Humiliation

Prologue

Enjoy, children! :)

I've always thought that school was what I called a sweet haven of mine. I thought it would be my escape from the so-called reality, and the world. I've never believed in the thought that school was "hell", as people called it. Yes, it's a place where we're given work to do, where we're taught how to do stuff on our own, and where we're taught to be disciplined and prepared for our awaiting future. These are what I understood and knew before I even entered a real school.

I was a homeschool student. My parents, both university professors, have spent most of their lives raising me to become like them — intelligent, observant, and virtuous at the same time. They believed that if I attended homeschooling from my rudimentary to my pre-teen ages, I would be intelligent and valuable with my morals at the same time. They also believed that if I attended public schools like other kids in my neighborhood, they wouldn't see me grow into my values the same way I was taught and raised by my parents. That was their belief. Little did I know that their strategy of homeschooling me actually worked, and little did I know that they were right about the latter theorem. Well, they're college professors anyway, PhDs, to be exact. They've read countless research papers, have done researches before, taught university students the science and facts about each well-being of the person, and studied people for certain scientific and psychological experiments. Yes, that's what they've done for a living.

After they had homeschooled me, they thought that I should enter a school... A real school. My mother, Fiona Withers, looking nervously between me and my father, Patrick Withers, as she stirred her coffee with her small metallic spoon, told me, "Grace, your father and I were thinking. You're already 15, you have known and understood every lesson you have learned from us, and your intelligence is enough for you to catch up with the curriculum that the kids your age have been taught with, but we think you need to have a taste what it's like to learn outside of what you're perceiving right now. Your mind has limited itself to what you know just inside this house. So I think that you should..."

I continued her statement right before she made the announcement, "Attend school like the other kids, right?" I blankly stared at them, while their left eyebrows were raised, and their heads slowly nodding, as if they were shocked and confused at the same time. They were shocked because I looked unshaken, unfazed by the news, and at the same time, confused. Was I mad? Was I happy, or was I being scared, seeing that the news meant that I had to face a new experience outside the place I've spent most of my life at? That's what kept them in their heads. It was pretty obvious, seeing that they looked nervous and scared of the reaction they were going to receive.

I just blinked, and sighed, continuing to eat my cereal, as both of my parents held their breaths, waiting for my response to this news. Once I finished my cereal, I silently walked over to the sink, and placed my dirty bowl and spoon in it for me to wash it later, but for now, I still had to give my response to my parents. I gave out a big sigh, and looked up to them. I spoke calmly, "Mom, dad, all my life you've kept me in this house. You've taught me academics in an advanced level, guided me in valuing my morals, helped me build up my faith in God, and made me learn how to do my own chores around this house. You could say that you've taught me so much that I feel like I'm actually ready to get out and discover the world. But I guess you're actually right. I was still lacking an aspect in my life: social life. I have a limited count of friends, and I have developed an introverted personality. So I guess that what you're offering to me..." They once again, held their breaths as they awaited my response.

I chuckled lightly, and joked, "Will you guys stop doing that? You look like you're expecting an answer from a doctor to know whether I'm still alive or not. I'm still alive, guys!" Their jovial laughter echoed throughout the dining room, and so the intense atmosphere lingering through it was dissipating. So I continued, "Back to what I just said, I guess that what you're offering to me, would be great. I'm accepting it, and I will use it as an opportunity to improve my social skills."