Chapter 31
The next morning, the three of them went to the private school for high-IQ children recommended by Principal Anderson from Sarah's preschool. They were met by Principal Debbie Rogers, a middle aged woman slightly taller than Leonard. Leonard introduced himself along with his daughter and Penny.
"Good morning Sarah. Principal Anderson told me everything about you." Principal Rogers said.
Sarah looked at her. "Hello." she said shyly.
Leonard smiled at the principal. "She's a little shy." he said turning to his daughter. "It's alright honey. Don't be shy." he said.
"No problem Dr. Hofstadter. Ms. Sanders here will accompany Sarah to the adjacent room to take the test while you can wait here." the principal said.
Leonard nodded and knelt at his daughter. "Sarah honey….Ms. Sanders here will take you to the next room to take the test alright?" he said.
Sarah nodded. "Okay daddy." she said.
Leonard hugged her. "Just relax and you'll do great. We're proud of you." he said kissing her cheek.
"Hi Sarah, I'm Ms. Sanders….are you ready?" she said. Sarah nodded as she followed Ms. Sanders to the adjacent room.
"Alright….if you'll excuse me, I have something to attend to and I'll be right back." the principal said.
Leonard smiled. "No problem….we'll just wait here for my daughter to finish." he said.
"Thank you….uh can I get you guys anything? Water? Coffee? Juice?" she asked.
"No thanks….we're good." Leonard said as they sat on a couple of chairs while making small talk.
Sarah came back out after almost an hour inside the testing room followed closely by Ms. Sanders.
"Okay, Sarah is done and I'll just get her test graded." Ms. Sanders said as she walked towards another room.
Leonard smiled seeing his daughter again. "So how was it honey?" he asked the child.
"It's alright daddy." Sarah said as she sat beside Penny.
"I think you did good sweetie." Penny said putting her arm around the child as Sarah smiled at her.
They sat for another ten minutes when the principal came out of her office and walked towards them.
"Sorry to keep you waiting Dr. Hofstadter….will it be alright if I talk to the two of you alone in my office?" she said.
Leonard nodded and turned to his daughter. "Sarah honey, you stay here while Penny and I talk to Principal Rogers alright?" he said.
The child nodded. "Okay daddy." she said.
The couple followed the principal to her office as they sat on the chairs by her table.
"Are you sure I can't get you guys anything?" she asked.
"Just water would be fine." Leonard said. The principal then went to the small fridge in the corner and took out two water bottles, handing it to them. The principal then sat on her chair facing the couple.
"Principal Anderson told me what happened to Sarah's mom." she said.
Leonard nodded. "She died of cancer four years ago." he said.
"I'm so sorry to hear that. Was she a scientist like you?" she asked.
"She's a high school math teacher." said Leonard.
She nodded. "That explains why your daughter is smart." she said turning to Penny. "Penny, are you also into science?" she asked.
"No. I'm a fashion consultant." said Penny as Ms. Sanders entered the office and handed a few sheets of papers to the principal. The principal looked at it, occasionally shifting her glasses. She then put the papers down and looked at Leonard.
"Well you should be very proud of your daughter Dr. Hofstadter….perfect score on all her tests." said the principal handing him the test results.
Leonard and Penny was shocked and couldn't believe what they heard as they looked at the test results. "Ugh...wow this is amazing!" he smiled.
"Honey this is great!" Penny said looking at Leonard.
"So I guess my daughter can attend this school huh?" Leonard asked while still looking at the papers.
The principal smiled. "Dr. Hofstadter, it would be our pleasure if you choose to enroll you daughter here. Do you know how many students get a perfect score on that test?" she asked.
Leonard and Penny looked at her. "How many?" he asked.
"Throughout the whole history of the school, only a handful...and Sarah is the youngest." she added. "This is truly astonishing….imagine a five year old girl getting a perfect score." she said.
"I don't know what to say." Leonard continued. "But my concern is the cost….I don't think I can afford this school." he said.
The principal laughed. "Dr. Hofstadter, we'll give her full scholarship. You don't have to pay a single dollar. In fact, we'll provide all her books and school supplies including all uniforms...everything. We will even provide her with a monthly allowance that you can use at your discretion….no receipts." she said.
Leonard and Penny looked at each other. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Not only does Sarah get to attend the school free but they are going to pay them a monthly allowance as well.
"Uh...can you give me a couple of days to decide?" Leonard said.
"We'll double the allowance." said the principal writing on a piece of paper and showing them the figure.
Leonard was speechless. "Wow that is so generous. My other concern is that I don't want my daughter being buried in books and papers….I already went through that when I was young and I don't want that for my daughter." he said.
The principal nodded. "That's a common concern for most of the kid's parents here that's why we have a child psychiatrist in our staff to monitor their well being….and our number of students per class is low since we only admit children who pass our tests." she said.
Leonard nodded. "That's good to know. Okay...I guess my daughter will attend here." he said.
"Thank you Dr. Hofstadter." she said shaking his hand and Penny's. "Don't worry about your daughter...we'll take good care of her….I can almost see her winning every academic contest there is." she said.
The principal accompanied the couple out of her office. They noticed that Sarah was no longer in her seat. Penny saw her on the hallway looking up on a blackboard. They went to her to see what she was looking at.
