15
Rogue woke up the next day, ready for school. She entered the kitchen, finding just Colossus and Pyro there. Colossus had made breakfast. Rogue sat down, saying good morning. Pyro grabbed his breakfast and then went to go and watch his cartoons. Rogue noticed Gambit wasn't there. She hadn't seen him since their argument yesterday and, well, it was kind of worrying. She'd gone into thought though. She wondered how she was going to get to school. She didn't think Gambit would give her a lift now or let her borrow his bike. Well, not unless she wanted to piss him off more which she didn't. She realised now how she'd actually come to rely on him giving her a lift. She guessed she could hot wire one of the cars.
"Do you mind if I take you to school today?" Colossus asked her as he placed her breakfast down in front of her.
"Errrr, why?" Rogue asked.
"Gambit is away on business today. He asked if I could drop you off and pick you up." Colossus said.
Rogue stared at Colossus for a moment. So, Gambit had been in contact with him. She wondered if he was around, but avoiding her. It did kind of feel that way.
"Rogue?" Colossus called again.
"Sorry. Yeah, if ya don't mind, that is?" Rogue said, smiling.
Now Colossus smiled at her. "Of course not. I do know that you can drive yourself, however it will be nice to see you off to school." Colossus said, sitting down.
Rogue noticed he looked a little sad as he said that. She knew that, if that was her, she'd probably want to be left alone. But... well, Colossus had been there to listen to her troubles all night and he did try helping her out. She decided to ask.
Rogue tilted her head in wondered, "You ok?" she asked.
"Oh, yes… I was just thinking of my sister." Colossus said
"You have a sister?" Rogue asked.
"Yes. I remember when I used to walk her to school and pick her up afterwards." He said.
Rogue smiled at seeing Colossus smile at the memory. She did notice him use past tense though.
"Do ya still see ya sister?" She asked.
Now, he looked sad. " Unfortunately not. She is back in Russian."
Rogue felt bad for the man. He looked so sad about that. "What's she like?" Rogue asked.
Colossus smiled. "She is a free spirit. A lot like yourself."
Rogue scoffed at that, remembering her conversation with Kitty last night and how she realised how unfree she was "I ain't really free." Rogue said.
"No, but you are determined to be. You have a goal, a dream and nothing will stop you from that. My sister, she always wanted to come to America. She wanted to go to university here. She was very cleaver." He said.
There was that passed tense again.
"Do ya mind if I ask why she never came ta America with ya?" Rogue asked.
Colossus seemed uncomfortable.
"She fell ill." He said.
"Oh Pete, I'm sorry." Rogue said.
Colossus didn't meet her eyes. "I came here because I was offered work that would pay for her medical bills. Magneto is keeping her alive as long as I co-operate."
Rogue stayed quiet. She felt sympathy towards the big friendly giant. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to fight. He just wanted to save his sister's life so she could go to university. Rogue understood how he felt. It wasn't like she wasn't here without a catch. She had to stay and do what Magneto told her to if she wanted to keep the freedom she had.
"Please do not discuss my business with the others. They do not know and I would like to keep it that way." He said.
Rogue nodded, feeling, well, kind of honoured that he would share this information with her and no one else. "Sure thing. Can you keep what I told you about school quiet too please? Or did you already tell Gambit you knew?"
He shuck his head, no. "He did not ask and I did not tell him. He is a smart man, however. He will figure it out eventually."
Rogue nodded, wondering how the conversation had ended up on her and Gambit again. She guessed it was because Colossus was just a selfless, caring man. A man who had been kind to her and helped her since day one and she couldn't seem to return the favour since she couldn't do anything to help his sister. Then she decided that she didn't want to start the day on a low. "So, what you up to today? After droppin' meh off from school, I mean."
Colossus smiled at Rogue, feeling quite happy that she was speaking to him more, "I will most likely return to be ordered by Magneto to move some equipment around."
"Do ya always do all the heavy lifting?" Rogue asked, wondering why Magneto couldn't make an appearance and help the guy out.
"Most of the time. Gambit and Pyro cannot lift the things I do." He said.
Rogue snorted, "Yeah, well they could sure help movin' the things they can."
"Gambit normally cooks daily. He pitches in his fair share." Colossus said.
