7. Strange Tuition
After lunch time, Circe showed Giovanni that, in order to get back to the Cerulean Pod, all you had to do was turn to the left twice at consecutive hallways, and then turn right at the next. That deposited them on the long hallway with just one door on it. Now that Giovanni was finally getting his bearings, he noticed that the threshold of the door was actually painted Cerulean blue. Circe had been explaining to him on the walk back that the only sure way to navigate the lodge was to remember how to get to the kitchen, to the front parlor, to their pod, and to the library.
"You see, we all go to the library to start every day's lessons, and from there the teachers come and get us… Otherwise we'd still be lost, wandering the hallways! You know? This building has a name: It is the Lodge of the Thousand Halls! Brrrr! I would hate to get lost in here! There are stories of children who go missing after wandering around, so stick to what you know, okay? Two turns left, one right: Cerulean Pod. Go straight: the kitchen. Two lefts in a row: the parlor. Two turns right: the library. Don't go wandering! Okay? Okay?"
"O-kaaay," Giovanni actually rolled his eyes. Preposterous! How could anyone ever get lost inside a house? No matter how silly it looked, it was just a house, wasn't it?
But, just in case, he followed Circe passively when she walked with him towards the library, taking both right turns without protest. However, he imagined it might be interesting to grab the Thompson Twins and Garret Feldman, blindfold them, spin them around a few dozen times, and then set them loose into the bowels of the lodge.
***
At the library, Giovanni was pleased to see that everyone had the same look on their faces: utter despair. It was very strange to see kids age eleven through seventeen sitting together at reading tables and couches, all scratching their heads and grimly carrying on with their assignments, especially because he guessed that every single one of them had completely different assignments. So, from now on he wouldn't possibly get bored with classes, because there would be no need for him to wait for the rest of the classroom to catch up.
The moment he arrived at the library, Agatha smiled at him and sat him in a table by himself. While Adelaide and Tabitha went around giving everyone their own assignments and answering questions here and there, Agatha handed Giovanni test after test, and demanded of him to complete each test in ridiculous amounts of time. For instance, there was a five-page test, printed in the front and in the back, full of quadratic equations, one after the other, with only a blank space to show his answer, but no blank space at all for him to work on the problem. Agatha gave him ten minutes to complete it. He had barely finished the first five problems when Agatha took the test away and handed him an English essay. Then she gave him tests of Chemistry, Biology, U.S. and World History, and Government, also demanding him to finish in record times.
A little after two hours the tests were over, and Giovanni felt as if they had put his brain in a rotissomat. While he rubbed at his temples, he noticed that most everyone had left, and felt immediately depressed. Maybe everyone else was a lot smarter. Maybe they were really "gifted" students, and they had made a mistake in selecting him for the School. Sure, he thought he was way smarter than most of his classmates in the military academies where he'd been before. And he was positive that he was smarter than even the teachers in the public schools he had attended before. Well, so this is what it feels to be slower in the head than everyone else. Ah, crap…
But he also noticed that Garret Feldman seemed to be sweating bullets, sitting hunched over a large stack of papers, chewing on the eraser of his pencil, and with Adelaide looking over his shoulder sternly. He started feeling a little better about himself. At least he didn't have one of the Furies looking at him like an angry vulture because of his test's answers. As long as he was doing better than little booger Garret, he would be satisfied, he thought with a smirk on his face.
Just then, pulling him out of his daydream, Agatha and Tabitha came and sat at the table, facing him. Each one of them sat ramrod straight, shared a look between them, and looked at him intently. Giovanni could now see why they were called "The Furies": when they were not smiling, they looked grim and forbidding.
"Look, Giovanni, there's no sugar-coating it: you are in for a rough time. You have lots of catching up to do. So we need to get all this Mickey Mouse crap out of the way first. Every weekday you will spend the first three hours of Tuition with us to deal with all your regular classes. Whatever time you have left after being with us, you will use earnestly to learn as much as you can from Mr. Wozniak, Dr. Doe, and Professor Benoni. Do we have an understanding?"
