Time Warp: Can you tell that I'm new? (Sean)

[Katya Moschella]

Backdated Feb. 20st, 2009

All those photos her brothers had sent had helped Katya prepare for Hammel. When she arrived two days ago, she recognized the school's facade immediately, from the picture she'd tacked to her bedroom wall upon receiving it - the one with Abe, Ivan, Leo, and Eric posing in front of its doors, arms thrown over each others' shoulders, grins so wide their eyes were reduced to slits. Photos of places like the lounge and the swimming pool proved accurate enough, although populated by different people. They'd even sent a photo of a massive snowball fight - an annual tradition at Hammel, Ivan had explained. Katya had never seen so much snow in her life, except maybe on TV. It was even more beautiful in person than in the photos, but there was one thing they hadn't prepared her for: the cold itself.

Bitter winds and heavy snowfall had been enough to keep Kat inside, despite how much she'd been hoping to explore the grounds. It had proven even too much for the winterwear she'd purchased with Vermont snow in mind. The problem was, how do you shop for Vermont weather when you'd never been north of Georgia?

So Katya was stuck inside for now. At least Hammel was large enough on the inside to keep her occupied.

According to the map in the handbook she'd been given, down this hallway were several rooms that served as club spots once classes were over for the day. Environmental club, film club, peer mediators... Most of them weren't apparently meeting today. One room, however, labeled the council room, was buzzing with activity. Katya paused to peer through the window, but before she could get a decent look the door swung open and students streamed out of it, their meeting concluded.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had served as advisor to the Student Activities Council for over a decade, and he thoroughly enjoyed the position. Initially, he had taken it on because he had wanted a way to get involved with the students, and several of the other activities either had active advisors committed to the club each year for sign up, or because he had no interest in leading the activity (such as any of the sports teams, cheerleading, or choir).

With each passing term, he enjoyed it even more. The students who volunteered for the club showed such enthusiasm, which was a far cry from how many ended up in his office as a result of emotional trauma or due to fighting. As time marched on and he spent increasingly more time at the school, a certain level of prestige came from leading the organization.

They had recently finished the Valentine’s Day Dance, which had gone well. The meeting this week had focused on discussing the successes and failures of the dance, followed by brainstorming some ideas for the fundraiser in a few months.

Once the students had filed out of the office, he gathered up the binder of ideas, and the remaining cookies, and walked outside. There he found himself face to face (that was to be generous, given how much taller he was than her) with a new student. “Hello,” he said, offering her a smile. “Are you looking for someone?”

[Katya Moschella]

Well, this person definitely wasn't a student, Katya thought as she craned her neck up to look at him. A teacher, she assumed, although not any of the ones she'd had so far. Maybe he only taught the seniors, or a super-specialized trigonometry course or something. Whatever he did, he was also pretty clearly the advisor for whatever club had just been dismissed.

"Nope," Kat replied, returning his smile. "Just having a look around. Still getting used to the place, you know?" It was still early to tell, but he seemed nice enough. And so far, being new had helped her in every conversation she'd had with a teacher or a dorm monitor so far. Apparently kids were been recruited all the time here, so they were probably used to students being smack in the middle of term and not knowing how late curfew was or where to find the bathroom. Sure, her brothers had clued her in on plenty of that stuff ahead of time, but the grownups didn't have to know that.

"I'm Katya, I just got here," she told him, offering a hand to shake; good manners went a long way around teachers. "What club was that?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean recognized the name Katya and immediately placed her surname from the file that had crossed his desk. One of the perks of being senior administration, and being the de facto head of the mental health services department, was that he had access to every new student file, and her family was long-known to Hammel. Four brothers, and Eric had yet to graduate. He knew that there had been a sister, and apparently, she had finally manifested to round out the rest of the Moschella clan.

He shifted the binder and the platter to free a hand, and he took hers for a firm (although not tight) handshake. “It’s nice to meet you, Katya. I’m Doctor Neville.” He did not add that he was the psychiatrist, simply because that would come in time. That occasionally put people ill-at-ease, due to the prejudices against mental health in their culture.

Then, withdrawing his hand, he held out the platter of cookies. “Would you like a cookie?”

At the question, his smile shifted slightly, turning to one of pride. He was so fond of the students on his Activities Council. “This was the Student Activities Council. We plan the school events: fundraisers, dances, trips. Things of that nature.”

[Katya Moschella]

Dr. Neville? The name sounded familiar - her brothers had probably mentioned him at some point. But they had mentioned a number of people before she'd arrived, so at the moment, Katya wasn't quite sure what exactly it had been for. She'd have to ask Eric later. Couldn't be anything too terrible, she figured as she accepted a cookie with a "thanks!" Maybe he was one of the professors whose class she was supposed to angle her way into?

