Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:10:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Henry Brooks Subject: Boca Raton Academy Chapter One Boca Raton Academy Chapter One Then: His momma was rich. She was old money, very old money. His poppa was even richer. He was new money, very new. He had started a dot.com company when he was sixteen, and sold it for several million smackeroos when he was twenty. Then he started another and another, and sold each one for megabucks. In between, he got his MBA from Harvard, and married Margaret Saunders, a wealthy heiress. When his only child and heir, Philip, was nearing his twelfth birthday, Poppa decided to throw it all in and enjoy life. Anthony and Margaret Bonchance intended to travel around the globe, with extended stays at any destination which intrigued them. As a result of their decision, Anthony and his wife decided to enroll Philip in a boarding school. The children of most of their friends were already enrolled in boarding schools. It's not that their parents didn't love them, but the elders had more money than they knew what to do with, and the offspring they had spawned were a minor nuisance in their never ending quest to spend that money. The Bonchances happened to be in residence at their home in Palm Beach when they made this decision. Margaret had inherited the estate from her grandfather. Philip was back in New York, attended to by a nanny and some three other servants. They would have taken him down to Palm Beach with them, but he was attending a private primary school in Manhattan. The school was for children from kindergarten to sixth grade. It would be two months before Philip would `graduate' from elementary school. They queried their friends, and the school most recommended was Boca Raton Academy, in Boca Raton, Florida. Anthony made an appointment with The Head Master for one Tuesday morning, and the Bonchances drove down for an interview. It was hard to say who would be interviewing whom. The school was for boys only, from the seventh to the twelfth grades. Each grade level admitted only twenty-four students, therefore the total student body consisted of only one hundred and forty-four students. There were ten faculty members plus The Head Master and his assistant. The school was surrounded by foliage and it was completely gated so that it could not be seen from outside the gates. It was located on the ocean, but even the ocean side was shielded by heavy foliage. The beach was private and could be used by students and staff as well. The school grounds consisted of four extremely large academic buildings. In addition to classrooms in each building, one building included a gym with a swimming pool and an infirmary. The infirmary was manned by a male nurse at all times. The school maintained a contract with a nearby hospital for the use of doctors and facilities, should any be necessary. The second building housed a commissary, and the student union. The third was a science building, which housed laboratories for all the sciences. The fourth building housed a large auditorium, and a fairly good sized library. The science building ironically had a small room set aside for a chapel. Religious observance at The Academy was not required, but the room was available for those who wished to pray or meditate. The four academic buildings formed a huge quadrangle, the center of which served as an athletic field for all sports, including track and field, soccer and La Crosse. Behind one of the buildings there was an archery range. There were three large residence buildings. The seventh and eighth graders were housed in one building, the ninth and tenth in the second, and the eleventh and twelfth in the third. Each building had twenty-five rooms, a common bathroom and a shower room. The students were housed two to a room. The last room was larger than the others. It was at the end of the dorm, facing the other rooms. It was occupied by a faculty member who acted as house father and overseer to the boys in the building. The faculty members were rotated annually. There were two smaller residence buildings. One housed the all male faculty, and the other housed the maintenance staff, security, and clerical staffs, all male. Hidden behind heavy foliage was a concrete building which served as a laundry. The campus lacked for nothing. The academic standards were extraordinary, and almost every graduate got admitted to Harvard, Princeton or Yale. Occasionally a graduate opted to return to his home town and he would choose a different school. Except for twelfth graders, the students could not leave the school grounds unless accompanied by a faculty member or a senior student, who was appointed by The Head Master, affectionately dubbed, The Head. The senior class was granted the privilege of going into town on Friday and Saturday nights without supervision, but a strict ten o'clock curfew was observed. The senior class also had the privilege of annually electing one of its members to serve a year on the school's Board of Directors. The school was a throwback to another era, probably in Europe. Faculty members wore academic robes, and students wore school uniforms, at least when parents or visitors were on campus. When they left the campus for a field trip or recreation, the faculty wore street clothes and the students wore proper uniforms. Incoming students were intimidated by all this pomp, but their parents loved it. The tuition was daunting, a mere $100,000 a year, give or take a few hundred dollars for incidentals. It was pocket money for most of the parents, but there was one exception. Back in the early 1930's a graduate of the academy, Walter Weller, had endowed a trust fund for a bright academic light who could not afford the tuition. Every year the scholarship recipient was chosen by The Head Master, from dozens of applicants from around the country. The winners all looked like clones. They were always handsome, blue-eyed blonds. When the Bonchances entered the office of Jeremy Smythe IV, they were as impressed, and won over, as any of the other parents had been before them. He charmed the hell out of them, and earned first dibs on their wealth. Dr. Smythe was about thirty-five, and as handsome a WASP as ever walked the earth. His ash blond hair, pale complexion, blue eyes, and square cut chin, stood atop the body of an Olympic champion. Margaret could be heard to emit an audible gasp, and even Anthony felt a stirring where there should not have been one. Smythe told them all about the school, and answered all their questions. After the parents of the prospective student had run out of questions, Smythe called in a school counselor and one of the teachers to continue the interview. All three had to agree on Philip's admission, and they asked the Bonchances to leave the room while they deliberated. They reviewed the boy's school records, his picture, and police records