I know I intended this to be a one-shot, but… oh well. Anyway, this was partly created because I hadn't really cleared up some of the things that happened that night, and also because ClaudiaR (my new beta! Thank her for being able to put up with my erratic writing sense!) pointed out I didn't really show Ororo, or Logan, or even Kitty's, opinions to Rogue/Jean's clothes/Jean being drunk/the puke in the planter. Yeah, it was a high order, so I created this (short- yeah, right) extension. I hope you like it!
As before, bold words are thoughts and telepathic conversations and italics are lyrics.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention before, the song was by a group called Saving Jane and was, unsurprisingly, called "Girl Next Door". This next one is by the same band and of the same name as its chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men, yadda, yadda, yadda… Quit rubbing it in. Jerks.
$4$
As Ororo and Logan watched the children walk up the stairs, they heard Kitty's valley girl giggle and ask, "OhmyGod, Jean, like, what are you wearing?"
After a moment of afterthought over Jean's… different attire, Logan sniffed the air and growled. Besides the suspicious smell of what he could only hope wasn't alcohol, there was something else. Something… sour. "What is that, Storm?"
She turned and eyed him, then, discreetly, sniffed the room herself. "There is a certain… odor about the room," Ororo finally agreed quietly.
Logan crossed the room, sniffing here and there before he stopped in front of one of Ororo's many fica trees. He leaned over and looked down, only to jerk back and shake his head. "What is it?" Ororo asked, walking up to her plant. She peeked in, only to draw back, covering her hand over her mouth. "Oh, heavens," she whispered. "And that was my favorite fica."
$4$
"Can you pass the moo-juice, umm, Rogue?" (1)
Rogue arched an eyebrow and shot an icy glance at Scott, whose innocent smile quickly dissipated. She said nothing, simply choosing to remain silent. His comment in regards to last night's run-in with an intoxicated, not to mention skimpily dressed, Jean still stung. Of course Scott was going to notice Jean. She was in a leather mini! Rogue had only fooled herself into believing Scott would ever notice her.
Still, that didn't stop her from keeping the fact that Jean had only dressed like that to catch some other guy's eye. After all, what would be the point of telling Scott? He'd only get hurt further. If Jean was interested in someone else, why keep leading the poor guy on? Rogue refused to be disgusted at Jean's antics, especially after their talk they had the previous night.
It was hard to take the high road when she had put so much effort into despising the prom queen, though. But Rogue was determined to see this new change of heart through, no matter what happened. She may not have been too pleased with particular events following her adjustment, but damned if she was going to give up now.
Professor X cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Rogue," he said, choosing his words carefully, so as not to upset the temperamental Goth. "I believe Scott asked to pass the, ahem, milk." Rogue said nothing, reaching across the table and handing the milk instead to Bobby, who was unlucky enough to sit next to Scott. The tension in the room was unbearable, and even worse for the two telepaths.
Rogue? Jean concentrated, a little confused of what was happening in the room. Why was Rogue angry at Scott? It was known fact Rogue still had a crush on their leader and undeniable Boy Scout, Scott Summers, so there was no reason for her to get mad. Unless something had happened last night, after Jean went to bed. Maybe Scott said something to anger Rogue? Or maybe he did something? No, that was too ridiculous. Scott saying something and accidentally angering someone was one thing; doing something to anger someone was very different for the local do-gooder.
What is it, Jean? Rogue responded casually, getting up to wash her plate and put it in the dishwasher. She saw her reflection in glass of the large kitchen window and tried not to wince. Her make-up was dark and heavy, rotating between black and dark purples. Unable to bear the torture, Rogue excused herself quietly and sent a thought to Jean, knowing the telepath was listening to her thought pattern. Ah'm fine, don't worry. There's no need to ask.
Rogue opened the door to hers and Kitty's room and walked over to her tiny, portable radio. She turned it on and searched the stations for anything decent. Instead, she found the honeyed sounds of a guitar along with a soothing, and slightly familiar, voice.
"City lights shine down on the place that I call home
Surrounded by a million but I feel like I'm alone
And I might be a nobody
But if I'm playing, would you listen?"
She listened carefully, mentally recording the song to memory as she wandered around the room, picking up her books and bag, readying herself for the far more uncomfortable car ride to school that was sure to come. She knew she was getting angry for no good reason, but that just fueled her want to be difficult further. If she wasn't happy, no one would be.
