Chapter 7 The Meeting
Judith sat on the couch, staring at the phone in her hand, her thoughts racing.
Jake. A genius?
It didn't make sense. This was the same kid who once put a grilled cheese sandwich in the VCR.
She took a deep breath and dialed Alan's number.
"Hello?" Alan's tired voice answered.
"You need to come to Jake's school tomorrow morning," Judith said, skipping pleasantries.
Alan groaned. "Oh, what did he do this time? Did he eat a crayon again?"
Judith pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, Alan. It's… different. Just be there."
Alan hesitated. "Judith, I have work—"
"Alan," she said firmly, "this is important."
There was a pause. Then, a sigh. "Fine. I'll be there."
The Next Day – Harper's Choice Middle School
By the time Judith and Alan arrived at the school, Principal Henderson was waiting for them outside his office, looking more serious than they'd ever seen him.
"Thank you both for coming," he said. "Please, follow me."
Judith and Alan exchanged a look before stepping into the office. Inside, several teachers sat around a table, each with thick stacks of papers in front of them. Some looked confused. Others, outright stunned.
Alan frowned. "Uh… did Jake burn the school down?"
Henderson shook his head. "No. But in a way, he might've broken the education system."
Alan blinked. "…What?"
Mrs. Carmichael cleared her throat and gestured to a sheet of paper. "These are Jake's test scores. He completed them in record time and got everything right. Even the questions meant for college-level students."
Alan looked at Judith. "Is this a prank?"
Judith crossed her arms. "I wish it were."
"Mr. Harper, Mrs. Harper," Henderson continued, "this is beyond anything we've ever seen. We contacted some officials from the district's advanced education department. They've sent specialists to conduct further testing."
Judith's stomach twisted. "Further testing?"
As if on cue, the door opened, and in walked three sharply dressed individuals, their expressions unreadable.
"Dr. Emily Cartwright, head of the State Board of Education," Henderson introduced the first.
"Dr. Martin Graves, renowned child psychologist specializing in gifted students," he gestured to the second.
"And Dr. Thomas Velasquez, director of advanced placement programs."
Alan leaned toward Judith and whispered, "Why does this sound like a team from NASA?"
Judith ignored him.
Dr. Cartwright gave them a polite but firm nod. "We understand this must be a lot to take in, but cases like these are incredibly rare. We need to assess Jake's abilities properly."
Alan cleared his throat. "So… what kind of tests are we talking about?"
"Just some standard intelligence assessments," Dr. Graves assured them. "IQ evaluations, logic puzzles, analytical reasoning."
Alan nodded. "Alright, sounds good."
"Plus an academic proficiency exam," Dr. Velasquez added.
Judith narrowed her eyes. "Which exam?"
"A mixture of different standardized tests," Cartwright said vaguely.
Judith hesitated, but before she could argue, the door opened again.
Jake walked in, looking as calm as ever.
"Hey," he greeted casually, dropping into a chair. "So what's up?"
Henderson sighed. "Jake, these people are here to see just how smart you really are."
Jake smirked. If only they knew.
The testing began.
Jake breezed through IQ assessments.
He aced logical reasoning.
He solved complex math problems without blinking.
The specialists started whispering among themselves.
Then came the academic exam.
Without realizing it, they had given Jake a full-length SAT.
Two hours later, when he put his pencil down, the room was silent.
Dr. Velasquez, who had been grading as he went, paled.
"This… this is perfect."
Dr. Cartwright grabbed the paper and scanned it.
"Full marks," she whispered.
Judith and Alan leaned forward.
"Wait, full marks?" Alan repeated.
"As in… a perfect SAT score?" Judith added, her voice barely above a whisper.
Dr. Graves rubbed his temples. "Mrs. Harper, Mr. Harper… your son just scored higher than 99.999% of students in the country."
Alan blinked. "Well, that's… unexpected."
Judith exhaled, still struggling to process.
Jake just smiled to himself.
This was going to be very interesting.
The day stretched on as test after test was thrown at Jake. The IQ evaluation alone took hours, with a battery of questions designed to stump even the brightest minds.
Jake answered them all with ease.
Every puzzle, every logic test, every mathematical equation—they barely challenged him.
By the time the testing was complete, the sun was beginning to set, and the once-confident specialists now looked at each other in silent disbelief.
Dr. Cartwright tapped her pen against the table, staring at the final results. "This… this can't be right."
Dr. Graves adjusted his glasses, then checked the papers himself. "250." His voice was barely above a whisper.
Alan blinked. "Wait, 250 what?"
Dr. Velasquez exhaled. "Jake's IQ. It's 250."
Silence.
Alan frowned. "Is that good?"
Judith shot him an incredulous look.
"That's not just good, Mr. Harper," Dr. Cartwright said, her voice laced with disbelief. "That's unheard of. It puts Jake beyond even the greatest recorded geniuses in history."
Alan slowly leaned back in his chair. "Huh. So, do we get a trophy or…?"
Judith groaned. "Alan, for once in your life, shut up."
Jake, meanwhile, kept his expression neutral. This was expected. He had literally wished for this, after all. But hearing it confirmed was still surreal.
Dr. Graves folded his hands on the table. "Jake, I know this is a lot to take in, but we need to ask… what do you want to do? You could advance to high school immediately, or if you'd prefer, we could discuss skipping straight to college."
All eyes turned to Jake.
He tapped his fingers on the table, deep in thought. He could go straight to college. It would certainly be a power move. But high school had its advantages, too—more time to build a solid foundation, more social connections, more control over his narrative.
Then again, did he really want to waste time pretending to care about things he already understood?
After a long pause, Jake finally looked up and smirked.