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 Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:43 am
-The small slip of paper inbetween her fingers was being soothed over and over again as Aurora Namid made her way down the hallways of Crystal Academy. Monday 4pm, room 9 the little piece of paper dictated in sternly bold black type. The memory of the paper brought a smile to her lips that was all too vicious for the normally good girl.
Aurora had been geniunely surprised when her English teacher had requested she visit the school guidance officer a few days before. In all her time in school the girl had never really been the sort of be reprimanded for anything. She was a good apple. Attentive, responsible, well mannered. Perhaps a bit of a nag, when she stepped up to reprimand fellow students before her teachers could. But really.. the cryptic request had been a first.
When she'd learned the reasoning behind the meeting however, her jaw felt the uncanny sensation of falling to the floor figuratively. Despite the well trained politeness of the counselor Aurora became rigid, took to the idea that she was indeed being attacked, and she readied herself for the defense. One did not push a stubborn girl like Aurora Namid, polite and well mannered as she might usually be. For every ounce of politeness she had two ounces of stubborn.
It has been brought to my attention, that for your essay on setting forth goals and following through with plans towards achieveing them you've set your goal as becoming a housewife? she'd begun.. looking almost as if she were confused herself. Had the girl written it as a joke, a sign of defiance perhaps? She'd seemed all the more confused when Aurora responded that she had. That's.. not really the sort of thing I think your teacher had in mind when she gave the assignment. It'd all started nicely enough, but soon enough there was heat in the voices despite the fact that they'd not actually raised to shouting. It's not REALLY a job. And finally, Why then are you wasting your parents resources and our time and energy schooling you if you have such low expectation and desires? Crystal Academy girls go out and do great things. She seemed almost offended.. as if Aurora's solitary trip behind the stove and broom would forever mar the school's prestige.
By the time the counseler had given up and excused her Aurora had been seething. She'd stomped to her room like a child, roaring out in her mind what she refused to say aloud. What in the world did some UNmarried, 40 something year old cow know about anything!? How DARE she insist that mothering.. that caring for and being the support system behind a successful man and his family wasn't anything to be proud of. That it wasn't a job?
Miss Boonair. MISS. Of course she didn't understand. That old hen had obviously taken out on her the fact that she'd never been blessed with a fine enough face to attract a man. Or perhaps the intellegence and personalilty to keep one at her side? The irritation of the day had long ago faded. But when she received the small slip of paper on Saturday afternoon a whole other feeling had washed over her. Strength, resoluteness. It didn't matter how many times they came at her, her opinion was valid.
She'd never been to this part of the Academy before, pushed off far from the general classes, solitary and quiet, she paused when she spotted the number 9 etched in fancy scroll across the doorway. She glanced at her watch, 3:55, perfect. Not so early as to be annoying, but certainly early enough to give the impression of respect, as if she wanted to be here. Lifting her hand lightly she rapped on the door.-
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Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:26 pm
She walked in on a little quadrangle. It had a couch with a couple of quietly laughing staff occupying it, drinking hot drinks. Not familiar staff: a bunch of strange adults with mugs in their hands sitting around talking about whatever it was educators talked about when they were off-duty. It was actually a little comforting to be looked at and not immediately recognised as Aurora Namid. Anonymity.
Well, a degree of anonymity. One of them glanced at her watch, pulled over a clipboard and said, "Aurora?" Sigh. After a brief moment's hesitation, another one took the clipboard, drained his drink and stood. It was a young Asian man who smiled at her, said, "Over here," and lead her to one of the offices off the quadrangle.
She shut the door behind her. The small office was bare and spartan. A pot plant took up residence on the desk as the only acknowledgement that someone might like to sit in there, but otherwise the only things in it were them, three chairs (one was an office chair that spun) and the clipboard.
"Do you want to rock-paper-scissors for the good chair?"
He looked as though he couldn't be more than thirty. He was wearing a button-up shirt and jeans, and sneakers, and was otherwise tall and thin and dark -- a big change from Miss Boonair. Before she could say anything, he said, "Just kidding. I get the good chair," and sat down in it. It was sort of a lame joke.
Again in comparison to Miss Boonair, who had been grave with the terrible choices Aurora had laid out in front of her, he seemed at-ease and cheerful like this was a social call. Maybe he hadn't been told about her tragic career-to-be. He said, "Sit -- this is just a chat. Why don't you talk about why you're here and I'll listen?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:43 am
-Her eyes took in the unfamiliar terrain softly, noting the plush couch and laid back feeling of the room and it's inhabitants. It wasn't that different in fact from the communal rooms at the edge of each dormitory floor. Classy and sleek, but still with a touch of comfort and home. Her attention was drawn at the sigh, her lips beginning to pucker in frusteration and irritation. Before her face could sour too far however another voice caught her attention eyes shifting to take in the masculine figure before her.
