A New Style of Education

by Karen Page

Part 56

Puddings for how many?!

---

Part 56

Sunday 15th January 2006

When we'd contacted Justin, he'd suggested that this morning would be a good time to see him. I thought it would just be Helen and me, but shortly after we arrived, Andy and Stacy turned up. I'd seen the serving side of the kitchen before, but this was the first time I'd stepped into its heart. The kitchen staff were busy preparing lunch, and there was a buzz about the place.

"Ah great, you're all here in good time. Now, the most important question I have before I let you all loose; how many are you cooking for? Just for each other, your years, or the whole school?"

I'd not thought of this, and it looked like Helen hadn't either as she looked as surprised as I did. Andy and Stacy didn't look surprised though, but kept quiet.

"It would be nice if we did more than just us," said Helen. "Though I'm worried that we might get into trouble if everyone gets food poisoning."

"Nonsense," bristled Justin. "Nobody gets sick after eating food cooked in my kitchen."

"My attempt at a Christmas Pudding ended in failure," I reminded him.

"You let it curdle and didn't know how to rescue it. If you'd asked for help, then we could have shown you how to save it and delivered something you would have been proud of. Today, you will be under my careful tutelage."

"What about us?" Stacy asked, referring to herself and Andy.

"Hopefully you won't set off the alarms this time. Both you and Andy are competent enough to make your dish without my assistance, but you can ask me questions as you go if you need to."

"Thanks, Chef," they chorused.

"Hey, did you hear that?" he called to the hard working kitchen staff. "A bit of respect."

"Yes, Chef!" they called back jovially and carried on working.

Turning back to us, Justin continued, "I'll tell you what, why don't you make enough for your years, and we'll make up the rest?"

"Does that include you?" one female chef called out.

"Donna, I'll do the Sticky Toffee Puddings if you do the Spotted Dick?" Justin called back. "It isn't often we make deserts like these, so I'm not going to miss out."

I liked the banter in here. I'd seen a few episodes of Hell's Kitchen, and from that I'd thought all chefs swore a lot and were always telling off their staff.

"The first step, since you are going to be handling food, is for you to wash your hands. We want what you make to be as perfect as possible and not include anything nasty that might be on your hands."

Donna actually came across to help Andy and Stacy, which meant that we had Justin all to ourselves. And did we need him! Helen had a slight advantage, as she'd done a little cooking when she'd lived at home, but even so, we found it hard work. It might have been a relatively easy recipe, but we seemed to make a complete dogs breakfast of it. Justin, however, was very calm, and we eventually got it made, and amazingly, on our first batch. At one stage, I thought we might have had to throw it out, but Justin did some magic and whatever we'd done wrong miraculously disappeared.

"That was quite fun," I said, as we put the puddings into the oven dishes.

"It was, wasn't it," said Justin, who grabbed a few more dishes and I filled them

"Can we watch you make the rest?" asked Helen.

"Each of those dishes holds enough for ten people, apart from that larger one which holds twelve."

There were six dishes. Which meant there was more than enough for the entire school, and all the psychiatrists.

"We cooked enough for everyone?" Helen asked, rather surprised. "How?"

"You should have more faith in your abilities. I thought it would be nice for everyone to have the same treat."

"You schemer," laughed Donna from over with Andy and Stacy. "Shocking isn't it, but I think we have a similar situation over here. It seems I forgot to cut down the amount of ingredients when I made up the recipe card."

"But isn't that enough for the entire school for both puddings?"

"Yes, and why not? You've both worked hard on this, and all seem to have had fun. You might play your instruments as a way of relieving stress; I do it in the kitchen. There is nothing better than chopping up a cucumber or grinding some garlic. One thing is for sure, you need some major cooking lessons. But one thing I can guarantee, you won't leave school until I know you can cook a proper meal without assistance."

The Spotted Dick took a lot longer to cook, so they were able to see it go into the oven. Helen's and mine would go in later.

