Chapter 10

The rest of the day seemed to drag by. Scott found he had one class with Jean and two with Taryn before lunch. He wasn't impressed by her lack of interest in learning, but she seemed nice enough. So far, he had no real reason to dislike the girl.

Now, he was going to eat lunch with her and her friends. Meaning, he was going to eat lunch with Jean and Duncan. He suppressed the less than kind feelings he had at the thought of being anywhere near the jock, and instead plastered on an uneasy smile. Hopefully, no one would figure out it was because Taryn was walking so close to him, and not 'new guy nerves'.

Jean sighed and picked at her lunch. This was the first time in a while – not long, but it seemed like forever – that she ate lunch at school. She was surprised her off campus escapades weren't caught, but was nonetheless thankful for it. She didn't need the mark marring her perfect record.

She forgot how disgusting the food was here, and hadn't thought to make a lunch before leaving that morning. It was only once she was in Duncan's car that she remembered she wouldn't be going to some cozy little Mexican restaurant with a waitress that flirted far too much. She still refused to admit she was jealous of the way Scott looked at Eleanor.

He's a guy, she reminded herself. It's only natural that he be attracted to beautiful women. And there's no way Eleanor could be considered anything but beautiful.

"Jean? You okay?" Duncan asked when his girlfriend gave a low growl. She blinked, coming back to herself, and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled.

"Okay," Duncan said, and turned back to his lunch. Jean was insulted he didn't care that she was, obviously, far from fine, but ignored the feeling. Instead, she allowed relief that he wasn't pushing her to talk to wash over her.

"Hey guys," Taryn greeted enthusiastically. Jean looked up to greet her, only to stop when she saw Scott. Judging by the way Duncan had suddenly begun choking on his sandwich, he noticed him too. "This is Scott Summers. He's going to eat lunch with us."

"He is?" Duncan asked harshly, and was elbowed by his girlfriend. "Ow!"

"Hi," Lily greeted when Scott sat across from her, next to Taryn. She leaned against the table, and fluttered her eyelashes girlishly. "I'm Lily."

"Lils," the guy beside her said warningly.

"Sorry Marcus," Lily giggled. "I'm just greeting him."

He glared at Scott warningly, and wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulders. Scott raised his hands in a placating manner, and Taryn scooted a little closer to him. He frowned at her, but didn't comment, and the action seemed to calm 'Marcus' down.

Taryn smiled at him, and he smiled back – albeit forcedly. She was getting waaay too close for comfort, but at least her close proximity seemed to be lessening the hostility. Well, from Duncan and Marcus at least. Jean looked even less pleased than she had that morning when he told her Taryn was showing him around.

Shaking it away, Scott decided listening to what they were saying was a good idea.

"So, where did you come from?" Lily asked, leaning on the table again.

"Hawaii," Scott answered.

"Really?" Taryn and Lily asked with dreamy looks.

"Yeah," Scott nodded. "Honolulu."

"I hear it's beautiful there," Taryn sighed.

"It is," Scott confirmed. "It's beautiful in Alaska too, though."

"Alaska?" a look of distaste flashed across Marcus's face. "Isn't that place really cold though?"

"To a tourist, yeah. Not to natives though."

"So, it must've been freezing for a Hawaiian, huh?" Taryn smiled knowingly. Scott shook his head.

"Nah, I was born in Alaska. We – my mother, father, little brother, and me – moved to Hawaii when I was eight. Hence why I don't look Hawaiian."

"I was wondering about that," Jean muttered. Scott never told her he was born in Alaska. She felt fleeting jealousy that he would tell Taryn and Lily, but then remembered it was Marcus that actually mentioned how cold it was there.

Scott smiled at her, nodding. He hated when the attention was on him, but he couldn't stop himself from gushing about his homeland. Both of them. They were truly beautiful in his opinion.

"Well, we better watch out for him then," Duncan said with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Jean asked, clenching her teeth warningly. Her boyfriend didn't get the hint to shut his mouth before he said whatever stupid, cruel thing he was going to say. Instead, he just kept talking.

"You know what they say about Alaskians! How weird they are." he laughed.

