Lady Liberty

Chapter 4

Class, I'd like you to welcome our new student, Alfred Jones."

America apprehensively stood in front of the roomful of students, stunned by the sheer number of people staring back at her. Surely, there were no less than sixty children in the room, ranging from the age of four to twenty. The older students were crowded into their own cluster in the back, occasionally offering help to one another before going back to their individual studies.

Despite the large variety in age, there was one characteristic that was entirely unanimous among each of the students; they were all males.

"Please, take the time to answer any questions he may have throughout the day. Now, back to work."

With a clap of his hands, the teacher invited America to take a seat before going about his usual routine of dealing out assignments and making sure that everyone was on task. The man was rather young and seemed relatively unexperienced, but America supposed that she could always teach herself if necessary, as long as she had the proper resources.

Taking in a deep breath for reassurance, she slowly made her way to the back of the schoolhouse, gripping her homemade copybook-which was used for perfecting her letters-closer to her chest. As of the moment, her plan was unfolding without a hitch. Enrolling had been a slight problem, seeing as she needed the presence and signature of a parent or guardian to register as a student, but after a tearful and sentimental explanation that her father was working overseas, they had allowed for her to bring a 'mailed' signature instead. Thus, she easily forged England's handwriting from one of the old documents stowed away in his office.

Next, there was a problem regarding the fact that England was not a churchgoer (at least not during his stays in the colonies, as Anglican churches were rare in New England), and thus, did not contribute to the church, which funded the schoolhouses. America herself was not much of a Puritan or religious individual in general, but she knew that the colonists took religious education very seriously, and if England was not seen as a 'good and wholesome Christian', they might not let her attend for very long.

Therefore, for the meantime, she had given the schoolteachers a fake address to England's house in London, hoping that she might be able to sit in on a few more lessons before being caught. The school intended to have England donate to the parish to compensate for the cost that the other colonists were mandated to pay in order to support the church's work.

But she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

For now, she was simply relishing in the satisfaction of fooling everyone into thinking that she was a typical, Bostonian boy. Using the aid of a few cosmetics, she had managed to contour the features of her face, making her look a little rough and gruff around her cheeks and jawbone. She had flattened her breasts under tight undergarments, and mussed her newly cut hair to make it appear more unruly and wild.

"Alfred, here is a copy of 'The New England Primer'. I'd like you to start working on reading two syllable words," the teacher suddenly ordered, bringing America out of her daze and guiding her to an empty albeit stone hard and backless bench.

"Yes, sir."

Flipping the textbook open to the correct section, America sighed and tried her best to read the words with the teacher looming over her figure expectantly. She made sure to make her tone sound huskier, realizing that she was still supposed to be playing the role of a sixteen-year-old adolescent boy. "A-Ab...Ab-sent. Absent?"

Nodding to himself, the teacher crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in a way that reminded her all-too-much of her 'terribly busy father laboring abroad'. She had to admit, even she had been surprised at her acting abilities. "Very good. Continue."