"If you would get to know me
Then maybe you would love me
I'm so ordinary"
The last line struck Rogue, and she stopped short, staring at the radio in disbelief. How did it- ? She shook her head and continued on, grabbing what little she needed just so she could procrastinate further and listen to more of this hauntingly familiar song.
"Dragging 'round an old guitar that I can't even play
I fade into your background like a piece of yesterday"
How often had Rogue felt that same way? This was too freaky. "Rogue!" she heard Ororo call. "You're going to miss your ride!"
"Oh, joy," Rogue muttered sarcastically. "I might miss a fun-filled car ride with a guy who can't seem to open up his eyes and appreciate me. To think what a disaster that might be."
She mustered up what little strength she had and flicked off the radio, preparing mentally for what barrage of rough questions and long silences that were sure to come in the next ten minutes or so. She turned on her heel and walked out of the room, hoping to God that things were going to begin to look up. She knew it was just a car ride to school, but the thought of spending minutes crammed in Scott's car with the aforementioned Scott, Jean, Kitty, and Kurt (plus the possibility of the X-newbies, too) was too uncomfortable for her to possibly imagine.
"And I might be a nobody to you
But somewhere they're gonna listen"
$4$
Somehow, Rogue had ended up in the front seat, squashed in between Scott and Jean. It reeked of Jean's doing, but she was too aggravated to care. All she wanted was to get in school, and get on with what little life she had.
But if you would get to know me
Then maybe you would love me
I'm so ordinary
But fate had much, much more in store for Rogue. As the car neared the intersection, the traffic light changed abruptly from green to yellow, and before Scott could scoot the car a little further, it changed once more to red. Rogue wasn't sure why, but she could swear someone was up there mocking her.
Even worse, after Scott slowed the car to a sinking stop, he turned halfway to face her. He paused and seemed to be mulling something over, before finally asking, "Rogue, what's going on here? What caused this sudden burst of antagonism towards me? No, offence, but I know you've never been too keen on Jean- sorry to bring you into this, Jean- so what, now that you two are friends again you've decided to take your frustrations out on me?"
She gaped openly at him, speechless. Never had she expected Scott of all people to confront this head on. Ask him to start a fistfight with one of the Brotherhood members, he'd gladly do so (providing there were no innocent bystanders), but an argument dealing personally with one of his own teammates? That would be a breach of character.
"Ah don't know what yer talkin' about, Scott. Ah'm not angry because Ah feel the need to take any-" similar to the night before, Rogue raised her hands and used her fingers as air quotes-"'frustrations' out on anybody. Ah'm angry at ya 'cuz ya felt the need, no offence, to act lahke a dick." She arched her eyebrows and pointedly looked at him. Breaking contact momentarily, she added, "The laht's (light's) green."
Also similar to the previous night, Rogue's accent thickened as she became more and more frustrated.
Still, she watched, fascinated, as his jaw tightened and turned slowly to grip the steering wheel, knuckles alarmingly white, then begin to drive, increasing speed by the second. It wasn't until then that Rogue noticed a tiny vein pulsating disturbingly, located directly under his jaw.
They arrived at the school two minutes earlier than expected, and Scott slammed on the brakes abruptly. "Everyone, out," he ordered, his voice tight and absurdly calm. Although Rogue was intrigued by his peculiar behavior, she knew better than to disobey an order from their leader.
However, her curiosity did not stop her fear. She turned to leave along with Jean, Kitty, and Kurt, the latter two remaining totally silent after Scott's accusation. Before she could, however, an arm shot out, its hand gripping Rogue's wrist. Scott's arm and hand, to be precise. "Everyone," he added with that same cold voice, "but you." Rogue felt her entire body freeze. She looked up at Jean, who was already staring at the two, confused.
"Umm, Scott," Jean began, worry creeping into her voice. "What are you doing? You're going to, uh, miss homeroom if-"
Scott cut her off before she had a chance to finish. "I'm going to talk to Rogue and I don't care if I miss homeroom." He then proceeded to reach past Rogue and shut the car door. He locked the car doors, effectively trapping her with him.
Rogue? She was happy to remember that she still had Jean to talk to telepathically. Should I leave you two alone or what?
Rogue still trusted her leader, even though he still may have hadhis hand holding her wrist in a viselike grip. She had to think this through before she responded to Jean. Finally, she came up with a possible solution. She hoped Jean was listening as she thought, He's right. You should probably go. Just… if there's any trouble, leave your telepathic "chanels" open just in case. Thanks.
Without another word, Jean smiled, turned on her heel, and began to walk towards the school. Despite that, she still turned around every few steps to see if they were still there.
