America 1982-Chapter 55 - 12: Students Make Their Entrance
"Should we find out why a Princeton professor is attending our summer camp now?" Ottilia handed a cup of coffee to Tommy Hawk, who was busy writing an advertisement at his desk, and quietly asked.
Tommy stopped what he was doing and accepted the coffee, "Thanks, Miss Farell. You know what? Although I’m really curious and certain that the professors from Princeton aren’t joining because they are interested in our summer camp or any of us, I’m not going to waste my time on such useless speculation. Who cares who it is or why they’re here? First, I’ll use this opportunity to add a dazzling entry to my resume. Second, and more importantly now, is to make money—honestly capitalize on the name of a Princeton University professor to make money from those rich folks!"
"Okay, the school told me to step up the effort for the summer camp," said Ottilia Farrell to Tommy. "The principal said other teachers could get involved, mentioned that I could go on vacation as usual, and said he wanted to talk to you about the final donation to the school."
She was the mentor of this big boy, but it felt like she hadn’t been doing any real mentoring; most of the time, it was Tommy asking her for help with various things.
This made her feel possibly inexperienced because, although she had attended many summer camps in high school, she had always been a participant and didn’t have the experience of creating an organization from scratch. In some ways, her role as a mentor was just as new as Tommy’s, Dennis’, who was currently gathering supplies, and Pam’s, who was spreading rumors.
Moreover, Ottilia felt that Tommy probably needed a mentor with more experience, one who could constantly provide him with ideas rather than constantly asking him to make decisions. Although she was very interested in this summer camp, she felt it was only right to leave the choice up to Tommy.
"No, you stay right here, Miss Farell," Tommy immediately objected after hearing Ottilia’s words. "Tell the principal that if they dare to change the mentor or even try to pressure us with so-called school resources to increase the donation amount, I’ll flip the Princeton University professor the bird on the day they arrive and tell them that’s the welcome ritual our principal taught me."
Seeing Tommy’s objection, Ottilia’s smile grew sweeter, "Really? I thought you would need the help of teachers with rich experience in club organization."
"The Bible says, ’Our house is to be made of cedar, our rafters of pine, no stranger shall enter,’" Tommy Hawk said, finishing his coffee and handing back the cup to Ottilia before turning to continue working at his desk.
Ottilia accepted the cup of coffee from Tommy, feeling his quotation was a bit odd. It was a verse from the Song of Songs in the Bible, meaning he didn’t want others to step into his room.
Indeed, at that moment, Tommy used it to express his wish not to have other teachers intervene.
But the problem was the next part of the poem, "As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters."
These were the words of King Solomon to his lover.
Was this guy hinting at something? Either he was gay and his love interest was Dennis or Pam or both, or if not, the only woman in the organization at the moment was her.
"Are you hinting at a crush on me, Tommy? That’s not what you should be thinking about right now. You can freely tell me when you get your college acceptance letter. It’s not bad to like someone, and you can confidently tell her, but there should be a more appropriate time," Ottilia hesitated a bit, but ultimately felt it was her duty as a teacher and her uncontrollable curiosity to remind Tommy.
Tommy looked over at her briefly, then continued to busily flip through a stack of documents, "Of course, Miss Farrell, that day will come. I don’t have time to think about crushes right now. I’m considering getting a few of the first high school elites who register to serve as free advisory assistants for you under the pretext of gaining experience to share your workload."
"Have you found them?" Ottilia asked with relief after hearing Tommy’s plans.
"I have found a few." Tommy passed the selected documents to Ottilia, "First up, Chris Ferguson, lacking sufficient competition honors, a visitor from Los Angeles pressed by his father to make it into the Ivy League."
...
"Chris! The opponent is All-In!"
In a reserved casino in Massachusetts, a young man wearing a cowboy hat sat expressionlessly outside, arranging his poker cards based on messages relayed by a youth darting from inside the casino.
It was clearly a game of Texas Hold’em poker, and the outside youth, due to age restrictions, couldn’t enter the casino but that didn’t stop him from betting against people inside.
The community cards had already been dealt—four of them: a four of diamonds, a nine of hearts, a nine of spades, and a ten of spades.
"All-In," said the youth outside, and his companion ran back in.
Soon cheers and outcries erupted from inside: "Straight Flush beats four nines!" "Damn it!" "Who dares to go all in against four nines? You’ve got guts!"
The youth stood up, adjusted the brim of his cowboy hat, and with the corner of his mouth turned up, walked towards a parking lot in the distance.
"Where are you going, Chris?" His companion came out holding the chips and shouted.
The youth opened the car door, "Attending a boring summer camp, just so I can get into an Ivy League school, as my father demands."
...
"Second place, David Schafer, attended a public high school in Georgia, just as poor as me, believing that college could change his fate."
...
In Dunwoody, Georgia, a bespectacled, overweight white high school kid was currently handing over two videotapes along with a few bills to two black youths in front of him.
The black youths opened their backpack, which was filled with books.
"These were stolen from the Gwinnett County Public Library," said the black youth as he handed the backpack to the white kid.
The white kid greedily caressed the books, flipping through each one, then his face changed color, "I told you to steal according to the list I gave you! You got several books wrong!"
"David, if I fucking knew how to read, I wouldn’t be doing this shit!" the black youth counted his money, turned, and walked away, then looked back and asked, "I can get you some more tomorrow if you want."
David zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulders, behind the lenses, his small eyes were bright and piercing as he looked at the black youth, "No, tomorrow I’m going to a summer camp. I’ll contact you when I get back."
...
"Third place, Zoey Winters, an Italian-American girl from North Adams Public High School in Massachusetts."
...
"Zoey!" a middle-aged woman called out loudly to a black-haired girl sitting and contemplating on the lawn in the distance.
The girl turned her head and looked at the woman, "What is it, Mom?"
"Paul called, he wants to ask you out to a movie, he can drive over to pick you up if you agree," the woman said with a smile, "My daughter is popular, not bad."
"Tell that idiot to jerk off to a poster of a woman," the girl muttered in disdain.
"What did you say, Zoey?" her mother asked loudly, not having heard her daughter clearly.
The girl named Zoey responded to her mother with a sweet smile, "Nothing, Mom, I was just thinking about what I need to prepare for summer camp, tell Paul I don’t have time."
...
"Fourth place, Catherine Naun, an elite student from a private high school in Manchester, New Hampshire."
...
"Those classmates have killed countless lives! Butterflies, beetles, ants, even birds, they’ve cruelly turned them into specimens!" A brown-haired girl sat in the back seat of a luxury car, speaking loudly and unhappily.
"Yes," her father, driving the car, nodded, "It is indeed cruel."
"But they received praise from the school, and me? I haven’t harmed any life, Dad, yet Miss Gianna criticized me harshly and called you," the girl said, "There’s a serious problem with education in this country."
Her father, gripping the steering wheel, chuckled wryly, "Catherine, I don’t think Miss Gianna was out of line; rather, I think you scared her."
"Why? I simply suggested that instead of harming those adorable creatures, why don’t we choose the most despised organism in this school that we all hate to make into a specimen. Undoubtedly, the most despised organism is the principal. It would not only fulfill the school’s assignment but also spare us from seeing the detested creature in school anymore." The girl’s voice was full of displeasure, "We all know Miss Gianna actually hates the principal too, yet she hypocritically rejected my suggestion and criticized me."
