Early School meeting

It's almost school time. Nastia is in the homestretch, her last year and Elena is going into her last two years.
     Teri, Elena and I had a meeting today with Ms Coakley, Elena's guidance councilor. Last Year Elena got a slot for BOCES for this year and her schedule didn't reflect it.
    The Meeting was set for 9am. Teri is on vacation and she got up early like she has for the whole week she has been on vacation. All three of Us were ready at 8:45 and left to go to the school about 8 minutes away.
     We walked up to the doors, followed the directions and rang the bell on the far left and waited for someone to answer,no one did. Elena went over to the center doors and gave a pull, they opened. I guess the high tech security is not in use right now.
     We walked the halls towards the meeting room we usually meet to talk in . Teri asks if there is anyone in the office who could tell us were to go. Elena pips up that Ms. Coakley's office is in the annex. We go out the doors of the old Mansion, Elena looks over towards the Annex and says, " Yes, Ms. Coakley's there and points to her car, Teri asks, "You know her car?" sounded ominous.
     We arrive in her office and are greeted warmly. With the change in Elena's schedule and no notice last year about it and a few other over heard things, I was getting the feeling Ms. Coakley had given up  on Elena. If it had happened, I wouldn't stand for it, but I could under stand it. This Women has a lot of students to take care of and if one is refusing to be helped, how can you waste the limited time you have in a school year. Plus it's been two years of trying. I didn't notice, but I should of, but the confident, out going, sweet and funny young lady I knew was disappearing as we walked the halls of the school to Ms. Coakley's office. She was quiet and when We sat down in her office, I saw that defensive, slouching self-contained child with the hooligan front put up sitting next to her mother. I couldn't at the time understand why she had come out. The four of us where there to HELP (!)  her decide her future. I started talking wanting to tell Ms. Coakley in so many words that I felt Elena had turned a corner and not to give up on her. I told her how Elena had come to me on day during the summer saying that she was going to try to do well this year and We'd seen changes in her over the summer. The Girl who sat next to her mother in her slouch and defense manners denied every word I'd said. To Ms. Coakley's credit there was not one ounce of give up on display from her.
     When I was in school and yes I am so like her as her mother says. I did not receive an ounce of help from my guidance councilor. I feel now he was happy not to have the pleasure of seeing me more then once in my time there. I think it was my middle school councilor I remember most. I walk into his office to talk about my schedule for high school and I see this exhausted man leaning over with his elbows on his knees, like he had just gone ten rounds with Joe Frazier. I had been told by teachers what to expect as far as choices to be made for the following year. I only half listened, a trait I still exhibited to this day. I got it wrong and he exhaustively tells me the right way. During the whole time there I felt he would rather I not be there.
     He asks me about what language I want to take for 9th grade. I say German. He tells me it is a difficult language and I should take Spanish. I had never had anything in my life that reflected who my people were and I wanted something.
     Over the next half hour Teri, Ms. Coakley and myself try to impress on her this meeting is for her benefit and any decision she made would not be wrong. It would be her's.
     Some where near the end of the meeting Elena made a surprising decision. She was going to give up her slot in BOCES is year and concentrate on passing the four regents she has to take this year. There will be one in January, one in the spring, hopefully not during the time she has to take the two regularly scheduled ones for this year. Teri and I will try to help her, but it is something that needs to be approached carefully. I don't want to scare her off. The only upside, which might turn out to be a down side if I don't watch myself is her first regents exam is in history and I could take it now and get an 80 I feel. I jokingly told Elena that and she said I could help her study if I stayed with the material, no useless anecdotes. I'll try.