Chapter 6: Reluctant Hero

We walked out of the room and as we did, Denise latched onto my arm with both hands. I closed the door; the outer office was empty.

“OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod...” Denise breathed. “OhmyGod, what are you? A superhero? Are you real?”

I smiled at her. “Last time I checked ... yes, but more important, how are you doing now?”

“Better—for now, anyway. How did you do that to him? You hardly moved and suddenly he was on his face. Then you just flew over his body, landed, picked him up, and knocked him out, all faster than I just spoke this!”

“I just had good training, that’s all, and could anticipate how he would move. Anyone can learn that stuff.”

“I don’t care, you’re incredible the way you just stood up to the principal and got him to agree to do everything you asked. Fletcher’s a toughie and never bends the rules for anything.”

“As I told him in there, there are lots of techniques for persuasion. I just used one from a position of strength, and they were foolish enough to give me that opening.”

Just then the secretary came in from a back room.

“Oh, you’re done with him now? Kevin, you need to see the counselor. Denise, you need to get to class. It’s second period now; I’ll give you a pass.”

“Oh, no, I’m going with Kevin. He needs someone to show him the way and then where to go afterwards.”

Just then Fletcher appeared. “That’s ok, Shirley, she can go with him.”

So we went to the counselor, Mrs Raymond. She was a youngish woman, late 20s I suppose, and all business.

“Who do we have here? And Denise, aren’t you on the Program? Why aren’t you naked?”

She froze. I spoke quickly, “I’m Kevin Coris, a transfer. I was somehow picked too, last minute like, to replace a guy who moved away. Dr Fletcher postponed the start of the Program; I suppose you’ll hear all about that shortly. I’m here to get my class schedule and anything else I need to do with you.”

“Ok, Kevin; let me check.” She turned to her computer. Denise had grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

“Mrs Raymond? Wait. Denise is a junior too, I suppose, right? Please put me in her classes.” I got such a grateful look from her then.

“I don’t know ... Denise has all A-P classes and we can’t...”

“Mrs Raymond? Check my file. I’m also all A-P, I believe.”

“Hmmmm, so you are. Ok, we can do that; I just need to switch around one or two periods and you’ll match, ok?’

“Ok,” we both said together.

“Let me ask, why did you want that? You’re both on pretty much the same academic program anyway.”

“Let’s just say that Denise and I need to work on a special problem that affects both of us, and being in the same classes will help immensely.”

“Well, ok, I guess a little mystery won’t hurt anyone for now. Let’s see; I have some notes in your file, Kevin, for some forms you haven’t submitted. How come you didn’t complete your packet?”

“What forms? Dr Fletcher’s secretary said I finished everything...”

“These are the Program permissions, consents, and acknowledgments. A graduation requirement disclosure, too. They were sent out in August to every student.”

I sighed. When will everyone get onto the same page? Well, to be fair, this is only my first day, but did no one ever read any of the materials I sent in the spring?

“You’ll soon find out that I just moved here from the Far East at the end of August and your materials never reached where I was living in August. What are these forms now?”

She took some papers out of a folder and passed them over to me. I glanced through them and then started to read.

“Oh, you don’t need to read them now. Your parents need to sign them and then return them to me tomorrow.”

Oh boy, here we go again, like a broken record. (Hmmmm ... where’s that metaphor from, anyway? Strange. Need to look it up ... Anyway... )

“Mrs Raymond, my parents died last month in a terrible incident. I think having to explain this multiple times is getting to be too much, so let me write it up tonight so it can go into my file; then I can tell teachers to read it if they want the details, ok? Meanwhile, let me look at these, please?”

She nodded her assent.

I scanned the papers. They all pertained to an adult parent/guardian giving permission, acknowledgment, and/or approval for the minor student being naked in school, engaging in supervised and unsupervised sexual activities, acknowledging and accepting any risks of such activities, and absolving the school and district of any and all liability on their part as supporting and promoting said activities in the name of a mandated federal education program.

I looked up at her. “Mrs Raymond, none of these apply to me...”

She interrupted, “Of course they do. You just get your guardian to sign...”

“You interrupted me. I was saying, they don’t apply because in them I’m referred to as a ‘minor child.’ I’m not; I’ve been legally emancipated and I’m now a legal adult. I have adult’s rights, including the right of privacy in person and effects, and I’m not about to sign those rights away even if the wording on these forms were changed.”

“Actually, you don’t have the right to refuse. The Supreme Court upheld the law for the completion of the Program to be constitutional.”

“Hmmmm. That’s an interpretation of that decision. The actual decision, as I just heard from another source, had to do with fewer constitutional rights for minors versus adults. Am I right?”

“Yes, but it works out to be the same thing.”

“With all respect, you’re wrong. The Bill of Rights and prior judicial rulings on personal rights trump any laws and an adult is an adult, whether in high school or anywhere else. Under all of the legal doctrines I’ve read—although I never came across this Program weirdness—I have a fundamental right to privacy that no law can abrogate.”

Wow, I love using this language! It’d be fun if it weren’t so stressful.

“So are you saying that you’ll refuse to participate? You can be forced, you know. Mr Abover from the Program office...”

“I’ve already had the distinct pleasure of meeting Mr Abover and demonstrating that his persuasive methods need a bit more work,” I observed mildly.

Denise giggled into her hand.

“Well, this is not getting us anywhere. When your time in the Program comes up, you’ll see how your arguments will all fail.”

“I think you forgot that I mentioned that I was already picked for today, as a replacement for someone else. The time I’ll come up is next Monday and you may be surprised at what you learn.”