As Nigel drives up to the school, Jolee’s eyes bulge at the sight. It is three stories and has forty large windows on each side. The appearance of brick and mortar resembles old-fashioned 1950’s schools rather than a newly minted private institution. However, the shock came when she saw separate entrances for ladies and gentlemen. Asides from being accepted, Jolee maintains minimal knowledge of the place, which increases her nervous as the car parks before the ladies’ entrance.

"Dad, are you sure about this school?" Jolee looks at him nervously. Leo merely places his hands on his daughter’s shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

“They have good programs that will help you in the future. I was assured that this is not a charms school by any stretch of the imagination.”

Jolee chuckles quietly as Leo tried reassuring her. She doesn’t worry about posture and etiquette, but she wonders about agendas that flow along specific ideologies. Jolee wants an education, but not one that forces her down a religious belief system. She hopes that this school would prove her wrong, but the initial impression did not provide a real answer. She gave her father a kiss and exits the sedan to immediately enter the school premises.

She enters a neatly ordered chaotic jungle. There is a mass of girls entering the school for the first time, but the student body captures them before the chaos becomes disruptive. It looks less like high school and more like receiving recruits at a boot camp.

On the bright side, no one mobs her at the door.

Her view focuses on a short blonde girl holding up a sign that has "Jolie Witaszak" on it. Although it is apparently misspelled, she knows it has to be her. Thankfully, this is not the first time people have misspelled her name, which helps avoid severe embarrassment. The girl wears the same outfit style as Jolee, but it was more second-hand that contrasts with the crowd. She stands roughly five foot five and has a slender build. The most notable feature, aside from her pale skin and dark blue eyes, is the bob-cut light blonde hair. Her small nose and natural lips make her cute, but she stands there with an infectious smile.

Jolee walks up to the girl and waves at her. She is not sure what to make of her, but the girl bounces as she drops the signs and holds out her hands. In the mass crowd, Jolee sees a diverse range of reactions by the students. By far, this girl seems the friendliest.

“Jolie?” the girl asks her. Jolee has gotten the impression that someone told her name wrong to the poor girl. The pronunciation she was giving JOL-ee. The correct pronunciation is Jo-Lee. In fact, she once asked her mother why her name was not hyphenated, but never really got a clear answer.

"Actually, it is Jolee," she speaks kindly to the girl with correct enunciations. She was not trying to be a snob, but she could see someone using the mispronunciation and Jolee getting confused. It would not be the first time it happened. However, she did take the girl hand to indicate no hard feelings.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” the girl blushes in embarrassment. “Not the first time the office has messed up with names. The less common the pronunciations, the worse the spelling. Goodness, what if we got an Indian student or an Eastern Europe student with a long name. We would be insulting them horribly."

Jolee watches the girl have a spastic attack in front of her. A few heads did turn in the girl’s direction with a bit of a sneer on many of their faces. It was very clear they did not approve of the mouth spasm that was occurring. On the other hand, Jolee found it refreshing. With her mother being little more than an emotional zombie on her best of days, it was a pleasant feeling to see someone honestly care about identifying her correctly.

"Oh my goodness, I am not polite am I? I know your name, but you don’t know mine. I am Kathrynne, or as the fan club of one know me as, Kat. Resident science geek and winner of untouchable club presidency." she says with a smile. "I will be your mentor, guide, and hopefully your friend?"

Jolee couldn’t tell from the tone of voice if it is desperation or just an offer to make friends. Judging by the reaction from the crowd, she guesses it is a mixture of both. Kat seems like a nice enough girl, but she is sensing a bit of a pariah. Despite the mouth spasm, she can identify with being a science geek. You don’t become the daughter of a formidable Biomechanical scien­tist without suffering from scientific eccentric behavior. When other students were making volcanos and lemon batteries, she put together a robot with a circuit board that responded to light. Although her father did help a little when he was available, she did it mostly on her own.

"I don’t make friends quickly so I would like that," she says before coughing a little. She pulls out her inhaler and takes two puffs. Kat looks on with concern and a little panic about the incident. Jolee held up her hands to indicate she is fine.

"Asthma?" Kat took her first guess at what Jolee needed an inhaler for.

"Cystic Fibrosis. Not used to the hot, muggy air yet," she says looking at Kat, who’s concerned eyes never leave her face. "I would appreciate it if this did not become public knowledge. I don’t want sympathy."

Kat rapidly nods.

"Of course. They didn’t warn me about this, but hey…down low, got it. Well, we must be goin’ to the auditorium for the standard speech. You know when the president of the school goes up and gives this long presentation? The one that leaves you wondering what he is really talking about? Honestly, I would save you from it, but attendance is mandatory.”

Jolee smiles and follows Kat towards the auditorium as the rest of the girls move orderly along. It was becoming more and more like boot camp every minute. Similar to the front entrance, the auditorium has two separate entries meant to segregate the two student bodies. In the dim lights, the bespectacled Jolee can not make out how many seats there are, but she guesses in the high two hundred. As she takes a place with Kat, she glances over at the boys.

They wear short sleeve white shirts with an undershirt and black trousers. The uniform completes with a precisely knotted black tie. One boy stands out from the rest, but that is only because Kat is starring in his direction. He has neatly trimmed blonde locks and Adonis body. He is not bulky in muscularity, but he looks like he takes care of himself. He steals a slight glance in Kat’s direction and smiles. They both turn their heads and look toward the stage.

"You saw nothing," Kat whispers firmly. Jolee is not sure why the firmness when they were good moments ago, but she decides to honor it none the less.

She knows that there are things that people don’t want to discuss, so feels it best to leave it be. However, she is curious about why the two of them look at each other for a bit. It wasn’t in disdain or anything. She could not describe the expression very well, so she decides to drop it.

