Little More to Offer
(Day 153: Friday Afternoon)
"Am I in trouble again?" Ben worries, as he sits across from the headmistress.
She smiles, "No."
"Then why am I here?"
"It's predicted that you will have three hundred and twenty-eight points by the end of the school year," Fairy Godmother informs.
"I know," Ben frowns. "I'm likely going to be valedictorian for my class."
"Valedictorian is about more than just grades," she counters, "but we're not here to discuss that."
"Then why am I here?" Ben repeats.
"We're here," Fairy Godmother slowly answers, "because I'm afraid this school has little more to offer you."
Ben's mouth gapes as he stares suspiciously at her, "What do you mean?" and he feels his heart pick up pace.
"Ben," she hesitates, "you've taken almost every class we offer, including the pre-college ones for which we offer it."
"No," he defends. "Science electives and languages, not to mention art." He lets out a breath as tears fill his eyes, "There's plenty I haven't taken."
"Most people graduate with two to three hundred points," she softly speaks.
"I've worked hard," Ben mutters. "And now you're tossing me out?"
"I'm not tossing you out," the headmistress starts.
"I know I've done things," his eyes shift, before he desperately pleads, "but I'm not a danger to myself. Or others. Not anymore." His eyes widen, "You don't need to get rid of me." and when he pauses she fails to speak. "I'll be good. I promise."
"Ben," Fairy Godmother frowns. "This has nothing to do with anything you've done. I just want what is best for you."
"If you wanted what was best for me," he breathes, "then you wouldn't be making me leave. I was supposed to be able to have another year here."
"Ben," she calmly replies, "I know that you haven't been sleeping or eating well. As king, you deserve a less hectic schedule." He looks off, and her voice raises slightly, "If you graduate now, then you could start going to college part time, have adequate time for your kingly duties and personal life, and even pursue any other endeavors you may wish."
Ben faces her before seething, "I don't want that. I want this."
"Ben," she attempts to reason.
"No," he loudly interrupts. "Everyone else gets a four-year high school experience, and I'm getting one too."
The headmistress takes a moment, "If you thought about this rationally—"
"This is the only place I'm ever told I've done something right," Ben calms, as the fever hits him. "You can't make me leave."
There's a minute of silence, before Fairy Godmother slides her prepared papers to the side, "Alright." She faces him, "Shall we discuss your class options for next year?"
"You're not kicking me out?" Ben nearly grins.
She shakes her head, "No. You can graduate with your girlfriend next year."
Ben breaths in relief, "Thank you."
Fairy Godmother clasps her hands in front of her, "Ben. You're thanking me for doing something that is standard." before she meets his eyes. "I only offered for you to graduate early, because I thought it could benefit you. Most students would have been thrilled. You… You feel more comfortable graduating with your class." She hesitates, "I don't want you to thank me for doing this for you."
"But I am thankful," he lets her know. "Very thankful."
"And that concerns me," she quiets. "It makes me wonder if you've applied this line of thinking to other parts of your life, thanking people for doing things they were already supposed to do for you."
Ben's eyes shift, and his eyes squint in confusion, "Did you want me to be a selfish jackass?"
"No," Fairy Godmother's frown deepens. "I want you to feel like you deserve help, that having support is perfectly normal." His eyes look down in contemplation, but when he fails to respond she continues on, "Let's discuss your core classes first." She finds a blank paper and a pen, "The next math class for your track is Advanced Placement Calculus. Is that okay?"
He nods, "Yes."
"Otherwise, you can take Statistics and Probability," she lets him know.
"Calculus is fine," he frowns.
"Advanced Placement means you will be taking a test at the end of the year for the chance at college credit," she informs, and after he merely nods she nods in return. "Okay." She takes a breath, "Ah, history. You have options for either Monarchal Studies or Fairies."
Ben thinks, "I feel like Monarchical history would have a lot of propaganda in it. Most of us are secretive, and the matters we do inform the citizens about often become… misconstrued."
"Fairies probably isn't much better," Fairy Godmother comments. "A lot of it deals with how Maleficent took power and what happened during her rule. If what Mal said is true, then there seems to be a lot of misinformation in the textbook." She pauses, "I might have to look further into it this summer and see if I have to cancel the class altogether, until a new textbook can replace it." Ben nods, and she offers, "Would you prefer an independent study option?"
"That sounds nice."
The headmistress picks the pen back up, "Do you have anything in mind?" He shakes his head, and she helps, "What about looking further into the kingdoms, how they developed, their climate and resources, that kind of thing?"