It wasn't the Student Activities Council that had put the man on their radar, she knew that much. None of her brothers had mentioned being in the group, so that couldn't be it.

"Is tha' like stu'ent councils at public schools?" Katya asked around a cheekful of half-chewed cookie that she swallowed before continuing. "Like where you have to get elected and then you can plan all that stuff?" That could be fun, maybe - she rather liked the idea of running for freshman president. Well, it was winning she liked the idea of. But it was just an inkling.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Not exactly. We don’t have elections here.” Hammel differed from typical schools in a number of ways, many of which involved competition. They did not hold student elections. They did not compete in inter-mural sports with other schools. They did not have prom. Their graduation ceremony was low-key and somewhat less formal than at many other schools. They also operated year-round with periodic, shorter breaks than the typical four quarter/two-semester system of other schools. It worked for them.

“The Council is open to anyone who wants to participate.” And who wasn’t on some form of academic or disciplinary restriction, but he saw no need to mention that when first meeting a new student in a casual atmosphere.

After she had taken a cookie, he crossed to a nearby table so he could set down the platter. The leftovers often found themselves set out around the school for students to enjoy, unless he took them to the staff lounge to share with the rest of the faculty. Not today, however.

Shifting the binder beneath into the crook of his arm, he waited for her to finish chewing, before he asked, “You’re Eric’s sister, aren’t you?” He was sure of that, but he liked to ask so that students felt in control of their own lives.

[Katya Moschella]

No elections... Well, so much for that, then. The idea vanished as quickly as it had appeared, Katya more indifferent than disappointed. She might have been more upset to hear about Hammel not having a prom, but fortunately, she wasn't the mind reader here. That bombshell could come later.

"Oh - Eric Moschella? Yep!" Katya replied, face splitting into a grin. So her reputation preceded her! Or at least her family did. But then, that had happened in public school as well; with a name as distinctive as theirs, by the time she made it into someone's class, they almost didn't even need to ask. "Is he in one of your classes? Did you know my other brothers?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean nodded in confirmation. “Eric Moschella,” he said, and then smiled at her enthusiasm. To be young and still on speaking terms with one’s siblings. He couldn’t remember the last time that Kathleen had looked up to him, or otherwise been enthusiastic about anything involving him. Or had not reacted with revulsion.

By the time Kathleen had reached Katya’s age, she had already suffered the consequences of being Sean Neville’s baby sister, and that had snowballed. The resentment had simmered for decades until she had finally exploded at him, when all he had ever done was be himself.

Five years later and the thought still stung.

Perhaps this was why the psychiatrist put such a premium on families outside of his own.

He was familiar with her brothers, as each one had crossed the threshold of his office for practical jokes. Fortunately, nothing that had risen to the level of real bullying, and three of them had managed to graduate. Eric remained on track for graduation, if he recalled from his presence at his seminar that past summer.

He then nodded, in response to her second question as opposed to the first. “I’ve met all of your brothers, but I don’t teach classes.” Except for the sexual education seminar, but that was neither here nor there. The time had come to introduce his background, and thus he added, “I’m the staff psychiatrist.”

[Katya Moschella]

For the first time during their conversation, Katya felt unsettled. Why had all of her brothers seen a psychiatrist? Were they okay? Didn't people only see a psychiatrist if they were depressed or hearing voices or something? None of them had mentioned dealing with anything like that. Not in any of their letters or phone calls, and they'd managed to fit a lot in. Including something about this man, if she could just remember what.

Dr. Neville. Dr. Neville the psychiatrist. Dr. Neville, the really tall guy who ran the student activities council and didn't teach classes but somehow knew all of her brothers. Why had they...

"Oh!" Katya blurted out, once the recollection clicked into place. "You're that Doctor Neville, I've heard about you!" And the most important thing to remember about Dr. Neville, according to the Moschella boys, was that he always knew when you were lying.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

While Sean was not an empath, and thus could not feel other people’s emotions (a fact for which he had been grateful during his student years at Hammel and for which he remained grateful while working in a school filled with teenagers and co-workers with a penchant for drama), he could still detect the shift in her thoughts. How she moved from relatively at ease with their new interaction to being somewhat uncomfortable. That happened so often when explaining that he was a psychiatrist.

He blamed their cultural baggage and how they viewed mental health as taboo and less legitimate than physical health. Not that their culture had as much sympathy for certain physical health concerns either, but more people viewed such care as necessary and accepted treatment as valuable.

