Chapter Four: Confusion and Improvement

"Vell zen..." Kurt said, as he sat down at the dining table next to Erine. All the others had left him alone with her- they probably thought he would be the easiest person to get to know her, besides Ms. Meos, who by then had left with Miracle and Amarantha.
Erine stared at her food blankly, then at Kurt. "You no eat?"
"No, I ate already..."
"Oh." Erine went back to staring at her food. "Uhh..."
"Hey, I zought you said you vere hungry?"
"Eh?"
"Hungry. You hungry?"
"Hungry? Yes, I be hungry!" Erine said with enthusiasm.
"Zen eat!"
Erine stared glumly at her food. "Eat..."
"Vhat's ze matter? Don't like pasta?"
"Eh?"
"Do you vant somezing else?"
"Some...zing... Something else? Yes!"
"Vhy didn't you say so? Come on!"
Kurt led her to the kitchen, where he got out some foods. "Vhich one do you like?"
"Eh?"
"Do you like..."
Suddenly, Erine's eyes lit up. "Ah!" She grabbed a tupperware and showed Kurt. "I like tuna! Tuna be... fish! Ka?"
Kurt blinked. "Ja, fine vith me."
Erine grinned. "Aaaiiiee!" Her grin faded as she looked down at the tupperware. "Eh... eat? Eat... with... fork?"
"Ja..." Kurt gave her a weird look. "Zey're on ze table."
Erine took a deep breath and walked back to the dining hall. She sat down and opened the tupperware. She gently picked up her fork, looked at it, and twirled it in her hands. She grinned again, and stabbed her tuna... backwards, the prong side facing up.
"No, no Erine... It's zis vay." Kurt corrected her. *Vhat is wrong vith zis girl?* he thought.
"Oh," Erine said, confuzed. She began to eat, with Kurt watching her, weirded out.
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"Aaaiiieeoooww!" Erine squealed as she woke up the next morning in her room. The falling leaves outside framed her window, and the light caused more shadows than usual. She stretched and yawned and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, all with a smile. "Aaaiiiee, I have sleep good!" She giggled. "I sleep in bed... Aaaiiiee!" She bounced out of bed and got undressed, with a little struggle. She hesistantly showered, trying hard not to scream for fear and dislike. After a while she got dressed, soon realizing that she had put her shirt on backwards and her socks on inside out. She didn't learn too much about dressing, apparently. She put on her necklace, but didn't activate it- she'd seen Kurt, and knew it was safe here. She bubbled all the way downstairs with that grin on her face.
"Hello, everyone! You me remember?" She asked the multitude of people sitting around the dining hall table, all except Kitty and Kurt. The Prof looked at her, confuzed.
"Hello, Erine... Yes, I remember you, but... How did you find your way to the dining hall? I sent Kurt to your room to bring you here, but as I see, you made it here all on your-"
"Professor! She's not zere!" Kurt suddenly appeared at the Prof's side in a frantic. "I looked and looked, but I couldn't-"
Kurt, surprised, looked over at Erine, who was trying miserably to surpress her giggles.
"Oh. Nevermind." Kurt BAMFed to his chair and began piling food on his plate. "Mmmm... I love ze smell of bacon in ze morning!"
Logan groaned. "Here we go again..."
Erine laughed even more as she sat down next to Kurt.
"And WHAT exactly, praytell, is so funny, Little Miss Light Bulb? Yeh, that's your nickname now. Light Bulb," Logan said.
Erine laughed even harder. "My sorry. You people- so funny! Kurt me see not... I be here!"
The others blinked.
'She said it vas funny how I didn't see her vhen she vas right zere," Kurt explained in between bites.
"Ohh..."
"So, what's going on with Katherine?" Jean asked.
Rogue took a deep breath. "She's still missin', and I still say, we don't tell Kitty."
"Oh, it's not like she's ever going to notice," Mir said sarcastically as she walked in.
"Mir? Mara? Huh?"
"We were bored. Hey, Erine!" Mara waved.
"We decided to just hang out here with Mom- no training!" Mir warned. "That's tomorrow!"
The Professor chuckled. "I know, Miracle. I remember. I'm not that old yet."
"Maybe we could find Katherine in the meantime," Mara said. "Oh, Prof, Mom's downstairs, she said she has the papers and everything."
Professor X nodded.
"Oh, and Mir, I agree with you," Scott said. "We should tell Kitty."