At lunchtime I was quite nervous, and it wasn't helped by Mr Hobson making an announcement.

"Okay, I'm sorry to say that whatever you'd ordered for dessert has been cancelled." A universal groan of sadness erupted from all the pupil's lips. "However, there is some good news. Two students from year-one, and two from year-five have been busy in the kitchen, which is what is going to be served instead. It seems the staff in the kitchen forgot to reduce the amount of ingredients on the recipe cards, so you will all have to suffer two puddings instead of one."

There was a loud cheer, which Mr Hobson let ride. "One final bit of news. Edith Covington extended her stay at the school to help with some issues. They have now been resolved, so she will be leaving on Tuesday. Can we all please show her our appreciation?"

We all stood and gave her a good round of applause.

"Is that where you were this morning?" asked Anna, when we'd sat down. "I wondered why you weren't in church."

"I'm glad it was a surprise for you all. I just hope that we haven't poisoned everyone."

"What did you make?" asked Lewis.

"Sticky Toffee pudding. Andy and Stacy made Spotted Dick."

"But I didn't think you could cook," mentioned Emma rather nervously.

"We were watched very carefully by Justin, and even then we nearly ruined it."

The puddings were a great success. It felt good to have shared what we'd done with everyone and made me start to wonder when we would actually start more practical lessons.

Helen must have been reading my thoughts as she asked Dan, "So when do we start doing cooking lessons?"

"Not for a bit yet. The school normally mixes a bit of something else with the academic. At the moment you have Life Skills. Something else is arranged once you have exhausted that topic."

"That's such an embarrassing lesson," moaned Erika.

"Only if you let it be," responded Dan. "I believe Becky and Keith are quite open as well. Have you seen them blush or say it is embarrassing?"

"No."

"Then how about thinking of it as a challenge." Dan looked around and then said in a hushed voice which we could only just hear. "See if you can be as open and frank as they are, and see if you can make them blush." He gave a wink and returned to his normal volume. "Anyway, what's tomorrow's topic?"

"It was changed this morning to Relationships," said Paula. "It seems this one might run a few lessons."

I grabbed my PDA. I'd seen the lesson update, but had been busy so was going to look later. Paula was correct — relationships. How glad I was that Rachel wasn't seated at our table. Keith however was sitting at the table next to us. Excusing myself, I got up and went across. "Keith, did Rachel ask you to change what we were going to talk about in Life Skills?"

"Yes. She thought you might ask if it was her. She didn't say why, but mentioned it would help you with some issues. Look, if Rachel has asked, it is because she genuinely thinks it is best in an overall subject. If you'd prefer, we could always arrange for you to miss the lesson and have a one-to-one with Rachel on the subject."

"No, I'll be in your lesson. I just don't like being manipulated."

"Nobody is manipulating you. Rachel hasn't asked for anything special to be discussed. Just that the timing might help you and Helen understand something you couldn't explain."

My eyes widened at that. I thought this was going to be about the cross-partner feelings, but it seems it was about my lack of jealousy.

"Oh, that," I said. "Sorry, I thought she was interfering in something else."

"Ah, so you understand then. That's good. Do you feel you could tell me a bit more?"

"No, sorry."

"That's okay. I'll see you tomorrow. I just hope we cover what you need covered. After all, that's what we're here for — to help."

I went back to my seat, rather confused. "I got it wrong," I admitted to Helen. "I thought Rachel was interfering, but it seems she asked for the change because of the question I asked on the way back yesterday."

"Ah. But the other stuff will probably get mentioned, too."

"Yeah, that's true."

I looked back to the others, and saw them looking intently at us. "Later," I said and blushed.

On the way out, Jill dragged me to one side and I could see Helen being swept up by Anna. She was the closest friend I had in our year. "I thought you might want to chat with me, rather than everyone at once."

"Thanks."

"So, is everything okay with you and Helen?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. Rachel is a little more jumpy about us, because our relationship seems to be deeper than normal year ones. I'm sure Rachel has chatted with you and Anna about the same thing."