Five military academies had prepared him well for the appropriate response: "Sir! Yes, sir! Erm… Ma'am!!"
"Riiiiight… Well. Fine, look: if you really apply yourself, I think we can finish your school curriculum for the eleventh grade by November, and your Senior course work by April. It's the best case scenario, alright?"
"Are you joking??"
"Does it seem to you we are joking, young man?" Giovanni had to confess that their serious faces seemed incapable of ever joking. But he couldn't believe that they were going to squeeze two years worth of regular school in less than two semesters.
"Sorry, but I just can't believe it…"
"We understand, but all these tests we gave you were in order to gauge not only how much you already knew, but how capable were you of adapting to increased pressure and diversity of topics. We will design a course plan with your particular strengths and weaknesses in mind, and we will get you your High School Diploma by next Summer. But don't think it's going to be easy at all: you will work harder than ever, we won't take no for an answer, and we will not allow you to fail, in spite of yourself, young man!"
For a moment there both old ladies had such a flinty look in their eyes that Giovanni didn't doubt for a second that they would probably resort to torture, if necessary, to make him perform to expectations.
"We are not doing this so that you can take it easy; quite the contrary, you'll work like you've never done before, but otherwise you will not be able to fully dedicate yourself to the real task of learning: to develop the Magick in you!"
"Erm… yeah, about that: I have serious doubts about my magical whatever…"
"Yes, we know, but that's why you will have the other classes too. Look, we understand it will be very difficult in the beginning for you to accept all the things that you will learn from your other teachers. All we ask is that you keep an open mind. That's all!," and then both of them smiled.
Giovanni was surprised he felt relieved to see them smile. He hadn't really thought about it, but now he realized that he had somehow been feeling intimidated by those two ladies. Clearly, they were not as grandmotherly as they appeared in the beginning.
"Now, let's get you to Mr. Wozniak so you can start your real education!," Adelaide, having finished with Garret for a while, and having returned after taking him to his next class, came up to the table, placed a hand on Giovanni's shoulder, and then they all left the library together.
After lunch time, Circe showed Giovanni that, in order to get back to the Cerulean Pod, all you had to do was turn to the left twice at consecutive hallways, and then turn right at the next. That deposited them on the long hallway with just one door on it. Now that Giovanni was finally getting his bearings, he noticed that the threshold of the door was actually painted Cerulean blue. Circe had been explaining to him on the walk back that the only sure way to navigate the lodge was to remember how to get to the kitchen, to the front parlor, to their pod, and to the library.
"You see, we all go to the library to start every day's lessons, and from there the teachers come and get us… Otherwise we'd still be lost, wandering the hallways! You know? This building has a name: It is the Lodge of the Thousand Halls! Brrrr! I would hate to get lost in here! There are stories of children who go missing after wandering around, so stick to what you know, okay? Two turns left, one right: Cerulean Pod. Go straight: the kitchen. Two lefts in a row: the parlor. Two turns right: the library. Don't go wandering! Okay? Okay?"
"O-kaaay," Giovanni actually rolled his eyes. Preposterous! How could anyone ever get lost inside a house? No matter how silly it looked, it was just a house, wasn't it?
But, just in case, he followed Circe passively when she walked with him towards the library, taking both right turns without protest. However, he imagined it might be interesting to grab the Thompson Twins and Garret Feldman, blindfold them, spin them around a few dozen times, and then set them loose into the bowels of the lodge.
***
At the library, Giovanni was pleased to see that everyone had the same look on their faces: utter despair. It was very strange to see kids age eleven through seventeen sitting together at reading tables and couches, all scratching their heads and grimly carrying on with their assignments, especially because he guessed that every single one of them had completely different assignments. So, from now on he wouldn't possibly get bored with classes, because there would be no need for him to wait for the rest of the classroom to catch up.
