The morning after

Sunday 7 September 2008

The day dawned cool and clear with a very gentle breeze, the perfect aftermath of a storm. I would know about the dawn-- I think I was up for it. Even before my shower I wandered up stairs to the tower to look at the wall we had destroyed to get at the leak. The floor and wall are still damp but the caulking Daddy had put in will hold for good. All that remains is to clean up the mess and rebuild the wall.

Outside the water has subsided and the lane is all clear, so Daddy got the minivan out of the garage and we went to Eucharist at St James'. When we got home Daddy asked me to clean up after the leak mess-- which serves me right for asking about it. I got all the windows of the tower opened up and a fan running, but it was still hot and muggy and I ended up getting out of everything but my panties (small surprise there) and crawling round in the syrupy plaster goo with a brush and dustpan and finally a vacuum. By the time I descended I was in need of another shower. And there was still more to be done.

I went outside to find out what everyone else was doing and only happened to glance up at the house. Daddy had got out the long ladder, carried it up to the south roof above his and Mother's room, and was up at the top of it, peering in under the 4th-storey window that had leaked yesterday. I held my breath-- he is usually not one for heights at all, but this is his house which he adores and he'd not going to let a stupid fear keep him from protecting it. Even as I watched him from down on the lawn he poked hard at the leak area and rattling the ladder. Worried, I called up. 'Are you all right?'

He mumbled something that the brisk sea breeze carried away. Then he withdrew another blade from his tool bag and probed under the windowsill again. I knew that mumble-- it was not a time to ask him stupid questions.

Jessy was alone in the garage yard with a bamboo rake, supposedly straightening out the red gravel and smoothing out the sand that will never be all gone. But you know Her Highness isn't much for manual labour and by the time I got to her she was only meandering aimlessly with the rake half dragging behind her and looking up past the kitchen to watch Daddy up on the ladder. She had on the bottom of her flowery red swimsuit, a plain white tanktop, a bandanna tied round her head and her loosely-tied hiking boots. 'Hey,' she said, 'what's up with you?'

I was still undressed as I had been working, with my hair all a sweaty mess and white wet-plaster blotches on my knees and elbows and feet and even the bottom of the black cotton panties. 'Hey,' I said. 'Is this supposed to be work?'

She made a face and leaned jauntily on the rake. 'There's another one of these things in the garage.'

I nodded. 'Right, and I do one thing and then half of your thing as well.'

She shrugged. 'So?'

But I did get out the other rake and, working together as we often do so well, we got most of the garage yard sorted out.

Soon Daddy came down and next we knew he was at the corner of the gate and calling to us. 'I need you guys out here,' he said as he neared. 'With the rakes. Janine, you might as well get little more decent, of course.'

'But she's never decent,' Jessy teased me.

We laughed.

I did go up into the house, putting on only a plain pale-blue shirt which I tied up at the ribs instead of buttoning and my hiking boots that are like Jessy's. Well, it was hot, you know. I found Jessy outside the gate at the unfinished house nearest ours, on the other side of the foundation which will be our chapel, halfheartedly raking sand out of the red gravel driveway. Daddy had directed us to check over all the driveways and rake back the sand and soil, and for the afternoon we progressed down the north side of the lane which had taken the most beating from wind and rain. Before long we were only fifty yards or so from the main road. Cars went by-- I do not think they saw us nor cared what I had on. Daddy drove down with the little tractor and met us at the fourth house, whose damage was nearly nothing. 'This doesn't look too bad now,' he said.

We both leaned on our rakes then. We'd been raking for about two hours. I was totalled. 'It looks better than we do,' I said.

Daddy laughed. 'Well, I didn't bring the trailer, so you can walk back.'

I nodded, blowing hair out of my face, and Jessy and I shouldered up our rakes like returning soldiers and marched back to the house. With some help from Lisa and J.J., Mother had swept the whole back garden, skimmed the pool and now had tea and ladyfingers waiting. She loves this place as much as Daddy does. We sat on the back terrace and toasted ourselves on a busy day. Daddy decided that there was nothing keeping us from going to school in the morning and that Roger had said he'd be down in the morning with the green car. Lisa was ecstatic about that. School is still new to her. Before supper I had a shower and after supper I had a nap. Somehow I'm supposed to have got my reading for American History II and the odd-numbered chapter exercises in Geometry done. Don't these teachers know there was a hurricane?

