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TWO
He graded those too. We went to lunch. Kevin asked me if I was getting tired of studying. I said I wasn't. He said he wasn't either. He said that the more he studied the more he wanted to know. I told him it was the same for me. We started to use bigger words. Our vocabulary was extensive. On Saturday we had the barbecue. Jason came. So did Amy Peterson. Jesse Addon was there, too. But so was Jake. I smiled at him. He smiled back and then talked to his brother. He was wondering what he was doing at the barbecue, and Richard said he was getting to know him. He smiled at this.
"Bonnie, do you know that Killian and Kevin are studying school texts at the library?" Jason asked.
"Yes, I know they are," she said, smiling. "They're so eager for knowledge."
"Do you know that they are twelve years old, and reading at an advanced level?" he asked.
"I'm aware," she said. "They're reading books that I never heard of before. Richard told me that some of them were assigned to him in English Literature."
"Yes, well, they're doing much more than English," he said. "They can speak Spanish and French, they understand the fundamentals of Trigonometry, Advanced Chemistry, and World History."
"Isn't that something?" she laughed. "They're very smart."
"I don't think you understand just how smart they are," he said. "I'm afraid that the high school would have trouble teaching them things that they don't already know."
"What are you saying?" she asked.
"I'm saying that they're now studying advanced work," he said. "We have the Star Program. It's for gifted children. They're mastering texts that stump those kids."
"What about Government?" she asked.
"They could probably recite the constitution," he said.
To show that we could, I started to rattle off the first ten amendments, known as the bill of rights. I spoke clearly and concisely. Grandma was stunned when I finished. Kevin took it up and went further. He talked about Supreme Court decisions and powerful legislation that the people voted on and passed. He talked about legislation that failed to pass. He told them all about the branches of government, and what it meant to be in a Constitutional Republic.
"We're in a democracy," she said.
"No, we're not," I said. "The people's vote for president means nothing. The Electoral College decides the presidency. I can site several times that the popular vote of the people failed to elevate their candidate to the presidency. Say the 'Pledge of Allegiance'. 'And to the republic for which it stands'. That should tell you all about what kind of country we live in. The laws come from the constitution, which makes us a constitutional republic."
"I'll be," she said. "Jason, you may be right. What should we do about it?"
"I'd like to shop for a school that can challenge them," he said. "College preparatory schools."
"Well, I say do it," she said, looking startled.
"You understand that these are boarding schools, right?" he asked.
"Boarding schools?" she asked.
"There are none of them near Janus," he said. "The closest one is in Chicago."
"Oh," she said. "You really think they'd learn better at one of these places?"
"I know that I teach senior History, and there's nothing I could teach them about history that they don't already know," he said. "The other teachers are going to have the same problem."
"Well, if they'll learn better at one of these schools by all means, shop for one that can challenge them," she said. "I hadn't thought about what all of this studying was doing to them."
"It's remarkable," Jason said. "They have learned better together on their own than any teacher could have taught them. Bonnie, they learned Spanish and French on their own."
"Did they now?" she asked, smiling. She wanted to be proud of us, but I could see that it was troubling her.
"Grandma, we studied to get out of Hank's way," I said. "Then we liked it so we kept doing it. We're reading college texts now."
"I'm going to ask that you stop," Jason said. "Stop studying before there's nothing that any school can teach you."
"Okay," I said. "What will we do all day?"
"You can still come to the library, but use it for what a library is used for," he said. "There are really good books in the library."
"Okay," I said. "We'll read books. But you think that's not studying?"
"Well, on one level it is, but you need to read the book for the content, not the learning experience," he said.
"We've read 'Gone With the Wind', 'Catcher in the Rye', and 'Romeo and Juliette'," Kevin said. "They were all great stories. Well, the last was an epic tragedy, but it was still a good story once we figured out the cadence."
"You see?" Jason said, looking at my grandmother. "They're twelve and shouldn't know what cadence is."
"I agree that they're smarter than I realized," she said. "But this is a good thing, right?"
"It's a good thing in moderation," he said. "They're twelve. They still have years of schooling to get through. If they keep studying those are going to be very boring years. As it is they're almost ready for college now."
"Well, I don't think they'd be good in college," she said. "Those young men and women are all over eighteen or just reached it. They're twelve for crying out loud."
"Then we need one of these prep schools to accept them," he said. "I'll pull all of the strings that I can to get them in."
"Well, thank you, Jason," she said. "After all you did for Killian and Kevin, I'll trust you to do what's right for them."
"That's all I needed to hear," he said. "I'll start making calls and putting out feelers tomorrow."
"Good," she said. "Now back to the food."
