Chapter 4
The airport farewell had been tearful, and Buffy sat low in her seat with her headphones on. The flight was short and uneventful, and a bus took her and seven others to the O’Connor academy.
Once they got there, it was organised like a military operation, they were allocated rooms, lockers and were each given a copy of the rules, opening and closing times of the medical centre, kiosk and dining room, they were also given a time to go for a medical examination the following day.
She got up onto the second floor found her room, went in.
It was basic, single bed, nightstand, small wardrobe, chest of draws, six high. There was a shelf for books or a small TV, and a notice on the back of the door saying posters could be put up using blu-tack putty, NOT sticky-tape or thumb-tacks. The bathroom was what you would expect, toilet, sink and bath, with a showerhead up on the wall at the tap end.
Buffy put her flight bag down on the floor, her other stuff would be sent up directly, they’d been told. So it was just a matter of a quick wash and change, and then down to dinner.
There was a knock at the door, and Buffy thought it was her luggage, she was surprised to see a small girl standing there, looking apologetic.
“Hi, my names Fred, Fredericka actually, I’m in the room next door - I was wondering, have you got such thing as a plastic bag? A small one will do, only I’ve broken the bottom of my shampoo bottle, it got crushed in my bag…”
“Oh um…no I – oh, hold on, will this do?” Buffy held out a vending machine polystyrene cup.
“Great – it won’t stand up on its end, stupid bottle – thanks – see you at dinner!” Fred disappeared into her own room, and Buffy was just about to shut the door, when she saw the lift door open and luggage being pushed out on a trolley.
She pulled her two suitcases and holdall into her room and began open them.
************************
“Quiet please………quiet – can I have your attention please” After various amounts of ‘shushing’ the dining room fell silent.
Angel O’Connor stood and said,
“Right, I trust you all had a good journey here, and will get a good nights rest. Tomorrow sees the start of a new regime for some of you, and I’m warning you now, it’s going to be HARD WORK – I don’t want or need half measures from anyone – we can all have ‘off’ days, I can appreciate that, but if I think that you’re not giving me 101% - then I’m afraid you’re out on your ear – we give you three chances, and after that - if you don’t want the place – there are plenty of others out there just waiting to take it – so don’t say you haven’t been warned.
Rules and regulations:
1. You DO NOT leave the premises, that is the residential block, or the training block or the parking lot during weekdays, at ANY hour without permission and a pass.
2. Main lights are out at 10pm, breakfast is between 8-8.30am those of you with televisions in your rooms are asked to use headphones with them – if there are complaints about anything disturbing other borders, the piece of equipment will be confiscated, do you understand?”
Everybody in the room either nodded or said ‘yes’.
3. Weekend passes will be handed out after lunch on Fridays – if you haven’t picked it up by 2.30pm, then TOUGH – you’ve lost your weekend pass – anybody who leaves the premises with out a pass is instantly sent home, without possible chance of coming back.
4. If you hear this bell (thankyou Mr Wesley) “ The fire alarm sounded for a few seconds, you assemble on the parking lot between the two buildings – if this is unsafe to do so, then go to wherever the fire department direct you, NEVER re-enter the premises after the bell has sounded, and don’t use the lifts – we shall have a practice run sometime this week
Right, any questions?”
A couple put their hands up, one asking about telephones, she was told that there were phone cards available at the kiosk where various things could be bought, it was open from 10am-4pm everyday.
The other question was about extra wardrobe space for ‘costumes’
“Oh yes, I forgot to say, if you have a special costume, this applies to the ice-skaters and ballet dancers, we will keep it in a special place for you so it doesn’t have to get crushed in your small wardrobes – anything else? – No, right then, I’ll leave you to get to know one another, and I shall see you in the morning”
“Hi! – S’me again – sorry about bothering you, I didn’t catch your name earlier”
“Oh hi Fred, I’m Buffy, Buffy Summers – was the cup any good?”
“Perfect thanks –so did you have to come far?”
