Chapter 4

I knew exactly what Ms. Evans wanted to see me about. I'd met with her last Thursday with my request and she was getting back to me after she had done her research.

When I went into my guidance counselor's office and told her that I wanted to do whatever it took to finish high school this year, she told me it couldn't be done. She was surprised that I didn't just get up and leave. She got fidgety and wouldn't meet my eyes as I just sat there, watching her.

She finally glanced over at me and said, "Jillian, you have three years of classes left. There's no way to cram them into two semesters."

"I'm not talking about two semesters, Ms. Evans. I'm perfectly willing to go to summer school if I have to."

"But still... we're talking about three years of work."

"Are you trying to tell me that I need four years of 6 hours of classes a day in order to graduate? P.E., electives, four years of math, English and Spanish?"

"Well, no, but you do need a lot. Maybe we could figure out a way so you could get by with only one semester in your senior year..."

"I'm sorry, that won't work. Can't I pass most of my courses by examination."

"Well, technically you could. But, it's an awful lot of classes and you still have to learn the material to pass the tests. And then there's your SAT and all your college applications..."

"Ms. Evans, isn't your job title "Guidance Counselor?"

"Yes."

"Well then, for God's sake, counsel me. Don't tell me all the things I can't do. You're supposed to be the expert here. Start trying to figure out what I can do. If I told you I wanted to go to college after high school, you'd help me come up with a game plan to make that happen, right?"

"Of course. That's my job."

"OK. I want to go to college. Next fall. Help me with that game plan."

"You'd need permission from your parents..."

"Fine. Include that in the game plan. But don't make it a reason I can't have what I want."

"But these are the best years of your life. Why do you want to rush them?"

"First of all, whether or not they are the best years of my life has little to do with this school. I'll admit the best part of my life has been happening recently, but going to school has actually interfered with it.

"Second, there's someone very important to me who I want to be available for in the fall. If I'm not, he'll do something stupid like getting a job or going to a junior college until I am available. And that's just not acceptable to me.

"I know this can be done, Ms. Evans. If Doogie Howser can do it, so can I. Your job is to tell me how I can do it."

"I don't need you telling me what my job is, Miss O'Hara."

"No, I shouldn't have to. I was actually reminding you. But if you need someone to tell you, I'm sure I can get your boss or his boss involved."

"That won't be necessary. I'll see what I can find out and call you back when I have some answers for you."

"I'd like that."

She looked dazed as I walked out of her office.

Mr. Donnelly was trying to get the class' attention back to Trig as I loaded up my backpack and walked down the empty hall to the office. Ms. Evans' door was open so I knocked on the door jamb. She looked up and saw that it was me. After she recognized me, she looked like a completely different person than the woman I had to tell to do her job last week.

She smiled and said, "Come in, Jillian. Come in."

I walked in and put my backpack on the floor, taking a seat in the chair in front of her desk. She dug through an in basket on the right side of her desk and pulled out a manila folder. She placed it in front of her, opened it, looked up and smiled at me.

"Before we go any further, are you serious about this?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"You'd better be. If we go ahead with this, I'm going to be putting my ass on the line. And you're going to work yours to the bone. If you pull this off, you'll also be the youngest student to graduate from Highpoint."

"OK. What do I need to do?"

"First, I need this signed." She picked up a paper and passed it over to me.

"I can't even administer the tests without parental permission. I see that your father is the responsible adult. Will he sign this?"

"I'm sure he will. I'll see him tonight and have it for you on Monday."

"That's fine." She shoved another page over.

"This is a list of all the classes you need to complete in order to graduate. They can all be tested out. However, this group at the top of the page also require some class attendance. You can see the number of hours required next to each class."

The sheet had 14 classes listed, six of which I was currently enrolled in. Two of them were in the top list. I noticed that I'd put in more than enough classroom hours in both of them. There were another six that required anywhere from five to twenty hours of class attendance. When I was done looking it over, I looked up.

"This next one is a list of each class. It lists the books covered in each one plus the subjects and concepts the state requires you to master before you can pass the course."

She slid a stack of papers, stapled together. Each page listed one class with the requirements she'd just told me. There was also a teacher listed for each one as a faculty advisor.

There was a literature class that had a list of about 30 books that were required reading. Each book had its own test that was done upon completion of the reading.

The creative writing class didn't have a test but there were 12 writing assignments, ranging from two to 25 pages. Each assignment was to be turned in and graded. A passing grade was required before starting the next assignment.

Well over half of the courses listed the materials, the chapters covered and had only the final exam. Others had tests on each chapter, still others had tests on groups of chapters.

The stack of 14 pages listed everything I needed to do so I could go with Jack when he went away to college the following year. I finished looking them over, put the pages back in order and laid them on top of the papers she gave me previously. I looked up at her.

"So, Jillian, are you ready to do this?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"OK. Here's how this is going to work. First of all, we can't do anything until I get that signed permission slip."

"No problem."

"What we are doing here is not the same as getting you a GED. Any fool with enough patience can get one of those. And he might be able to get into a junior college with it. You are going to complete high school. You're just going to do it faster than most students. OK?"

"OK."

"Good. So, you aren't going to be home all day, sitting on your couch and reading when you get around to it. You will be required to attend school five days a week, the regular six class a day schedule. You and I will meet at this time every Friday. We will discuss your progress since the last meeting, look at any problems you've encountered and plan for the next week or more. Before you start working on a new course, we'll set up a meeting with your faculty advisor for that class. I'll coordinate that for you. Any tests will be done as part of your class time and I'll arrange to have you excused from the class that you're enrolled on for that period. As you pass classes, you'll stop attending them and we'll arrange for you to attend others that are required. Do you have any questions?"