I could read that fast, I'd be a millionaire!”
The two women stared at the man blankly while he guffawed at his own joke. After a moment of solitary laughing, the man walked away silently, embarrassed.
“OK, Amelia, let's go home.” Catina didn't offer to buy Amelia any books, evidently it would have been a waste of money because Amelia would have finished the novels in the car on the way home. During the drive, Catina's mind raced as she snuck sidelong glances at Amelia. Was this girl a true prodigy?
“Amelia, you're going to start school next Monday. I know you've received a rudimentary education at the orphanage, but at these schools, you can really spread your wings.”
“What do I do?”
“Just go to school everyday, go to your classes and do all your homework.”
“Everyday? Seven days a week?”
“No, Monday through Friday. Seven am. Until three pm.”
“What's homework? I'll have school stuff that I have to do at home?” Amelia was slightly confused. If a teacher couldn't teach a concept with five days a week, there was either a teacher problem or a dumb-student problem.
“Homework is exactly that. Sometimes lessons need to be reinforced outside of an academic setting.” Catina answered, realizing that orphans had no concept of home-work, because they had no “home”.
They drove in silence the rest of the way, Catina thinking of new ways to bond with Amelia, and Amelia thinking of what school would be like. There would be other students their. Students her age. Would she be allowed to talk to them? How many different subjects would she take simultaneously? Were the teacher's mean? The deep ambivalence Amelia had felt about adoption was fading, only to be replaced by nervous excitement. She would be going to school!
Chapter Eighteen
For the next few days, Amelia familiarized herself with her new life. She woke up, ate a breakfast of cereal and orange juice, then did chores. Her “parents” had told her that she didn't have to do any chores, but gave up after they found Amelia awake in the middle of the night, folding laundry on the floor of the hallway. As Steven had so eloquently described,
“If you can't beat em' join em'”.
After her chores, Amelia would walk to the local library, an ugly chunk of Puritan architecture that was situated on the far end of the park by their house. Amelia would travel through the park, enjoying the fresh air and flowers. Bethe park was a full three thousand acres, on the edge of a metropolitan area. Long bike paths and romantic lookout points formed the skeleton of the park. The life-blood was the river, flowing right through the middle and emptying out into the misty Atlantic. Fields and children's playgrounds were scattered in random places, with mothers chasing their children for hours. Joggers and bikers often waved or smiled at Amelia as they passed her, though she ignored them utterly. After several hours at the library each day, Amelia would come home through the park, suffer through a dinner of awkward conversation and do chores until she went to sleep. It was the best possible life that she could have ever imagined for herself.
But life was going to change. It was the Saturday before school started and Amelia couldn't shake feelings of impending doom and despair. Confounded by her inability to control such adolescent emotions, Amelia laced up her new, bright pink sneakers and went to the park. She wasn't headed to the library, she was simply
The two women stared at the man blankly while he guffawed at his own joke. After a moment of solitary laughing, the man walked away silently, embarrassed.
“OK, Amelia, let's go home.” Catina didn't offer to buy Amelia any books, evidently it would have been a waste of money because Amelia would have finished the novels in the car on the way home. During the drive, Catina's mind raced as she snuck sidelong glances at Amelia. Was this girl a true prodigy?
“Amelia, you're going to start school next Monday. I know you've received a rudimentary education at the orphanage, but at these schools, you can really spread your wings.”
“What do I do?”
“Just go to school everyday, go to your classes and do all your homework.”
“Everyday? Seven days a week?”
“No, Monday through Friday. Seven am. Until three pm.”
“What's homework? I'll have school stuff that I have to do at home?” Amelia was slightly confused. If a teacher couldn't teach a concept with five days a week, there was either a teacher problem or a dumb-student problem.
“Homework is exactly that. Sometimes lessons need to be reinforced outside of an academic setting.” Catina answered, realizing that orphans had no concept of home-work, because they had no “home”.
They drove in silence the rest of the way, Catina thinking of new ways to bond with Amelia, and Amelia thinking of what school would be like. There would be other students their. Students her age. Would she be allowed to talk to them? How many different subjects would she take simultaneously? Were the teacher's mean? The deep ambivalence Amelia had felt about adoption was fading, only to be replaced by nervous excitement. She would be going to school!
Chapter Eighteen
For the next few days, Amelia familiarized herself with her new life. She woke up, ate a breakfast of cereal and orange juice, then did chores. Her “parents” had told her that she didn't have to do any chores, but gave up after they found Amelia awake in the middle of the night, folding laundry on the floor of the hallway. As Steven had so eloquently described,
“If you can't beat em' join em'”.
After her chores, Amelia would walk to the local library, an ugly chunk of Puritan architecture that was situated on the far end of the park by their house. Amelia would travel through the park, enjoying the fresh air and flowers. Bethe park was a full three thousand acres, on the edge of a metropolitan area. Long bike paths and romantic lookout points formed the skeleton of the park. The life-blood was the river, flowing right through the middle and emptying out into the misty Atlantic. Fields and children's playgrounds were scattered in random places, with mothers chasing their children for hours. Joggers and bikers often waved or smiled at Amelia as they passed her, though she ignored them utterly. After several hours at the library each day, Amelia would come home through the park, suffer through a dinner of awkward conversation and do chores until she went to sleep. It was the best possible life that she could have ever imagined for herself.
But life was going to change. It was the Saturday before school started and Amelia couldn't shake feelings of impending doom and despair. Confounded by her inability to control such adolescent emotions, Amelia laced up her new, bright pink sneakers and went to the park. She wasn't headed to the library, she was simply
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