Buffy wasn’t sure how much she’d have in common with this tiny girl – she seemed very thin and slight, and young………
“No, flight was less than an hour, you?”
“Six days”
“What?”
“Not really! It just felt like it…I was driven here, by the foster home mother, she can’t fly so we drove…it took three days”
“Foster home?”
“Uh huh – no parents, no family, just little ole’ me!”
Buffy felt instantly sorry for her
“So, how old are you?”
“I’ll be sixteen in three weeks”
“Really, me too!”
Buffy was shocked; she was expecting the girl to say she was 13, tops.
“What date?”
“Fifth of November” Buffy said
“Mine’s the sixth!”
“Double celebration!” they laughed and Buffy began to relax, it had been one of her biggest fears that it would be like Sunnydale Junior-High again, where it took her almost a term to be on speaking terms with anybody, let alone friendly…
“Do you know anybody else here?” Buffy asked
“Um yes, but nobody who’d want to talk to little old me…see that girl over there – the one with the long fair hair – she’s Amy. Silver medallist in the juniors – I’d LOVE to be as good as good as her – have you seen her on the beam – she’s like…poetry”
“No, no I haven’t – to tell you the truth, I don’t know much about gymnastics, I’m an ice-skater”
“Wow – do you do all those fancy jumps and things – listen to me, course you do, else you wouldn’t be here!”
“I was Junior Ice-Dance champion three years running – but I’m too old now”
“Three times! Wow…I can just about stand up on the ice!”
Fred turned her head and gave a big yawn
“Ooh sorry, it’s the travelling, it’s catching up with me”
Buffy looked at her watch
“It’s twenty passed nine – shall we go up, there’s still a few bits and pieces I want to put away before lights out at ten”
“I haven’t even started yet!” the two girls went up to their rooms, and said goodnight.
Buffy went in, put out what she wanted to wear in the morning, set out her toiletries in the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She was too tired to take a shower, she’d had one before dinner and if she took another now it would ‘wake her up’ and she wanted to be fresh for the morning.
Chapter 5
“Breath in…and out………………again please, in………and out, okay thankyou” The Dr took the stethoscope out of his ears and went and fetched another instrument.
“Right, just relax, this won’t hurt, give me your arm please………the doctor held her arm and this ‘thing’ pinched the flesh.
“This is to measure your body mass index – that is the ratio of fat to muscle………hmm, okay, you can dressed now – oh, did you bring your urine sample?”
“I gave it to the nurse” Buffy said from behind the curtains.
“Good, good”
Buffy was used to medicals, she had to have them every time she competed, she never used to worry about them, they were just a chore.
She swished the curtain back, and the doc asked her questions about her periods and allergies, her diet and any recurring injuries she had. All in all, the process took about twenty minutes.
Leaving the doc’s surgery, she made her way back to her room to change for training.
********************
“And hold it for the count of four – breathe out through the nose…two, three, four – and relax. Okay ladies, lunchtime – I want you at the rink at 1.30pm prompt”
Buffy stood, pulled on leg warmers to keep her stretched muscles warm, and she put on her padded jacket as she had to cross the parking lot.
Entering the dining room, there was a queue, not at the serving counter, but at Mr Wesley, he was saying something to each person, then ticking something off on a clipboard. It got to Buffy
“Name?”
“Summers, Buffy summers”
“Let me see…ah yes, take tray 18 out of the chiller cabinet, that’s your lunch – next”
Buffy got to the counter, saw a tray covered in shrink-wrap.
Frowning, she went to move away, when she was confronted with a basket of fresh fruit
“Take two, different, though, not two the same”
Buffy looked and said,
“I’ll pass”
“You need it to make up the calories of your lunch”
“Then I’ll go hungry, won’t I?”
Buffy moved on and sat down, just dropping the tray with disgust on the table. She was just in the mood for a hamburger
Unwrapping her tray, she’d got a carton of orange juice, three wafer thin slices of ham, a tomato and some lettuce, two rice cakes, a fat-free yoghurt, and a small plastic cup with two pills. The one tablet she recognised as a multi-vitamin, the other she didn’t know.
