Re-watching some old episodes of the X-Men Evolution show, and this idea sort of popped into my head. Rogue was at the Brotherhood for only four or so episodes, but I figured she had to interact with them at least a little. There wasn't much on screen except for the episode where she accidentally sent Kurt into a pocket dimension and then got into a bit of a tiff with Toad, and then later on the guys came looking for her. I kinda liked the thought of them being somewhat awkward friends around each other, so I thought I'd give it a bit of a shot.

Also, is it just me, or does Toad seem to have things for the dangerous Goth girls he's not allowed to get anywhere near? In the episode where Pietro was recruited, it really seemed to me Toad was giving her the eye. Course, maybe it was just me.

By the way, I really am not going to try to writing out their accents. I think I'd just mess them up anyway. Everyone knows how Rouge pronounces 'I' and 'you' and all that stuff. I don't think I need to make my spell check hate me trying to do it anyway.

Anyway, Toad and Rouge are not mine. Neither is anything that belongs to Marvel. This is really just me playing around.

Not so Different

"What the heck do you think you were doing?" Rogue yelled suddenly, shocking Toad, Lance and Freddy. They had climbed the steps from the wrecked school basement after seeing Todd's little toy get trashed and deeming the fight no longer much fun to pursue, only to be met by a very angry looking southern goth.

"Hey, we were there to help," Lance said. "Just because you want to be ungrateful-"

"Oh, not you," she snapped before rounding on Toad, who shrunk back immediately. He'd seen girls mad before. It hurt almost as bad as when Duncan could catch him. Worse actually. At least Duncan didn't use his nails and pull hair. "What do you think you were doing? I told you not to touch it for a reason! That was dangerous! You idiot, you could have been killed!"

"Hey, back off of him... wait... what?" Lance asked. "What are you talking about?"

"That thing that zapped that blue weirdo," Rogue explained. "I didn't know how it worked, and I didn't want anyone else getting hurt. I tried to throw it away and then Toad just had to touch it." She rounded on Toad again, her fists clenched. "And then you got caught by those X-Men. You were lucky I figured you were dumb enough to pull this and followed you! Don't you realize you could have hurt yourself with that thing?"

Toad blinked a bit. Was... Rogue saying she'd been worried or something?

"Hey, it's all cool," Freddy said, trying to break the tension after Rogue's outburst. He knew the girl could get pretty upset, especially when worried about others. He'd experienced it first hand when he'd try to... win over Jean. Yeah, she was on their side, but she didn't like seeing anyone victimized. It was just something about her. "Why don't we get some dinner and all just relax?"

"Oh, yeah. Yeah," Toad said quickly, nodding his head. Rogue was still glaring at him, and it was making him sweat a little. He wondered if she was planning on hitting him. "Dinner sounds great."

"Sure, I'll drive us all," Lance said before smiling a bit at Rogue. "Hey... sorry for... about what I said earlier. About you know, being on their side. I guess I was just surprised to see you with them."

"It's no problem," she sighed as she shook her head. "I know I ain't always easy to get along with either."

"Man, understatement of the year," Toad laughed. "Come on, let's get us some chow."

"Oh, wait, we should get... oh, what's his name again?" Lance asked. "Freddy, you were hanging with him during lunch. That white haired guy who showed up last night?"

"Oh, Pietro?" Freddy asked. "Yeah, what about him?"

"Well, he is new to the team. I was gonna get him to join us to get Rogue, but I couldn't find him anywhere. We should ask him along. He is part of the group now."

"I don't know, he seems kinda... haughty to me," Rogue said honestly. "He was being kinda weird with me last night."

"Weird? Weird how?" Toad asked.

"Well, I think he was hitting on me, but he was talking with a mirror out, so maybe it was just his own reflection," she said with a shrug, a smirk on her lips.

The group laughed a bit before they heard the door opening.

"Come on," Lance said quickly. "We should get going. Why don't you guys take Rogue to the jeep? I'll find Pietro."

"Sure," Toad said before grinning at the girl. "Your chariot awaits, my lady."

"Ugh," she grunted. "Maybe you guys should get out of your little costumes first. I'll wait for you at the jeep."

"Oh, right," Freddy looking down. "Can't exactly go to the Gut Bomb like this."

"See you guys in a bit," Rogue said as she walked off, waving.

