Rogue tramped across the green grass that seemed to run rampant along the campus grounds. The day was beautiful, and Rogue would have enjoyed it immensely, had she not been wearing so many clothes. But she couldn't risk an accidental touch. It could jeopardize everything here, and for the first time she could remember, she really wanted things to go well. Who knew…maybe even after she'd finished schooling here, she could come back and teach? The thought filled her with a secret excitement. Maybe one day she might even be able to help out someone like her. She'd never even considered her future before, and this first idea scared her just as much as it made her want to succeed.
It was too soon to let herself have hope for the future, though. Not even if she couldn't make it to one high school level class. She hurriedly turned left at the fountain in the direction of her next class. At least, she hoped it was this way. It was only her second time heading there, and the first time she'd followed someone else. Unfortunately, today she was late, and everyone else was probably already there, stretching or something. She didn't know why on earth they had to hold a class outside anyway, even if it was gym.
When she came upon a familiar batch of students milling about, she was relieved to find that she had navigated the school successfully. When they first saw her, her whole class, save one, turned to stare at her as she walked up. It was a little disconcerting compared to the way they'd treated her as if she were invisible yesterday. Finally, the man she'd first assumed was a student turned around, and she saw why. Furious deep blue eyes met hers. "Newbie," the gruff man named Logan grunted. "You're late."
"S-sorry," Rogue stuttered, stunned at the barely concealed anger in his voice.
"Is this your first day?" He demanded. Before Rogue could answer, he cut her off. "This isn't how we make a first impression here at the Xavier Institute. As mutants, it's imperative that we are always aware of how others might perceive our actions." Logan glanced around at the other students. They all stood there silently. No one here was on her side. Except maybe Scott. Rogue saw his discomfort. Logan turned back to her. "Hit the track, skunk, and don't stop until that bell rings for your next class."
Rogue wanted to protest, tell him that he was being unfair. After all, he did not make a very good first impression himself. Especially as he hadn't even shown up for her first day. Mostly, Rogue wanted to argue against the nickname. She hadn't died a strip of her hair white to be cool and 'skunk' wasn't exactly okay with her. And if the other kids took the name up…She shook off the dread the thought provoked.
But Rogue held her tongue, a feat not as hard as it would have been for someone else. Rogue knew how to avoid attention, although she admittedly did not do a good job by showing up late. She trotted off to the track, dreading the next hour.
By the end of the period, Rogue was half-dead. She was by no definition a good runner. Add to that the heat, the extra clothes, and the amount of time she was expected to run for, and she was spent. She'd been too afraid he'd find her and yell if she stopped, so she hadn't. At first it wasn't so bad, she watched the other kids as they practiced, did normal gym-like things. She also watched as they did not-so-normal gym-type things with their powers.
The track was huge though, wrapping around both the training field and a vast forest, so that half her time running she could only watch the trees. In that whole amount of time she'd only managed to go around three times.
She knew she would be late to her next class, oh the irony. She couldn't make herself get up. She was bent over in half, kneeling on the ground, ready to vomit. Her body wasn't taking this abuse lightly. She was still panting when she saw large boots stop in front of her. "Up, skunk." Rogue stayed put.
After a while Logan kneeled down so he could look her in the eyes. His eyes were unreadable for a second, and she wondered how she must look. Layers of clothes, drenched in sweat. Hair messy and stuck to her slick face. She looked into his eyes with an accusatory look. In an instant, his eyes grew steely. "Look, I don't care if you think I'm the villain, I don't care if you think this was unfair. Consider this a warning. If you so much as look at one of them funny, even for a second, this day will be a walk in the park with an ice cream cone prepared to what I will do to you."
Rogue's mouth dropped open. This was because he didn't trust her? He didn't even know her! Her eyes felt like fire as warm liquid pooled there. "Even Scott?" She asked defiantly, letting him know she knew his secret. His blue eyes burned and she heard the slink of his claws. "It doesn't feel so good, does it?" She said weakly, letting the tears fall.
