Chapter 11

Danielle was leaving her last morning class when the teacher handed her a note. "You have a visitor, a Dr. Wayland. She wanted to see you during."

What now? Danielle thought. She didn't feel like another physical. They took too long, and they got into things that had happened in Tiburon that she'd rather not think about.

Dr. Wayland was waiting for her in the public lounge next to the school's offices. "Have a seat," she said, gesturing to the couch in the corner. "This is just a follow-up."

"To see how I'm doing?"

"Mostly. It's been a little while since you and I checked in with each other. I'm sure you have some questions, and so do I."

"What puzzles me," Dr. Wayland said after Danielle had made herself comfortable, "is that I thought you'd be angry about coming here. I mean, without any explanation you were hauled away from your friends and family. I expected more of a reaction from you."

Danielle shrugged. "I was, at first. But a few days after I came here I began thinking." She saw the expression on Dr. Wayland's face. "I do think."

"I didn't say you didn't. I'm curious about what you thought."

Danielle was quiet for a few seconds. "It started at school. One day I was the first one out the door, and I stood there watching the girls. I realized none of them were pregnant. I asked Jenny about her school—by the way, I'm still not sure why I didn't go to her school—and she told me that she couldn't recall a girl there getting pregnant. A couple of days later we were at a concert in the park, and the only ones who were pregnant were married."

"I take it that's something you didn't expect."

"Every high school I've heard of back home has between three and six girls pregnant in the last two classes. A lot of schools have a day care center to take care of the babies."

"We have better conception control here," Dr. Wayland said, "and there's no social stigma about using it."

"Yeah, that." Danielle looked at the corner of Dr. Wayland's office and scowled. "I can't believe I was so dumb. I mean, everyone knows that's how you get pregnant, and I was, twice."

"You told me there was a girl in your school who didn't bow to the pressure of her classmates."

"Kendra."

"Why was she so different?"

Danielle thought a bit. "Kendra's a brain," she said finally, "and there were several girls who resented that." She held up her hand. "Don't ask me why, either. They were just ... that way." She grinned at a memory. "She also understood revenge, and that was important."

"Oh? In what way?"

"Our sophomore year Stacey Brown swapped this yellow lipstick for the color Kendra wore. It made her look hideous. There were a lot of giggles that day, but Kendra didn't show any emotion. The next day Kendra poured pig's blood on the crotch of Stacey's jeans. Stacey was so embarrassed she tried to go home, but the school had a policy that you couldn't unless you had permission from the principal."

Dr. Wayland smiled. "I take it that was the last time anyone tried that kind of stunt."

"No, not really. Deirdre Davis poured this stuff she got from her boyfriend all over Kendra's clothes during gym. She didn't realize that Kendra kept spare clothes in her locker."

"I take it she figure red out who did it." Danielle nodded. "What did she do?"

"The next day in gym, when Deirdre was in the shower, Kendra swapped out all of her clothes. The blouse looked just like what Deirdre had, but it was a lot thinner. She gave her this really small micro-miniskirt, shorter and tighter than what cheerleaders wore. When she was standing, it barely came down far enough. If it'd been a flip skirt it might have been all right, but when Deirdre sat down, it rode up above the crease where her legs join her body. She had to sit with a notebook in her lap, and when she stood up she had to keep her legs crossed until she tugged the skirt down far enough."

"That would be inconvenient, but shouldn't have been too bad."

"Kendra told me that when you get revenge on someone, you needed to go over the top so they wouldn't even think of trying to get back at you."

"So she did more?"

Danielle nodded. "I don't know where she found 'em, but Deirdre didn't realize that the panties she had on were crotchless. Everything showed, and I mean everything. And the bra was practically transparent. You could see her nipples and everything."

"Something like that..."

"Deirdre was the laughingstock of the school. What hurt worse, though, was the school was having some sort of parents' day, and all of them saw Deirdre. You can imagine what they thought!"

"Was Deirdre one of the more popular girls?"

"She organized most of the parties where ... where..."

"Where things happened to you."

Danielle nodded.

"What happened when she came back to school?"

"She tried to accuse Kendra of doing that to her, but there wasn't any evidence. Nobody could figure out how Kendra did it. She's a real brain, though. Everyone was convinced she'd done it, but without any proof..." Danielle shrugged.

Dr. Wayland shook her head. "Wow. I bet the girls decided to leave her alone after that."

"All of that happened just a week or so before I came here, so I don't know what finally went down."

"The trouble with doing something like that is that the girl who was humiliated might get physical. We had a girl, much like you, come in here about a year ago. She was from Denver, and she'd done something like that. The girl she humiliated slashed her face with a razor blade."

"I don't know if those girls would go that far, but you can never tell."

"We've gotten off the topic," Dr. Wayland said. "So you got to thinking."

