Chapter Eleven

- Invitations -

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Jade eyes peered towards the side, focusing on the offending writing utensil.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Scritch, scritch. Pause.

The sound of an eraser rubbing away pencil marks filled the room; it seemed deafening amid the palpable silence.

Chocolate eyes peered out from underneath a curtain of auburn hair. They locked for a moment before the jade eyes flew back to the computer screen, fingers typing rapidly.

Clack, clack, clackity-clack, clack.

Chocolate eyes slid back to half-finished drawing before them. Identical sighs issued from both occupants of the room.

"Okay. So we didn' git off on de right foot, agreed? Does dat mean we can't talk?" Remy twirled his pencil between his fingers, watching as Rogue stared hard at the screen.

"We did talk. We agreed ta do our report on Edgar Allen Poe an' decided ya would make th' poster an' I would research th' presentation."

"Yeah, den we sat in silence f'r two. Whole. HOURS."

"Ya point bein'. . ?"

The Cajun let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. F'rget I said anyt'in'."

Tap. Tap. Tap. Scritch.

"Are ya doin' that on purpose?"

"What?"

"A person can't possible make that much noise drawin' a picture!"

"Mon dieu! Dere's no ot'er sound in de room! What do y' expect?" He quickly hid the pencil under the table, praying that Rogue hadn't seen it begin to glow a faint magenta hue. Dat's de last t'ing I need her t' know! He willed himself to calm down and the energy slowly seeped back into his hand.

Rogue watched his fidgety movements warily. Rolling her eyes in an exasperated way, she stood up and turned on the radio sitting on the shelf.

Remy couldn't help but enjoy the pleasant view these actions provided him. A glimpse of a slim, taut stomach (was that a tattoo peeking out above her waistband?) had him clutching the pencil tightly for an entirely different reason. Damn hormones.

Rogue finally settled on the local rock station and returned to the computer. The steady pounding drums and wailing guitars filled the silence that previously permeated the room.

Several minutes later, Remy found himself quietly singing along with the song. Hearing a snort of laughter, he lifted his gaze from his work. "What?"

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Ya like this music?"

"Yeah, dat a problem?"

She shook her head. "No."

"But . . ."

"But what?"

"Dere was a but on dat 'no'!"

"No there wasn't!"

"Dere was so a but."

"There wasn't a but!"

"Yes dere was."

"THERE WAS NO BUT!"

"Okay, fine, dere wasn' a but . . . But y' wanted t' say somet'in' else. I know y' did." Cajoled Remy.

Rogue gave an exasperated sigh at the absurdity of the conversation. "I jus' pegged ya f'r a fan of someone more . . . mainstream."

"Like . . .?" The look on his face was part expectation and part smugness. It made Rogue want to hit him and kiss him at the same time.

Well, if you wanna kiss him, by all means, do it!

She can't kiss him! Think of what could happen.

What, she might like it? God forbid!

NO. He could end here with us.

Really? You heard the voice. KISS HIM!

My God, all o' ya, shut up! I'm NOT goin' ta kiss that pompous ass!

I never specified the place to ki-

SHUT UP!

Rogue shook her head, hoping to clear the voices. She noticed Remy was still staring expectantly, albeit slightly confused by her sudden silence. "Ya know, Britney, Christina, somethin' all those jerks at school blast fr'm their cars."

Remy laughed. "Hell no! I hate dat crap. On'y listened t' it at parties, but it's different at a party, y' know?"

"I wouldn' know; nevea been invited . . . So, how's the poster goin'?"

"See f'r y'self." Rogue crossed the room and sat beside him. Using a book for reference, Remy had drawn a very accurate likeness of Poe with a raven flying above his head. It was quite impressive.

"It's an improvement ovea what ya used ta draw."

Remy drew in a deep breath. Did she mean-?

But his hopes were dashed as her hand flew to her mouth. "I'm sorry. I jus' . . . ya look some much like th' Remy I used ta know. . . He used ta draw an' . . . I'm sorry."

"It's fine." There was an awkward silence. "Y' . . .y'miss him much?"

Rogue shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. "Doesn' matter. I'm nevea gonna see him again."

