Last Place, First Choice

As soon as I stepped onto the stage, I placed my handbag beside the desk.

The teacher, Isla Carter, pulled out a math test and slapped it down in front of me.

A huge red "9" was written across the front of the test, making the score impossible to miss.

Isla's voice cut through the room as she repeatedly tapped the test paper with her finger, making it smack loudly against the desk. "Just look at your daughter's grades. She guessed every answer on the multiple-choice section. She left every written problem blank. During class, she's always got her head down, scribbling random things on her paper. She dragged our class average down by three points and ruined our chances of winning the monthly class award again!"

The parents sitting below immediately became angry.

One of the parents in the front row, Eleanor Sterling, pointed toward the stage and shouted. "Do you have any idea how competitive this school is? Why should someone like her be taking up a seat? She needs to be expelled! What if being in the same class as someone like her hurts our children's chances?"

The shouting grew louder, but I ignored them.

I simply lowered my head and turned the test paper over.

There was no blank space on the back.

Instead, it was covered in extremely complex formulas and calculations from non-Euclidean geometry.

They were the core algorithms used to develop the school's competition robot.

What ordinary people saw as random scribbles was actually the world of advanced calculations inside my daughter Sylvana Montgomery's high-functioning autistic mind.

Basic middle school math was far too easy for her, so of course she had no interest in answering it.

When Isla saw me staring at the back of the test, she walked over and tried to pull the paper away. "Stop looking at that! This nonsense is only disrupting the learning environment for the entire class!"

I firmly pressed the paper against the desk.

Then I slowly looked around the room before finally turning my eyes toward Isla.

I smiled. "Thank you."

The noisy classroom fell silent for a moment.

Eleanor scoffed from her seat. "Is she pretending to be stupid now that she knows she's in the wrong?"

I ignored her and looked straight into Isla's eyes. "Thank you for putting up with Sylvana for the past three years. You were right. This school really isn't the right place for her. I'll transfer her to another school next Monday."

Applause suddenly broke out.

Eleanor clapped as hard as she could. Isla also let out a sigh of relief before saying smugly, "I'm glad you finally understand. I'll send you the withdrawal papers tonight. Please sign them as soon as possible. Don't get in the way of our class preparing for the final exams."

I said nothing.

In front of everyone, I tore off the part of the test paper with the red "9" on it.

Then I casually tossed it onto the desk.

Isla's face changed instantly. "What are you doing?"

I carefully folded the back of the paper, the side covered with the non-Euclidean calculations, and slipped it into my pocket. "I'm taking back what belongs to us."

With that, I picked up my handbag and walked off the stage, stepping over the scraps of paper on the floor.