We ate, but I noticed that Richard's girlfriend was looking at us a certain way. It was like we were bugs and she hadn't decided how to deal with us yet. I hoped that wasn't it, but I knew that it was. This is what we would have to look forward to in Janus Junior High School. I was sure of it. Jason had to find a prep school that would take us. Now I just had to get Richard and April on board. That was going to be harder than anything else. Hell, Jason might find the school before I convinced those two that this was a good idea.
After the food was eaten, I went outside. Richard and Amy followed me. I stayed beside the shed so they didn't know I was still out there. I heard them talking, and I got more and more angry as I listened. I shouldn't have been listening to begin with, and I was about to leave when I heard what they were talking about. I was ready to go over there and give them a piece of my mind, but then I listened, really listened.
"Your brothers are intimidating, and they're only twelve," Amy said. "They're so smart that I wouldn't know what to say to them."
"It was like that for me for a bit," Richard said. "But then I remembered that they're my little brothers, and most of the time that's how they act. Sometimes they'll say something that makes it weird again, but I just think about how far they can go in life with that intelligence."
"They make me feel weird," she said. "They're like prodigies or something."
"Are you saying it's a bad thing?" he asked.
"I'm saying it's something," she said.
"Well, if you can't accept them, then you can't accept me," he said. "If you think my brothers are weird, then I don't think there's a future for us, Amy."
"You're breaking up with me because your brothers are too smart for their own good?" she asked.
"Yes," he said. "I'm breaking up with you because you really feel that way about them."
I went back in the house. Grandma surprised me with a puppy. It was chocolate and white American Cocker Spaniel. She had the dog on a leash. Richard came in a few seconds later and stopped when he saw the puppy. Grandma was smiling at us as we looked at the puppy. "He's house broken and trained," she said. "I just thought that this would make you all feel better after your mother bailed out Hank and took him back."
What she didn't know was that Kevin and I didn't care about that. Maybe Richard and April did, but we didn't. Still it was good to have a puppy. I smiled. Kevin did, too. Richard came to stand beside me. He looked at me and said, "What should we name him?"
"His name is Binx," I said. Grandma smiled.
"Here, Binx," Kevin said, reaching down to pat him on the head. The dog loved it.
"He's your responsibility," she said. "And I mean all of you. You'll feed him, water him, and toilet him."
"We'll do all of that," I said. "I want to get him some toys."
"I'll send Richard out to get the toys," she said. "I'll give him some money."
"Want to come with me, Killian?" Richard asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Well then let's get ready," he said.
We went and put on shoes and stuff. Then Grandma gave him money. We got in Grandma's car and he drove us away from the curb. He didn't say anything for the longest time. He just drove. Finally, he looked at me. "You heard us, didn't you?"
"I heard you," I said. "You broke up with her because she thought we were weird."
"Yes," he said. "I want you to know that you're not weird. You're my brothers. You may have gotten smart over the summer, but you're still my little brothers."
"I know that," I said. "It's refreshing to know that you still know that."
"Refreshing, huh?" he laughed. Then he turned serious. "Killian, in all of those years you never talked about any love in your life."
"There wasn't any," I said.
"No girlfriends?" he asked.
"No," I said. "There were guys. They hurt me."
"Guys?" he asked. "Killian, are you gay?"
"Yes," I said. "I didn't want to be. I tried to change it. It didn't work. I was born this way."
"Okay," he said. "I'm not going to hate you because you're gay. I mean I can't understand it, but I'm not a monster."
"I know that," I said. "You're my big brother."
"Does Kevin know?" he asked.
"Kevin knows all of it," I said. "I've told Kevin more than I've told you."
"Why don't you tell me about it?" he asked.
So I did. I told him all of it. Mother disowning me, telling me I was scum, blaming me for losing Hank, for causing the accident, and basically telling me I was a public menace that destroyed everything I touched. I had two boyfriends. The first just stopped showing up after a while. I told him that he used me for sex. The second I actually gave my heart to. He and I were fine until the statue of Hank was built. Then he went on and on singing his praises. I let it go at first, but then I got drunk and told him all about who Hank really was. He called me a liar and left me a week later. He cleared out the checking account and left me to rot.
"Now you know it all," I said.
"You're not a liar," he said. "And you deserve love."
"Well, after that I just didn't get involved with anyone again," I said. "I figured it would always turn out that way. I didn't want to go through it again."
"I can understand that, but Killian, you can never give up on love," he said. "It would hurt my heart to know that you've given up. There's someone out there, waiting for you to discover. You'll find him. When you do, hold on tight."
We reached the store after that, so I didn't say anything. What he'd said had touched me, though. That he said his heart would hurt if I gave up is what had me thinking. I wanted to tell him that I was getting a new chance. That Hank wouldn't be able to reach out from the grave and sabotage my relationships. I'd find someone and I'd love them the best I could. We got toys and treats for Binx and then drove back home. He chattered away at me about girls at school that he thought were pretty. I told him that I didn't understand that either. He laughed at that.
