ON HOLD; It's No Fun Being This Smart | ONC2021

Area of a Rectangle

"Three times one is three. Three times two is six."

All the second graders recited in unison.

"Three times three is nine. Three times four is twelve."

That is, all of them except Isla.

"Three times five is fifteen. Three times six is eighteen."

Isla covered her ears. She couldn't stand the sound of her classmates' failed attempt at speaking in sync.

The teacher, Sir Reyes, approached Isla, who was sitting in her chair.

Once the class quiet down, Isla put her hands down and looked up at Sir Reyes.

"I know you're very bright, Isla," said Sir Reyes, making Isla smile. He went on, "But that doesn't excuse you from learning your times tables," making Isla frown.

She protested, "I already know how to multiply. In fact, I can multiply big numbers. I can show you."

Sir Reyes sighed, but he complied. "Okay. What's nine times nine," he asked.

Isla turned her eyes to the empty whiteboard. She imagined a grid with nine rows and nine columns. She began skip counting as she highlighted each row in her head. She mumbled, 'Nine, eighteen, twenty-seven-"

"See, you don't know," said Sir Reyes. Isla felt her tummy tighten. She wanted to say that it was no fair, she was almost done. Alas, Sir Reyes walked away and told the class to begin reciting their four table. Isla could feel her classmates watching as her tongue twisted. She gripped the bottom of her seat and kept her eyes on her desk, waiting for class to be over. Soon enough, it was. Since math was the last class for the day, everyone but the assigned cleaners were dismissed. Isla sat in her chair, watching her classmates run outside.

When everyone but the cleaners were outside, Isla put on her backpack and walked to the soccer field near the gate. Waiting for their parents, guardians, and drivers, some kids were running in the middle of the field, playing freeze tag, some were drawing on the soil that was too dry for grass, and one or two older kids were climbing trees.

Isla sat by a tree in a quiet part of the field. There, she opened backpack and pulled out a banana. Then, she pulled out a couple bond papers that were stapled together. Printed on the bond papers were long word problems. Her mom had asked her not to bring them to school, but Isla cried until her mom gave in. She picked a random number, nine. Question number nine read: A rectangular field has a perimeter of 50 units. What is it's maximum possible area? She pulled a pen from her skirt, flipped the paper over, and got to work drawing quadrilaterals.

She finished with the answer 156 and a fraction squared units. She looked up and saw a mystery girl her age running to her.

The mystery girl spoke, "Isla, are you coming?"

"Sorry," said Isla. "Do I know you?"

The mystery girl looked confused. "I'm Li, your classmate. You are Isla, right? My mom said that she and your mom set us up for a playdate today. My mom's a teacher so I usually hang out at school."

"My mom didn't say anything about a playdate," said Isla. "I'll call and ask her."

Isla ran to the guard's station, knowing there was a free landline there. She didn't know if she wanted to have a playdate or to have been lied to.