Dieter is one of my favorite authors. He wrote many great stories that he posted on Bobby’s old website. When the story section opened up here on Vision and Spex Dieter posted 2 stories – Transgressions and The Photographer, but he has not posted any tales since the middle of 2012. I hope he is still around, but something is not right if he is not writing because his talent at creating stories that were different is really missed. In Dieter’s honor I have taken Aurora, the main character from his story ‘The Storm”, and I have sent her off to Serenity University. At Serenity University Aurora meets all the girls from Serenity. Amy Reed first showed up at Serenity in a story called “The Eyes of Amy. There she puts on the glasses of her roommate Breena and wears them because she thinks they are her glasses and she has to wear them. This story was written by Hikari originally and I took the story and edited it a little and he posted it on the internet. Then Zakalwe entered the picture and wrote a story with the main character being a rebellious girl named Kacee. This story is called Kacee’s Rebellion and Kacee smashed her own glasses on purpose, but when the school replaced them they accidentally gave her the glasses that belonged to her roommate Rachel Koch – nicknamed Coke Bottles by Kacee. Kacee eventually needed to wear Rachel’s glasses to see, and then the following year when they returned to school she took Rachel’s new, stronger pair and wore them, forcing the university’s optical department to get another pair for Rachel. The last story in the trilogy was also written by Zakalwe . It is called Diedre’s Doppleganger, and tells the story of how Diedre and a very nearsighted young lady named Janice switched places at Serenity. Diedre ended up having to wear Janice’s glasses and as a result she also became very nearsighted and even took the new glasses of Kacee Aims to wear for the following year. I have enjoyed reading each of these stories so many times that the characters have become like old friends. Recently my mind started thinking about what would happen if Aurora got a scholarship to Serenity University and ended up rooming with 3 of the 7 girls that were in the other stories. I had a bit of angst about stepping on Dieter’s toes, and I really do not like the idea that I have transgressed on Zakalwe s work, although I did send Zakalwe a note asking his permission before posting this. Since Hikari has not been around for over a dozen years and since I already rewrote The Eyes of Amy to post on Bobby’s site giving him credit for his work I am not too worried about what Hikari thinks. I have put my name as author at the bottom of this story. But there are 3 other people that deserve credit for the end result. I hope you enjoy reading it. Aurora Holt was excited to be heading off to University. She was 17 years old and this was the first time in her life that she had gotten any further than 100 miles away from the small Midwestern city right in the middle of Tornado Alley where she had grown up. Aurora had always been a very good student so it was not a big surprise to her parents when Aurora had received a scholarship to Serenity University. Aurora however was a little bit in awe of the fact that she was now going to be leaving the comfort and stability of her home to attend an all-girls university close to New York City. Aurora was a very attractive young lady, but she never thought of herself this way. Ever since Aurora was a small child she had worn glasses for the correction of her myopia and her astigmatism, and she never seemed to be able to go a whole year without having to have an increase in the strength of her prescription. For a few years, Brittany, a girl that she had once been a childhood friend of had teased her and bullied her about her poor eyesight and her thick glasses, but that had mercifully ended when a tornado ripped through town and had torn the roof off the school they attended. Brittany had suffered a concussion and Aurora had stuck with Brittany until the ambulance took her to the hospital. When she had recovered for some reason her treatment of Aurora had taken a complete 180 and Aurora’s life had improved considerably. When Brittany had attempted to get her beginner’s driver’s license it was discovered that she couldn’t pass the vision exam, and Brittany had even asked Aurora to help her pick out a frame for her new glasses. After that Brittany and Aurora became good friends again. Part of Aurora’s trepidations were the fears that she would again be bullied. When the storm had ripped the roof of the school Aurora had just gone into tenth grade, and had recently gotten new glasses, a normal yearly occurrence for her. At the time her prescription had been OD -10.25 x -3.75 x 18 and OS – 10.00 x -3.25 x 105. Since then Aurora had increased her prescription