Chapter 5
Natonito and all of the teachers were having a rare night meeting with all of the teachers of the Imperial School, trying to tell them about what sort of things they would have to do in the near future. As the principal, and as the Directrix, the teachers were of course paying a good deal more attention to him than most of their students paid to them.
�As the end of the school year is coming to an end, you guys will be very busy. I trust your final exams have been written out already,� Natonito said.
�Yes, mine are done,� they all said at various times.
�That is good to hear. I expect you will have your marks done quickly so that the students will find out whether they did well or poorly before they leave for their summer breaks,� Natonito said.
�I would hope so. Most of us are doing our grades on our computers,� the biology teacher said.
�As soon as the finals are graded I will tweak the grades with my specialized curve, but that will be done very quickly, within a couple of days,� the math teacher said.
�Anyone have problems getting their grades in a couple of days after the finals are done?� Natonito said.
�Why the rush?� Wilfred asked.
�Well, there are two students who have struggled mightily, and if they do not improve greatly, I am going to have them sent off to the imperial marines. I would rather have them find out right way,� Natonito said.
�I see. It would be easier to find out if they�re getting tossed right now so that you don�t have to waste the effort going down to Wessexville to root them out,� Wilfred said.
�Exactly. Also, there is one good student who I want to reward who has achieved far beyond what I expected him to do. He was the brightest student in his school, but his school was not highly ranked, and so he was one of the lower ranked male students coming in. However, he is currently the best student in this program, and I want to make sure his hard work is rewarded. He has a bright future if he keeps it up,� Natonito said.
�You are talking about Daniel Miller, right?� the history teacher said.
�Yes, I am,� Natonito replied.
�He is an incredibly bright kid, but he has very traditional religious beliefs,� the biology teacher said. �It worries me that someone so bright could be a believer.�
�What is wrong with belief?� Wilfred sharply asked.
�Yes, what is wrong with belief? It is only belief in a higher power and in the fair judgement of God that keeps people able to survive this highly imperfect world without going insane. I wish more people believed, so that society would not be under the strain it is,� Natonito said.
After blushing, the biology teacher said, �I did not mean to offend you.�
�No offense taken,� Natonito answered bluntly.
�Is there anything else you want us to do?� the philosophy teacher asked.
�Of course there is, or else I would have adjourned this meeting,� Natonito replied. �As it is the end of school, I think a few students will try to bring in alcoholic drinks and try to party to relieve the stress of finals.�
�Do you have any plan of stopping this from occurring?� the language professor asked.
�Yes, I do. I want all of you to watch the dormitories for the next week in pairs, until finals are done. If you hear any loud noises or notice any suspicious activity, one will stand guard at the door of the dormitory, and the other will come to me so I can come with an attachment of troops to dispel the dark little minions of chaos that I am in charge of,� Natonito said. �Is that understood?�
�Yes, no problem,� the teachers said.
�That is good to hear. You may begin your guard tonight, unless you are going to be busy with final exam reviews,� Natonito said.
�Well, speaking for all of us,� the history teacher said, �I think we all have a little work to do tonight.�
�Yeah, we have a little work to finish up,� the biology and philosophy teacher said.
�Fine then, begin tomorrow night,� Natonito said.
�Alright, will do,� the teachers said.
�You may leave now. I want to talk to you, Wilfred,� Natonito said.
�Alright,� Wilfred answered. The teachers left to their own rooms to work on final exam reviews.
�You come from the town of Cork as well, right?� Natonito said.
�Yes, I do, the same town that Henry and Daniel are from,� Wilfred said.
�True, Henry comes from that area as well, but he was always educated in private schools in the city of Bravia. It is Daniel that I wonder about. The school in Cork are the most hideous in all of Bravia. They have only produced a handful of college graduates, of which you are one. I wonder what drives someone in such a town to succeed,� Natonito said.
�Well, people who are bright in small towns are often made fun of, because in rural areas brains are not particularly valued, but instead physical strength. If someone is of good character, it is even worse, because most small towns have lost that moral fiber that made them formerly great. Such ambitious young people who have been mocked their whole lives never forget the abuse, and never forget that there is nowhere they belong in the whole world,� Wilfred said. �I know, I�ve been there myself.�
�So a person with that sort of experience never feels like they belong?� Natonito asked.
�Nope. With time they may feel comfortable, but it takes a lot of work to overcome the long experience of being an outcast,� Wilfred said.
�Alright. I want you to keep an eye out on Daniel, make sure he feels accepted and that someone else has gone through the same kind of treatment. I don�t want him to show problems because of his past. He is not a popular student in the class either, so I want him to know that he has some people he can trust,� Natonito said.
�Will do,� Wilfred said as he left the office.
Meanwhile, Bill and Tom were working to get the kegs in place for the party. The delivery person was helping out, because they were good customers. He had provided the weed as well as the beer for the party, and they used ropes to put the supplies for the party over the wall. After everything was over the wall, they found a secure hiding place and put the kegs underneath some of the blankets that were normally left in the courtyard area. Thus secure, Bill and Tom made their final plans for the party tomorrow night.
�The party tomorrow night should be great,� Tom said.
�Yeah, it should be really fun,� Bill said.
�How many people did you invite to the party?� Tom asked.
�Well, since we planned it, 24,� Bill said.
�That means Daniel, Delia, Henry, and Cherie are not invited, correct?� Tom said.
�That is correct,� Bill said.
�Good, I never liked them anyway. Hopefully tomorrow night will be a good time to get drunk and get laid,� Tom said.
�Yes, that is always a good thing,� Bill said.
�I hope that the girls will be interested in a nice long relationship too,� Tom said.
�That depends on whether the girls want a lot from you. If they want a lot, you can give them a little and they will give you much more,� Bill said.
�That�s a good plan, but the last time we tried that we ended up with some nasty diseases,� Tom said.
�Don�t remind me, I still get those outbreaks every once in a while. These girls should be much better than those peasant girls from Imperium. I love aristocratic girls, so hypocritical,� Bill said.
�What do you mean by that?� Tom said.
�They preach their high morals and exclusivity and then when they get drunk they get as loose as any cheap whore. They are such total hypocrites, but as long as I�m getting some, I don�t complain,� Bill said.
�I see. How many aristocratic girlfriends have you had?� Tom asked.
�Not very many. They are very high maintenance, and until one wants to get married, it�s not worth pursuing that type. They have an inflated view of their own importance as well, and are just too much of the drama queen type for me,� Bill said.
�And besides, they only want you for your money anyway,� Tom said.
�Yes, that is a big problem,� Bill said. �There are way too many golddiggers out there among the noblewomen.�
�Yes, and those damn Bravians have all the gold, too,� Tom said.
�It�s worse, those Bravians are the ones that reject the gold diggers, instead preferring a girl who is kind and sweet to one who wants them for their money� Bill said.
�Yeah, those Bravians get the money and keep it from those of us who would use it to land snobby aristocratic girls,� Tom said.
�Yeah, it�s worse when there are nice aristocratic girls, because once in a while one of them will actually like a nice guy,� Bill said.
�Let�s not think about that though, it�s time to sleep, make sure we�re rested up for tomorrow,� Tom said.
�Alright, let�s go,� Bill said as the two of them went to their dorms to sleep, just ahead of lights out.
[ Chapter 4 ]
| Jump to: |
Quick Links: Bobby's Stories | Nathan's Stories | Government | Map | Main