The Prodigies [First Draft]

Nineteen

Kenny could barely sit still in her seat as her pre-calculus professor reviewed how to solve logarithmic functions with her classmates. Her gaze flicked between the clock and her textbook. She had finished the work Mr. Roberto had assigned her and was more than halfway done with the equations she was given to complete for homework. She had only been able to get that far when she realized that, rather than P.E, she had Training as her fourth period course today.

It was Kenny's second day as a student and third day as a resident of AGC, and the young girl was already counting down the days until winter break. Earlier that morning, she had woken up late, for she had forgotten to set an alarm and none of her roommates had roused her. Then, disheveled, Kenny had to sprint to her Orchestra class before she was marked tardy, skipping breakfast in the process. Orchestra with Mr. Old as Time was a headache all in itself, especially because of Kenny's inability to read music notes and play her instrument correctly. After that, she'd had a physics exam which she had forgotten to study for and now, she was in pre-calculus.

Pre-calc seemed to be going well so far. Kenny's classmates were coming to an end of unit one in their textbooks as she started the first lesson of unit three. It wasn't because she was ahead of class (though that was part of the reason); it was because she simply had less time in this class than her fellow students. Not only was she only in pre-calculus for only a semester, but that semester was quickly coming to an end. Unless she mastered basic pre-calculus topics and passed a final exam in a month, she would have to continue to take the class next semester and wait until next year to be in calculus. Kenny knew that was the better option, but at the same time, she didn't want to have to wait to take a calculus course. Even though she was intelligent, Kenny still had the patience of a six-year-old.

The young girl was contemplating which option was best for her when the bell pinged from overhead. The students around her packed up their things and hurriedly shuffled to their upcoming classes. Kenny got up from her chair and walked to Mr. Roberto's desk. Her teacher was scanning through the files in his drawer, plucking a few seemingly at random. After a minute or so, he looked up at Kenny, almost shocked to find her standing at his desk.

"Oh! Do you need anything?" he asked, smiling.

Kenny stared at him in response. She had been too jumpy about having her first Training class to figure out how she was going to ask Mr. Roberto if she needed to change seats.

"Wait...are you in my Ability Training class? With Einstein?"

The young girl nodded.

"Splendid! You can sit wherever you'd like. Einstein usually sits in the far back, and I usually sit at my desk. Anywhere else is open." The man laughed even though he hadn't made much of a joke and went back to his file hunt.

Kenny returned to her seat as Einstein entered the classroom. He shouldered a cello that dwarfed the young girl's violin in size on his back, and his backpack dragged along the floor as he carried it beside him.

"Hello, Mr. Roberto," he greeted politely. He paused when he noticed Kenny, but soon smirked and not so politely added, "And you're here, Hawking."

Kenny didn't meet they boy's gaze as she dropped her pre-calculus textbook and papers into the backpack beside her. She waited for him to walk to his desk, but rather than sit in the back like the young girl had expected him to, Einstein seated himself in the chair right next to Kenny's.

The bell pinged a few moments after Mr. Roberto had stood up from his desk and begun walking towards Kenny and Einstein. He placed a file and a calculator on each of the students' desks and told them, "These are relatively simple problems. I'll give you until about twenty after to finish them, and then I'll show you the answers. You may help each other if you'd like, but you're both solving two different problems. Don't forget to show your work."