strength 3 times and while the astigmatism portion of her prescription had remained the same the spherical portion had increased by -5.00D in each eye. With Aurora going off to university her dad had spent quite a lot of money to buy Aurora the thinnest lenses on the market, and her new glasses looked to be about the same thickness as her old -10D glasses looked. But Aurora still thought they looked thick, and she would have loved to have gotten contact lenses. It was a pleasant surprise for Aurora to find, along with her acceptance letter, a note from the university saying that if a student did not wear glasses they were expected to wear nonprescription glasses and uniforms that were provided by the university so that all students were dressed, and looked, the same. Her fears about being bullied again because of her thick glasses then disappeared. When Aurora and her parents arrived at the Serenity campus they were directed to residence 7. This was easy to find as there were 7 identical block buildings and 7 was the one at the end. Each building had 6 floors, and had 2 elevators, so Aurora’s parents helped Aurora take her belongings to room 310. It appeared that all the units were laid out the same way. There were 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living and eating area and 4 identical small rooms. Each room contained a desk, a chair, a dresser and a twin bed. Everything was minimalistic, but very functional. Aurora chose a room and she hung her clothing in the tiny closet. Aurora’s parents wanted to get started on the drive back home, so they left, leaving Aurora all alone and a little scared. None of her roommates seemed to have arrived yet and Aurora was feeling a little lonely when the door flew open and 3 girls came in carrying suitcases. Aurora was shocked. All three of the girls wore glasses, glasses that were a lot thicker than the ones Aurora wore. And two of the girls looked as if they were twins. Aurora was a little confused. She had received a note saying that she would have 3 roommates. There was Diedre Simmonds, Janice Hopper and Kelly Stone. If two of the girls were twins they should have the same last name. One of the girls put her suitcase down and came over to Aurora. “Hi, you must be Aurora. I am Diedrie Simmonds, my doppleganger there is Janice Hopper and the other girl is Kelly Stone. All the rooms are the same girls, so grab one to put your stuff in and then we will chat with Aurora.” The three girls chose their rooms and they hung up whatever clothing they had that needed to be placed on hangers. Soon all of them were in the living room and were ready to talk to Aurora. Diedrie seemed to be the spokesperson among the three and she started talking. “All three of us graduated from Serenity High last year and we were admitted to Serenity University. Kelly and Janice went to Serenity in grade 9. I started in grade 10, but that year I was taking Janice’s place so I took grade 10 under her name. However, when it came time to go into grade 11 Janice’s father was in jail because I had exposed him for molesting Janice. I had been living on the streets and Janice wanted to escape a bad situation so because we looked like twins I took Janice’s place and she took mine. Her tuition had been paid for the year, but now there was no money from her father to send either of us back to school. Fortunately Janice had an entrepreneurial side, and when she took my place on the streets she made an awful lot of money. I won’t tell you how, and she might tell you herself, but that will be up to her. Anyway, she ended up coming back to Serenity for grade 11, and she paid for me to go to Serenity. Actually she paid for both of us for grade 11 and grade 12. And now, for University we have scholarships like everyone else” Diedre told me. That was too much information for me to assimilate. I had a few more questions to ask Janice and Diedre, but I wanted to get some information about Kelly so I asked Kelly where she had come from. “Oh, I have been at Serenity since I was a very young girl. I started there in grade 1. I was Janice’s roommate when she and Diedre switched places. I didn’t know that they had swapped identities, and it was very hard for Diedre. She got caught wearing glasses with nonprescription lenses, and the teachers thought she was wearing contact lenses under her clear glasses. She told them she had broken her glasses so they ordered her new glasses from the school nurse. Wearing contact lenses is forbidden at Serenity so they told Diedre that she must wear her glasses at all times. I didn’t realize that Diedre didn’t need glasses because she wasn’t Janice and I managed to convince Diedre to wear her glasses at all times.” Kelly said. “You mean that you had to wear Janice’s glasses all the time? That must have ruined your eyes and now you need