St. Doria’s Storyline Summary: It’s arrival day for the new class at St. Doria’s School for Boys. For reasons not yet known, every arriving first year student is actually a girl disguising their gender and unaware that the other students all share the same secret. Students introduced so far include Alec Spina (who suffers from a family curse), Frank Hawes (who loves martial arts and sports), John Corn (who comes from a proud family of con artists), and Jamie Moschella (who loves sci-fi and at one point was an actual boy.)
The seated man watched the monitors in front of him, all the while ignoring the incessant pounding on the door behind him. He had watched his friend Nathaniel’s interaction with his younger brother, er sister on the screen several minutes ago, so he already knew exactly what why he was so eager to speak to him. No sense in letting the boy in now, just to have him throw a fit over something that wouldn’t be changed. As soon as he calmed down, he would speak with him again, but not before.
He turned his attention back to his voyeurism, and observed the first years as they all arrived. He could see signs that they were already starting to get over their first-day jitters, but they were still a very guarded lot. Very few of them were going out of their way to meet others, and where was the fun in that? He had an event already planned for just this dilemma.
The seated man picked up a microphone and tapped on the head once to ensure it was operational. On all of the monitors in front of him, young students’ heads quickly swiveled around to locate the source of the noise, broadcasted through speakers wired through the campus.
“Attention Class of 2013. Welcome to St. Doria’s. An Orientation and Commencement Assembly has been scheduled for all first-year students in Schwartz Hall at 8:00 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning. Attendance… is mandatory. Thank you for your consideration.”
“Could the school’s faculty be under alien control as well?” Jamie asked, as she looked up at the speaker in the dining hall. She and John were seated at the exact same table Alec and her friends had eaten at half an hour prior.
“Possibly,” John said, as she used her fingers to eat a chicken strip. Normally she would have cut it up with her silverware, but it was attention to details such as these that would be necessary if she was going to pull off this gender charade for the whole year. “I’m sure we’ll end up with more than a few instructors that aren’t from this planet. That’s standard procedure, isn’t it?”
Jamie laughed as she took a bite out of the burger John had paid for. It would not be a trend; just a small, calculated investment from the Corn family textbook to create the impression of generosity. “We’re going to need a list. Especially since I’m even more convinced now that there’s extraterrestrial activity here.”
“Come to a conclusion already?” John asked, curiously.
“It’s obvious something beyond the norm is occurring here. I can tell just by watching the other students; everyone seems uncomfortable, in roughly the same way. Sort of the way animals somehow know a volcanic eruption or a tidal wave is about to strike.”
John found it a little unnerving that her roommate made the same observation she had, albeit with a different conclusion. “You think the aliens are affecting them?”
“I’m not sure. I think the two boys we met earlier are the only ones under actual alien control, or are aliens themselves. No one else is acting quite the way they are. I think we need to dig a little deeper into Hank and Albert.”
“Frank and Alec,” John corrected him. A Corn never forgot a name or a face of a potential mark; at least they’d never admit to doing so. “So you propose we get to know them better?”
Jamie shook her head. “No, I think we should start a group and invite them in. You know what they say: Keep your friends close and your aliens closer. If we start some sort of student organization, we can catch them in the act whenever they communicate with their evil alien overlords.”
“Or we’ll get replaced ourselves,” John pointed out, wiping the grease off his fingers with a napkin. How can boys tolerate eating like this?
“Ah, but unlike the other potential victims, we’ll be expecting them, and that gives us an advantage.”
“What sort of club are you thinking of? The Equal Rights for Pod People Association?”
“Hmm…” the redhead paused in thought. “How about the Enigma Society? Everyone likes mysteries and secrets. This way they’ll join thinking they’re keeping track of us, when really we’ll be keeping track of them. That is, if we can convince them to join. Are you any good at recruitment?”
“Won’t know until I’ve tried,” John said, lying through his teeth. Little did they know in the very moment Jamie asked Joan Corn for her help with recruitment, Frank and Alec might as well already be members in good standing. “I’ll certainly give it my best.”
Tue May 15 21:15:31 2012
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