...

Hannah visits.

Saturday 6 September 2008

After school on Friday Jessy and I asked Roger to drive us up to Chincoteague, which is about 18 miles, just so we could look at the surf. We were both in skirts and with heels on, which was kind of cute as we stood at the beach amidst the tourists in their swimsuits and scanned the ocean. No surfers were out-- there was scarcely anything for them to surf. I recognised no evidence of a storm swell at all, leading me to naively believe this storm won't be much of anything. But that's probably Daddy too-- he always tries to second-guess the weathermen. He says a good surfer or sailor will know as much about weather as anyone with all those instruments. He says the secret is to turn off The Weather Channel-- which Gran watches way too much! --and LOOK OUTSIDE.

But the storm did come. The wind came up in the wee hours of Saturday morning. I remember other summer storms we have had, when we were in Delaware and even before, when we lived in Surf City, and it's always scariest when it hits at night. By morning the power was out, but as Daddy said, that's to be expected. Our generator kicked in of course, but it does not power all the outlets and with the storm shutters closed the house stayed dark late into the morning. (We carried candles.) And the air-conditioning would not come on, so the house began to get hot and muggy. Jessy and I did not get dressed even after showers-- we each had on panties-- but because there was so much to do we wore shirts.

When we were in England I remember trying to explain to people what a tropical storm along the East Coast was like. They get plenty of winter storms and some spring weather, but nothing like a circular storm mass moving up a coast like this. Some of them thought riding out a storm along the sea seemed romantic. I guess I see their point. It is definitely exciting. At first it only gets dark, there is a little rain, and the breeze kicks up, enough that you would want to take in towels and swimsuits off the line, nothing too severe. The wind will stay around for a few hours beforehand and then as the whole force of it arrives it winds up into a vicious howling. Each burst of it feels like it will press the whole wall in. There is no way to just ride it out without becoming anxious. It seems to sap all your courage and strength. Even prayer doesn't feel like it will help.

Mother did lead us in a prayer service, adapting the old prayer for people in distress at sea, and we all admitted our worries. Daddy included that he was worried for other people as well. I think it's easy to think you are the only one suffering through a storm when it afflicts you. Meanwhile everyone else is suffering exactly the same as you are.

We are not worried so much about the house as we are curious. This house is new-- we moved into it on 31 July, and this is its first major storm. Using the third little pig's concept, it is built all in structural block and the low-pitched rooves are fibreglassed inside the parapets and then sealed round the edges with lead plate. Like our other two houses this one has storm shutters on all the windows which swing closed from outside and pin securely top and bottom. This is Daddy's idea of a house along the Shore, an idea that no one else seems to take seriously. Holiday houses with large glass area may be charming in fair weather, but in a storm, which is most likely to happen when the people are NOT at the holiday house, can do serious damage. And then of course there are the insurance claims and higher premiums. We have never had anything serious happen because of a storm. It's always the stupid stuff-- the Laser sailboat blew over and tried to float, trailer and all, across the yard, or potted plants fall over and have to be repotted, or the clothesline gets twisted round the garden gateposts, and of course there is always plenty of raking up to do to get the gravel and sand and soil back in their proper places.

Daddy had Jessy and me inspecting windows every half-hour or so, which meant we were scrambling all over the house to see what was holding. One of the shutters in little J.J.'s room vibrated enough in the hammering wind to become loose. Daddy would not let us open the window till the wind subsided so it went on banging. Fortunately the glass held. But it was very nerve-wracking to hear it and to think that the house was sort of coming apart. Having cramps didn't help my anxiety at all. In fact I went up and lay down in my room, but all I could do is curl up in a ball and pretend I'd be able to sleep.