glasses to see anything past the end of your nose.” I said to Diedre. “Well, so do you. And since I got used to the fact that I now need strong glasses I have found that I quite like the fact that I have to wear them. And all my friends here wear strong glasses. You will likely meet Amy, Brenna, Kacey and Rachel today or tomorrow. They are all rooming together and they have a room across the hall from us. Diedre replied. “How about you Janice? How long have you been at Serenity?” I asked. “I started here in grade 9. I was a shy, insecure girl who had no self-esteem. My father had been molesting me since I was 8 years old. The best thing that ever happened to me was when I met Diedre. She stopped me from killing myself, and she is the one who came up with the idea that we should trade places. I owe her my life and a whole lot more. She is the one who wore my glasses and ruined her eyes for me rather than reveal the fact that we had switched places.” Janice told me. “I read something once about a father raping his daughter and the young girl became very nearsighted because of the trauma. Were you already wearing strong glasses when you started at Serenity Janice?” I asked. “I got my first glasses soon after my father started fondling me. I think that was when I was 6 or 7. He didn’t penetrate me until I was around 8, and by then my glasses had gotten a lot stronger. They kept getting stronger every year until Diedre took my place and went to my parents for Christmas. She recorded my father attempting to rape her and took the recording to the police, who then arrested him and he is now in jail. My eyesight has not gotten any worse since my dad went to jail.” Janice told me. I knew that I was not going to be teased about my eyesight by these three girls. Actually, compared to all three of them my glasses were paper thin. They did tell me that I would be having my eyes examined by the school and I would be getting new glasses with the regulation blue frames like the three of them wore. And Kelly told me that my new school issued glasses would likely look a lot thicker because the school didn’t bother with the high index lenses because they were too costly. The stupid part of this was that I now regretted the fact that my dad had spent so much money on my new glasses for the thin lenses. These 3 girls seemed very acceptive of their much thicker lenses. Just then there was a knock on the door, and Kelly went to answer it. “Brenna!” Kelly exclaimed. “You are back from holidays. Are any of the others here yet?” “No, I am the first one here. Is that your new roommate?” Brenna asked while looking at me. “Come on in. Let me introduce you to Aurora Holt. Aurora, this is Brenna Hart.” Kelly said. Wow, I had thought that Diedre, Kelly and Janice wore strong glasses. Brenna’s looked to be a whole lot stronger than any of their glasses were. Of course she wore the school issued blue plastic frame, but the lenses were dished in on the front and they had circles in the back where most of the power was. They looked very strong, but kind of neat. “Have you been a student at Serenity for a long time?” I asked Brenna. “I feel like I have been here forever. Kelly and I were roommates when we were in grade 3. I think that is the year I started, but Kelly was here in grade 1. This is your first year isn’t it Aurora?” Brenna queried. “Yes, I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship here. Actually I read somewhere that all of the girls at Serenity University are here on grants or scholarships.” I answered. “That is true. You will likely meet the lady who supplies most of the scholarship funds within the next few days. She is a real sweetheart, and she is especially fond of me because my eyes are almost as bad as hers are.” Brenna told me. “I noticed that your glasses are rather strong. Do all of the girls here at Serenity University need strong glasses or have I just been meeting the cream of the crop?” I asked. “All of the students must wear glasses at all times. And by the time they reach university age I think you will find that a large number of the girls are quite nearsighted. But I would say that most of the girls that wear prescription glasses have a bit lower prescription than you do Aurora. My own prescription is a little higher than the prescriptions of my 3 roommates, but Rachel, Amy and Kacey all wear prescriptions that are not far behind me and I could likely make do wearing a pair of their glasses if I broke mine.” Brenna told me. Just then there was another knock on the door. Diedre opened the door this time. Two girls, both wearing glasses very similar to Brenna’s, stood there. “Kacey, and Rachel, it is wonderful to see you again. Come on in and meet Aurora, our new roommate.” Diedre said enthusiastically. “Aurora Holt, let me introduce you to Kacey Aims and Rachel Koch. Now