Beware That Girl Read Free

contained the all-important registrar’s computer. That’s where I was headed tomorrow. I had to get here by 6:30 a.m. Everything I needed to know would be in that computer. Somebody at Waverly could use a roommate to fill her existential void. Hopefully, that somebody was Olivia Sumner. I could see it straight ahead. The good life. A clear path to the prize.
    Nothing gets in my way.

6:34 am
    The near-comatose computer was taking forever to sputter to life. I knew that Miss Shwepper and Mrs. Colson were attached to their museum pieces, patiently waiting for the whole digital fad to blow over, but what was Draper doing with this behemoth? The entire front office looked like it was being prepped for a 1993 Microsoft commercial.
    Okay, okay, come to Mama. Come on. All right! Waverly student records…Finally! The script rolled in on lazy paragraphs, but there they were. The student records were organized alphabetically according to graduating year. What would mine contain? No time. Okay, okay. I hadn’t even turned the lights on for fear that Mr. Jefferson might come to check. Every creak in the old oak floors caused my stomach to pitch. I typed in “Olivia Michelle Sumner” and held my breath while the screen took its customary three to five years to load. Who works like this? With this? Loading, loading…

    Got ya!
    It was a standard bare-bones registration, but it also had a one-page report appended.
STUDENT RECORDS PROFILE
SOCIAL WORK REPORT
     
    STUDENT’S NAME:
    Olivia Michelle Sumner
    STUDENT NUMBER:
    624501
    DOB:
    2 September 1997
    GENDER:
    Female
    SCHOOL:
    The Waverly School
    FATHER:
    Mr. Geoffrey Sumner
    MOTHER:
    Mrs. Elizabeth Sumner
   
    (née Whitaker)—Deceased
    PRESENT AT MEETING:
    Dr. Virginia Kruger,
   
    Dr. Russell Tamblyn,
   
    Mr. Geoffrey Sumner
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Student spent ten weeks as an inpatient and six as an outpatient at Houston Medical.
ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT FUNCTIONING: The presenting psychological issues are fully resolved as per the readmittance policy and according to Houston’s assessment documents, provided by Dr. Tamblyn.
GOAL/INTERVENTION: None required.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Dr. Tamblyn and Mr. Sumner requested that the student’s Readmittance and Assessment Summary remain sealed. All applications for the release of confidential information would as of this date be denied. Dr. Armstrong concurred and assured Mr. Sumner that Ms. Goodlace, Head of School, also concurred.

Dr. E. Armstrong      4 September
    Sealed? What was sealed? That had to be good. Hmm, mother deceased…I got lost in that one until I realized it was 6:46 and I had to start the laborious process of logging out. Okay, so there was good stuff there, although I didn’t know what exactly. Olivia was hospitalized? Why? I mean, that in itself wasn’t remarkable. Anorexia and substance abuse were the go-to issues at private schools, but anxiety disorders and depression were fast closing in on the top spots. Was it one of those? Something else?
    I was safely lugging out boxes of file folders to presort when I heard Ms. Goodlace’s unmistakable footsteps. I didn’t have to turn around. The head of school had a solid, serious footfall like the seriously solid person she was. All she wore day in and day out were two-inch Stuart Weitzman pumps that had to be older than I was. But the thing was, they were different each day. I notice things like that. Goodlace must have stockpiled like a hundred pairs when they were in vogue fifty years ago and had them in heavy rotation ever since. It was early for her. Draper wasn’t even here yet.
    “Good morning, Kate. My, you’re in early.”
    “I could say the same about you, ma’am.”
    “Touché.” She almost smiled, but she looked too preoccupied to see it through. “Our much-heralded director of advancement is finally arriving,