In fact, Scott didn't move until everyone was in the high school. In other words, her wrist was beginning to hurt like hell thanks to him. After they were the only ones remaining, Scott finally let go, only to start the car again and take off out of the school parking lot.
"Sc-scott? Why're we leaving the parkin' lot?"
He said nothing, only reaching past Rogue to turn on the car's radio.
"And if you would let me know you
Maybe I could show you
Wouldn't we be something?"
Internally, Rogue was in shock. This had been the exact same song she had been listening to on the radio before! But that was at least fifteen minutes ago. And yet, it was somehow playing once again. Now, either this was one humongous coincidence, or the Someone Up There was trying to tell her something.
Regardless, she chose to act as if there wasn't some weird conspiracy involving her, and focused on Scott. Now that he had confronted her, and she had responded back with her usual iciness, he should have dropped it and left her to her brooding. But he hadn't. And that freaked her out more than anything.
"Sad the way we always seem to pass by one another
Hiding, so afraid of the things we might discover"
Finally, he parked at a local 7-11. He sighed, removing his red-tinted glasses, carefull to keep his eyes shut, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Rogue, I just don't understand, I really don't." He put his glasses back on and looked at her for the first time since their unscheduled drive.
"Why do you feel the need to push everyone away? We're not going to hurt you here, Rogue, I promise. I'm not going to hurt you. So why do you have to hurt us?" She realized Scott was hurt. Her leader, their unbeatable force, was hurt, because of her. She had never felt more ashamed in her life.
Rogue blinked back what she suspected were tears, and turned her head so she wouldn't have to face him. She hadn't felt the need to cry in… God, years. And yet, a guy she had a hopeless schoolgirl crush was nearly reducing her to cry.
"Caught up in a moment that only you can live in
You never know who's giving the air you might breathe in"
And this damned song wasn't making her feel any better. She heard him sigh, deeper this time, and saw out of the corner of her eye him reach for the car keys. "We should probably get back to class, anyway."
Lowering her shields, if only for a moment, she lightly gripped his hand, stopping the movement. She turned her head and murmured, "How about a Slurpee first? My treat." Her lips upturned into a small, toothless smile. This was the closest he would probably ever get to an apology.
"But if you would get to know me
Then maybe you would love me
I'm so ordinary"
He paused, mulling it over. After what seemed like ages, but could have only been a few seconds, he replied, "I don't know, Rogue," her smile dropped, and adopted her angry-girl façade to put her through the rest of the day, "I don't think Principal Kelly would be too keen on us mutants skipping homeroom like humans."
Rogue stared, breaking out into a full grin. "Eh, I think he can handle it."
"City lights shine down on the place that I call home
Surrounded by a million but I feel like I'm alone"
Scott left the car, waiting for her to do the same. She smiled. "Why don't you go ahead? Ah'll be here- Ah just wanna hear the rest of this song." He smiled, trusting her, and walked into the 7-11. Her hand hovered over the keys as she waited for the song to end.
"And I might be a nobody to you
But somewhere, they're gonna listen."
She smiled. She didn't need to worry. She'd already found the people who would listen to her.
"Rogue?" Scott asked, poking his head out the door. "You coming in?" He grinned boyishly, but she could still see the lines of worry under that smile.
"This is Smooth Jazz 101.5, and that was Saving Jane with their new hit, Ordinary. Now if that doesn't make me wanna break out the ole' Kleenex, I don't know what does."
Rogue glanced at the radio and without a second thought, pulled out the car keys. "'Course, Scott," she replied, getting out of his car, "Do ya really think I'd skip out on you like that?" She smirked, pulling the door to the store open…
…Only to watch the Brotherhood of Mutants come out from one of the various aisles, Slurpees in hand. She eyed Scott concernedly. He looked an odd combination of pissed and joyful. She could only guess what that meant to the Brotherhood.
As Scott and Lance eyed each other, both ready for a fight, Rogue found herself smiling. Afterall, Rogue was a mutant. She battled bad guys and helped save the world each day. She had no need for Ordinary.
$4$
(1) Blame ClaudiaR. She reminded of that fateful "moo-juice" episode. While I remember it only vaguely, I figured putting the phrase in was the least I could do, considering how Claudia's putting up with me long enough to beta my work.
Do you know this is about 7½ pages long? That's about 4½ pages longer than I'd intended! So much for a quick 2-parter…
Again, a big thank you to ClaudiaR!