He turned away from her and stormed off, not another word said. Rogue fell to her butt from her knees and sighed. She knew she couldn't go to class like this. She was mess, physically and emotionally. She got up wearily, stiff from the running. She'd head up to her room for a shower. She was sure she could talk to Professor X and let him know why she hadn't gone to class. He would understand. The man was a saint.
On her way back to her rooms, she ran into Jean. Rather, Jean ran into her. "Sorry, Rogue!" She gave a nervous laugh as she backed away. Then she got in a good look. "Oh! What happened to you!?"
"Logan," was all she said, and it seemed that was all she needed to.
Jean patted her shoulder sympathetically. "He's a tough old ass, and it takes him a while to get used to strangers. He's just-I'm sure-" She seemed at a loss for words.
Relax, Jean, Rogue thought, I get it, he thinks I'm dangerous and he doesn't trust me. No need for the hand puppets.
Jean opened her mouth, startled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." She said quickly, seemingly worried. But then she smiled a surprised smile. "I didn't know you knew how to project."
"Project?" Rogue asked.
"Yes, send telepathic messages." Jean answered.
"You were reading my mind?" Rogue asked, a little unsettled.
"No! I just picked up what you sent me! I can't read certain mutants. Remy, Logan, you, the professor. I swear!" She said earnestly. "And even if I could, I wouldn't! It would be an invasion of privacy."
Rogue smiled. She could see why Jean had all the boys in a tizzy. Her hair was brilliant and shinning, framing an innocent face that somehow managed to be intoxicating. Maybe it was her emerald-eyes, or her perfect red lips, or the light freckles, or all of the above. Whatever it was, Rogue was finding she was just as susceptible to Jean Grey's charms. Don't worry about it. Always nice to learn about a skill I never knew I had.
"Thank you, Rogue! I'm sorry again for bumping into you!" And with that, she hurried off, leaving Rogue facing the daunting steps to her room.
The shower felt unbelievably good. Of course, she pretty much collapsed once she got in there. Sitting on the floor, she went through the basic shower routine. Shampoo, soap, razor, loofa. It didn't feel like she was only washing off the sweat and dirt. She was washing off all of the negative emotions. She smiled as she saw the water swirl down the drain. She was washing off Logan.
Let him see if he could bother her again! She couldn't afford to let anyone screw this up for her. She had enough to deal with just keeping herself away from trouble, let alone fending trouble off from some creep who gets his kicks threatening high school girls.
Rogue walked into her room wrapped in a towel. She looked at her schedule. She'd missed two classes while she tried to recover from her earlier trauma. She should probably try to make the last one. Even if her legs felt like they were bashing each other in an epic battle of good versus evil every time she walked.
After all, all she had left in the day was art. Rogue felt fairly certain she could handle it. All she would have to do is wave around a paint brush or two. Student interaction would be limited and she could keep to herself.
She was busy trying to keep her head down as she attempted to sneak into the room unnoticed. She was so busy not making eye contact that she didn't realize the teacher had spotted her until she was right there. Rogue stopped dead in her tracks. Her mouth slowly slipped open as she saw her teacher. "Uhm," she managed. Great, she thought, truly eloquent.
"Hi, you must be Rogue." She smiled sweetly and held out her hand for Rogue to shake. Her eyes widen when she realized her mistake and she quickly withdrew. The gloves must not have seemed like an appropriate precaution. It was enough to shake Rogue out of her reverie. Sure, she was good-looking, in a gorgeous, model-esque way. But when it came down to it, she was just as bad as the others. "I'm Ms. Lee," she said, less enthusiastically, but still kindly.
Rogue nodded her hello. The woman looked barely old enough to be a teacher, but she did have an air of authority and a certain poise. It wasn't enough this Chinese beauty looked so amazing, but she had to radiate an aura of happiness and perfection.
