Special thanks to Evening Falls for helping me with this chapter. You deserve a big hug. Great minds think alike. -winks-

And to all my reviewers; you really are nice and I appreciate all your reviews. Thank you so much!

----ooxxoo---

Day 7

I was captivated, watching at great length a beautiful Degas' painting; graceful dancers, faces with the shade of a smile and bodies that gave the sensation of dancing movements.

"I don't know why we have to see all of these boring paintings."

I looked at John; boredom was clearly written across his face. He was a lost cause.

"It was very kind of Dr. Grey to bring us to the Metropolitan Museum; it would help our essays."

"Stupid essay." I heard him protest.

He didn't fool me for a second. I never understood why John loved to play at being the dumb and stupid kid of the class. Far from it; he was smart and could be a straight A student if he wanted too. He was just plain lazy. Sometimes I wondered if he was hiding behind that image, afraid that someone discovered his true self.

"Why did you write down your name to take the art course if it's so boring?"

"I thought that naked models would come to the class for us to draw them."

"Ugh!" I made a face, "Could you be more disgusting?"

"Are you hungry?" Was all he said.

Not waiting to receive an answer of my part, he took my gloved hand and guided me out of the museum, practically dragging me behind him. He was taking big steps; I had the feeling that he wanted to flee from the place. The sunlight blinded me momentarily as we came outside.

"Perfect."

I followed the direction of those aquamarine eyes that for strange reasons seemed to accelerate the beats of my hearts. He'd found a hot dog stand not far away from us. He pulled me again, my hand in his. In spite of having my gloves on, I could feel that singularly heat of his flowing through him. We stopped in front of the stand and he ordered for both of us. Hot dogs and cold drinks in hand, we walked to a nearby small park. After sitting under the shade of a tree, we began to eat our hot dogs. I haven't noticed how hungry I was until I began to devour mine. With concealed looks, I tried to watch John while he was eating. I began to ponder in the strangeness of our situation, especially mine towards his.

My affection for the problematic pyromaniac just kept growing as the days passed. Even though he was so pigheaded and arrogant, he was a good friend. Before I came to Xavier's Institute for Gifted Students and I went to a high school in Meridian, I maintained myself as remote as possible from his kind. Ours mothers always taught us that they could only bring pain and heartaches. Like all smart girls, I only allowed the good boys to take my time… like Bobby. A sharp pain went through my heart. It was ironic. Bobby, the good and honest boy, whom you're supposed to choose and bring to your house for your parents to meet; he was the one who stabbed me in the back. And not only had he betrayed me, but he'd done the same to his good friend.

Sitting beside John, I could feel his heat, so in opposition to the constant coldness of Bobby. John had to be feeling the same sadness as me; only being a man he wasn't allowed the luxury of showing his pain for loosing Kitty. After all, I had to admit that she was very pretty and joyful person to be around even though she walked all over the Institute with my ex – boyfriend in tow. Perhaps I should speak to him. I don't remember where I read that people needed to speak of their painful feelings if they wanted to leave them behind. Yes, it would do him good if I spoke to him.

"John?"

"Mmm?" He said in between bites to his hot dog.

"Haven't you been…" I hesitated for a few seconds, "Haven't you been able to forget Kitty?"

All John's body went rigid and I thought that he would spit out the last bite he took from his hot dog. But he swallowed it down with some difficulty. God! He definitely felt something for her.

"I don't want to speak about it." His voice was harsh.

"You should do it, if you want to forget about Kitty. Maybe I can help you." An unexpected idea came to my head, "Or we can help each other."

He looked at me. Wow! I'd never been aware that John's eyes could change color. They had turned into a cold grayish tone… and an involuntary chill went down my spine. Something told me that look meant that he was furious.

"I talk about Kitty while you do the same about the walking popsicle and what you're going through." His voice sounded soft, dangerously soft. I feared that he would transform me into ashes in the spot.

"You are more stupid than I thought if you keep thinking about the ice prick."

I felt that remark physically, as if he slapped me in the face. I was angry and I only thought about doing back what he did to me.

"What if I continue thinking about him? You must do the same thing with Kitty. Whenever I see them together and I wish to be in Kitty's place, I'm sure you wish to be in Bobby's place."

I was horribly surprised when he threw his hot dog to the floor and took me by the arms with ferocity to place me at his eyes level. I had never seen John so furious.

"I bet you would." His voice was full of venom.

Through the material of my jacket I could feel his finger burying into my skin.

"You're hurting me, John."

Abruptly, he let go of me and I believed to have seen some sort of shame in his eyes. He stood up and began to walk away. Remorseful for making him remember about Kitty and feeling ashamed of it, I called to his retreating back:

"I'm sorry."

He didn't say anything, he just kept on walking. An unusual feeling overcame my senses; I envied Kitty not only for having my ex-boyfriend, but also for having John's unconditional love. I felt emptiness inside of me intermingled with the sensation of already being defeated.

----xoxo---

"Well, we only have four people on the list."