Jessy came in and told me that the house had developed a leak. One of the upper tower windows-- on the south side, wouldn't you know it-- was apparently not sealed enough and a pretty good torrent of water streamed in under the sill. The paint on the wall and the trim on top and baseboards has lifted. Daddy had us chip away at the plasterboard to get into the wall and he was able to squeeze plenty of emergency stop-leak in between the block and the sill, the kind of stuff you use to stop leaks on boats. This held... sort of. We were able to guide the water out of the wall and into a large square dishpan. The two of us were crawling around in our panties and shirts getting really messy and sweaty. It might have been funny if we were not both so anxous about seeing water coming into our lovely home. Jessy came up with a way to siphon the water out and lead a piece of hose down two flights of stairs but it became more trouble than it was worth and we just sat up there on the wet floor waiting for it to fill and taking turns carrying it down about every 15 minutes. It was bloody boring! --but if this is the worst that has happened, we're fine.

Round suppertime the rain subsided. As long as there is rain you don't see how the wind eases. When the windows began to clear we could look outside. The whole lower yard was flooded-- I mean so wet you could not see the grass, as though we and our little walled garden were floating in the sea. Straight out past where the boat usually is there were the tops of some marsh grasses on the barrier islands and then nothing but the tormented ocean, swirling white and angry in the low light. The waves have been broken up by the jetties and the ''moat' which we have round the perimeter of the property. The other way down the lane, the other houses stand dry but surrounded by gleaming wet grass, scattered gravel and mud. That will be a mess to clean up, but only eventually.

Daddy went down the lane in his yellow rain jacket and inspected the houses before it got dark. From the upstairs gallery we watched him leave each one and dart across the lane with his flashlight. When he got back it was just about dark. The rain was mostly stopped and the wind was scarcely anything. He reported that a few of the windows in the unfinished houses had not held and at least one of them would have water stains on the raw-oak floor. Some plasterboard was ruined, as expected. But the basements were basically dry-- as ours is-- and everything had come through much better than expected.

The best thing was that, of course, we had moved the boat upstream-- all the way to the Delaware River, actually. Daddy and his brother sailed the boat up the coast where it will have rode out this storm at a marina, thanks to a friend of Daddy's with an empty slip. I am looking forward to going up to Chincoteague over the next few days to surf whatever storm swell remains. And we'll probably leave the boat up north, sail it around up there before getting it ready to haul out for the winter. There are a few family and social events planned for later in the month and we'll get to stay at the house in Surf City and the one in Delaware, both of which neighbours have reported are fine so far. Terncote Castle has come through its first hurricane tolerably well.

...

Conversation

Wednesday 3 September 2008

When we got back from school Mother was home alone with J.J., since Daddy had gone to get Lisa himself. Jessy and I called hello and went right up stairs to get out of our school things. I was down to my panties when I remembered Mother was sitting outside at the umbrella table beside the pool, I stepped back into my shoes and went down like that

J.J. ran right up when he saw me. 'Janine! Look what I made!'

He had been playing in the sandbox with those oversized Lego bricks and had assembled what he called a house. It was three bricks, but they were assembled pretty creatively. I raved over it and he ran back to the sandbox at the corner of the terrace. 'Did you want anything?' I asked Mother at the table.

'No, sweetheart, I'm fine.' She smiled up at me. After a moment I sat down. 'Well, how was the first day?' she asked me.

I shrugged, doing that thing with both shoulders. It's kind of a cute gesture in a tanktop but I don't know how it looks when I'm not wearing one. 'It was all right....' I leaned back and crossed my legs and happened to look down at them then. 'I was kind of going to ask you something though.'

She closed the book then. 'What is it, sweetie?' She always calls us 'sweetie' --it's her word.

I shrugged again. 'Do you mind it that Jessy and I have been mostly undressed all month?'

Mother laughed. 'No, not at all. It's comfortable, as you said, and it's harmless. You and Jessy have demonstrated that you can be appropriate about it. I don't see anything wrong with it.'

'It doesn't bother you that we're doing that all the time, and... you're... not?'

She smiled at me. 'I'm sure it's a girls' thing, sweetie. Not for someone like me.'

