Usual disclaimer based upon Gifted and Talented (MC, IQ-) By Ozhojabbe
This story is different than the rest. I guess writing all the other ones inspire this one. I hope you enjoy the story.
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Susan Corsetti entered the outer office of the school guidance counselor. She wanted to talk to her about her classes. She wanted to take something more challenging. She had transferred to the Whatley Academy about two weeks ago and couldn't stand her classes. They weren't doing anything to get her into a better university.
But Susan felt uneasy. She was having an awful case of deja vu like she had done this before. She wanted to leave immediately. But she couldn't she had to get into some better classes or she would go out of her mind. She forced herself into the room and preceded to the receptionists desk. The name plaque proclaimed the receptionish as Miss Carlene Young.
“How can I help you?” Carlene inquired.
“I have a one o'clock appointment with Mrs. Werner.”
“Are you Miss Corsetti?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I see the appointment here,” Carlene said looking at her computer screen. “She is in with one of the faculty, Mr. Brooks She should be through in a few minutes. Take a seat.”
Susan sat down. There wasn't anything to read in the office and she didn't want to take out one of her own school books so she looked around. What attracted her first was the receptionist. Now that she got a good look at her, she seemed a bit young for the job. But she wasn't dressed like Susan was in the school uniform.
All students had to wear the identical uniform. Every girl had to wear a blue short sleeve banded bottom oxford blouse with the school crest proudly emblazoned on the right chest. The shirt was of course collared with a girls plaid cross tie. She also wore it with a tan straight legged twill pant. The blouse had to be tucked into the pant and the pant had to descend to the bottom of the ankle. If another student could see your socks then the pant was too short. She wore dark stockings and black leather oxford women's shoes. The boys wore an almost identical uniform, except the shirt was called a shirt not a blouse as it buttoned up the other side. The tie they wore was the same color but it was a standard mens tie. The pants were in a male fit and of course they had to wear socks not stockings.
Looking over at Carlene, Susan was a little bit envious. Carlene wore a long herringbone blazer with two buttons neither of which were used. Under the jacket she wore a yellow draped faux wrapped top with a v-neck that showed the lightest hint of her cleavage (what little there was of it.) She wore it with black ankle length skinny jeans. Since she was sitting she was bare foot, but pumps with two inch heels were peeking out from under her desk. She was even allowed to wear it with a pair of studs in her ears. She had a light touch when it came to makeup. It was applied so well that you could hardly tell it was there.
She looked very professional but also very pretty. Susan would kill to be able to show up at school in that outfit. The effect did make Carlene look older. The closer that Susan looked at her face, the more youthful it appeared. For a second there, Susan thought the woman might look even younger than herself if she was dressed more casually.
A moment later, a man left the office. He was clearly an adult and probably part of the faculty but he was dressed in the school uniform. He passed quickly. Maybe the teachers wanted to dress like the students for some reason. But there was something odd. Then it hit her, why was he wearing the plaid cross tie that the girls wore instead of a standard mens tie? She watched him leave the office from the back. “Did that pair of pants have a girls hem in the back?” she thought. No she must be seeing things.
Susan was called into Mrs. Werner's office. Miriam Werner was a middle aged woman professionally dressed in a business suit. She wore a navy pinstripe business suit with a matching vest and a white shirt that buttoned all the way to the top. She wore it with a striped blue and red tie as well as black shoes and black socks. She seemed to be dressed like a man. But it was still very professional.
Miriam looked up, and tried to place the student. Blonde, glasses, no slouch in the looks department (in spite of her school uniform and lack of makeup) and eyes that radiated intelligence. Miriam prided herself on knowing all of the school's students (even if it wasn't much of a feat in a rural school like this), but she was drawing a rare blank here. She nodded and motioned for the girl to sit. Checking her calendar she found that this was Susan Corsetti. She was a recent transfer to the school.
The girl obliged and spoke again. "I know I just transferred in, but I'm not finding my classes challenging enough. I was hoping I could talk to you about fixing that?"
“I'm sorry to hear that the course load your father and I hashed out over the phone isn't to your liking. What exactly is the problem?" Miriam pulled up Susan's profile on her computer.
Susan looked nervous. Somehow she felt like she had done this before. "Well, it's just... At my old school I was in the gifted and talented program, and all of my classes were honors and AP classes. Right now, you guys have me in the same classes that all the other seniors are taking. I've already taken half of the classes I'm currently enrolled in, and even the ones I haven't taken already are painfully slow and, well, easy. Since this is my last year, I was hoping to have more challenging classes to prepare me for college..."
Miriam looked over Susan's records. "I'm sorry Susan, but we're a small district. We've never really had the funding to offer AP and honors classes. I'm afraid your last year might have to be an easy one for you. Look on the bright side, you'll probably be a shoe-in for any college you decide to apply to."
Susan looked crestfallen.
Miriam frowned. This wouldn't do at all. "That said... I might still be able to help you. I do have a way to make your classes more challenging without breaking the school's budget..."
Susan brightened a little. "Really? How?"
