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“Hmm, this is good,” Rogue turned over another page.

John bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. This was amazing. No one had ever read his stories all the way through and made little comments in the margins and praised it. Rogue actually seemed to like it.

Of course, his cynical side told him, this is a girl who likes science fiction so anything she thinks is good probably only should be read by the Invaders of Dragon Dungeons crowd.
Shut up. She likes it, she likes it, I can’t believe she likes it. This is almost better than when I started that brush fire two years ago.

“Hey, Ah’ve only gotten half way through, but Ah really think that we should get togethah and sort out the fine details. Lahk their powahs, which Ah notice that only Kurt an’ th’ Prof have. Look, the Academy’s a little ovah whelmin’, an’ so’s th’ bar, why not th’ park?” Rogue stuffed the pages into her backpack.

“Wait, you mean you actually think that it’s good enough to go through as a draft? This is the first chapter here, I might have mangled it and then the story would be ruined. If the story’s ruined then the project is ruined, then the grade is ruined, and it would be my entire fault,” John began to babble.

“Wow, and Ah thought that Pietro had insecurity issues. Yah need tah loosen up. See yah in th’ park,” Rogue shouldered her back pack.

She walked across the school yard to her homeroom. Normally she never went in there, but today she thought that she could use the quiet of the chemistry class room to continue reading.

John was amazing with the pen. His dialogue was a bit stiff in some areas, but she had been sold when ‘Random Football Player’ said “You and your sunglasses at night,” when they were talking to Scott. She just loved this little quip on Military Man’s trademark.

“Rogue,” she looked up to see Lance standing in her way, “we need to talk.”

“Now? Ah’m kinda busy at th’ moment,” She brushed her hair behind her left ear.

“Yes, now,” Lance’s voice was steel edged.

“Hey, what’s with yah? Yah look lahk yah about tah kill someone.”

“Yeah, well I think I am. Do you want it to be you? You’re heading towards that area really fast,” Lance clenched his fists.

“Look, what’s this about? Ah have something important tah do,” Rogue tried to brush him aside.

“How come you never told us about Logan or Exie?”

“Lahk it’s any of your business who mah family is. Ah don’t know bullshit about yah family, but yah don’t see me givin’ yah th’ third degree over it,” she saw Todd wandering over.

“It’s not my business but it’s also not that Aussie freak’s business! So why did he find out about it? I thought we were friends Rogue,” he looked at her with disgust.

Rogue was seeing red. That look was just one straw too many. It was the exact replica of her mother’s when she had shown up at the front door two years ago.

“We are friends,” the deadly chill in her voice should have warned Lance.

“Friends don’t let some guy they’re fucking into their personal life before they let the people who’ve known them for two years. You know, the kind of people who’ve stuck with them through thick and thin. Where the Hell was Johnny boy when Jean Grey was jumping up and down on the shredded remnants of your dignity? Who was there for you to nurse you through that first heart break? Was it any of the Xavier kids who made sure that you got out of that weird mess with Darkholme and never asked any questions about it afterward?” Lance hissed at Rogue, his voice icy.

“What do yah mean, ‘some guy they’re fucking’? In answer tah yah dumb questions: John was in Australia when that happened. The ones who nursed me through mah senseless obsession with Summers were yah an’ Todd an’ Fred an’ Pietro. As for that Darkholme mess yah haven’t a clue. Yah just fishin’ and yah know it. Why on Earth are yah pissed off at me? Logan an’ Exie are family, not mattahs of national security!” Rogue kept her voice just as low as Lance’s.

“Whoa, whoa. Settle down, yo,” Todd came in between them.

He could see the anger in the air. Trouble was always about one step away from their gang at the best of times, but he had yet to see two of the members square off against each other. True, there had been some really close scrapes when Pietro had first started hanging out with them but they had managed to keep it all together.

“Shut up Toad, this isn’t your fight,” Lance said and tried to dodge around Todd’s outstretched arm.

“Keep outta this, Tolensky,” Rogue pushed him out of the way.

Todd knew that he was out maneuvered and ran for it. They wouldn’t listen to him, huh? Not surprising, really, but there couldn’t be a World War Three starting. Time to get a little back up.

“It’s not that it’s a matter of national security, Marie. It’s that you didn’t trust us enough!” Lance yelled.

“Well, why does this mattah tah yah all of a sudden? Yah’ve had two years tah feel hurt that Ah wouldn’t tell you who mah family was! Hell, yah don’t give Pietro, Todd, or Fred any of this garbage an’ they certainly don’t trust yah enough tha tell yah th’ nitty gritty of what’s goin’ on in their family lives! Why should Ah?” Rogue’s voice was still low but her eyes were hard.

“I’m not saying that you should. I’m saying that you shouldn’t have let the first person to know be that little fire obsessed creep. How long was it going to be until we found out that you even had a father, not to mention a sister? We’ve known each other for two years. You’ve know John for two minutes,” Lance was almost snarling now.

“It was an accident! Ah didn’t mean tah let him come over tah th’ bar. It just happened, spur of th’ moment kinda thing. Yah actually thought that we were fucking or somethin’.”

“You lied to me Rogue.”

If looks could kill Lance would have created an Earthquake that buried half of Bayville with the one he shot at Marie.

“What are yah talking about?” Rogue spat.

She slowed up immediately. Her emotions were crystal clear at the moment. She was pissed at Lance. But she didn’t know why he was pissed at her. Or, rather, she didn’t understand why he was pissed at her.

How had she lied to him? His face clearly said that he thought that she was some sort of insect that he wanted to squash. But why? What had she said that made him so angry?

“You said that the only person that would ever find out all of your little secrets would be the one who earned your trust. We’ve waited two years, we’ve always been there. So, how have we not earned your trust? What on Earth could we possibly do to earn it after all this time?” the rage in Lance’s eyes was banked.

“Ah don’t see why yah want tah hold me tah task for something that Ah told y’all one day tah get yah off mah back after that Darkholme thing. Th’ truth is the only person who’s ever gonna find out all mah secrets will have tah follow me around nahght an’ day. I don’t think that yah get it yet. Ah’m not one of yah, Ah’ll nevah be one of yah. That’s why we’re all friends, isn’t it?” Rogue sighed.

“I hate to break into this,” the calm voice of Ms. Monroe pulled the two back to reality.
Todd was standing beside her with Fred looking pleased with himself for some odd reason. Rogue saw the worry lines that had formed at the edges of Ms. Monroe’s eyes and the way she had compressed her full lips into a thin line.

“Have either of you seen Pietro Maximoff today? He is the one who usually sits with you at drama,” she looked from one to the other.

“No, Ah haven’t, have you Lance?” Rogue turned towards him.

“No.”

“Well, maybe Evan’s seen him,” she turned and walked away.

“What was that about?” Lance asked.

“I dunno, she just came up to me in the hall when I was getting Fred and asked me if I had seen the speedster. Then she came out here and asked you two.”

“Look, Ah have tah get tah class,” Rogue obviously really didn’t care about Todd’s explanation, “Maybe I’ll see y’all around.”

“What did she mean, ‘maybe’?” Fred looked accusingly at Lance.

“It means what it means. Let’s go.”