We got back to the house and gave Binx his toys. He played for a while. Then I took him outside and he did his business. I gave him a treat. That he was my dog was evident from the way that he followed me around the house. I would sit on the floor and pet him. He sat on Grandpa's lap, and Grandpa got a huge kick out of him. That made me happy. When I went to bed with Kevin that night, Binx got into the bed, too. He slept at my feet.
"So, you told Richard about you," Kevin said. "How did he react?"
"He took it fine," I said. "He said it would hurt his heart if I gave up on love."
"Well, that's something," he said. "I don't care that you're gay. I don't know what I am. Puberty hasn't set in yet."
"Well, it has," I said. "It started when we were nine."
"How do you know?" he asked.
"Because I read up on it in the other timeline," I said. "What you're talking about is the ramp up of puberty. It starts subtle, your balls drop, and the sweat under your arms starts to stink. Then comes the voice cracking, the constant erection, and the wet dreams."
"How do you stop the wet dreams from happening?" he asked.
"You masturbate," I said. "Preferably when I'm not in bed next to you."
"Right," he said with a chuckle. "Besides I have no urge to do that now."
"It'll come," I said. "We're twelve. It's coming a lot sooner than you think."
"When did it come for you?" he asked.
"When I was thirteen," I said. "One day I was walking around normal, and then I was a walking erection. The wind could set me off, and I played my bone every chance I got."
"Gross," he said. "But thirteen? We'll be thirteen in so many months."
"Next summer," I said. "Not quite a year."
"Okay," he said. "So I'll be a horny little devil in not quite a year."
"More of less," I said.
We went to sleep after that, so our discussion was over. The next day was Friday and we were going to the lock in at the Family Fun Center. I was happy about that. But I exploded out of sleep the next morning gasping and crying. I'd never remembered the accident, but that night I dreamt of it in full detail. We'd been so scared. It had seemed to go on forever. Kevin had clutched my hand as the car began to spin. Then he let go when the front seat became the back seat and it had crushed him. April was crying out from the pain, and Richard was out cold. I dreamt the hole thing. The only reason that emergency was called was because we'd downed power lines in the bar across the street, and people had come to see what had happened.
"What's wrong with you?" Kevin asked.
"Oh God," I said, and started to sob.
Richard was in the room with us in a minute. He held me and told me that everything was fine, and that we were totally safe. I cried harder. We'd thought we were totally safe when it had happened, and we weren't. I wasn't going to be happy until we were at the Family Fun Center and locked in. I got up and went to the bathroom. I washed my face, but you could still see that I'd been crying. At least the sobbing was over. I went to the kitchen. Mary took one look at me, and asked me what was wrong. I told her I'd had a terrible nightmare. She gave me a muffin and put her hand on my shoulder.
"Sometimes people forget that even with all of that intelligence, you're still a twelve year old boy," she said as Grandma came into the kitchen.
"Killian, what's wrong?" she asked, looking worried.
"Nothing," I said. "I had a terrible nightmare and woke up crying. It's all right now."
"Well, if you say so," she said. "Where are your brothers?"
"Kevin is in the bathroom, and Richard is waiting his turn," I said. "Where's my sister?"
"Outside with her friends," she said. "They're out front."
"Okay," I said. "We're going to the library."
"Okay," she said. "If you feel up to it."
We went to the library and read books until lunch. Jason had to tell us it was time for lunch because April hadn't come with us today. We went to the cafeteria and ate pizza with fries and chocolate milk. Then we were back in the library reading books. We went home at three. We were supposed to be at the Family Fun Center at seven. That was four hours away. Kevin and I went out back and he bounced a red rubber ball on the old tether ball cement. The pole had been in that cement before we were born. He must have hit the hole just right because the ball shot back and smacked him in the face. Blood exploded from his nose, and he started to yell. Richard came running outside and saw what had happened. He told Grandma to take us to the hospital.
It was just on five o'clock when we got there. There were many people in the waiting room, so we had to wait. After an hour of waiting, Grandma had a fit. We were taken back to a room at six fifteen. The accident would happen at nine forty-five that night. We sat in that room for another hour and a half. Kevin was in agony, and Grandma was getting agitated. The doctor came in and looked at Kevin's nose and said that he was waiting on a nurse to be available to numb the nose for him. Grandma asked what was going on. He told her that they were extremely busy tonight and four nurses had called in. She sighed.