Miriam pulled out a red crystal that seemed to shimmer in the light. "With this. Why don't you take a closer look?" Miriam placed the crystal on a stand on her desk.
Susan's excitement faded. Was this some sort of new-agey crystal nonsense? However, as she glanced at the crystal she couldn't help but notice the strange star pattern the light made as it passed through. Even though the crystal upon it's stand was perfectly still, it seemed to move, radiating outward again... and again... and again... Eventually, Susan was just staring, zombie-like at the crystal.
Miriam looked directly into Susan's vacant eyes. They may have looked vacant but Miriam knew better. She had to maintain strict eye contact if this was going to work. "Susan, can you hear me?" Miriam asked.
There was a brief pause before Susan gave a soft, breathy response. "Yes."
Miriam crossed her arms. What was the best way to do this? "You're unhappy because your classes are too easy, correct?"
"Yes."
"Why don't you tell me what's wrong with each of your classes. Let's start at the top, what don't you like about English 4?"
Susan's response was an odd combination of breathy and robotic. "Too easy. Already read everything. Already took AP Literature and Composition."
Miriam raised her eyebrows. "It sounds like you're an avid reader. Is that true?"
Susan said, "Yes. Love reading. Do it. Non-stop."
"Well, if you're going to get the most out of English 4, that needs to change. You actually have trouble reading quickly."
Susan furrowed her brow. "No. Love reading. So many...good memories."
So there was the problem. "Susan, you might like reading but its always a hassle to find time to finish a book you started. You avoid reading when you can get away with it."
Susan seemed to process this.
Miriam nodded. "Alright, Susan. You avoid reading books. You prefer to find summaries online, or to ask your classmates what happened in the last reading."
Susan sat for a long time, a number of emotions passing over her face. Miriam always found it interesting seeing how radical changes played out in a person's psyche. Finally, Susan's face was again neutral.
"Alright, Susan. What do you think about reading?"
Susan had a look of disgust on her face. "Don't like it."
Miriam smiled. "Alright, do you think your English 4 class is going to be too easy for you?"
Susan shook her head, never taking her eyes off Miriam's eyes. "No."
"Okay, moving on. What's wrong with your Calculus class?"
Susan sighed. "Already taken Calculus III and Differential Equations classes."
This should be an easy fix. "Alright, you don't remember taking any Calculus classes. In fact, you haven't really taken Pre-calculus." Catching up halfway through a semester of Calculus was sure to be difficult.
Miriam went through Susan's remaining classes and erased knowledge and altered preferences as necessary. Susan went from conversationally fluent in Spanish, to barely able to string half-remembered vocabulary together. Her knowledge of physics and European history went from a vast ocean to a tiny puddle, and to increase her enjoyment of her "Computer Applications" class she went from a typical Post-Millennial able to easily navigate most computer tasks (and with a tiny bit of scripting and programming knowledge) to a computer illiterate barely able to use Youtube without help.
Miriam questioned Susan and was satisfied that she would find all her classes challenging. However, Miriam still felt like something was missing. She had removed so many of Susan's interests, maybe she should give her some new ones so she wouldn't find her life suddenly strangely empty?
“Susan do you have a boyfriend?”
“No, I usually don't have time with all my course work.”
“That is a shame. A girl who doesn't have at least one boyfriend in high school is truly sad. Susan I want you to start crushing on boys. You can't help yourself. It is very important to find a boyfriend. Especially since the prom is this year. The more time that passes the more desperate you will become.”
Susan processed this final command. It was time to put the crystal away. Without looking Miriam reached for the crystal but she knocked it off it's stand. It rolled off the table and smashed on the floor releasing a blinding light.
Carlene Young entered the outer office of the school guidance counselor. She wanted to talk to her about her classes. She wanted to take something more challenging. She had transferred to the Whatley Academy about two weeks ago and couldn't stand her classes. They weren't doing anything to get her into a better university.
But Carlene felt uneasy. She was having an awful case of deja vu like she had done this before. She wanted to leave immediately. But she couldn't she had to get into some better classes or she would go out of her mind. She forced herself into the room and preceded to the receptionists desk. The name plaque proclaimed his name as Mr. Joseph Brooks.
“How can I help you?” Mr. Brooks inquired.
“I have a one o'clock appointment with Mrs. Corsetti.”
“Are you Carlene?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I see the appointment here,” Joseph said looking at his computer screen. “She is in with one of the faculty, Mrs. Werner She should be through in a few minutes. Take a seat.”
Carlene was happy to sit down. Mr. Brooks was dressed very oddly. He wore a long herringbone blazer with two buttons neither of which were used. Under the jacket he wore a white draped shirt with a v-neck. “What man wore a yellow shirt like that?” Carlene thought. He wore it with black ankle length jeans. “Were those skinny jeans?” He had studs in his ears and was he wearing makeup? His lips looked pinker than they should have been. But even though he was bear foot (no socks), the true giveaway was the pumps with two inch heels laying under his desk. But this is a new millennium, people could wear what they wanted now.................