…
“Please, reconsider it.” The boy begged.
Crash!
The principal hurled her nameplate to the ground. She was truly incensed! She could see that the child wasn’t even afraid of her and only feared something else. “Are you deaf? The school doesn’t want you! Get out!”
“I love studying.” Illinois looked up and a serene expression painted his face. “I love studying because I like to think. Inside the world of my brain, I explore and expand my knowledge. It’s breathtaking and thrilling. Concepts appeared life-like and spoke to me.”
“I wanted to learn, Madam Principal. Please, don’t let a student down.”
Veins popped out from the principal’s forehead. “What bullshit studying! I’m expelling you because of who you are! Your sister is a fucking terrorist! Your father is a fucking psychopath! And you will be someone like that too! I don’t want you here!”
“What about my future? You are cutting it off just like that?” Illinois’s face became pale and his voice turned hoarse.
“You will be like your father and sister!”
Illinois bit his lips and something snapped inside him! He shouted in his still immature voice. “Why? Did you wet yourself when my father stared at you?!”
“You!”
“You are just afraid! If you are brave, let’s make a bet!”
The principal’s eyes became bloodshot. She didn’t know what was happening to her. As a principal, she commanded respect and admiration. But she became mad in front of this chap! Maybe because she wasn’t used to being scolded by someone or because a student tried to answer back.
“You wanted to bet? You wanted to bet! If you lose, I don’t want to see your face ever again!” The adult woman slammed both of her hands on the desk.
“But if I win, you let me graduate and erased all the bad things you’ve written in my information!” Illinois leaned forward and also held the desk with his hands.
Two people glared at each other with red eyes and their hatred almost became corporeal!
“Hmph! Someone, come! Get some test papers here!” The principal shouted to the door before turning at Illinois again. “It’s fair to let you in a test, right?”
The boy frowned and thought that perhaps the principal would be unscrupulous and hand him a test for high schoolers or even college students! But he came prepared! He already recorded everything with his small camera hidden on the bottom of his uniform!
“Brat, you are too early to play fire with me!” The principal already decided to fail Illinois regardless of the test result, however! The test was only a formality and she could change the result with no guilt! The police won’t even bother at such a time because of his sister!
While Illinois was still immersed in his naïve thought, the test questionnaire had already arrived before him.
Bang. The person who entered was the principal’s secretary. He glared at Illinois before striding away. But he didn’t forget to let out a comment.
“The child of a psychopath and a brother of a terrorist.”
Illinois didn’t mind and stared at the questionnaires. He soon frowned because he discovered the tests only were first-year high school level. It meant it only introduced a few advanced topics but was still close enough to elementary knowledge.
“You need to answer four tests in four hours. You are smart, aren’t you? If you can score at least ninety-five percent, I consider it a pass. I think this is fair.” The principal smirked before lying on her comfortable chair. She didn’t even point to Illinois where he would sit and ignored him entirely.
Illinois’ hands became sweaty. This was too easy. But why would the principal help him? He even considered the principal would disturb him with noises. But she didn’t! For all he knew, the principal was someone who feared the strong and bullied the weak. She took Attorney Jimaol’s side because he was influential and wanted to suppress Illinois even though he was the one who was beaten up. Not long after, she buckled down when confronted by Emanuel. Now that she had a legitimate reason, she was itching to expel him.
“A brother of a terrorist.”
The boy began to overthink. His wandering mind couldn’t help but brought him to the sight of his sister’s happy face. She was his goal. The vibrancy she exuded despite the pit-most darkness trying to consume her was colorful and inspiring. She worked harder than anyone he knew. Still, no one could observe her grit because she was smiling all the time, radiating positive energy, and making others feel at ease. People even thought that she easily rode through her education.
“A brother of a terrorist.”
She… a terrorist? He couldn’t get it over his head. How could she? Why would she jump to the other side when she already knew how loathsome it was? Was she an idiot? Why would she let others experience the same thing she endured all these years? He thought she will become a beacon of hope for many people.
She should make their parents proud!
“Sister! Why did you do that? To father and mother?” The boy gripped his pencil until the tip broke. He felt numb. He looked up and wiped the tears in his eyes.
Even though Illinois was mature beyond his age, the looks he got from other people were enough to drown him. The boy was quivering inside but he put up a strong front. He bet for the sake of his future. His last stand against the world that trying to best him.
What could he do? His father was eloquent but that was it. His mother was loving but that was it. It was no color grey. Just black and white. Reality and imagination. In a world full of unfairness, only Illinois was talking about fairness. And the reality was his family was weak, so people considered them black. His supposed to be intelligence was nothing but just an imagination.
Four hours went by in an instant. Illinois stared at the sheets of paper. He knew the outcome and could only bite his lips. He lumbered across the room, not bothering the principal anymore. The latter scanned the papers and saw that the boy couldn’t even answer half of it. She smirked and threw the papers out of the window.
“Heh. This boy succumbed to the pressure.” She clicked on the radio. It played a happy song.
…