"What about Sabretooth and Pyro?" Rogue asked.
Colossus shuck his head, no.
Rogue snorted, "Well, we'll have ta change that, won't we?" Rogue said, figuring out a way where she might be able to repay Colossus for his help.
Colossus only chuckled. "Free spirit." He said.
Xxxxx
Colossus drove Rogue up to the front of the school in the van they had. Rogue climbed out, noticing a few stares. Then she was surprised to see Colossus get out of the van as well.
"You alright?" She asked.
He smiled down at her. "I believe I should be asking you that question. A lot of people are looking at you." He said, eyeing the crowd.
"Yeah… Probably doesn't help that I just showed up ta school with another guy." She said.
Colossus turned to look at her. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. If any of them do push you too far, you can send them my way."
Rogue sniggered at that, "You really are a great big brother typa guy, you know." She said.
Colossus' smile grew wider, "I believe that was flirting, but it was good flirting."
Rogue raised her eyebrow at that, "There's good flirting?" she asked.
He nodded, "We can discuss types of flirting later. Otherwise, I believe you will be late for school. Is that your friend?" he asked, pointing at Risty who was running towards them.
"Yeah, that's Risty. She's good." Rogue said.
"Hey Rogue," Risty said.
"Hi Risty," Rogue said.
"Who's this?" Risty asked.
"Oh, this is Pete. Pete this is Risty, ma friend." Rogue introduced.
Colossus reached out his hand for Risty to shake it. Risty took it smiling.
"Hello, I am Rogue's, erm, stepbrother." He said.
"Really?" Risty said, her eyebrow raising. Rogue tilted her head at Colossus but had a small smirk on her face. That was a nice lie she could get behind. "I didn't know you had a stepbrother, Rogue." Risty said.
Rogue shrugged, "Guess I forgot to mention it. Do you have any siblings?" Rogue asked.
Risty looked taken back by this, "Erm, no. Just me. Come on, we best get going. It was nice to meet you by the way, Pete."
Colossus nodded in response, "Take care of my sister now and Rogue, have a good day." He said.
Rogue smiled up at the man. He really was a kind soul. Rogue watched Colossus get back in the van and begin to drive off.
As Rogue and Risty were heading into school, a group of cheerleaders approached them.
"Seriously girl, do you just have sexy, gorgeous men lined up around the corner or something?" Stacy asked.
"Hey, that's ma step-brother I'll have you know." Rogue said, enjoying the look that swept over Stacy's face.
"Really? That's your stepbrother? Is he single?" she asked.
Rogue felt rage building within her, but tried to keep her cool. Colossus had told her just to keep calm and brush them away, so she was going to do that.
"I don't really wanna talk about ma brother's love life." Rogue said.
"Oh, right. We like, totally get that. Don't we girls?" Stacy asked, getting an agreement from the other girls.
"So, have you thought over whether you're going to try out?" Stacy asked.
"Actually, I have. And I'm very grateful for the opportunity your givin' meh, but I'm afraid I just can't. You know, because of ma condition. But I'll be there at every match and tournament to cheer you girls on and watch you smash the other teams." Rogue said.
"Oh, yeah. Cool!" Stacy said, seeming rather disappointed.
The first bell rang, "That's the first bell. We best get to class. I don't wanna get another detention again. Speak to you later Stacy. Bye girls." Rogue said, walking off with Risty.
"Rogue, are you feeling alright?" Risty asked.
"Yeah, why?" Rogue asked.
"You just completely turned away the cheer squads advances and didn't get hate for it." Risty said.
Rogue shrugged her shoulders at Risty's confusion. "Yeah, hopefully they'll leave meh be. But, if not, I'll just keep bein' friendly and turnin' em down politely. But, if they do leave meh alone, then that only leaves one problem remaining."
"You mean Duncan Matthews?" Risty asked, raising her eyebrow.
And, as if on cue, Duncan was behind them and wrapping his arm around Rogue's shoulder. Rogue stiffened and stopped at feeling his arm around her.
"Hey Rogue. We missed you last night. Where were you?" Duncan asked.
"Oh, I, erm, ended up in detention." Rogue said, reaching up and grabbing Duncan's arm.
