A New Style of Education: Hidden Gifts©
By: Annette MacGregor

An authorized story, based on the characters and environment of A New Style of Education by Karen Page.

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17 - Monday, July 19, 2004

It almost felt funny taking off the forms as I got ready for the day. I kept expecting them to be there. Could I have gotten used to them so quickly? I almost started worrying about who I was. My balance was off a little as I started my kata, until I recalled the issue I'd had the previous week. I knelt down centered and grounded myself. A few minutes later, I felt ready to start again and was pleased to find things flowing smoothly again.

Getting dressed was no big deal, though my fingers wanted to button the shirt the wrong way at first. I heard movement from Renee's room, so I tapped the door frame as I stuck my head in. "You okay?"

"I could use some help, please." Her voice sounded pretty shaky to me.

"What's up?"

"I-I don't know if I can do this." She was standing in the middle of the room, dressed in the outfit we'd picked out. I could see her shaking.

"Do I need to call Dan?"

"No-Not yet." Then, she closed the distance separating us, and grabbed me. "I'm scared I'll fall apart, out there."

I reminded her I'd be with her the whole day. It was a relief to see and feel her settle down. "You'd best wash up; you probably don't want the others seeing you looking like this at breakfast."

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but her giggle was not it.

"Wash up." She was laughing harder now.

"What'd I say? Don't you wash faces?"

"I guess you could, but we usually wash up dishes and wash our faces." She managed to say.

So much is the same, and different at the same time. I wonder if I'll ever get it all down.

The short laugh took care of most of her remaining jitters. She ran into her en-suite and took care of things. As we walked down the hall toward the stairs I saw what had to be Wayne, no, I checked, Alice, and called out, "Alice, wait."

She turned. "Hi, D-an and Re-ne'."

We walked on the rest of the way in silence. I offered Alice my arm, for balance, going down the main stairs. She probably didn't need it; her heels were maybe a half inch, but I figured I could pretend to be a gentleman.

"Tha-anks, D-an."

"Any time. I remember what walking in heels for the first time was like. Going down stairs was the hardest part." Well, going down the stairs was the hardest part for my sister. I can remember the time she told me I'd have troubles too if I were wearing heels; when I laughed at her one time. Okay, I'm the little brother. Little brothers are supposed to laugh when their sisters have a heel catch on the stairs! Anyway, I'd best not make a point of mentioning that I'd found it no more difficult than my socks on a wooden staircase. Hmmm. Maybe it's not that heels on the stairs are NOT not difficult. Maybe I'm just lucky on my balance. Something to think about...

We were just getting ready to turn to follow the hall toward the cafeteria when, "Hey, wait up mates," Mark called from the top of the stairs. He came running down, holding his shoes in one hand and PDA in the other. I stifled a laugh at how mismatched his outfit was.

"Quite the picture, Claire. I don't think you're supposed to wear those leather things on your hands."

"Yeah, but this was faster."

I was looking at him more carefully, thinking he'd decided to skip the forms. Then, when he turned to grab the rail while he slipped the shoes on, I saw it. I couldn't believe it. "What's with the hump, mate?"

He spun around, as if trying to look at his shoulders, "Hump? What hump?"

He did it so well; I immediately recognized who he was mimicking. "I thought Igor was a guy."

"'Course, I'm his sister, Claire."

"I hope you don't catch it for the gag, mate."

"Hey, they left them there to be used, and didn't leave rules on their use."

We all just shook our heads at his silliness, and hoped he wouldn't get into too much trouble. I do wonder how he managed to get it to stay there though.

When we arrived at our table, Keith and the other four were already there. "You doing okay, Dan?" queried Keith.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"And, Rene'?"

"She's okay, now, but was a bit shaky earlier." I realized she was doing better after seeing Mark's antics. "I think Claire's clowning actually helped." It's true, and maybe it'll help him stay out of trouble.

"Claire." He turned and looked at her more carefully. It was easy to see when he noticed the hump, as he sighed before asking, "What's with the hump?"

Hamming it up, Mark turned around in his seat, trying to see his shoulders. "Hump, what hump?"

"I see. Let's eat then." As he sat down, I saw him pull out his PDA and key something.

