Chapter Two
**NOTE 1: I don't own Mr. Cleary, Charlie Dillon or Grayson Dillon III. They all appeared in the original movie** **NOTE 2: "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" was written by William Croft (1678- 1727), with words written by Isaac Watts (1674-1748), and was based on Psalm 90** **NOTE 3: Prefects are leadership positions that are tradition in many private schools. They are members of the graduating class and are selected by appointment and/or election, based on their grades, personality and leadership skills**
Katherine Brower was a classic brunette, medium height and had hazel eyes. Had she been blonde, she'd have the classic prep school girl look, a "Muffy", some might say. This was Katherine's third year at SMOS. Her parents both had very important careers that took them all over the world, and they felt that she'd be better off at a boarding school than home with the nanny. Katherine probably spends at most, a month at home per year, as she is sent away to overnight camp in the summer. By the time Rochelle got to her room, Katherine had already settled.
"Hi! I'm Rochelle Greene. You must be Katherine"
"Hi Rochelle! Welcome to Room 231."
They chatted a bit as Rochelle settled, and soon David and Sally had to say good-bye. Because Katherine is a returning student, she was able to tell Rochelle about certain teachers, such as which ones were easy, and which ones were not.
"Pray that you don't have Mr. Cleary for French", said Katherine "He's been here since God-Knows-How-Long, and rumour has it that his toughness caused a guy to almost kill himself."
"It's true, Katherine. My dad was in his class. It was about thirty years ago."
"Wow. Hey, you know that blonde girl that lives across the hall from us?"
"Yeah."
"Well, she's Cynthia Garrett. Her dad's Roger Garrett, the heir to the Garrett Sweets fortune. They have like three houses here and two homes abroad. Her sister's debut last year was like THE SOCIAL EVENT OF THE YEAR."
"Wow. Does she get free candy?"
"No. She's on a diet."
"So, Katherine, where are you from?"
"Well, it's kind of complicated. My parents live in Boston.at least, they're supposed to.that's where all my school mailings go. But they're all over the world."
"What do they do?"
"Mom's a writer, Dad's in finance. What about your parents?"
"Well, we live on Long Island. Dad has his own law practice and Mom teaches at the day school where I went for nine years."
Soon it was time for the kids to go to their first chapel service of the year. At SMOS, chapel was held three times a week, in the morning right before the first class. Afternoon chapel services were only held twice a year: once on move-in day, for everyone, and again at graduation, for the leaving class. Rochelle had never seen anything so beautiful. She had been in the SMOS chapel before, when she had a campus tour, but she never really got a chance to appreciate it, to absorb its feel. Though Sally is Episcopalian, it was decided that the Greene children would be raised Jewish. The Greenes were not very religious, however. Both Aaron and Rochelle gave up going to services after their respective Bar and Bat Mitzvahs.
With the exception of the senior class, seating, just for today, was random. The students would be assigned to day houses later on in the evening. Katherine and Rochelle decided to pick a seat somewhere near the front.
"Move it, Kat" said a young blond boy
"Why should I? Finders keepers."
"Who's that?"
"Andrew Wickham. Don't mind him. He's always like that"
"Oh."
Soon the organ music began to play, and in walked the headmaster, his two VPs, followed by this year's prefects and the senior class, all whom took their place up front. Then came the hymn, "O God, Our Help In Ages Past", SMOS' adopted school hymn:
"O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home..."
"This is sung at every term opening and every closing" whispered Katherine "We have another school hymn, one in Latin, but it's rarely sung anymore. I don't think it has been sung since the school became SMOS."
"Please be seated" said the head of school. "This is a very special year at SMOS. Commencing in January, we will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary. This will be a year long celebration, in connection to what would have been Overbrook's centennial year. And no, I was not head of school at that time, nor was I.."
"The annual joke" whispered Katherine
"Now let me introduce to you this year's prefects. Making history this year is Sarah Lowe, our first female Head Prefect or Head Girl. And our Games Captains are Andrew Stein, boys and Melissa Howard, girls..."
"There are rumours about Melissa Howard."whispered Katherine
"What kind of rumours?"
"You know!! Look at her!"
"I don't get it. She looks fine to me"
"There are rumours that she prefers girls over boys."
"Why? Because she's Games Captain? My mom's roommate was Games Captain, and she's married with two kids."
"Trust me. Her sister goes to my camp."
"Wow, you seem to know a lot!"
