As soon as class ended Soo Young ran lickety split for the Principal's Office, and heads did turn, but she paid no notice. When she got to the Principal's Office the administrator sitting at the front desk took one look at her choker and motioned her right in.
Alana Rose, the principal, took one look at the choker and said in a calm way, "Oh, Mr. Thorne is back."
Soo Young had heard of Mr. Thorne, but had not thought of him. She was about to explain what happened, but this comment sidelined her, "Mr. Thorne? The Mr. Thorne, the founder?" she asked instead of explaining what had happened.
"He's the man that put the choker on you. He likely tied you up, and the whole class as well, right?" said Miss Rose.
"Uh... yes. ...How did you know?"
"You're new here. I guess you didn't get told that Mr. Thorne, the sole benefactor for this school, the orphanage, and the matriarchy dormitories just up the hill, does so for a specific reason. He is spreading his seed in an extravagant way. He reviews the records of the students here, and arranges some into select classes, and he personally teaches them for a few weeks.
"It appears your class has been selected."
Soo Young put her hand to her neck and felt the choker, "What does being selected mean?"
"It means you're going to learn about love, romance and living Mr. Thorne's way."
"This is insane! I quit!" Soo Young tried to take the choker off, but it wouldn't budge.
Alana looked on as if this was quite familiar. When Soo Young paused she said, "Only Mr. Thorne can take that off of you. You'll have to ask him, nicely, the next time you see him. When will that be?"
"He said he would be to class next week," Soo Young said miserably.
"Well there's something you should see before then: The matriarchy dormitories. I can take you there right now," she added in a motherly tone, "Seeing them will help you make a better choice about what to do next."
Soo Young looked skeptical.
"Let's go," Alana insisted and they headed out the door together.
<<<*>>>
Soo Young had heard about the matriarchy dormitories. They were uphill of the school and looked like nice futuristic buildings, just like below the school was the orphanage and its well-tended surroundings. But she had paid little attention to them -- she hadn't had time or interest. Her month of living at the school had been filled with adapting to the school proper and its innovative teaching techniques.
Alana walked her up the hill and explained as they went.
"Mr. Thorne is a very wealthy man. He was married once, but the relation went sour and the divorce didn't go well for him... or his ex-wife according to him. 'She panicked and made choices that deeply damaged both of us.' according to Mr. Thorne. By that we think he is talking about the bankruptcy that accompanied the divorce.
"Over the next decade he recovered... spectacularly in his finances... and he decided to use his 2nd blessing of wealth to experiment and find a better male-female-child-rearing relation. Ten years ago he acquired the land for this complex and built the orphanage. Five years later a school, and four years after that he started on the matriarchy dormitories here. These all facilitated his experimenting."
By now they had topped the hill and were in the matriarchy dormitory complex. It was a fascinating place for Soo Young, she'd never seen anything like it. The buildings were modular -- they could be added to easily -- and mixed in between them were playgrounds, parks and other places where mothers and children could play, relax and learn, and many were doing so as they walked by. She noticed there was yet another dormitory building under construction, and she noticed that many of the women outside were wearing chokers like her's. They walked into the main building.
The receptionist greeted them, and motioned them quickly on to the Director's Office. This was the Director of the Thorne Institute's office, the big cheese.
Glenda Mills, the director, got up when they came in. She greeted Alana with a familiar kiss and looked Soo Young up and down before they shook hands.
She said to Soo Young with a bit of admiration, "You may have noticed the construction outside. We've been anticipating a Mr. Thorne visit for a couple weeks now. You're the teacher he has selected?"
"I... I... guess so. I don't know anything about what's going on... other than what Alana told me on the way up here. She suggested I come up."
Glenda smiled at that, "Things can get a bit hectic around here. I apologize for not getting you more background when you started your job here. That said, let's get you up to speed on what has happened and what will happen.
"Mr. Thorne is a bit of a recluse, but I see him regularly and he takes great interest in all the activities of the Institute. In particular, he helps select orphans and students, and gets involved in which programs and classes they attend. One group he arranges, the one you are now part of, is a class of young ladies who will become a matriarchy group up here at the dormitories. The ladies up here nickname these groups covens. So, you are now teaching a proto-coven, and you'll get help doing so from Mr. Thorne, himself."
Soo Young was drop-jawed, "All these ladies I'm seeing outside... with children... came from the school? ...from a proto-coven class, as you call it?"
Glenda nodded, "Your's will be the tenth."
Soo Young felt her choker again, "Why have I got a choker?"
Glenda smiled, "You have an opportunity to join the coven.
"You got invited to teach here on short notice, as I recall. That was because your predecessor got married on short notice and moved out to be with her husband in New York City. As I further recall, Mr. Thorne did recommend you, but things were hectic at that time... and it didn't occur to me that he was selecting... a full class, shall we say. Mr. Thorne can be hard to predict."
"So what happens now?"
"You very much have a say in that. You can opt out. Mr. Thorne will explain the program more fully at his next class, so I won't go into great detail. But if you choose to opt out, simply tell Mr. Thorne and he will remove the choker."
Glenda frowned a bit as she said, "Of course if you choose that, we will have to find a new teacher... and I'm afraid there won't be a place for you here at the Institute. So, if you're going to opt out, please let me know as well as Mr. Thorne so I can be working up alternate arrangements.
"Dear! I admit this is surprising to me, too."
Then she smiled again, "But life is full of surprises and we must all go with the flow, even Mr. Thorne. Would you like a tour of one of the dormitories, dear?"
"I would, but I have another class coming up. Can we do it after school?"
Glenda smiled warmly, "Of course."
Soo Young and Alana hurried back to school.
<<<*>>>
The dormitory she visited was impressive; the women of the coven were also impressive. The dormitory was high quality, but in a functional way. This was no reality show show-off playground. There were bedrooms, offices, two workshops, a living room that doubled as an entertainment area, a dining room that doubled as a conference room, and a library that doubled as a study area. There were also six play rooms for the kids, and there were lots of those.
Soo Young interviewed one of the mothers, Raven Lee. This was the first coven formed so she was in her late twenties. She was breast feeding a child for part of the talk, and she did it in a simple way, not with a bunch of elaborate coverings.
"Yes, I've done well here. Thanks to this coven arrangement, and with the other covens close by, I've been able to mix work and parenting quite well. Liana here is my third," She smiled as she looked down at the nursing child, "Rachel, my oldest, is in 3rd grade over at the school."
"What work do you do?" asked Soo Young.
"Oh... I'm a Marketing Director at Rubyzin Jewelry. I manage about twenty people. It keeps me hopping, for sure!"
"Really? You can juggle both?" Soo Young was impressed.
Raven Lee nodded, "This coven system works really well. Thanks to my partners here, we can all flex-time really effectively. Our jobs and our kids are both well covered."
The interview ended shortly after that, and Soo Young had a lot to think about for the next few days.
<<<*>>>