Season of Terror
by Tigger
Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved

Chapter 14: Season of Promotion

Before she had taken more than three steps, the phone rang again. For just a moment, Jane considered not answering it. *I DON'T want to talk to anyone else!  I need to think this whole Victoria situation over and somehow make some sense of all this!* Unfortunately, the phone was not at all afraid of Jane Thompson and continued to ring.  Sighing, Jane returned to her desk and reached for the phone. *Think nice thoughts, Jane Thompson. Besides, it might be Marie with news of Victoria.  Or a multimillion dollar investment opportunity.* "Jane Thompson speaking."

"Oh, hi, Ruth.  What's on your mind? . . . .No, I haven't made any firm plans for that one yet.  My understanding was that he was stable and still in detox for a while longer so I had some time to reinforce Victoria's recent progress."

Jane listened for a few more moments and felt the blood leave her face.  "Oh. . . my. . . god.  He didn't.  Is he all right?. . . .yes, yes, of course.  You want to send him to me NOW?  After THAT?  But, Ruth, I already have a student, and she's at a very delicate stage right now. . . Oh, I see.  This is very different, Ruth, from anything I've ever taken on before, and I'm not alone in this.  Victoria isn't ready to go home, and while I was thinking she was just about ready to be a big sister, this situation is so far beyond anything I thought she'd have to deal with in that role.  I'll have to think about this.  What?  All right.  I'll give you my decision by tonight. Thanks, Ruth.  Give my love to Kenneth, too.  Bye."

This time, Jane reached her decanter, but at the last moment, didn't pour. *I need to think very hard and very clearly about this,* she mused, and then went to the kitchen to brew a pot of tea. *I hope Marie has some cookies in the cookie jar.  I feel a sugar attack coming on.*

~-----------~

"You wanted to see me, Ms. Jane?" Victoria asked from the front parlor's door.

Jane looked up from the dossier she'd been rereading for what felt like the hundredth time in the past two hours, a grim expression on her face.  "Yes, Victoria.  Please come in and sit down.  Would you like some tea and cookies? Marie tells me you made the shortbread this morning and they are excellent."

The girl glowed with pleasure at the off hand compliment and taking her seat, accepted the offered treat.  "Thank you, Ms. Jane."

The older woman took a moment to regard her student.  Victoria was dressed in a mint-green, knee-length linen frock that went well with her new hair color. Opaque hose, matching pumps and simple yet elegant jewelry completed the picture. *My, but she's got the essentials down now,* Jane thought, *She even has her hands on her lap and her ankles demurely crossed - she could be posing for a Town and Country layout - 'Debutante at the Brink'. Well, I guess that answers the question of whether she can handle the mechanics well enough.* "We have to talk, Victoria," Jane began.  "I have some decisions before me - decisions that will directly affect you."

"Yes, Ms. Jane?"

"You've come a very long way in a very short time, Victoria," Jane told her quietly.  "I wish I could wait a while longer before raising this issue, but circumstances force my hand."

"Are you going to send me away?" the girl asked, a slight quaver in her voice.

"No, nothing of the kind, dear," she was hastily reassured. "The key decision I have to make is whether you are ready and just as importantly, willing to take on the task I may have to lay before you."

That surprised Victoria.  Up until now, her willingness had not been a consideration. Jane ordered, Victoria did as ordered.  That was the way of the world at Seasons House.  "I did give you my word to do as you ask to the best of my ability, Ms. Jane," the primly dressed teen said with quiet dignity.  "I know I didn't always keep to the letter of that promise before, but I've been trying very hard ever since."

"I know that, Victoria, and I am very pleased with you of late.  Under ordinary circumstances, you would be ready for the next stage of your training with me, but what I have been asked to do is anything but ordinary.  You know that you are not the first boy upon whom I have . . . imposed this particular form of discipline, correct?"

Victoria blushed at that reminder of her true gender and looked away for a moment. *So, she still reacts to that.  File that for future need.* The boy-girl returned her gaze to meet her teacher's and nodded.  "You told me as much when you . . . when I agreed to . . . well, when I became Victoria."

"It's all right to say that I maneuvered you into being Victoria, child, because that is precisely what I did," Jane admitted with a candor that surprised her listener.  "What you have to understand now that this discipline, this petticoat discipline as the Victorians called it, is what I have done with all of my students."

"ALL? As in, every student you've ever taught?"

"Well, since coming to Seasons House.  With a great deal of success, I might add."

"You said that, too.  Is this next phase of my training part of this?"

"Ever hear the phrase 'Each one, teach one'?" Jane asked.  At her pupil's negative head shake, she elaborated.  "You are relatively unique because you have been here as an 'only-student'.  Normally, my program is based on having two students in residence here - a junior student undergoing initial training and indoctrination in the feminine arts while at the same time learning new coping mechanisms for whatever problems brought him to me.  The fear of giving themselves away as boys dressed in girl's clothing forces my students to think before they react in some inappropriate or destructive manner."

