Living Life A Bit Differently, chapter 4
<p>I will start this chapter off by saying that I am not trying to steal Daniel Keyes ideas, I find him to be a brilliant writer, and I believe his novel, Flowers for Algernon would make a good Green Day story. But I will twist them quite a bit from here on out. This should've gone at the beginning of the story. XD
The professor in the story is not real, I just made up any name.</p>
***
(A week later)
[i]February 17, 2006
<p> Dr. Leela Locklin, one of the many brilliant professors of Princeton University, has contacted me via phone. She informed me that her and her colleagues are working on a project to enhance the brains of mentally challenged adults. Why she contacted me, hundreds of miles from New Jersey, is a mystery I intend to solve, but it is a great honor! </p>
<p>Dr. Locklin needs for me to suggest a student of mine, and/or of my fellow teachers' students, to help her with the project. I was told to pick an individual who will agree, but I will not pick just any one. I believe it is best to pick out of the students that not only want to be intellectually 'enhanced', but one that enjoys learning and will work hard to achieve this goal. They can and will not become of average intelligence overnight, it could take weeks, months, years before this happens, and this scientific breakthrough will only happen if the individual works hard, with me, for it.</p>
<p>The only thing I fear is that the project will not work, it is only an experiment, after all. Never performed, and has never been tried. I do not want any of my students, anyone to be hurt in this project. <br />I will go through this lesson as usual, as well as contemplate my choice for this experiment. I just hope I pick the rig--</p>
<p>Ms. Nesser closed her notebook just as the first of her students were filing in. She placed the notebook in the top drawer in her desk, folded her hands, and smiled as a rather tall girl walked into the classroom slowly. <br />Ms. Nesser recognized her immediately as Delilah James, by far the oldest in the class. Delilah, now fourty-five, had been coming to Ms. Nesser's class for over fourteen years.<br />"Good morning, Delilah" Ms. Nesser greeted the women warmly, after she had settled into her desk in the third row.<br />"Good morning, Ms. Nesser" Delilah answered, she smiled sheepishly.<br />For the next ten minutes, students filed in, all the while their teacher was thinking of the experiment. She most certainly did not want to make the wrong choice. Ms. Nesser checked the calender on her desk, she had exactly one week to make a choice, and a wise one at that.<br />Her eyes fell on a note scribbled in that day's box: Billie Joe's Birthday Today. She looked up to see said student walk into the classroom, and sit down at his desk in the front row.<br />Ms. Nesser stood up and walked out from behind her large desk, she walked over to Billie's.
<br />"G'morning, Birthday Boy." she commented, "How old have you turned, today?"<br />"Thirty-four." Billie answered, his hazel eyes glowed happily.
<br />"How are you celebrating?"<br />"My best friend, Jess, is coming over my house, want to come? Mike can come, too, if he wants."<br />"Oh, sounds fun. I'll ask him, but I'll deffinately be there."<br />"Okay."</p>
***
<p>After the class had ended, Ms. Nesser erased the board quickly and sat back down at her desk. She opened her book of phone numbers/addresses and quickly looked for Billie Joe's. She found it and wrote it down on a piece of paper, and then stuffed it into her purse.<br />Ms. Nesser exited the small school house and walked to her car, just a short distance away. While she passed green lights and turned corners, on her way to her boyfriend's house, she continued to think about her choice.<br />Delilah would work hard, she thought, Or Adam, he's always on the ball. As she stopped at the last traffic light near Mike's house, she made up her mind.<br />Billie Joe Armstrong.<br />Ms. Nesser pulled into Mike's driveway, cut the ignition, and walked to the porch. She opened the door without knocking, as usual, and called for Mike, "Mike! Baby!"<br />"I'm here! Hold on, I'm getting dressed!" he called from the second floor.<br />Once he was done, his foot steps crashed on the stairs as he ran down to meet her, but what he met wasn't a smiling face, it was a worried expression.<br />"What's wrong?" he asked.<br />"It's this whole thing with Locklin, I can't stop thinking about if I make the wrong choice."<br />Mike led his girlfriend to the couch and wrapped his arm around her protectively.<br />"Have you narrowed it down? Do you have anyone in mind?" Mike asked quietly.<br />Adrienne nodded silently, "Who?"
<br />"Billie Joe."<br />"He would be perfect! You know how much he wants to be normal! I think he's a perfect candidate." Mike kissed her cheek reassuringly, getting a smile to form on her lips.<br />"You always make me feel better, Mikey." Adrienne laughed, another thought came to her mind, "Today's his birthday, you know. I said I would come, please come with me so you'll be there with me when I ask him."<br />"Absolutely, Sweetie."<br />"Thank you." Adrienne squeazed Mike's hand firmly, their fingers entwined together.</p>
***
<p>"Happy birthday, Billie!" Jess exclaimed at the door of Billie Joe's small apartment.<br />In her arms was a box (most likely birthday cake) and a colorfully wrapped box with a red bow on the top.<br />"Thanks, Jess." Billie let her pass through the door, and she set the boxes down on the kitchen table.
<br />"So...is it just us today?" Jess asked, knowing the answer would be 'yes'.
