"Define normal," Tommy interjected with a grin. "Because solving college-level math for fun isn't exactly typical, dude."
Marcus smiled back. "Okay, normal-ish. I just wanted to be Marcus who happens to be good at math, not the genius kid who happens to be named Marcus."
Amelia pulled out a photo album, flipping to pictures of Marcus through the years. "Look at this," she said, pointing to a photo of eight-year-old Marcus at a birthday party, covered in cake and laughing with other children. "This is what we wanted for him: joy, friendship, childhood."
"But we weren't naive," James added. "We knew there would be challenges. We supplemented his education at home, connected him with mentors like Professor Chen, let him audit online courses from universities. He's been publishing mathematical proofs under a pseudonym since he was ten."
Principal Carter's eyes widened. "Publishing? At ten?"
Marcus shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "They're not that big a deal. Just some observations about number patterns and a new approach to certain types of equations. Professor Chen helped me write them properly."
"Not that big a deal?" Amelia laughed, shaking her head. "Three of his papers have been cited by doctoral candidates. One is being used as a teaching example at Caltech."
"But that's exactly why we kept it quiet," James explained. "The moment that becomes public knowledge, Marcus stops being a kid and becomes a commodity. Universities would be recruiting him, media would be hounding him, and his childhood would effectively end."
Tommy, who had been unusually quiet, suddenly spoke up. "Is that why you never said anything? Even when Mr. Wittmann was being horrible to you?"
Marcus nodded. "Every time I thought about showing him what I could really do, I imagined what would happen next: special programs, being separated from my friends, becoming 'that kid' instead of just me."
"The tragedy," Amelia said, her voice hardening slightly, "is that we chose Roosevelt Middle School specifically because of its diversity and supposed commitment to inclusive education. We thought Marcus would be safe to just be himself there."
"Instead," Principal Carter said heavily, "he encountered Harold Wittmann." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "I need you to know that I've been reviewing his records extensively. There were signs I should have caughtβcomments and performance reviews that I dismissed as old-school thinking, complaints I didn't investigate thoroughly enough. I failed Marcus and many other students."