Rogue Evolution

The wake-up call for Anna's first day at Bayville High was the tweeting of that damn red cardinal that had set a nest near their window, and a screeching alarm from her phone that she didn't remember setting. It didn't help that the same alarm was blaring from the opposite side of the room on the bedside table of her roommate, who was apparently obvious to its existence by her subsequent snoring. The morning from then on progressed more or less as a typical morning did in her old life. Only that there were now way more people in bleary hazes to bump into in the hallway. The bathroom closest to her bedroom was locked, and Anna could the shower roaring on the other side and the occasional swell and roar of orchestral music being played through a tinny speaker. Scratchy white towel draped over her shoulder, Anna made her way for the bathroom in the other wing of the mansion and found a small queue lined up just outside the door. Evan, dressed in a comfy-looking pajama shirt and matching bottoms depicting a patterned graphic of little spaceships shooting lasers after T-Rexs,' had his back against the wall and his ears tucked into a large pair of bright-green over-the-ear headphones. It was difficult to tell if he was asleep or awake from the way his head leaned against the wall and his eyes hung open half-lidded. Beyond, Anna just managed to spy Scott wearing a crisp white tank top tucked into a pair of lime green pajama bottoms. Like always, he was wearing a pair of stupid-looking sunglasses and staring at the slim-line digital watch they all wore on his wrist.

Upon spotting the worst product the Patriarchy at large could produce, Anna decided it suddenly wasn't the biggest deal if she missed one morning shower, and headed back to her room. Upon returning to her shared bedroom, she was met with a cloud of lilac and sandalwood so thick her eyes watered and it felt as if her nose would start to bleed. Kitty, already dressed in the pinkest, girliest clothing Anna had ever seen in her life, was billowing clouds of the pungent smelling perfume on her person while examining her face closely in the mirror. Kitty eventually turned around and said something to her, but Anna was already at the window - throwing it open to vent the toxic gas and allow herself to breathe clean air once again.

Breakfast was far less organized than the evening meals. Everyone seemed to have the run of the kitchen and pillaged what they liked as far as food. Anna spotted dishes and pans in the large industrial-sized sink from where people had made omelets and found a few plates with some sticky syrupy residue. She scowed the kitchen cupboards and cabinets for anything that looked remotely familiar, but it was all organic nonsense and 'flac-seed this-and-that.' She eventually uncovered a well-traveled box of granola bars, peeled the wrapper off one, and stuffed another one in her backpack for later.

The morning outside the mansion was dewy, the sun just recently crested over the shallow tree line to the East, and all the shadows were elongated and jagged. Gloved thumbs threaded between her shoulders and the straps of her new backpack, she followed the others down the narrow road that gently wound through the lawn towards the great iron gate. When she arrived at the fence, she found Kurt and Evan sitting together in the gravel in front of the fence. Evan still had his massive headphones on, but the ear facing Kurt was seat ajar so he could hear him. They both had their phones out in front of them, and from the intensity, they were staring and poking at their screens, they looked to be playing some sort of game. Kitty leaned up against the wall on the opposite end of the gate from the two boys. She was clutching something close to her chest and the back of her head was resting against the brick wall behind her. Like Evan in the hallway, it was difficult to determine if she was awake or asleep.

Anna joined the other girl's side, a few feet of distance between them so she didn't have to smell more of that horrible perfume. "Where's Ken and Barbie?"

Kitty's leaded eyes didn't move from their neutral position staring at the road in front of them. "Scott drives them both to school in his car."

"What? Not enough room for everyone in Summer Boy's special little car?"

The other girl extended a long sigh through her nose. "No." She said the singular word as if dropping a heavy box at Anna's feet. "It's a little sports car. Technically it has four seats but even I have a hard time fitting in the back."