<br />"No, Ms. Nesser and Mike are coming over, too."<br />"Oh, really? That's great!" Jess answered, surprised.<br />"The more the merrier." Billie Joe commented, grinning.<br />"Yep, the more the merrier. When are they com-" Just as Jess said this, there was a loud knocking at the door, and Mike's head appeared through the open doorway.<br />"Is there room for two more?" he asked, jokingly.<br />"Come on in!" Jess answered, and the two adults obeyed.
<br />There was a thirty second period of uncomfortable silence.<br />"The chairs and couch are over here." Billie broke the silence, showing his two newest guests through a door and into the tiny-almost empty-living room.
<br />Jess plopped down on the couch like she usually did when she came over Billie's apartment, and patted the seat next to her, signaling for Billie to sit beside her. Jess turned on the small antique television, but gave the remote to her friend.<br />Adrienne stood up, and rolled her eyes as the channel was quickly changed to Bugs Bunny, and Jess led her back into the kitchen to chat, as girls did.<br />The only sounds to be heard in the apartment were sound effects from the TV, sheepish giggles, and hushed conversation.</p>
<p>To Jess' surprise, she actually enjoyed Adrienne's company. The only person she hung out with was Billie Joe, and it was incredibly hard to get an educated conversation out of him, given his challenges mentally, and Deefer...who really only talked about naked girls, anyway.<br />And Adrienne, as well, was surprised by how much she could talk about with Jess, who, by looking at her, only seemed like a brainless punk.<br />Their conversation was interrupted by Mike, serving as commentary for the episode of Bugs Bunny: "Oh! Anvil to the head! That's gotta hurt!" which brought Adrienne back to reality.<br />She had to ask Billie about his involvement in the project, if he would do it at all. Would he object? Should she ask Jess first, as she was his best friend? Adrienne came to the conclusion that it was best to ask Billie alone, and talk with Jess about it later on.
<br />"Excuse me for a moment, I have to speak with Billie Joe." Adrienne excused herself from the kitchen and walked into the living room. <br />Mike winked at her before continuing to watch the TV, and she pulled Billie into the dimly lit-rather dirty-bathroom.<br />"I have something to ask you." said Adrienne.<br />"Okay." Billie answered quietly.<br />"Would you like to be part of a project...to make you smarter?" she asked.<br />"Make me...smarter?" he repeated her question.<br />"Yes-but it may not work, it's not proven. And it will take a lot of hard work, but I will help you learn, as I always have, you will need patience. So...what do you say?"<br />Billie smiled, excited. "I'm going to be smarter! I'll do it!" He hugged her tightly, in gratitude, and she returned the hug, "This is the best birthday present, thank you."</p>
The professor in the story is not real, I just made up any name.</p>
***
(A week later)
[i]February 17, 2006
<p> Dr. Leela Locklin, one of the many brilliant professors of Princeton University, has contacted me via phone. She informed me that her and her colleagues are working on a project to enhance the brains of mentally challenged adults. Why she contacted me, hundreds of miles from New Jersey, is a mystery I intend to solve, but it is a great honor! </p>
<p>Dr. Locklin needs for me to suggest a student of mine, and/or of my fellow teachers' students, to help her with the project. I was told to pick an individual who will agree, but I will not pick just any one. I believe it is best to pick out of the students that not only want to be intellectually 'enhanced', but one that enjoys learning and will work hard to achieve this goal. They can and will not become of average intelligence overnight, it could take weeks, months, years before this happens, and this scientific breakthrough will only happen if the individual works hard, with me, for it.</p>
<p>The only thing I fear is that the project will not work, it is only an experiment, after all. Never performed, and has never been tried. I do not want any of my students, anyone to be hurt in this project. <br />I will go through this lesson as usual, as well as contemplate my choice for this experiment. I just hope I pick the rig--</p>
<p>Ms. Nesser closed her notebook just as the first of her students were filing in. She placed the notebook in the top drawer in her desk, folded her hands, and smiled as a rather tall girl walked into the classroom slowly. <br />Ms. Nesser recognized her immediately as Delilah James, by far the oldest in the class. Delilah, now fourty-five, had been coming to Ms. Nesser's class for over fourteen years.<br />"Good morning, Delilah" Ms. Nesser greeted the women warmly, after she had settled into her desk in the third row.<br />"Good morning, Ms. Nesser" Delilah answered, she smiled sheepishly.<br />For the next ten minutes, students filed in, all the while their teacher was thinking of the experiment. She most certainly did not want to make the wrong choice. Ms. Nesser checked the calender on her desk, she had exactly one week to make a choice, and a wise one at that.<br />Her eyes fell on a note scribbled in that day's box: Billie Joe's Birthday Today. She looked up to see said student walk into the classroom, and sit down at his desk in the front row.<br />Ms. Nesser stood up and walked out from behind her large desk, she walked over to Billie's.
<br />"G'morning, Birthday Boy." she commented, "How old have you turned, today?"<br />"Thirty-four." Billie answered, his hazel eyes glowed happily.