"You can have a seat anywhere," she said, using her arm to sweep across the room. It was a small room filled with five tables big enough for six students at the most. She missed the way the other teens stared at her, unfriendly and uninviting, but Rogue sure didn't. She saw an empty table in the corner and knew this was her destined spot. "Every class, we start off with an artistic critique in our sketchbooks, only five minutes or so, and then we continue from there."
She turned to go, but Rogue stopped her. "I don't have a sketchbook."
"Oh." Ms. Lee looked around. She plucked a sketch book from her desk. "I have so many sketch books that I never use!" She said in a how-silly-of-me voice. "You are certainly welcome to this one."
Rogue smiled and headed off to exile in her corner. She sat down heavily. She put her head in her hand and flipped open the book. She was shocked to see Logan staring back at her. It was a sketch of him smiling softly. His eyes seemed kind. Her breath caught in her throat. This wasn't the Logan who'd tortured her with running earlier.
Rogue eagerly turned the page. This time he was sprawled out on the couch with a beer. Rogue could see why Ms. Lee had been unable to resist drawing him in this moment. He looked so peaceful. Her art was amazing. It was flawless. She'd drawn him perfectly.
She heard Ms. Lee behind her and she quickly flipped to a clean page. She sat there shock-still, hoping Ms. Lee hadn't noticed anything. It was wrong of Rogue not to tell her that she'd made a mistake, surely given Rogue the wrong notebook, but Rogue didn't want to part with these sketches. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Ms. Lee sat next to her. There was plenty of room at the table. "So, Rogue, what do you think?" She asked, referring to the piece of art that was currently hanging in the front of the room. It was just some splatter work. Rogue shrugged. "Not even one sentence?" Ms. Lee prompted.
"Well, I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so I don't really know how I have the right to criticize anything." Rogue replied.
"I don't want some political, non-offensive review of this. I want you to write how you feel about it. If you think it's junk, say so. If it reminds you of the time Aunt Judy ran over your dog, say that, too. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So there are no wrong opinions." She got up. "Write something," she said sternly before she headed off to go pester some other students.
Rogue sighed and wrote something. It wasn't much, but she made up some stuff to say. Her brain wasn't lacking for material to use. She just always felt like a fake whenever she gave her opinion on anything. She could never be sure that she didn't just take the feelings and thoughts from some other personality and use it as her own.
Just as she finished scrawling out her unsure opinion, she looked up to see Logan walk in. He headed straight for Ms. Lee. "Jubes!" He exclaimed happily. Rogue could hear him from across the room. He advanced upon her and drew her into a tight embrace. "You're back," Logan said, smiling.
"And here to stay," 'Jubes' assured him. Rogue rolled her eyes and slipped out to go to the bathroom. She so did not want to stay and watch this.
When she came back, she paused right at the door. She'd heard her name. Ms. Lee and Logan were talking quietly at her desk, but her desk happened to be right by the door.
"What do you think of her?" Logan asked in his gruff voice.
"For starters, I don't think she has a very fine appreciation of art," she answered. "But then again, neither do you, if I recall." Amusement dripped from the art teacher's words.
Rogue stopped her eavesdropping and chose that moment to walk in, not wanting to hear any more. They both looked up sharply. Lee, somewhat guiltily, but all Logan did was glare. Rogue strode past them and headed to her seat.
Somehow, Logan the gym teacher had managed to ruin art for her, too. She was following Ms. Lee's written instructions on the board and practicing this brush stroke or whatever when she looked up and saw Logan staring. He'd been talking quietly to her teacher all class. Rogue couldn't hear a thing, being as far from her desk as possible in the small room of chatty art students. Rogue met his eyes and he didn't back down, unashamed to be caught in a stare. She tilted her head at him with a frown.
It hit her, then. He'd come here to watch her, keep an eye on her. This was his way of following through on a threat. Rogue swallowed. She was hurt, insulted, but most of all, afraid. He wasn't someone she could just forget about, and he could ruin everything for her here.