"Hey, Kurt, ya got a straightjacket I could borrow?" Kurt made a face at Rogue, who rolled her eyes and continued. "'Cause that's what we're gonna need to keep her in bed. She's gonna wanna look for Katherine all day, somethin' that ain't good to do in fall with the flu," she said.
"Don't worry... I'll handle it," Mara said with a shrug.
"You sure?"
"Umm... yeah."
"Really sure?"
"Yes, Rogue."
"Careful when you do- she'll freak out!"
"I expect that... Don't worry, I'll handle it!" Mara reassured her.
"Well... okay..." Rogue finally said. "You'd do a better job anyway..."
"So, Erine... Do you know how to write in English?" Jean asked.
"No, I do know not how to write in English," Erine said, after a minute.
"Do you know how to write at all?"
"Eh? Oh, no! I know no write. I know mine name!"
The others looked at each other. How was she going to manage through school?
"Erine... do you know how to write in your language?"
"I... mine language? I no have... write language."
"No written alphabet? Where did you come from?" Scott asked, amazed.
"I come from home," Erine said in a small voice.
"Oh, come on, guys, you're scaring her," Kurt said. "Stop asking all zose questions. She's still got to adjust, you know." Kurt looked at Erine, who smiled. "Do not vor... do not fret, I mean, do not be scared, Erine. I... take care of you." He said awkwardly, trying to put things in a way she'd understand. Erine beamed.
"Why, Kurt, thank you!" Meos walked into the room. Erine grinned as she saw her new friend. "You understand you must avoid major differences in the English language with your accents- they will confuse her. Also, you must-"
"I know, I know. No contractions, no big vords... no big vocab. I know. I know how she feels."
"Of course you do. Rogue, Ororo, much as I love you to pieces, tone down the accents until Erine can distinguish what you are saying. Please, for me. For Erine..." Meos pleaded as Rogue pouted.
"I don't see the problem, Meos." Meos shot Ororo a look. "I, I mean, I do not see the problem. Of course I will follow your advice," she said. *We sound like robots,* she added silently to herself.
Everyone looked at Rogue. She rolled her eyes. "Oh.. all right," she said, finally giving in. "But this ain't gonna... I mean, this is not going to be easy," she said, stressing the "g" in "going."
"No one said it would be easy, Rogue. All of you have to be careful when you talk around her, or to her... She must be able to understand you," Meos said. She looked at Logan. "Got it, BUB?" Logan glared, then nodded slightly. Meos then placed a hand on Erine's shoulder and smiled upon the cat girl. "Do you remember all their names, Erine?"
"Yes, I remember all their names, Ms. Meos. That be Kurt, that be Logan, that be Professor..." she said, listing them all one by one, pointing as she went. Meos smiled.
*Meos, there is a problem, however small. I need you to teach her to write, possibly to count as well. And to speak properly, enough so that she can receive a good education and not be picked on,* Charles thought to Meos.
*I will be glad to, Charles. Will she still be attending Bayville High by November, or later on in the year?*
*That depends on how much you teach her. For now, I asked Ororo to put off enrolling her, in the meantime.*
*Understood, Charles.* Meos smiled down at Erine, who by now had completed naming everyone and their talents.
"Erine, how many people are in this room?"
Erine's face went blank. "Ah..." Then she proceeded to tick them all off on her fingers, eventually reaching ten. Her face brightened.
"Ten! Ten people be in room. Kitty be sick still, right? She be in bed, still. Good... me no can high count!"
Meos sighed. "We have a lot to teach you, Erine... Are you ready for training?"
Erine drew a blank look. "Train-ing?" she asked, dividing the syllables. "What be train-ing?"
"Oh boy..."
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"Kitty? Are you awake?" Mara knocked on her friend's door.
"Yeah... I'm awake," Kitty groaned. "I've totally BEEN awake, for like, three hours now! I, like, totally can't sleep!" she whined.
Mara giggled and opened the door, carrying her friend's breakfast and medicines.
"Mara?" Kitty asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Mir and I decided we should come visit today... And catch a ride to school. Are you feeling better?"
"No."
"Well, that should change soon. Here's your breakfast..." Mara put the tray on the table beside Kitty's bed. "... and here are your meds."
"So, like, you're taking care of me now?"
"I guess so."