She followed dutifully along, taking note of this and that. Button up shirt, plus. Tennis shoes, minus. Young, plus.
Her face was suspicious once they were locked away in the room as he mentioned the chair, not yet lifting her hand, though if he looked, she did seem to be balling it and unballing it. As if she were debating whether or not to play. Manners dictated offering the woman the chair. Though she herself would have offered it to him as well. He took it. She seemed lost on his joke. Ill mannered, minus.
He WAS the authority figure though.. so perhaps it was his right, Aurora settled into one of the other chairs, soothing her skirt lightly, as she silently took in the sparce decor of the room. There wasn't much to keep her attention and soon enough she was forced to look at him again. He was a stark contrast to Miss Boonair. The lack of tension in his body, the not unpleasant jawline and eyes, even the lack of color in the room were working against her, soothing her. Seemingly pleasant and fairly attractive, double plus.
When she finally uttered her first words it was a snap, sharp, perhaps even rehearsed. But it was already fairly apparent by the time she stopped speaking that it lacked the venom it should have.- "I am here because forward moving feminists have decided that while a man can't tell me what I'm supposed to do anymore they have every right to dictate what it is a woman is supposed to do."
-Her pause was awkward, fingers coming to cross in her lap, her voice quieted when she spoke again.- "That's not completely fair I guess. It's a certain set of women who disapprove."
"So I suppose I'm here because..."
"I'm supposed to desire an acceptable job of some sort." -There was stress on that word.- "Even though I'm not in need of one, nor have been asked to take one by my father."
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 5:04 pm
His facial expression didn't flicker. In reality, Edward Nguyen was wincing a little that he'd drawn the short straw. "Crystal girl career problems," Gina had said, getting into the carpool and holding out four McDonald's straw wrappers clutched in her fist. "'Daddy wants me to go to a finishing school in upstate New York, but I want to go and be an au pair for a year like my friends!'"
"Crystal girls have problems like everyone else, pressures like everyone else," he'd cautioned. Devil's advocate of niceness. He hated having to always be the one trying to pull their callous skin off when he probably was more impatient going into Crystal more than anyone else. There was rebuttal until he added, "Okay, I admit, some of which would seem tiny if they had to go into the community for once..."
He'd drawn the short straw, and he got Aurora Namid. Also he was really tired and his lymph nodes felt like golf balls.
"Okay, Miss Namid." Play the game. They'd all been prepped to use 'miss' or 'ms', defaulting to 'miss'. The ones who wanted Ms. or their first name would tell you in the first ten seconds. "You can call me Mr. Nguyen. I'm not going to be here to disapprove or approve. Talk about your 'unacceptable' -- " He stressed it out, like she had -- "job desires to me. Because there are a lot of jobs in the world, but the only ones I'd call unacceptable are things like 'serial killer'."
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 5:59 pm
-She was entirely oblivious to his own internal dismay, probably something she shared with many a Crystal girl. It wasn't entirely selfishness, though it would be a lie to say she wasn't atleast a little consumed with her own little battle, if she knew he too was in need of comfort she might have offered a little herself. She was just naturally oblivious, especially when he'd apparently, been so well trained to keep the thoughts from touching his face.-
"Aurora is alright" -Six seconds, he was good.
He even pulled forth a momentary glimance of a smile as the words 'serial killer' arose. Technically.. if she were to get good enough at what she did she would one day become one of those. Prompted of course by a cat and a white knight. That thought was not something to smile about, ironic as it might be, so the flash was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.
He got another plus for his insistance that he wasn't judging, time would only tell if it was deserved. But in truth.. he didn't seem so bad. Maybe infact, he'd even be on her side in the end?
She didn't settle into the chair as many might have, posture as always drawn upwards as if she feared the slightest slouch might receive a swift slap of a ruler. But her fingers loosened, head tilting just the slightest to the left. And talk she did, words soft but matter of fact.- "Simply and plainly I'd like to be a mother and a wife."
"When the time comes of course. Not at sixteen." -She stressed suddenly. It was VERY important to her nobody think her a hussy, much to her own internal dismay regarding her desires to date.-
"But when I've graduated, perhaps even gone through college, then I would like to marry and raise a family."
"It really is the most important job I think."
"Helping the future generation blossom and grow to be intelligent, thoughtful, and morally responsible. Disciplining when necessary. Offering a comfortable support system for others to flourish in the world."
