7.
The guard looked down at the clipboard in his hand and nodded his head.
"Of course," he said politely. Turning around, he went into the guard shack and pressed a button, opening the gates in front of us. "The headmaster is expecting you. Please drive up to the front of the school. On your left will be a visitor parking lot. Please park your vehicle there, and someone will be waiting at the front doors to escort you to the main office."
I blinked at the long list of instructions, but Mom simply nodded her head and indicated for Dad to start driving away.
"That seems like a lot of security for a school," I said slowly, almost cautiously.
"There are a lot of important people who attend this school," answered Mom, clearly not seeing anything wrong. "They need to be able to assure the parents that they are doing everything in their power to protect the kids."
"And we can afford it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. We lived in a two bedroom apartment on the other side of town. Now, don't get me wrong. We weren't hurting for money, I don't think… but we also weren't 'guard at the front gate of a school' rich either.
Mom turned around in her seat and looked at me. "You let us worry about that. You are still a child."
I bit my tongue and nodded my head. It was hard getting used to the idea that I had parents again… parents that would look after me.
Dad parked where Mom told him to park, and the three of us made our way to the front of the Ivy League school, where a woman was waiting.
She looked prim and proper and set off every nerve and warning bell in my head. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and go back to my old school…. The principal might be a dick, but at least it didn't have… her.
"Mr. and Mrs. Wang, I presume?" she asked, a slight accent to her voice. Her black hair was slicked back into a bun so tight I wondered how she was even able to blink, and her pencil skirt and heels didn't seem to leave much room for being able to walk normally.
She looked like the perfect assistant to some CEO, and that worried me.
I looked up at Mom, not saying a word. I trusted that she would know what was best, and besides. I was 25 years old. I could handle prim and proper.
I think.
-----
"Song Xiu Lan," said a warm voice as soon as we entered the headmaster's office. "It has been too long."
Mom nodded her head and smiled at the woman. "Qian Xiu Rong. You know, for someone so desperate to leave here, I am surprised to see that you have made headmaster. Congratulations!"
The headmaster, Qian Xiu Rong, got up from her seat, walked around the massive oak desk to where Mom was standing, and opened her arms wide.
Mom laughed and squeezed the other woman tightly before leaning back to look at her carefully.
"You look fantastic," she said warmly and I could tell that the two had been long time friends.
The headmaster nodded with a big smile before turning her attention to Dad. "Mr. Wang," she said, greeting him. She was neither warm nor cold in the way she addressed him, and I assumed that it was because she didn't want to get in trouble with Mom.
I had learned very quickly that Mom was fiercely protective of what was hers, and she didn't like people getting too close to us. Dad particularly.
"Ms. Qian," replied Dad, nodding his head in return.
"Now, let's have a seat, and you can tell me everything that is going on," smiled the headmaster, indicating the two seats in front of her. I looked around the room and saw a leather couch over against one wall. Walking over, I sat down and studied the woman and the room in front of me.
If the first woman was a prim and proper secretary, the headmaster was definitely the CEO. Dressed in a suit that was neither too masculine nor too feminine, the headmaster had an air of elegance and poise that only good breeding and a lot of money could cultivate.
Her black hair was cut short in a bob, the sharp edges falling perfectly in line with her jaw, and her brown eyes didn't seem to miss any details as she looked at Mom.
"Thank you for taking the time to see us today," started Mom as she placed her purse down on the floor beside her feet.
"Of course, it is the least I could do for an old friend," assured Qian Xiu Rong, and mom nodded her head.
"I need to have Tian Mu tested," started Mom, her eyes never leaving the other woman. "I need to know what grade she is suited for, and I would like to enroll her here at this school."
I couldn't really say that the headmaster looked shocked at Mom's proclamation, but her eyes widened for a fraction of a second as she turned to look at me. That woman had scary control over her emotions.
"I am going to assume, then, that grade one is not the answer you are looking for?" replied the headmaster, one perfectly plucked eyebrow arching for a second before she turned her attention back to Mom.
"No," said mom. I had expected her to expand on her statement, but she just continued to sit there and stare at the headmaster.
"Very well," agreed the other woman. "But I would like you to understand that if she is not at the level of our school, my hands are tied."
"Of course," soothed Mom, a slight smile on her face now that she had gotten her way. "I wouldn't accept anything less. But when you do decide to admit her. We will be taking one of those scholarships of yours."
The headmaster tilted her head back and laughed. "You always hated spending your own money."
"How else are you going to keep it if you don't spend it?" shot back Mom, her eyebrow raised.