I kept glancing over at the year four table, trying to figure out which of the ladies was Brenda, but I couldn't tell. Danged, but, they must have rearranged themselves. He must be one of the two with backs to us. I can't even pick him out by his face. I may have to wait until rehearsal to find out. I'd thought I'd be able to spot him right away, but no way. I tried looking at the "guys" at the table, figuring that there was no way a cute girl like Stacy could pull off guy so well, but was stymied there, too.

At the end of breakfast, Claire's PDA chimed, and after he, No, SHE, I need to remember to use the right pronouns, even if SHE isn't being serious, looked up, "My fan club demands my presence, so you'll have to go to lessons on your own." She bowed, as he backed away from us.

The seven of us headed out, and I saw Tracy waiting for him... Hope SHE's okay.

About an hour into the morning, Claire rejoined us, still with the mismatched clothes, but the hump was gone. She was also a little quieter than normal. Just before Lunch, I stopped her, "You okay, mate?"

"Yeah, thanks. Just have a lot of things to think about."

The common room after lunch was quieter than normal. I could see Wayne, no Alice, talking with Harry and Roger. She also seemed to be talking, not just listening. Maybe she's been having some special lessons, like my girl lessons. Now that I think about it, her stutter wasn't so bad this morning in lessons.

Rene' seemed to be dealing with things, but I wasn't sure, so I suggested we head off to rehearsal a few minutes early.

As we made our way down the hall, she said quietly, "Thanks, some quiet time will help."

Upon our arrival, she went directly to her seat. I returned to my station at the glockenspiel and worked on a few bits. The rest of the kids came in over the next fifteen minutes.

I still wasn't sure who was who. In Spanish, the one class that spanned years; I came to realize that most of the older kids took this dress up bit really seriously. Maybe I'm not as unusual as they let me believe; in wanting to get it right. Some, mostly from year two didn't seem as serious. I don't mean they clowned much like Mark. More, they just wore the clothes like they'd wear any others. I guess that actually makes sense. After all, it really is just clothes. Nobody I could see, outside our year, looked the least bit uncomfortable or self conscious dressed like this. Most were recognizable, but a few were like different people and I only got the connection by where they sat. I knew Andy was supposed to be Brenda, but I'd not been able to figure out who he was at the year four table. Stacy was another that just didn't make sense. It was one of two pairs though. Well, they'd be here soon enough.

Then two older kids came in. Something about the guy looked familiar, but I had no clue about the girl on his arm. No, you're kidding. THAT's Andy? It's a good thing Kirk isn't here. I wouldn't call Brenda "pretty", but, Kirk might have. She looks like the kind of girl Kirk used to bring home when he had dates. That brought a smile to my lips, thinking about how surprised Kirk would be to find out Andy's "surprise".

Wiping the smile off my face, I greeted Andy.No, it's Brenda! "Hi, Brenda. You look good."

"Thanks, Dan. This morning, I wasn't sure who I'd be seeing at breakfast."

I nodded. "Apparently my dressing last week made me NOT mix-up for the first part of the day." Then, a thought hit me. We use male names in male mode, and girl's names in female mode. What are we supposed to use when trying to be androgynous? Before I had a chance to ask, the guy that Brenda had come in with waved his violin bow, and signaled that we should get to our places to warm up. That's obviously Marcus, which explained why he looked familiar. Danged but they both do this so well. They were both so natural presenting as the opposite sex. Sighing, I wondered if I'd ever get to where I could be that comfortable being a girl. I'll just have to do my best.

When rehearsal was over, with only a few sneezes, I took the opportunity to ask Andy, No, it's BRENDA when he's like this, about the name when in androgynous mode.

"Brenda, you got a minute?"

"For you, handsome, sure."

I'm sure I turned ten shades of red, but I bulled forward. "When we get changed for the remainder of the day, what name do we use?"

Brenda gave an expressive sigh. "And here I was thinking you wanted a date."

Trying to recover, "I figure Marcus would have something to say about that; though, my older brother would probably like to meet you." Seeing Brenda wince a little at that made me feel a little better. "But, seriously, what do we call folks when we're all being androgynous?"

"Okay, Dan, enough messing around on my part. That's actually a good question. Most folks go by one or the other of the names they normally use. If you have a preference, you can tell folks by either wearing something that would go with what you have on now, or something that doesn't. If you match, folks should call you Dan, otherwise you'll be Sophia." He paused a minute then, as if thinking. "If anyone is normally trying to live neither male nor female, they can indicate that in the system, and it'll provide them another option for naming on mix-up day, if they don't want to use their normal name when dressing as a male or female."