"Sure, but there is more than that. Is this because of how close you are to Stacy, and Helen is to Andy?"

I can't believe that someone noticed. How humiliating. How could I not have controlled myself? Helen is my love, but why did I have to get so close to Stacy? Why did Helen and Andy have to get so close? Damn those Russians. Actually, that's unfair. We were close before, but more like her being a big sister. How can it have changed so much in so little time?

"David?"

"Yes," I croaked. "Yes."

"Is she angry with you?"

"Who, Helen?"

"No, Rachel."

"Only that we refused to talk about it between the four of us."

She gave a knowing laugh. "That sounds just like her. So were you upset because you thought Rachel had arranged to discuss relationships because of what was happening with the four of you?"

I nodded. "Though it seems the main driver was something I asked on the way back from the train station, not the relationship."

"Oh?"

"No way am I discussing that. Now will you kindly let the rest of the year know that all is okay, without telling them what I told you?"

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. I don't think the others have spotted anything between the four of you. They think it's just a year leader thing, or something to do with the Beta team."

"Some of it is. Now let's go and see if Brian has been given the all clear to leave the hospital."

I'm not sure when Jill or Anna told the others that all was okay, but we didn't seem to get any concerned looks. Well, no more than we usually got.

When we got to see Brian, he was sat up in bed.

"You'll never guess what?"

"What?" we all answered, almost in unison.

"They gave me two puddings. Can you believe that?"

"Wow, aren't you lucky," said Lewis, somehow keeping a straight face. "So if you had two puddings, are they letting you out of here?"

Brian's smile said it all, but he answered, "Yes. I've got to take it easy for the next few weeks, and rest when my body tells me to, but I'm out of here."

We made our way towards our common room, the ten of us crowding the corridor so we could all chat together.

"Don't forget, no swimming or strenuous exercise for now, either," Helen reminded him, as we strolled along. "We were sent instructions to make sure you followed them."

"I know, and I don't care. All I want to do is for us all to have a nice game. Yes, you came to visit as often as you could, but being in the hospital area can get kinda lonely."

"So what game do you want?"

"Something simple, but fun. How about Poleconomy? Five teams."

"I'll get it," yelled Martha and went shooting off to the library before anybody could say anything.

"Are you up to orchestra practice?" I asked, as we went into our year's common-room.

"I think so. I'm sure that Lewis won't let me play too hard. I just want to make sure I know the pieces we are going to play."

"Too right! I won't let you play too hard."

Having Brian out of the school hospital, made our year back to our usual ten. It was almost like a member of family had been away for a week, and now they were back, things were complete. Martha and Erika had quickly become part of the family, but there was still the empty settee as a reminder that Sam and Jessica weren't with us. I wonder if they will still gel with us when they come back for Helen's and my special ceremony.

Monday 16th January 2006

The day started early. Helen and I had a pre-breakfast appointment with Mr Hobson. It was early enough so that hopefully we could meet up with the others in our year at the normal time. If we could manage that, the only bit of our normal routine we would miss was our morning run.

"How are you both doing?" asked Mr Hobson when we were seated.

"Fine thanks," we replied in unison.

"I've had several reports on your wellbeing and all seem to be good." Mr Hobson paused and looked at us. I was wondering if there was something else wrong. I was eventually relieved to hear him continue. "The first thing I'd like to know, would you like to continue in the Beta team?"

It was straight to the point, but not unexpected. Luckily it was something Helen and I had discussed on several occasions. "Yes, sir," I responded.

He looked at Helen. "Yes, I would too," she added.

"Why? Didn't you find what happened in Moscow too frightening? Didn't you both have issues? Do you really want to suffer again?"

Helen and I glanced at each other. "You answer that one," whispered Helen.

"Thanks," I replied sarcastically.

"So?" prompted Mr Hobson, looking at me. He'd obviously heard and I wonder if he had some type of device to enhance any whispers into something audible.