from the boy's local police department. These documents had been received by fax before the interview. The panel determined that Philip was not a disruptive influence, whose parents were trying to put out to pasture. The teacher, Mr. Clemens, was particularly excited about Philip's exceptional math grades, since he taught mathematics at the school. Before his parents left, Mr. Bonchance had considerably reduced his bank balance, and Philip was enrolled in the seventh grade. School was due to begin on the Monday after Labor Day. It was now mid-April. The boy had no say in the matter, but he never did. His life was always directed by his parents. Seniors and seventh graders had to return to school several days before school began. Each senior, was assigned to one seventh grader. It was done randomly as each boy arrived. The older boy would get the younger child settled in his room, and orient him to the school and its facilities. The seniors had mixed feelings about this task. It represented a certain sadness that this was to be their last year at The Academy, but it also filled them with fear and anticipation, about going to college next year, and getting out into the real world. Even though hazing had been outlawed a decade ago, the seniors still got to call the seventh graders, fags, and the fags had to run errands for the seniors if they so desired. The reality was that the seniors rarely interacted with the entering class after orientation. The entering class had little to worry about except their studies. Philip was scared stiff as his parents drove him to the school. Before they could remove Philip's suit case from the vehicle, a handsome senior came over, and informed them that he would take over from there. The senior offered Philip's parents the opportunity to spend the day with their son, tour the campus, eat lunch with him, and observe his orientation. They could stay until 6:00 PM, when they would have to leave. They declined to do so. Philip shook hands with his father and kissed his mother on the cheek. They drove off straight away, with hardly another word spoken. The senior was wearing the school uniform. He extended his hand to shake Philip's. "I'm Hardy Carter," he said. "Philip Bonchance. Pleased to meetcha." Their first stop was to get Philip settled in his room. The older boy carried the suitcase, and Philip followed him. His stomach was churning with apprehension. When they entered the room, it was completely made up. It was much wider than it was long. There was a window straight ahead of them and there were two beds, one on each side of the window. The beds were fully made up with linen sheets and pillow cases. Towels and wash cloths were at the foot of the bed. In front of the window were side by side desks. There was a laptop, a desk lamp, and text books stacked on each desk. In front of each bed facing in from the wall, was a large armoire and next to it, a small dresser with a mirror. There was no TV in the room. Philip commented on this, and Hardy told him that the only TV's on campus were in the student lounge. The lounge also contained pool tables, card tables and other recreational activities. "Your room mate won't be here until tomorrow," Hardy explained, "so you get to choose your bed. Your desk will be the one closest to your bed. Half of you were instructed to arrive today and the other half tomorrow. The Head thinks that makes for an easier orientation. You see, I'm going to be with you the rest of the day, orienting you and showing you around. I'll be spending the night with you also, so you won't feel alone and abandoned." "Cool," was all Philip could think to say. He didn't think it was cool at all. "Now which bed would you like? You get first choice until your room mate arrives tomorrow. Rooms are assigned alphabetically. He took a sheet of paper from his pocket. "I see his name is Stuart Bradley." Philip shrugged his shoulders, and pointed to the bed on the right side. Hardy put the suitcase down on Philip's bed and opened it. The two students then hung all of Philip's clothing in the armoire, and put his shoes and sneakers on the floor. His shirts and underwear were placed in a dresser drawer. He was instructed to bring very little clothing, since he would be issued three new uniforms every six months. Philip's toiletry kit was placed in another drawer. His suitcase was stored under his bed. Philip noted that he would have to be careful opening the door to his room to avoid hitting the dresser. After that was done, Hardy asked Philip if he needed to pee. The novice shook his head. "I'll show you where the bathroom and showers are anyway, and then we'll go see The Head. He meets and greets all the boys. When you are done with him, we'll go get your uniform allotment, and I'll give you a tour of the campus and its facilities. By then it should be time for lunch." When they reached Dr. Smythe's office, his secretary said that he was still interviewing one of the newbies, and they should please have a seat. After five minutes, a boy about Philip's age came out with parents and his mentor. The boy looked just like Philip. He had blond hair and blue eyes. He seemed agitated and his face was flushed. His father had his arm around his shoulder. It seemed to Philip that he was trying to comfort him, and Philip's fears grew. Philip and Hardy went into The Headmaster's office. Philip stopped dead in his tracks. The Head was the handsomest man Philip had ever seen, and his groin began to stir. He worried how he could hide his rising sex. Smythe turned to greet Philip, and held out his hand to shake the young boy's. After they introduced each other, Smythe said. "I won't keep you long. I just want you to know that once the year begins, there are no females on campus. The entire student body, the faculty and everyone who works here are males. The Florida climate is hot and humid, so you can wear little or no clothing, whenever and wherever you want to, even in class. The uniforms are to be worn only when you leave the campus." He stopped speaking and looked at Philip as if to ask, "Do you understand?" Without Smythe saying a word, Philip nodded. "Good boy. Now I want you to know that every single day I share tea with one student in my quarters. Hardy will show you where that is. Tea time is after the last class at four, and before dinner at six. I only invite those boys who obey the rules, achieve high academic grades, and are compliant to the wishes of upper classmen and faculty." This time he did ask, "Do you understand?" Again Philip nodded. Philip did not understand, but he was beginning to suspect something about Smythe that both frightened him and titillated him at the same time. Dismissing the two boys, Smythe said, "You can go now Hardy and continue your orientation. You will instruct Philip tonight in what I expect of my `chosen' boys, won't you?" "It will be my pleasure, sir." To be continued...