I thought about that. "That almost makes sense. Are you sure that's all there is to it?"

"Well, the other way is to just tell folks. Unless you tell folks, they'll call you whatever they normally call you. In my case, you'd probably call me Andy. Your study partner will be Renee. You, having spent more time as Sophia than Dan, had better tell your mates what you want them to call you, or they'll be confused."

"So, I can stay Dan for the rest of the day?"

"Yes, as long as you wear the androgynous clothing."

That gave me a bit to think about, as we went back to the dorm wing to change for dinner and the evening. I was telling Renee how Brenda looked like the kind of girl my brother had dated last year.

"He'd get a surprise if he did go out with Brenda, though."

"Yeah. You know, some of the kids do this mix-up transforming really well."

"I noticed. You and Fran, I mean Felix, were awesome."

"That's probably because we've both had a lot of practice at being boys. If I'd needed to be Sophia today, I'd have been just as awkward as any of the others in our year."

She laughed. "No, you do Sophia almost as well as Andy does Brenda."

I stopped short, "No, now you're joshing me. There's no way I do it that well."

She looked at me and shook her head, "Okay, maybe not that well, but, you're obviously doing okay."

I scrunched my brow and gave her a questioning look.

"You said you had an external guy here testing you on the piano. If the staff hadn't thought you were enough like a girl to pass, do you think they'd have let you test while being Sophia. I bet you have to do all your lessons, with him, as Sophia too."

I sighed, "Yeah. Guess this is more complicated than I'd thought at first. They postponed Mix-up Day the first time due to those outside visitors."

We were quiet as we went the rest of the way to our rooms. I wonder what I've gotten myself into. Perhaps it's a good thing I don't have that much time for introspection.

After we'd changed, we headed over to the main building for dinner. Renee'd selected some of the frilliest of the stuff from the back of the closet. I guessed she was trying to distance herself as much as possible from the guy stuff earlier in the day. She also looked more comfortable. Me, it was just clothing, and now that I thought about it, while my shirt buttoned on the guy side, it was just a tad silkier than what I'd been wearing earlier in the day. It made me think a bit about what made for androgynous clothing as opposed to male or female. Skirts were obviously out, but what else?

Dinner was uneventful, and everyone seemed to be more or less their normal self. Wayne did seem to be even quieter than normal, if that's possible, and Mark still seemed to be lost in thought much of the time.

Following the meal, Renee and I headed to our rooms to get through our assignments and do a little extra practicing.

Standing up to stretch, Renee said, "I think we're ready for lessons tomorrow. You know, I never studied so much at my old school. I mean, the lessons weren't all that hard, but still, if I ever spent more than a half hour at lessons, that was a lot. And, while the work seems harder with the teachers, there's so much more in a lesson. I don't know, but I seem to be picking it up so much faster."

"I think it's our working things out together. I used to do a lot of work to get ready for classes. From something my mom said, I think it's that by explaining things to each other, we learn it better. It's sorta like the Montessori school I went to in Italy. To listen to my parents, they don't actually teach the kids there, but let them learn from each other. Whatever it was, I guess it worked. I made it here." I was also standing now. "You know, I bet this is why they said we would likely pass our tests early."

"Tests?"

"Those tests we take after a few years. A somethings."

"Oh, A-Levels. You may have a point. If we're learning more material, faster, we should be able to sit for our GCSEs and A-Levels sooner."

We went to our practicing. I used my headphones, as she was in her room with her horn. Sometime after she finished, she came in to remind me I should get some sleep. Laughing, I got up. "That felt good. Thanks for interrupting me. I have to get up a little early in the morning." I scratched my itchy nose.

"Exercise?"

"No. I need to put the forms back on."

She smiled at that. "Why not do it tonight?"

"I'm supposed to leave the chest clear a day, so getting up a little early does the job. I don't want them loose, if a judo session gets added."

"No, I don't think he'd like you to be unprepared."