"Wow, that sucks." He said, "Hey, today after school, we're all going out to the mall. You joining us?" Duncan said, more like a command then a question. He'd taken Rogue reaching her hand up to mean she liked the gesture and took hold of Rogue's gloved hand in his.
"Actually," Rogue said, ducking out of Duncan's arm, "ma stepbrother just flew in last night. I promised I'll help him unpack and spend some time with him." Rogue said.
Duncan looked confused at Rogue placing his arm by his side. "Wait, stepbrother?" Duncan questioned.
Rogue nodded her head, "Yeah, he dropped meh off this mornin'. I think he's gonna be droppin' meh off and pickin' meh up from now on."
"I could give you a lift," Duncan said, giving Risty a little shove as he stepped closer to Rogue and reached his arm out so he had her pinned against the lockers. "Pick you up. Drop you off. Be better if it was me rather than that freak that's been stroking you or some brother. You don't want some brother craping your style after all, do you?"
"Actually," Rogue said, trying to think of something, "Remy actually apologised to meh last night. He seemed to finally realise what he was doin' was upsettin' meh. He was real nice about it. And, I kinda want ma brother ta drop meh off. It's just, it's been a long time since I've seen him or spent anytime with him, you know. He's really good ta meh and I'll barely get to see him durin' the week since I'm at school and stuff."
"You'll have the weekend to spend with him." Duncan said.
"He works weekends." Rogue said, knowing it wasn't exactly a lie.
"Cool, then we can hang out this weekend." Duncan said.
"Actually, it's ma career's birthday this weekend, so we're throwing him a party." Rogue said.
"Oh," Duncan said, seeming to look a little defeated. He started to look annoyed. That wasn't good.
"I'm sorry. I would hang with you, but I thought I heard that you and Jean were going to the movies this weekend or something." Rogue said.
"Huh?" Duncan said.
"Yeah," Rogue said, "I heard Jean and you were really good friends and that you two were going to plan to spend some alone time together or something."
"Who told you that?" Duncan almost snapped.
"Oh, I'm not too sure of her name. Maybe she got it wrong. But, I have heard from a few people that you and Jean are really tight. You've been her rock, haven't you? Supporting her with her football stuff?" Rogue said, she tilted her head and tried to smile gently. "I think that's really kind of you Duncan. She's such a lucky girl."
"Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, of course I support her. She's our school's star player. Well, for a girl that is." He said.
Rogue didn't like him knocking Jean just because of her sex, but she held onto that kind smile. The second bell rang and Rogue wanted to swear under her breath. She had maths first and, already, her math's teacher didn't like her.
"I better get to class. I don't want to get detention again." Rogue said.
"Oh, right." Duncan said.
Rogue and Risty then walked to class.
"Girl, you are on fire today!" Risty said.
"Let's hope so. The day's only just begun after all." Rogue said.
Xxxxx
Rogue was staring at Jean who sat near the front of the classroom. Occasionally, she had to look away when she noticed Jean turning to look at her. She did it quite a few times, actually.
When the class ended, Rogue was grasping at straws, trying to figure out how to talk to Jean. She'd been trying to keep her head clear, knowing she was a telepath.
Jean packed her bag, but got distracted by someone talking to her and a book fell out of it without her noticing. After Jean left the room, Rogue snatched the book up and went after Jean.
"Excuse meh," Rogue called after Jean, "I think you dropped this."
Jean had turned and eyed the book, "Oh, thank you." She said, not smiling much.
"Hey, you're Jean Grey, aren't you?" Rogue asked, smiling at Jean.
In her mind, she kept repeating words that actually made her sick like: Oh whoa, she really is so pretty. I wish I was as pretty as her. I can't believe that's her natural hair colour. It's gorgeous. She's so talented.
"Erm, yes. I am. Your Rogue, aren't you? The new girl?" Jean asked, seeming a bit awkward.
"Yeah, I am. Sorry, I'm sure I must be bein' so rude right now just comin' up ta ya and all. I just feel like I know ya, is all. Duncan told meh all about ya yesterday." Rogue said.
