*Co-Author’s note. I’m trying to keep these updates consistent…but I’m on the verge of Morte d’Hard Drive. Just in case there IS a failure and it happens at an inconvenient time…would the co-author/author’s contact me at my email address – Luv ya!*
“You look FINE Jennifer Smith, honestly!” Andy gave her friend a hug as they got dressed.
She could have felt better though. Her body hair was getting steadily longer, the skin below her xiphoid process was virtually obscured, and there was a definite tenderness in her nipples. For the first time since she was fourteen, she put tissue paper in her bra, wouldn’t do to start leaking in front of Brown’s director of admissions.
Her cell phone rang, and Jen rushed bare-assed to pick it up, figuring it was Carol, or maybe even her mother calling to wish her luck.
“J-jenifer?”
“Yes? …Kelly?”
“Yeah, hi Jen. Lindsey and I just got the call from Dr. Perkins. Looks like I’m gonna be like you guys in a few weeks.”
“Aw, honey, I’m sorry. But at least you know for sure now.” Mentally crossing her fingers, she asked. “Is your sister OK?”
“…Kelly?”
“We really don’t know yet, babe. She’s really frightened for both of us…but she’s not producing them now. The thing is we can’t know for sure now if any changes she experiences are from the milk…my milk, or from puberty...and combine that with the possibility that if she starts puberty now, her body might interpret the hormone as what it’s supposed to produce…and then she’s screwed for life.” Jennifer heard an audible sob. “<sniff> Like I am.”
Kelly was a Class-A ditz, but she cared for her all the same. “Easy, honey. We’ll help you through this…”
Kelly sniffled again. “Thanks, ah…good luck with the interviews. OH!!” Realization had dawned on Kelly. “And thank both of you for coming by the other day…if you hadn’t, God...if you hadn’t. Kelly couldn’t finish.”
Both Lisa and Andy were looking on with concern. It was a minor victory, but there was a good chance that Lindsey was safe in the long run. With additional hugs and well wishes, Jennifer walked to Brown’s admissions office.
Dean Williard Hastings greeted Jennifer warmly shortly after her arrival at the admissions office. She was a bit surprised at this, thinking it would probably be a female grad student – but there was a chance, albeit a slim one that he could just wave his wand and she’d be a Brown acceptee this afternoon.
“Have a seat, Miss Smith.”
He took Jennifer’s file off the tall stack on his desk and perused it carefully.
“You’ve certainly got the numbers for Brown, Jennifer. All honor and AP courses for your core subjects, giving you a 4.19 GPA, your math scores could be higher, but I see you do very well in science. You’ve gotten a 760 score on the verbal, and 620 on the math portions of your SAT. What math are you taking this year?”
“Calculus.”
“Are you liking it?”
She hated hated hated the subject, but she wasn’t finding it to difficult. Once she actually KNEW the algebra, the actual concepts of calculus came easily. She just wanted it to be over though.
“It’s an interesting subject.”
“My concern is that, except for cheerleading, you don’t show a lot by way of extracurriculars. What do you do for fun?”
“Mostly now I hang out with my friends, I’ve had a lot occupying my mind as of late.”
“Yes, I’d heard. How bad do you expect it to be? For you physically, I mean?”
Jen shrugged in resignation. “When I come here next September, I’m going to look awfully different.”
His eyes widened sympathetically. “Your appearance will change that much?”
“I could be the team mascot without a costume,” she joked with grin. It was rare that an interviewee could make Hastings laugh, but she had just pulled it off. He collected himself. Give her points for boldness, he thought to himself, but she had several days to come up with that one.
“If Brown were to take you, what would you do with the education?”
Jennifer had considered a career in finance…anything to do with money, really…but her mother had warned her that in all likelihood, what she majored in for college may differ greatly in what she actually did.
“I’m keeping my options open. I mean, I know I’m young still, there is a lot to check out. Right now, I’m leaning towards finance, my mom is in Korea managing for Donald Trump, but I know things could change.”
He nodded at her answer. “Jennifer, of course you know that we get thousands of applications each year, we reject just as many with numbers better than yours as we accept with numbers worse than yours…well, maybe not that divergent, but you get the idea. One of your classmates in going to be interviewing in about an hour, in fact. If I had to choose just one of you, which should it be?
Good question. Damn good question. “As a matter of fact, Lisa and I came over together and we are sharing a hotel room with her big sister. Lisa’s resume is more impressive than mine is. I’d suggest that you take her based on the numbers alone. No, actually I suggest that you take both of us, we make a terrific team. She’s a bit more serious than I am, but Brown would be improved with the addition of either of us.”
Hastings nodded. “This interview is concluded, and you can say that it’s been a good one. I see that you’ve applied for early decision…soooo, you’ll know if you are going to Brown or not…probably just before Christmas. It’s been a pleasure, Jennifer.”
Jen swelled with pride as she left the office. “Eat your heart out, Opal Mehta,” she giggled to herself