Reversal

Chapter 23 Genius

"*Sigh* I won't beat around the bush, but Christian's behavior surprised me quite a bit... I worked for 15 years in different schools, but this is the first time I've seen a child so perceptive and aware of reality" Putting her hands together, the principal spoke seriously "And according to what Professor Mason said, Christian always kept the same grades regardless of the subject, something very difficult to do for a normal child... I don't know if you understand what I mean, but I want to know what you know about your son's intelligence"

"..." Eva frowned, instantly straightening her posture as her arms crossed over her chest.

"You don't have to get defensive, I just want what's best for the children and if Christian is as intelligent as I think he is, I find it would be a waste not to help him better develop his abilities"

"..." Looking for a few seconds towards the headmistress, Eva sighed, as her posture visibly relaxed "I recently learned of his.... talents"

"What talents?"

"Christian... *sigh* I honestly don't know... yesterday Christian had a very radical change in his behavior... you could say that at home he wasn't very different from how he was at school, he didn't talk much, always in his own world" Eva spoke softly while remembering the little boy with a smile "he always worried me a lot... I always did everything I could to make him talk to me... I always had to do everything I could to get him to talk to me, usually it was me bothering him until he answered me something... but it wasn't like that all the time... on rare occasions, Christian would talk a little more, but very rarely..."

"Do I take him to a psychologist to see if he has some kind of autism or something similar? Since his behavior is something quite similar to those cases"

"No... honestly, it's the first time I think about that possibility *sigh* I'm a lousy mother" Eva murmured dejectedly, as her body collapsed on the chair.

"I don't think Christian thinks that" Smiled the principal "You may not know it, but before I was a teacher or a principal, I studied child psychology, and let me tell you, Christian is an open book... at least with what I saw today..... all I saw in his eyes was affection for you, you can tell he's done a good job or at least Christian thinks so"

"..." Hearing his words, Eva smiled fondly, as she unconsciously brought her hand to her cheek, where Christian had kissed her a few minutes ago.

"But there's something I don't understand... you say Christian is a very introverted child, but today I didn't see any of that..."

"That's what I was getting at... Christian was very quiet, but yesterday his behavior had a major change and you could say that his change started with a fight we had"

"Can you tell me about that argument?"

"*sigh* it started because of my stupidity... I got worried when I saw a bruise on Christian's face and when he told me about the fight I got angry with him.... that led to Christian yelling at me and crying for the first time in his life."

"First time? Crying and screaming?"

"Yes... He's never raised his voice before, let alone cried... even as a baby I never heard him cry"

"Oh... that's interesting, although I still think his behavior resembles autism... What happened next?"

"He... he ran away from me... obviously I chased him instantly... he ran to a nearby park, then hid in some trees... it wasn't hard to find him, let's say his hair doesn't help him, but when I found him, I felt my heartbreak... I had never seen him so disconsolate and fragile... but I also felt great relief, for the first time in his life, my prince was acting like a child... after that, I managed to calm him down a bit and you can say everything went well... no, it went perfectly... I could hear for the first time my little boy's feelings" Eva smiled beautifully, while her eyes reddened remembering those moments.

"I guess it was a nice moment for you" Smiled the director, as she opened one of her drawers and took out a box of tissues from it, instantly bringing it in front of Eva "You may use them"

"Thank you" Eva smiled, as a tear trickled down the edge of her eye.

"So what happened next?"

"We went home, he fell asleep in that park... when we arrived and he woke up that's when he told me everything... you should see him... he looked so happy and cute... I even saw him smile again..."

"They say a son is a mother's weakness, I guess we can both say that's true"

"Do you have children?"

"Yes, I have 4... a set of twin girls who are 9 years old and two boys, one is 7 and the oldest is 15"

"..." Eva looked at the principal with interest, then walked over to the principal and covered her mouth with her hand, while looking at the teacher out of the corner of her eye "Tell me... What are you doing with your eldest son?"

"What do you mean?" Moving closer to Eva, the headmistress whispered in confusion.

"About the girlfriends... Christian is still little, but yesterday I almost had a panic attack thinking about his future... Has he met any girlfriends?"

"N-girlfriend!" Shouted the headmistress with a stutter, but a second later she realized her mistake and lowered her voice again "My son hasn't had a girlfriend... I think"

"Do you have something in mind?"

"This..." Murmured the headmistress in a daze "I never thought my son would have a girlfriend..."

"*sigh* I guess no mother thinks about it until they arrive...I was thinking of buying a gun...you know, to intimidate them... do you think it would work?"

"This..." Turning to look at the teacher even sideways, the headmistress leaned a little closer and whispered "I shouldn't tell you this, but... I think so... although it depends on the girl and what your son is like... just think this, if you had a very beautiful boyfriend would you leave him alone because his mother pulled a gun on you?"

"No..." Eva whispered with a look of horror on her face, only to have her expression fill with hope and whisper "Tell me.... do you think my son will be beautiful in the future?"

"This... don't think it's appropriate for me to tell you..."

"Come on old lady... don't leave me in doubt, just this once I'll let you talk about my son"

"Can't you say it yourself?"

