Pandora: I looked through my things sorting through what was important and what could be thrown out... Alexis had said that sometimes the school would hold mail from students, for whatever reason. She worked in the office and promised that she could find a way to get those letters to us, it appeared that I had a couple of my own that hadn't been delivered. There was a knock on our door, and when I answered it, it was Alexis. She carried a large basket full of mail.
Alexis: Most of this stuff is for you. I guess they don't think that you're friends should be able to contact you or something. There's some here for Diane too, I'll have to wait until next week to take Susie and Clara's out; otherwise I'll get caught.
Pandora: Thank you Alexis, I really appreciate everything you had to go through to do this for me.
Alexis: Not a problem, just let me read some of this fan mail when you're done!!!
Pandora: Well, why don't you come in, and we'll see what's here; I doubt there's any fan mail! Alexis came in the room, and we went through the letters, there was a package from Po', and a letter also. In fact, I hadn't realized that I had anyone on my side at public school, much less the ones that wrote to me!! I opened the letter and package from Po'Em, and called her immediately, apologising for the delay. I just can't believe that they would take it upon themselves to morally police my mail by sender!!
I thought you forgot about me, I'm glad I was wrong. I actually sent some papers for you yesterday. I've decided I'm going shopping for office type stuff later, so that I don't have to worry about the school getting in the way of business. I reralized I was talking to an answering machine, and got off the phone. Alexis and I looked through the rest of my mail, and then we went office shopping; Diane didn't want to come with us.

Po'em: After lunch with Hennesy we talked about business,his and mine. He refreshed my memory concerning certain people we knew who I might consider hiring. I went over,in my head everything I knew about them. In the end I made offers of employment to 3 of them, two accepted.
I still had received nothing from Pandora concerning my first letter to her. I had now waited much to long which was not at all like me. I sent her a special phone she could use to keep in touch with me. I also repeated the same message I had sent to her before, making sure to tell her this was not the first time I had tried to contact her. Then I waited, noting on the calendar the date sent.

Pandora: Homesickness was infectious. I could tell that Dianne was feeling it, but for some reason she wasn't willing to talk about it, she wouldn't even open her letters from home much less her privacy curtain. The only way I could deal with it was writing home, reading the letters everyone sent, posting up the photos and things that came in the letters. It wasn't until after Thanksgiving that Diane came out of her 'episode'. Things were so much different now that I wasn't home. Mom was working for Po' and so was Hunter; I felt I had been replaced. I hadn't thought that going away to school would be the end of my involvement in the company... I was wrong I guess. Maybe I'd have to come up with a new business all my own. I thought better of it for the time being, I had enough to do already.

Diane: I liked Pandora. The teachers were excellent as were the town and school. Everything was perfect! After a while I began to look for the fly in the ointment.
In November I started to become home-sick. I missed my family and would quietly cry myself to sleep each night. I could feel myself pulling away from the friends I'd made. I felt alone and that I was the only one feeling this way now. I installed my privacy curtain -all I had to do was tell it to open or close and it would. I began to have it closed more than open and when she asked I told Pandora I wanted to be alone.
There were people we could talk to about our problems, I just didn't want to share mine.
I felt unable to say anything. I had wanted to come so badly and insisted so long and hard that I would feel foolish admitting that I was home-sick now. We had been told that it would -could happen but, I had thought it would be right away, not now.
Any mail I received went into a drawer unopened and stayed there. I would not answer it or return calls from home.
I pinned a "I am not in" notice on my privacy curtain and I requested permission to stay on campus over the holidays. That was farther than my family was willing to go and the second Saturday in November my father came to school for a conference.
I wanted to run to him and throw my arms around his neck and beg him to take me home,never to return but, I didn't. We sat and I listened while they discussed how I was doing and then I walked my dad to the car. I broke down and told him everything. He agreed to Thanksgiving but we would discuss Christmas at a later date. I felt so much better already.
My mood improved and I became my old self again, to the relief of my friends.

Lacey: We waited and nothing happened. I hoped that it was all over, that it was just an offer and that was all.