Chapter 7

As the school year approached, I couldn’t wait to move out of that loveless home and into the school dorms. The day I left, my parents were once again dispatched to the hospital by Felicity. Liam, though home for the holidays, showed no inclination to help me pack. He just watched me busy myself, then finally tossed out, “This house will finally be quiet.” I hoisted the last bag of luggage into the taxi, not even sparing Liam a glance. The room Principal Thompson had prepared for me was excellent, seemingly converted from an unused faculty dorm, a comfortable studio apartment. I spent a day cleaning the dorm until it was neat and cozy, then went to a bookstore and bought a huge stack of study guides. High school coursework would be heavier; I had to work even harder to outcompete everyone. On the first day of school, as expected, I was ostracized by the other students. They heard the Principal had made an exception to arrange a dorm for me, and immediately labeled me as someone with connections. “Oh, look, here comes the 12-year-old genius!” “Is the prodigy scared to live alone in the dorm? Will she cry for her mom at night?” “Let the prodigy sit by the water cooler. Maybe she’ll need to mix some baby formula during breaks.”