Teal looked away. I could see, however, that
she was fighting back tears, tears of rage and fear. "Now then." Dr. Foreman said. "as a second
part of your orientation. I want each of you to write
her story. Tell me everything you can about yourself, what you remember as a child, where you lived, the friends you had or thought you had, the teachers you remember. I am very interested in how you see yourself, what you expect you will eventually do with your life. I want the notebooks filled with details, exact details of every thing you remember as important to you. I am particularly interested in your fears. so I want you to give lots of thought to that. All of us, including me, have something we fear. It's natural or, perhaps, it's something we have inherited or developed because of who we are, where we have lived, whom we have known. Don't dare leave that
out.
"If you lie and I find out you have lied in this
introductory history, you will be fined ten full demerit
points. Remember, I know much about you. This is
both a test of your veracity and a chance for you to
think about yourselves."
We looked at each other in disbelief. Write our
histories? Surely, this was a joke.
"I see you are not taking me seriously," Dr.
Foreman said. "I assure you that you will all remain
here until you are all finished. Until then, no one will
get anything to drink or eat, nor will anyone"-- she
centered on me--"use the bathroom. That's academic
anyway since there is no bathroom." she added dryly. I felt my face flush. No bathroom? Reminding
me I had to go built the pressure inside me. I felt
myself breaking out into a sweat, my heart pounding.
Didn't the other two have to go? If they did, they
didn't show it.
"Finally, let me remind you that no one is to
speak to anyone during this exercise. One of your
buddies will monitor you, and should anyone speak,
you will all remain here one hour longer for every
word uttered."
Then, as suddenly as she finished speaking, she
smiled warmly at us and in loving tones said.
"Welcome. girls. Welcome to my school. I truly hope