We waited another hour before a Nurse came in to numb his nose. Then the doctor set it and taped it with gauze and tape. His eyes were black like mine had been. I couldn't shake the feeling that fate had done this so we'd remain identical. Of course there was nothing to say that his nose was broken the same way mine was. My nose had been broken by a fist. His had been broken by a ball. It was ten o'clock by the time we made it home. Grandma apologized to Richard about the Family Fun Center. He told her not to worry about it. The accident had already happened and we were all fine. I laughed. So did Kevin. Then Richard was laughing. April and Grandma looked at us like we'd lost our minds. We laughed harder.
We went to bed that night without supper and we were happy about it. The accident had happened and we weren't involved. April wasn't broken, Kevin was alive, and Richard's neck wasn't broken. We were whole and safe. I fell asleep that night with a smile on my face. I woke up smiling. Kevin grinned at me, but it looked weird with his nose taped and his black eyes. We went to the kitchen. Mary gave us food. Richard came in and said, "Good morning my brothers."
"Morning, Rich," I said. "Sleep good?"
"Like a baby," he said. "You?"
"Better than I have in a long time," I said.
"School's about to start," Richard said. "You guys aren't going to a prep school this year."
"It doesn't appear so," I said. "We'll be fine at Janus Junior High for one year."
"Yeah," he said.
The phone rang, and Grandma answered it. She sat down and put her hand to her chest. When she got off the phone she said, "Children, there was an accident last night by the mall. Hank was killed in the accident, and your mother broke her neck."
We looked at her for a long moment in silence. Hank was dead? Well, that was all right. Mom had broken her neck? Well, I didn't know what to think of that. They were the injuries that had happened to us. I wondered who had broken their hip and pelvis. I didn't ask though. I remained silent. No matter who she was to us, she was Grandma's daughter. I just continued to eat my breakfast. Kevin did the same thing. April looked like she might cry, but I remembered that she thought Mom didn't know what Hank was doing to us. Richard said calmly, "I'm sorry for my mother, but Hank got what he deserved."
"You all feel that way?" Grandma asked.
"I do," I said. "Hank was a monster."
"He was," Kevin agreed.
"Yes," April said. "What's going to happen to our mother?"
"She's in the hospital now," Grandma said. "But I'm her power of attorney."
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
"I'm going to find a place for your mother to go," she said. "She can't stay here. I can't take care of her and your grandfather at the same time. Plus I'm not sure any of you would like it if she came here."
"No we wouldn't," I said.
"Is she going to die?" April asked.
"Not from what I was told," she said. "She's a paraplegic, but she's healthy."
"Well then where are you going to put her?" April asked.
"There's a place for people like this not far from the school," Grandma said. "It's a nice place. I volunteered there a couple of years ago."
"Okay," I said. "So that's settled."
"You're all really okay with what I told you?" she asked.
"Yes," I said. "The only one of us that seems to be having trouble with it is April. But she doesn't know what we know about Mom."
"What is that?" Grandma asked.
"That she knew exactly what Hank was doing to us the whole time," I said.
"Did she really?" April asked.
"Yes, April," Grandma said. "She knew. She knew enough to explain away your injuries while Hank looked guilty. I heard them arguing once about what I knew and didn't know and who I'd blame when it was all said and done. She said I'd blame her because she knew the whole time."
"Well, that changes things," April said. "I guess I'm not having a problem with what happened to my mother any more than the boys."
"All right," she said. "I don't know how to feel about this."
"Of course you don't," I said. "She is your daughter. You've had to be upset with her, and now that she's hurt you feel compassion. I get it, Grandma. You don't have to feel guilty for feeling that way."
"No, you don't," Kevin said. "It's natural."
"It is," Richard said. "Don't feel guilty, Grandma. We understand."
"Your grandchildren are extremely wise," Mary said.
"You don't know the half of it," Grandma said.
School started the next Monday. It was a half day where we got to meet all of our teachers and get our books and such. We had an all right day. We didn't say much to anyone. Some people talked to us, and some people ignored us like always. We got home and hung out with Richard and April in the basement. April said she liked all of her teachers so far. We said we didn't know enough about them to like them or dislike them. It was only a half day.
The next day the trouble began. Mrs. Abernathy, my history teacher asked me a question about the material we were supposed to be covering. I answered her with all of my research into the events she was referencing. She gave me a look and then said, "If I wanted you to recite your text book I'd have asked you to."
"Mrs. Abernathy, none of what I said is found in the text book," I said.
"Go to the office for back talk," she said. "I'll call the Dean."
"Very well," I said. I got up and collected my stuff and headed for the office.
When I got there the secretary told me to sit and wait. She as an older heavy-set woman with red hair that looked like a football helmet on the top of her head. She had a pencil behind her ear, and she was on the phone. Then the door opened and the Dean of Students ushered me into his office. He was an older man with dark hair that was greying at the temples. He wore glasses over his brown eyes. He wore a tan suit with a white shirt and a blue tie. He motioned for me to have a seat.