"He did?" Jean asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Yeah! He told meh about how you were really smart and the star football player. He seemed ta really have a thing for ya. I think he even mentioned wantin' ta ask ya out to the movies at the weekend or something, but he wasn't too sure if you'd go for it." Rogue said.
"He was?" Jean asked.
"Yeah. All the cheerleaders were shooting down the movie he wanted to go see though, so I don't know if he asked ya or not because of that. The girls kept sayin' it wasn't a romatic movie ta take ya to and for him to find somethin' else. I think he's strugglin' for ideas though." Rogue said.
"Huh," Jean said.
Rogue felt Jean in her mind then and, although she hated it, she let her in a little. She even made up a fake scene of the cheerleaders talking to Duncan.
"I'll have to go talk to him then. See if he'd prefer to hit the bench instead. Hey, I'm sorry I've not introduced myself. But it is nice to meet you." Jean said, now smiling, charmed by the idea that Duncan was going to ask her out.
"Yeah, you too. I'll be routin' for ya at your next game! I'm sure you'll give the away team a run for there money, no sweat." Rogue said.
"Oh, I don't know about that." Jean said.
"Don't be silly. I didn't get ta see you play last time because of those fireworks going cuckoo, but I'm sure you can do it! You work really hard at everything from what I can see. I think it's really cool how your always getting the answers right in class. I kinda suck at maths." Rogue said.
"Yeah, it can be challenging. Hey, but if you ever need any help, I'll be happy to tutor you." Jean said.
"Oh really? Sweet! I might just take ya up on that offer. Well, I best get ta ma next class. See ya later." Rogue said, waving Jean goodbye.
Jean watched Rogue go, realising that she actually thought Rogue was sweet.
Xxxxx
The rest of the day passed by pretty easily. There was gossip about Rogue having a hot, single stepbrother and that Jean and Duncan might be hooking up again, but there was next to no talk about her.
By dinner, Rogue joined Risty in collecting her dinner.
"I think you've done it girl! Everyone's talking about Jean and Duncan hooking up this weekend.
"I'm not outta the woods yet. I've still gonna make sure Duncan stops tryin' with meh. If he marches the whole school outside again ta come sit with meh and ignores Jean, then everything might go out the window." Rogue explained.
"Yeah, I can see how that might be an issue." Risty said, "What you going to do if he does?" Risty asked as they stepped out of the queue with their food. They began to move slowly away.
"I'm tryna figure that out." Rogue said.
"Well, maybe sitting at a table that's already full might work. Issue is, the cheerleaders and Duncan might take offence to that." Risty said.
"Yeah, I know." Rogue said, glancing stopping and standing with her lunch. Rogue was looking around for ideas.
Then, she saw Kitty leave the queue. She couldn't help but remember the Kitty in her mind. She'd been moody first, of course, but she'd actually been pretty nice to her. In both person and mind. She got an idea, a possibly risky one, but it might just work.
"Hey, Kitty!" Rogue said, waving towards Kitty.
Kitty turned to see Rogue waving at her as she finished gathering her food.
"Oh, hi Rogue, Risty." Kitty said, coming to stand with them. "How's it goin'?"
"Good," Rogue said, "Actually, we were just wonderin' if we could sit with you today, that is, if you don't mind the extra company. Of course, we completely understand if you don't. It's just, we've not really talked or hung out since yesterday." Rogue said.
"Oh, yeah, like, totally. Erm, but I thought you were sitting with the cheerleaders?" Kitty questioned.
Rogue shrugged, "Yeah, yesterday they joined us. They wanted ta know if I wanted ta join the cheer squad. I told 'em no though so I don't think they'll want meh hanging around."
"Oh, that's too bad. But, yeah! Come sit with us. The guys won't mind. Come on, we're sat outside." Kitty said, leading the way.
Risty glanced at Rogue with a raised eyebrow. Rogue just followed after Kitty and Risty followed Rogue.
"So, how was your second day? I know I, like, totally hated being the new kid." Kitty asked. Rogue felt a bit sad for Kitty then. She remembered her memories of being bullied in school.
"It's not bad." Risty said, "Well, except for all the schoolwork! They really do lay it on thick here, don't they?"
"Well, yeah, but I have no idea what English school is like. Is it really that different?" Kitty asked Risty.
"Hey Rogue!" Someone called out.