"If we didn't, it would be like giving up. Sometimes the first time you experience something, it is scarier than subsequent times. Also, we weren't fully trained. Before coming to this school, I gave up trying to see Helen. I regretted every moment. In some ways, that was worse than what I went through in Moscow."

Helen gave my hand a squeeze. We both had disappointments and regrets over those missed years.

"Isn't it a totally different thing? You don't have to be in the Beta team."

"Rachel and Edith said the same," said Helen. "Haven't you had some reports from them?"

"Yes, but reports aren't the same as hearing it from you directly. I want to make sure that you understand what you are doing and really want to continue."

He paused and looked pained. "You don't like us doing this, do you?" Helen asked.

"No. Not really. I wasn't happy when the Beta program was created. I am here to look after you all. However, I'm also here to make sure you are able to have the career you want. Emma and Paula are going to be spending some time at the farm next door, since both want to be involved in farm work after they've finished school. Others in your year will also get involved with their future desires when they decide what they want. Some in the world can be cruel about people who are different. So by being more prepared for their careers, they will have an advantage."

We both looked at Mr Hobson in surprise. It was obvious that he didn't like the quandary that he was in. I was also a little surprised at how open he was with us.

He sighed and continued; "Now the harder part. David, would you be willing to take over as Beta One next year? And by implication, Helen would you be willing to be Beta Two? Before you answer, you need to recognise the complications this will cause, as you will be spending a lot of one-to-one time with the existing people in those roles."

I glanced at Helen who gave a slight smile and a nod. "Yes Sir, we are both willing to take on those assignments, and we are both aware of the potential complications. However, we did promise Rachel that if there were any issues, the four of us would talk them through."

Mr Hobson seemed to relax a bit at our response. "Good. Now since your year knows a little about what is going on, then you better inform them that you will be working closely with handover. You won't be missing any lessons, but it might mean you will be away from your year periodically during evenings or weekends. Stacy and Andy will organise things with you both."

We looked at each other. How much work is there in leading the Beta team?

Mr Hobson continued, "Just so the rest of your year doesn't get jealous, there will be special events organised for them and you all when the weather starts to warm up."

He paused and looked us both over. "If you need to, my door is always open. I was concerned when you were going to be invited to join the Beta team when you were just starting school. I was concerned when you insisted you got out in Moscow. And now, I am told you are the best people to be Beta One and Two. You are both only fourteen, which is still very young, and I worry that this will be too much. Rachel's door is always open to you, as is mine and Mr Taylor asked me to pass his contact information to you. Later today, your PDA's will be updated with enhanced security to fit in with your new status."

"Thanks," we mumbled together.

"Now get to your usual gathering with your year."

The meeting hadn't taken as long as expected, and we ended up being the first to our year's common room. We flicked on the television to the morning news and relaxed to find out what was happening in the world.

It didn't take long before the room contained all ten of us. "Okay, we have an update for you all," I started. "This is for you lot only. Understood?"

"Is this Beta stuff?" asked Emma.

"Yeah. Since you already know a lot of what's going on, we are allowed to tell you a bit more. Helen and I have to get some more information and training from Andy and Stacy. This is going to mean some evenings or weekends we might not be around. However, it seems Mr Hobson doesn't want you to miss out on the fun, and so he has some things planned for you, and for all of us."

"Fun trips?" asked Erika.

"He didn't say it would be trips," responded Helen. "He just mentioned special events. However, you know what this place is like. Even if it was a fun trip, you know there would be some learning in there somewhere."

At eleven, when I thought the day couldn't get any more interesting, I turned out to be wrong. As I was waiting for Julia to arrive, my PDA pinged. It wasn't a meeting request, but a note from Stacy asking what time would be best to have the first of our discussions. I sent one back saying I would know more after lunch. I wanted to discuss it with Helen first.

When Julia arrived we got down to it, looking in depth at different security mechanisms. Some I'd come across on different systems, but some were totally new. As we worked, out of nowhere Julia asked, "How is Jill doing today?"

