Miss Thorne notices.
Watkins, red-faced, complies. The prefect adjusts her cuff. The asymmetry is total: her wool and cotton, his bare skin; her authority, his exposure; her warmth, his shivering. Cfnm St Dunstans Autumn Term-l High Quality
The five boys—Fourth Form, aged fourteen—stand in a loose line on the cold vulcanised rubber floor. They wear nothing. No socks. No shorts. No house colours. Just the gooseflesh rising on bare arms and the involuntary shift of weight from one cold foot to the other. Miss Thorne notices
"Line," Miss Thorne says.
"Cover."
For a select cohort of boys—specifically those on the "Remedial Conduct" register—the uniform is notably absent . The asymmetry is total: her wool and cotton,
Cressida’s smile vanishes. The asymmetry, after all, is not permanent. It is a lesson . And at St. Dunstan’s, everyone learns. The Autumn Term at St. Dunstan’s does not pretend to be comfortable. It is designed to produce a specific outcome: boys who understand that vulnerability is not a weakness to be hidden, but a state to be occupied with composure ; and girls who understand that power is not cruelty, but attentiveness .