Rule #3
Anything is permitted in each therapy session with a school counselor, providing it be a safe space for students to express themselves openly and honestly, with their confidentiality maintained within the therapy space.
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I tucked my bare legs up underneath my ass, adjusting to a more comfortable position on the sloping lounger inside Counselor Vergas' office. I was trying to maintain an erect posture, an impossibility on the slouching faux leather; it was cold against my bare toes.
"Alastair is there a reason you took your shoes and socks off?" My counselor asked; the man pushing back his black rimmed reading glasses and revealing more of those red freckles dotting his all too chestnut eyes. Counselor Vergas looked pointedly down at the pile of laces, sneakers, and elastane socks with large black Nike checks.
I remained quiet, studying my skinny and all-too-pale reflection in the mirrored backside of the man's office door. I looked small tucked up on the couch with the way I was propped, legs under butt, back leaned as though trying to find purchase. My arms were long and skinny, unremarkable except for the sudden stark black tattoos inked intricately around my right wrist and upwards -- a tattooed fox with multiple tails. Under my tank top -- as yet, the school appeared to have no defined 'dress policy' -- little mats of curly chocolate armpit hair tufted out in pubescent musky patches. I was pretty sure I stunk, like 60% sure; the island was very humid. Drops of moisture and sweat kept running down my face, even though the window was open and letting in salty ocean breeze. I kept wiping aggressively at the drops from time to time.
"We gonna talk," said Vergas, "Or what?"
"Am I flunking out?" I asked bluntly.
"Flunking out?"
"Yeah. Why else would I be here?"
"Do you not want to be here?"
"You sent me a letter."
"I send every student a letter. There are more than 30 counselors at the academy, we like to remind students that our offices are safe spaces to come and talk through..."
"Shit?" I supplied, taking one of my chocolate curls by a finger and lazily pulling the hair straight.
"I was going to say, "talk through problems."
"Am I flunking out." I asked again, "I got your letter, I've failed end of week exams for both of the weeks I've been trapped at this stupid school. Am. I. Getting. Expelled."
Vergas didn't answer right away. He dropped the macho act of firm posture and clip-board holder; he stopped taking notes. Counselor Vergas first popped off one shoe and then the other, he mimicked me and pulled both legs up onto his office chair, crisscrossing them.
"Why do you think you're failing them? Your exams." He asked.
I rolled my eyes, "Well, it couldn't possibly be because I'm distracted by the weird gigantic private island. Or that I don't understand the way curriculum works AT ALL."
"I'm happy you asked. Many of your peers have already met with me to talk about curriculum."
"It doesn't make sense. Why do I get the test at the beginning of the week?"
"You get a mock test of things we want you to have learned by the END of the week. It's just a reference guide for what the final test might look like."
"Okay..." I paused... yep, just off the breeze I smelled my own stink... that was distracting. "Okay..." I started again, "but in the two weeks I've been here NO ONE has handed me a class schedule."
"There are no class schedules, just like there are no 'hygiene rules'." The counselor looked pointedly at my teenage pits.
CRAP I thought, guess he noticed I was distracted. For some reason, that made my dick twitch a little. Not the first time in the last 14 days something weird had turned me on just a little bit -- I'd been there when one of my roommates had accidentally spilled his open suitcase and three brightly colored speedos had dropped out; that had certainly made my dick twitch.
Worst part about this stupid place so far? No girls. The stupid internet couldn't even access porn. No tits. So stupid.
"You've got a bunch of 18 and older testosterone-filled guys at this school... don't you people think there should be rules?"
"What's my name Alastair."
I paused, lifting my eyebrows... was this some trick question? "Counselor... Mr. Vergas?"
"Sure. Alright. If you want to call me that, you can. But you could also call me 'Nick' that's my name, lots of students call me Nick. See? No rules."
"Except when you fail and get flunked out. Except the list of rules we signed before we came here."
"Have you been flunked out?"
"I failed, didn't I. What's the punishment for that."
"Alastair," Mr. Vergas.... 'Nick' sighed, "Other than failing at putting on deodorant this morning, all you did was score low on your first few tests. You'll do better."
"Without classes I won't."
"There are classes."
"But I didn't get a schedule."
"Classes change times and locations depending on student schedules. If you check in with your peers they'll let you know who you can study with or where a bunch of the student body is going to study. Rooms are booked by groups, some kids do all their learning in the library, hell some of the students even practice geometry while laying outside on the beach. But YOU have to put the effort in to find and learn the material."
Wow. I was floored. What a bizarre concept.
"And the tests?"
"We've got a computer that eats those things and spits out an algorithm for your next weeks exam, helps you fix the mistakes you made and points you in the direction to learn the answers. We don't grade students here. At the end of the year the entire student body takes a single large peer-reviewed exam and that's the only test that really determines graduation or not."
For a moment I wasn't sure I could breathe out the stress I'd been holding -- really though, I had only scored a 7 out of 40 questions on this most recent exam -- but fortunately everything Nick was saying seemed to make sense. It explained the erratic schedules of the kids around here and explained the all-hours availability of at least one or more counselors on campus.