Anna silently waited alongside Kitty till the bus arrived only a few minutes later. The great yellow thing looked just like any bus back at home. Its thick black rear wheels were caked with dirt, its jutting face covered in the flattened corpses of bugs. As the glass doors slid open to let them on, a middle age woman with a face full of freckles and a perm of flaming red hair didn't spare them a look as she fiddled with a phone sitting on the dashboard. Kitty climbed in first and Anna followed in behind. The bus within was equally unremarkable and sparely filled. To the right near the rear sat a boy wearing a ball cap that looked as if it was under the sun every day since he was little. He looked back at her, gave her a once over, then looked out the window to his left. On the other side of the bus near the front was a pair of twins looking down at a phone. They shared a pair of wired earbuds between them and were whispering to each other in a language Anna didn't understand or could immediately identify.

Kitty didn't waste time finding a spot and sitting her backpack on the spot next to her on the bench. Anna walked slowly, her eyes momentarily darting to Kitty who was already looking out the window. Anna continued walking, her hands grabbing onto individual seats as she made her way. She eventually slid into a random bench on her left that sat directly above the wheel well of the bus. She saw the boys following in behind her, their faces still buried in their phones, as they made their way to the very back seats. Once the bus driver was finished doing whatever she was doing with her phone, she shut the doors with a hydraulic hiss, and the whole bus shuttered as its gears shifted. Anna watched through the grimy window as they pulled away from the mansion she had called home for over well over a week at that point. She hadn't even left since her shopping spree with Ororo, and now she was being whisked away to a school she had never even seen before.

The rest of the bus ride was remarkably quiet. Only the drones and hisses of the bus filled the air and the occasional mumble from the boys in the back. Anna could see from her spot, the back of Kitty's head. Pretty soon after they pulled away from the mansion, her chestnut ponytail had bobbed up-words as her head tilted down. Every once in while her head would turn, maybe look out the window, then look back down. For as long as Anna has known the other girl, she has never seen her be so quiet for so long. It seemed at every opportunity it was Kitty's mission to blow up every moment of silence with words lacquered over more nonsensical words. For once, Anna found herself actually missing the other girl's barrage of sound, or at least even her - or anyone's - company.

After a half-hour drive through the countryside and then through the sleepy town of Bayville, the bus didn't make any additional stops. Instead, next the door opened, Anna was presented with a gigantic pale square building with the words 'Bayville High' stamped on the front in an equally squarish font. The bus shuttered ever so slightly as everyone, and eventually, Anna stood out of their seats and ambled down the bus's narrow walkway. Once outside, the former inhabitance of the bus scattered every which way, leaving Anna standing alone in the wide open courtyard alone as dozens of other students passed her by all around. A primal sort of fear stirred in the pit of her stomach till she heard a familiar voice. She didn't hear what the voice said immediately, but instinctively she turned and saw Kurt heading her way while riding the skateboard Evan always carried with him.

"Anna!" She heard him yell as he headed straight for her. She gasped and then held out her arms in front of her to brace for impact, but the blow of Kurt's body into hers never came. Instead, she felt a rush of air and when she looked, she saw Kurt do a complete flip over her with the board held close to his feet. She watched in seemingly slow motion as he narrowly stuck the landing on the board, but at the last minute the wheels slipped out from under him causing him to fall hard on his rear and back. The skateboard launched out from under him, slammed into the flagpole, and fell uselessly at its base.

Anna blinked, arms still braced across her chest. "Wha- What the hell, Kurt!"

The blue-haired boy rolled back onto his shoulders, then launched himself back onto his feet with an acrobat's ease. "Sorry!" He dusted off his shirt and misfitting pants. "I just forgot we totally left you out here all by yourself!"

"Yeah well-" Once Kurt's words finally did more them filter through Anna's ears, they gingerly sprinkled her bruised ego and softened the calloused edges. "Well-" She paused again.

"Dude!" Evan emerged from a crowd of passers-by, his eyes beaming at Kurt. "What the hell!" He located his board, flipped it over with his foot then launched it into the air where he caught it under his arm.

Kurt shrugged his shoulders and smiled. A sharp tooth a little longer than the others stuck out from under his upper lip. "Sorry Ev! I almost forgot to come back for Anna."

