Chapter 16: Slide Twelve

On Friday the Board room held eleven first-years who had never been in it before.

They sat in two rows along the wall in their coats, holding folded paper bags and notebooks, and none of them looked at Norman.

Cassian stood by the door, not at the table, because no one had told him where to stand.

Noah sat alone on one side with a binder four inches thick.

Every tab had a label.

"Ms. Britteny has asked to present first," said the dean, with the air of a woman who had once said yes to that.

"Thank you," Britteny said.

She wore a navy blazer, a pearl pin and the polished smile of someone about to be thanked.

She plugged in her tablet, and the wall screen lit up with a title slide in a soft pastel font.

SOFT LANDING: A PEER SUPPORT INITIATIVE.

"This program," she said, "was designed to help first-years feel welcome."

Slide two was a photograph of three smiling students carrying a stack of boxes.

Slide three was a calendar.

"They volunteered their time and received social benefits," Britteny said, clicking. "As you can see, participation was one hundred percent."

Slide four was a pie chart, all one color.

The member on the dean's right put his pen down.

"One hundred percent of whom?" he asked.

"Of the participants."

"Who were they?"

"Anyone who signed up."

"Anyone who was told to sign up," said the girl in the front row, quite loudly, and went red to her ears.

"Ms. Britteny, continue," said the dean.

By slide eight the program had a mission statement.

By slide ten it had a testimonial from a "Community Member," which was Norman, in his own words, saying that he had learned a lot.

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