The Teaching Assistant

Chapter 39
The Teaching Assistant, Part 39

Part 39

The implied threat worked just as well as it had the previous day. 

Amelia didn’t know Ashley well enough to call her out on what potentially could just be a bluff. And, while Amelia’s contacts were backed up on her laptop at home, that device wouldn’t particularly help her while she was stuck at the boarding school. So she begrudgingly gave the girls a small smile like she had been coerced to do after she had first learned that she had been set up by them. “Better?” she awkwardly asked, just managing to say it without any annoyance in her tone.

“A little shy, but I guess it’s fine,” Ashley nodded, “Anyone would be nervous transferring to a new school, after all. And how old are you again?”

“I’m thirteen,” Amelia replied right away. While the answer slipped out effortlessly after all the recent repetition, it still felt wrong. There was nothing to do about it at the moment, however, so she avoided retroactively flinching or correcting the false age. 

“You’re thirteen years old,” Ashley echoed. She pulled the plaid tie off the hanger and stepped forward to drape it over Amelia’s neck. Looking down into the petite blonde’s eyes, she said, “Hold still, little cousin. This will just take a minute.”

“Such a cute thirteen year old,” Claire said, as Ashley got to work. 

The two senior girls continued their blatant conditioning over the next minute or two. For the entire time Ashley fussed over Amelia’s tie, followed by the blazer, they went back and forth with various iterations of ‘thirteen’ and ‘transfer student’ until they were satisfied that the wannabe teaching assistant had been thoroughly drowned in the phrases. Ashley went so far as to put Millie’s flats on for her, and wasn’t particularly gentle as she forced the snug Lost & Found shoes onto her feet. 

“We’ll have to order you some new flats,” Ashley commented. Once she was satisfied that the too-tight footwear was in place, she symbolically dusted off her hands and stood back up. “What do you think, Millie? Should we buy you some shoes for your stay here? We order from a shop down the road, although they’re not open over the weekend. But, Monday! You’ll still be here then, right?”

Amelia had no idea what to say to that. The actual answer was, ‘of course not.’ Plan A was still to communicate via social media once she had an opportunity to access literally anything with the capability to do so. While a computer was the most obvious option, she had also started thinking about the chances of borrowing a phone or laptop from one of her ‘classmates.’ The latter idea was less ideal, as not many girls were particularly trusting when it came to such personal devices. If someone asked to borrow her laptop, Amelia would be hesitant herself. Even if she agreed, she’d probably be watching over their shoulder. And, considering what she needed the internet for, Amelia couldn’t exactly let someone be watching her every message like that. 

Also, how long was she going to be here? Plan B involved playing along with Ashley’s humiliating prank until . . . well, that was the problem. They had started having a conversation last night, but it had shifted towards Amelia reluctantly saying all those things about herself. How she was a student, and needed to develop, etc. At best, they had made part of a deal. Amelia was supposed to be making it a whole day without infractions, and with academic excellence. The latter would be simple enough, considering it was Saturday, and avoiding more trouble would theoretically be fine now that she had read the student handbook cover to cover, but then what? Ashley had never clarified what a full day would mean, and now it felt like the wrong time to ask. If they really were running late, although Amelia had no means of verifying that for herself, any requests for a clear answer would likely be shut down. Especially with Claire around, as dealing with both girls at once was far more frustrating. 

“Of course she’ll still be here,” Claire said, “New students don’t get to leave campus until they prove that they’re responsible and trustworthy. That means no infractions.”

“Something you failed spectacularly at yesterday, Millie,” Ashley chuckled, “But it’s a fresh day. I’m sure you’ll do better now that you’ve had a full night’s rest, and now that you know the rules. Honestly, I can’t believe you didn’t go through that book before showing up. Pretty sure the website reminds girls about that on, like, every other page for new students.”

“Well, looks like she’s about ready! Anything else for your thirteen year old cousin?”

“She still has to brush her teeth. Come on, Millie. Hop to it. You don’t want to miss the most important meal of the day, do you?”

It’s not like Amelia had to be told to do that part of her morning ritual. She could still feel the fact that she hadn’t done so yet, and that wasn’t something even her thirteen year old self would skip in the morning. And yet, she had to deal with the patronizing reminder even though Ashley had basically dictated the order of things ever since she had let herself in. Even though Amelia had showered and gotten ready for bed in the solitude of the bathroom, apparently she would have to deal with some unnecessary supervision this morning. Her dark haired ‘cousin’ took her hand and tugged her towards the private bathroom, and Claire followed just behind the two of them. 

When all three of them stood in front of the mirror, Amelia suddenly understood why this had been set up as a group venture. Her reflected self looked SO small when standing between Ashley and Claire. While she knew in the back of her mind that it wasn’t totally fair, as the other two were wearing heels while she was wearing flats, there were too many other factors that piled on to focus on something like that. Amelia was used to seeing her freckles after a shower, but was not at all prepared to see that immature feature of hers paired with a schoolgirl uniform. And, while the outfit wasn’t particularly flattering for her petite frame in general, at least she had some semblance of breasts yesterday. But now, the training bra mostly flattened her chest, and what was left of her small mounds were rendered more or less nonexistent by the combination of the dress shirt and the blazer. 

In comparison, the two girls flanking her had nearly perfect complexions, and their own uniforms seemed to actually accentuate their curves instead of detracting from them. And, of course, Amelia’s height paled in comparison as she stood between her ‘cousin’ and the similarly aged prefect. They were eighteen and she was twenty-two, students vs. a college graduate who was much more of an adult than them, but that was not at all the story told in the mirror. For all intents and purposes, she looked 100% like the thirteen year old transfer student they were insisting that she was. 

Easily reading the flush on Amelia’s face, Ashley’s reflection smirked at her. “Still need to develop physically, don’t you? Trust me, Millie. No one’s going to doubt that you’re a student here.”

“Literally no one,” Claire giggled, “Face it, Millie. You’re thirteen.”

“A thirteen year old transfer student,” Ashley affirmed, “Okay, Millie. Be a good Westridge girl and brush your teeth!”