"Yeah, me too," Lance said, already pulling off his helmet. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm getting Pietro."

Toad mock saluted before grabbed by his collar and yanked off by Freddy.

"Yo dawg, did you hear that?" Toad asked as he hopped along with the bigger teen. "She was worried about me. I am soooo in."

"In?" Freddy asked before shaking his head. "Doesn't she have that... you know, touching power? Not like you can really get close to her."

"Ah, that only makes it a challenge," Toad replied with a smug grin. "I got naturally charisma on my side, yo."

"Right, whatever," he said. "Just so you know though, don't think she cares much for guys who push too hard."

"Ah, she gotta know I ain't no threat. I mean, seriously, I could get thrown into a wall by her if she wanted to," Toad replied. "Besides, hard to get is just my type."

"Man, you have issues."

Lance meanwhile was walking around the school, trying to find the guy who had shown up last night. It was weird. He'd just walked right in, looked around for a moment before going upstairs for a couple moments before coming back downstairs and grabbing some dinner with them. It was if he owned the place but before any of them could ask questions, Mystique had greeted him like he'd been expected. The whole night had been weird, and Lance had had the weirdest feeling they'd been watched too.

Well, not like Lance didn't know what it was like to give people weird vibes. Not a lot of people had liked him either, even before he'd discovered his powers. He figured Pietro would probably be a lot easier to deal with if he was made friends with and not shunned.

"Pietro?" Lance asked as he walked into the male restroom. He'd just intended to change, but he saw the slim boy there, smoothing his hair over in front of a mirror. "Hey, there you are."

"Hey, whoa," Pietro said. "Imisssomething?"

"Huh?"

Pietro laughed a bit.

"I... miss... something?" he reiterated, speaking slowly with a grin. Lance had the feeling he was being mocked.

"Nah, just tumbling a bit with the X-Geeks," Lance muttered before going into a stall to change. "I know the school's mostly empty by now, but make sure no one comes in, all right?"

"Yeah, sure. No problem," Pietro said. "X-Geeks? That that dumb group Daniel's is with now?"

"Who?"

"Spike boy."

"Oh, him. Yeah."

"Washethere?"

Lance raised an eyebrow as he stepped out of the stall, stuffing his stuff in his bag. "Yeah. Why?"

"Dammit."

"What? You know him?"

"Oh yeah, we go waaaay back," Pietro muttered. "We be tight and all, get me dawg?"

Lance could tell the guy was pulling the ethnic drawl on purpose, probably just to spite the kid who wasn't there. Didn't take a genius to see there was no love lost there."

"Well, next time show up and we'll let you chew him up and spit him out," Lance said with smirk. "Oh yeah, that reminds me. We were all going to get some dinner at the Gut Bomb. You wanna come along?"

"Youmeanwe'reallowed?"

"What? Of course we're allowed. Not like we have curfew or anything."

"I just thought that it'd be more... controlling," Pietro admitted.

Lance gave him an odd look, not sure what he meant by that.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, reaching out for him. His hand was slapped away immediately faster than what he could see, Pietro giving him a hard look.

"Don't."

Normally Lance would have hit him for it, but he could sense this was a deeper issue than the guy was letting on. Not like he didn't know what that was like. If Pietro didn't want to be bothered about it, it certainly wasn't any of his business.

"Well anyway, you ready to get some food?" Lance asked.

"Sure, oh, and by the way," Pietro suddenly rushed past him, smacking his arm lightly before pausing at the door. "You're it."

"Hey!" Lance yelled before the guy rushed off, only his laughter lingering behind him. The brunette mutant just shook his head. "Weirdo. He better not act like that in my jeep."

Strolling back, Lance saw the others already waiting for him in the jeep, Rogue in front with the guys in the back. Pietro didn't seem too happy with the seating arrangements.

"Why's she get the front?" he asked.

Toad chuckled.

"She likes her space, man, and it's best for everyone you give it to her," he stated.

"You guys ready to get going?" Lance asked as he hopped into his seat. "The Gut Bomb has some pretty awesome burgers and I'm starving myself."

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry it up," Pietro stated.

