Chapter 35

The whispering around me was very different today. Other girls in particular, were smiling at me and saying hello. I stayed friendly but didn't encourage any further conversation. They asked me if I knew Laura Kind, to which I answered yes. No elaboration, just yes. I knew that Laura did not want my adoption to be public before she announced it on television during an interview on the red carpet. I thought lunch was going to be interesting and I was right.

Laura was waiting by the entrance to the cafeteria with her bodyguards. The idea was that I would just join them and we would get our lunch together. However, instead of people moving into the room they stayed around Laura to see what was going on. The brave ones tried to talk to her. Her response was that she was waiting for someone and then she ignored anything further. This caused a crowd to form at the entrance making it difficult for me to join her.

In the end, realising that it wasn't working, she announced in a loud voice that everyone should go through and sit down and she would address them all. She pulled her phone out and spoke to someone and slowly there was movement past her and I was able to join her. We went to my normal table without having collected our food. Chelle was already sitting there, alone as usual.

Laura gracefully stepped onto a chair and then onto the table. Something about her bearing or attitude or maybe just charisma resulted in the entire cafeteria going quiet to listen to what she had to say.

“Thank you for your well wishing and compliments that you have thrown in my direction. I'm sorry, but I won't be signing autographs or spending time talking to you. I am here to have lunch with someone I care deeply for. Someone who has been wronged by you, the students of this school. I know that some of you will be thinking that I am not talking about you, I am only referring to those who have started a whispering campaign or those who have deliberately tried to intimidate her. No, with very few exceptions, I mean all of you. If you have not participated, you have heard those whispers and done nothing, you have seen the intimidation and done nothing. I know you are young, but you want to be treated like an adult. First you need to act like one.” Her gaze swept the room. “Please forget that I am here and lets have lunch.” She nodded to the principal who was standing by the entrance and then sat down. We sent one of the bodyguards to fetch our lunch since we thought it would be more problematic for us to go up.

Despite that speech, there were a couple of kids who wanted to join our table so I politely told them that the seats were taken, although they obviously weren't. So Chelle, Laura and I had lunch and no one dared come near. This could work, I thought to myself, this could work. Then we had gym and it all fell apart.

Laura had left with the bodyguards after escorting me to my next class. That was fine, but the last class of the day is gym. Since everyone stayed in the section relating to their practice, I was not expecting any trouble. I was pretty sure that the three guys from the previous lunch were football players and they practised in a completely different area to the obstacle course, it didn't even occur to me to worry. However, I'm guessing the football coach was not happy with their behaviour and had kicked them off the team, which left them both free to harass me and angry. I noticed them behind me lining up for the first obstacle. There was a smaller boy in between us initially, but they moved him aside just as I started. I don't think I have ever put more effort in moving across the course. They fell off before I did, but instead of heading back to the beginning of the obstacle they were waiting for me. I didn't wait for them to start their intimidation tactics, I just ran to the women's changing rooms and hid in there until the end of class. I was stressed but not in full panic mode.

That night Laura made the decision to pull me out of school. I could see that Eve wanted to argue, but didn't really have an alternative. When we phoned Dr Barn to cancel our next morning appointment, she suggested that I continue seeing her, even if I wasn't going to school. I had already spoken to Laura and told her that I would prefer finding another therapist. My first session with her was great, but after that I didn't really think we had accomplished anything.

Laura was worried that I would have another bad night, so she stayed with me again. Whether it was her presence which I always find calming or that I wasn't affected too much by my gym experience, the result was a good night's sleep.