I narrowed my eyes at her, not understanding. She's twenty-six-- she's beautiful in a bikini, I imagine she'd be beautiful out of one, and she's always had a beach-baby tan and that brilliant blonde hair.... She's got nothing to be ashamed of, even after two babies. 'Oh,' I finally said.

'Were you inviting me to join you?'

I looked up and suddenly blushed. I have blushed maybe three times in her presence before. 'No, I wasn't. That is, I mean--' and then I shut up.

She patted my arm. 'It's all right, Janine. I would never impose on your privacy. Besides--' and she smiled-- 'I don't think your father would approve.'

I looked at her then. 'Do you think he doesn't approve of--'

'No, no, it's nothing like that. I'm sure he doesn't mind you two at all. But it's different being a wife.'

I thought about that. 'But you're so beautiful,' I said to her. 'And I'm sure some men would.... You know.'

'Yes. I know.' She patted my arm again. 'And you're sweet to think nice things of me. And I can't say I've never thought of it.'

'Really?'

'I would never do anything to make your father feel uncomfortable,' she told me, 'and I'm perfectly happy with what does make him comfortable. I only hope that you will have a husband like I do some day, and then you will know what it's like... to be treated like a queen.'

I smiled and put my hand over on top of hers, like she usually does to me. 'I'm sure I will,' I said, 'because Daddy is what I think of when I think of what men should be.'

She smiled and caught my hand for a squeeze then. 'Then I know you'll be very happy.' We sat there looking at each other for a long moment and then she said, 'Till then, no one minds if you're getting comfortable with yourself, Janine, you and Jessy both. As I said before, I think it's cute. And there's something very innocent and healthy in it. You two are mature enough to know what's appropriate, and it's been good for little Lisa too. Did you know she has no strap lines either?' And she giggled.

I do adore my stepmother.

...

First day of school

Wednesday 3 September 2008

My alarm went off, but Mother came down the hall to fetch us. Jessy prefers an evening shower, so that might free the hall bathroom in the morning. My bathroom is not large, barely big enough for the plain white porcelain stuff in it, but it is right inside my door to the back hall so she tends to use it a lot, like for her makeup in the morning.

I put on my white toille skirt with a brick-red genre print and sleeveless pullover top in the same brick-red color, and then my plain white canvas wedges. Jessy came out of her room in a cute cotton skirt in a yellow-and-white-on-pale-green print and a pale yellow tanktop with a white cotton shirt worn unbuttoned over it. She had on flip-flops but I cautioned her about that. The high school doesn't allow flip-flops. After we had tea she went up and came back down in her natural-colored sandals.

When we stepped out the sun was already hot; it was like 75 degrees at 7.15. That storm is still waiting offshore. Roger was waiting with the dark-green Cadillac. Daddy insisted that we let his driver take us to school this year, so he and/or Mother can take little Lisa in to kindergarten. I predicted it will be only awkward, but my predictions won't sway Daddy. At least Jessy and I are both going to the same school this year so Roger wouldn't have to make two stops.

We both kissed Lisa goodbye and skipped down the steps and said good morning to Roger as we got into the car. Roger is an old friend of Daddy's who has worked as a driver for him since his superstar days. He is trustworthy and conservative-- like anyone else who works for my parents.

At the school there was a crowd of people milling about in the front yard, on the grass, on the pavement, under the portico, you know. Naturally they turned to look as we pulled up in the long Cadillac. It's not very gauche at all, just a 20-inch stretch, just enough to have a rectangular back door, done in a very dark green with subtle navy-blue pinstripes and real wire wheels with wide tires with small white letters and private number plates. It's also not new-- 1981. And of course Roger wears a plain gray business suit and black tie, more understated than a hired chauffeur. So it's definitely not a hired car and I think that impresses people.

Roger left us off at us the kerb where the buses don't go and stopped at the end of the portico. I checked my make-up in the inside mirror before getting out but it was all right. A girl can never be too careful, you know.