The drive wasn't exactly quiet. Between Freddy and Toad, Pietro was the opposite of happy, and was constantly leaning forward to stick his head between the two front seats, trying to start a conversation. Lance didn't especially mind, especially since sitting between those two couldn't be fun, and at least the speedster was being friendly. Rogue on the other hand had pressed herself practically into the door and was quiet the whole way. Lance didn't say anything, not wanting to draw any attention to her discomfort and make her feel embarrassed. He was just happy that Freddy and Toad were chatting back just as happily and not noticing her behavior. Or had they, and just not saying anything either? Guessed it didn't matter on way or the other.

Arriving at the Gut Bomb, they went inside, ordering a large amount of food. Well, most of it was for Freddy anyway, but they were surprised to hear it was going to take a little while to get it all prepared.

"Man, too bad 'Tro ain't working here," Toad snickered as they made their way to a table.

"Are you kidding? This place is way too low class to have someone like me here. They should consider themselves lucky I'm even eating here," Pietro said.

"Definitely the mirror," Rogue stated evenly, earning sniggers from the others.

"What was that, Skunk?" Pietro asked, an eyebrow arched.

"What... oh, the hair," Rogue muttered. "Haven't been called that since middle school." She took a sip of her soda and looked to the side out the window for a second. "You know, I'd hate to admit it, but this is kinda nice. We should, you know, hang out more often, away from all the X-Men and brotherhood stuff."

Her remark earned her some arched eyebrows and she looked around.

"What? You guys don't think so?" she asked, shrinking back a little bit.

"Well, the Brotherhood is a big part of our lives now," Lance said. "I mean, Mystique sort of did us all favors, helping us. We kind of owe it to her."

"Dude, she didn't help me," Toad said. "I got shanghaied into working for her."

"What?" Rogue asked before Toad suddenly gave a yelp in pain. Rogue had a distinct impression someone had just stomped on his foot.

"What I mean is, the Brotherhood is kinda all we have," Lance continued. "None of us has anywhere to really go."

"I know, I know," she said. "Believe me, it's the same for me. Irene and my foster mom felt that I'd be safe here with Mystique. If I go back, they'd just worry, and I'd hate to put them in danger either. I mean, those X-Men put on a front, but who do they think they are? I mean, attacking me and all that."

Her shoulders slumped suddenly, swallowing.

"Still, wish I could forget about all of it and just relax occasionally," she sighed.

"Hey Rogue," Toad suddenly piped in. "Yo, I know this ain't really comforting or anything, but I mean, we know how you feel. I mean, I can't really turn my power off, and heck, neither can Freddy. And look at Lance. He gets headaches every time he uses his power."

"Really?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," he replied with a shrug. "Not big ones though."

"What'syourpoweranyway?" Pietro asked suddenly.

Rogue blinked at him a few times.

"Wha..."

"Your powers, he wants to know what they are," Lance commented. Seemed he'd already gotten used to the time squished sentences. Not that hard to understand if you just more than half listened. Seemed he only talked like that when he was excited somehow.

"Oh... uh, well..." Rogue stammered before a couple trays were suddenly placed in front of them.

"Enjoy your food," a girl in a work uniform said, though her smile was a bit forced and she very hurriedly walked away from them.

The guys dug into the food, but Rogue just picked out some fries and munched on them. Honestly, she wasn't sure why she had been a little unwilling to answer the question. It was a touchy subject for her, sure, but he'd find out eventually. Best to warn him anyway. Still, it was a little difficult to explain.

'Well, if you touch my skin I steal your life force and powers and everything else you are while I run around with your personality in my head and you go into a coma,' she thought dryly. Yeah, that was a good conversation topic.

She wished she could get away from her powers, even if just for a moment. Still, she was wary of mentioning that fact. The guys often treated her like she would bolt any moment, and she had a feeling they knew about her insecurities. They shouldn't have worried really. Those guys had tried to kill her, then confuse her with all of their backwards talk of supposedly being her friend. They were just trying to lull her into a sense of security. She knew she had doubts, but she wasn't stupid. If she left the Brotherhood, if she left Mystique, she'd be dead without a doubt. After all, if Irene and her mom could trust these people, she should have been able to.

"Yo. Yo!"

She jerked a little to see Toad waving in her face.

"W-what?" she asked.

"Yo, we're leaving, girl," he said. "We finished eating a while ago. Man, you spaced out seriously. And here I thought you were just not hungry."

"Oh, sorry," she said as she stood. True enough all of the food was gone. Oh well. She'd just grab something from the fridge later.

