BONUS: Ivy Grace and the scout...

So, if you remember, the winner of the poll for "Who gets enrolled in the Academy" was Kid Missy: CLICK HERE TO SEE IT! The feedback I've received suggests, though, that people would like the option to have the PLAYER enrolled...and there were a number of other awesome suggestions (like Elaine Ling being a T.A., or Amanda Christmas being mistakenly enrolled), too! Part of why I love doing this is because of the hilarious and excellent ideas all of you come up with -- it really is a group effort!

...and speaking of which! One of our own patrons, Fred Key, was kind enough to write an "enrollment" scene for Kid Missy (CLICK HERE TO SEE THAT) and he didn't stop there. He actually wrote SEVERAL enrollment scenes in case multiple PHS students get enrolled...which very well may be the case.

Here's one for everyone's favorite baby-sat senior: Ivy Grace

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Three…two…one…Kick!

Underwater, life is clearer.  Life has fewer distractions.  When you’re in the water, no one cares about your looks, your makeup, or who you’re dating.  No one cares if you have an A in Precalculus.  All that matters is that wall, and touching first.  Nothing else.

Ivy pulled herself through the water relentlessly.  Her muscles burned.  She swam faster.  This is my space.  No one can touch me here.  Then the whistle cut through her focus, still loud even under the water.  She wanted to keep going, to keep burning off all the frustration, but she knew better than to ignore the whistle.  The coach wasn’t shy about using her powerful arms to remind swimmers who was in charge.  Instead, she let herself stop, treading water and looking around to see what the problem was.

“GRACE!  Get your butt out of the water!  Your highness has a visitor, and it must be important if it’s interrupting my practice!”  The Coach gave her a withering look, then turned back to the rest of the team.  “The rest of you, MOVE!  Landbottom, I’ll paddle you so hard that you’ll wish you were back in the Principal’s office if you don’t get that kick under control!  You look like you’re trying out for the damn Rockettes!”

Bitch, thought Ivy for the billionth time.  I’m not even on your team any more.  Just TRY to paddle me one more time, and I’ll show you just how far you can stick it…. She slid out of the water gracefully, ran her fingers under the leg holes along her backside to straighten her suit, and walked to her bag just slowly enough to make it clear to the coach that she wasn’t in charge any longer.  She wrapped her towel around her waist, then turned to see who had come to see her.

She recognized him at once - the rep from the pricey West Coast school that had been scouting her all season.  Ivy immediately put on her best smile and took a breath in, pushing her chest out a bit more.  She wasn’t flat-chested by any estimation, but she knew that a little extra can make all the difference with some guys.  For over 80 thousand a year, I’ll breathe as deeply as he wants, she thought.  Ivy wasn’t poor, but she needed that scholarship if she was going to make it to the promised land in California.  With luck, that’s why the scout was here - to finally tell her she had been accepted to the team, a top-tier program with a long history of success.

But then why does he have that look on his face?

“Ivy - good to see you again,” the scout said, reaching out to shake her hand.  His grip was firm.  “Listen, is there somewhere we can talk?”

“Um..sure, I guess—the hall?”  She gestured to the door, and the scout opened it and held it as she walked through into the empty hallway beyond.

“So, are you here to give me some good news, I hope?” Ivy asked.  “Am I in?  Oh, golly, I’d be SO grateful….”  Ick.  Don’t overdo it, girl,  she scolded herself.  No need to look desperate.  Desperate isn’t a good look on anyone.

But Ivy realized something at that very moment.  She WAS desperate.  She couldn’t live with her mom any longer — not with that god awful babysitter, Hannah, lurking everywhere, and everyone knowing about the diaper thing.  Never mind that she was insane hotness, and any boy in Puttsdale would count himself LUCKY to...none of that matters anymore.  Someone had left a pack of Pampers in her locker again the last week of school—probably Kid Missy, the jealous little brat.

“…and they assured me that otherwise, you’d be a lock for the team, but…”  Ivy realized the scout was talking and she had missed something important, and cut him off.

“Wait—otherwise?  As in, I’m NOT in?”

“Well, no…like I said, they want you, but this transcript issue—“

Ivy shook her head, frustrated and confused.  “What’s wrong with my transcript?  Look, could you just start over?”

The scout sighed.  “OK.  So like I said, we want you for the team.  You’ve got the stuff, and we have the spot for you on the roster.   The problem is that your transcript didn’t pass the clearinghouse.”

“What?  But I have a perfect GPA!”

“Yes, but you’re missing a science credit required for graduation.  Look, I’ve been over this with the registrar, and she says it’s some sort of clerical issue, but it ties our hands.  We can’t enroll you.”

Ivy started to panic as her dreams suddenly started slipping away.  “Clerical issue?  Can’t it be fixed?  Isn’t there anything I can do?  There has to be something!  I can enroll in a class during the summer, and you can admit me conditionally, right?”

“Hmm…” the scout said.  “That would probably work, but you’d have to show proof of enrollment within ten days.  Our scholarship window is about to close, and we’ll need to give your spot to another girl if you can’t get this handled.”

Ivy didn’t hesitate.  “Oh, I’ll get it handled, I promise!  You’ll have my proof of registration, like, tomorrow.  Just give me your email address and I’ll scan it and send it.”

“No can do,” the scout said. “I have to get the copy from the school.  But you can have them fax it to us once you’ve enrolled, and it should be fine.  Just make sure you do it quickly.  Talk to the registrar—she said something about arranging enrollment at some local school for the students who were affected.  It had a weird name…what was it again?  Um…That’s right!  The Diary Academy.  I remember thinking, “what, do they all keep diaries or something?” What a weird name….”

But Ivy wasn’t listening anymore.  She was falling down a hole into a memory that she had buried four years ago...

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Isn't it fantastic? If you like Fred's writing style, please let him know. I personally think he's brilliant. 

There's actually more to this section -- a really interesting revelation about Ivy Grace that I'm still thinking I will use -- and Fred Key has written ANOTHER Academy intro (which I happen to think is his best). But I'll just leave it at this for now, that way you've got something to look forward to!