Mrs. Jaye had smiled, crinkling her kind green eyes. “That’s perfectly all right. Our system does great work with these kinds of girls”
Tali’s eyes widened as she entered the large room. There were more people inside than she’d ever seen before. Parents and their children, all first-year students, sat in the hard, plastic, navy chairs that filled the room.
Tali and her parents found their seats in the eighth row, three seats from the left. There was some chitchat, all adult talk, which Tali ignored as she studied the room. What a strange place, all navy tiles and navy trim and navy chairs and navy skirts. She looked around at the room, at the ceiling, and at the other girls, each waiting excitedly.
Then the principal walked onstage, clad in navy from blazer to heels. The crowd grew quiet.
There were many words: speeches about how the curriculum was carefully planned and the academics were up to par and would stretch the students’ minds. Words about obedience and compliance and respect and good behavior. The parents listened carefully while the young new students squirmed in the chairs.
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