"Didn't even eat most of your fries," Toad noted. "You ain't on some kind of diet, are you?"

"No, of course not," she said. "Why would you think that?"

Toad immediately felt like he'd stepped in some majorly dangerous territory. Girls were pretty sensitive about their weight and a lot of things he could possibly say right now would get him in a lot of trouble.

"N-no reason," he stuttered as he went red. "You look fine! I mean, you look... okay! Dammit! You look better than okay! You look-"

"It don't matter how fine I look," she stated. "Not like anyone is allowed to touch."

From any other girl, it would have sounded snotty as hell, but from her it sounded a little forlorn. He got the impression from the way she acted and dressed, she wasn't the type to touch people much before she had gotten her powers, but it was easy to miss what you suddenly found out you had taken for granted.

She didn't glare at him, though he wasn't sure if that was a sign she was okay with him or if she was moping. It was sometimes hard to tell with her. Oh well, didn't really matter. As long as she didn't hit him or anything.

Walking back outside and to the jeep, the ride was a little quieter. Rogue turned on the radio to a mixed station and bobbed her head absentmindedly to the music. She didn't seem as upset as she had been before, the trip for food and just doing something normal seeming to be good for her. Lance smiled a bit at her before driving off down the road.

The house was empty when they arrived, Mystique not in the house. Where ever she was, it sure wasn't here. She was a little relieved by that actually. Honestly, the woman kind of gave her the creeps.

"So, you guys wanna watch some cable?" Freddy asked.

"You guys go ahead," she said. "I think I'm just gonna head up and start on my homework."

"Ugh, man I gave up on that crap a long time ago," Toad stated. "Not like school teaches anything valuable."

"Like arson," Pietro piped in.

Everyone stared at him as if he had just grown a second head.

"What?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think homework is the best option," Rogue muttered before going upstairs.

Shutting her door behind her, she rolled her guys. Yeah, that guy was a little beyond weird. And despite the cheerful tone he had said it in, he had sounded way too serious. Then again, what wasn't weird in her life these days. Seemed it was just something that she had to get used to.

Despite her words, she didn't make much progress on her work. Her book lay open on her desk along with a work sheet she had only bothered to answer a few questions on. Her mind was wandering too much to really think about it much anyway. After all, the day had been very long as well as being full of mysteries and headaches.

She opened the large windowed door to the balcony, stepping out on it. The wind felt cool and welcoming to her, relaxing her somehow. The house was filling up quickly. She wondered if there were any more coming. It was always possible. Most of they guys seemed like her, lost and running away from something. She had already been told about Lance's foster home experiences, and Toad... well he was pretty tight lipped about the whole thing. According to Lance, he was the first one at the boarding house and had never mentioned anything about his family, if he had any. Rogue had not felt she had the right to pry, but she had a feeling his silence on the matter was not something that would be appreciated if she tried to break it. Freddy was a nice enough guy, and actually sweet beneath his temper, but with no family he hadn't seemed to have had the greatest life either.

In comparison, Rogue did realize she had it pretty good. She had a family who was waiting for her, and the guys weren't so bad. When this was all over, she would be okay.

She just didn't know when it was going to be over. That's what scared her. What if it took years? What if she was like this forever? She couldn't imagine a life without anyone being able to touch her. She couldn't imagine never being able to hug her mom or Irene again, scared she could possibly brush up against them and hurt them. She couldn't imagine never being able to enjoy having fun again, like at the dance. That boy, Cody, she had been enjoying the time spent with him. She was too terrified to risk something like dancing again though. It was just too... it just wouldn't be safe.

A knock on the door broke her from her thoughts and she went to open it. She was a little surprised to see Toad there, and of all things with a sandwich on a plate and a bottle of coke.

"Figured you were still hungry, yo," he said, handing it to her.

"Uh, thanks," she said, taking the food.

"Ah... don't worry, I washed my hands and all first. Didn't get any slim or nothing on the food," he informed her quickly. Honestly, she hadn't even thought about that. Toad wasn't usually the nicest guy from what she'd seen, and as far as she knew, he didn't use nice-nice tactics to get on people's good side either. If he was bringing her food, it was probably genuinely to be nice, but why he was bothering was beyond her.