I nodded absentmindedly with my head at what Jubilee said. In fact I wasn't paying too much attention to her. All my thoughts were on what happened earlier in the day. When I came back to the museum I found a very worried Dr. Grey looking for me and I received a slight reprimand as we walked to the mini van. The rest of the students were inside of the car waiting for me and Dr. Grey. John was already seated, his face turned toward one of the window. Throughout the journey back to the mansion, he never spoke, not even looked at me once. As soon as we arrived, he got out of the car and didn't look back.

"Are you listening?" Jubilee asked slightly annoyed.

"Yes; we have four possible candidates in our list and one of them could be my secret admirer."

She looked at me with some doubt but still continued reading from the list.

"We have Angelo."

"He's handsome but not my type." I received a murderous glance for the interruption.

"Jonothon…"

"Hey! He definitely would be my type. He can't kiss, I can't kiss. We would make a nice pairing."

"That was totally cruel."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Why do I have the feeling that was the word of the day? But Jubilee was right; Jonothon Starsmore lost all the inferior part of his face and a great length of his chest the first time his mutant powers manifested. It was atrocious of me to say something like that. Jubilee cleared her throat to continue, hoping this time that there would be no more interruptions.

"Everett." She looked at me, waiting to hear an unnecessary remark to come out of my mouth. I made a gesture with my hands, signaling her to keep on reading.

"And St John."

"Joh… Johnny?" I stammered.

"Yeah, but that's very improbable."

"He couldn't be. He still thinks of Kitty." I said to her while I tried to ignore the sadness of that confirmation.

One interested Jubilee approached me.

"Has he said something to you on the matter?"

"No; I just simply know it."

Jubilee pursed her lips. She had this idea that it was our job to keep the students informed of everything that went on the school ground. I call it by its name, gossip.

"Could you find out something in the matter?"

"I don't believe I can." I let myself fall backwards on the bed.

"Why not? You seem to be good friends. I'm even getting jealous of all the time you spend together. Heck! I even thought you two would be licking each other wounds."

"Ha ha! Very funny." I said with a dry tone. "I tried to talk to him about Kitty, but he went all defensive on me and practically lost his temper."

I listened to Jubilee low whistle.

"You are right. This whole thing of Bobby and Kitty must've hit him hard. He hides it very well."

"That's what I told myself."

"And you?" She looked straight at my face, "How do you feel of the whole Bobby and Kitty situation?"

"What else can I feel? Anger, rage… nobody likes to learn that your boyfriend has been playing around with another girl at your back. But I don't blame him…my skin being as it is…"

"Don't you dare to blame yourself! What Bobby did is inexcusable."

Suddenly, Jubilee looked at me with this expression on her face that she didn't often adopt. I prepared myself mentally for what was coming. "Do you know something? I really doubt that Bobby felt anything at all for you. You were only a game for him, like Kitty."

"A game?" I leaned on my elbows to look intently at her. What did she really mean?

"Yes, the kind boys tend to have between them; competing to learn who is better than whom."

"I don't like what you're thinking, Jubes."

"But is true. John was the first one to try to get your attention and then Bobby has to ruin it."

Her eyes were watching me, a questioning glare in them. A strange disquiet pressed down on my heart. It was true; John tried to get my attention with the fireball he created in front of my eyes. I had been scared and on edge, because they have taken away my only anchor on this world - Logan. I hadn't expected the ball of fire to appear before my eyes. Nor did I expect for its peculiar heat to drive away my loneliness and emptiness. Then Bobby had to destroy it and lure me with his iced rose. Why didn't I see it before?

"Stupid… How stupid of me!" I murmured, turning myself on the bed, burying my face in my pillow.

"What's wrong?"

"You are right; how could I be so blind?" My voice was muffled by the pillow.

"Is never too late to open our eyes and see the truth."

"Sometimes, maybe it is." I said while I thought of those aquamarine eyes.

I felt like the most stupid girl in the whole world. Did I lose John's friendship? Oh God, don't let it be so! I wouldn't allow it.

----xoxo---

That night, after studying in the library with Jubilee and Siryn, I walked slowly to my room. I was tired, sad and with no will to do anything. I was so depressed that the little package that greeted me when I came inside my room did nothing to uplift my spirits. It was on my bed, with pink wrapping paper and a lilac bow. I took it as if it was a time bomb and went directly to Jubilee, not interested in the least to know its content. I was being an obedient girl; she gave me strict instructions to let her know of any action from my secret admirer.

"Another gift." I said emotionless as she opened the door.

"Well? What are you waiting to open it?"

"If you want me to…" And with a lack of enthusiasm of my part, I began to unwrap the package.

"Rogue, it is beautiful!"

I have to accept that Jubilee was right, indeed it was beautiful. It was a small figurine, a copy of a Degas' sculpture. A ballet dancer, watching forwards, her right leg moving ahead of her like if she was walking and her hands interlaced in her back. Jubilee took the note that was adhered to the outside of the box and read it, "Even though the beauty of the small figurine, it could never compete with the beauty of my sweet southern dame."

"Little Dancer of Fourteen Years." I whispered remembering the name of the sculpture and I looked at Jubilee, "It is from Degas, the artist my art teacher assigned me for the essay."

