A pair of twins cause headaches at Hayfield Hall.

An unauthorised story set in the SPA Universe created by Karen Page. These events are intended to take place one year after the events described in “A New Style of Education.” Reading that story first is essential.

Note: This story assumes the counselling team at Hayfield Hall does not change significantly as a result of events yet to be revealed in Karen's story.

Chapter 6

Keith sat in his chair and looked at the two children on his sofa. They were hugging each other and sobbing loudly. He shook his head in amazement.

Taking out his PDA, he quickly sent a message to the Year One leader and her — no today that would be his — partner. “Please come to my office.” Then he remembered that they were still new to the school so he sent a second message. “Come now! Hurry, but don’t run. If you are currently handling some other crisis, send another pair.”

Then Keith sent a message to all of the counsellors. “I would appreciate any of you that are available at my office. I need backup. I’ll brief you when you get here.” He flagged the message as “Not an emergency but serious.” Keith thought for a second and then copied the same message to the Headmaster, Quentin Hobson.

A knock on the door announced the arrival of the young year leader and his partner. They were both panting slightly. With his head full of the current situation, their alternate names slipped out of Keith’s head so he used no names rather than the wrong names.

“Thanks for coming. I know you were only elected yesterday. One part of your job is that you’ll get called in to help when any of your year are particularly upset.” Keith smiled at the girl “Being the partner of the year-leader means you’ll get called in sometimes, too. That’s part of how you can support your partner.”

They both shrugged and nodded. “Of course, Keith. No problems.”

“Right now I have Peter and Alice on my sofa. I don’t want them left alone, but I need to speak with some of my colleagues. This is where the two of you come in. Would you please sit with them for a while?”

They both said “sure” and walked into the office. In no time at all, they had squeezed in on the outside of the two crying twins. Keith looked at them and shook his head. The sofa was designed for two adults. It was just as well they were all thirteen years old. Any older and the four of them wouldn’t have fitted.

In response to a second knock on the door, Keith slipped out into the hallway. Quentin and some of the counsellors were standing there.

“You called for help,” said Quentin. “The cavalry is here.”

"There's another issue being dealt with but the rest of us are here," said Rachel. "How can we help you?"

Keith led them across the hall into Rachel’s office and then looked around at the small circle of concerned adults.

“I’ll be honest. I think I’m a little out of my depth.”

Quentin nodded. “We’ve all been in that situation. That’s why we work as a team. What have you got?”

“The Fallow twins are in my office. I seem to have made a breakthrough of sorts. I want to keep pushing them while the iron is hot but I’m not completely sure how to proceed.”

The others nodded for him to continue.

“I didn’t get anywhere until I started calling them Jordan and Justin. This is what I think is going on. In a sense, Peter and Alice don’t exist. They are roles that the twins have been playing. For the last five years — including during this last week with us — Jordan and Justin have been alternating been the two roles. Every second day, Jordan is Alice and Justin is Peter. On the other days they swap and Jordan is Peter while Justin is Alice.”

There was a moment of stunned silence.

‘Every single day?” asked Rachel. “That’s incredible. I haven’t picked any differences. None of the staff have.”

Quentin frowned. “Is this some sort of twin-style prank that’s gotten out of control?”

“I don't think so. I'm not sure what is going on. It is possible that we have two youngsters who are both transgendered. In the confusion after the fire, they managed to create one role for a girl. So they have taken it in turns to be that girl so that both of their needs were at least partially satisfied. Being exposed as Justin and Jordan appears to have been more traumatic for them than when I challenged Alice’s gender during the interviews. I’m not sure why. I only cracked them by using the iris scanner to prove that the twin presenting as Alice today is not the same as the twin who presented as Alice the day they arrived here. The two of them are quite distraught at being exposed in this way.”

“How did they manage to fool everybody for all this time, swapping every day?”

“In the interviews they both described how much fun they had each evening telling each other about their day. They even deliberately chose different subjects so they’d have more to talk about.”

“They debrief each other?”

Keith nodded. “Effectively. They both test as being very highly intelligent yet they’ve been kept in a standard curriculum for their age group. I suspect this is how they’ve been challenging themselves. Either deliberately or unconsciously, they have created a situation where they have to stretch themselves to perform the roles of Alice and Peter so flawlessly that nobody has detected them — until now. Also, by choosing multiple subjects between the two of them, they have been broadening their education somewhat by taking different subjects every second day. Though I imagine the majority of the work was still boring for them.”

“I’ve seen both of them in the practice rooms every afternoon,” said Quentin. “Alice always plays the violin. Peter always plays the trombone.”

“Jordan and Justin must be at about same level of competence on both instruments. Otherwise they wouldn’t be able to swap for music sessions. That’s something we could check.”

Keith cursed softly to himself. “I asked Alice in the interview if they taught each other their instruments and she dodged the question. She did it so skilfully that I didn’t even notice.”

“They’ve been presenting as Alice and Peter continuously for the last five years,” said Rachel with a thoughtful expression on her face. “We may be looking at something more pathological than a simple role swapping twin prank. Especially given that this all appears to have been locked into place on the night their parents died in the fire. The conditions are conducive to developing something akin to dissociative identity disorder — what used to be called multiple personality disorder.”

“That would explain why I was feeling out of my depth,” said Keith. “I have no experience in that area at all.”

“I have a very little,” said Quentin. “It dates back to a long time before I was associated with this school. I can help a little but we may have to consult outside of the school. Hopefully, one of our sister schools has somebody with expertise. Otherwise, we’ll have to locate a suitable specialist and find a way to consult without breaching security.”

They all nodded and looked at each other.

“Rachel’s idea would also explain why Keith had problems getting through to Jordan and Justin. Peter and Alice aren’t just roles the twins have been playing, they are solid, well-established identities that exist to conceal Justin and Jordan.”

“So, how do we proceed from here?” asked Keith.

“You may as well stay on point,” said Quentin. “You’ve been doing a good job so far and you have an established connection with the twins. Rachel and I shall back you up and that releases the others to hold the fort with the rest of the school.”

The others nodded and then turned and left the office.

“I’ve had the camera in my office running since the start of today’s session,” said Keith. “You could review the session so far from in here. Then you could watch live as I resume with the twins. Any suggestions you want to whisper in my ear would be gratefully accepted.”

Quentin nodded and pulled out his PDA. “I’ll ask David to send one of his team to give you an undetectable earpiece. Oops! I guess today that would be Jayne.”

“My first suggestion will give us a bit of time to set up,” said Rachel. “Given that you have uncovered Justin and Jordan, we can keep them uncovered by using the rules of Mix Up Monday.”

“What do you mean?”

“The rules say they have to dress androgynously for the second half of the day. I suggest we get them out of their Alice and Peter clothes and looking more like a pair of androgynous twins called Jordan and Justin.”

“Let’s go with that,” said Quentin.