When Mr Wesley came walking past her she said,
“Excuse me, Mr Wesley, what’s the blue tablet?”
“You are?”
“Buffy Summers”
“Right, let me look………you’ve been prescribed a multi-vitamin and an iron tablet, you had your medical this morning I take it?”
Buffy nodded
“Yes, and oh yes, apparently you have a wheat intolerance too, it says no wheat, light diet, needs to loose 14lbs”
“No, I don’t!”
“Say’s so here – perhaps the medical picked it up this morning”
“First I’ve heard of it!”
“Mr Wesley” he looked up and excused himself from Buffy and left.
Buffy stared at the tray with distain, and despite being hungry, decided she didn’t want it, and pushed it away.
She sat back, put in her earpieces, switched on her ipod and took out a magazine and began to read.
A bell rang, and she noticed everybody standing up, she glanced at the clock, it was 1.15pm, she had fifteen minutes to get to the ice-rink
Plucking out her earpieces and turning off her ipod, she stuffed the magazine into her bag and stood up.
“Buffy…Buffy” She turned to see Coach O’Connor coming towards her
“You didn’t eat your lunch”
“I don’t like wafer thin ham, tomatoes or lettuce – yoghurt is just ew - yuck, I hate rice, bananas make me bloat – and I DON’T take tablets unless I know what they are and what they are for – and my mother always said if I eat a balanced diet, there’s no need for vitamin supplements”
“Well skipping lunch is hardly well balanced, is it? Look Buffy, you need to follow a strict regime, you’re slightly over-weight, and your blood sample shows a wheat intolerance”
“First I’ve heard of it!”
“You mean you’ve never felt bloated after eating a sandwich, or pizza?”
“No” Buffy could feel her cheeks begin to redden
“Well look, we’ll let this go for today – I’ll get another appointment for you at the medical centre, get the doctor to go through things with you”
“Can I go now, I have to be at the rink”
“Yes, you may go”
Buffy hitched her bag up on her shoulder and left, with Coach O’Connor staring after her – he’d have to watch this one – seemed she wasn’t going to swallow any old rubbish they sometimes told their students to get them to conform………
*******************
Illyria Rubinskya had everybody standing around her on the ice, she told them what she wanted them to do, standard set pieces while she watched each person in turn.
The others skated to the sides to watch while the first person took to the ice.
When it came to Buffy’s turn, she noticed she was just in time to see the Coach enter the rink. She skated to the middle of the ice, and began her set pieces – she skated faultlessly, nailing the jumps perfectly, no slips or jerks, she did them all smoothly and cleanly, earning a ripple of applause from her fellow dancers.
“Very good Buffy” Illyria politely clapped, and then said with a smile,
“But you need to start doing triple salcow’s and triple toe-loops and lutz’ now – as well as three and a half turns, you’re no longer in the juniors” Buffy nodded, she wasn’t worried, Mrs Keogh had had her practicing them for a good few months now as she too knew that moving from the junior ranks to the adult world of skating would require them.
After everyone had done their set pieces, each were told to go off and practice what they’d been told.
There was plenty of falling over by everybody, Buffy included. She noticed the Coach and Illyria were deep in conversation, and occasionally they looked her way. So Buffy just kept her head down and got on with the task in hand.
The rest of the afternoon was uneventful, and she made her way back to her room at 4pm – to be greeted with four ‘homework’ tasks to be completed and handed in the following day.
Sighing, Buffy threw herself on the bed and looked at the tasks. She had American History, the Civil War, math – the binary system, English – a comprehension, and social studies – the welfare state.
KNOCK, KNOCK
“Yeah, come in” Buffy looked passed her papers to the opening door, it was Fred
“Hi Fred, come in”
“How was your first day?”