We said good-night and got ready for bed. After getting into bed, I lay there a while, thinking about the events of the past day and week.. There was something bugging me, but I couldn't quite think of it. I drifted in and out of sleep. Then, it hit me. Sitting straight up in bed, I cried "NO". It can't be. They SAID it was only until graduation. But, if I'm taking piano lessons as Sophia from now on, I'll not be able to go anywhere with my piano, except as Sophia. How can I go home, if I have to be Sophia from now on?

My mind continued rushing from point to point. It was some time before I realized someone was beside me and holding me.

"Dan, what is it? You yelled, and you've been sitting here rocking and crying."

I worked hard, and at least partially pulled myself together. "Sorry," I sniffed out. "I've not acted like this since Karen moved out."

"Who?"

Her question helped me remember where I was even more. I took some deep breaths and shook my head. "My sister. She moved out a few years ago; when I was a little kid. I missed her a lot." I gulped out.

"Okay, what's wrong?" she asked again.

"I think I had a horrible dream." I started, then felt myself tearing up again and fought to stop it. Guys don't CRY! I took another deep breath. It WAS a dream! Then, I realized she was still waiting for me. "I had a nightmare that the school was actually kidnapping us all and we'd never see our families again."

"Oh, I'm sorry. But, you know you'll see them again after we graduate."

"I guess I just miss them more than I thought," I said through a sniff.

Renee handed me a tissue. "Crying always makes my nose run."

It was then that I realized my nose was runny, and I'd been sniffing for a while.

"Thanks." I mumbled, as I blew my nose. She was holding the waste basket and the tissue box for me.

"I'm really sorry I woke you."

"It's okay. It's nice being able to help you for a change. You helped me get through the day." She was quiet then, for a minute.

She'll probably ask about the dream. I wondered about it. The details that must have been there, but they seemed to be out of reach. I was asleep, wasn't I? All I could remember was the conclusion that had awakened me.

"What was in the dream?"

There it was. "I don't remember it much, any more. I think I fell asleep thinking about maybe having to be Sophia for the rest of my piano lessons, and wondering if I could, and if I did, what that'd mean. All I remember of the dream was that we'd never get to see our families again."

When she didn't respond immediately, I realized what I'd said and how it might affect her. "Oh, I'm sorry, Renee."

"It's okay. Besides, you'll get to see them after we graduate. I bet the school has some fancy ceremony."

"You're probably right about the ceremony. But, what about Fran, and the other kids like her? How will they be able to go home?"

"I'm sure they will be. We can always ask Dan about it, if you're really still worried."

"No. Not yet, anyway. I want to think this through some more. Something's not adding up."

"All right. But, not now-"

"Yes, mother!" I responded, which got us both laughing a little.

She gave a big sigh. "Go, play me something. I'll not leave until you do."

"Okay, okay." I realized she was distracting me, but, that's probably a good idea. Whatever was bugging me wouldn't come now. Maybe some playing, and then sleeping on it would help it come clear.

I slipped out of the other side of the bed, and padded over to the keyboard. I just let my fingers start; to roam on the keys. It started out kinda sad, but, my mood lightened quickly, and I shifted to "Piano Man" by Billy Joel.

When I finished, I realized Renee'd come over. :"What was that?"

"Huh." She doesn't know "Piano Man"? How? "Umm. That was 'Piano Man'. Didn't you recognize it?"

"I don't think I've ever heard it before."

I was shocked. How could anyone NOT know Billy Joel's most famous piece? "Don't you know 'Billy Joel'?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. What else did he do?"

"All sorts of things, here's 'The Entertainer'."

I played the first bit.

She shook her head. "I thought 'The Entertainer' was for that movie, oh yeah, 'The Sting'."

I thought a minute. Wait, wasn't that the movie about those crooks pulling a trick on another crook? I was about to say no, when I remembered there WAS a song called 'The Entertainer' that was in the movie.

"Different song, same title. That one's by Scott Joplin, and goes like this..." I played the first bit.

"Yeah, that's it. I don't know the other one though."

"Did you like it?"

"It was interesting. That's why I asked."

Puffing myself up, "I'll just have to fix this shortcoming in your education, young lady." I was fighting to keep a straight face as I said that, but a sneeze caused me to lose it and I found myself laughing.

"Not tonight, well this morning, though. Let's get some sleep."

I agreed, and she returned to her room as I climbed back into bed.

-- Tuesday, July 20, 2004

I must have fallen asleep, because then next thing I knew was my alarm ringing.

