THE CUCKOO'S EGG

by Galen Hardesty

Chapter Two

A DELUXE PSYCHOLOGICAL WORKUP.

~*~

Later, seated at her computer, Daria's thoughts returned to a day about a month ago, in the consulting room of Dr. Jean-Michel Millepieds at Quiet Ivy. Jean-Michel was saying: "You know, Daria, at first I thought you had problems, serious problems. But now I see that you're remarkably well adjusted." He paused and glanced at a hypnotized Quinn in a nearby chair, "considering."

Daria smiled a tiny smile, which quickly faded to a bitter expression. "Too bad you're not our school counselor instead of Mrs. Manson. She talked to me for two minutes on my first day of school and threw me into a self-esteem class. That diagnosis will probably follow me the rest of my life."

Jean-Michel seemed distressed by this. "You are joking, non? It is plain that you do not suffer from lack of self-esteem."

Daria gave him a rueful smile. "I don't think she actually thought that. I was a little, um, creative with my answers to some of her questions, and that was her way of putting me in my place."

"I see." Jean-Michel sat frowning in thought for a moment. "Daria, I am researching a paper examining the problems persons of very high intelligence have in fitting into society. I would very much like to use you as one of my subjects. Your name would of course not be mentioned. We would do a more thorough interview, and a more complete battery of tests, what we call the DSM Four. You would then be able to use the test results and my analysis to refute that obviously false diagnosis. The cost of this would normally be over three thousand dollars, but if I may use the results in my paper, there would of course be no charge to your family."

Daria gazed thoughtfully out the window. The thoughtful look gave way to a small smile.

~*~

Helen and Jake Morgendorffer were just sitting down to a bit of brunch between interviews in the Quiet Ivy dining area when Daria and Jean-Michel approached them.

"Guess what, Mom, Dad!" Daria smiled brightly, startling Helen. "I won a free three thousand dollar deluxe psychological workup!"

Helen looked up from her coffee and Danish to her daughter, looking mildly surprised. She looked to Jean-Michel standing beside Daria, then over to Jake, who had just bitten into a big gooey cinnamon roll and was wearing his customary totally-out-of-the-loop look. Sighing, she looked back to her daughter. "Could you expand on that a bit, Daria?"