“Well the medical and the exercises, and the training is fine, I’m used to it, lunch was a bitch though!”
“Oh, why?”
“Geared up for hamburger!”
“And got lettuce leaf?”
“How’d you guess?”
“Tried it with me too…told me I was over-weight!”
Buffy snorted and said
“Gods, if they think YOU’RE overweight, what chance do I have?”
“Oh this was when I first came here, when I was eight – I left for two years, when I was 11-13 I had a knee operation, didn’t think I’d be good enough to come back – but, here I am – glutton for punishment!”
“You must be! So how did you get on today?”
“Fine, except this – have you got a social studies paper?”
Buffy sorted through and held it out
“Yup, why?”
“Only I’ve never covered this stuff before – the prison system”
“Oh I have! – I’ve never done the welfare state”
“Look, they’ve given you the wrong paper, that’s my name…I’ll tell Miss Calendar tomorrow”
“Whose that, the tutor?”
“Yes, she’s nice, really nice, you can talk to her – about anything, she doesn’t mind”
The two girls worked together until six o’clock, when they went down to dinner
“This rate, I’ll have to get mom to drop me ‘Red Cross’ parcels in before I fade away!” They both giggled while they waited in the queue.
The same operation as lunchtime, they waited for Mr Wesley to tell them what tray number
“Summers, isn’t it…tray 43, next! Hello Fred – anything from the servery…next – your name is…”
Fred looked over Buffy’s arm to the contents of the tray she was holding, then Buffy’s face.
Buffy didn’t look overly impressed, but at least it was something she’d eat this time. A skinless, boneless chicken breast, with a small jacket potato and some coleslaw in vinaigrette, for afters there was a small pot of red jello, and a bottle of water
Buffy unwrapped her tray – it looked unappetising, and the chicken was slightly dry, and the savoury smell of Fred’s meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy was almost torture. Funny enough, meatloaf wasn’t a dish Buffy particularly enjoyed when she was at home, - she supposed it was the ‘forbidden fruit’ syndrome – she couldn’t have it, so it seemed that much more appealing………
*************
When Buffy saw the doctor the following day, she questioned him about her weight.
“Only MY doctor said I was the right weight for my height, just”
There wasn’t a lot the doctor could say to that, it was true – but then…
“It’s the dancing you see, puts unnecessary strain on the joints, knees in particular. As well as the ankles and hips. The lighter you are, the better it is for them”
“But last year, when I had gastric ‘flu, and couldn’t keep anything down, I lost 16lbs, my periods stopped”
“Don’t worry about that, as soon as you gain the weight, that is as soon as your body mass goes up to 4% fat – they’ll come back”
After answering her questions about the vitamin and mineral supplements, Buffy left the office and went straight to training.
Angel went into the Doctors office.
“Well?”
“Oh don’t worry, I think I allayed her fears” The doc said
“Good, I don’t want trouble, especially from a chit of a girl like that – I’ll have to keep an extra close eye on that young lady”
“Why?”
“Oh, (Angel shrugged and grinned) No reason…you know – they come here, think they know it all, next stop – anarchy!”
The doctor gave him a false smile and a small upward nod.
“Well, I better leave you to it then, bye doc, and thanks”
********************
Following day, lunchtime:
“Tray 10, next” Buffy picked up tray 10, she got a distinct fishy whiff, and her stomach turned over.
“Eugh, I can’t look!”
Fred sat across from her, tucking into a turkey and bacon salad baguette.
“What is it?”
“Cat food!”
“WHAT?”
“Tuna – but I can only eat it if it’s got mayo and things chopped in it, like bell peppers and onion and that – and somebody else has to open the tin, else it’s just like cat food!”
“Never mind…I’d give you some of this, but we’re being watched?”
“Oh – who”
“DON’T turn round…Mr Wesley………they watch us all like hawks – don’t you want your strawberry mousse?”
Buffy wrinkled her nose, she couldn’t be bothered.
