Chapter 4: Discovery?

The next day, after lunch, Talia changed into the fencing suit that hung in her gym locker, and picked up her own epee, knowing she wouldn't do well if she had to use the school provided ones. But then, someone who didn't know fencing at all would not sign up for this class anyway. She hoped that she wouldn't be the only girl with an epee. She sighed and tied up her hair. You can't get carried away, Talia. You can't show off. She told herself over and over again. Personally, she had done things with this epee that would make people in her fencing class keep at least a five meter radius around her. She smiled to herself and walked to the fencing hall.

The first thing that Talia noticed was that there were maybe seven girls and around a dozen boys. She imagined that not very many of the girls would have chosen to do epee. Girls at her old school didn't even take fencing. That meant she would probably have to play a boy. She walked up to Blaine and Wes, they had been waiting for her and Farrah.

'Epee? You sure are full of surprises, Talia Reagan.' Blaine said, laughing incredulously. She grinned.

'And don't you forget it, Blaine Anderson.' Talia replied. The teacher, a man who had longish hair pulled back into a ponytail, arrived in the hall.

'Welcome, to Dalton Fencing. My name is Mr Chilton, but I want you to just call me Dave or Mr C. No need for formality in here. However, as I imagine this is a class that you would not take unless you have real interest and talent for, I expect absolutely no nonsense in here. No poking people with your weapon unless you are in a match and always hold your weapon the right way round. Now, please split yourselves up into three groups according to weapon.' They all shuffled round to form the three groups, the group of epees with the least number of people. The epee fighters only consisted of Blaine, Talia and another boy and girl. Dave walked round the groups, setting them tasks. As he came round, he stared at the four before pointing at Blaine and Talia.

'You two are in Windsor, aren't you?' He said, smirking. Blaine and Talia nodded. 'Perfect, you just practice with each other then. The point of the class is to prepare you for the house fencing competition anyway. And you two are in Hilary, am I right? Great. Off you go, then.' The other two nodded, also bewildered.

'I'll go easy on you.' Blaine said. Talia rolled her eyes.

'Don't.' She said, putting on her mask. Blaine put on his mask and after a silent 'go!' they started to fight. Blaine was more forward than Talia, standing her ground and dodging his attacks, little by little forcing him back and finally she dodged to the left and lunged forward, poking Blaine right over the heart, square in the middle of the blood red 'D' embroidered onto the fencing jacket. Talia smiled and lifted her mask, grinning proudly at herself. Dave came around, holding a clipboard.

'Are you Talia Reagan?' He asked Talia, smiling slightly. Talia nodded. 'Well, well done Ms Reagan. Windsor is lucky to have such a skilled fighter in their midst.' He smiled proudly.

'Keep up the good work.' He said. Blaine grinned at her.

'That was really good.' He said. 'Your aim is impeccable.' Talia tensed every so slightly. She laughed it off.

'Of course.' She said simply. They put their masks back on and continued like that for the rest of the lesson, they were both strong fighters, but alas Talia was always the quicker one, and only four times did Blaine manage to hit Talia. At the end of the lesson, Dave gave them ten minutes to shower quickly before they all had to go to sex ed. Blaine, the first one done, was trying to redo his hair because a few curls had sprung out the side from the sweat. Talia came out second, her messenger bag hanging precariously off her shoulder while she did her wet hair again, her shirt had been left unbuttoned at the top and untucked, her tie only loosely done and her blazer pushed up to her elbows. She finished tying her hair and put her messenger bag down on the floor next to Blaine's.

'I'll help you.' She said. Taking his comb and gel, she squirted some directly into his hair whereas this morning they had put it on the comb. She used one hand to repeatedly come the curls into place while the other fanned his hair, helping the gel to dry quicker so that his hair would stay in place. In a matter of moments, his hair had reverted back to the unnaturally hard shell that it had been that morning. Blaine looked annoyed.

'If it only took you that long to get it back in order why'd you take so long this morning?' He grumbled, pouting slightly.

'Because you have so much hair, silly. That was only a few curls.' She said, picking up her bag. She quickly did the rest of her buttons and tightened her tie, but left her shirt untucked and blazer pushed up. Talia seemed much more in her natural, witty, mischievous state. Blaine walked behind her and poked her ponytail, which even though it had been done up, still hung to her waist.

'How is it that it looks so puffy and curly even when it's wet?' He said incredulously. Talia shrugged, just as Farrah and Wesley appeared. They raced to the auditorium which was already filled by most of the junior year population. They sat down next to Rita and David, both of which had come from physics class. Finally, Ms Greene appeared on the stage.

'Welcome, everyone, to your first sex education lesson. First of all, I would like to remind you that this is a free speaking space, don't be afraid to voice any of your opinions or concerns. There also will not be any toleration of immaturity here. I think you all know very well what I am talking about so I will not go on any further and begin.' She smiled. The projector screen came down and the word 'sexuality' popped onto the screen.

'I would like to begin our lessons, by talking about sexuality. Sexuality, is one's sexual orientation, whether you are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual. I assume that you know what each of these mean?' She asked. Most people nodded. 'Well, most sex ed courses only cover what sex is like for heterosexuals, here we will cover everything.'