Danielle nodded. "This place is so ... so 1950s; it's straight out of some of those old-time comedies. But what struck me was that I wasn't living like I did back in Tiburon. I didn't have to have a procedure—"

"An abortion."

"An ... abortion," Danielle forced out. "It sounds better when you call it 'a procedure'."

"Calling it 'a procedure' is a way to deny what was happening," Dr. Wayland said quietly. "Go on."

Danielle took a settling breath. "I had two of them. Girls here don't seem to even have to worry about that whole situation."

"There are girls elsewhere in the Project that get pregnant when they're 15. Things like that do happen, just not in Three Valleys. When you came here your aunt had us put you on a very effective conception control, what you probably learned as birth control. We also take other steps; unexpected pregnancies don't happen here."

"Well, I'm not planning on hopping into bed with a boy, not any time soon."

"Good. So it was the lack of pregnancies that changed your mind."

"That, and what I was learning in school. This is nothing like I saw in Tiburon. There's almost no comparison. This is like what I'd expect to learn in college"

"I take it you don't think very highly of the schools in Tiburon."

"You should see them! If it isn't political, it's 'feel-good' crap." She shook her head. "Don't even get me started! My Dad may think it's a terrific education, but he's fooling himself."

"That isn't what we're here to discuss," Dr. Wayland said. "So, on the whole you like it here."

"I didn't say that," Danielle said. "I just think I'm better off here. There are some things I don't understand, what goes on at the pool is one, but I'm getting used to it."

Dr. Wayland wrote some notes. "How are you getting on making friends?"

"I've got a couple. I've sort of forgiven Jenny for ratting me out."

"Oh?"

"Well, I still resent it in a way, but she was trying to look out for me."

"Um-hm. What of any others?"

Danielle smiled. "I've got this one, Fiona, she's from Seaside. She's ... different."

"Because she's a nudist?"

"Mostly. She's been helping me with my math. Have you ever been to Seaside?"

"A couple of times. I like to go shopping in Upper & Lower. You can find some great bargains there. Does the nudity bother you?"

"It did at first. But, I don't know, she's so unconscious about it. I mean, if I was naked, I'd be aware of it all of the time. But with her..." Danielle giggled. "Most people wear clothes, but Fiona is different. I think the best way to describe it is that you know she's naked under her clothes, and if she could, she wouldn't wear them.

"Did you like it in Seaside?"

Dr. Wayland shrugged. "I'm not a nudist. It isn't for everyone, and quite frankly, I like wearing clothes."

"Me, too."

Dr. Wayland made a few more notes. "I like that you're making friends. Any boyfriends?"

"Not really," Danielle said with a shake of her head. "I think it's too soon for one."

"Eventually..."

"Yeah, eventually. I think I'm still getting over what happened in Tiburon."

"You're a very smart girl," Dr. Wayland said. "The other girls who've come here from the US haven't reacted the way you have. They were still fighting it years later."

"Mother always said I had a practical streak about me."

"Which has turned out to be a good thing. All right, I'll drop in on you in a while."

"No medical tests?" Danielle smiled. "I'd expected you to poke me with needles or something."

"We can, but a person's attitude is important to their physical health, and that's what I was checking on today."

"What did the doctor say?" Robin asked when Danielle stopped in the lunch room for a sandwich.

"That I'm healthy and likely to stay that way. Did you finish your paper for History?"

"Yeah, but it's probably just a bunch of garbage. Did you?"

"All but the conclusion. One occurred to me, but I'm not sure I proved it."

Robin shrugged. "Write it anyway. The teacher will tell you."

"Yeah, but I want to know. I don't want some teacher telling me the answer, I want to work it out myself."

"And have the teacher tell you that you're right? That's what'll happen."

"Only partly. I want her to show me any errors I made."

Robin smiled. "You'll go far, Danni, a lot farther than I will." She looked thoughtful. "We're a small school, but I wonder if we qualify for the scholarships."

"Scholarships? In what?"

"The top three kids in any graduating class get a scholarship to college. We only have 10 or 12 kids graduate every year, so it might not apply to us. Still, it's worth checking."

"Do they say what the scholarship is?" Danielle asked.

"No, you can study anything you want. I have an uncle who works for a woman who chose engineering. He told me it's obvious she didn't skate through on her looks. Oh, she's nice enough looking, but he said she really knows her stuff. I'm not surprised. Something like engineering I'd expect a woman would have to work twice as hard."

"I don't know if I'd want to study engineering," Danielle said. "I kind of like the history stuff, and how people lived."

"This is the perfect place for it." Robin looked at the clock. "We've got to go. We've got like two minutes to get to our next class, and you know what a tyrant Mr. Brickman can be if someone is late."

After dinner that night Aunt Jessica brought up a subject Danielle knew had to be coming. "Have you thought of getting a part-time job. You need some money of your own."

"I have, but when would I find time for it?"

"I'm sure we can come up with something, weekends, maybe. I've been looking, and there are a couple of places that might be interested in you."