"Susie!" Susan called up the stairs for the third time. "Get down here now. We're going to be late!" Susan looked at Chuck and sighed. He was still wearing his scrubs from the hospital.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay with him?" she asked. 'You look exhausted."
"I'll be fine till you get home," Chuck said. "I'll put the Barney video in and we'll watch it together." Susan shook her head.
"He'll watch it and you'll be sleeping."
"Yeah...and tell me you haven't done the same thing on occasion," Chuck shrugged with a smile.
"Susie!" she called again. Susie came bounding down the stairs in a khaki skort, a sherbert orange polo shirt and leather sandals. Her wavy shoulder length hair was a decidedly lighter shade of red than Susan's and was held off her face with a slender elastic headband. The ever present black framed glasses were the only thing about her that looked the same.
"I'm ready," she said as she hurried to the front door and opened it. She turned back to Susan and Chuck who were watching her with dumbfounded expressions.
"I'm sorry I needed to borrow the box of hair coloring from your bathroom," she said. 'You didn't give me enough warning to get something in my own shade...but this is close enough." Susan turned her head to meet Chuck's eyes.
"Come on, Aunt Susan," Susie insisted. "What was it you were saying to me about first impressions last night? What kind of an impression will we make if we're late?" She hurried out the door and Susan kissed Chuck good by in shock before following her chameleon of a niece.
Given the surprisingly new look, Susan should have expected a few more revelations as the meeting progressed...but no...she was caught totally by surprise...again.
"I'm very sorry, Dr. Lewis, but I needed to see you because I'm not sure that Harton Middle School is going to be able to meet the educational needs of your niece," the principal of the school was saying.
Susan sat up straighter in the chair across from him.
"What?" she said, " She's a seventh grader. Surely you have some sort of remedial program already in place."
"Remedial?" He looked at Susie who slumped even lower in her chair. Mr. Braden turned the file around on his desk so Susan could read it.
"Susie was attending a magnet school in Toledo," he said. "She already has several advanced placement credits on her transcript."
"You were in summer school!" Susan exclaimed as she turned to look at her niece. Susie sat up in her chair.
"Yes. I've gone every summer since I was eight. "
"For what?" Susan asked. Susie sighed.
"Well, they wouldn't let me take calculus until I took Algebra II so I was doing that in summer school...but I think I am going to have to repeat it anyway since I couldn't finish the last two weeks," she said. "Last summer I took Geometry...and the summer before that a class where we dissected and rewrote Shakespearean plays. I did 'MacBeth'." Susan's mouth dropped open. She looked at her niece for a long moment and then turned to Mr. Braden with asmile.
"Okay," she said calmly. "So what would you suggest that we do?" He pulled the file back and then sat back in his chair.
"St. Alyosis has a couple of slots available to us for students like Susie," he said.
"Catholic school? Like with...uniforms?" Susie exclaimed. "That is SO not going to happen!"
"Well, the good news is that your Algebra II teacher has agreed to give you a passing credit for the summer school class you were taking. Apparently you aced the special final exam he gave you the last day you attended," Mr. Braden said.
"Oh...sweet!" Susie grinned.
"How much is this...other school...going to cost?" Susan asked. Mr. Braden picked up a flyer about St. Alyosis and handed it to Susan.
"Since we need to have her attend because our district cannot produce a program for her, the tuition costs will be picked up by us," he said. "You would have to provide her uniform and any other extra fees."
Susan flipped through the flyer. Private school. All girl academy. This was looking better and better.
"After she officially finishes middle school and can attend our high school program she will be eligible for other advanced placement classes there and could maybe attend some community college classes in lieu of actual high school classes," Mr. Braden said. "It's something to think about down the road. You have a real treasure on your hands, Dr. Lewis." Susan looked up at him and then at Susie. The girl scowled and shook her head in disgust.
"Yes...well...um...what do we need to do to get the ball rolling here?" Susan asked. "School starts in a week, right?" Mr. Braden picked up the telephone.
"I'll call the school and see if they can see you this afternoon," he said. Susan turned to look at her niece very pointedly.
"I am NOT wearing a uniform," Susie said firmly. "I need my identity."
"Yeah...well...we'll find you some interesting underwear," Susan smiled.
"Parochial school?" Abby said later on the telephone. "Please tell me she is not wearing something plaid."
"Oh...yeah, " Susan said as she examined the school uniform that was laid out on the couch next to her. "Very cute plaid skirt, yellow blouse, red sweater and a navy blazer."
"Ooohhh...poor kid," Abby chuckled. "Does it have a tie?"
"How did you know?" They both laughed.
"Seriously though," Susan said. " I am really mad at her for not telling me about this magnet school thing. I looked like a total dork at the meeting with the principal."
"What was she supposed to say?" Abby said. "You drop back into her life after how many years? Uh...hi, Aunt Susan...I'm a genius? Cut her some slack, Susan."
"Well, at least some conversation about anything at all would be nice, The only one she really talks to is Cosmo." Susan sighed. "This grieving thing is really bothering me. There has been like...nothing."
"Maybe she doesn't have anything to grieve about," Abby said.
"Are you thinking...some kind of...attachment disorder?" Susan asked. Abby laughed.
"We sound like two doctors discussing a patient," she said. "It's different when it's your own, isn't it?" Susan sighed.
"Actually she has been great. Maybe a little too great."
"What was it you told me?" Abby scolded. "Something about not looking for problems?" Susan chuckled.
"You know, that's the second time today that I have heard my own words from someone else's lips. I think I'd better quit while I am ahead." Abby laughed.
"Okay," she said. "But don't get too comfortable with the parochial school restrictions. Remember, that's where I was when I met Howie."
"Oh god...no!" Susan shrieked as she remembered their 'virginity game' revelations from years before. Abby laughed.
"So it IS a good thing that this in an all girls' school? Abby just laughed.
"Time will tell..." she said. "I'll talk to you later." Susan nodded and hung up the phone.