By Any Other Name

  ~Ana"

  Novellana had been avoiding telling James about Jochawk. James' letters made her feel happy. Thinking about Jochawk made her worried and stressed. She didn't want to think about the two together. But now that summer was almost over, she decided she might as well tell him why she was so desperate for distraction. And she was curious to see whether he would have heard of Jochawk.

  Work hard, use your head, and don't let anything stop you from making the world better.

  The catch phrase of the We Live Well series star, Madeleine Foster-Doyle, suddenly drifted across Novellana's mind for no apparent reason. The We Live Well series was a short television series for elementary school age children, to inspire them to get into science and help the environment. There were about twenty episodes going over experiments that could be replicated in classrooms, and explained how learning these different aspects of science could help make the world a cleaner, healthier place. Madeleine Foster-Doyle had been involved in several other programs, jump-starting community outreach programs and environmental awareness programs, then moving on to start more. She was beautiful and the world loved her. When Novellana was invited to attend Jochawk, it was the first she'd heard of the school. She visited the campus, read up on the history, and reviewed the list of alumni. She was surprised by many of the names on the list, but seeing Madeleine Foster's name somehow made a lot of sense. In Novellana's mind, she was a modern, philanthropic Benjamin Franklin. In fact, Madeleine had jump-started the Classifieds, a group of studies at Jochawk funded by the efforts of the students and professors. The subjects studied by the Classifieds were kept top-secret, never being released until every possibility of abuse had been explored. The idea being that every time a world-changing invention came about, someone found a way to exploit it for inhumanitarian purposes.

  After graduation, Madeleine Foster met Henry Doyle, at the age of twenty-four, the youngest CEO As-Tech Industries, Inc had ever seen. As-Tech was the leading producer of sports cars in the US, though eco-conscientiousness was not a primary consideration. In fact, many scientists in the early 90's predicted that the carbon emissions from As-Tech industries alone would cause an environmental apocalypse before the year 2013. Until Madeleine, that is. Henry Doyle was absolutely smitten with the girl, her beauty enchanting him, her wit charming him, and her heart warming his soul. They were married after only a few months and had a son, Jamison, a year later. But as Madeleine's beauty, wit, and philanthropy became more the public fascination, Henry, who had been the focus of much media attention for years, faded into the background of her fame. When Jamison was about nine years old, Madeleine caught Henry having an affair. They'd tried to keep the situation quiet, but the media somehow got wind of it, and suddenly their marital problems were the topic of discussion at dinner tables around the globe. Henry Doyle publicly apologized to his wife and they both stated at various press conferences that they were working things out. Everyone had a different opinion of what would happen. Some believed she would leave him, some believed she was too loving to leave him. No one believed what would happen.

  In the midst of all of the commotion about their marriage, Henry and Madeleine went to stay at their summer home, whose location was confidential, even from their closest friends. For three months no one heard from either of them, until finally news of Madeleine's death was announced at a press conference. Many believed that Henry Doyle was responsible for his wife's death, though charges were never brought, which only led the belief that he'd paid off the police. The world wept together at her funeral, the procession stretching four miles past the church doors. There were only four dry eyes in the world that day. Two on Henry Doyle and two on Jamison Doyle.

  That day Jamison Doyle was nick-named Jamison Frost, a name that stuck for years as every time the press got a glimpse of him, his face was stone cold. Not that the press saw him very much. After his wife's death, Henry Doyle retired with an unfathomable severance package. He, his son, and his butler disappeared back into the summer home, seldom to be heard from since.

  Novellana shivered at the memory of the story. When she was just starting school as a little girl, Madeleine Foster-Doyle's videos had inspired her to get into science. As she grew older she developed a passion for physics and philanthropy. She had always followed the motto: Work hard, use your head, and don't let anything stop you from making the world better. She'd wept with everyone else, watching the funeral on TV. The idea that the son of such an amazing woman wouldn't mourn his own mother's death sickened her. Like almost everyone else in the world, Novellana considered Jamison Doyle to be a born and bred psychopath. His father's cold heart may have been the cause, but ultimately it was Jamison who became the face of everything wrong with humanity in her mind.

  The sound of the mail truck coming around the corner pulled Novellana out of her dark memories. She waited patiently at the end of her driveway, taking the large stack of letters when the truck stopped at her mail box.

  She hurried inside, sorting out her mail from the rest quickly, and throwing it all in her messenger bag. Melonie would be along soon and Novellana did not want to keep her waiting. While Melonie had a very petite figure, with vibrant red hair in a short pixie cut, Novellana could not help but notice her resemblance to a drill sergeant when she was in a hurry.

  Novellana stepped back onto the porch, looking up and down the street. Everything was quiet and there was no sign of Melonie. It seemed she had some time. She dug in her messenger bag to see what the last letters of summer were. She smiled and her stomach did a small flip when she saw a pale blue envelope. She tore it open and read.

  "Ana,

  Unfortunately I can't start with small talk about our book lists. 'Have you heard of Jochawk' she asks me. I go to Jochawk! How unbelievably fantastic is this?! Don't be too worried about not hearing back from the school. I haven't heard about my master's applications either. Paul has been telling me that can happen. And Paul knows these things, just don't ask me how. I still just can't believe this! I've been going to Jochawk for four years, how have we never met?

  Okay, fine, small talk. You probably won't get this letter until you're either back at school or about to leave, so I give up for the time being on what you need to read. You need to read your briefing when you get into the best graduate program Jochawk has to offer. That's right, I peg you as Classifieds material. Suddenly I'm looking forward to school more than I ever have before. I'm going to pack.

  I just can't believe this!