Rogue turned to see Stacy waving her over. Rogue waved back, feeling a bit panicky.
"Oh, are you, like, going to sit with them? I think they want you to." Kitty said.
"I'm just gonna be friendly. I'd like ta get to know you more." Rogue said, beginning to walk over to the cheerleaders.
Risty and Kitty followed behind Rogue.
Stacy seemed to stare at Kitty and Risty confused, before putting her attention back on Rogue.
"Hi Stacy. How's it going?" Rogue asked.
"Pretty great. Well, that is after you tell us some more about that juicy stepbrother of yours." Stacy said.
"Oh come on," Rogue fake laughed, "You know I don't wanna discuss ma brother's romantic life."
"Awww, come on Rogue. It's no fair you keeping all the juicy guys. First, that cute biker guy and now your brother. How are things with that stalker anyway? Why didn't he drop you off today?" Stacy asked.
Rogue looked down at her feet, looking sorrowful. She instantly had felt guilty at hearing Gambit being called a stalker. Rogue tried to think how to wing this and clear up Gambit's reputation.
"Actually, he talked ta meh last night about a few things." Rogue said, knowing it was a half-truth.
"Oh, really? Like how he's a creep?" Stacy asked, getting a few chuckles from around the table.
"Actually, he opened up ta meh about something. It turns out he was just being overprotective of meh in the best way he knew how because his sister passed away last year." Rogue said.
There were a few stunned faces around the table. Rogue decided to work with that.
"Yeah, I know. I felt awful after he told me. It turns out she got attacked by some thugs at her school and was left ta die in an alleyway. Remy was really broken up by his sister's death. He… kind of blames himself for what happened, even though there was nothing he could have done. Then, when he met me, well, we actually got on really well right from the beginin'." Rogue then began to chuckle a little at the wicked ideas that entered her head. "He actually caught meh from fallin' outta a tree and carried meh all the way to a hospital 'cause he didn't have his ride with him. He visited meh every day and even brough meh flowers at one point. He knew I hated hospitals and he always stayed as long as he could with meh just ta make time go faster."
"Awww," a few girls around the table said.
"Yeah, he really was a sweetheart. He even stopped some guys from muggin' meh once then bought meh a phone just so I could call him if I ever needed him. After those guys tried muggin' meh though, that's when he started to get overprotective. He explained last night that I reminded him of his sister and that he just wanted to protect meh so that what happened to her didn't happen ta meh. He apologised for bein' so overbarin', but he was honestly just tryna look out for meh." Rogue finished.
"So… he really is a sweet guy after all?" Stacy asked.
"Oh yeah. Totally." Rogue said.
"And single." Stacy muttered.
Rogue couldn't stop the frown that fell on her face, but she quickly replaced it with a, sort of, smile.
"Where is he now? How come he didn't drop you off today?" Stacy asked.
"Oh, he went to visit his sister's grave back in New Orleans. Today's the anniversary of her death." Rogue said.
"Oh," Stacy said, "Do you know when he'll be back?"
"Not really. He's takin' as much time as he needs right now and I completely back him on that." Rogue said.
"Yeah, he must be heartbroken. Come sit with us and tell us more." Stacy said.
"Actually, I kinda promised I'd sit with Kitty today," Rogue said, referring to Kitty who waved awkwardly, "We've not actually had the chance to talk and caught up so we're gonna do that. Maybe another time." Rogue said, waving goodbye to Stacy and the cheerleaders.
Kitty and Risty were at her sides as she began walking towards the X-Men's table.
"Whoa, like, Remy really went through all that?" Kitty asked.
"Yeah, kinda hard to believe isn't it? I never woulda know he was keepin' such a big secret like that. If I woulda known sooner, I never would have acted the way I did around him." Rogue said.
When Rogue glanced at Risty, she saw that Risty's face was questioning. Almost like she didn't believe her.
Kitty had looked away, thinking about Rogue's words.
When they approached the X-Men's table, it was to find Scott and Kurt looking questioningly between the three.
"Hey guys, this is Rogue and Risty. Well, you already, like, know Rogue Scott, but this is Scott and Kurt. Risty and Rogue are gonna be sitting with us today. Isn't that, like, cool?" Kitty said, taking a seat.
