Read Online Prince Charming by Sara Celi - Free Book Online

meeting with the guidance counselor. They called bullshit on students faster than the rest of the teachers.
    “I’m a little worried about your grades this year, Mr. Miller.”
    My eyes snapped back in his direction. “Why?”
    “Your teachers tell me you’re listless. Bored. And your grades are—”
    “I have straight As.”
    “There are As, Mr. Miller, and there are As. You have the former.”
    “Huh?”
    He drummed his fingers on the desk. “Some of your teachers have said your overall percentages in their classes have slipped. For example, Mr. Langston told me that you had an overall 98 percent in English at the beginning of the year. Now, you have a 95.”
    Not Mr. Langston again.
    “A 95 is still an A,” I pointed out.
    “But it’s not the A you used to have.” His voice turned warmer, more fatherly. “It’s not what we’re used to from you.” He leaned across the desk. “I want to help you figure out what is bothering you. Why you’re slipping this year.”
    I frowned, and sat back further in my chair. “But I’m not slipping.”
    “Have you given any real thought as to what you want to major in next year at Virginia?”
    “Umm . . .”
    Mr. Henderson squinted at me. “Well, you must have some sort of an idea of what you want to do with your life.”
    “A little.” Sinking further into the chair, I rubbed my eyebrow. “I’ve thought about it some.”
    “And what are you interested in the most?”
    Jesus. Each question that came out of his mouth sounded loaded, as if at any moment he wanted to make me fall over a verbal land mine. “I like history. Russian History. Communism. World War Two.” I thought about it some more. “Maybe I’ll try to do something with that.”
    “Something with Russian History?”
    “Maybe. But I also like writing.”
    “You’re good at Math, Mr. Miller.”
    I licked my lips. “Yeah, Math is okay, I guess.”
    “You’re in, what—AP Calculus and AP Bio this year?”
    Oh. So he had read my transcript. Imagine that. “Yeah, Mr. Henderson, I am.”
    “Seems like a kid like you should major in Engineering or Bio Chemistry. Maybe work for P&G when you grow up.” His voice sounded firm and final, as if he’d come to the answer of my future through one quick calculation in his head.
    “Everyone around here works for P&G,” I pointed out. It wasn’t too much of a stretch from the truth. Most of my classmates lived in nice houses and went to summer camps on money made by their corporate-ladder ascending parents. P&G held the purse strings for most of Greater Cincinnati.
    “It’s a perfectly good company,” he said, tapping his fingers on the desk. “Excellent company. Fortune 500. And that’s saying something.”
    “I know, but—”
    “You should be happy to work for a company like that one.” He tapped his fingers on the folder that held my life inside. “You know, seems to me like a waste of a perfectly good education if you go to Virginia and major in something other than Law, Business, Science or Engineering. Those kinds of degrees get a person somewhere in life.”
    “Like a job here?”
    Mr. Henderson narrowed his eyes. “Are you being funny with me, Mr. Miller?”
    “No.” I shook my head. “I just don’t want to be stuck here in Cincinnati for the rest of my life.” I wrinkled my nose at the thought. “Yuck.”
    “Most people wouldn’t call life here ‘being stuck.’”
    “I would.”
    “It sounds to me like you are being a little judgmental about the opportunities you have out there. Life isn’t about that.” He cleared his throat. “You’ll get a lot further if you stop and think about others. Stop, get to know them, and realize you aren’t better than anyone else.”
    “I don’t think I am better than anyone else,” I insisted.
    “What are you going to do with a degree in Russian History?” He blanched. “The Cold War’s over.”
    “I know, but I think—”
    “Virginia is an expensive school.” He glanced