This was only the second time Jessy and I have ever been to this building and we were trying very hard not to flinch as a hundred strange people stared at us, not just because we had just got out of a twenty-foot Cadillac but because we were also new to this school and oddly dressed-- I had not seen anyone else in a skirt so far. I heard one or two comments, things like, 'Who is that?' and 'Oh, look, it's Hilary and Haylie.' I got a little red, looked to Jessy, and when she gave a little nod we started up to the building with our notebooks and purses.

I found my homeroom all right, but it's in the science lab. Already I hate this room, which will be full of half-dissected furry creatures, stuck to their boards with pins, and which will smell like people have been tossing cutup cat livers into the dustbins forever. The only thing good about it is that today is the first day of school and there won't be anything like that happening for at least a few weeks.

I'm just glad I had Biology at HOH and won't have to take it here. Unfortunately, Jessy will.

After the Pledge, which I almost had to remember, were the announcements, and then the period was extended to a whole hour so that the freshmen could get all their stuff. It was helpful to me (and Jessy in her homeroom somewhere) too. We filled out forms for school lunch, school insurance, school Internet and school locker assignments. The period was very boring. About half the people talked about their summers and the other half are new and don't know anyone. Next to me is a very quiet slightly-heavy girl in the wrong jeans who's showing too much middle below her top. On the other side are three boys who talked together all period. I sat very still and alone in my seat, keeping my knees together like I was being stared at. Really I think they were all ignoring me. I was glad for the bell.

First period is Geometry. We received our textbooks and a schedule of chapters to be covered and the concepts they will include. Then the teacher put a few examples on the board and assigned the first page, which is some kind of diagnostic, for homework. Homework on the first day! --and this is only first period. What an omen.

Second period is PE. I hate PE... you go to all this trouble making yourself look beautiful and then they make you get all sweaty and then there's no time to do it all over-- not that you even want to anymore without a serious shower. For the first day they just made us sit on the bleachers while they told us what PE uniform to wear and what padlocks to use and what the grading policy will be. It's all based on participation. Last year at HOH there was a girl who claimed she had a health problem and didn't have to participate in PE. She ended up on the Honour Roll. I think I have an health issue too. It's an aversion to putting makeup back on over sweat.

The slightly-heavy girl from homeroom is in my PE class. I saw her talking to someone else, so at least she's not friendless.

Third period is German. Ach, mein Gott! Ich nicht mochte diese Klass! The teacher is 'Ms Heidelbraun' who is obviously MISS Heidelbraun, and for a reason. She is blond, blue-eyed, tall, broad-shouldered, and has a scary ability to become very cold and stern. This woman is a serious throwback to Hitler's 'Ubermann principle'. You feel like giving her the Hitler salute every time she says something. (Where do they get these teachers?) Now that this is German III, so she said, she had each of us introduce ourselves with our full names-- auf Deutsche, naturlich-- and answer whatever she asked. They were not tough questions, of course, but it was surprising how much I can forget over such a short time-- probably mostly because of changing schools. Miss Heidelbraun promised us that most of the instruction would be in German, to get us used to hearing and understanding it, and we would be expected to reply with as much as we could. Was machts Sie mit diese?

'Hallo,' I said, 'ich heisse Janine [and my last name].'

'Vilkommen am Deutsche Drei,' she said. 'Und was hast Sie gehaben, dieser Sommer?'

Of course they looked at me. This was the penalty for anyone who sounded like he or she had any modicum of proficiency in it. 'Ich hab eine suntan gehaben,' I said.

People laughed. 'Vielen gut,' she said, and moved on to some girl called Sarah behind me. Sarah messed up her own name and Miss Heidelbraun laid into her a while trying to drill her back to competency. I'm not sure Sarah ever had any competency to begin with.

Fourth period came; American History II. I like History, and I already like the teacher. He is a published authority on the Holocaust and also Equal Rights, so this promises to be a decent learning experience. While he was handing out textbooks, a guy beside me introduced himself as Barry and asked me if I'd heard of any parties for this weekend yet.

'Um, no,' I said gently. 'I don't know anyone here yet.'

