Chapter 11 - Kids Can Rule the World

When Grandma Sadiya heard the bell ringing during class time, she frowned. Who were her visitors? Before she could start interrogating the turnip heads, she froze.

"Scarlet!"

"Hello, grandma... is Venessa not around?"

The old lady clicked her tongue at her adopted granddaughter's rudeness. "That's Ms Lee to you, young lady. What happened to your hair?"

Scarlet shrugged and showed the old librarian her hall pass. Jasper and Alex did the same and were asked to sign-in on the book. Grandma Sadiya observed the chopped hair and felt her heart aching. Scarlet had very beautiful straight black hair that cascaded like a waterfall. She always enjoyed watching the expressionless girl walk around with her twin-tails bouncing with every step. Now that it was so brutally destroyed, Sadiya mourned the loss. It was such a shame!

"Oh, you're early today..." a young lady with short black hair that curled at the end of the bob peeked from behind a row of books.

"Hello Venessa, I'm here on a special mission today with my friends. Do you think I can have an extended use for the computer today?"

Venessa blinked. Scarlet never mentioned having any friends before this. Also, wasn't it class time? As much as Venessa was happy for Scarlet making progress socially, she was also worried about the girl's class skipping behaviour. Still, she decided to close an eye for the matter seeing Scarlet's unusual appearance.

"What happened to your lovely hair?"

Scarlet shrugged. "Fashion disaster."

Both librarians exchanged complex looks but didn't question further. It must be really tough for a little girl to open up about the difficulties she had. That hair was definitely a sign of bullying. Scarlet's new friends didn't look like the kind to bully others. From the news going around recently, they must be the other two who were 'gifted' too. That would explain how all three of them were able to obtain special hall passes.

"The third computer at the end of the row is reserved for you as usual. It's going to be break time soon, will you and your friends be going out?"

Scarlet looked over her shoulder to Jasper and Alex. She usually skipped breaks, choosing reading over eating, but the same couldn't be said for Alex and Jasper.

"Oh, don't worry about us," Alex smiled. "We don't usually eat during break time."

"I guess we'll be staying in the whole time until lunch then," Scarlet nodded and led the way.

Alex hasn't been inside the library before so she took in everything with great interest. There was a particular stuffed lion toy in the reading corner that caught her eye but she was too shy to go near it. Jasper saw that and asked Venessa if they could borrow it.

While Scarlet was busy setting up the computer, Venessa and Jasper made themselves comfortable in the reading corner beside Scarlet. Alex chose a fairy tale book while Jasper was more than content with observing Scarlet.

"What are you playing?" he finally asked. Scarlet's fingers were flying all over the place and he highly doubted that she was playing anything.

"I'm researching information for my grand plan."

Alex looked up from her book. "Grand plan?"

Scarlet nodded, her eyes not leaving the screen. "I'm going to make a lot of money on my own and lead the life I want without my parents interfering."

Alex's eyes widened. "Why would you want to do that? Are your parents mistreating you?"

Scarlet paused. "No, they're not. I'm just not happy with how things are currently. A.d.u.l.ts are a lot more sneaky than you think."

Alex didn't know what to say and Jasper remained silent. Seeing that his childhood friend was feeling awkward after Scarlet's statement, he decided to help her out and posed another question. "Why do you think a.d.u.l.ts are sneaky?"

Scarlet stopped typing entirely and turned to face them this time. "I don't know the kind of life you've had but my parents aren't exactly normal by any standards. Coming to this school isn't a coincidence either. I think they knew about the surprise test because they weren't surprised at the results at all. I was told to decide what course of action I wanted to take. What about both of you? How did your parents react to that letter?"

Alex smiled shyly. "My parents were delighted and threw a party to celebrate both Jasper and my acceptance into the special course. Of course, Jasper's parents were slightly confused... our parents have been friends for very long so they felt slightly worried about covering the tuition fees for such a unique program. My parents have that worked out already so I think both Jasper and I will be accepting the invitation. Are you going to join us?"

Scarlet sighed. "I don't want to."

Alex's face fell after hearing it. "But why?"

Scarlet frowned slightly. "It's complicated."

Alex was about to push for answers but Jasper stopped her. "It's alright," he told the doll-like girl. "Take all the time you need to think through it carefully. This is going to be one of the major turning points in your life."

Venessa who was eavesdropping on the children's conversation was slightly surprised. For ten-year-olds, they were having such a deep discussion. No wonder there was a huge difference between the gifted ones and the ordinary ones. as she listened to them talk, she was also reflecting on her life choices.

"I don't want to be classified as a genius. However, I will be accepting the invitation. I need more time and space to put together my grand plan."

Jasper frowned. Alex beat him to it and asked what the Grand Plan Scarlet was referring to.

"Oh, it's a plan to be self-sufficient and break free from my parents. For that, I require money because that's what the world runs on."

Jasper nodded. "How will you do that?"

Scarlet had a small smile. "By becoming famous. I've learned that fame gives rise to money and money gives rise to power. If you have money, fame, and power then the world is literally at your feet. Even kids can rule the world!"

Alex was speechless but Jasper snorted. "That's big talk coming from someone who can't cut their own hair properly."

"Jasper!" Alex gasped. "That was rude."

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "It's fine. We're going to get it fixed later, aren't we?"

That successfully diverted Alex's attention and the blonde beauty started gushing about what she thought would look good on Scarlet. Still, the last line caught his attention and got him thinking. As the son of a cook and a gardener working for his childhood friend's parents, could he be a kid that ruled the world too?