"Killian Flynn," he said. "You've never been a problem before. This is new for me."
"Sir, I didn't think I was being a problem," I said. "She asked me a question and I answered it. She told me that if she wanted me to recite the textbook she'd have asked me to. I pointed out that none of what I'd said appeared in the text."
"That's back talk," he said. "You'll serve a week's detention. One hour after school every day for the rest of the week."
I was given a pass to return to my class when Kevin walked in. I looked at him and he shrugged. I just went back to class. I didn't unpack my bag. I didn't open the book. I didn't care. It was apparent that Mrs. Abernathy didn't like me for some reason. She shook her dark haired head at me and glared at me with her amber eyes. She didn't say anything. She just continued with the class. When she asked me a question a bit later I responded with, "I don't know." She nodded and asked the same question of someone else.
When the bell rang I got the hell out of there. I went to my second hour which was English. Mr. Sprick told us that we'd write papers for him this year. We'd read "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet" and we'd read in class. We'd write reports and he'd have questions on the board for us each week about the texts and where he believed we should be in them. The hour was over without me or Kevin being sent to the dean again. Kevin got detention for the rest of the week as well. We were silent as church mice in all of our classes. No one bothered with us. We didn't answer any questions with anything other than, "I don't know." It pissed them off, but what were they going to do? Send us to the dean for not knowing something. It would reflect on the kind of teachers they were. They were petty and vindictive.
We served our first hour of detention that day. We sat in a classroom with two other students who were trouble makers and had been every year. We weren't allowed to talk. We did homework. We had it done by the time the hour was up. We walked home and Grandma wanted to know where we'd been. We told her where and why. She got angry about it and called the school board. They told her that they stood behind their teachers and the dean. She hung up and called Jason.
He came over with packets for us. He'd found our school. It was called Maxwell Academy and it was in Chicago. He said that the only problem was that they wouldn't take a twelve year old. We couldn't attend until we turned thirteen. That meant that we were stuck at Janus Junior High School for the rest of the year. Grandma told him what had happened, and he said that she could rock the boat but it would just make it bad for April. Grandma swore again. I smiled.
The next day we did assignments from other classes and got sent to the dean for not paying attention. He decided that a firmer action was needed. He suspended us for bad behavior. We were out of school for the rest of the week. Grandma was livid. We told her what was going on. She asked about the other kids, and I told her that they laughed at us and called us freaks. She swore again and then apologized. We told her we no longer cared about what went on Janus Junior High School.
Richard had a lot to say about what had happened. He said it didn't look good that we were suspended in the first week. When we told him what really happened, he swore. Grandma slapped his arm. He apologized to us and to her. Then we just hung out in the basement playing Chess. We had a good time with it. It got boring by the third day though. That weekend, we hung out with Richard and April. They had no friends to hang out with today. We sat in the basement and watched movies that I'd seen already but I didn't care. I was with my siblings.
When we got back to school we did nothing. We didn't even carry any books of any kind to the classrooms. They said nothing to us. As long as we were quiet and not doing assignments from other classes they left us alone. In gym class we learned that we were both very good at baseball. I played short stop, and Kevin played second base. The next day they put us on opposing teams. They warned us that if we made a single error in the other's favor we'd go to the dean. We played, but the next day we were back on the same team. The kids told us we played ball really well for freaks. We just ignored them and showered and went to the next class. Janus Junior High School was both boring and uncomfortable.
By the beginning of September we were known as the quiet freaks that sat in the back of every class, did very well in gym class, and talked to no one. As if we'd talk to them with them all calling us freaks. I nearly laughed about that one. Kevin wasn't laughing. He hated school. He said we did better studying on our own. While I silently agreed with him, I reminded him that Grandma wasn't prepared to send our twelve year old asses to college. He sighed and nodded.
We went through more and more days of the silence, the boredom, and the name calling. We weren't playing baseball now that fall was here. No, now it was basketball and we weren't any good at it. We could dribble and we could shoot, but rarely did we put one through the hoop. Coach thought we were actually doing it on purpose and threatened to send us to the dean when I exploded. I screamed at him that we weren't good at everything. They called us freaks, and I guess we were in their eyes, but that didn't mean we were adept in every sport. He sent me to the dean and I got more detention. I gave up. I wasn't going to gym class anymore. They could expel me I didn't care.
The next day I had five classes instead of six. I stayed in the library for gym class. Kevin asked me where I'd been and I said I was boycotting gym. He laughed. I didn't. I was serious. This school was mistreating us right and left, and it wasn't funny. Grandma was threatening to home school us. Jason reminded us not to rock the boat. He said if we were a problem at school, we wouldn't be allowed to go to Maxwell Academy.
