Hey Romeo, Don't You Think You're Just a Tad Overrated?
The List
Well, what can I say? McAllister Academy completely flattened Deerfield in the first math team meet of the year. Of course, I contributed nothing, other than support for my school.
October had slowly drifted into November, and the Illinois weather was not cooperating well. The lacrosse season had nearly ended as well; we unfortunately lost in the semi-finals for the state sectionals against Stanwood Prep.
Other than that, my new life at the ever prestigious McAllister Academy had been going on quite smoothly according to myself. Brynne Albright occasionally poked at me, but with the help of my friends and my boyfriend, we managed to keep her at bay, at least for now. The students and teachers still acted differently due to my status as the headmaster's adopted child. Some were merciless, some were ignorant, and some held contempt. In addition to my close knit group of friends, Cam Gallagher has been ignoring lately; he still tutored me during afternoon study-halls and sporadically threw an insult in here and their about my lack of intelligence and my lack of physical ability.
I was more content than I had been in awhile. I was happy to have these people around me who loved me. However, I should have known better that this golden era wouldn't last forever, especially when I was here attending McAllister Academy.
_____________________
"Why does everyone seem so anxious today?" I asked quietly as I sat down cautiously at our usual table in the mess hall for breakfast.
Beth looked up at me, the usual spark in her eyes faint. "Today is doomsday," she whispered.
Alyssa leaned towards the center of the table. "Report cards are due today after classes, Aurelie. I thought you would have known that, especially since your daddy is the headmaster," she said.
I gulped. I was so caught up in the bliss that was my life that I had been completely ignorant to that small fact. "Crap!" I swore.
Will looked at me pointedly. "First report card of the year. All the dorm heads and prefects are going to be handing them out. And you'll probably be getting yours from your daddy," he said, waving his fork in my general direction.
Beth buried her head in her arms, moaning. Her untouched tray remained in front of her. "If I don't make top twenty, my dad's going to kill me!" her voice was muffled.
I cast Alyssa a silent question with my eyes, and she mouthed, "Her dad is a big-time Hollywood lawyer."
The bell suddenly rang for the start of morning classes, and all the students got up unwillingly, the sounds of scraping chairs and empty trays filling the mess hall. "I have to go to French," I muttered to Will as I quickly exited the building, lost in my own thoughts. It took me two minutes before I realized that Max hadn't accompanied me to my first class; he had always been there, waiting for me after breakfast, ever since we started going out.
__________________
Reagan's Dorm for Boys, 7:04am
"You're not coming to breakfast with us?" Cam asked, surprised, as Max shouldered his backpack, a grim expressions on his face.
"Nah, I have to go visit Doc. before morning classes start," Max said seriously, proceeding to head in the opposite direction.
"What about breakfast? And your girlfriend? Don't you always walk with her to class every morning, like a loyal puppy?" Roger snickered at his own joke.
Max brushed it off. "That's not really important," he muttered.
Cam raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent. "See you in Spanish class then."
Max nodded, pounded fists with his best buddy, and disappeared down the sidewalk.
Doctor Phyllis' Office, Latin IV Honors teacher
"Mr. Austerlitz," Doc. Phyllis said as Max quickly slid into his small office, "What pleasure do I owe you so early this morning?" he slid his spectacles down his nose to take a better look at his student.
"Doctor Phyllis," Max started hesitantly. "I-I have a question about my grade. I was hoping that you'd be able to reconsider my last translation," he mumbled.
Doc. sighed, rifling through his papers and locating his grade book. "Let's see Mr. Austerlitz…your current average stands at a flat B, an 87.2. The last translation you brought in was an eighty-five," he read.
Max nodded. "I was hoping to elevate my average to a B perhaps. I believe you graded my last translation unfairly. There was only one conjugation error, although it's been repeated several times throughout the translation, but I would still only count it as one error."
"You believe you deserve better, Mr. Austerlitz?" Doc. asked suspiciously.
Max nodded, hopeful.
Doc. sighed again, heavily. "Very well, Mr. Austerlitz. I normally don't do this, but I will give you five points back on your translation, and it should boost your final average to an 87.6, which rounds up to an 88, or a B . Are you satisfied?"
"Yes, sir, thank you very much," Max nodded, relief coating his voice.
"I know you are a bright student, Mr. Austerlitz. Perhaps if you weren't tardy to my class every day, your grade could be higher. Now shouldn't you be at the mess hall? I find all teenagers your age now have many important engagements at this early hour, other than with your Latin professor."
