Clarisse Zaint comforted her younger cousin Rory Thayer. The girl had her whole life planned out and now everything had simply gone to hell. Yale was everything to the girl since first grade and she had spent every hour in her life up until now to get into Yale too bad those rich students got in because of their parents' help. Clarisse came from a long line chinese royalty descendants and was old money rich. Her uncle married Rory Thayer's successful divorced mother and that was how Clarisse and Rory met and became cousins. Although Clarisse had already graduated university and have become a successful doctor but the facility she worked for had disgusting doctors and she lost her passion for the job and became a writer instead. Now she lived out her days in the US simply writing away.
"I don't know what I'm gonna do now", Rory hugged Clarisse tightly.
Clarisse wiped the tears away.
"Let's go get some ice-cream".
The two girls went to the Kwik 'N Stop. They had some pretty good vanilla ice-cream. When the girl got out of the door they heard Rory's friend Bartleby suddenly mentioning of college and that they were looking for some abandoned building for the fake college they seemed to make.
"Hey, guys. I know a place", Rory said.
Clarisse and the rest followed Rory to the abandoned Harmon Psychiatric Hospital. Rory had apparently worked there some years earlier.
"This place is amazing actually", Clarisse said and saw some potential in it.
Rory led the guys inside as Schrader made a stop at the entrance because he was too scared. Clarisse who had pretty much watched every horror movie there is was also pretty scared.
"Schrader, I'm also scared but sometimes you just gotta confront your fear besides I've got your back if anything happens", she told him as she gave him a reassured pat on his back.
The guys went inside and Bartleby told them his strategy though Clarisse was more interested in remodeling the place. That's what she was gonna do. Cost what it cost. Money was not a problem to her. She would turn this whole shitty building into a real college. She imagined how it would look like but was woken up from her dreams when she heard Schrader scream and so she started to scream.
"What the hell Schrader. You scared the shit out of me", Clarisse said with her british accent that made her sound snobbish.
"Sorry Clarisse I couldn't help it".
The next day they were in full plan. Clarisse had actually bought the property and the building the first thing in the morning and she arrived to help the guys with three hundred men to help clean and build the place up.
Within four days before the school started the whole South Harmon Institute of Technology (S.H.I.T.) was done. Since Clarisse use her own money she remodeled almost everything inside. The kitchens got the latest kitchen technology. There was a giant library kind of like the one in beauty and the beast. It was if the library had suddenly gone back in time to 16th century while everything else in the school was modern. The doorms had been painted white. The toilets were new and clean. The school used the latest technology. There were TV-screens on the important places. There was a coffée shop near the dining room. A bar in the students common hall. Every class was on the first floor as were everything common. The dorms were on the second and third floor. Of course there was no girls nor boys dorm. It basically was like a hotel. You took whatever room you could get and of course there would be a receptionist that would keep eye on the room keys. There was a bathroom in each dorm room. There was a kitchen on each floor so that you could cook whatever you wanted. The biggest kitchen was of course the school's dining kitchen. There was a gym in a small building next to this. S.H.I.T. had some small buildings surrounding it so why not by them too and remodel them also. On every roof of the buildings she owned there were solar pannels as well as decorative garden with fake grass but some plants were real. Clarisse really were passionate when it came to home-design.
"You do realize that you just wasted over $200,000 dollars to get this to look like a college that isn't even real", Schrader said.
"I know and I don't care. This place has a potential whether it is a school or something else", Clarisse simply said. "Also how about making pamphlets about school insurances and other stuff?".
"That would have been a great idea if only all of this was real!", Schrader said.
"Uh, guys we gotta get a dean my father wants to meet him. I suggest your uncle".
"My mother's brother?", Schrader simply stared at him
"Yes".
"Well, okay guys have fun".
The pool had been renovated to so now Rory and her could swim together. As Clarisse looked up at the sky she felt alive and so free. She had so much for redecorating the school.
Bartleby's parents came over and B showed them around the whole building and mother was really impressed with everything.
"Son you've done well", his father said and that was the most important. "Good luck".
"Thanks dad, I will".
Bartleby closed the door immediately and sighed in relief before joining everyone at the gaming room.
"This is just great. While everyone else are slaving away doing academic work we don't need to do anything", Darryl said.
Then there was a banging. While Bartleby opened it the rest went to the roof to see who were coming.
"Great work with the roof by the way", Darryl complimented.
"I know right. It seems that I have this great passion of home-designing or something".
