I Didn't Do It!

He only wanted to talk to her? She wasn't in trouble? Caroline studied the mans face dubiously and wasn't at all sure if she believed him. But he seemed genuine. So why call her to his office at all? Why did he need to know how she was doing?

Cookie?

The cookies did look appealing, and she wasn't one to turn down sweets. Even if they were being offered by a stranger. But he was a safe stranger, wasn't he? He worked for Hammel and he was in a position of authority. They wouldn't put him there if he was a bad person.

Sliding her back pack off her shoulder and letting it fall where it would she plopped herself into a chair and carefully selected a cookie of choice to hold while she studied him.

"Did I do something to make people think I wasn't doing okay here? It's not all that different from home, really. I mean, the schedules are different, and peoples opinions are different, and it's more mountainy, but really it isn't that big of a deal. Classes are classes, and people are people, and my roommates are all really nice. Kaytee especially." She was in a kind of love with the older girl who was much to her like a proper sister. She could go to Kaytee if she needed help. Or, had been able to the few times she'd gone.

"And Ms. Mii is really nice, but I bet you already knew that." The cookie was hovering in front of her mouth, ready to be bitten into, but she was still quite nervous about why she'd been called. To see how she was adjusting was too vague an idea unless...

"Did Father Boe call you to ask you to check on me?"

Watching him take a cookie, Caroline visibly relaxed a little bit more. If she was in trouble she very much doubted that he would be eating cookies with her. But why was he eating cookies with her then? Maybe it was just his way, the same way Father Boe would share a bit of chocolate candy he kept in his office.

"Oh, Miss Mii isn't my trainer!" Caroline laughed, "She picked me up from the airport." Telling the school psychiatrist who her trainer was, and giving a quick overview of who all was in her group and how they were all clumsy together with what they were learning, she relaxed that much further. It felt good to have someone else to talk too. Ollie was a good friend, and Kaytee, but they weren't always available. Caroline went on to tell Dr. Neville about how she was still scared to try to shift down on her own, but mostly because of the pain. That didn't keep it from happening on it's own, but that was her immediate goal. to KEEP it from happening on its own even though she got scared or nervous.

"My trainer says that it's important to be able to control both sides of that. Not shifting and shifting on purpose. But I really don't think I want to shift on purpose right now. Miss Mii says that it will stop hurting after a while, but right now it really really really hurts."

Taking a bit of her cookie, Caroline's eyes almost sparkled and around a mouthful covered by a raised hand she said, "These are really good!"

Once the cookie bite was cleared away she answered the question about friends. "I have Ollie, and Kaytee, and Miss Mii said I could call her if I wanted rides to church and no one else was available. I haven't made many other friends, but I haven't had time to really go out and play either. There's a lot of getting used to that I have to do."

Hearing that Father Boe hadn't called Dr. Neville, but rather that the man in front of her had called her in on his own made her feel good in a way. It meant she wasn't in a place that was too terribly different from her home. The staff cared about the welfare of the kids in their care. "Dr. Neville, I'm glad you called me in. I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to explain, I was just--" scared "worried I had done something without knowing I'd done it."

"Yes, please do tell the baker that they are good! May I have another?" The cookie that she had taken had disappeared in the span of seconds after she'd tasted it, there were barely any crumbs at all left as evidence.

Caroline beamed at Dr. Neville and shook her head. "Not anymore! I should know better than to listen to rumor and whispers, but... sometimes it's hard in a new place." She hoped he would understand. While there were some very similar aspects between Hammel and Boys Town, they were also very different. Some of the attitudes in the youth were the same, the wording varied, but the attitudes were more or less across the spectrum.

Pressing her lips into a thoughtful line, Caroline leaned forward almost conspiratorially. "Dr. Neville, can I ask you something?" She waited for permission before continuing. "Is there really a meta human in the basement with the Midas Touch that funds the school? I heard a girl talking about it and I don't think it's true. But I want to make sure. Because that's mean if there is. And I don't want to be here if people are being kept as work mules." Some places were like that, and she knew in her heart of hearts that if that was actually going on and she wrote to Father Boe about it, he'd either come and get her himself, or send someone to collect her.

Happily collecting more cookies from the plate, Caroline hummed to herself as she picked and chose stopping at two. She would have happily taken more, but she could hear Father Boe's voice and the sermons on greed. As tasty as the cookies were, she needed to leave some for others; they weren't just for her. "I like you, Dr. Neville," she declared thoughtfully, giving him an appraising look. Her blue eyes seemed momentarily older.

"You're good people. And I'm not just saying that because of the cookies, though they did help." Giving him a toothy grin, the young meta bit into a cookie and made another happy noise.

Once the sweet was clear of her mouth she continued, expanding on why she thought he was good people. "You're honest. I like honest. You have a good..." grasping for the words, Caroline's eyes searched the ceiling as though she would find the answer written there. "Um..," waving her cookied hand she scrunched her nose. "Um... feel? That's not right. I don't know the word, but I promise if I remember it I'll tell you."

Was there anything she wanted or needed for better adjustment? Caroline's toes shifted against the tiles of Dr. Neville's office and she glanced away while she thought. She had her prayer book. The book of Saints Father Boe had given her, a well worn copy she'd read and re-read that had once been his. She had a bed with sheets and blankets and a pillow. She had clothes. And her best friend Ollie. The classes were good, if hard sometimes. She could get paper as needed, had plenty of pencils.

But what if she needed someone to talk to. The way she had talked to Father Boe. To go for walks with when she had too much in her head and needed someone to help her understand the mysteries of life. Or to try and help her find her way to an answer that made sense to her.

Kicking her heels back so that her toes were pressed against the tiles, pidgeon-style.

"Mmmmaaaaybeeee." Caroline needed to work her way towards the question. She hadn't had time to feel lost without Father Boe yet, but after the question had been posed, it hit. "Dr. Neville, Um... you, you're like the counselor, right? The person people come to when they need someone to talk to?"

With her face splitting into a grin, Caroline beamed at the psychiatrist. "Oh good! I mean, well no, I did mean good. Father Boe has the same rule. But sometimes when his door is closed it's because he's writing a sermon for Mass too. And that's important work." The little shifter had a deep respect and love for the head of Boy's Town. He was the closest she had to an earthly father, and while she knew she could always turn towards the Heavens, it was nice to have someone who answered verbally that she could understand better.

"I like having someone older to talk to." Oops. "I mean, not that you old, Doctor Neville. I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that you're older than me. You're wiser because of it." Please, she begged silently, please don't be hurt by careless word choice. Oh dear. I don't want to lose a friend right when I made one.

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Caroline looked away, worried and a little afraid. "I'm really sorry I said it that way."