This broke my concentration and I glanced at her. She just saw Jill an hour ago in computer studies, so why is she asking? The way she talked sounds more personal. Is she asking as a parent, and not a teacher?

"No different than when you saw her in our lesson earlier," I responded. "Is there some reason she might not be?"

Julia didn't answer immediately. It was almost as if she hadn't meant to ask the question and was trying to decide what to say. One thing I'd discovered very early on about Julia is that she wasn't a gossip. It must be something important for her to query about Jill.

"Tomorrow could be a very bad day for Jill. Something happened a year ago, not long after her mum died. Would you keep an eye?"

"We always keep an eye out for each other, but I'll keep a closer watch. We knew when it was the anniversary of her mum's death and we kept an eye. She was okay then." I pulled up Jill's published schedule and saw Rachel hadn't scheduled anything special. I did notice, on a few more taps, that Rachel's complete schedule was clear, which was unusual. I wondered if Rachel was expecting something. "Can you tell me more?"

Julia again paused. "It's not my place. I'm just worried. I worried on the anniversary of her mum's death and funeral. Nothing happened either time, and tomorrow probably nothing will happen. It's just I can't help but sometimes be concerned."

As the lesson drew to a close, I asked, "Mr Hobson said something about tightening the security on Helen's and my PDA."

"Yes. I asked Helen to nip across to my office just before lunch. Shut down what you are doing here, and let's get yours done now."

It didn't take long before we were tidy, and we made our way to Julia's office. She docked my PDA in a cradle, and after adjusting her screen so I couldn't see, tapped away at her keyboard. A few minutes later, I was leaving. I looked at my PDA, but apart from a double padlock on the top left corner, I couldn't see anything extra. I knew I was going to do some more research later. As I got near our year-room, I bumped into Helen, who was just heading off to see Julia.

"You're going the wrong way to get your PDA done," Helen said.

"She just did her thing to mine. Oh, and Stacy sent me a request for the first of our chats. I wanted to chat with you first, so I said I'd let her know after lunch."

"Do it tonight, so you get the ball rolling."

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Look, it's just a chat, so don't worry. I'll be spending time with Andy too. Not that it's likely we'll need it, but if we can arrange our meetings for different times so our year can always have a year leader around."

I carried on to the common room, and had some fun with the rest of the year. Jill seemed her usual self, but now I knew about tomorrow I vowed to keep a discreet watch.

* * *

After our evening meal, I headed off for my meeting with Stacy. The location had surprised me. I'd expected some top secret room, like the one in the basement, but we were to meet in the room we had our life skills lesson in.

Stacy was already inside when I arrived. As I sat down, she asked, "So has your relationship segment of Life Skills helped you discover more about your query from Saturday?"

"You mean about me not being jealous? Not yet. Hey, haven't you taken that lesson?"

"Yes, but that was when we were in year two." She smiled as she thought back to when she was younger. "I can't remember everything! Anyway, I don't have a problem about you not being jealous about things. I just said I didn't understand it. Perhaps one day I will, but not yet."

Stacy paused, and I wondered what she was thinking about. I never found out as she gave her head a small shake and continued, "Anyway, today is going to be quite straight forward. In about ten minutes we're going to be joined by Susan. She needs to know that you will be Beta One, and what that means for her as head student. We can go over the handover in more detail next week."

"Why couldn't she have joined the Beta program this year and therefore become the next Beta One?"

"On your PDA and any internal computer you log into, you should see several new categories under the Beta menu. One of them is extended profile information on each student."

I pulled out my PDA, and after providing my thumb print again, was able to get into the secure area. I found Susan's profile and glanced over it.

"I see," I said, closing it down. I was amazed at how much information there was. Just reading Susan's profile made me realise how much trust they were placing in me. It didn't just contain skill information, but also where their stress points. If the data was used badly it could hurt her, but used properly it could help; which I hope was the aim. This was just the student profiles. I wonder what will be in the other menus.