"You... you wanna come in?" she asked, setting the food down on her desk, taking a bit of the sandwich to appease him. It didn't taste bad. She figured it was safe.

"In your room?" he asked, looking around. "Uh... really?"

"Honestly, I'm kinda lonely," she admitted. "And I'm thinking too much about stuff. I could honestly use the company."

"Sure you don't want Lance or Pietro. Bet they'd be better than me," he said but she only shook her head.

"Well, you were the one to bring me dinner, so I guess you're the one who comes in. Unless you want to go?" she asked, seeing the awkward look on his face. Maybe he was afraid to be alone with her. She had exploded pretty badly at him earlier that afternoon.

"No. It's cool, yo," he said, hopping in and closing the door behind him. He glanced at the barely started homework. "Couldn't concentrate on it?"

"Too much going on," she admitted. "I mean, not just today. Every since I got here there's been one crazy thing after another. I just wanna know when it stops."

"Hell, you and me both," he muttered. "My life has been a huge pile of weird ever since Mystique 'enlisted' me."

"You... you said she forced you?" Rogue asked. "I mean... that just sounds weird, don't it? Isn't she supposed to be protecting us?"

"I don't know what she's up to half the time," he admitted. "Look, don't tell the other guys I'll say this, but Mystique is out for Mystique. She's really weird, and she barks orders like crazy when you don't do what she wants. Granted, it's a million times being at the mansion. Heck, they almost killed me. Least Mystique only yells."

Almost killed him. So him too, huh? She wondered if they had hunted him down like her. Seemed their offer was pretty simple. Join up, or get taken out of the picture. Of course, it was easy to hunt down a girl who was messed up in the head in the dead of night with no one to help her. Guessed she wasn't so easy to go after now that she had friends around constantly and a powerful mutant promising to keep her safe. So now they played the nice act.

"Scumbags," she muttered.

"Huh?" Toad asked.

"Nothing," she said as she shook her head.

She moved out to the window, leaning against the railing and looking out over the yard. It was a pretty calm night, only a few clouds in the sky. Toad hopped up behind her and perched on the railing.

"You're gonna fall," she warned.

"Nah, never," he replied with a grin. "I got dexterity and grace, yo."

"You don't seem to mind your powers much, do you?" she inquired as she rested her chin on her fists and watching the boy.

"Not really," he said with a shrug. "I mean, it's just the hand I get dealt, you know? Not like anything I can do can change it."

"Don't you ever think about trying to make it better though?" she asked him. "I mean, no offense, but it would probably help you a lot from getting hassled and get Duncan off your back if you tried to bath and brush your teeth occasionally."

His eyes narrowed a bit, and he looked away. Rogue wondered if she'd said the wrong thing. She had a feeling she had.

"Rogue, why do you wear that make-up and clothing?" he asked suddenly.

"You know why," she said. "My powers-"

"So you weren't goth beforehand?" he cut her off. "You didn't cover up and wear dark make up? You just did it because of your powers."

"Ah... no," she said. "When I was younger, Irene and my mom said I had a skin condition, that a lot of stuff could hurt me. I was covered up a lot, and well... kinda secluded. Irene confessed to me later on she was a mutant too, man, did that surprise me, and that she had seen what was going to happen, at least glimpses of it, but for the longest time I thought I was sick somehow. It... it didn't make me popular with the other kids. I started dressing like this to get them off my back. I figured, it wouldn't hurt so much if they figured I was doing it on... purpose."

She looked over at Toad suddenly, swallowing.

"It's not like I didn't try," he muttered. "But with a tongue like this and accidentally hacking up green slime from my mouth before I could control it made keeping my teeth clean kind of hard. Not to mention with getting shoved in the mud and dirt and trash everyday, it didn't matter how much I might have showered that morning. Besides, if it bugs people, maybe I don't mind so much."

Rogue never would have thought she'd admit it, but she could see where he was coming from. He certainly did have a point. She still wished he would take better care of himself though. Of course, she wouldn't say anything. In the end, how he acted was his own business, and she knew she was enough of a handful herself without telling other people how they should act.

For the longest time she didn't say anything, and neither did he. The silence seemed awkward, yet she could think of nothing to say to break it.

"Rogue," Toad said eventually. "Maybe someday you'll learn to control it."

"I hope so," she said honestly.