He looked me over. I flinched a little and held my knees together. 'Well, you know me. And you are--?'

'Janine,' I said-- and just then there was a lull so that was all anyone heard.

'Janine,' the teacher said from across the room. 'Welcome to the class.'

People looked at me and laughed. I went red. The bell rang and I got up fast. Barry called to me but I just got out of there.

Thank God Jessy is in my lunch period. We'd agreed to meet up here. She came in nearly late and saw me before I saw her. 'Hey,' she said behind me, and I turned round. Two other sophomore girls had come in with her and she introduced them-- Anna and Josie, both of them in cute little skirts too. As we stood there in the centre of the cafeteria I heard comments-- someone actually said, 'Hey, look-- it's the junior plastics!'

Jessy only smiled. Nothing like that ever bothers her. 'Come on, sit with us. We're sitting with Rita.'

'Rita?' I wondered.

Rita comes with a reputation of being a serious socialite, but she is actually very sweet. She is the first person who actually asked anything about Jessy or me all day, and we sat at the table for the shortened lunch period and were able to tell her and Anna and Josie a little about our old school and how we had come to move here from England. At least I have made some friends, even if they're all sophomores.

Sixth period was Chemistry, which I can handle if I'm up to it. Last year I got a B in Bio, but I hated Bio. Chemistry has labs and all, but basically it's more intellectual than practical and that probably means I'll handle it better. The teacher assigned us seats and I am now seated right next to a really good-looking guy who transferred into the district this year. None of the other girls have said anything to him yet, so I made sure I said hello.

'Hey,' he said, not quite looking at me, and kept his attention on the teacher. The guy was handing out textbooks! --is this more important that a cute chick saying hello?

I watched him trying to push his hair back up on his head-- it kept falling into his eyes, being so long in front, and it looked kind of cute. When he happened to glance at me, I asked him, 'How was your other school?'

'Oh, it was all right,' he said to me. 'Not as good as this one.'

'Why's that?' I asked.

'It's just not that good of a school. Do you like it here?'

I shrugged. 'I guess. I mean, it seems all right. I used to live in Delaware. My stepmother says it's a little harder here than most places.'

Joey nodded. 'It is. That's what I heard.'

The period was short and the bell was about to go off. 'Well,' I said, 'all it takes is actual work, you know.'

He looked at me again. 'That's right.'

Was I correct in assuming that this guy is a science geek-- however cute he is? But how bad could that be? At least I like chemistry-- 'Well,' I said, feeling lost for something to say, 'I'm Janine.'

He nodded, as though he already knew that. 'Joe,' he said; 'well, everyone calls me Joey.'

I smiled. 'Okay, Joey.'

The bell rang. Mission accomplished.

For seventh period I have choir. This is by far my favorite class already. I was in choir at HOH. Of course it's mostly girls, but it's a good group. Two of the guys and about three girls-- including my little sister Jessica-- are apparently are new this year. Our cute young teacher led us in a really quick warm-up, which everyone desperately needed, of course-- it sounded awful. The new boys were given a little audition for parts, which meant they each had to sing alone in front of us all. 'Better get used to it,' someone said, and we all laughed, at the joke of course-- not at the boy. He blushed and sang anyway. --not too badly at that. The other boy was better; he's obviously sung before. Two of the boys got on the percussion after that and started this almost-Jamaican-sounding thing, and some girls started vamping on that, 'Yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah,' you know, while the teacher took care of her books and sheet music, till the bell rang.

Jessy and I walked out together. 'So, where are you going now?' I asked her.

She looked again at the paper on top of her notebook. 'Three-oh-six. Math.'

I nodded. 'Algebra sucks. There will always be about three idiots who hold the class back. The best thing is to find someone better than you and work together, like after school or at lunch. And you have to do ALL the homework.'

She nodded, smiling a little to herself. 'I'm sure I'll be all right, Janine.'

I smiled. 'Okay. I have English; it's down this way. See you out front then?'

She nodded eagerly. 'Yes. See you.' And we shared smiles before she went off.

One of the guys from choir came up on my shoulder then. 'Is that your sister?'

