"I'm fine."
"No you're not. I've seen you hiding in the mansion library. You never go out anymore. You don't speak to anyone. Not even me, your brother. What's going on?"
"Kurt . . ." just then the school bell rang, "I've gotta go," said Rogue as she turned and walked to class. Kurt sighed and went to his own class.
There was a test in Rogue's next class and she finished early. She didn't know whether or not she was happy about the extra time. When she had too much free time she tended to think too much about what was wrong with her life. She was trying to avoid that. Rogue tried doodling in her notebook, but that wasn't enough of a distraction. She felt bad about making Kurt worry about her. It can't be easy to have an anti-social sister, particularly for someone as social as Kurt. Rogue even considered going to the ice cream parlor with the others, just for Kurt's benefit. She could always cut out early, but she decided against it. As much as she pretended it didn't bother her, she was tired of the stares she got from strangers and people that knew her. However, Kurt was right, she needed to get out, but where to go? The final bell rang and Rogue headed out to her locker. Kurt was waiting for her.
"Last chance for a root beer float, on me," said Kurt.
"Sorry Kurt, but you have fun."
"I want you to have fun. Come on Rogue, please come with us. You can't give me one good reason why you won't."
"I don't want to."
"That's not good enough."
"I don't want to ruin your good time."
"Rogue, that's crazy. You won't . . ."
"Hey Kurt, come on, Scott's like leaving," said the always bouncy and adorable Kitty Pryde.
"Later Kurt," said Rogue, quickly making her retreat. She walked out of school and headed to the mansion. When she got home she put her books in her room and then, she didn't know what to do. Before boredom could set in she left the mansion and wandered around a bit. Maybe some shopping would make me feel better, thought Rogue. She hated the mall, so she went to the smaller shops on Main Street. There wasn't a lot there, but there was one store called Poco Loco that had some pretty funky clothes. They weren't always her style, but she still liked to see what they had. The store usually didn't get a lot of customers. Storm, who introduced Rogue to Poco Loco, called it a love-business. A love-business being a business created primarily out of love, not the need for money. Poco Loco never had a lot of customers, but somehow it stayed afloat. When Rogue walked in she was the only one there, not surprisingly. It was the middle of the afternoon in the middle of the week. She started looking around, but nothing really jumped out at her. Rogue stopped looking at clothes and started looking at accessories and that's when she saw the most interesting gloves she'd ever seen. They were short black gloves, but someone had taken fake red fingernails and glued them on the gloves fingers. There was also beautiful embroidery that extended down from each fingernail to the center of the glove where it became one big swirl of curls. Rogue slipped them on and started smiling. She thought they looked kind of silly at first, but then she really liked the way they looked on her. However, they were quite expensive. Rogue had her credit card, but she didn't know how the professor would feel about her spending this much money on a pair of gloves. But hey, she hadn't spent any money on anything for a while, why not get the gloves? Rogue turned and was so excited about the gloves she almost knocked someone over.
"I'm so sorry," said Rogue, reaching out her gloved hand to help the person up.
"It's all right," said Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, "Nice gloves."
"Thanks, I'm about to buy them."
"Well they look good."
"Thanks," Rogue said. Then she headed up to the cashier and bought the gloves. She wanted to wear them out, so she just stuck the receipt in her pocket and left. You know, if I paint these nails green they'd match my outfit better. Hey, I could paint them whatever color I want. Cool. Just then Rogue stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. Where do they sell nail polish around here? The pharmacy, they'd have it pretty cheap. Rogue turned around and once again bumped into Wanda a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch.
"I wasn't following you," Wanda blurted out.
"What?"
"I wasn't following you. We just happen to be going the same way, okay."
"Umm . . . I didn't think you were following me," said Rogue.
"Good because I wasn't."
"Okay . . . umm . . . bye." Rogue began walking in the opposite direction of where she was headed originally and where Wanda was now headed. Rogue made her way to the pharmacy and began looking at the nail polish. She picked out her favorite shade of green, and then she picked up two more colors. A purple polish called "Plum Perfect," and a blue polish called "Island Indigo." Then Rogue started looking at the rest of the make up, but she didn't see anything she liked. After paying for the polish, Rogue headed out and again didn't know where to go.
It was late afternoon, but Rogue still didn't feel like going home. Rogue's feet led her to the local library. Yes, she felt a little pathetic hanging out at the library, but where else could she go? She started looking around the magazine section and actually sat down to read an article in Time magazine about the Mutant Registration Act. The adults at the mansion had been talking about it and seemed genuinely worried it might get passed. The unfortunate topic put Rogue back into a bad mood, and not just because of those ridiculous mutant haters. Tomorrow's my "birthday." I'll be eighteen. I can vote on these kinds of things. I wonder if I should celebrate. I mean it's not even my real birthday. It's the day Mystique and Destiny adopted me, and that's not a day I really want to celebrate, but still I don't have any other day to celebrate. Rogue sighed. She'd gone and depressed herself. It was time to head home; anyway, Kurt had accused her of hiding in the mansion library, now she was hiding in the local library.
Rogue got back after dinner, so she microwaved herself some leftovers, and took them up to her room. She hoped Kitty wouldn't mind the smell of food, but Kitty wasn't in their room anyway. Rogue was lucky enough to have a minimum amount of homework. It was the end of the year and teachers wanted them to study for finals so they were giving fewer assignments. After her homework was through, Rogue started reading one of her favorite books, Wicked by Gregory Maguire. There was a soft knock on Rogue's door. So soft she wasn't sure if someone had actually knocked, so Rogue got up and opened it, book still in hand. Ororo Monroe was standing on the other side of the door.
