"You likin' the place so far?"

"Huh?"

"The school, I mean," Storm smiled as we walked through the rows of clothes.

"Oh! Haha. Yeah, yeah, it's great… nicest place I've been in a long time."

"Where were you before?"

"D.C. I'd been living there for five years before coming here. Oh, how do you like this one?" I stopped for a moment to pick up a purple dress from one of the racks.

Storm made a face. "I dunno… too……. loud, I guess."

"Yeah….."

"So you got family back there? Back in D.C.?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Where are they?"

"Raleigh, North Carolina. I, uh… I ran away when I was thirteen, when I…. you know. Acquired certain talents."

"So… what did you do for five years in D.C.?"

"Stayed at homeless shelters, mostly. Kept my talents hidden by day…. Practiced by night. I had been doing Irish dance since I was a child, and amazingly enough there was a woman in D.C. who knew everything there was to know about Irish dance- how to do it, the history….." I smiled. "Last I saw her was Thursday, the day before yesterday."

"Well I'm glad you're here and off the streets!" Storm laughed, shocked.

"Yeah, I'm glad to be home."

Storm stopped. "Home?"

A few feet ahead of her, I stopped too, and turned to face her, thinking a moment. "Yeah. Home. I feel more at ease and at home with you people than I did with my own family, despite the fact they were wonderful. I just don't think they would have appreciated me anymore."

"Oh, honey….." Storm came over to me and smiled. "I know your family still loves you. How couldn't they? I've known you for not even a day and already I'm crazy about you."

I laughed. "Thanks, Storm."

"No, really," she smiled. "You ever thought about paying them a visit again?"

"Yeah, I have, actually," I replied, after taking a deep breath. "I want to tell them, but…. I'm just not ready."

"I know. And you don't have to be, you don't have to tell them now. Give it time." She gave me another smile and my hand a squeeze. "So! I know you've only been here a day, but have you made any friends?"

"I have indeed…." I went through the exceptionally short list in my mind and blushed when I came to Kurt.

"Oh, now wait a minute…." Storm stopped, folding her arms as she looked at me with a smug grin on her face. "I've seen that look on a girl's face before. You met a guy, didn't you?"

My face went even redder than it had been before and I nodded, smiling shyly.

"And what might this lucky guy's name be?"

"Kurt."

Storm's jaw dropped. "Wagner?" Nightcrawler? She mouthed.

I nodded. "I feel kindof bad because he must be a lot older than I am…."

"Oh, don't feel so bad. Kurt is such a good guy, so…. caring. And I mean to everyone. That being said, I don't think the age thing would matter. I mean, I dunno….. I personally say go for it. I mean what have you got to lose, really?"
At three o'clock, an hour later, we were paying for our gowns at the register. I had found a cool lookin' blue one with spaghetti straps that I loved, and Storm thought it looked great on me. We got back to the school at about four thirty, after eating some lunch at the food court in the mall. The party started at seven, so I went ahead and started to get ready when we got home.

After a shower I dried my hair, pulled on my dress, sprayed on some perfume and I was ready to fly—well, not literally, of course, but I was ready. I pulled on my new sandals and left my room with Rogue, who had gotten dressed there while I used the bathroom. On our way to the main hall we ran into a young man with red sunglasses. Rogue introduced him to me as Scott Summers, better known as Cyclops because of the powerful rays emitted from his eyes if the glasses were to be removed.

Cyclops joined us to the main hall. The place looked amazing; there were lights, balloons and confetti everywhere! What a party. It even had music. Rogue and I found Bobby and his friend John ("Pyro") sitting with Dr. Grey and Storm, and we joined them. Naturally, the first person I looked for was Kurt, but there was no sign of him. I leaned over to Dr. Grey, who was seated next to me.

"Hey, do you know where Kurt is?"

"Uh…" Dr. Grey looked around a bit. "No, I dunno. I guess he's running a little late, that's all."

I nodded. "Listen, I'm gonna run to the bathrooms. Could you direct me to them?"
"Sure, they're just out the door you came in and down the hall to the right."

"Thanks."

I finished in the bathroom and was making my way to the main hall when I saw a familiar someone ahead, wearing a tux.

"Kurt!"
My new friend whirled around and his eyes went wide. He staggered back a couple steps, putting a hand to his heart. "Oh, kleines!" Kurt grinned. "You look beautiful!"

Again, I could feel my face go red. "Aw, knock it off…."

"I am not joking!" His smile widened.

"Well, what about you? You look so handsome!" I laughed. "I've never seen you in a tux before… not even in my dreams."

Kurt laughed with me. "Come," he offered me his arm. "Let's dance."

"Alright," I nodded, taking his arm as he led me to the main hall. As we entered, I could see Storm at our table, off to our left. She saw me as well and winked at me. Next to her Jean smiled, and I could hear her voice in my head. Go, Erin!

Thank you, I mouthed, grinning. "You know what?" I turned to Kurt. "I'm a little thirsty. You want me to get you anything?"

"Oh! No, ah, thank you…. I'm fine," Kurt shook his head. "You go on, I will wait for you here."

"Okay," I smiled.

Once I got to the table I was immediately joined by Rogue, who helped herself to some lemonade. "He-ey! Correct me if I'm wrong, but did I just see you walk in with Kurt Wagner?"

I groaned, but couldn't help smiling. "Yes, yes, you did, you did. Thank you, Marie."

"So are you guys… you know….."

"No, we're not!" I laughed. "We're just…. we're just friends."

"Uh huh," Rogue tried not to smile.

"Dude!" I grinned, my jaw dropping. "Wha- why- argh! Did someone set you up to this? Storm?" I called, and when she turned to look at me I pointed at Rogue. Storm just shrugged and shook her head, but we both knew she was kidding.

Rogue burst out laughing, giving me a hug as I returned it. "Oh, Erin, you know that if there's one thing we love more than you, it's giving you a hard time!"

I nodded, rolling my eyes as I smiled at her.

"Well, hon, I'm gonna go eat. You go have some fun, eh?"

"Alright, alright." I smiled at her. "You and Bobby come dance soon, 'kay?"

"You bet, girl," Rogue grinned at me.

That's when I heard one of my favorite songs start, a cover of You Belong to Me sung by Jason Wade. I was about to turn to find Kurt to dance when a familiar blue hand reached around me and tapped my nose. Smiling, I turned around to find Kurt grinning at me. "Guten abend, Erin. Would you care to dance with me?"

My smile widened. "More than anything."

We got out on the dance floor and started to dance. "Why, Erin, you're shaking!" Kurt pulled me closer to him. "Are you cold?"

"Oh, haha…. No, I'm fine. I guess I'm just a little nervous, that's all. I've never really danced with anyone before… I mean, I've been taking Irish dance since I was little, but I never--"

"Sshh…." Kurt chuckled quietly. "It's alright, klienes. You're doing just fine." Kurt pulled me into a hug as I rested my head on his shoulder and smiled.

"And I'll be so alone without you….. Maybe you'll be lonesome too…. Fly the ocean in a silver plane…. See the jungle when it's wet with rain…. Just remember 'till you're home again….. You belong to me."

The rest of the night was fantastic. We all had so much fun; naturally, Storm and Marie gave me a hard time about my dancing. "I'll show you," I told them, laughing. "One day, you'll see."