I told him I was going to write Maxwell Academy a letter. He sighed but got me the address. I wrote to them and told them all about what was happening at school. I told them how we were called freaks by the students, up starters by the staff, and cheaters by the coach. I told them that just because we were good at one sport didn't automatically mean that we'd be good at the others. But our coach believed we should have been. He accused us of slacking on purpose, and I had a fit. Yes, it was a fit, but I was tired of being slapped down for doing nothing wrong. I wrote to them that if they didn't want to take me on a student next year, then they were just as bad as Janus Junior High School.
It took two weeks but I got a response that made me smile. In it Professor Danvers told me that we were already enrolled for next year. They wouldn't listen to anything that a backward school like Janus Junior High School had to say. They'd had to say plenty. They commended me and my twin for putting up with it. They said that nothing short of our withdrawal would remove us from the enrollment. I liked that. I showed it to Jason and that stopped his worry. Kevin was elated. Grandma was thrilled. We went back to school, but I did not return to gym class. In the end they let me audit the class. Kevin got to audit it as well. Neither of us went anywhere near the gym. We were still quiet in classes, and the teachers left us alone. It was a boring existence but we knew that we'd be at Maxwell Academy next year. That was enough to make it all worth it.
When Winter Break arrived, we were never so happy not to go to school. Grandma asked me if I hated that school, and I told her the teachers were bullies, and the kids were rabid. She said she didn't want April to go there next year. Jason told her about Radison. It was a school that was private and not run by the state. The classrooms were smaller and the teachers were better. He'd applied there and gotten a job for next year as the history teacher. Grandma paid the tuition and enrolled April. She didn't even have to return to Janus Junior High School. That upset me, but I got over it quickly.
Life settled into an uncomfortable rhythm for me. School was boring and a bit uncomfortable at times, home was my haven, but I was there less and less, and April was thriving at Radison and said that Jason was a good teacher. I knew he was. I hadn't had him for a teacher in this timeline but I remember him from the original timeline. I was ready to go to Maxwell Academy. Grandma wasn't as keen on us going as she tried to let on. I could see it in her eyes when she talked about it. There was a tightness like it pained her to say the things she said. Maybe it did. We were her grandchildren after all. Maybe she didn't want us in Chicago while she was here in Janus.
Richard started to talk about what it would be like not seeing us all of the time. We told him we'd miss him, but we were going. He said he understood that. He said his best friend had a brother in classes with us. He told him all about what the kids were doing and what the teachers were requiring of us. He said it pissed him off, but he knew that we'd have a better time at Maxwell Academy. He wasn't sure about us living there for the school year, but he knew it was a better school for us.
Grades were posted and we'd made the honor roll. Grandma was thrilled. We didn't bother to tell her that we'd done nothing to get there. She had Mary make our favorite meal. That was chicken alfredo with garlic bread. She even got us Dr. Pepper to drink. We had a good night. Plus there were fudge brownies after dinner. We got two of them apiece. April asked us if school was still bad, and I said it was. She shook her head. Grandma asked me about it, too. I told her it was boring there and sometimes uncomfortable. The only thing that got me through the day was the knowledge that I wouldn't be there next year. She seemed saddened by that.
Jason came to dinner from time to time. He was enjoying teaching at Radison, and had met a woman there that he thought he might like to get to know. Her name was Sarah. He said she had blond hair and blue eyes, and was very well put together. I was happy for him. Then we were back in school. The quiet times were upon us again. We did very well on tests and quizzes, and that's what they based our grades on. Even in the cafeteria we sat alone and ate together. We did homework and then we went back to our lockers to drop off all of the books and went to the next class. By the end of the fist day I wasn't so sure I could do this for the rest of the year.
Time flies when you're happy, but it crawls when you're unhappy. It crawled for us. January took forever to get over. It was days and days and days of quiet classes, listening to the other kids participate and get rewarded while when we did it we were slapped down, being called freaks to our faces, and boredom. It got to the point that we didn't even want to get up in the morning. Grandma was beside herself. She could tell that her grandsons were not happy. There was nothing to do about it though. She couldn't pull us out of school. Social Services would have field day with that. She did talk to them about what was going on. In the end she did end up pulling us out of school. She home schooled us with a curriculum that was approved by Social Services. Mary was a big help during the day. Kevin and I sat at the table and did our assignments. We read the books that came with it, and we wrote reports. Grandma graded them and sent the grades to the state. Time started to move again.