<br />"How are you celebrating?"<br />"My best friend, Jess, is coming over my house, want to come? Mike can come, too, if he wants."<br />"Oh, sounds fun. I'll ask him, but I'll deffinately be there."<br />"Okay."</p>
***
<p>After the class had ended, Ms. Nesser erased the board quickly and sat back down at her desk. She opened her book of phone numbers/addresses and quickly looked for Billie Joe's. She found it and wrote it down on a piece of paper, and then stuffed it into her purse.<br />Ms. Nesser exited the small school house and walked to her car, just a short distance away. While she passed green lights and turned corners, on her way to her boyfriend's house, she continued to think about her choice.<br />Delilah would work hard, she thought, Or Adam, he's always on the ball. As she stopped at the last traffic light near Mike's house, she made up her mind.<br />Billie Joe Armstrong.<br />Ms. Nesser pulled into Mike's driveway, cut the ignition, and walked to the porch. She opened the door without knocking, as usual, and called for Mike, "Mike! Baby!"<br />"I'm here! Hold on, I'm getting dressed!" he called from the second floor.<br />Once he was done, his foot steps crashed on the stairs as he ran down to meet her, but what he met wasn't a smiling face, it was a worried expression.<br />"What's wrong?" he asked.<br />"It's this whole thing with Locklin, I can't stop thinking about if I make the wrong choice."<br />Mike led his girlfriend to the couch and wrapped his arm around her protectively.<br />"Have you narrowed it down? Do you have anyone in mind?" Mike asked quietly.<br />Adrienne nodded silently, "Who?"
<br />"Billie Joe."<br />"He would be perfect! You know how much he wants to be normal! I think he's a perfect candidate." Mike kissed her cheek reassuringly, getting a smile to form on her lips.<br />"You always make me feel better, Mikey." Adrienne laughed, another thought came to her mind, "Today's his birthday, you know. I said I would come, please come with me so you'll be there with me when I ask him."<br />"Absolutely, Sweetie."<br />"Thank you." Adrienne squeazed Mike's hand firmly, their fingers entwined together.</p>
***
<p>"Happy birthday, Billie!" Jess exclaimed at the door of Billie Joe's small apartment.<br />In her arms was a box (most likely birthday cake) and a colorfully wrapped box with a red bow on the top.<br />"Thanks, Jess." Billie let her pass through the door, and she set the boxes down on the kitchen table.
<br />"So...is it just us today?" Jess asked, knowing the answer would be 'yes'.
<br />"No, Ms. Nesser and Mike are coming over, too."<br />"Oh, really? That's great!" Jess answered, surprised.<br />"The more the merrier." Billie Joe commented, grinning.<br />"Yep, the more the merrier. When are they com-" Just as Jess said this, there was a loud knocking at the door, and Mike's head appeared through the open doorway.<br />"Is there room for two more?" he asked, jokingly.<br />"Come on in!" Jess answered, and the two adults obeyed.
<br />There was a thirty second period of uncomfortable silence.<br />"The chairs and couch are over here." Billie broke the silence, showing his two newest guests through a door and into the tiny-almost empty-living room.
<br />Jess plopped down on the couch like she usually did when she came over Billie's apartment, and patted the seat next to her, signaling for Billie to sit beside her. Jess turned on the small antique television, but gave the remote to her friend.<br />Adrienne stood up, and rolled her eyes as the channel was quickly changed to Bugs Bunny, and Jess led her back into the kitchen to chat, as girls did.<br />The only sounds to be heard in the apartment were sound effects from the TV, sheepish giggles, and hushed conversation.</p>
<p>To Jess' surprise, she actually enjoyed Adrienne's company. The only person she hung out with was Billie Joe, and it was incredibly hard to get an educated conversation out of him, given his challenges mentally, and Deefer...who really only talked about naked girls, anyway.<br />And Adrienne, as well, was surprised by how much she could talk about with Jess, who, by looking at her, only seemed like a brainless punk.<br />Their conversation was interrupted by Mike, serving as commentary for the episode of Bugs Bunny: "Oh! Anvil to the head! That's gotta hurt!" which brought Adrienne back to reality.<br />She had to ask Billie about his involvement in the project, if he would do it at all. Would he object? Should she ask Jess first, as she was his best friend? Adrienne came to the conclusion that it was best to ask Billie alone, and talk with Jess about it later on.
<br />"Excuse me for a moment, I have to speak with Billie Joe." Adrienne excused herself from the kitchen and walked into the living room. <br />Mike winked at her before continuing to watch the TV, and she pulled Billie into the dimly lit-rather dirty-bathroom.<br />"I have something to ask you." said Adrienne.<br />"Okay." Billie answered quietly.<br />"Would you like to be part of a project...to make you smarter?" she asked.<br />"Make me...smarter?" he repeated her question.<br />"Yes-but it may not work, it's not proven. And it will take a lot of hard work, but I will help you learn, as I always have, you will need patience. So...what do you say?"<br />Billie smiled, excited. "I'm going to be smarter! I'll do it!" He hugged her tightly, in gratitude, and she returned the hug, "This is the best birthday present, thank you."</p>