I had to put myself back together again, as Sophia, so my morning Katas were cut short. That'd not be a big problem, as skipping wasn't going to be a regular thing. As I was moving around, I heard Renee moving in her room, and smiled in memory of her help during the night. I called out, "Good morning."

Her reply was muffled, but that didn't matter. As I was holding the forms in place, I thought some more about my dream of the night before. Things still didn't add up, but otherwise things were going fine, so I decided to shelve the problem for a bit.

The morning classes - I do have to remember to call them lessons - were fairly typical. I'd noticed that there was no set daily schedule. Sometimes all eight of us would be together; sometimes we'd go to different rooms, and in the Spanish lessons we had kids from other years mixed in. With these small classes there no way anyone can get away with not preparing. That was mostly a relief. Perhaps I'd not be accused of being a "Hermione Granger" for always being the first to have my hand up to answer.

In many ways, the day was a blur; not that I didn't pay attention; I was just distracted thinking about what I was doing, what I'd dreamed the night before, and life. I was just having difficulty focusing for very long. Renee'd interrupted me several times as I was going in the wrong direction to a lesson. At least nobody else had noticed.

By the time dinner was over, I noticed that my head was hurting. Figuring it was due to my short nights recently, I told the others I'd be getting to bed early, as they'd scheduled Judo first thing tomorrow and I was very tired. Renee followed me back to our rooms and asked if I was okay.

"I think I'm just tired."

"You sure? You've been quieter than normal, today."

Grabbing a tissue, "I guess I'm allergic to something in the air."

"Are you sure?"

"No, how would I? I've only lived here in England a few months. But, what else could it be?" I tossed my tissue away. "Anyway, I'm really tired. Do you mind if we cut our studies short tonight? We're up a little early for Judo."

"That's okay. Not that much work for tomorrow."

We put a half hour in, and I found myself needing to stretch more than usual after working. "I really need to be more regular in my exercises. I'm getting stiff just sitting here."

Renee looked at me, a little concerned, but didn't say anything.

Getting ready for bed, I felt really stiff and tired, and wondered what was making my nose run. I've not been anywhere new this week...

-- Wednesday, July 21, 2004

It was another fitful night, what with my dreams and all. I woke up feeling stiffer than when I'd gone to bed the night before, and moving seemed harder than normal. My nose still seemed to be running. I can't remember the last time I got sick. I got up, and took care of my morning ablutions; at least I think I did. I found myself standing in the bathroom, and the wash cloth was hanging on the rail. Yes, it's wet. I checked it. Apparently I'd gotten there on auto pilot...

Best get a move on. We're seeing Sensei again this morning. I'd been both looking forward to it and dreading it since Monday night. Not sleeping well would slow my reactions and I figured Sensei'd notice. He'd had me talking to docs before, and I figured he would again if HE thought I needed it. I really didn't want Dan asking pointed questions, at least until I worked things out on my own. And, this head cold, yeah, I was admitting that was what it was now. Nothing to do but my best.

Moving a little stiffly, I got ready and started my morning exercises. I couldn't do some of the more difficult ones, as my balance seemed off and I was feeling a bit stiff. So, I ended up cutting things short. Wondering at this, but feeling less stiff, even though I was still a bit achy, I got my shower. The hot water felt good; though I'm not sure if the moist air was helping or hurting my breathing. With a start, I realized I'd been zoning out and was glad I had a few extra minutes from my shortened warm-up. I got out, and put myself together. At one point, I was thinking to my self that all the extra effort I had to put into putting Sophia together was probably a good thing, as it gave me less time to try to think about the future.

I was just finishing up when Renee popped her head through the door. "You're ready, good. Let's get to breckie."

Remembering Judo, "You remembered to arrange for a light meal, didn't you?" I wondered if I'd manage to get through even what I'd ordered.

"Of course. I wonder what we'll do this morning?"

I tried to think, but felt sluggish. "Probably review falling, to start with."

She nodded. "So, like any other subject, we recap a lot?"

"Pretty much. At least until the muscles can remember for you."

"Oh, like playing an instrument."

"Huh." I obviously wasn't tracking that well, because normally I'd have realized what she meant.

"You know, how my fingers remember how to play the notes when I see them, without thinking about."

"Uh, right. You played before."

"Are you alright, Sophia?" There was concern in her voice.