A rather large man takes the podium in the middle of the stage. He is not a stout man, but rather is tall and built like a brick. He would look like the late Michael Clarke Duncan if he were white and had the head full of immaculately comb gray hair. His face looks strong, powerful, and ready to lead the school to another generation. It is none other than the namesake of the school, Richard Strauss.

"Five years ago, I was grading a paper in my English Composition class at a local college," Strauss speaks in a bold and powerful voice. With the harmonics of the auditorium and the loudness of his voice, it is quite clear why the podium doesn’t have a microphone. "The quality of the composition and analytical skills were beyond repulsive. I was teaching English as a First Language students the basics of grammar! English as a Second Language students performed admirably better than what this paper could muster. So I started to ask why!?"

The auditorium bounced in their seats when Strauss slammed his fist into the podium. It didn’t echo as loudly as his voice, but it was an extreme enough expression to capture the attention.

"Was it the fault of the teachers? No, they were underpaid and too understaffed to deal with the curriculum requirements. Was it the students? If the teachers could not maintain the discipline in a classroom, how could they possibly learn? No, it was not them."

He gave the students a stare that could rip out souls and bring it to the forge of Hephaestus. His lively presentation didn’t give the student body time to think about anything else, which made the stare even more eerie.

"The System is broken! The current educational system allows a student to leave High School and enter college without a proper education. So I said enough. A school was needed that would show how the system should work." He spoke of raising his hands towards the divided groups. "The first thing was that fraternization disrupted the learning process. That will not happen here as everyone can see from this segregation. Your studies are your priority!"

Jolee was lost in how she felt about the man. There was passion in education, but there was a tinge of extreme values. Her father did teach her to respect elders and educators, but this man could push some boundaries to what she felt is appropriate.

"A sound mind comes from a sound body. Unless you have a note from your doctor stating that participating in sports or physical education endangers your health to the point of instant death, every student is required to attend. Obesity will not be a valid excuse. Any obese student that we have admitted shall undergo a particular program of diet and exercise to solve that problem. Obesity diseases the mind with laziness! We shall not have that!"

Jolee merely blinks at the statement. She engages in physical therapy to improve her core muscles, which extends her life. It helps improve the air capacity and a decrease in mucus buildup. She wasn’t against physical education, but he made things seem black and white without any evidence. There are forms of genetic defects that causes individuals to gain weight despite best efforts, which should always be considered. The speech was failing with logic.

"Furthermore, each student needs to provide a dedication to their school. As such, each student is required to participate in an extracurricular. By committing your life towards the school, you shall excel beyond the limits of the average student. You shall excel in higher education and in life. You’ll look back at what you were taught at Strauss and be grateful for that excellence. Now, get to your classes."

The large man exits the stage as students disperse in an orderly fashion. Jolee had seen plenty of presentations in the past, but nothing nearly as forceful. Kat kindly guided her through the swarm of pupils.

"Please tell me you have an extracurricular," Kat begs Jolee for the right answer. The presentation left the impression that there were dire consequences if nothing was selected. However, Jolee shakes her head and looks frustrated.

Kat just smiles.

"I will see if I can get you into the science club. We do experiments for the Human Improvement project, which is sponsored by Almost Human, Inc. They, in turn, fund part of the schools budget, so it is all beneficial and excellent for your school record."

Jolee freezes as she hears the name of her father’s employer. It wasn’t a secret, but it appears that Kat was kept in the dark about the connection.

"My father didn’t put you up to this, did he?" Jolee asks honestly.

"Your father? Why would Mr. Wita..." Kat cuts herself off as she facepalms. "You’re the daughter of Dr. Leonard Witaszek. Wow, this is...um..."

"Not something I want public knowledge." Jolee smiles as she speaks to a bedazzled Kat. "I just want to be an ordinary girl here."

Kat merely laughs, which gives Jolee the impression of fandom for her father. This reaction worries Jolee because it sets expectations to be as intelligent as her father. She is trying to survive school and being a teenager, which doesn’t need the overwhelming pressure that comes with intelligence.

Kat nods with a smile.

"Look, I think it’s cool. I would love to take a look at your brain someday." Kat speaks with fondness before she stares awkwardly at Jolee. "I don’t mean I am going to cut your head open and things like that. I’m not that creepy, I think."

Kat isn’t only in awe of Jolee but also feels she has found a kindred spirit. Although Kat is as smart as any science club student, they treat her as a second-class citizen rather than a full participant. It is refreshing to be treated as an equal with Jolee.

"I’m not that smart," Jolee responds. Despite her accomplishments, it’s not something she brags about.

"Dumb girls don’t make it into AP Science, which is your first class tomorrow. Today, I will show you around the school, introduce the teachers, and try not to get you too lost. Maybe we could be lab partners?"

Jolee gets the first significant hint of Kat’s mind. She is correct that it takes a certain level of intelligence to make it into AP Science. The school promises research and development level academics, which is taught by a college-level professor. Each course counted as college credit, which was a real bonus overall. To get to that level at Strauss, you have to show incredible potential mentally, which Kat has shown Jolee. However, she did not act like the brainiac, know it all snobs that Jolee had faced in the past. It was refreshing and rewarding to meet someone like her. In fact, she felt that things will be all right if Kat is in her classes.

“I would like that.” she speaks with sincerity.

The exchange of knowledge between their minds might actually push them beyond whatever threshold they may have. They walk along the halls as Kat gives her the lay of the land, which is crucial to surviving the treacherous halls. Jolee feels relieved for once. She was rather nervous about coming to this school, but Kat has made it sound relaxing. This is the start of a potentially beautiful friendship.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3