"No important engagements at all, sir. Thank you," Max quickly said, exiting the office.
____________________
"What's going on?" I hissed, seizing Will as everyone sprinted out of the Lit. classroom as soon as class ended.
"GPA scorings," he answered shortly before joining them.
My breath caught in my throat as I saw a large group of juniors crowd around a long list of names, tacked to the wall outside in the hallway.
"Move over, let me see, let me see it," a girl insisted as she pushed into the throng.
"Ugh, did I make top ten percent?" another boy asked as he tried to look over the heads of his peers.
I craned my neck fruitlessly, deciding that my only hope was to wait until everyone had dispersed. After many long minutes, the crowd of juniors thinned, and I forced my way to the front, searching for my names. My heart sank as I skipped over the first fifty names. A pounding started in my ears as I passed the sixty mark, then the seventy, then the eighty, and finally the ninety.
"Ninety-four?" I whispered incredulously, the weight of the number crashing around my ears. I looked at the number to the right of my name, indicating my grade point average. 2.8
I quickly glanced up at the top of the list, where the first two names were in bold, and a small gold star was next to them, indicating prefects. [1] Camaxtli Gallagher - 4.0, [2] Lane Bryans – 3.97. I slowly made my way down the list again, picking out familiar names. [10] Brynne Albright – 3.89, [15] Bethany Ross – 3.85, [25] William Harrison – 3.75, [27] Alyssa Cromwell – 3.7, [32] Maxamillian Austerlitz – 3.49.
I swallowed hard and turned around, crashing into Will.
"I didn't do that bad, number 25 out of 108 students in the junior class," he was mumbling to himself. "How'd you do Aurelie?" he asked.
"Don't even bother," I said darkly, trying to push past him.
Will caught my name at the bottom of the list. "Aw, Aurelie it's not that bad, I'm sure you'll do a lot better next time," he said sympathetically.
I suddenly remembered the words Will had said to me so long ago. . "Everyone here wants to be at the top. And they're willing to do anything to get there. Even if it means dragging down your best friends." My gaze suddenly hardened. "I have to go," I muttered, pushing away from everyone.
"Wait, Aurelie! I'm sure it'll be okay!" he called.
Turning away, I scowled. His words didn't sound sympathetic at all.
October had slowly drifted into November, and the Illinois weather was not cooperating well. The lacrosse season had nearly ended as well; we unfortunately lost in the semi-finals for the state sectionals against Stanwood Prep.
Other than that, my new life at the ever prestigious McAllister Academy had been going on quite smoothly according to myself. Brynne Albright occasionally poked at me, but with the help of my friends and my boyfriend, we managed to keep her at bay, at least for now. The students and teachers still acted differently due to my status as the headmaster's adopted child. Some were merciless, some were ignorant, and some held contempt. In addition to my close knit group of friends, Cam Gallagher has been ignoring lately; he still tutored me during afternoon study-halls and sporadically threw an insult in here and their about my lack of intelligence and my lack of physical ability.
I was more content than I had been in awhile. I was happy to have these people around me who loved me. However, I should have known better that this golden era wouldn't last forever, especially when I was here attending McAllister Academy.
_____________________
"Why does everyone seem so anxious today?" I asked quietly as I sat down cautiously at our usual table in the mess hall for breakfast.
Beth looked up at me, the usual spark in her eyes faint. "Today is doomsday," she whispered.
Alyssa leaned towards the center of the table. "Report cards are due today after classes, Aurelie. I thought you would have known that, especially since your daddy is the headmaster," she said.
I gulped. I was so caught up in the bliss that was my life that I had been completely ignorant to that small fact. "Crap!" I swore.
Will looked at me pointedly. "First report card of the year. All the dorm heads and prefects are going to be handing them out. And you'll probably be getting yours from your daddy," he said, waving his fork in my general direction.
Beth buried her head in her arms, moaning. Her untouched tray remained in front of her. "If I don't make top twenty, my dad's going to kill me!" her voice was muffled.
I cast Alyssa a silent question with my eyes, and she mouthed, "Her dad is a big-time Hollywood lawyer."
The bell suddenly rang for the start of morning classes, and all the students got up unwillingly, the sounds of scraping chairs and empty trays filling the mess hall. "I have to go to French," I muttered to Will as I quickly exited the building, lost in my own thoughts. It took me two minutes before I realized that Max hadn't accompanied me to my first class; he had always been there, waiting for me after breakfast, ever since we started going out.