"I think so." Then I spoiled it by sniffing the mucus back in.

"You have a cold, don't you?"

"I don't know. Maybe, but, I'll be fine."

"You sure?" The concern was obvious even to me at this point.

"Yeah. I never really get sick, so this'll be gone in a day or so." I tried to minimize things. But, I really didn't ever get sick.

"If you're sure..." Her voice trailed off, and I nodded acknowledgement.

In a brief burst of clarity, I knew I wasn't ready to talk to anyone about my thoughts about life after graduation, though, come to think of it, they'd probably not bother her as much as most of us. Luckily we arrived at the dining hall then so we could go sit down. Pru and Sally delivered food, and Dan didn't say much to us. Perhaps he was easing off after his session with Renee yesterday. I managed to get most of my meal down, but my stomach wasn't feeling all that good. Pru, Renee and I headed off to Judo together, and I tried to look like I was totally with it, to avoid any questions.

We met Shelly, as we arrived, and all went and changed into our gis. Sensei was waiting for us, and we all bowed before taking kneeling positions when he indicated we should.

"We will start today by recapping falling from last session. Sophia and Shelly, you will swap partners for now. Any questions?" When there were none, he sent us to different areas on the mats to work.

I tried to be clear in talking with Renee, but I'm sure I wasn't up to normal. A few minutes after we started, Sensei came over, and had Renee join Shelly, and had me come with him.

"You are not feeling well."

"I'm okay, Sensei."

"I wasn't asking you a question, Sophia. You are not feeling well. Come, let us see where you are." He directed me to an area on the mat. I feared I'd had it now.

He started with some slow moves and I was able to counter where I should. But once he moved to a little faster speed, that I should have been able to handle with ease, I found myself reacting just a little slow.

"Stop." He indicated that I should kneel. He knelt opposite me. "Are you at your peak ability now?"

"No, Sensei."

"If Renee had fallen wrong, would you have been able to break her fall?"

I paused at this, suddenly focusing and realizing what he was saying. "No, Sensei."

"What should you have done when I directed you to work with Renee?"

I thought a moment, and "I should have indicated to you that I was not at my best."

"Why?"

"This would have allowed you to choose to either not have me do it, or to provide closer supervision."

"It is good you added the later, because that is what I did."

I must have reacted somehow, because he then continued, "To a trained observer, it was readily apparent that you were not moving normally when arrived. The obvious deduction was that you were fighting some cold or had been injured."

I nodded in response here. In my feeling of heightened awareness, this was obvious to me now.

"You will stop by the school hospital before going on to your next class."

Recognizing a direction, when I heard it, "Yes, Sensei." Why do I need to go to a hospital? Isn't Dr. Bill good enough?

Apparently he saw my confusion, which isn't surprising. "You'll see Dr. Bill, or his nurse if he's not there. Now, come, we will observe the others, and you will give me your observations on all three."

The next ten minutes, I described how stiff Renee seemed, and how much more comfortable Pru was getting, even when she worked with Renee instead of Shelly. I also commented that Renee appeared to be stiffer with Shelly than she was with Pru.

Sensei called a halt to their exercises, and we sat in a circle. He asked a few questions, and had each comment on their observations.

"Shelly, the last few minutes, you had Renee practicing with Pru, rather than with you as you had done when Pru was practicing the falls, you worked with her as much as having Renee work with her. Why was that?"

"I noticed that she seemed stiffer when working with me, and I felt it better that she learn to fall correctly before determining the cause and working through that. Since she was more relaxed with Pru, that seemed the right way to achieve this."

"Well reasoned. Why did you not comment on her stiffness last week?"

"She was learning, some level of stiffness was to be expected. As we discussed, I saw that Sophia's approach was more effective at getting that first trust, but we were beyond that point today. As a result, I felt working on technique was more important."

"Nicely reasoned."

Feeling myself beginning to get tired again, it felt like I was thinking through honey. It was all I could do to keep from sneezing.

"Good." Then, to all of us, "As Sophia and I discussed, it is always important to be aware of what you are doing, as well as your goals. Shelly has demonstrated that as well, with her work with Renee. You First Years will need to learn that you report ANY occurrence of your not feeling well or other issues as soon as you are aware of them. This is for your protection, as well as those around you. We have a partially closed community here, and an illness could easily spread. In addition, when you are not feeling well, you are not operating at your best. While it is true you need to learn to work through minor illnesses, there are also times where your instructors need to take this into account."

