The physics teacher’s gaze lingered on Morgan with an increasingly peculiar curiosity. He simply inquired. “Why can’t Mirabe crack it, Morgan? Are you perhaps harboring a bit of a <b>s</b>?”
Morgan choked on his words, blindsided by the counter–question. After a few seconds of silence, he managed to stammer out, “You’re the one deep into physics. You know the level of difficulty we’re talking about here. She’s from the humanities..
Although Mr. Hammond couldn’t make heads or tails of the physics problem, he was well aware that an Olympiad question was no walk in the park. He had heard Morgan harp on about ‘Mirabe being a humanities student‘ one time too many, couldn’t hold back any longer, and chimed in. “Morgan, you seem to have forgotten something. Initially, I wanted to ce her in your Prodigy ss.”
e own
His implication was clear. She was meant to be a science student all along. Morgan’s doing led to the twist of fate, whichnded her in the humanities ss.
Mr. Hammond’s reminder hit Morgan like a ton of bricks, almost making him stagger. He had always refused to entertain, let alone admit, the fact that he had personally pushed Mirabe out of the Prodigy ss. Every time Mirabe topped the charts with remarkable grades, he would deliberately turn a blind eye, stop his ears, and shun any twinge of regret. But as Mr. Hammond brought it up, it struck him like thunder, shattering his self–deception.
Unaware of this backstory, the physics teacher piped up upon Mr. Hammond’s revtion, “So Mirabe is originally a science student? No wonder she’s so good at physics. I was wondering. why such a promising student was in the humanities. I’ve been meaning to suggest we transfer her to the science ss, Mr. Hammond.”
Noting the physics teacher’s astuteness, Mr. Hammond nced at Morgan again, smirking. “You’ve got quite the eye for talent.”
Morgan’s face paled even further.
“With all this distraction, I almost forgot what we were talking about. Morgan, you mentioned thepetition materials, correct?” As Mr. Hammond spoke, he made his way to his desk. pulled open a drawer, and retrieved a book. He tossed it casually onto the desk, “Is this what you were looking for?”
Morgan’s eyes fell upon the book. After a few seconds of silence, he picked it up and began to leaf through it tentatively.
Leaning against the desk, Mr. Hammond’s gaze was indifferent. “Mirabe gave me that material a few days ago. She said someone had couriered it to her ce by mistake and passed it on to me since she had no use for it. I thought I’d make a few copies for the students to review.”
Flipping through a few more pages, Morgan found various types of questions and answers.
10.08
including those from previouspetitions–all documented within. Looking up, he began, “This…”
“Oh, that’s right,” Mr. Hammond interjected, as if recalling something after a brief pause. “Mirabe also mentioned she found some of the solutions in there a bit too cumbersome and old–fashioned. She was concerned that some might exploit the materials, so she said her approach would be slightly different…”
He paused as if pondering for a moment, then added softly. “Since we’re investigating. I’ll stop by the Education Association at noon, pull up Mirabe’s exam paper, and make a copy for all the teachers to review andpare.”
At the close of Mr. Hammond’s words, Morgan’splexion turned a ghastly shade. Dropping the materials on <b>the </b>desk, <b>he </b>seemed to dete as if all the life had been drained from him in
that instant.
The physics teacher nced at Morgan, shook his head with a mixture of pity and
astonishment, then casually picked up the book, thumbing through it before clicking his tongue in disappointment.