Gloria and Victor were taking a twenty-day marriage leave for their honeymoon.
Even though Jolly persuaded Rachel to join them on their honeymoon, she couldn’t put off her work for that long. They needed to figure out where the three billion dollars were, and Justin had to finish his work for the venture for which he had just recently signed a contract. Because of the impending jobs, they could not take vacations whenever they pleased.
Gloria and Victor departed the following morning as scheduled. The only difference between their original plan and this one was that they brought the children.
“Did we really let the kids join Gloria and Victor? What about school?”
Rachel and Justin dropped them off at the airport terminal. As the four people passed the security checkpoint, she suddenly remembered the kids’ school attendance.
Justin calmed her worries by saying, “Do not worry. I’ve informed their substitute teacher that they will be absent for a few days.”
“What did you say to the teacher? Did you say they aren’t feeling well or something else?” In a flash of insight, she cautiously asked, “Did you tell her the truth?”
“What else?”
She was at a loss for words when she saw his serious expression.
Charlotte was known as a troublemaker who liked to cause mischief at school. Hence, Rachel tried to avoid every parent-teacher conference with various excuses. However, the situation was made worse by Justin’s honesty.
“Can’t you just tell a lie?”
What is the point of lying? Even their teacher sounds happy when I tell her they’re going on vacation.”
“How is that possible? Other children are in school, while ours are on vacation! Isn’t it absurd?”
Obviously, she was worrying too much.
The school would be delighted to approve their leave. Their homeroom teacher, Victor, is going on his honeymoon, so the substitute teacher was hoping they wouldn’t have to see Charlotte at school because the young mischief-maker was too difficult to discipline.
Samuel, the little genius who could easily complete a sixth-grade math Olympiad question, could take the leave for as long as he wanted, let alone the twenty days. His presence in class will only increase peer pressure on other students his age.
As they drove back to the office, Justin drove, and Rachel sat in the passenger seat, relaxing next to him as the car traveled down the highway.
He finally broke the silence. “By the way, while requesting a leave of absence for Samuel, the school reminded me to reconsider the offer.”
What kind of offer is it?
“It is Samuel’s enrollment in the Special Class for the Gifted Young.”
Rachel frowned slightly at this, but he continued, “Since you already said no the first time, I won’t try to convince you this time. But we should first ask Samuel what he thinks.”
His words didn’t help to lift the crease between her brows as she responded with mixed emotions, “I understand if the SCGY is better suited to a child like Samuel, but don’t you think he deserves a happy childhood? In fact, I’d rather he did not learn anything too advanced until he’s older.”
“Have you ever considered that Samuel is now being exposed to something far more complex than we can imagine?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve recently discovered Samuel’s programming ability.”
Rachel’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the shocking news. “Where did he acquire such skills?”
“He learned them in school, but no child his age can create such a complex program as he did.” Justin sighed with amusement. “A prodigy normally outperforms the average person in a particular field. Samuel is indeed intelligent because he possesses the talent.”
She grasped the meaning of what he was trying to convey. “Do you think I wasted his talent?”
“No, I don’t. I know you did everything for his own good.”
“I’m afraid he won’t be able to become the person that others expect him to be. He’s finally at the age where he can learn new things rapidly, and it worries me that he may become an early bloomer. He may just be an average Joe in the future. However, the psychological gap between him and everyone else will still be very noticeable.” Rachel sighed after much deliberation. “This thought has bothered me ever since.”
A child prodigy should not be kept hidden. Rachel would not want Samuel’s talent to go to waste.
Justin held her hand as he sensed her anxiety. “You shouldn’t worry too much. It is a matter for the future.”
She nodded. “You are right. I shouldn’t make all the decisions for him. I’ll talk to him about it after he returns from his vacation. It is entirely up to him whether or not he wishes to enroll.”
“I’m afraid you might have to worry about one more thing if he finally decides to go.”
“Which is?”
“Charlotte will undoubtedly throw tantrums if she knows.”
Rachel’s head began to ache as soon as she regained her composure following a moment of shock. Charlotte enjoys spending time with Samuel because the two are inseparable. She’ll undoubtedly make a scene if she knows he’s going to SCGY.
“I wonder where Charlotte got her clinginess from?” She sighed.
“Who knows?” Justin responded quickly, but his grip on Rochel’s hond tightened.
Sometimes o porent’s personolity or hobit wos mirrored in their child. Being clingy, for exomple, could toke mony forms, including the type of tontrums thot Chorlotte experienced when she wos seporoted from the person she loved.
Rochel wos oblivious thot even Justin wos no longer residing with her, but they continued to see eoch other frequently.
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