Now was not the time for a discussion about that, since such a direction would possibly only confuse her at best or make her more uncomfortable at worst.

Then he heard the shift in her thoughts. Not about her comfort but about the advice that her brothers had given her regarding him. He had heard far worse advice in his lifetime.

“I’m that same Doctor Neville,” he agreed with a nod and the same relaxed expression on his features. He certainly took no offense to the warnings that one should not lie to him; it saved everyone time and dignity in the long-term, since lying to a telepath was a waste of breath.

[Katya Moschella]

In their efforts to prepare her for Hammel, the Moschella boys had made sure to inform Katya of which staff it was best to steer clear of. Much of that info had since run together in her mind, but what they'd said about Dr. Neville, that was all coming back. They hadn't warned of him being mean, or disdainful of students the way some grownups were. They hadn't even warned of him being unfair. The sticking point - and it was no wonder her brothers took issue with it, given the sort of shenanigans they got up to - was his telepathy. And she knew without being told that it would make testing the rules around him tricky.

"How do you know my brothers, then?" Katya asked him, wondering what his answer would be now that she'd remembered what she'd been told. Just because he could sense a lie didn't mean he couldn't tell one.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean was used to rumors floating about him; it came with the territory of being a telepath, and a psychiatrist, and an authority figure at the only school in the Western Hemisphere devoted to aiding meta-human children. As far as the advice her brothers had given her, he could not even disagree. He was difficult to mess with, which had become a challenge to some of the students while also providing others with the only protection between their antics and the ire of some of the less patient staff members.

“I have a duty of confidentiality to all of the students.” The psychiatrist held his duty of confidentiality in the highest regard. Ethics forbade him from disclosing secrets or interactions to other people, with few exceptions. Those exceptions included court subpoena (not applicable) and certain instances of harm to oneself or others, at which point his duty transformed into discretion, unless involving active abuse of a child or an elder, at which point his duty of confidentiality transformed into mandatory reporting. Fortunately, he rarely encountered either of those situations, and neither applied to Katya’s older brothers.

“But I do see Eric around the school,” he added. Considering that he and Katya had just met, and she had encountered him outside of his office, he used that as evidence of the fact that he roamed the school and was not confined to his desk.

Then, if all went according to plan, Eric would graduate, and Katya would be the last of the Moschella clan enrolled at Hammel. Thus ushering in the end of an era.

[Katya Moschella]

Duty of confidentiality? That sounded important, official. Maybe it should have made her feel better, knowing that he was too professional to blab students' secrets around, but Katya was still bothered by the idea that she might not know about it if her brothers needed help. She didn't have anything against doctors in general, but family was family. Everybody knew that.



But everybody also knew not to tangle with Dr. Neville, apparently, so Katya bit her tongue instead of arguing, instead making a note to find Eric after this.



"Okay," she replied simply, rather than raising a fuss. And then, because they were still just sitting there and the first one had been rather tasty, "Can I have another cookie?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean held his duty of confidentiality as one of his highest priorities as a professional. He emphasized that to parents who called him, upset that he had not infringed on their children’s privacy to act as spies for them. If his oath meant anything, he had to maintain confidentiality, even in casual matters.

As a telepath, he knew far more about the rumor mill than many of the other staff members; he considered it one of the many fringe benefits of his powers. However, as a member of the administration, he could not involve himself in the rumor mill, as that would be unprofessional. More than that, it would stifle discussion in a way that would more negatively impact the students than it would benefit himself or others. So he simply found inward amusement at his reputation within different circles. After all, Sean had always considered himself more of a teddy bear than anything else, even if students were better off not trying to tangle with him. As now, he smiled briefly, but said nothing in response to her thoughts.

Instead, he held the container out towards her so that she could more easily grab another cookie. “Take as many as you want. I couldn’t possibly eat all of them.”

In fact, left to his own devices, Sean could eat all of them. Left to his own devices, the psychiatrist had eaten that many cookies in one sitting. Certainly over the course of an afternoon and evening.

However, he didn’t need to have all of those cookies to himself. He had more than enough back at home.

[Katya Moschella]

"Thanks." Katya scooped up a handful of the remaining cookies, two for her and two for Eric. Or possibly three for her and one for Eric, depending on how quickly she found him. Maybe if they had cookies at every meeting, she'd sign up for the council, she thought as she took another bite.

"I go'a go," she told Dr. Neville, oblivious to the crumbs on her cheek. "It wa' nife mee'ing you." The hand that held half a cookie offered a small wave, and once he'd bid her farewell Katya turned and began her trot back to the coed dorms. She wanted to confer with her brother.