Jubilee's eyes brightened up and I saw her running inside her room to return back with a notebook and pencil in hand.

"Let's go for Siryn. We mustn't waste time."

As soon as they got together, Jubilee and Siryn began to study the possible hour that my secret admirer could have left the gift. When they decided on an hour, they took off to begin interrogating our fellow students. I followed them, not really listening to their question. In spite of the nice gift of my admirer, I couldn't avoid thinking of John and my discussion with him. I hadn't seen him since then. I wanted to talk to him. His friendship meant too much to me…

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, I saw John near Rogue's room at that hour."

I abruptly looked at the person interviewed number… Who cares what number he is! What mattered was that John was looking for me. Did he want to speak to me also? We thanked Steven and I almost ran to the bedroom he shared with Bobby. We knocked at the door. Bobby opened it.

"Is John here?" I asked without being able to contain my enthusiasm.

Bobby looked down at my gift in my hands. His expression seemed to become to one of annoyance and didn't answer me.

"I think the lady asked you a question."

I felt so happy when he appeared behind Bobby. Bobby moved away without saying a word to sit next to Kitty who was in his bed. I became infuriated with him for being so insensible. How could he be there with her? Didn't he know it hurt John to see him with her?

Without waiting to be invited, Jubilee and Siryn came inside the room.

"Please, John, could you tell us who did you see near Rogue's room about an hour ago?"

He began to open and close his lighter. I tried to get his attention with my eyes but his were on the package in my hand.

"I did see someone enter and leave Rogue's quarter."

"Who?!" My two friends shouted almost pouncing on him.

In fact it didn't concern me who entered or left my room. I just wanted those eyes to stop evading my eyes.

"Simmons." Finally I was rewarded. He raised his glance and gave me a mocking smile. Oh God! I couldn't stop thinking how beautiful they were, the color of a stormy sea.

"What?!" My two companions exclaimed displeased.

"That is simply… disgusting." Jubilee said.

I let out an outburst of laughter; John was only being his normal smart ass. Mr. Simmons was the one who cleaned and maintained the place running properly when it needed fixing. He was an advanced man in age and not overly pleasant to look at.

"I don't know, Jubes. I think Mr. Simmons has his charms." I decided to follow John joke.

Siryn's eyes seemed to jump out of her face. John smirked at her. It was then that Jubilee caught on the joke.

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Are you thinking about a career in comedy?"

"Perhaps."

"Okay, then, future comedian, what exactly were you doing near Rogue's bedroom at that hour?"

John sent a rapid glance to Bobby and Kitty that were watching with no disguised curiosity.

"I wanted to speak to Rogue."

"Oh, yes! About your disagreement…"

"That's between Rogue and me, air headed pyrotechnic." John interrupted her.

"Hey!"

I loved Jubilee dearly, but sometimes she would speak without thinking. As if her tongue was an independent organ of her body. An annoyed John looked at me.

"Could I speak to you?" He looked fixedly at me, "Alone?"

I nodded with my head. He took me by the arm and guided me away from my friends. We continued our way until we arrived at the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator to take two cold sodas and placed them in the table.

"John, I wanted to apologize…" I began to say after sitting down, my bottle of soda in my hand, to be interrupted.

"No. I'm the one who should be apologizing." He said looking at his bottle and with a barely beseeching tone of voice, "I only ask for one thing; we neither speak of Bobby nor of Kitty."

Again my heart was oppressed with pain; this request just confirmed that he still felt something for Kitty.

"Alright." I whispered.

"Guess what?" He completely changed the subject of our conversation. "I got two tickets for Linkin Park concert. Do you wanna go?"

"Of course!" I exclaimed excited. I loved the band.

We continued talking leaving behind what happened in the morning. I liked to talk with John; we sometimes got into these friendly heated debates almost about everything. I listened intently to him because he constantly had a smart answer and besides, he always made me laugh with his irreverent jokes. I even made him laugh once in a while when I answered back to him with cunning replies. Tonight was no exception, only that for the first time I really noticed his laughter. When we were in a group, it would sound like sneering, not a truthful and sincere laugh. Now, listening to its throaty quality, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He really enjoyed my remark. Oh God! What was happening to me?

As if on cue, we got aware that it was very late. I left my chair and John did the same. We stood in front of each other. I was going to wish him goodnight when he suddenly asked:

"What did your secret admirer sent you?"

"Oh! Just a nice little figure."

"Mmm." It almost sounded like a grunt, reminding me of Logan.

A strange sensation came over me and I hugged him fiercely. For a moment he seemed surprised and hugged me back with a certain degree of caution. I was sure it wasn't because of my skin; rather that John wasn't the effusive and demonstrative kind of guy.

"Promise me that if we fight again we will find a way to sort out our disagreement." I requested of him.

"I promise." And now he was the one hugging me with fierceness, "And promise me that no matter what happens, we'll always be friends."

"John?"

"Promise me." His voice was hoarse with emotion.

"I promise."

I felt the tension leaving John's body. I was scared. Was John hiding something from me?