"Sure I can, but you have to know about that bullshit sentence.... that a son will always be beautiful for a mother... I don't know if my judgment is impaired... just help me, I need to prepare myself for the future... you know, mom stuff"

"*sigh* I sincerely sympathize with you... I didn't want to ask before so as not to seem rude, but... your husband is a model or something similar? Also... is that color in your son's eyes normal? I honestly knew a few albinos before and they weren't a big deal, but Christian... I never saw anything like that... shit... saying it out loud sounds pretty bad"

"*gulp* Y-you mean...?"

"I would buy more than one gun if I were you, you should see an arsenal? The father must be a beauty, I congratulate you"

"An arsenal..." Eve muttered absentmindedly, as her hands trembled with fear, completely ignoring the comment about Christian's father.

"*cough* *cough*"

Coughed Professor Mason repeatedly, causing both women to jump at the sudden noise.

"W-where were we?" asked the headmistress nervously.

"..." Eva didn't answer, still staring into the void completely blankly.

"Eva..." Whispered the headmistress, moving her arms a little.

"Y-yes?"

"Where were we? About what happened yesterday..."

"Oh yes... when Christian woke up there was something that made me stupid... he spoke Russian."

"R-Russian?"

"Yes... I speak Russian"

"..."

"..."

"What did he say?"

"I can speak Russian... or so he told me."

"Wow..."

"But that's not all, he could also speak French and Japanese..."

"French and Japanese... Why Japanese?"

"I don't know... I forgot to ask..."

"..."

"The truth is I acted normal, I obviously knew my son is a genius" Eva smiled proudly, as she stuck out her chest a little more, feeling no shame in hiding her outburst.

"That's... amazing."

"For me not so much, after all, he's my son, it's normal for him to be a genius."

"..."

"But that's not all, he also told me that he had a perfect memory, he can remember everything he sees, without ever forgetting it"

"So that's what he meant by not forgetting everything that happened..."

"Yeah... I honestly don't know whether to feel happy or sad... a while ago I would have thought it would be great to have that memory... but according to what Christian said, I can't see it as a good thing..."

"I can imagine..." Sighed the headmistress pitifully "Have you planned anything with his future?"

"Not yet... but yesterday I asked him what he wanted to do... he ended up saying he would write books"

"What about?"

"I don't know... just books"

"He's got a pretty big area to choose from"

"Yes, but he'll see that in the future, I don't want to be like those mothers who force their children to do things they don't want to do."

"Something Christian will be grateful for in the future."

"I just hope I'm not wrong..."

"You're human, it's normal to make mistakes... you just have to know how to deal with them and make sure you don't make them twice"

"Nice talking to you old lady" Eva snorted with amusement.

"I'm only 47, I'm still in my prime years"

"Exclaimed the fossil"

"..."

"Just kidding"

"Changing the subject... I think I can help you with Christian" Opening another of her drawers, the director took out some papers "A while ago the University of Michigan opened a new project, in which they are dedicated to developing genius children in different areas"

"Continued..."

"They gave us the possibility to send all the children who exceed an IQ of 120, I don't doubt that Christian could easily pass it."

"But Christian never took that test..."

"That's the least of it, we can do it in less than an hour here at school"

"..."

"You have to keep in mind that during the time the university works with the kids, they research them and see how to develop them, and if they end up finding out they have potential, they offer a full scholarship for whatever profession the kids decide, you even have the option of continuing their studies"

"..."

"I honestly think it's a perfect opportunity for Christian to tap into his potential, he should think about it"

"*sigh* I don't know... Christian's still a kid... who knows what stress he'll have to go through with those bookworms"

"They're teachers, not mice"

"It's the same thing" Eva waved her hand lazily, then stood up and stretched out her right hand "I already took up a lot of my time, I have to go to work. I'll talk to Christian about his proposal, if he decides to go, I have no problem"

"*sigh* It was nice talking to you, I look forward to a response" Smiled Mrs. Smith slightly, as she squeezed Eva's hand in greeting.

"Just the same... by any chance... Could you give me a copy of that videotape? I need it to... show it to Christian's father and talk things over with him..... yes, for that" Nodding to herself, Eva turned to the television, as her eyes sparkled with interest.

"I shouldn't, but..."

"But?"

"If we think, your son was affected by this case... I guess if you want to take your son to the psychologist he will need to see those scenes to get a better idea of the situation..."

"Obviously that was my idea."

"If so I have no problem, in the afternoon it will be ready, I'll send it to you with Christian"

"That would be perfect, thank you very much for the hospitality" Eva smiled, as she glared goodbye to the professor in the corner, but not before turning again to the headmistress and speaking "That woman... Emma, Jack's mother. She slapped the boy in front of everyone, you should look into that, I wouldn't be surprised if she hit the father as well"

"I'll keep that in mind, see you soon"

Shrugging, Eva left the office, as a pleasant smile formed on her lips.

"My son is a genius"

..

Meanwhile with Christian...

"How the fuck do I turn this crap on?"

Christian whispered in annoyance, turning his gaze to the back of the computer screen.

The old technology was torturing him, there was a big screen in front of him, causing Christian to mistake it for a computer with the CPU included in the screen, but unfortunately for him, no matter how many times he pressed the button, the screen just turned on and stayed blue, with nothing else.