"I'm sure you of all people have counseled many children scarred by the lack of good or attentive upbringing. And behind nearly every man in power is a wife that cares for him." -It almost seemed as if she were trying to convince him, because the conviction in her eyes made it clear she'd convinced herself of it.-
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Posted: Tue Apr 13, 2010 6:36 pm
He didn't even blink. Mr. Nguyen pulled out a piece of paper from his folder and a pen, sticking it on the clipboard and passing it in her direction. There was a slight relaxing around his face and shoulders, like for unsuitable career she'd been about to say pole dancer or drug pusher.
"Let's make a list," he suggested. "One half's skills you need to be a wife and mother, the other half's classes or courses in school that can help you with this." At least he wasn't laughing at her. In fact, his eyes were deadly serious. "Being a homemaker doesn't come with a salary, it's what we call, um, replacement costs. Childcare, cleaning, tutoring, counselling, accounting."
At least he was taking her much more seriously than Miss Boonair, though he'd declined to comment further than a slight smile when she'd talked about scarred by the lack of good upbringing. "You'll still need to think about retirement funds and how you can be relevant in today's economy when you need to be. Translation, 'how can I get a paid job if I want one later?'. What's your plan for when your children go to school and what's your plan after that when they leave home, that kind of thing."
Maybe he was actually on her side?
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Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 9:57 am
-Her new outfit looked distinctly of the 'pole dancing' line. Could she have read his mind he might received another bizzare smile at the ironic thought.
She looked vaguely skeptical when the clipboard was passed her way, but was quickly assured by his words. They were mildly encouraging and entirely practical. The kind of practical that little girls didn't tend to think of, that took a mind set actually intune with the real world of adulthood.
And to boot he'd put his later part lightly. He could have just as easily said "what would you do for money if your husband left", which would have certainly drawn up another flare of aggression and defensiveness. He could have been cruel, for certainly she was already sore over the notice that boys didn't seem to look at her with the same attention they gave others. A sort of hitch in her plan. No, he was good, and she began to scrawl across the paper in pretty cursive.
Nutrition --- Home Ec
Cooking
Book keeping/accounting --- Simple Math
Budgeting Economics
First aid --- Health
Child care skills --- ??Child care classes??
Psychology?
What else did a good wife do.. cook, clean, comfort. Bandage wounds, offer intellectual stimulation, and advice. After just a few moments she was quite obviously at a lose exactly how to carry some of those traits over to learnable skills. And if Crystal even had classes like these. Did they do specialized classes, or was that more a college thing?
She tapped the pen lightly against the clipboard once.. twice as she tried to ponder over what he'd said. What would she do when they'd grown. Surely she couldn't just keep producing babies to always have one in the house. But what did she even WANT to do?
Lawyer, doctor... too hard.. too completely out of her interest. Retail clerk or waitress... a little more intriguing.. though perhaps.. a little 'below' her social standing. Secretary, business woman.. boring... So what was there?- "I'm not very good at this" -She confided finally in a quiet voice, leaning the clipboard towards him with a soft frown.-
"It's not anything I've ever really thought about so..."
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Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 7:57 pm
Mr. Nguyen had broken into a pleased smile the moment she'd passed the clipboard over. "You're very good at this, actually," he said, with genuine appreciation. "So, I'd say in the long run you're better off taking outside First Aid courses than relying on Health, but this is great. Nice job. I'd give you a gold star if I had one -- wait."
He was digging around in his bag. With extreme seriousness, the counsellor came back with a battered roll of gold star stickers. He peeled one off the pack, and delicately offered it to her balanced on the tip of his finger like a tiny butterfly. After that, he returned to her clipboard. "A lot of moms find they'd like to go into nursing or teaching. Teaching you get the summer off to be with the kids. Just something to think about. Then there's sewing, if you like that, design, flower arranging, cooking..."
He was writing notes next to her clipboard ones in a cramped, neat hand. "Here's the problem," he said. "Crystal Academy doesn't like it if your top options are all homemaking. If you want the careers counsellor off your back, pick something from one of these headers and make your life a lot easier. Keep 'homemaker' at the top. That's your right. But an option like 'nurse' will calm the baying wolves. Do you get what I'm saying, Aurora?"
(He really had been expecting pole dancer.)
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Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:40 am
-He wasn't the enemy at all, more like a prince in shining armor. Even the childish golden star was so charming that had she not been so busy with the information she might have tried to flirt with him. Well.. in the failure, far too polite and lady like way that never actually worked on anyone except in literature.
Filing away the information in her mind and on the sheet, she nodded appreciatively to the counselor and all too soon she was making her way back to her dorm room. What a totally unexpected turn of events. What a very bright future that lie ahead.-
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