Rogue sat next to Kitty and Risty next to her.
"Errr, yeah. Cool." Scott repeated, now trying to smile at them. "So what's up?" Scott asked them.
"Not much. Just getting used to the place. Meeting new people. Kitty here, we actually meet yesterday, but didn't have a lot of time to talk to since we were heading towards our classes, right Rogue." Risty said.
"Oh, yeah. Right. We just wanted to catch up and say hi and all." Rogue said.
"Oh, yeah. We've got our English class this afternoon. We've got to read those stupid lines out, don't we? You alright with that?" Scott asked.
"Yeah," Rogue said, actually looking behind Scott at Jean and Duncan talking. The other X-Men turned to see where Rogue was looking. Rogue smiled to herself as she saw Jean laughing and Duncan reach out to touch her shoulder. Rogue couldn't hear them, but from the looks of things, she'd succeed in getting Jean and Duncan back together.
When Scott turned back around though, he looked annoyed.
"Hey, wasn't Duncan, like, hitting on you all of yesterday?" Kitty asked.
Rogue felt a little awkward at being reminded of that.
"Oh, yeah. Sort of. But he wouldn't stop talkin' about Jean. I think he might be askin' her out or something. He said he wanted to do something with her at the weekend." Rogue said.
"Hey, weren't you sat with the cheerleaders too? I hope you don't mind my asking, but why are you not at with them?" Kurt asked.
"Well dur," Kitty said, "She, like, totally wanted to spend some time with me. I mean, us."
"Really? How come?" Scott asked.
"Oh, I just wanted ta be friendly. Kitty did try and pull meh out from under those benches after all. Who wouldn't want to know the girl who tried ta save ya life." Rogue said.
When she glanced at Risty, she saw that Risty didn't look too happy.
"Oh, you remember that?" Scott asked.
"Well, foggily," Rogue said, touching her head, "I did kinda get knocked on the head after all. But I asked Kitty if it was her who I saw trying to help meh and she told me she did."
"Yeah, then those stupid benches fell on me!" Kitty said.
"I still appreciate the effort. Ya were a real hero back there." Rogue said, finding it somewhat easy to talk to Kitty since last night.
"Oh, well, you know. It was like nothing." Kitty said, blushing and giggling.
Rogue realised she might have just flirted with Kitty but… was that the good flirting Colossus had told her about? She didn't seem to dislike it or anything. In fact, nothing bad seemed to be coming from it. No one looked upset or jealous or anything.
"So, are you a cheerleader?" Kurt asked.
"No, I can't do that. I have a skin condition." Rogue said.
"Really? Like what? If you don't mind my asking." Scott said.
Rogue shrugged, "I don't really like talking about it, but I do kinda bruise really easily. In fact, all ma body's covered in bruises at the moment. I get them so easily. Sometimes, just off people strokin' meh. I've had it for as long as I can remember which made growin' up a little difficult in the southern heat when I had ta dress up fully clothed. I sun burn easily as well, like, bad." Rogue said.
"Huh? So, it's a medical condition?" Scott asked.
"Yep. Gotta go visit doctors all the time." Rogue said,
"Right. So, there's no possibility it might be something else?" Scott asked.
"What do you mean?" Rogue asked, tilting her head to the side and putting on a stupid look.
"Oh, well, I was just wondering if it was something, erm, inherited? Or, I don't know, maybe something else." Scott said.
"Nope, it's definitely a medical condition. It's made ma life hell since I was a little kid. Doesn't seem to be gettin' any worse, but it also doesn't seem ta be gettin' any better. It looks like I'm basically gonna be a bruised tomato all ma life." Rogue said.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Scott said.
Rogue just shrugged, "It is what it is. Just gonna make the best of it. So, what's everyone doing at the weekend, huh?" Rogue asked.
The conversation went on from there with mainly Kitty, Scott and Kurt talking. Jean eventually came over to join them and seemed surprised to see Rogue.
"Oh, hey. How's it going Rogue? Errr,-"
"Risty. Risty Wilde." Risty said for Jean, shaking her hand.
"Risty."
"Just gettin' by. We were just talkin' 'bout what we all plan to do with our weekends once were out of this hell hole." Rogue said.
