AN: So, I'll tell you I had so much trouble with this chapter, which is why it's a short little transitional chapter.
I had a whole different direction written, but ended up erasing the entire thing. But I recently reread some of the later parts. There are so many typos so, thanks for being tolerant and understanding of them... Anyway, my issue was with the Bernard and Bianca storyline.
You might have guessed that I was planning to hook them up, but no... This was going to be my attempt to add a gay character to the story, that would be Bernard coming out to her but it just doesn't read well! It's just clunky. Every time I go back to reread, it just ends up being the least interesting part. So, I'll likely severely cut those parts and retoool, upon further edits. My attempt to expand/diversify character-wise will have to come in another story.
But just know that Bernard is canonically gay. And I will definitely make that emphatically clear without the formal coming out scene.
As for how Christian's little obsession resolves? *ahem* No clues for y'all on that one.
Anyway, I finally hit on a stride with this final big turn in the Ashwood series. We're coming up on the homestretch folks! So, brace yourselves! Also, thanks for hanging in there with me. :)
You're the best!!
***
The Winter semester resolved with grades holding steady despite the attacks. Bianca's outward scars faded. Christian recovered, but wore a brace and used a heavy cane to support himself while he finished healing.
Christian kept his distance as Nathan and Anita settled into the kind of comfort and ease he'd rarely seen even among older married couples. They'd all survived Dr. Winter or "Miss Estelle's" courses with Bernard and Bianca now, a close pair of friends.
Kirk and Mary Sue also occasionally still hung out with the group, having grown a bit since the protest.
There was a sense of sweeping change happening in the country. Of things starting to look up for the Negro citizen. Many were moving out of sundown towns into more integrated opportunities in the larger northern cities. Voices for change were growing louder and harder to ignore.
As for the end of the school term and that year at Ashwood, the biggest event for the student body in four years was nearing, The International Young Geniuses Trivia Tournament. Specialized schools from all over the world would come to Montreal, Quebec to compete for the International Young Geniuses Cup, just a ninety-eight mile drive from the Ashwood campus, and over the border into another country, Canada.
All eyes were on Ashwood's team, assembled from the very brightest and most gifted students on campus. They were one of only two teams participating with a mix of races and the only team with black students. As was true of so much for the black students of Ashwood, they were in the spotlight and a stand-in for what colored students could achieve given space and opportunity to do so.
...And so, Bianca, Christian, Nathan, Anita, Janine, Fred, and Bernard had settled into a routine of intense drills and flashcard studies in preparation for the big International Young Geniuses Tournament.
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ASHWOOD ACADEMY
Historical Fiction[EDITORS' CHOICE, June 2020][#1 History June 2020] -- Five black students make history as the first to integrate a prestigious school for gifted students in 1950's Vermont. One student, Anita Prescott, is a young girl whose strength and leadership...
