A Schoolgirl Story

Indeed, as she saw her mother come out of Principal Stanton's office and come over for one last hug, Wendy felt like she could be very happy here over the course of the year and it was with slightly less regret than she had thought that she stood and watched her mother drive off and the gate closed behind her. One thing that did trouble Wendy slightly was her mother's slightly dishevelled look, hair out of place, lipstick smudged. Maybe she was reading too much into it, but Wendy had seen that look once before, on the night she had first dressed as Wendy. For a moment she wondered what her mother had really done to get her into such a prestigious school in the middle of the year.

"Don't worry Wendy," Danielle placed a re-assuring hand on Wendy's arm, "You'll be able to see her again soon, and anyway we can have loads of fun here together."

***

After a week at Firwood, Wendy felt perfectly happy and settled into the routine of things when Principal Stanton called her into his office to see how she was settling. By now, Wendy felt perfectly comfortable in both her new school and her new persona. She was doing well in all her classes which she found suitably interesting and challenging and had adapted well to life at boarding school. Unlike Jason, Wendy was quite popular at Firwood. Danielle had managed to coach her through all (or nearly all) of her anxieties and Wendy was now becoming an established member of Danielle's group of friends including Michelle, Jacqui and a few other pretty, clever girls. In fact, for this week Wendy felt she had never been happier or more accepted than at Firwood and all it took was the simple transformation from Jason into Wendy. The next day would be Saturday and Wendy planned to go shopping in River Falls with her new girl friends.

Now, however, was Friday afternoon. Her last class of the week, American History, was over by five o'clock, but instead of joining Danielle and the others back at the dorm, which would, in a matter of hours, become like one enormous slumber party, she had an appointment with Principal Stanton. Although she really wanted to spend the time with Danielle and her friends, Wendy was aware that this meeting was just another part of the friendly, helpful system at Firwood that was allowing her to settle in so well.