I nodded. 'Yes.'

'Oh, I didn't know who she was. She looks like you.'

'It's the hair.'

I smiled. 'It's the hair. And other stuff. What do you have now?'

'English,' I said.

'Yuck. I have gym.'

I laughed. 'Aren't you're going the wrong way for that?'

'I have to go to the locker first. Hey, it's the first day anyway.'

I laughed again.

'Derek!' he yelled loudly up the hallway. I shuddered. Fortunately I had one more hallway to come.

Eleventh-grade English is American literature, beginning with Ann Bradstreet and Phyllis Wheatley and daring to get into the Beat Poets by June. Last year in fifth form I had British lit and would have had the A-level (the British A.P.) class this year. This is supposedly an Honours-level class and already I can see people who don't care or don't know how to pay attention. The teacher handed out the one-and-half-inch-thick textbook and her schedule of chapters to be covered and when we might expect major papers and a term paper. People groaned. Actually I don't mind writing at all, as long as what I'm writing about is worth my time. The teacher talked for the rest of the period about MLA format and Internet plagiarism, and I sat back in the seat and wished I were somewhere else.

When the bell rang I walked out the end of the hallway into the main hall and met up with Jessy. Somehow the guy from choir had made it back from PE and skipped-- literally skipped-- dodging people, going past us on his way to his locker. Apparently he didn't see me. We went on up the main hall looking for people we'd already met to say 'hi' to. There weren't many. While at my locker I saw the slightly-heavy girl with the bare-middle top and I said 'hi' to her. I'm not sure she remembered me from homeroom, but I'll say 'hi' to her tomorrow.

Of course I remembered to take the math book with me. 'Why are you bringing that?' Jessy asked.

'I have homework.'

'Ughh!' she groaned.

'I know, right? So how was it?'

She smiled. 'It was fine. How was yours?'

I held up the math book. 'I have homework,' I said, holding up the book.

'Ughh. So... do you think it would be a problem if I wanted to stay after some days? Anna asked me to work on the wall murals. The class usually gets a late start, so....'

'I really don't care, hun.' Then I saw Joey walking by himself on the other side of the hallway, and before I could catch his attention he turned up the wing and left us. 'I'm sure I can find something to do while I wait,' I said. 'Maybe get a start on our class's....'

As we were going by the 200 wing Rita and Anna met us, with some other girl. Rita leaned right in and said, 'This is Jessy and her sister Janine. Janine, I don't think you know Rachel. She's a friend, a good friend.'

'Hi,' the girl called Rachel said shyly to me.

I was very impressed with Rita's sense of manners-- she's not 'Regina George' at all! She's more like Barbie. Mother would be pleased. I smiled at the girl called Rachel, to be nice. She is very pretty, tall and slender with almost-red hair and a cute powder-blue cotton skirt. 'Hi, Rachel,' I said. 'Are you working on the mural too?'

She nodded. 'She's our class president,' Anna said. 'We elected her last year.' She smiled proudly at her friend and then looked at me again. 'So, it's kind of her project.'

'Cool,' I said.

'Our ride is here,' Jessy said, having looked out the glass doors.

'Um, yes,' I said, and then turned to her. 'Well, we'd better not be late. We'll see you girls tomorrow, okay?'

'Okay,' Anna said, and the shy class president only watched us go then.

Roger stepped out and opened the door as usual. 'Good afternoon, girls,' he said. 'How was the first day?'

I held up the math book. 'Janine has homework,' Jessy told him, and got into the car.

'It's a school thing,' I said, and Roger laughed.

...

Last day of summer vacation

Tuesday 2 September 2008

It's depressing really.

Oh, I know it's supposed to be exciting-- a new year in an all-new school, in a new state (or commonwealth), meeting new people, and all that. But the day before the first day of school has always seemed sad to me. I always feel like I have to do something thrilling enough to carry my excitement level on through at least Hallowe'en.

I did remember to sleep in, of course. I got up at about 9.30 and had a leisurely bowl of Kix in the breakfast room. Daddy came in and sat at the end of the table, his face buried in The Guardian (he's been getting it mailed to the house here). A few minutes went by and then he noticed I was naked. 'Hey,' he said then.