"Anna?" Evan looked back at her as if noticing her for the first time. "Oh, right."

Anna felt her shoulders tighten, but her attention was diverted when Kurt took her flank. "What's your first period?" He said with the eagerness of a little boy at Christmas.

"Uh, right." Anna pulled out her phone and navigated her email till she brought up her class list. "English room 301 with Miss Crane?"

"Miss Crane?" Evan saddled up next to them. "God, good luck with her."

"She's not that bad," Kurt replied

"She's so weird."

Anna looked between them. "What's wrong with her?"

Kurt scratched his chin where exactly two small blonde hairs lived. "She just really misses working on Broadway."

"Broadway?"

Evan rubbed his nose with the knuckle of a finger. "You'll find out."

"Okay." Anna looked back at her list. "Algebra in room 209 with Mr. Joe."

The boys looked at each other and nodded. "Mr. Joe is fine." Says Kurt.

She looked between them. "What? No weird Broadway story or gossip on Joe?"

"Nah." Answered Evan. "He's just -"

"Well, he's, Joe." Finished Kurt.

"Right." Anna scrolled through a few more names and subjects until she gets to "U.S. History in room 315 with Mr. McCoy."

"Yo!" Evan made to look at her phone but she pulls it out of his view. "You got McCoy?"

"Yeah, I guess! What, does he blow you if you pass or somethin?'"

Both boys look at each other and snicker. "No," answered Kurt. "But he's easily the best teacher in the whole school."

"What makes him so special?"

"I don't know," Evan scratches his head with his board. "He's just, like, really nice and cool."

"He doesn't make you feel like an idiot like some teachers do." Kurt shakes his head.

"Ugh, dude - you getting Mr. Morgan for chemistry was just bad luck. Especially considering Miss Stow is so nice."

Anna put her phone away. "Who's 'Mr. Morgan?'"

"An insane person." Kurt mumbles.

"Dude, more than that. He must do, like, a pound of cocaine before class every day."

"Yeah," Kurt threaded his long thumbs through the straps of his backpack. "When he lectures, he just sorta yells more than he speaks."

"What, like some sort of drill instructor?"

"No," Kurt sifted his jaw. "More like a drunk guy yelling at a tree."

Evan shrugged. "At least he's an easy pass."

"How's that? He sounds like a prick."

"Well, when Scott had him last year," Kurt started. "He said Mr. Morgan just sorta passes everyone. Whether they probably should or not."

"If that's the case, why bother showing up?"

Evan leaned in. "He'll find you."

Anna's neck pulled back as if to make room for Evan's sudden appearance. "What?"

"It's true!" Kurt stepped up next to Evan. "If he finds out you're skipping, he'll find your schedule, hunt you down, and confront you about it."

Evan looked at Kurt. "I heard he once followed a dude into a stall to shout at him. Apparently, you could hear Mr. Morgan yelling all the way from the classroom above."

"Dude, it gets crazier than that." Kurt looked between them. "Once, during class, there was this girl who kept talking to her friend, right? Well, instead of telling them to stop, Mr. Morgan went behind his desk, pulled out a rubber chicken, and threw it at them!"

Anna looked down at him. "That's not real."

"I saw it with my own two eyes!"

"How can someone so unhinged have a job then?"

Evan looked at her. "You're asking the question the rest of us have been asking since we got here."

"Good news is you don't have that nut job." Kurt gently clapped her on the shoulder. "If you want, you can hang with us while we get breakfast at the cafeteria then we can show you to your first class."

"Didn't you guys already eat back at the mansion?"

Kurt blinked. "So?"

Anna rolled her eyes and felt the faintest smile tickle at the corner of her mouth despite herself. "Yeah, I guess I could use the help."

"Great!" Kurt snapped up the skateboard from Evan and jumped on it. "Try to keep up, losers!" With that, he started to skate away while still looking back at them to watch their reaction. However, he didn't turn his head back around in time to see the first step leading up to the front of the school and face-planted into the remaining steps with an audible 'thwack.'