"It's really not so bad though, not touching other people," he said with a shrug. "Heck, at least people would want to touch someone pretty like you."

She blinked, his words sounding a bit forlorn. It was enough of a reason to find it odd that the little jerk would say something nice at all, but that had sounded way too much like...

"Toad," she snapped suddenly. "Don't you even think about it, you hear me? It's not like it could ever happen. I couldn't touch you or hold you or anything. I'd fry you and you'd end up twitching on the floor. Now you get the thought out of your head right now."

"But-"

"No Toad!" she snapped. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to allow myself to hurt anyone. So just... just get out and leave me alone."

He backed down at her words, and hopped from the balcony. He would have liked to feel encouraged by the fact she had not listed his general ugliness or bad habits as reasons for the rejection, but it was rejection anyway.

"I'll... I'll just go now then," he said, hopping away from her. "Uh... Later then, Rogue."

"It's... it's Marie," she said, causing him to pause as he opened the door.

"What?" he asked.

"My name," she said. "It's Marie."

"Oh... uh... okay," he said, not sure at all what to make of that piece of information. Feeling incredibly awkward, he left the room and walked out, the door shutting with a click behind him.

#-#

"You're leaving? Yo, what's up with that?"

Rogue swallowed, clicking the suitcase shut and swinging it over her shoulder. She did not want to dally. Wolverine was waiting for her outside on his bike. It had been hard enough to convince him she did not need help, but she wanted to get the hell out of the boarding house before Mystique came back, wherever she might have been at the moment. She could have still been in the mountains for all Rogue cared.

"Get out of my way," she growled, glaring at the group standing at her doorway. "I am not staying here, and none of you can make me."

Her gloves had been pulled off long ago and shoved in her pocket, just in case one of the four tried anything. She was honestly expecting them to be more hostile towards her, but so far they just seemed shocked.

"I don't get it," Lance said softly. "Mystique helped you. Why are you-"

"SHE DIDN'T HELP ME!" she suddenly screamed. "She lied to me! She lied to me about everything, and she was the one that attacked me to make me think the X-Men were my enemies. I am not staying here, and I not letting her use me again! Now get out of my way!"

She moved to shove past the guys, but they all jumped clear from her before she even got close to touching them. Stomping down the stares, she suddenly stopped when she got to the door and a hand grabbed her arm. Whirling around to drain whatever fool had decided to touch her before she saw Toad, his head hung slightly and his hair covering his face so she could not see his expression.

"Don't... don't go," he said gently. "It ain't gonna be the same without you."

She looked down at the shorter mutant, breathing heavily before shaking her head.

"You know... you said you were forced into it too," she said. "Why don't you leave?"

"Can't, yo," he said. "It's home here."

"Well, it's not mine. Not anymore."

Pulling her arm free, she didn't bother to look at the others as she walked out to Wolverine and slipped her gloves back on before climbing onto the bike.

"Drive," she said softly, before the rumbling of the engine roared into life and they were speeding away from the house. She buried her head into the man's back, biting her lip and holding back a sob.

She wished she would have been able to give him a kiss on the cheek goodbye. She figured he had deserved that much. Then again, the pity probably would have only made things worse. Was it pity? She didn't really know... and she knew it was a stupid question that she did not want to know the answer to.

End

Ended a little depressingly, but the truth is, Rogue just isn't going to accept a relationship with anyone. She knows she can't, and I think that's why she never approached Scott, despite wanting to. It was a doomed relationship that she had no reason to start besides for the eventually heartbreak.

It also gives a reason for Toad to be so damn huggy with Wanda. I figure after crushing a bit on a girl he can't even brush up against, it was nice to have the contact, even if it did mean getting pushed away or hexed into a wall after. Let's face it, as hard as he was trying with her so suddenly (after a few episodes of not giving any indication he liked her at all), I really do think that Wanda was a rebound.

We also have some sliiight Lietro if you squint at it just right. Or they're being completely platonic. It's your call. Interpert it how you like. Oh, and Pietro's arson comment is actually a tribute to a cute comic called Adventure of the Chibi Brotherhood. Unfortunately, I think the comic was abandonned, but it's adorable anyway and I love it. Can't say what page it was, but the boys were talking about skipping school, especially since it doesn't teach anything usefull. Course, no one gives Pietro a second glance at him comment, but I figure they would have been used to him by that point.