"Alaskians isn't a word," Scott deadpanned, stopping Duncan's laughter. The blonde blushed and glared at the other boy. So what if it wasn't a word, he was still weird. "And it's Canadians that're considered weird, though really I think it's cruel for people to say such things about them. I mean aren't our cultures odd to them?"

Jean gasped. That was exactly how she felt! She could joke around, but she hated when other people or countries were put down. It always seemed so...heartless to her. Figures Scott would feel the same way she did, now why couldn't Duncan?

Taryn blinked. She was about to laugh when Scott corrected Duncan, but then he went on about Canadians. She was a bit irked at his apparent intelligence, despite the lack of big words, in his sentences. All the same, she decided, a smart boy was just that much better. She smiled and hugged his arm.

"Wow, how...intelligent!"

Scott frowned and gently moved her away from his arm. He smiled slightly, nervousness evident despite his eyes being hidden, and Jean felt a smirk pull at her lips. She could tell he didn't want to be around Taryn, and that filled her with hope again. Hope for what, she didn't know, but it was there!

"Scott, can I talk to you for a minute?" Taryn asked, already standing.

Scott looked at her confused, glanced at Jean whom was also frowning, and gave a reluctant nod to Taryn. As she pulled him away, his gaze went back to Jean. She was watching them with a hint of suspicion in her gaze. Smiling forcedly at Scott, she reminded herself that he obviously didn't want to be around Taryn as much as she wanted to be around him.

"Did I say something wrong?" he asked when they stopped, away from the table and in a relatively secluded spot.

"No, no, it's not that!" Taryn reassured. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out after school. I could show you around Bayville or something."

"Oh, I...uh..." Scott looked around, hoping to come up with an excuse. Nothing. "I guess so..."

"Great!" she completely ignored the hesitation in his answer. Instead, smiling brightly, she all but skipped back to the table. Scott followed at a much slower pace, blushing at the knowing looks on everyone's faces, and the confused one on Jean's. With a forced smile, he sat down and started in on his lunch.

&&&&&&

Rogue sighed and looked at the clock. She was getting worried. It was nearly six, and Scott still wasn't back. Jean returned from any 'after school time' spent with Duncan an hour ago, in a very bad mood Rogue was surprised to note. No one had ever seen the redhead so pissed off! Even Pyro and Amara were keeping their distance.

Remy watched as Rogue looked at the clock for the sixth time that hour. She was a nervous wreck when he left for school, worried about what might happen. Remy's jealousy was beginning to flare up again. She never worried about him like that! Did she?

He made a note to find out one day just how worked up Rogue got while he was gone. With mental groan, he noticed her look at the clock once more. She just wasn't going to calm down until he was home again. Remy glared at the wall. Scott kept Rogue's attention away from him even when he wasn't here. They had to get Jean and him together!

"Chere," he drawled, moving closer to her on the couch. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, and pulled her to his chest.

"Hm?" Rogue didn't even turn to look at him, her gaze stuck firmly on the grandfather clock. "What?"

Remy glared, then silently reminded himself Scott was all about Jean right now. He wasn't taking Rogue away from him, so there was no need to warrant a good ole fashioned jealous boyfriend beating. Moving his mouth next to Rogue's ear, he blew his hot breath out. She just squirmed away from him.

"Stop it, Rems, Ah'm busy."

Remy frowned. She never told him to stop it before! Well, except for that one time when they were at a meeting with the senator for mutant-human rights. Everyone else was out of town, and the professor wanted them to come along. Besides, Rogue made a good bodyguard. That was different though! She wasn't spending most of her time trying to set up a new boy then!

"Busy doin' wha'? Watchin' a clock?" he crossed his arms with a hmph, and Rogue turned to face him for the first time. She smiled guiltily, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Ya know that ain't what Ah meant, sugah. Ah'm just worried 'bout him, that's all."

"More den y' ever worry 'bout Remy, he bet." Gambit was clearly miffed at her lack of attention to him.

"Now that ain't true!" Rogue protested, thinking back to the time he was sent to New Orleans. It was a mission he had to do on his own, and she'd spent the whole week he was gone worrying. Even Jean was telling her to calm down and loosen up!