__________________
Reagan's Dorm for Boys, 7:04am
"You're not coming to breakfast with us?" Cam asked, surprised, as Max shouldered his backpack, a grim expressions on his face.
"Nah, I have to go visit Doc. before morning classes start," Max said seriously, proceeding to head in the opposite direction.
"What about breakfast? And your girlfriend? Don't you always walk with her to class every morning, like a loyal puppy?" Roger snickered at his own joke.
Max brushed it off. "That's not really important," he muttered.
Cam raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent. "See you in Spanish class then."
Max nodded, pounded fists with his best buddy, and disappeared down the sidewalk.
Doctor Phyllis' Office, Latin IV Honors teacher
"Mr. Austerlitz," Doc. Phyllis said as Max quickly slid into his small office, "What pleasure do I owe you so early this morning?" he slid his spectacles down his nose to take a better look at his student.
"Doctor Phyllis," Max started hesitantly. "I-I have a question about my grade. I was hoping that you'd be able to reconsider my last translation," he mumbled.
Doc. sighed, rifling through his papers and locating his grade book. "Let's see Mr. Austerlitz…your current average stands at a flat B, an 87.2. The last translation you brought in was an eighty-five," he read.
Max nodded. "I was hoping to elevate my average to a B perhaps. I believe you graded my last translation unfairly. There was only one conjugation error, although it's been repeated several times throughout the translation, but I would still only count it as one error."
"You believe you deserve better, Mr. Austerlitz?" Doc. asked suspiciously.
Max nodded, hopeful.
Doc. sighed again, heavily. "Very well, Mr. Austerlitz. I normally don't do this, but I will give you five points back on your translation, and it should boost your final average to an 87.6, which rounds up to an 88, or a B . Are you satisfied?"
"Yes, sir, thank you very much," Max nodded, relief coating his voice.
"I know you are a bright student, Mr. Austerlitz. Perhaps if you weren't tardy to my class every day, your grade could be higher. Now shouldn't you be at the mess hall? I find all teenagers your age now have many important engagements at this early hour, other than with your Latin professor."
"No important engagements at all, sir. Thank you," Max quickly said, exiting the office.
____________________
"What's going on?" I hissed, seizing Will as everyone sprinted out of the Lit. classroom as soon as class ended.
"GPA scorings," he answered shortly before joining them.
My breath caught in my throat as I saw a large group of juniors crowd around a long list of names, tacked to the wall outside in the hallway.
"Move over, let me see, let me see it," a girl insisted as she pushed into the throng.
"Ugh, did I make top ten percent?" another boy asked as he tried to look over the heads of his peers.
I craned my neck fruitlessly, deciding that my only hope was to wait until everyone had dispersed. After many long minutes, the crowd of juniors thinned, and I forced my way to the front, searching for my names. My heart sank as I skipped over the first fifty names. A pounding started in my ears as I passed the sixty mark, then the seventy, then the eighty, and finally the ninety.
"Ninety-four?" I whispered incredulously, the weight of the number crashing around my ears. I looked at the number to the right of my name, indicating my grade point average. 2.8
I quickly glanced up at the top of the list, where the first two names were in bold, and a small gold star was next to them, indicating prefects. [1] Camaxtli Gallagher - 4.0, [2] Lane Bryans – 3.97. I slowly made my way down the list again, picking out familiar names. [10] Brynne Albright – 3.89, [15] Bethany Ross – 3.85, [25] William Harrison – 3.75, [27] Alyssa Cromwell – 3.7, [32] Maxamillian Austerlitz – 3.49.
I swallowed hard and turned around, crashing into Will.
"I didn't do that bad, number 25 out of 108 students in the junior class," he was mumbling to himself. "How'd you do Aurelie?" he asked.
"Don't even bother," I said darkly, trying to push past him.
Will caught my name at the bottom of the list. "Aw, Aurelie it's not that bad, I'm sure you'll do a lot better next time," he said sympathetically.
I suddenly remembered the words Will had said to me so long ago. . "Everyone here wants to be at the top. And they're willing to do anything to get there. Even if it means dragging down your best friends." My gaze suddenly hardened. "I have to go," I muttered, pushing away from everyone.
"Wait, Aurelie! I'm sure it'll be okay!" he called.
Turning away, I scowled. His words didn't sound sympathetic at all.