First Impressions

~*~

Alone,

Taste the salt and taste the pain.

I'm not thinking of you again,

Summer dies and swells rise,

The sun goes down in my eyes

-Third Eye Blind

~*~

"Bonjour," a man called as they stepped out of the orbs. "So, he's comin'."

"Yes," Magneto said. "I'm going to trust you to show him around."

"Oui," the man turned to Pete. "Je suis Remy LeBeau."

"Pete Wisdom," Pete said. "Please tell me that yer not actually French."

"French? Non, Remy be from New Orleans."

Pete rolled his eyes. "An American, almost as bad."

"C'mon, I'll show ya ta your room," Remy said. They walked up the stairs. "Remy has good news and bad news."

"What's that?"

"The bad news is that we have to share rooms."

"The good news?"

"It's me and not John or Pietro."

"What do ya mean?"

"John is... well, insane and Pietro, Remy's never seen a guy so concerned about his hair." He paused in front of the mirror in their room to check on his own hair.

"Right," Pete said slowly.

"Do y' want ta unpack?"

"I'll do it later."

"Bon, den Remy'll introduce ya." They walked downstairs and Remy's face broke out in huge grin. "Chére?"

"Hey, swamp rat," Rogue said from the couch where she and Wanda were sitting.

"What are ya doin' here?" he asked.

"Kitty needed a ride over."

"Kitty?" Pete inquired. "Her name's actually Kitty?"

"Yeah," Rogue said. "Remy, where are your manners?"

"Je suis desolé, chére," Remy said. "Ladies, dis is Pete Wisdom. Pete, dat's Wanda and ma chére, Rogue."

"I ain't yours, swamp rat," Rogue said. Pete looked between the two of them and shook his head lightly. Suddenly another girl came in slamming the door behind her. She was shaking slightly and Pete could see tears in her eyes.

"Rogue, can we go?"

"Um, sure, sugah," Rogue said standing. "I'll see ya later."

"Salut, chére." The two girls walked out.

Lance came in. "Did she leave?"

"Oui," Remy said.

"Damn it," Lance muttered.

"What did you do?"

Lance sighed. "We broke up."

"Again?"

"Why?" Wanda asked.

"She found out about last weekend," Lance said.

"Emma?"

"Yeah." He looked at the people surrounding him.

"Well, mon ami, ya should `ave known better." Suddenly Remy found himself slammed against the wall.

"You told her, didn't you!" Lance demanded.

"Back off now," Remy growled gripping Lance's shirt and beginning to charge it. Lance let go. "De chat is ma chére's best friend."

"So?"

Remy narrowed his eyes. "Mon ami, Rogue be untouchable and Remy's controllin' himself. You hurt de fille. She deserved ta know."

"Screw you, Lebeau."

"Sorry, chér, you're not my type. Wisdom, follow me and I'll introduce you to the others." Bemused, Pete followed Remy out of the room.

"Who was the bird?" he asked.

"Dat was Kitty Pryde," Remy said leading Pete into another room where Pietro and John were playing a video game. "`Bout time de fille leave dat idiot."

"She doesn't seem like the type t' like a guy like `im." Remy sat down on the couch and Pete perched on the arm of one of the chairs. Both took out a cigarette and lit it at the same time.

"That is just scary," Pietro said raising his eyebrows.

"Accordin' ta Rogue de chat and Monsieur Alvers have a... complicated past."

"When they first met he tried to kill her and her family," Pietro said.

"And she dated him?" Pete asked.

"He joined the X-Men for her, that's how they started dating. Honestly, I always thought Lance was completely in love with her. Then that thing with Emma happened..." He shook his head.

"He slept with this Emma bird?" Pete asked

"A-great-many-times," Pietro said looking disgusted. "His room's next to mine. I could hear them, all freakin' night."

"Too much info, mate," John said. "Way too much info." Pietro won the game and the two walked over to Pete. "Rem never introduced us. St. John Allerdyce." John stuck out a hand and Pete took it.

"Pietro Maximoff," Pietro announced and the two shook hands.

"I'm Pete Wisdom," Pete said.

"Don't all of you have homework?" Sabretooth growled as he and Magneto walked in.

"Pietro?" Magneto asked.

"Done, father," Pietro said. Magneto nodded to him.

"What about you, John?"

"You know me, Mr. Bossman, have t' put things off or I won't do `em."

Magneto rolled his eyes. "Right. Remy?"

"Done."

"Pete, you'll be going tomorrow with the others." Pete muttered something that Magneto chose to ignore. Magneto and Sabretooth walked away.

The next morning

Pete walked into the kitchen and sat down heavily. "It's way too bloody early."

"Je sais," Remy said. John bounced in.

"How do I look, mates?" he asked.

Pete's eyes widened as he took in the Australian's wild hair. "It's... you."

Pietro came in still brushing his hair. "I'm-ready."

"Let's go," Remy said. They all grabbed their backpacks. Remy tossed the extra one to Pete.

"I don't bloody believe I'm doin' this," Pete sighed. Remy stashed his bag in the baggage department of his bike before hopping on and taking off. "I guess I ride with you," Pete said looking at John and Pietro.

"No," Magneto said behind him. "John's not responsible enough but I believe you are." He handed Pete a key chain. "The black Thunderbird is yours."

