章 11: Michael’s determination
"Mom, mom, stop crying! Don't worry, it can't be true! It was either a mistake or a prank!"
"Who would do something like that? Did you have a conflict with any of your teachers?"
"No way! Look, we can't accept these news over the phone, right? Here's what we're going to do: we're going to go to the school, find one of the teachers who had classes with me this week and ask them if that's true. You'll see that this is all some sort of misunderstanding. I'm telling you, Head of the History department personally promised me I would have a spot in 7th grade".
After hesitating for a while, Michael's mother agreed to go with him to the school to see his teachers and find out the reason for his dismissal. Without wasting anymore time, the two entered the school grounds and headed for the building where Mark Jones's office was.
Michael decided his best shot at getting back his enrollment would be with Jones's help. He was the only teacher who had a vested interest in him and even stood up to his colleagues before to ensure Michael would get in. Now Michael hoped Jones wouldn't want his efforts to go to waste.
After entering the building, Michael asked his mom to go up to classroom 302, where the trial classes were held. She had to look for a teacher to question. If 302 was empty, she needed to go to room 211 to meet with her son.
After making sure she was distracted, Michael flew up a flight of stairs and tried Jones's door handle right away. It gave, and he confidently stepped inside without wasting a second.
Inside, Jones was typing something on his computer when his door opened without a knock. In came the kid he saw as a protégé, Mikhail Severniy, but this time he was dressed in a shirt and jeans. Jones only managed to open his mouth, when the boy beat him to it.
"Sir, you told me I owe you. Well, I came to tell you I owe you nothing!"
Jones frowned. No one was supposed to speak to him like that. But the boy continued:
"Because you said you secured a spot for me. Now half an hour ago my mother received a call and was told I didn't get in. Imagine my surprise when she came into my room, crying her eyes out. You wanted us to talk like adults, fine! Here's what I think. You'd better make damn sure something gets done about this, and I'll owe you anything you want in return. Otherwise, I'll prepare a career-making story for the press about a teacher who helps his students enroll here in exchange for below-the-waist favors in his office!"
Once again, Michael managed to leave Jones slack-jawed. Not only did he demand something of him, he even used a perfectly innocent invitation for tea as blackmail! Only then the man realized what happened. He collected his thoughts and pushed down his temper.
"Let's disregard that accusation for a second. You're telling me you were rejected by someone from school over the phone?"
"Not me. My mom received the call, so I can't tell you who it was, I didn't hear their voice".
Michael picked up a sound of footsteps in the hall.
"Look, she is going to come in here in a few seconds. Tell her it must have been a mistake and we will figure everything out right now. Tell her heads will roll".
"Mikhail, I know better what to…"
There was a timid knock on the door. "Come in, mom!" Michael exclaimed and opened the door himself. His mother, visibly shaken, was clutching her bag to her chest.
"The classroom was empty, Misha. Oh!" she noticed Mark Jones sitting at his table, "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't notice you. You must be Mr. Jones, Misha told me about you. I apologize for my son's behavior, he was so excited about studying here. I don't want to take too much of your time. Could you please tell us what he did wrong and we'll be on our way?"
Jones flashed a small victory smile. The kid wasn't as invincible as he had thought. He turned towards Michael and was met with a fierce stare that promised, "Accept her apology and I will gut you in your sleep". Jones's smirk quickly melted down.
"Ah, you must be Mrs. Severniy? So nice to meet you, ma'am. Actually, Mikhail is right, there had to be some mistake. This young man is one of our most promising applicants this year, I assure you. Can you tell me the name of the person who contacted you?"
"Well, he didn't offer his name, but it was a very polite, sympathetic gentleman".
"Was he young or old? Could it have been a child's voice, maybe a prank?" continued Jones.
"Oh no, no. It was a grown-up, not older than you".
"I see" Jones looked away and stared out the window for a minute.
"Here's what we're going to do. The person responsible for contacting the families was one of the secretaries, I'm not sure who. I will contact the principal now, we'll go there together with Mikhail and compare my list of accepted students with the one the secretary has. Once again, Mrs. Severniy, your son was accepted, all the teachers agreed on that" here Jones flashed Michael a look, "Even Mr, Apoll, that old stickler, had only good words to say about him".
"Thank you so much, sir. It means the world that you would do this for us" Michael's mother waved her hands, trying to show how much it meant.
"You're wrong, ma'am, it was the school's fault in the first place. I have to take responsibility. Now, please, lend me Mikhail here for some credibility and have some rest. I'll make sure you get good news within the hour".
After bowing a few times, the reassured mother left back home. Michael closed the door and looked at Jones. His gaze did not feel childish at all and reminded Jones of that one moment when these same eyes showed emotion no child was capable of expressing. That was the moment he knew this boy was miles ahead of his age group in development.
This gaze pointed at him now was so heavy that Jones knew only one man who could do the same thing. The most frightening man he ever had to deal with, the principal. The man was ex-special forces, a retired intelligence agent with connections to three-letter agencies. The boy in front of him, a bit over 5 ft tall, could not exude a similar feeling. He couldn't, yet he did.
"You show me the man who made my mother cry and I'll take his balls off with a fork" the kid revealed a clenched-jaw, toothy grin.
Jones let out a nervous laugh, then coughed a couple of times to lighten the mood.
"Don't worry, Mikhail. I already have an idea of what happened" he said, picking up the phone and dialing a number.
"Mr. principal, sir. Mark Jones here. I have one of our newest 7th-graders, Mikhail Severniy, with me. He says someone called him today and informed him that he didn't pass the exam. Thing is, sir, he did. I wanted to drop by and compare the list of accepted students that I have with the one… Yes, sir, I believe it was not a prank. I think it was one of Kamyshov's… of course, sir, we'll be right there".
Jones hung up the phone and turned on the printer on a nearby table. Half a minute later, he snatched a piece of paper with a list of names, turned to Michael and grinned.
"Now, my young friend. Let me invite you to a little show. You can stand there and watch as all of their plans crumble like a fucking sandcastle".
クリエイターの想い 
BlackInk
BlackInk Well, this was my favorite chapter yet. I hope you enjoyed it too.
With the first story ark rushing to a close, I'll probably take a day to edit the early chapters a bit and flesh out my outline. But only when I finish the first story ark, 2 or 3 chapters later.
Meanwhile, please help me reflect on my writing. Leave a comment and tell me what you like or dislike about LCiAW. I really need your feedback. Spend two minutes on a comment - make this novel better!
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