Chapel soon led out, and the students made their way to one of the playing fields for an informal barbecue dinner. Normally, SMOS students would have dinner in the dining hall, where girls were expected to wear skirts or dresses and boys in jacket four nights a week. Dinner was then served family style. Tonight, however, was all about burgers and hotdogs. Rochelle mostly stuck with Katherine, but got a chance to meet other students as well. There was one that she found particularly interesting. Gregory Dillon, she found out his name was. Greg Dillon was the younger brother of Grayson Dillon IV, who had graduated the previous year and was a legacy at the school. There were Dillon scholarships everywhere, and one there were at least two wings named after ancestors. Rochelle remembered her father telling her about the "Fallen Dillon", however. His name was Charlie, and had one point gone out with Mom. He had apparently cheated on an exam during his senior year and was subsequently expelled. While he managed to complete his senior year in a public school, he had ruined his chance to go to a good college. After a semester at the local community college, he dropped out, and no one had heard from him since. That was almost forty years ago. Rochelle vaguely knew Greg, having seen him a few times in summers, but apart from a few of these visits, all she knew about Greg was that he was gorgeous. That was it.
"Hey there Rochelle! It's nice to finally see you here at SMOS. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to be staying at that day school or not!" Rochelle blushed. She really didn't know what to say!
"Ummm yeah...how are you, Greg?"
"I am very well. Spent summer in Europe. How about you?"
"The usual.camp, hanging out at home, getting ready to come here.you know."
"Well, it's great seeing you. I'll see you later, ok?"
"OK"
Rochelle couldn't believe it. SHE SPOKE TO GREG!!!!!!! Greg was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, brown hair, blue eyes, and like every other Dillon, played on the football team. Rochelle sighed, and did more wandering around the field.
"There you are!" cried Katherine "I've been looking all over for you! This is Andrea Lee. She's going to be in our English class."
"Hi Andrea! I'm Rochelle Green. I'm very pleased to meet you."
Andrea just smiled.
"Andie's very shy. She came to SMOS in seventh grade and we were roommates that year, along with Liz Kent and Christina Howe. Have you met Liz and Chris yet? Lizzzz!!!! Chris!!!!! I want you to meet someone!"
Two girls, one who looked like Madonna, but with red hair and a girl with short blonde hair greeted Katherine. The blonde was Christina and the redhead was Liz. They had been friends since they were very small, having gone to summer camp together.
"I'm Liz" said the redhead
"And I'm Christina. Welcome to SMOS"
"Rochelle's going to be in my English class" said Katherine
"Ooooo GREAT!!!! You guys have Miss Bingley, right?" said Liz
"Miss Bingley's great" quipped the normally silent Andrea "She taught helped me with my English when I first got here two years ago."
"Andie's from Hong Kong. She's a quick learner. When she first moved in, she knew how to speak. Now, it's almost all she speaks. Her accent's virtually gone!"
Soon, it was time to go to bed. Afterall, they had a very important day the next day. It was the start of a new adventure. An adventure called high school...
**NOTE 1: I don't own Mr. Cleary, Charlie Dillon or Grayson Dillon III. They all appeared in the original movie** **NOTE 2: "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" was written by William Croft (1678- 1727), with words written by Isaac Watts (1674-1748), and was based on Psalm 90** **NOTE 3: Prefects are leadership positions that are tradition in many private schools. They are members of the graduating class and are selected by appointment and/or election, based on their grades, personality and leadership skills**
Katherine Brower was a classic brunette, medium height and had hazel eyes. Had she been blonde, she'd have the classic prep school girl look, a "Muffy", some might say. This was Katherine's third year at SMOS. Her parents both had very important careers that took them all over the world, and they felt that she'd be better off at a boarding school than home with the nanny. Katherine probably spends at most, a month at home per year, as she is sent away to overnight camp in the summer. By the time Rochelle got to her room, Katherine had already settled.
"Hi! I'm Rochelle Greene. You must be Katherine"
"Hi Rochelle! Welcome to Room 231."
They chatted a bit as Rochelle settled, and soon David and Sally had to say good-bye. Because Katherine is a returning student, she was able to tell Rochelle about certain teachers, such as which ones were easy, and which ones were not.
"Pray that you don't have Mr. Cleary for French", said Katherine "He's been here since God-Knows-How-Long, and rumour has it that his toughness caused a guy to almost kill himself."
"It's true, Katherine. My dad was in his class. It was about thirty years ago."
"Wow. Hey, you know that blonde girl that lives across the hall from us?"
"Yeah."
"Well, she's Cynthia Garrett. Her dad's Roger Garrett, the heir to the Garrett Sweets fortune. They have like three houses here and two homes abroad. Her sister's debut last year was like THE SOCIAL EVENT OF THE YEAR."
"Wow. Does she get free candy?"
"No. She's on a diet."
"So, Katherine, where are you from?"
"Well, it's kind of complicated. My parents live in Boston.at least, they're supposed to.that's where all my school mailings go. But they're all over the world."
"What do they do?"
"Mom's a writer, Dad's in finance. What about your parents?"
"Well, we live on Long Island. Dad has his own law practice and Mom teaches at the day school where I went for nine years."