there is only one more member of our group for you to meet. Have either of you heard from Amy?” Diedre asked. “She sent me a text a little while ago and said she would be here by supper time for sure.” Kacey said. I chatted with Kacey and Rachel for a while. Kacey told me that she had been very rebellious when she first arrived at Serenity in grade 9. It had been discovered by the school nurse that she was a little nearsighted and she needed prescription lenses in her glasses but Kacey refused to wear the glasses issued by the school, and had received a lot of detentions. Rachel had been her roommate and she had caused a lot of problems for Rachel. Rachel’s last name is Koch, but it is pronounced Coke, and Kacey thought it was funny to nickname Rachel “Coke Bottles” because of the thick glasses she wore. Kacey had, on purpose, smashed the prescription glasses she had gotten from the school and when the school nurse ordered her a replacement pair they had mixed Kacey’s prescription up with Rachel’s and her new glasses had come with the same prescription that Rachel had in her glasses. Kacey had no choice but to try to wear them, and finally after wearing them constantly for a few weeks Kacey was able to see fairly well through the strong lenses. By she then was unable to see a thing when she took them off, so she had to keep wearing them. When they came back to school to go to grade 10 they each had the requisite eye exam, and Kacey had not only adapted perfectly to the prescription that was in Rachel’s glasses, but in fact her eyes had gotten even worse. Her new glasses were delivered to the room she and Rachel were once again sharing along with Rachel’s new glasses. Kacey had tried on her own new glasses, and she could see perfectly, but she could not resist putting Rachel’s new glasses on to try them out. She had loved the over correction, so Kacey had then put her own new glasses back in the case with Rachel’s name on it and had put the case on Rachel’s bed. Rachel put on what she thought were her new glasses and after wearing them for a couple of weeks she went back to the nurse and complained she could not see very well. The nurse then discovered that Rachel was wearing Kacey’s new glasses so they figured that Kacey must have been wearing Rachel’s glasses. They called Kacey to the nurse’s office and Kacey had another eye exam. Rachel’s glasses were then found to now be the perfect prescription for Kacey’s eyes, so the school had to order another new pair for Rachel. “I had never ever heard of anyone wearing stronger glasses than they actually needed before. Now I have met 2 girls in one day who have become very nearsighted because they wore somebody else’s glasses.” Aurora said to Kacey. “Well, just wait until Amy gets here and you will meet a third person. Amy was told she needed to wear glasses by the school nurse and when her glasses were delivered she put them on and was unable to see through the strong lenses. The nurse had made a mistake and had issued Amy the glasses that had Brenna, her roommate’s prescription in them. Brenna had broken her arm just before she was due back at school and wasn’t there so Amy didn’t know any better and she thought that they were really her glasses and that she needed to wear them. She wore them for long enough to get her eyes accustomed to seeing through the strong lenses. Now Amy, Rachel and I wear almost the same prescription in our glasses and Brenna needs glasses that are a little bit stronger.” Kacey told her. That night in the dining hall all 8 girls sat at the same table. Aurora had been doing a lot of thinking. She knew she was going to have her eyes checked in the morning so the school could issue her the standardized frame and the normal lenses that all the other girls wore. She had finally met Amy Reed, the last girl of the group, and Aurora could see that none of the 7 other girls seemed to have any problem with the fact that they all wore very strong glasses. Aurora was amazed at the self confidence that all of the girls exuded and Aurora hoped that she also could be as self-confident as they were. Her mind was racing. For years she had hated the fact that her eyesight was so poor, but now she was in a group where, even though she couldn’t see much past the end of her nose without her glasses, she had the best uncorrected vision of all of the girls. Kacey was sitting on her right side, and she touched Kacey on the shoulder to get her attention. “Kacey, you seem to know a lot about glasses and vision. Is there any way I can get the nurse to give me a little stronger prescription?” Aurora asked. “If you were going to a normal eye doctor I would say no, but here at Serenity the nurse takes a note of the prescription you already have. Then she dials that prescription into the phoropter so that it sets the lenses to your old