Chapter 23

“Morgan where were you wanting to go to school?” Mr. Thompson asked.

“I really haven’t given it much thought,” I said, truthfully. “I just know what I want to do. Now I need to figure out how to go about doing it.” Mr. Thompson looked at me.

“Sycamore University has a really good psychology program, as well as a world renowned medical department. They are also local, which would save money as you wouldn’t have to pay for a dorm,” Mr. Thompson said. “I would imagine that with your grades as high as they are a scholarship wouldn’t be out of the question.” I looked at him. I guess I had some research to do. I made a mental note to talk to Dr. Franklin about it.

“Hmm,” I said. “I have some research to do.” I smiled. Mr. Thompson looked at me.

“Yes, you do,” He said, chuckling. “I’m going to write you girls a pass to go see Mrs. Perkins in the library. Morgan, you at least need a new ID, you know, that matches the way you look.”

“Right.” I said. I dug in my backpack for my old one. I looked at the picture. The picture was the same one that was taken during registration for classes this year. The company that did the pictures had the equipment to print ID’s and had printed them in about thirty seconds. Mrs. Perkins had received the file that the photography company had created after we had all gone through the cameras, as well as a printer giving her the ability to reprint ID’s and add new students as the school year went on. Well as far as the school was concerned I was a new student. “You have some papers for me to give Mrs. Perkins?”

“Yeah,” Mr. Thompson said, shuffling some papers on his desk. He handed me a piece of paper that was on school letterhead. “Give that to Mrs. Perkins, and she should run you off a new ID after taking your picture.” I skimmed the paper. Mr. Thompson handed out another piece of paper, one to each of us. “Those are your passes, Get to it. Morgan, if you want some more help after you have looked at schools, and have an idea of where you want to go, come back down and see me. If you need anything you know where I am. Come back before your class after lunch.” Katie and I had lunch after our study hall period. After lunch, we had the only time during the day that we were separated. Katie and I stood. Mr. Thompson looked at me, looked at Katie and smiled. “You girls enjoy lunch.” Katie and I walked out of his office and into the outer office. There were a few people in the outer office that watched us go. Most of the students in the school weren’t even paying attention to me, which I thought was a good thing.

“Any idea what you missed yesterday in Downard’s class?” Katie asked as we walked. I opened the fire door at the bottom of the steps for us since I was the one closest to it. There was a boy and girl standing in the stairwell looking like they were doing the tongue olympics.

“Look at the lesbians.” I heard the boy say. I suddenly realized that Katie and mine’s hands had automatically joined after we had entered the stair well. Katie and I ignored them and continued up stairs. Katie was closer to the door at the top so she opened the door for us. We turned to the left and walked into the library. Mrs. Dunhaven was sitting behind the counter. She looked up at us.

“Katie, You and this new girl are going to have to go back to study hall. The bell rang ten minutes ago.” She said. Katie smiled.

“Actually Mr. Thompson sent the new girl up to get her ID. Although she isn’t exactly new.” Katie said, nudging me closer to the desk. I handed her the note that Mr. Thompson had given me. She looked at the paper, me, back to the paper, and back at me.

“Well, I never thought I’d see the day when they just let a boy run around the school in skirts,” Mrs. Dunhaven said, rather loudly. There were a few students that were sitting close enough to hear what Mrs. Dunhaven had said, and they looked in our direction. Katie looked at Mrs. Dunhaven, who stood and handed the note to Katie. “Mrs. Perkins is back in her office. Katie knows where it is.”

“Thank you.” Katie said, walking through the opening that would let us into the library proper so that we could go see Mrs. Perkins. Katie walked up to the door and knocked.

“Come in.” Katie and I heard. Katie opened the door and we both walked into the office that was as large as a classroom. Mrs. Perkins was able to claim that she had the largest office in the school. “What can I do for you girls?”