The Re-Set

Deepdene and the Significant Other

In my defence, school uniform had never actually bothered me. For a start, in England, where I was born and bred, more or less every school had a uniform of sorts, and like most people, in my experience, I had worn one since I started kindergarten at the age of three. I had never really worried about it, or moaned about it, beyond the usual gripes. My school, which just happened to be private, meaning that my family paid for me to go there, was on the traditional side of the dress code genre, I suppose, but not unreasonably so. Blazers were compulsory, and we had to wear kilts, but that was true of most of the local state schools as well, so it was never really a huge deal for me. In fact, I am not sure I had given it a second thought for years. I was in year eight, still twelve but pushing thirteen, and beyond rolling up the waistband of the kilt, to give my knees an airing and not look like quite such a dork, I suffered the rules, like everyone else at Redstone. But then the school got into financial difficulties, and the next thing we knew was that some ancient charitable trust was buying the whole shebang and lots of things were going to change. My beloved father obviously went to all the meetings, and he must have liked what he heard, because he signed me up for the new school, without even discussing it with me. He wanted me to stay at the only school I had ever attended, and he did not see any reason to even consider transferring me somewhere else.

And that was understandable. Redstone was my late mother's alma mater, and she had put my name down for Redstone before I was even born, so the idea of taking me out would have concerned Dad and upset me. Because it was a link with my mum that I did not want to lose. I had been at Redstone for ten years already, and I wanted to follow in my mum's footsteps and stay until I had finished my 'A' levels. Even if it was not going to be Redstone anymore, come September, we both wanted me to stay on there, without ever really discussing it, so when he signed me up for Deepdene, the new name chosen by the new owners, I was reasonably relaxed about it, relieved even, because I wanted to stay on there. Most of my friends felt the same, and being just kids, really, we just assumed that the new school would be much the same as the old one. Dad actually signed me up just before Christmas, because of all our history with Redstone and because he thought it was for the best, whilst most other parents seemed to be waiting for more information, but it was not until the end of the winter term, just before the Easter weekend in late March, that Dad got any real details that he had decided to share with me. He just handed me a draft prospectus, as he called it, for the new school, and that was the very first time that I got to have a look at the kind of institution he was committing to me attending for the next five years. I took one quick look and reacted with revulsion to the fate that awaited me. And it was the uniform that concerned me.

"Dad? Seriously? Have you seen what they are expecting us to wear?" I demanded, catching up with him before he had got back downstairs, absolutely horrified by what I was confronted with when I opened the brochure.

"The school uniform? I thought it was rather...distinctive?" He replied, leading me through into the big kitchen, heading for the fridge, apparently unconcerned by my reaction to my first glimpse of my future. He had just got in from work, and he had removed his jacket and loosened his tie. He looked tired, as he opened a bottle of beer.

"Striped blazers? Hats? Boaters in the summer? School coats? It's prehistoric?" I insisted, as he took a long swig and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, as my angry reaction washed over him like a tidal wave. He was getting used to my explosions of rage. He did not even react to my temper anymore.

"Redstone used to have all of those when your mum was there..."

"In the nineties...and it was old-fashioned then...and it says that we have to go to church? Is this some sort of a joke? I am not going to any church?"

"Deepdene is a Christian school...the charitable trust that owns Deepdene is an old Christian institution...so yes, regular church attendance is...expected...but it's no big deal...I will go with you...Olivia love, they are investing a lot of money in new facilities...it is going to be a really good school and I really think that this is still the best option for you...maybe even more so than Redstone, if I am honest," Dad sighed, running a hand through his hair, clearly worn out after a long day giving financial advice. "By far the best option for you...and so, you are staying on...my mind is made up...it's just a uniform...and a weekly Sunday service..."