The next morning we phoned the principal to formally tell him that I wouldn't be attending and explaining why. We thanked him for his efforts. He really did try to accommodate us, but you can't force people to behave and I was too vulnerable for me to remain. He was able to pass on the credits that I received for my English education. It only related to what was required for high school graduation according to California. There are minimum requirements for graduating in California and my English education would account for some of those requirements and I would have to finish the rest either online or with a teacher. Funnily enough there was no legal requirement for any teachers to have state credentials. Since I was already credited with two years of English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, French and PE, most of the requirements had already been met. I discussed this with Gem, Eve and Laura at lunch time. What we decided was that I would complete the minimum requirements by doing online courses for the bits that I was missing like one more year of English, US history, American government, civics and economics. Then I would have private tutors in for any subject that I wanted to learn more about. Already scheduled was my singing lessons, deportment class and personal training. Eve wanted me to add and I agreed with her, music lessons starting with music theory and piano lessons. Laura wanted me to do drama and was hoping to enrol me in a local amateur group. That would combine learning and socialisation. I wanted to continue with my Spanish so Gem said she would organise that for me. We would keep any tutors female so as not to trip my issues. Laura also wanted me to go out with her on a regular basis. She hoped that with our bodyguards around us, I would be able to face my fears whilst still feeling secure enough not to go into panic mode.

The only thing that worried me was leaving Chelle alone at lunch time. I sent her a text that morning so she knew not to expect me. The good news for me was that I was less overwhelmed with work, trying to catch up in classes where I was way behind. We could also reschedule our singing lessons and personal training to be more in line with Eve's normal day routine, which would leave me much more time after school to catch up with Chelle. That didn't change the fact that she would be on her own. Except that was not what happened. Maybe Laura's speech regarding those who don't participate still being guilty because they did not stop the action or maybe others wanted to associate with Chelle because she knew Laura and had spent the last lunch period talking to her. Regardless, it meant Chelle was again surrounded by former friends. She told me that she now considered them more acquaintances rather than friends, since they had deserted her so easily. She would be friendly towards them, but not anything further.

Agent Atworth's POV

I knocked and entered the directors office when he acknowledged me. After Dr Barn's call this morning, in combination with what we had heard in Eve's house, I had called this meeting.

“So, what is the problem?” He asked me.

“We have to make a decision fairly quickly, so I thought it best if I had your input. From our surveillance and Dr Barn's questioning we have come to a few conclusions. I'll start with Dr Barn. I should mention that Dr Barn is of the opinion that Sophia's behaviour is entirely within normal human expectation. However, all the information that Sophia is providing regarding her life in England, is complete nonsense. Nothing matches up. Teachers names, friends, descriptions of locations and even how she was treated. Even her handwriting is evidence that she is not the same person.”

“Dr Barn agrees that Sophia is an UE?”

“Sort of. She has not seen anything non-human. She can confirm that while Sophia is giving false information, there are no signs that a human would normally give to indicate that she was lying. Otherwise body language is consistent with human mannerisms. There is also not even a suggestion of a gender issue, which again confirms that Sophia is not Richard. Going over the taped recording of the original session, when Sophia talked about her attack, she called her attacker Richard, which we have no explanation for. Part of the reason for this meeting is that Dr Barn is no longer in a position to further interrogate Sophia. Sophia is using the anxiety issue as a reason to stop attending school and despite Dr Barn continuing to offer her services, Sophia is not continuing treatment.”

“Where does that leave us?” He asked me.

“I think we can conclude that Sophia is definitely not Richard. The question is, who is she? It is still possible that she is an UE, but there may be another answer. The only way to find out is to bring her in and, after reviewing our surveillance footage, we may have to do that sooner rather than later.”

“What's happened?”

“We were aware that Gem Haven had received formal guardianship of Sophia and approached a judge for a formal adoption. We did not know that it was Laura Kind who actually adopted Sophia and plans to announce that fact to the world next Saturday on the red carpet. After that it will become very difficult to extract her without an elaborate cover story.”

“I see. So what is the plan?”

“Providing that you agree, we, that is the General and I, have arranged for Eve to meet her father on Monday where he will explain everything. Hopefully, Eve will then arrange for our men to be able to bring Sophia in. That seems the least messy. Eve will probably have to talk to Laura and Gem. Unlike Eve, they don't have clearance, but that doesn't matter. Our policy of allowing unsubstantiated information to be distributed as anyone talking to the press is just laughed at, should serve us well.”

I waited while the director thought for a moment. Then he nodded his head. “Do it.” He said.