"Sounds like Geography," Ben notices.
She takes a breath, "We could probably use an advanced geography class. What we teach our middle schoolers hasn't seemed to stick very well."
"Learning locations isn't very useful anymore," Ben comments. "It's easy to forget, because we've heard of those places on the internet and there's GPS now, so…"
"It's boring," Fairy Godmother assesses. "I'll speak with the teacher and see if he can give more interesting assignments or add informative videos."
"Try Oversimplified," Ben smiles.
"Pardon?"
"It's a channel on TheTube. Sometimes they have videos on the history of certain wars or… actually, I only saw a couple videos. So, I don't know what exactly they've done, but it's pretty funny."
"I will look into it," the headmistress says, before she jots something down and continues on, "Science. You can do Engineering, Astronomy, or Botany."
"Botany," Ben confirms. "I'm better at life classes."
"There's also been a class proposed that will be taught by Mr. Hawthorne if it gains enough interest," she offers.
Ben hesitates, "Well. What is it?"
"Virology," she answers. "He wants to focus on retroviruses, the vampire and wolf viruses specifically, teach how they affect the host and the symptoms they produce." She smiles, "I'll be letting every carnivore who has passed Biology know about this class. I think it will help them understand themselves a great deal."
Ben awkwardly smiles, "But I'm not a carnivore."
"Perhaps not," the headmistress bypasses, "but your girlfriend is. I doubt the class will discuss dragons, but it could still help you understand why she is the way she is."
He nods, "Okay."
Fairy Godmother smiles, "Good." before she scribbles it down; however, her expression falters before she faces him again. She unsurely starts, "The only English class we have left to offer you from the standardized list is Advanced Placement English Literature." Ben eyes down, and she thinks, "I could try to explain your situation and let them offer you the Creative Writing class instead."
"Creative Writing?" Ben unsurely repeats.
"It wouldn't have any tests," she lets him know. "There are units on the structure or themes of different genres— even poetry— and there are unit projects for you to do. Mostly, you just write your own stories. I think it could be good for you in more ways than one, so long as it is approved."
"Good for me?"
"To express yourself," she explains, and when he looks away she addresses, "You don't need to, but the best writing does tend to be personal."
He faces her, "I'm in no position to make things personal."
She nods, "I think I understand, but you may change your mind." before she gives a look. "It is easier, isn't it, to view your life from an outsider's perspective?"
Ben opens his mouth, but it takes a minute for any words to come out, "It's like my own personal TV show."
Fairy Godmother nods again, "Will you still be taking French as your language class?"
"No," his eyes shift. "I need to learn Sign Language. I never realized how many people are deaf or mute. They deserve to be able to communicate with their king."
She writes it down, "Anything else?"
Ben wets his lips as he notices the lengthy list, "Advanced Economics and Advanced Psychology." but when he recalls Mr. Conrad's growing suspicion he opens his mouth to change his mind; however, his breath leaves him as he watches her jot it down. It's too late.
The headmistress offers a worried expression, "You're not planning on taking ten classes again this next year. Are you?"
Ben darts his eyes from the paper to her, "I also need to take Criminal Investigation, Forensics, and Music Theory."
Fairy Godmother hesitates, "And what does a king need with Forensics?"
"You know," he bides time, before his eyes shift and he rubs his hands together. "Like, if someone breaks into the castle and I need to gather finger prints and analyze them."
"Or," she strongly suggests, "you could just call the police and let them take care of it."
Ben straightens up and firmly admits, "I need to know if my parents have been stifling through my personal items."
She takes a moment, "Music Theory?"
"It's the one thing my piano teacher couldn't teach me." Ben's eyes look off in annoyance, "My father's been wanting me to take it." before his voice grows anxious, "If I don't take it next year, then my father's going to—" He meets the headmistress's dark eyes, his mouth gaped, before he nods down, "Figuratively speaking." Her expression is so sad, and he tries to make it better, "My father's just a bit stingy about my piano performance." She still fails to speak, and there's a brief silence before he frowns, "Fairy Godmother?"
The headmistress's eyes shimmer, "The school year's almost over. If you need any further help, now's the time to let me know."
Ben hesitates, "I'm not sure I know what you mean."
"I can't help you during the summer," she stresses, as her eyes widen, "If you need my help, you need to ask for it now."
He's quiet as he examines her worry, and he whispers in uneasiness, "I'm fine. I've always been fine."
"I feel like you're only saying that, because you haven't known anything better," Fairy Godmother opinionates.
Ben attempts to smile, before he agrees, "You can't miss what you never had."