The moment he arrived at the library, Agatha smiled at him and sat him in a table by himself. While Adelaide and Tabitha went around giving everyone their own assignments and answering questions here and there, Agatha handed Giovanni test after test, and demanded of him to complete each test in ridiculous amounts of time. For instance, there was a five-page test, printed in the front and in the back, full of quadratic equations, one after the other, with only a blank space to show his answer, but no blank space at all for him to work on the problem. Agatha gave him ten minutes to complete it. He had barely finished the first five problems when Agatha took the test away and handed him an English essay. Then she gave him tests of Chemistry, Biology, U.S. and World History, and Government, also demanding him to finish in record times.
A little after two hours the tests were over, and Giovanni felt as if they had put his brain in a rotissomat. While he rubbed at his temples, he noticed that most everyone had left, and felt immediately depressed. Maybe everyone else was a lot smarter. Maybe they were really "gifted" students, and they had made a mistake in selecting him for the School. Sure, he thought he was way smarter than most of his classmates in the military academies where he'd been before. And he was positive that he was smarter than even the teachers in the public schools he had attended before. Well, so this is what it feels to be slower in the head than everyone else. Ah, crap…
But he also noticed that Garret Feldman seemed to be sweating bullets, sitting hunched over a large stack of papers, chewing on the eraser of his pencil, and with Adelaide looking over his shoulder sternly. He started feeling a little better about himself. At least he didn't have one of the Furies looking at him like an angry vulture because of his test's answers. As long as he was doing better than little booger Garret, he would be satisfied, he thought with a smirk on his face.
Just then, pulling him out of his daydream, Agatha and Tabitha came and sat at the table, facing him. Each one of them sat ramrod straight, shared a look between them, and looked at him intently. Giovanni could now see why they were called "The Furies": when they were not smiling, they looked grim and forbidding.
"Look, Giovanni, there's no sugar-coating it: you are in for a rough time. You have lots of catching up to do. So we need to get all this Mickey Mouse crap out of the way first. Every weekday you will spend the first three hours of Tuition with us to deal with all your regular classes. Whatever time you have left after being with us, you will use earnestly to learn as much as you can from Mr. Wozniak, Dr. Doe, and Professor Benoni. Do we have an understanding?"
Five military academies had prepared him well for the appropriate response: "Sir! Yes, sir! Erm… Ma'am!!"
"Riiiiight… Well. Fine, look: if you really apply yourself, I think we can finish your school curriculum for the eleventh grade by November, and your Senior course work by April. It's the best case scenario, alright?"
"Are you joking??"
"Does it seem to you we are joking, young man?" Giovanni had to confess that their serious faces seemed incapable of ever joking. But he couldn't believe that they were going to squeeze two years worth of regular school in less than two semesters.
"Sorry, but I just can't believe it…"
"We understand, but all these tests we gave you were in order to gauge not only how much you already knew, but how capable were you of adapting to increased pressure and diversity of topics. We will design a course plan with your particular strengths and weaknesses in mind, and we will get you your High School Diploma by next Summer. But don't think it's going to be easy at all: you will work harder than ever, we won't take no for an answer, and we will not allow you to fail, in spite of yourself, young man!"
For a moment there both old ladies had such a flinty look in their eyes that Giovanni didn't doubt for a second that they would probably resort to torture, if necessary, to make him perform to expectations.
"We are not doing this so that you can take it easy; quite the contrary, you'll work like you've never done before, but otherwise you will not be able to fully dedicate yourself to the real task of learning: to develop the Magick in you!"
"Erm… yeah, about that: I have serious doubts about my magical whatever…"
"Yes, we know, but that's why you will have the other classes too. Look, we understand it will be very difficult in the beginning for you to accept all the things that you will learn from your other teachers. All we ask is that you keep an open mind. That's all!," and then both of them smiled.
Giovanni was surprised he felt relieved to see them smile. He hadn't really thought about it, but now he realized that he had somehow been feeling intimidated by those two ladies. Clearly, they were not as grandmotherly as they appeared in the beginning.
"Now, let's get you to Mr. Wozniak so you can start your real education!," Adelaide, having finished with Garret for a while, and having returned after taking him to his next class, came up to the table, placed a hand on Giovanni's shoulder, and then they all left the library together.
To Be Continued…
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