Kitty popped the pills down with ease. She grimaced as she drank her orange juice. "Oh... that's, like, icksome. Anyway... Like, where's your mom?"
"Oh, she's filing some documents for the Prof. She said I should come and talk to you, though."
"Like, about Katherine."
"Umm... yeah." Mara sat nervously in a chair nearby. "Kitty..."
"She's gone, isn't she?"
Mara blinked and nodded sadly. Kitty sat up with alarm.
"I told Rogue to take care of her!"
"It wasn't her fault, Kitty. It was no one's. She somehow got out without anyone looking and she's out there... somewhere. Mir and I, we're still looking for her, while the others train."
Kitty started to get up, but started having a sneeze attack again. She fell back into bed, exhausted.
"God bless you." Mara said. "No, we forbid you to get up and look for her yourself! You need rest. Don't worry, we'll take care of everything!"
"Is that, like, a good thing?" Kitty glared.
"It is if you let it be."
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Meanwhile, Erine stared at herself in the mirror, amazed. Her new uniform fit her perfectly. She suddenly jumped as someone knocked on her door.
"Aaaiiieeoooww!" She cried out, alarmed.
"Hello? Erine? Are you in there? Is everything okay?" Jean's voice could be heard.
Erine let out a sigh of relief and opened her door, with a little struggle.
At last, Jean walked into the room, in regular clothes. "Erine? Are you alright?"
"Eh? Yes, I be kah!"
Jean smiled and closed the door behind her. "Are you getting ready for training?"
"Yes, I be to get ready for train-ing. Kitty be there?"
"Oh, no. Kitty is still sick." Jean sat down on Erine's bed. "Erine? Have you ever... thought about your appearance?"
"Eh? Uh... Oh! No."
"Has anyone else? Back when Kurt lived in Germany-"
"Ger-ma-ny? What Ger-ma-ny?"
*Oh my gawd,* Jean thought. *I'm talking to a friggin' kindergardener.*
"Uh... It is a country, just like the United States, only Germany is in Europe- another continent, just like North America."
"Oh," Erine said, clearly not understanding.
"Anyway, when Kurt still lived in Germany, he did not have his watch, like you have your bell. People said he was a demon-"
"De-mon?"
"Someone bad. A devil or evil spirit. A bad, evil creature... I'm losing you. Anyway, people did not understand that Kurt was not a bad person at all. People always hated him. They hurt him in every way. Did people ever do that to you?"
Erine thought to herself. "Yes. Me not have home before... I have home. I be hungry always, and I be not safe." Erine smiled. "Then I be found, and I have home." Erine shrugged. "And then bad person come, to take me away. Then I go back to home."
"Okay..."
"I know how Kurt to feel."
"I am sure he knows what you are going through now as well."
Erine looked back at the mirror, studying herself. "People be scared when to see me?"
"Maybe... It depends on the person." Jean then took out a brush and styling gel. "How about if we give you a new hairstyle? It'll make you seem just a little more human. If you don't like it... If you do not like it, you do not have to keep it."
"Hairstyle?"
"Come here." Jean gently sat Erine down in front of her mirror and took out her ponytail. "I promise, I will not hurt you. If I ever do, it will not hurt much. Just a pulling sensation. It might actually wake you up, a bit. It does with me."
So Erine sat there, hugging her knees, watching with wide eyes, as Jean brushed her hair, carefully avoiding her cat ears. The cat girl didn't even wince when the brush got caught or pulled her hair too hard. Finally Jean put in the styling gel, running her fingers through Erine's shoulder length technicolor hair.
"There we go... You look a lot different!"
Erine stared at herself. Now she didn't look quite as weird... It looked like she was wearing those fake cat ears that come on headbands... She had seen a commercial for them on TV yesterday. You couldn't quite tell, now, that she didn't have human ears.
"Aaaiiiee! I be..."
"Pretty?"
"Eh? I? Pretty?"
Jean smiled. "Yes, you do look pretty." She then glanced at the clock and gasped. "Oh no! I have to go change! We have to be at the Danger Room in five minutes! I'll see you there soon... You can ask Professor X to show you where that is!"
With that, Jean rushed out of the room. Erine glanced at her bed where the brush and gel bottle lay.
"Jean! You forget-"
"Keep them! I've got my own!" Jean called back.
Erine glanced back at the hair items and grinned. "Aaaiiiee!" She danced and then made her own way to the training area.