April complained that we stayed home all day. We didn't get up as early as she did, and we were having fun all day. We assured her that though we did get up later than she did, we did our assignments, read the material, and wrote reports. Now we were about to take tests. She said that just sounded like school. We told her that's exactly what it was. We took the tests for two subjects that Friday. We didn't know what our scores were, because Grandma didn't grade them. She sent them off to be graded. We'd get our grades in February. That was fine with us. We got to choose which books we wanted to read and write reports on for English. There were no foreign languages, but that was fine. We knew them well enough to get by.
It wasn't challenging, but it was doing something all day where we weren't slapped down or called freaks. Best of all it was at home. We sat with grandpa, because we weren't in class as long as April and Richard either. When we were done with the assignments we were done for the day. Grandma didn't play. She just gave us the assignments and set us free. She did time us when she was supposed to, and she watched us like a hawk when we took quizzes and tests, but she didn't grade any of those. She had to send them off to be graded. When we got our grades, April was telling Grandma that she needed a red dress for the Valentine's Ball. Grandma got her a dress and told her to buy a big package of the pictures. She said she would. I wasn't surprised to find that Jessy Addon was her date.
She talked to us about our trust funds. She said that they would open when we went to college. Of course that was acceptable. She could have said they'd open when we turned twenty-one or something. Going to college was all right. We'd be there at sixteen. We were skipping a grade to go to Maxwell Academy. Maxwell started a the Freshman Year. We'd be thirteen year old Freshman, and we'd be fifteen year old Seniors. That meant college at sixteen unless we took a year off to sew our oats. We weren't planning to. We wanted to go to college.
I had an idea in the back of my mind about how we'd do it all. Of course there was the trust fund, but I had an idea for a store that sold electronics that we made in house. We'd have to open a factory and hire a staff, but they'd make the things we sold in our store. We'd open it in Chicago, and I was going to have to leak some future tech to get it off the ground. We had to be innovative and have something that no one else had. But that was for college. I couldn't do it yet. It was too soon. I didn't have the partners I needed. I didn't bring it up to Kevin. It was too soon. I needed people. We weren't going to find them in Janus.
"What are you thinking about?" Kevin asked. "You've got that look on your face like you're concentrating."
"Nothing that means anything," I said, smiling. "Just thinking about Maxwell Academy."
"Oh, I think about that place a lot myself," Kevin said. "Are you even a little afraid of going there?"
"Yes," I said. "I'm afraid that it won't be any better than Janus Junior High. I'm afraid that we'll get there and be in over our heads, and I'm afraid that we'll make no friends."
"Well, at least it's not just me," he said. "I'm afraid of all of that, but not that we'll be in over our heads. We've studied our butts off and we've got a good grasp on anything they can throw at us."
"That's not what I meant by in over our heads," I said. "I meant being so far away from home and having no one but each other."
"Oh," he said. "Well then I have that fear, too. But you still want to go, right?"
"Right," I said. "We have to take the chance. The worst thing is to take no chances."
"Where did you hear that?" he asked with a smirk.
"I don't know," I said. "Probably from an adult."
"Probably," he said. "We're done with assignments."
"Yeah," I said. "We should get Grandma to rent us a movie."
"One you haven't seen?" he asked.
"There are some out there that I haven't seen," I said.
"Good," he said. "It would suck to be watching the same things over and over again."
"Yes, it would," I said.
We talked to Grandma, and she took us to the video store. We got two movies that I hadn't seen that looked good. Then we went home. Grandma told us that we were ready for the next set of tests. We'd be finished with this year before we even got to Maxwell Academy. We told her that when we finished the entire book we were done until we went off to Maxwell. She nodded but looked sad about that. She sat down at the table.
"Are you two sure you want to go there?" she asked. "I mean it's so far away from here. Chicago is a seven hour drive."
"I know," I said. "But we want to go. Grandma, we have to take the chance that this will be the right decision. If it's not then we come home for Winter Break and don't go back and you can go back to home schooling us if you want."
"Kevin, is that same for you?" she asked, looking at him.
"Yes," he said. "I agree with everything that Killian said."
"Okay then," she said. "I'll pay the tuition. We'll put money in an account for the two of you to spend in Chicago. I read the packet. You'll go to the city with your head of house once a month. You can go with your guardian or parent any time they come to Maxwell to visit you. You need money."
"Okay," I said. "Why don't you just let us get an allowance from the trusts and put it in accounts for us each month instead of letting us have it all at once?"
"That's a sensible decision," she said. "The allowance would basically be the interest. You have yourself a deal, young Sir."
"Thanks, Grandma," I said. "We love you."
"Oh I love the two of you so much it isn't funny," she said. "I love your brother and sister, too. Don't get me wrong. I love you all equally."
"That's good," I said. "We don't want anyone to get jealous or have hurt feelings."
"Right you are," she said. "I think Mary's making pumpkin bars today."