Soon it was time for the kids to go to their first chapel service of the year. At SMOS, chapel was held three times a week, in the morning right before the first class. Afternoon chapel services were only held twice a year: once on move-in day, for everyone, and again at graduation, for the leaving class. Rochelle had never seen anything so beautiful. She had been in the SMOS chapel before, when she had a campus tour, but she never really got a chance to appreciate it, to absorb its feel. Though Sally is Episcopalian, it was decided that the Greene children would be raised Jewish. The Greenes were not very religious, however. Both Aaron and Rochelle gave up going to services after their respective Bar and Bat Mitzvahs.
With the exception of the senior class, seating, just for today, was random. The students would be assigned to day houses later on in the evening. Katherine and Rochelle decided to pick a seat somewhere near the front.
"Move it, Kat" said a young blond boy
"Why should I? Finders keepers."
"Who's that?"
"Andrew Wickham. Don't mind him. He's always like that"
"Oh."
Soon the organ music began to play, and in walked the headmaster, his two VPs, followed by this year's prefects and the senior class, all whom took their place up front. Then came the hymn, "O God, Our Help In Ages Past", SMOS' adopted school hymn:
"O God, our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, And our eternal home..."
"This is sung at every term opening and every closing" whispered Katherine "We have another school hymn, one in Latin, but it's rarely sung anymore. I don't think it has been sung since the school became SMOS."
"Please be seated" said the head of school. "This is a very special year at SMOS. Commencing in January, we will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary. This will be a year long celebration, in connection to what would have been Overbrook's centennial year. And no, I was not head of school at that time, nor was I.."
"The annual joke" whispered Katherine
"Now let me introduce to you this year's prefects. Making history this year is Sarah Lowe, our first female Head Prefect or Head Girl. And our Games Captains are Andrew Stein, boys and Melissa Howard, girls..."
"There are rumours about Melissa Howard."whispered Katherine
"What kind of rumours?"
"You know!! Look at her!"
"I don't get it. She looks fine to me"
"There are rumours that she prefers girls over boys."
"Why? Because she's Games Captain? My mom's roommate was Games Captain, and she's married with two kids."
"Trust me. Her sister goes to my camp."
"Wow, you seem to know a lot!"
Chapel soon led out, and the students made their way to one of the playing fields for an informal barbecue dinner. Normally, SMOS students would have dinner in the dining hall, where girls were expected to wear skirts or dresses and boys in jacket four nights a week. Dinner was then served family style. Tonight, however, was all about burgers and hotdogs. Rochelle mostly stuck with Katherine, but got a chance to meet other students as well. There was one that she found particularly interesting. Gregory Dillon, she found out his name was. Greg Dillon was the younger brother of Grayson Dillon IV, who had graduated the previous year and was a legacy at the school. There were Dillon scholarships everywhere, and one there were at least two wings named after ancestors. Rochelle remembered her father telling her about the "Fallen Dillon", however. His name was Charlie, and had one point gone out with Mom. He had apparently cheated on an exam during his senior year and was subsequently expelled. While he managed to complete his senior year in a public school, he had ruined his chance to go to a good college. After a semester at the local community college, he dropped out, and no one had heard from him since. That was almost forty years ago. Rochelle vaguely knew Greg, having seen him a few times in summers, but apart from a few of these visits, all she knew about Greg was that he was gorgeous. That was it.
"Hey there Rochelle! It's nice to finally see you here at SMOS. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to be staying at that day school or not!" Rochelle blushed. She really didn't know what to say!
"Ummm yeah...how are you, Greg?"
"I am very well. Spent summer in Europe. How about you?"
"The usual.camp, hanging out at home, getting ready to come here.you know."
"Well, it's great seeing you. I'll see you later, ok?"
"OK"
Rochelle couldn't believe it. SHE SPOKE TO GREG!!!!!!! Greg was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, brown hair, blue eyes, and like every other Dillon, played on the football team. Rochelle sighed, and did more wandering around the field.
"There you are!" cried Katherine "I've been looking all over for you! This is Andrea Lee. She's going to be in our English class."
"Hi Andrea! I'm Rochelle Green. I'm very pleased to meet you."
Andrea just smiled.
"Andie's very shy. She came to SMOS in seventh grade and we were roommates that year, along with Liz Kent and Christina Howe. Have you met Liz and Chris yet? Lizzzz!!!! Chris!!!!! I want you to meet someone!"
Two girls, one who looked like Madonna, but with red hair and a girl with short blonde hair greeted Katherine. The blonde was Christina and the redhead was Liz. They had been friends since they were very small, having gone to summer camp together.
"I'm Liz" said the redhead
"And I'm Christina. Welcome to SMOS"
"Rochelle's going to be in my English class" said Katherine
"Ooooo GREAT!!!! You guys have Miss Bingley, right?" said Liz
"Miss Bingley's great" quipped the normally silent Andrea "She taught helped me with my English when I first got here two years ago."
"Andie's from Hong Kong. She's a quick learner. When she first moved in, she knew how to speak. Now, it's almost all she speaks. Her accent's virtually gone!"
Soon, it was time to go to bed. Afterall, they had a very important day the next day. It was the start of a new adventure. An adventure called high school...