Ten minutes before the end of lunch bell ended, Mr Wesley came up to her table.
“Not eating lunch again Miss Summers – I’ll have to report it you know”
Buffy just shrugged, slid her chair back and said to Fred,
“Catch you later, I’ve got to get my other trainers, bye”
*************************
And so it went on, there was a battle of wills for about a month, with Buffy skipping lunch most days, because it was usually something she didn’t like.
Two months into training, and she was coming up to a weekend pass, she was three weeks away from her first competition, some regional heats to get ceded, that was, her ranking before the major competitions started.
It was Friday lunchtime, and Coach O’Connor was giving them all that were going on a weekend pass home the standard lecture.
“Don’t blow all your hard work – don’t go doing anything stupid, like hand-gliding - even bowling – I don’t want anybody coming back here with injuries, alright – and remember your diets – now go, I’ll see you all back here at 8pm on Sunday – go!”
Buffy hoisted her holdall onto her shoulder and went out to the bus to take her to the airport.
Again the short flight was uneventful, and as she’d taken her holdall on as hand luggage, she didn’t have to wait at the carousel.
Making her way out of the arrivals lounge Buffy was mildly surprised to see her mother talking to a tallish man.
Buffy walked right up to them and said
“Hi mom”
Joyce turned, and her beaming smile turned t one of practically horror.
“BUFFY! On my baby – what have you DONE to yourself! – Look at you – skin and bone – don’t they feed you – oh gods!”
“Mom…MOM, stop! I’m okay, honestly, I’m fine – I was 14lbs overweight, now I’m not”
“Don’t be ridiculous! 14lbs my foot – I’m taking you straight to Dr Gull’s office in the morning and see what he says about- Buffy! Don’t walk away from me!”
“Mom, I’m tired, you’re making a big fuss and EVERYBODY’S watching – can we just get home please? – where have you parked the car?”
“I didn’t – I couldn’t, um Buffy, you’ve heard of me talk of Mr Duggan the gallery owner - well this is he, Mr Duggan, my daughter, Buffy, what’s left of her anyway”
“MOM!”
“Mr Duggan kindly bought me here, I accidentally left my lights on all day in the parking lot yesterday and drained the battery”
“So ladies, where can I take you, downtown for a special treat, perhaps?”
“Buffy? – We could go to the Viennese Coffee and Cake house – or the pancake shack?” Buffy shook her head
“MacDonalds then – Burger King…Pizza Hut?”
“No mom, I mustn’t, honestly they’ve found out I’ve got a wheat allergy”
“Wheat allergy? – Since when?” Joyce frowned
“Since I had tests at the academy, now can we PLEASE just go home?”
Mr Duggan had a big false smile on his face, and he said in a jovial tone,
“Home it is then – that’s where the heart is, or so they say, can I take that for you?”
Buffy shook her head
“No, it’s fine, it’s not heavy”
“Right then, this way, short-stay parking lot, row G16”
************
“Are you sure you won’t come in for some tea, you’re very welcome”
“No, honestly, there are one or two things I need to do at the gallery, I’ll see you on Monday, have a nice weekend both, bye”
Mr Duggan sped off.
Joyce came into the lounge where Buffy was sitting on the sofa still in her coat.
“Can I make you something to eat, I’ve got-“
“Stop fussing mom. Actually, I’d like a bath and a rest, I’m tired”
“Okay then love, you know where everything is” Joyce said quietly. She resisted giving her daughter another hug, but watched with concern as Buffy trudged up the stairs.
**************
“Hey, sleepy-head, are you going to wake up? You’ll never sleep tonight, and I’m hardly going to see anything of you as it is!”
Buffy roused herself – she yawned and stretched, she felt thick-headed and exhausted.
“Sorry mom”
“Now, you MUST be hungry by now – what can I get you?”
“Not much, I’m not really hungry” Buffy yawned again and stood. Joyce looked concernedly at her daughter and said
“Well come down and see what you want, I’ve stocked the fridge”
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