"What if y' did see him again? I mean," Remy moved so they were looking each other in the eye, brown locked on green. "What if he-"

"Remy, your aunt called. She wants you to come home!" Both the teens jumped as Irene's voice floated into the room.

Rogue gave a weak smile. "See ya t'morrow? We can finish th' project." She hastily added.

Remy grinned. "Sure. Maybe y' could come t' Robbins party wit' me afterwards? As, friends, I mean. Y' can test de t'eory dat bad music sounds different at a party."

"Robbins? Ya mean Cody? Lillian Davenport's new boyfriend?"

"Oui. T'ink y' could stand de crappy music f'r at least a few hours?"

Rogue didn't know what it was. The similarity between him and her former best friend, the possibility of giving Lillian a heart attack by showing up with one of the most popular guys at school, the jolt of a doing a 'normal' teenage thing, or just the look in Remy's eyes. Whatever it was, it took the word 'no' from her lips and rearranged it into "I'll think 'bout it."

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A key was turned with the loud grating noise of long disuse, and the great door swung back. Within, stood a tall old man, clean shaven save for a long white moustache, and clad in black from head to foot, without a single speck of colour about him anywhere. He held in his hand an antique silver lamp, in which the flame burned without chimney or globe of any kind, throwing long quivering shadows as it flickered in the draught of the open door-

RIIINNNGGGG!

Rogue sighed as the phone rang. Nevea fails, ya git ta th' good part an' someone interrupts ya. Marking her place in her book, Dracula, the teen grabbed the phone from beside her. "Hello?" She droned in a tired voice.

"Hi. This is Cody Robbins. Is Rogue there?"

The young girl sat up straight and mouthed wordlessly. Cody Robbins, Lillian's boyfriend, was calling her, the school's resident freak. Besides Mel, nobody from school called her period, let alone one of the hottest guys in the class.

"Hello? Anybody there?"

"Yeah! I'm here- I mean, this is Rogue."

"Hey, Rogue. How're ya doin'?"

"Fine."

"So, I guess ya heard I'm havin' a big party tomorrow."

"Yeah, I heard." The shock of his call was starting to fade and skepticism was starting to take its place.

"Ya comin'?"

Rogue couldn't hold back the laughter. "Yeah, an' I'm havin' a sleepovea with ya girlfriend afterwards." Sarcasm dripped from her answer.

"Look, I know Lillian is kinda mean ta ya, but she's really harmless. Deep down she's a really sweet girl."

"I don' think we're talkin' 'bout th' same person."

Cody sighed. "Well, even if Lillian doesn' like it, I would be happy if ya come." The last part of his statement was weighted with hope.

For the second time that day, Rogue found her mouth taking control away from her brain and spewing words before she could process what she was actually saying. "I'll think 'bout it."

"Great! Well, I gotta go. Bye, Rogue."

"Bye." Click.

The teen sat listening to the dial tone for several minutes. Finally, she carefully hung the phone up. She stared at it as if it had turned into a foreign creature. What th' hell did I jus' do?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lillian cast an eager look at her boyfriend as he hung up the phone. "Well? What did she say? Is she comin'?"

Cody shrugged. "She said she'd think 'bout it." He stared at his lap a bit. "Lil, isn't this kinda cruel? I mean what did she evea do ta ya?"

"Don' ya worry yo' lil' head ova that, honey." Said Lillian, her voice sugary sweet as she slid into his lap. "This is between me an' th' freak, 'kay?" She began to kiss him with fervor, determine toforce every guilty thought out of his mind.

She had to admit, he wasn't a bad kisser. But he wasn't the one she wanted. And Lillian Davenport gets what she wants. By t'morrow night, Remy'll be all mine. He may stare an' flirt with Rogue now, but soon she'll be outta th' picture!

HI! Sorry for the long wait! Took me awhile to get this done. Expect the next chapter to be much longer (so much is gonna happen!) Still debating if Remy should reveal himself yet . . . I have great plot ideas either way so it's really hard to choose. On one hand, it's like, just get it over with! On the other hand, it's like, but this could happen and then this and . . . Anyway, til next time!

Love to all my faithful reviewers!