"Me own car?" Pete asked unable to stop his grin.

"Yes. Now, get going, you can follow Pietro. Pietro?"

"Yes, father?"

"Don't go too fast, son." Pietro's face lit up hearing his father call him 'son.'

"I won't." John and Pete got into Pete's car as Pietro sped over to his and pulled out, waiting for the other two before beginning to lead the way. Ten minutes later they pulled in. Remy was already there talking softly to Rogue both glancing, every once in a while at Kitty who was perched at the edge of Rogue's black convertible. Pietro sped over to them.

"We're-gonna-be-late," he announced before running to the school.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say `at's his power," Pete said.

"We never did show you our powers," Remy said. He brought out a card and charged it throwing it into the air where it exploded. Pyro lit his lighter and manipulated the flame making it appear to look like a dragon. Pete turned to Rogue who shrugged.

"Can't show ya unless you want ta be in a coma."

"No thanks," Pete said.

"If I touch some one I drain their energy, life-force, and, if they're a mutant, their power," Rogue told him.

"That has to suck."

Rogue laughed shortly. "That's one way to put it."

Pete walked over to Kitty who was staring down. Her eyes were suddenly level with his crotch so she looked up startled. "What?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Jest wonderin' what yer power is," he said. Kitty stood and phased through him walking to the school. "Okay, `at was just weird."

"Remy's beginnin' ta think he shouldn' have told her," Remy said watching Kitty walking with her head down.

"No," Rogue said softly, just loud enough for Pete who was standing nearby to hear. "Rem, last month she had Hank put her on the pill, what do ya think she was plannin' for this weekend? If that had happened then she had found out it would have killed her."

"And Remy would have had ta kill Rocky."

"Ya ain't the only one," Rogue said her eyes narrowing.

"C'mon, mates," John said brightly. The others followed John inside. Pete walked into homeroom. A few heads turned to watch him, mostly curious about the fact that he was walking in with Remy. Remy himself received many appreciative glances from the female sex. The two men sat next to each other where Remy began to point out the various groups to Pete.

"Over dere y' have de jocks, big, borin' an' rude," he said. He then pointed to the group on the other side. "Dere are de geeks an' nerds, still borin', let's move on. In dat corner y' have an easy lay."

"Wot?" Pete asked laughing shortly.

"Y' heard Remy. De cheerleaders. Most wouldn' even care if y' were a mutant. See, dey're checkin' y' out already."

"I thought ya said you were controllin' yerself?"

"Remy is, dis was before ma chére et moi got together."

"Hi there," one of the cheerleaders said perching herself on the edge of Pete's desk causing her already short skirt to ride up even more. Pete smirked looking over at Remy and raising an eyebrow. The Cajun smirked back and leaned back.

Pete turned to the girl and smiled extending a hand. "`Ey, I'm Pete Wisdom."

"I'm Sherry," she told him.

"Please t' meet ya."

"Are you British?" she practically gushed.

"The accent ain't fake," he told her amused.

"Oh, wow... Where are you from?"

"London."

"Really?" The bell rang and she went back to her own seat.

"She's amazed easily," Pete said.

"Oui," Remy smirked. "Dey ain't known fer deir intelligence." After homeroom Pete went to his first class, English. He sat down surprised when Kitty came in and crossed her arms glaring at him.

"Wot?"

"That's, like, my seat," she said.

"Yer point?"

"Could you, like, move to another one?"

"Hmm... I'm gonna go with no."

"Fine!" She sat down next to him.

"Aren't you too young t' be in this class?"

"It's an honor's course," Kitty said. "Are you smart enough to be here?"

"Oh, the kitten has claws."

She rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Pietro."

"`Ey! `At's an insult, Pryde."

She felt a smile cross her face at his indignant tone. "Good."

"Wot's yer next class?" Pete asked.

"Physics."

Pete grinned. "After that?"

"Advanced chemistry."

"Then lunch."

"Yeah, like, how'd you know?"

He smirked. "Our morning schedule is the same."

"'Just when I thought things couldn't possibly get any worse the sky opened up and the lord said: 'I hate you, Alfalfa'!'" Kitty muttered.

Pete frowned slightly. "Huh?"

"Nothing." The teacher came in and the conversation ended.

"Class we have two new students today," Mrs. Kilgringer announced. "Peter Wisdom, would you stand up?" Muttering something under his breath Pete got to his feet. "Pete come to us all the way from England. Isn't that exciting?!" Pete sat back down feeling a tad freaked out by the woman.

"She's way too bubbly," he muttered.

"And Emma Frost."

"Oh, Hell no," Kitty muttered. Pete looked at this new woman and studied her. She was good looking, blond with a nice figure but to be quite honest he couldn't see why any one would leave the brunette beside him for her. Emma looked directly at Kitty and smirked before sitting down.

"Chill, grasshopper, she's just tryin' t' goad you."

"It's working," the girl snapped. The class passed quickly, to Kitty's relief. She gathered her things and started out.

"Show me t' me room?" Pete asked.

"Sure," Kitty said. "Just-" Her words were lost when she saw Lance and Emma leaning against one of the lockers making out. Her eyes blurred with tears.

"Don't give `im the satisfaction of seein' ya cry," Pete told her softly. Kitty nodded and walked, head held high, into the girl's bathroom. "Now how and I gonna find me room?"