Before the Pandemic: Briarwood Academy (1255 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 2 on 24 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by stardamage (View user info) at 2005-03-08 19:02:07 EST
reference: http://www.ubersite.com/m/61238
* * *
Charlotte rounded the corner, heading for her dorm, the only sound in the morning air her sneakers slapping on the wet pavement. Her breath came in short, controlled bursts and she turned, heading down the last slope, feeling the brisk autumn wind on her face relieving her - though the air was chilly and the nights were getting longer, she was sweating, her face red.
Circling around the dorm to the back, she descended further until she was at the door that led to the basement hallway her room was on. She always used that door instead of the main one, especially in the morning - her runs were alone time, and she preferred not to run into anyone.
Kicking off her shoes in the hallway, she went in socks to her door, opened it, and reached for her towel, flip flops and shower basket.
* * *
Dr. Michael Faith, headmaster of Briarwood Academy, sat at his desk, his head in his hands, clutching at his greying hair. A notepad sat on his desk in front of him, with part of a speech written down. He glanced at it, tore the sheet away with sudden ferocity, crumpled it and then threw it away from him. He slammed his hands down on the desk surface, making his pen jump to the floor.
"Dr. Faith?" asked his secretary, coming into the room. "Sir? Is everything all right?"
"How do I tell them this, Jane? How do I tell a bunch of children..."
"I know. The best we can do is send them home."
"Jane, what if this turns out to be...what if the rumors are true? Do you think they've heard anything?"
"I'm pretty sure none of the children have, sir. All of the house heads and dorm families have already been instructed to remove the televisions from the common rooms."
"I just...I don't want to frighten them, Jane. And I want them to be safe. Have the airport arrangements already been made?"
"Yes. Our health services have already called ahead to Ashfield to have the infectious disease doctors be present here immediately after the meeting to inspect the international students and transport them to the airport. The dorm heads have already been informed and have been gathering the paperwork and passport information for all of them since last night. We should be able to pretty much immediately get all of the international kids out of here. The others will have to travel by ground, as all domestic flights are being cancelled, as I'm sure you've heard. We're trying to get trains and busses scheduled."
"Yes, I've heard." Michael gave a heavy sigh.
"Do you need any coffee or anything?"
"No. I'm just going to try to write something down to tell them. God help us, Jane, they're just children."
* * *
A hot shower after a run on a fall morning was the perfect way to start the day; even so, Charlotte didn't waste her time. All boarding schools had rules, she thought, but the teachers here were particularly strict about punctuality. It didn't pay to be late.
Pulling her black hair back into a ponytail, she pulled on a pair of khaki colored corduroys, a blue collared shirt and a black blazer, and slid her feet into a pair of ash colored clogs. Glancing at the five-minutes-ahead clock on her desk, Charlotte sighed and started packing up her books, then slung her backpack over her left shoulder and exited the room.
On the way up to the second floor to pick up her friend Katie to walk to class with her, Charlotte passed the house head, Mrs. Carpathia. "Hi, Mrs. Carps," Charlotte said cheerfully, but was surprised to see that the dorm head was wiping away streaks of moisture from her grey eyes.
"Mrs. Carps? Is everything okay?"
"Oh, Charlotte!" she said, obviously startled. She blinked rapidly. "I was just putting on mascara and poked myself in the eye with the wand, isn't that stupid of me?" She smiled, but the smile was a little shaky. "Anyway, I'm just on my way down to see if Mr. Carps is ready to go. Make sure you get to all-school meeting on time today, all right? There have been a lot of people getting there late recently."
"Yeah, I'm just going to pick up Katie and then we're heading over."
"All right, then."
Charlotte continued up the stairs, vaguely worried. It wasn't like Mrs. Carps to lie like that. Maybe she'd gotten some bad news about someone in her family. She'd drop in on the Carpathias later that night if they were on duty and see if everything was all right.
Reaching the top of the stairs, she walked to Katie's door and slapped her hands on it. "Katie! Come on, we gotta go or we're gonna be late again."
"Yeah, coming," Katie's voice said from somewhere behind the door. Charlotte kept slapping the door until Katie opened it. "Jesus Christ, Charlotte, what's the big rush?"
"I just passed Mrs. Carps on the stairs and she hinted if we're late again we're in shit."
"Okay, just let me get my bag, will ya?" Katie grabbed the messenger bag.
"Where's Lenes?" Darlene was Katie's roommate, and always on time, if not early, to everything.
"Already there. She's meeting us."
The door shut behind them.
* * *
Michael Faith had finally gotten something written down, but once again he wasn't satisfied with it. All he could think of were the looks that were sure to be on the faces of some of the students. He could see them already, in his mind, the seniors in the front rows white-faced and silent, juniors with mouths open, sophomores turning to each other and whispering, freshmen staring wide-eyed and frightened at him, standing behind the podium.