"You got any plans?" Risty asked for Rogue which made her smirk.
Jean's eyes had meet Rogue's so turned her smirk into a kind smile. Then her eyes left on Scott and looked away quickly. Rogue blinked at that. Jean was blushing. Did she have a thing for Scott? Now that was a spanner in the works. But as long as Duncan backed off her, it didn't matter.
Rogue actually glanced over at Duncan who had joined the cheerleaders. Stacy glanced over there way and it seemed she was filling Duncan in on what she was doing. As Jean began to explain her weekend plans with Duncan, Rogue watched Duncan take a seat. It seemed he wasn't going to bother with her this lunch time.
"So ya had ta ask him after all?" Rogue said, picking up on Jean's last line.
"Oh, well, yeah. He didn't seem to have a clue how to ask me." Jean said.
Scott snorted, "Pretty sure he doesn't know how to do a lot of things."
Jean then eyed Scott and Rogue just watched them act like a jealous couple.
"So, did any of you hear about that fair that's supposed to be coming to town? I'm so psyched for it! They didn't release the dates for it, but man, the posters looked awesome.
"Oh yeah. I mean, the wired looking guy on the front kinda freaked me out a bit, but we should like totally go! Hey, maybe we can all go together." Kitty said, glancing at Risty and Rogue.
"Certainly! It that sounds great." Risty said.
However, Rogue wasn't too sure if she should be making plans with the X-Men. She'd just planned to sit with them today to get away from Duncan and also to try and get them to see she wasn't a mutant.
"Erm, it might have ta depend when it is. I can get pretty busy." Rogue said.
"Oh, like, come on Rogue! It'll be fun!" Kitty said.
"Yeah," Risty said, "Don't you wanna have a little fun, huh? Let you hair down and all? By the way, how did you get your hair so long like that? It's all the way down your back."
"Erm," Rogue said. Her long hair had been from when Sabretooth had touched her. She hadn't cut it when she'd shaved all her body. She didn't have time. And, since then, she'd just kept it long. "I just grew it. I think it might need a cut though." Rogue said, holding where her hair had normally stopped.
"Don't cut too much of it off. It looks nice long. Hey, have you ever tried curls?" Jean asked.
"Hmmm, no not really." Rogue said.
"Oh, we could, like, totally have a girl's night and curl it for you. Oh, we should go shopping too!" Kitty said, eyeing up Rogue's clothes. "I'm pretty sure I saw some cute tops that were longed sleeved. You'll look so great in them!"
"Erm, you think?" Rogue asked.
"Yeah, we can like, totally go after school if you want. You're up for a little shopping trip, right? Jean, Risty?" Kitty asked.
"Actually, ma stepbrother's comin' ta pick meh up tonight. He just flew in from Russia and I haven't seen him for such a long time so I wanna spend time with him, you know." Rogue said.
"Oh, well, maybe another time then." Kitty said.
"Who is it you actually live with?" Jean asked, "I mean, not to be rude or anything, but don't you live with that guy on the bike, erm-"
"Remy," Kitty said, then began filling Jean in on the story.
"Whoa," Kurt said after hearing it, "That's like, so wack!"
"Poor guy." Scott said.
Rogue nodded her head in sympathy. "Yeah, he's had a tough time."
"And he's living with you?" Jean asked.
"Erm, well, yeah. Ma stepdad actually took meh in when livin' with ma mother became… difficult. He'd known Remy's family though for a long time and kinda, grew ta care about him like he was his own. He and Remy's parent's talked and they all thought it would be good for him to get out of New Orleans for a bit. Then, of course. Pete's just moved in with us. He spends long amounts on time in Russian and the US. Makes it easier on flight travel." Rogue explained.
"Oh, that makes sense now." Jean explained.
"Yeah. We're like one, broken, messed up family. But it works somehow." Rogue said.
"I think we can relate to that." Scott said, smirking at the others.
"Oh yeah, don't you all live together in that big mansion on the hill?" Risty asked.
Rogue then watched the X-Men try and explain that one which was pretty funny.
When dinner ended, Rogue went to her classes and got on with the rest of the school day pretty normally. Things were starting to look up, she thought.