"Sounds good," Kevin said.
"Go watch your movie," she said. "Or did you want to wait an hour and watch them with your siblings?"
"Wait an hour," I said.
"Okay," she said. "Do what you're going to do. I have tuition to pay and an allowance to set up."
We went downstairs to watch television. We put the movies on the top of the entertainment center. We got into a show about cars for some reason. Kevin was more interested in it than I was, but I sat through it and was interested. Before we knew it Richard was there with us. Then April came in a half hour later. She smiled at us. They sat and did their homework while we watched the rest of our show. Then we went up to get snacks for all of us. Grandma had bought snack cakes and little things that we could have in the basement. We grabbed some of those and headed back downstairs. I handed them out.
"What did you guys do today?" Richard asked.
"Assignments, and reading," I said. "We're nearly done with the whole book. Then we won't have anything until we get to Maxwell Academy."
"You guys are fast," he said. "I have to really pay attention to get my grades. I wish I was a bit more like you."
"Well, if it's any conciliation, sometimes I wish we were more like you," I said.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because if we were, we'd still be at the school," I said. "No one would think we were freaks, and we'd have made friends."
"But would you want any of them for friends?" Richard asked.
"Not knowing what we know about them now," I said. "But if we were more like you we'd have never known that about them."
"But they all showed us who they really are," Kevin said.
"They certainly did," I said. "The teachers were worse than the students."
"They really were," Kevin said. "We got detention for the stupid stuff."
"Well, when you got suspended, Grandma called Social Services to tell them what was really going on," Richard said. "They investigated the school. Some things are gonna be changing there soon."
"Well none of us are even there anymore," I said. "What do we care now?"
"How close are you to being done with the book?" Richard asked.
"We've got like four units to go or something like that," Kevin said.
"Four," I agreed. "There's the two on history and then the one on science and the one on math."
"You'll excel at the math unit," Kevin said.
"Don't sell yourself short," I said. "You did pretty good with the math, too. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean you're not good at it."
"Yeah, yeah," he said, shaking his head.
"What are the movies on top of the entertainment center? They look rented," Richard asked.
"Just movies that we haven't seen," Kevin said. "We'll watch them after dinner."
"Okay," Richard said. "I'm looking forward to that."
"April, what are you studying today?" I asked.
"Chemistry," she said. "It's new for me, and I'm getting caught up."
"You're in Chemistry already?" Richard asked. "You're only in sixth grade."
"It isn't like what Killian and Kevin were studying," she said. "We're just learning the elements and the periodic table. There are some experiments but they're just like making a volcano and stuff like that. Believe me it isn't close to what you did in Chemistry."
"Okay," he said. "I was just shocked. I already have two smart brothers. I didn't want a sister being as smart as them and making me feel dumb."
"We make you feel dumb?" I asked.
"Not usually," he said. "But when you talk about what you're studying it can get a bit like I'm the bumpkin of the family."
"Richard, we don't ever want you to feel that way around us," Kevin said. "We're your brothers. We're still twelve years old, and you're still sixteen. There are things that you know that we don't. It's called experience. We don't have those experiences. You do. Think of that."
"Cool," he said. "I'll think of that."
"Good," I said. "Now, what are we doing this weekend?"
"Well, I'm hanging out with some friends this weekend," Richard said. "We're going to the riverfront to raise some hell."
"Okay," I said. "April, what are you doing?"
"Hanging out with Michelle and Tanya," she said. "We're going to a party at Phillip Menzer's house. His parents will be there and everything. It's just a get together for the kids at Radison."
"Okay," I said. "I just thought we'd do something together."
"Sorry," April said. "I already made plans."
"Me, too," Richard said. "What are you guys going to do?"
"Play Chess," Kevin said. "Watch television, and stuff like that. We don't have friends in Janus."
"That sucks," Richard said. "There were none of them at the school that you could have been friends with?"
"There were a few," I said. "But they just ignored us. They didn't call us names or anything. They just never talked to us."
"Well, that sucks," he said. "You need friends."
"We'll try to make friends at Maxwell," I said. "It won't be too much longer."
"Yes, but then you'll be gone," Richard said. "I will only see you at Christmas and summer."
"I'm sorry it worked out this way," I said. "You have to understand that we can't stay here."
"I do understand," he said. "I wish you guys hadn't done all of that studying."
"Well, we did it when we thought we were going to be split up and go to foster homes," I said. "We decided that boarding school would be better than that."
"I hear you," Richard said. "I know why you did it, and I agree with all that you said. I just wish you hadn't because it's pulling the family apart."
"Don't think of it that way," Kevin said. "We'll be here. It just won't be all of the time. You're busy with friends a lot, so you're not hanging out with us anyway."
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