Michael had come to realize that no matter what he said, there would be panic. His job was to ensure that everyone remained calm, that the truth as far as he knew it was revealed, and that no trace of any rumors or messier details made it past his lips, or any of the faculty's. Second priority was reassuring the community, and getting the international students checked and away as soon as possible.
He looked over the newspaper that Jane had brought in earlier, with a soft apology for the words that appeared near the bottom of the front page: New Cases of Mysterious Flu Reported in New York, Boston. Then, in smaller print: Fast Spread Predicted by End of Month.
He checked his watch - he had five minutes before he was supposed to appear on stage and still no idea, really, of the exact words he'd be saying. Even the shaky scrawls he had managed to write were only notes. He sighed, pushing his chair back, and stood, staring at the paper that was in his hands, the ridiculous notes on it.
He walked around his desk and clenched the paper in a fist. Walking into the outer office, he nodded to Jane, who stood up and followed him out. He made his way down the hallway that led to a metal exit door, and then outside into the crisp autumn air. He barely noticed the raw, burning beauty of the thousands of fiery leaves on the ground, but made his way across the little alleyway to the theater door.
Once inside, he was backstage. He could see and hear the all-school president, a well-liked senior, starting the meeting. The all-school president and the head prefect had both been filled in on what Dr. Faith was going to say the night before, and the stress, though not obvious, was showing on the young man's face. "Good morning, everyone, uh. I know some of you wanted to make announcements, but right now Dr. Faith has something important to say. So please give him your attention. Dr. Faith?" The senior looked backstage and directly at Michael, trying to stay brave in front of the school, but fear showed in his eyes.
Michael walked out on stage and shook the boy's hand, clapping him on the shoulder, nonverbal permission to leave the stage. "Good job, son," he whispered, and the boy nodded, staggering off the stage. Michael looked down at the piece of paper in his hands, which was fluttering in time to the trembling of his own body. He looked out at the students, his students.
(For the love of God, they're only children...)
User Reviews
Submitted by i_can_get_you_a_toe (user info) at 2007-11-15 15:16:51 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
thanks FALLEN
Submitted by FALLEN (user info) at 2007-11-15 09:02:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
wow
Submitted by notyou (user info) at 2005-07-07 18:02:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Jungle_Jimanee (user info) at 2005-05-13 08:28:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by nrduncan (user info) at 2005-05-13 07:19:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-21 04:41:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Woohoo!
Submitted by Jaineix (user info) at 2005-03-16 03:12:49 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I like this alot, perhaps we could have more?
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2005-03-12 11:55:09 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Here is my contribution - http://www.ubersite.com/m/61730
Submitted by WhoLetYouIn (user info) at 2005-03-10 01:43:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by TimeCop (user info) at 2005-03-10 01:19:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2005-03-09 15:22:09 (#)
Ranking: 2
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Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-03-08 22:59:14 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:22:48 (#)
Ranking: 2
I think Jack McCallum saved ubersite.
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Submitted by RideJohnnyRide (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:18:12 (#)
Ranking: 2
This pandemic stuff was probably the best idea ever.
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2005-03-09 15:22:09 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
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Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-03-08 22:59:14 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:22:48 (#)
Ranking: 2
I think Jack McCallum saved ubersite.
==============================================
Submitted by RideJohnnyRide (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:18:12 (#)
Ranking: 2
This pandemic stuff was probably the best idea ever.
Submitted by engine13 (user info) at 2005-03-09 12:46:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Dannie (user info) at 2005-03-09 00:54:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
mmmmm tasty
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-03-08 23:10:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/08/high_school_zombie_threat/
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-03-08 22:59:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:22:48 (#)
Ranking: 2
I think Jack McCallum saved ubersite.
==============================================
Submitted by RideJohnnyRide (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:18:12 (#)
Ranking: 2
This pandemic stuff was probably the best idea ever.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-03-08 22:43:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Like Jack said, very low-key, but interesting and a great read. Most excellent.
Submitted by tlozoot (user info) at 2005-03-08 22:36:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Spooky.
Submitted by spedmonkey (user info) at 2005-03-08 21:23:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for both the excellent post, and for this:
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-03-08 20:46:20 (#)
Ranking: 2
Please let this be a Catholic school. Everyone knows that Catholic School Girls rule.
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Can't go wrong with a Chili Peppers reference!
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-03-08 20:46:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Please let this be a Catholic school. Everyone knows that Catholic School Girls rule.
Submitted by stardamage (user info) at 2005-03-08 20:09:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Not sure how long this is going to be, by the way. This definitely isn't the end. I'm working on the next one right now.
This is so fun.
Thanks for the comments, guys.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:49:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Damn, +2 for taking a low key approach. Liked it.
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:22:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I think Jack McCallum saved ubersite.
Submitted by RideJohnnyRide (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:18:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This pandemic stuff was probably the best idea ever.
Submitted by Zackstersmackster (user info) at 2005-03-08 19:07:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Well - written. I love your stuff.