'First of all, I would like you all to know that you all are at the age and stage where you will start to have sexually related thoughts, and some of these thoughts may confuse you. That is absolutely fine and natural, take the time to find out who you are. Having these thoughts is not wrong, or bad. These are only the product of the hormones working in your body. If these feelings confuse you at all and you can't figure them out, talk to a trusted teacher.' She said. Over the hour, Ms Greene went over slightly graphic diagrams and sexuality, making many people squirm in their seats. These included our six Windsors. As the hour passed, their eyebrows moved higher and higher up their foreheads, to the point where they were almost in their hairlines. They all breathed a sigh of relief as Ms Greene finally finished her speeches. The six Windsors made their ways back to their dorms and changed, dying to get out of the strict uniform rules. They trooped down to the cafeteria and their phones beeped.

CODE RED ALERT: TODAY'S DESERT IS CHOCOLATE FUDGE. WINDSORS, CHARGE!

Several screams erupted and the whole house ran their way to the door and down the path, making it just in time before the first group of Mayfairs. Two cooks came out of the kitchen, each carrying another two platters of chocolate fudge.

'Take as much as you want!' They yelled, slightly scared by the stampede of sugar-hungry teenagers. Rita, Farrah and Blaine only took two each, but Talia, Wes and David each took four. They all stuffed their meals into their mouths, not tasting it just itching to get through it all to the fudge. They all waited for everyone to finish their meals, to savor the fudge together.

'One. Two. Three!' They all bit into the fudge, moaning about how good it was. Wes and David then proceeded to stuff as many as they could into their mouths, letting it all melt. Talia bit slowly into each piece, letting it melt slightly before impatiently chewing it up. They walked slowly back to Windsor, along with their housemates, all of them gorged on chocolate fudge. Talia returned to her room, all of them admitting all they could do was sit and not move. Talia, however, took advantage of the situation and raced to the showers. She could finally take her time. She worked out the muscles in her right arm, realizing that she hadn't stretched earlier and that there would be hell to pay if she didn't do it now. She returned to her room, still working out the knots in her arm, noticing the slightly eerie quiet that had now fallen on Windsor. Everyone was inside their rooms, making minimal noise. It was possibly the only time that Windsor would be quiet, Fudge Day. Talia was about to settle down to start her English writing task, when she noticed a stray piece of paper. She picked it up, realizing that it had been the other letter in the envelope. Her eyes widened as she saw it was from her parents.

Dear Talia,

It has been a long time, hasn't it, dear? We regret all the time lost that we could have spent together. But we are glad to report that we may be back by the end of next year. Isn't it great, dear? Of course, we will get reacquainted in our house in America. Your brother and sister have returned to it, so if you wish you can go there instead of where you normally go.

You've grown up beautifully, my dear. From the reports and pictures that we get from Butler Lee, it seems that even without us, you have grown into a wonderful young woman. Hang on, Talia.

Love,

Mom and Dad

She read the letter as if it were merely a letter she had come across, as if she was a stranger looking in on it. Without having being told to, she burnt the letter. Her parents never said that she should have to, but she wanted to. She didn't want to look at the so called words of affection from her so called parents. Her parents had even kept her siblings apart from her, they hadn't seen each other since Talia was five, and the twins Gabriel and Saoirse were seven. Of course, it was always the same excuse. It's for your own safety and good. She sighed. There was a loud knock on her door. She stood up reluctantly, expecting it to be Blaine. She opened the door to a pair of twins. They had sandy blonde hair and cobalt blue eyes, the highlights in their hair were red and green and had been gelled artfully. They smiled at the same time at her.

'Hi, you're Talia Reagan. We're Blair and Blake.' They said at the same time. Talia stared confusedly at them.

'Which one of you is which?' She asked. The one on the right smiled.

'Blair.' He said. She studied him, finding a difference for her to remember. She found that Blair's eyes were a little greener than Blake's. She smiled.

'Come in.' She said. They walked in without hesitation and sat down on the extra bed.

'What can I do for you?' Talia asked, smiling politely.

'We just wanted to ask you something.' Blake said, smiling charmingly. Talia laughed once.

'Okay, you know what. I'll tell you what you want to know voluntarily, the smiles are not necessary.' She said. They laughed.

'Good. Khu rū̂ h̄ịm ẁā s̄ìng thī̀ c̄hạn phūd? Khuṇ phūd p̣hāʹā thịy? (Do you know what I'm saying? Do you speak Thai?)' Blair said. Talia's eyes narrowed a fraction.

'Chi. (Yes)' She replied. Blair and Blake smiled.

'There's no need to worry. We have the proper means of protection in our room, I have no doubt you do too?' Blake continued in Thai.

'Who are you?' She asked, now ready to pounce. She pretended to fidget and moved on her bed, edging closer to her bedside table. It was obvious that these two were from the same world. All facades were not necessary.

'Think, Talia. You know who we are. What we do.' They said. She furrowed her brows, and then it all came to her.

'We know who you are, Talia.'