He then looked at Renee, "Study partners help in this, because they see you, usually, more clearly than you see yourself. While each of you is responsible for your own actions, study partners need to watch out for each other and make sure the other is taking care of him or herself. With time, this will become second nature to you. You'll likely extend this care to the rest of your year and even the other years." He then looked at each of us, "The school and all of the staff are here for YOU. Take advantage of us." He actually smiled at the last bit. "Next week, we will pick up where we left off. Pru, you can go change with Renee and Sophia, or stay and watch Shelly's workout."

"They'll not be watching?" Pru blurted out.

I know I winced internally, and I suspect Shelly did as well. Pru's questioning, without first being acknowledged by Sensei, broke through my fog again.

"No, Renee will be going with Sophia to the school hospital, because Sophia is ill."

"Oh." She looked over at me, and must have read something in my expression beyond not feeling good. "Did I do something wrong?"

Sensei responded. "Except in an emergency, when in the dojo, you always wait for your instructor's acknowledgement before speaking; unless he or she first gives you leave. Had you not been told this previously?"

At her sheepish expression it was obvious that she now recalled my comments on this.

"From your reaction, I believe the answer is yes. You will learn to not forget important things, and basic courtesy. I will forgive your transgression this time, but, you must learn when to interrupt and when it is important that you not. In this case, you should have either waited for me to ask if there were questions, or raised your hand to indicate to me that you had one. As I indicated before, never hesitate in an emergency." He set her some exercises to do and dismissed us.

"Sorry, Renee."

"No, I'm sorry, Sophia. I knew you weren't feeling well. Let's change, and go find the school hospital."

"I assume it's near Dr. Bill's office." I sighed. "I've been there before."

We changed, and headed off to the clinic. Renee checked her PDA to confirm its location. Upon arrival, Renee had me sit and went to talk to the nurse. I must have been zoning out again, because the next thing I knew I was in an exam room with Dr. Bill, and he was asking questions.

"I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon, young lady."

I sneezed before responding, "Sorry, Dr. Bill. Sensei made me come. I think I must be developing allergies to something."

"Slow down. Diagnosis is MY job." He went on and asked me all sorts of questions, never saying why. Then, he had me up on the table, prodding and poking me all over, asking if it hurt. At least, by the end of the prodding, his fingers weren't so cold.

"Get dressed, I'll be right back."

I put myself back together, and was just sitting down, when he knocked and came in.

"I'm afraid your diagnosis was only half right. It's not allergies but it is something. It appears you have some sort of viral infection. So, we'll have to wait it out. I've asked your study partner to run and get you a pair of trainers, as I noticed your balance seems to be a little off. I expect her back shortly; then we'll continue. Why don't you rest in that chair until she gets back?"

I nodded, I think, and then I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew Renee was there taking my sandals off.

"I can..." I started to say.

"No, Sophia, just sit there and let her do it. She and I talked, and, based on her input, I've identified those with whom you've had more than passing contact in the past few days. I'll be keeping an eye on them for symptoms. In the meantime, you'll be stuck in your room for a few days, with your meals delivered. If it IS viral, we must minimize further exposure. Renee, based on what you've told me, I'm afraid this will also apply to you," He shook his head, before continuing. "It's unusual to suffer a viral infection in the summer. They tend to be much more common in winter. In any event, I, or one of the nurses, will be checking up on you daily."

Renee was done with my trainers by then, and had taken a seat on the stool, next to me.

"Renee, we'll also depend on you to tell us if you start to feel ill, or see a change in Sophia. If she gets worse, or develops a new symptom, let us know immediately."

She assured him that she'd do so, and then escorted me to our rooms. It was like mom was helping me when I was a little kid. Somehow, I ended up in bed, and was soon fast asleep.

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Author's Note: I want to thank Karen for allowing me the pleasure of continuing this story and I hope you all get as much pleasure out of reading it as I've had writing it. I also want to thank the individuals that proofed and commented on the story as it developed and moved toward what you see posted here (Karen, Penny, Gabi and Holly). Their comments and criticisms helped immeasurably! Any problems remaining are mine and not that of any of these remarkable ladies.

Comments are greatly appreciated! Speculation welcome!