prescription and then she asks you to read the letters that the projector puts on the wall. She is kind of lazy and doesn’t want to do a lot of work, so even if everything is really clear if you tell her that the letters are all blurry she will just increase the power of the lenses. If you reach a point where the letters are getting blurry again all you need to tell her is that it looks perfect and she will likely stop. You will have to focus on the letters to make them clear, but you might be able to increase your prescription by as much as -3D this way.” Kacey said. “I have heard that if you have base out prism your lenses get a lot thicker on the outside edges. Any idea how I can get her to give me base out prism?” Aurora asked. “As I mentioned she is pretty lazy. I would just tell her that you see double images a lot of the time. Tell her that your doctor had given you base out prism in your previous pair of glasses but that he wanted to try you without the prism in this pair. Tell her that you had 5 degrees of base out in your old glasses and she might just do that for you in your new ones. But make sure that this is what you want, because I have heard that once you are prescribed prism you need more and more of it.” Kacey replied. The other girls had heard some of Aurora’s conversation with Kacey and they also suggested that Aurora could likely pull her head back from the phoropter a little bit. They were not sure that Aurora should try to get some prism prescribed, but of course they were all for her doing whatever she wanted. “Are you really, really sure that you want to wear thicker glasses Aurora?” Amy, who Aurora had just met asked. “My vision is already so poor that I can’t be a firefighter. The Military doesn’t want me. I can’t be a flight attendant. Being a lifeguard or a ski instructor is out of the question. Police forces won’t hire me so my job choices are limited. I can become a teacher, or a lawyer. I likely could work in a banking job, but these jobs are disappearing. I could be a software engineer, or maybe another form of engineering. I could work as a bartender or a waitress, but what is the sense of doing 4 years of university for that. My eyesight, while not as bad as the eyesight of all the rest of you girls, is really nonexistent unless I have my glasses on. And it doesn’t seem to have hurt any of the 7 of you to wear strong glasses. So, to answer your question, I think I want to wear much thicker glasses.” Aurora said. The next morning Aurora went to see the school nurse. When the nurse asked her if she was having any problems with her eyesight Aurora told her that things off in the distance were not very clear. And her night vision was terrible. Also, her old glasses had been made with 5 degrees base out prism but her eye doctor had wanted her to see if she could do without the prism, but now she saw double almost all the time and she got terrible headaches. “Your new glasses will be ready sometime tomorrow. If you have any problems with them come back to see me.” Nurse Ratchet said. “What is my new prescription Nurse?” Aurora asked. “It is OD -18.50D x -3.75 x 18 and OS -18.50 x -3.25 x 105 with 5 degrees base out prism for each eye dear. That is a rather big increase, but hopefully your eyes will not get any worse.” Nurse Ratchet told her. The following afternoon, when Aurora came back from her first day of classes, there was a package on her bed with her school uniform in it. When she opened it up a clam shell glasses case fell out. She was a little worried as she opened it and took out the new glasses with the blue plastic frames. The lenses were thick all right, much thicker than Aurora had thought they would be. If the front of the lenses had been biconcave like Amy, Rachel, Kacey and Brenna’s were they might not have been as thick, but they certainly looked to be even thicker than Brenna’s and Brenna had the worst eyes of the whole group with her -28D prescription and her biconcave myodiscs. Aurora slipped her old glasses off and put on the new school glasses. It took her a minute or two to make her eyes focus through the stronger lenses, but eventually she could see everything as clearly as she ever could. She walked to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her new glasses looked so thick she couldn’t really believe that she wanted to wear them as badly as she did. She could hardly wait until supper so she could go down to the dining hall wearing her new glasses and show them to all the other girls. If her friend Brittany could see her now she would not be able to avoid teasing her, but now Aurora didn’t care. She had made the decision herself to get these thicker, stronger glasses and she knew that when wearing them she would fit right in here at Serenity U. Specs4ever Feb 2019
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