"I'll say," Victoria could not help but mutter.

"Just so," Jane responded, a trace of a grin momentarily softening her stern school-mistress persona. "The other student is one who has been here for awhile, and who has assimilated those lessons in dress and deportment and who has developed those new coping mechanisms and behaviors."

"Dress and deportment?" Victoria asked suddenly.

"Ah, you caught that.  Yes, the 'big sister' or senior student is also kept in skirts and continues to act the part of a girl.  In fact, the 'little sister' or junior student must think the mentoring student really IS a girl.  In many cases, the presence of another apparently feminine student in residence acts as a brake on the little sister's unacceptable behaviors while permitting the big sister to act as mentor and teacher in the feminine mysteries.  For you, Marie tried to fulfill that function, although not as successfully as we might have hoped."
"I see," Victoria replied.  "So, am I to become a big sister?"

There was something wistful in the girl's tone, almost as if she wanted the opportunity, Jane thought. *Probably wishful thinking.*

"That's what we must decide.  Recall your own early experiences here, Victoria. I was very hard on you.  Everything I did with you will happen to the new student.  You will have to be willing to let me do those things without trying to help him get around me.  You will have to help me set him up so that I can force him into the petticoats and frillies.  And you'll have to inform on him, telling me what he thinks and what he says, even if that seems like tattling.  What I do is take the student to the edge, psychologically-speaking, and I need to have absolute assurance that I know what is happening inside that child's head."

Victoria thought that over for a few moments without saying anything.  She thought about how she felt about herself once she'd seen Victor for what he was, and how she felt after she'd helped Edith with the fund-raiser and clothing drive.  How she'd felt after giving blood. *Worked for me, didn't it?  Now, it's payback time.* "I will do those things, Ms. Jane." she assured the older woman.

"Before you agree, there's more," Jane warned.

"More?"

"The student I have been asked to take on has. . . well, special needs.  He has a severe drug dependency and is currently in a detoxification program."

"So he won't be coming soon?"

"That's what I thought, but that has changed.  The boy attempted suicide last night."

"SUICIDE?!?  Why?!?"

Jane closed her eyes and tried to center herself.  "He blames himself for the suicide of a classmate.  He was part of a clique that teased this insecure girl, rather unmercifully from what I can gather.  She took pills and died.  Benjamin, that is his name, holds himself completely responsible.  He started drinking to deal with that pain, then graduated to drugs.  His parents put him into the center for treatment. Apparently, he couldn't handle the pain once the drug-induced haze wore off and tried to kill himself.  So, if he comes here, your duties will include being part of a suicide-prevention watch."

"But what if I fail?" Victoria whispered.  "What if he. . "

"That's what you have to tell me you can cope with.  I have no intention of letting that child hurt himself further, but I am not all-powerful.  He might slip our collective leash long enough to injure himself, or worse."

"That's. . . that's a pretty heavy load, Ms. Jane."

"I know, but the psychologist thinks my kind of shock treatment might help where the other things they've tried haven't."

"And if I don't think I can handle that?" Victoria asked.

"Then I will tell them I cannot take him on.  You are my first priority, Victoria.  Our bargain takes precedence."

"How long do I have to think about this?"

"Not very long, I'm afraid.  I have to tell them my decision tonight, or they will have to make other arrangements.  If you agree, he will be here before the end of the week.  If not. . "  Jane let that hang in the air.

"And even if he doesn't come here, he still might . . might hurt himself."

"Yes."

"This scares the hell. . I mean, this really frightens me, Ms. Jane," the young teen told her teacher.  "You're sure this is the best thing to do?"

"The doctors think so, Victoria.  I wish I knew, but I don't know the answer to your question."
"All right.  I promise to do my best, but you'll have to tell me what to do.  I don't know anything about stuff. . I mean, issues like this."

Jane nodded, and then reached across the tea table to take Victoria's hand in hers.  "I don't either, truth to tell, so we'll just be very, very careful.  All right?"

Nodding, the girl made to rise, but Jane held on to her hand, staying her.  "I'm very proud of you, Victoria," Jane said softly.  "It takes real courage to face the dark unknown.  I'm very glad that you've found yours."

"Thank you, Ms. Jane," the girl-boy whispered, obviously on the verge of tears.

"Oh, and now that you are being promoted, you should start calling me 'Aunt Jane'," she ordered with a small smile.  "It will strengthen your position with Benjamin if he thinks you're my niece, and besides, I like being called 'Aunt Jane'."

"Oh hel. . heavens," the teen blurted before pulling her hand free and fleeing the room.