NOTE: This is a serialized work of fiction with all characters over the age of 18. Themes include reluctance, humiliation, and behavior correction by any means. In Chapter 2 After being sent there by her boyfriend, Abby Collins gets a first hand taste of what the Academy has to offer for every girl.
Chapter 2
I don't drink champagne or anything really. But I woke up with what I imagined to be the worst hangover anyone's ever had. Groggily, I opened my eyes and looked around. Where was I? The room was dark but I could make out a shuttered window to my right, a book case to the left. Then I remembered.
The limo ride. The disturbing video introducing the Academy? And those images of teachers and staff. The same feeling of panic rose in me again. Shaking I tried to get up from the bed, hands trembling and legs weak. I flipped on the lamp on the nightstand. There was the shuttered, padlocked (?) window, and rows and rows of books on the room-length book case next to me. Then something else. At the end of the room next to the unlit fireplace, a padded bench of sorts on four legs. Hmm. Kind of like the box from that stupid summer my parents thought I'd be an olympic gymnast. I hated those classes. But I also didn't like the look of that thing over there.
I got up and walked unsteadily to the bookcase. And read a few titles. "True Behavior of Young Ladies", "The Kneeling Girl's Bible", "A Complete Guide to Pleasing Men." Then I recalled the dry toned voiceover from the video in the limo. "at the Academy we remake girls for the men in their lives." Er, no. I didn't care where this place was, or what it was. I'm not being "remade" for anyone. Let alone Matt? Mr. Ego. Mr All Me. I grabbed my sneakers and put them on. But the door opened.
"And where are we going Miss Collins?"
A tall, rail thin woman in a high necked, tight fitting grey dress entered swiftly, closing the high, heavy door behind her. "You've only just arrived. Don't be so anxious to get back to your boyfriend. That will come in due course. Nobody can say how long, of couse. That's entirely up to you and how you behave. Looking at your file, it could take some time."
She flipped a heavy, leather bound ledger of a book open. "Hmm let me see. Argumentative. Difficult bratty.." A stern look caught me over the tops of her old lady glasses that she hung on a chain when not in use. "That won't do. And it says here you won't... do things for your boyfriend. We'll get into all of that later." She flipped the book closed. "Now I suppose you have questions?"
I did. Too many to ask. All of them whirling in my head. Why the hell am I here? What is this weird place? I why the the hell is there a padlock on that window? But all I could say was "who are you?"
"I'm Miss Morgan. Head of House. I'm here to make sure you sure you settle in, get comfortable with the rules and know what's expected of new girls. And if you don't settle in, then I'll make sure to find you the help you need." Her voice had a dry, crisp, heavy undertone of what was it? Yes, threat. "And speaking of comfort, let's get you out of those horrible clothes and into your outfit to meet your teachers. They're eager to meet you."
Miss Morgan held out a neat folded pile of crisp clothing. "Put it on. Now."