"Indeed."

"Shouldn't Susan have some of this information to help her as head student?"

"The head student has more information than the year leaders. The problem is, over the last few years the Beta One has always been the head student. Over the years the data has merged for simplicity. I'm spending some time splitting things out so she gets what she needs."

We weren't able to discuss more, as Susan arrived. When she saw me, she said, "Am I too early? Do you want me to come back later?"

"You're right on time," said Stacy. "There are a few things that I need to discuss with you and David."

"Oh?" Susan said, taking a seat next to me.

"A situation has arisen which hasn't happened for a few years. Next year the roles of head student and Beta one will be different. Susan, you will be head student, and David has been asked to fill the role as Beta One. In the past there wasn't any issue with that, as long as the two communicate sufficiently."

"So am I just a puppet or a figurehead?" Susan asked, sounding a bit bitter.

"No," replied Stacy, smoothly. "You will be head student and I, along with Mr Hobson, will talk to you about what that means. It's just that sometimes there can be events that might seem to put what you see as your duties and David sees as his, don't agree. How you communicate then will help both of you help the other students. The rest of the time, you should still communicate, but your responsibilities are different enough so you'll not get in each other's way. In a way, I envy you both, as you'll both have someone else to talk to when problems come up; someone that's NOT your partner, and not the staff."

"So you won't be telling me what to do, all the time?" Susan asked me, sounding dubious, but slightly less miffed.

"Heck no. I'm still in year one and learning how to be a year leader. I'll be coming to you to ask for advice if something goes wrong in our year which Helen or I can't handle. Don't forget, I'll only be in year-two, so I'll have my plate full with lessons, keeping things smooth with year-two pupils, as well as the Beta stuff. Where do you think I'm going to have time interfere? The only time I can think I'd 'tell you what to do' is if there was a trip where there was a mission."

"I suppose," Susan sighed. "I was just so looking forward to being head student."

"And you will be."

"Yeah, but it won't be as I imagined it."

"Was the school anything like you imagined it when you were offered a place here?" Stacy asked.

"I suppose not."

"Then why did you think being head student was how you imagined it?"

Susan sat there for a moment, screwing up her nose, which according to her profile, was something she usually did while she was in deep thought. "I didn't think there was any chance of me being in the Beta squad, let alone being in charge of them. Okay Stacy, I presume you've come up with some idea about how this should work. Why don't you explain your plan, and David and I can see how we can work it."

I thought back to the profile I'd read on Susan, and it was spookily spot on.

Stacy explained the roles and the few times there could be a conflict. Susan pitched in and made some valid suggestions about how we could overcome the issues, and ended up involving me in a lot more than I needed to be. Stacy also went into great detail about what had happened in Moscow.

She sat there slightly stunned when I explained that I didn't need or want to be involved in certain decisions. "You really DO want me to be head student," Susan finally uttered.

"I said that earlier," Stacy reminded her.

"I'm glad I'm not involved with the Betas. I don't think I could cope with that level of responsibility."

"Yes you could," said Stacy. "You weren't included in the Beta team only because of your medical condition. You make an excellent year leader and will make an excellent head student."

"You know about that?" Susan gasped, sounding surprised, maybe a bit embarrassed, and perhaps a touch of resentment.

"Yes. Besides you and Kevin, only three students that I know of have that information; me, Andy, and now David. Helen will also know once she knows where to look. David and Helen have access to that information because they will be involved in the decision on who will replace me and Andy."

"I hate people knowing about it. I'm a bit upset that you all know."

I started to apologise, but Stacy retorted, "And what do you think your condition would have been if you'd been a Beta this year and gone out with us in Moscow?"

"I know, but it doesn't mean I like missing out on things because of it."

---

Readers, Please Remember to Leave a Comment

Want to comment but don't want to open an account?
Anyone can log in as Guest Reader -- password topshelf to leave a comment.