"You should totally go for it", he winked. "Oh no...".
Clarisse looked down and started to act fast. They had everything basic ready at least. When Bartleby escaped the whole situation she stood still and whistled to get everyones' attention.
"Okay, listen up guys we're gonna assign your dorm rooms right now. All the dorm rooms are upstairs and all you gotta do is find the number but first I would like for you all to get in line with the people you wish to share a room with. We have rooms that have up to five beds and there is a bathroom for each dorm room. Now get in line", she said and looked at Rory. "Also the fees for the school will be handed down to this redheaded girl here. Yosemite? Good let's get this going then"
The new college people entered as they handed the fees and introduced themselves. Once they have filled in their names Clarisse handed the keys over to them. There were too many people left over but luckily there were other dorm room houses. She had intended to make this place into a hotel if this hadn't become a school.
"It's really lucky that you renovated this whole shit", Rory sighed in relief as they sat down in the staff room.
"Has Bartleby come back yet?", she asked.
"Ah, they should be here soon-".
"Okay, guys I'm here now", B and Schrader came in.
They gathered all the new students to the opera hall. Yes, she had the biggest room made into an opera hall minus the seats. There were actually round tables and some few chairs though. There was a chandelier hanging above, which she got from a second-hand store.
Bartleby stood on stage as he awkwardly greeted everyone and tried to explain that this was a fake college but in the end he couldn't once he found out that everyone had been rejected from all the other colleges.
Clarisse went to Bartleby and gave him a pat on his back and told him that things were gonna be okay that they were gonna solve it.
The next day while Bartleby went to get some inspiration of what a college was supposed to be Clarisse started to explain that all the courses wouldn't begin before the next week as they wanted to begin the college very slow at first to make everyone feel comfortable. While she gave Bartleby some time to figure some things through Clarisse started to ask hire around some school nurses and fixed insurances for the students. There was a lot to pay but she was rich indeed and didn't have anything better in life to spend it on. Clarisse became sort of a vice principal/student counselor.
When Bartleby came back all he asked her was "What do you want to learn?".
"Well, I think that question is better for other ones. I mean I've already graduated the university. All I want to do now is do what I'm feeling to do".
Rory didn't want to do anything and simply meditate. Darryl wanted to sculpt. Glen wanted to cook. After asking his friends he asked the students in the school and he made them write all that they wanted to learn about. After watching the board Clarisse took a picture and then she used some of the ideas to get people, philosophers, bankers etc. who would wish to hold a speech about their ideas like a TED Talk to students in the opera hall. She asked some of the students if they wanted to enter the theater group. She had some experience with theater so she knew she could make things work. There were some real potential in the students. Of course they wouldn't do some boring theater shit but be closer to reality.
Bartleby's ideas of students teaching others and learning themselves was a great idea. It felt a little bit like seeing the painting where Plato and Socrates were speaking in Athens in the big white building. Diskussions is the key to ideas. Ideas when put into action make the world go forward.
Glen became in charge of the kitchen, the skaters got a skating ramp, Kiki and her friends got a whole sewing room for themselves to design in. Clarisse also talked with some famous designers that had retired and who wouldn't mind teaching some student a few or other things. Kiki and the other designers got to travel to Paris, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Brazil etc. just to meet them. Clarisse didn't even need to pay for the tickets as she owned her own private plane. The good thing was that the trip wasn't wasted. Kiki and the rest had grown she could see.
Every friday she had different people of different background go up on stage and present themselves and what they do. It didn't matter if they were a banker or homeless, everyone had something to give to the students.
Meanwhile Ben Lewis was becoming very popular with every students in the college. He was speaking the truth of life after, and also some pretty inspirational heavy shit too.
In the end they managed to keep this college fraud up for half a year until the guy from Harmon College turned up. Schrader was bullied into telling the truth about South Harmon Institute of Technology (S.H.I.T.). Meanwhile as Clarisse saw the parents show she immediately made a call to file for accreditation on behalf of South Harmon. Van Horne was so caught up in the schemes that he hadn't realized that he underestimated his rival and enemy Bartleby. Bartleby was like every great philosopher on earth. He had great rhetoric abilities. With his impassioned speech about the failures of conventional education and the importance of following one's own passions, convinced the board to grant his school a one-year probationary accreditation to test his new system, thus foiling Van Horne's schemes.
After the school was accredited more people joined the school and Clarisse made sure to build another level on the school.