"Sarah honey, what are you doing?" Leonard asked his daughter. She didn't reply and just pointed at the equation written on the board. Leonard looked at it and pulled Penny to the side.
"What's the matter honey?" Penny asked.
"That equation is wrong." he whispered to Penny.
"Really?" Penny said as the principal saw the child looking at the board.
Leonard went back to his daughter. Sarah pulled his hand and whispered in his ear. Leonard laughed. "Really?….why is that honey?" he asked his daughter. She whispered to him again. "Okay I'll tell her." he said standing up.
"Uh excuse me Dr. Hofstadter but what's funny?" the principal asked.
Leonard sighed. "Sarah said that maybe this school is not as smart as she thought." he said.
The principal was a little surprised. "And why does she think that?" she asked.
"Because that equation on the board is wrong. She's asking why would you put a wrong equation on the board?" he said smiling.
Principal Rogers smiled and knelt beside the child. "Sarah, do you think that equation is wrong?" she asked.
Sarah looked at her. "Yes. The exponent on the denominator should be positive, otherwise it's unsolvable." the child said.
"Well….do you think you can prove it?" asked the principal while Leonard and Penny held hands waiting for Sarah's response.
"I can try but I don't have a pen and paper." said Sarah.
"Alright I'll get you a pen and paper." said the principal. She returned with a pad of paper and a couple of pencils for the child.
Sarah knelt in front of one of the chairs and started to write while the adults watch. It didn't take long until some of the teachers and students joined them in the hallway watching Sarah and her small hands solve the equation. After about twenty minutes, Sarah wrote the last term of her solution and handed the paper to Principal Rogers. She looked at it and handed it to one of the teachers.
"Mr. Potts here is our mathematics teacher." the principal said. Mr. Potts looked at the paper and laughed.
"Oh my god!...I though nobody would solve it!" he said wiping the tear from his eyes. "The solution is so...elegant!" he said smiling.
Leonard took the paper and looked at it while Penny looks over his shoulder.
"Oh my god….this is so amazing!" he said as he picked up his daughter. "I'm so proud of you honey!" he said as the teachers and students huddled to look at the work of the child.
"Sweetie you're so amazing!….we're so proud of you!" Penny said as she hugged her.
The principal then handed Leonard an envelope. Leonard opened it and was surprised to see almost two thousand dollars inside.
"Uh what is this for?" he asked the principal.
"That equation was deliberately put there for anyone to solve and win two thousand dollars. From the start of term, nobody was able to claim the prize until your daughter here." she said. "Nice work Sarah….we're so excited for you to join us here at school." she said to the child.
"Daddy, does this mean I'm going to this school?" Sarah asked.
"Yes honey….they're really excited to have you here." Leonard said.
"Can we use the money to buy a horse?" she asked.
Leonard and Penny laughed. "Honey I don't think two thousand dollars is enough to buy a horse." he said.
"A horse?" asked the principal.
"We took her to this ranch that teaches kids how to ride and now she wants one." he said.
"That sounds like fun...anyway we'll see you at the start of term okay?" she said to Sarah.
The child nodded. "Yes Ms. Rogers." said Sarah.
"Well I think we're done here." said the principal looking at the other students. "Alright, show is over kids. Get back to your classes." she said as the students and teachers go on their way.
Leonard put his daughter down and shook the principal's hand. "Than you Ms. Rogers." he said
"You're welcome and I'll see you guys next week so we could formalize Sarah's registration." she said shaking Penny's hand.
"Okay….we'll be here." said Leonard.
They started to walk away as Sarah held Leonard and Penny's hand. "I'm so proud of you honey!" he said to his daughter.
"Hey why don't we celebrate?….let's go to the mall….we can watch a movie….we'll eat out…." Penny said.
"That's a great idea honey!….do you want to go to the mall?" he asked his daughter.
"Yay!….can we go to the toy store daddy?" Sarah asked.
"Of course honey….we'll do whatever you want." said Leonard.
They went to the mall and had lunch before watching a movie. After the movies, they took Sarah to the toy store where she bought a new stuffed toy, several new games for her Xbox and Wii and a new barbie doll. They then went to a restaurant to have dinner before going home. Sarah was already asleep when they reached the apartment as Leonard carried her while Penny took care of the items they bought from the mall. Leonard went straight to his daughter's room and put her on the bed, removing her shoes, putting her stuffed horse beside her and tucking her in. He closed the bedroom door and went back to the living room where Penny is resting on the couch.
"Ugh...what a day!" he said as he sat beside his girlfriend.
Penny held his hand. "I'm so happy for you honey….imagine Sarah getting full scholarship." she said.
"I know, and the best part was she gets paid just by going there." he said.
"I know….at five years old, Sarah is already earning." she said as she cuddled on his shoulder. "Honey?" she said.
"Hmmm." Leonard said absently.
"Lets take her to Disneyland." said Penny.
"Really?….do you wanna do that?" asked Leonard.
"Yeah….I mean, she deserves it right?" Penny said.
"I know but I don't want us to repeat what happened after we first went to the ranch. Remember?" he said.
"Honey, I promise it won't happen again. If I'm not mistaken, you said that we should make decisions together right? So here we are, making the decision together." Penny said.
"Okay let's do it….I'm sure she'll love it there." he added. "Thank you honey." he said kissing her.
"You're welcome honey." she said.