'Hey,' I said, and looked up. We met eyes.

'So,' he said with a smile, 'did you pick out something for tomorrow?'

'Uh, yes,' I said, surprised by the question.

'Jessy says you guys were laying things out last night.'

I smiled, shyly. 'Yes.'

He nodded. 'Cool,' he said. He is always encouraging of our girlness like that.

Jessy came through the big dining room and appeared in the door behind Daddy. She was all bare too. Daddy looked up only a little-- he's seen enough of us. She stopped beside his chair and looked over at me. 'Hey,' she said.

'Hey,' Daddy said.

'Hey,' I said. I was done the Kix.

'What are you doing today?'

I sat up and pushed a little back from the table. 'As little as possible,' I said, and Daddy laughed a little.

'Nothing of any redeeming value?' she teased, and he laughed some more.

'Exactly that.' I stood up. 'Daddy, if you will excuse me....'

He looked up, smiled, and then gestured to me. 'As you wish.'

Jessy leaned over and kissed him and as I went out I did too. We went straight back to the small parlour and out to the terrace. 'This is what you meant,' she said to me. 'Out here, right?'

'Yes,' I said. And we arranged ourselves on our two chaises and lay there for the better part of an hour. After that I swam my usual 20 laps. Mother brought out morning tea-- that was at about 11.00. Lisa sat with us at the umbrella table. Later she played in the pool with us. I left those two and wandered out to the back gates, leaning on the edge of one as I watched two fishing boats go up the channel. They didn't see me. I left the gate half open and strolled back through the garden to the side gate and went out to lie on the chaise under the trees. There I stayed for most of the midday.

When I got up again Daddy had gone out, Mother was working on her book, and Lisa and J.J. and Jessy had all gone into the house. I walked round the front of the house and went down the south edge of the property to the water again. For the sake of the adventure I began to make my way along the marshes towards our dock. A boat went by and I ducked. I do not think they saw me. Another came round the curve in the channel just before I reached the dock. I had barely my head above the dock and if they saw me that's all they saw. As soon as they passed I climbed up on the dock, went aboard our boat to wash off, and then sat on the edge of the dock, dangling my feet, till I heard another motor approaching. Like a twit I got up and ran up the gangway to the gates. I only hope they didn't see me then!

For the rest of the afternoon I lay on the chaise in the shade or else went into the pool. I missed lunch and when tea time came round again I was starving. Mother came out and sat with me under the umbrella table while Jessy played with Lisa and J.J.

'So how has your short little summer been?' Mother asked me.

I sat back in the little chair, crossing my legs, and lowered the teacup to the saucer. 'I feel like I've been too lazy,' I said, 'and you've been doing all the work.'

She laughed. 'No, it's not like that. When you start back in school we'll all have a routine, like last time. This one month has been your well-earned holiday.'

I smiled at her. 'You're very sweet to say that,' I said.

'Well, I guess I'm just very sweet then.'

We both laughed.

We had what was according to Mother our last 'casual' supper, in which everyone-- regardless of how we were dressed-- could take whatever a plate could hold and sit wherever one was comfortable. Daddy was playing piano in the big parlour so Jessy and I sat in the small one, leaning back with our legs crossed like film stars, and listened. Towards evening I started getting the familiar agitation and after my shower I put on panties. This is the first I've worn regular cotton underwear in about three weeks-- the other times I had on swimsuit bottoms, and once not anything, under jeans or shorts. I can't say it feels weird-- the cramps pretty much take over that-- but I will say it's been a personal record, and a very pleasant one. Would I ever actually live naked? --that is, deliberately being naked at all times at home, unless it was absolutely required to wear clothes? No. I don't see the point to that. But to ALLOW myself to be naked, to not dress unless it's more convenient, to wake up, swim, have breakfast, sunbathe, play with my sisters and brother, read, paint or draw, and to not have my parents object or even make a big deal out of it? --that is perfectly fine with me at any time.

...