"Really?" Remy smirked at her, interested to hear that story. "Wha' happen, chere?"

Rogue glared and crossed her arms. Her cheeks tinged a light pink from embarrassment. She hated admitting how worried she got over the swamp rat. It just...it made her feel all vulnerable!

"None o' yo' business!" she said defiantly.

"Bu' Remy be t'inkin' it is his business, chere. It be him y' were worried 'bout after all."

Rogue glared. She wasn't falling for it, not even that pout was going to tempt her! Really, it wasn't. Well, it couldn't hurt to tell him a little bit of how worked up she go...NO! Rogue shook the thought away, turned her head from Remy, and closed her eyes for good measure. She wasn't taking any chances!

Lucky for her, the door opened and Scott stepped inside. He looked exhausted, and more than a little bored. Smiling at Rogue and Gambit, he plopped down in the seat across from them.

"Finally!" Rogue exclaimed, jumping up. "Where have you been?"

Scott blinked, though no one could see, and looked at her a bit disorientated. "Huh?"

"Don't you 'huh' meh, city boy! Ah was worried sick! Ya gonna give meh white hair!" Rogue's hands were on her hips, and she had a very stern look on her face.

"Uh, chere?" Remy called tentatively.

"What?"

"Y' hair's already white."

Rogue blinked and fingered the white streaks. "Oh yeah...well, that ain't th' point! Th' point is Ah was worried sick!"

"You sound like my mother, first of all," Scott said with a sigh. "Second of all, I would've been glad to come home earlier, but Taryn wanted to show me around Bayville. All of Bayville."

"All of Bayville?" Remy irked a brow.

"Well, the most romantic parts of it anyway. Then, she just kept going on about what a great couple Jean and Duncan are, and how long they've been together. I was getting sick, so she finally let me drive her home."

"What about her car?" Rogue asked, sitting down. She was interested in knowing more about this Taryn. If she was gonna be a hindrance to the plan...

"Can't drive," Scott said with a shrug. "Usually her friend, Lily, drives her, but she conveniently left today."

"Ah see..." Rogue mulled that over. She remembered seeing the two girls when they were looking for Jean. After Pyro answered the door one day, they hadn't come back to the institute. She couldn't imagine why.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Scott announced finally. "I've officially been bored to tears, I think I deserve a nap."

Rogue nodded and watched him go. Once he was out of sight, she turned to Remy with a deep frown marring her features. Remy looked at her questioningly.

"Ah think we may need that help sooner than expected."

"Quoi?"

"C'mon Remy! Ya got three guesses as t' why some chick is draggin' Scott around t' th' romantic parts o' Bayville, an' then go on about what a great couple Jean an' Dumb Kid make, th' first two don't count."

Remy frowned. "Chere, maybe dis'll all work itself out. No need t' butt in anymore, right?"

"Ya do realize," Rogue said with a sly smirk, "that if this Taryn gal keeps it up, Ah'll have to work even longer on gettin' Scott an' Red t'gether."

"Gambit get da pryos."

"That's what Ah thought."

&&&&&&

"So, let me get this straight," Amara said, clasping her hands in front of her. "Taryn Fujioka is becoming an obstacle?"

"That's how it seems, sug." Rogue nodded. Amara grinned.

"We'd be glad ta help!"

"Yeah!" Pyro grinned maniacally.

"We'll make 'em burn!"

"Yeah!"

"We'll make it hot, hot, hot!"

"Yeah!"

"And we'll do it free of charge!"

"Yea- say what now?" Pyro looked at his darling flame as though she were sane. Surely, she couldn't have just said what he thought she said.

"Sweetheart, please," Amara soothed. "When you see Taryn, you'll understand. Besides," she pouted cutely, "she was mean to me before."

"What? I'll make her pay!" John stuck his arm valiantly in the air, as though making a great proclamation. Amara grinned and kissed his cheek, before turning her attention back to Rogue and Gambit. She stuck her hand out, and waited for Rogue to shake it.

"Good doin' business with ya, Rogue. You won't be disappointed."

"Ah'm sure Ah won't."