The moment the academic advisor walked in, Cole Butler and his crew didn't dare say another word. They shot me one last vicious glare and slunk back to their seats.
The second half of the orientation meeting went smoothly after that.
The advisor pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"The enrollment guidelines and the introductions are all clear by now, right? Nothing left that anyone doesn't understand?"
"Then let's move on to class assignments. The welcome party's coming up soon. I looked over everyone's files, and Eugene Summers, you seem to have quite a few talents."
"I'll leave the welcome party to you. Put some effort into it. That work for you?"
I was about to nod when Cole Butler and his group burst out laughing again.
This time they didn't even care that the advisor was standing right there. They started jeering out loud.
"Hahaha, oh my God, this Eugene guy is just full of surprises, huh? Talents? What talents?"
"You mean his talent for playing basketball in the rain? Or his talent for dancing in the rain to get attention? Hahaha, I'm dying here."
"Eugene's Eugene, all right. Never lets us down."
I didn't answer. I just quietly memorized every one of their faces.
My parents had always placed a lot of importance on developing me in every direction.
From the time I was four, they'd hired several private tutors.
Beyond the basics of schoolwork, chess, instruments, vocals, and horseback riding were all required courses for me.
A small welcome party wasn't going to be any trouble.
The advisor slammed his hand on the desk.
"Quiet! What's all this racket? Eugene this, Eugene that. What about Eugene? Eugene is a lot more impressive than any of you!"
"This is a university. You're here to learn, not to mock your classmates and disrupt the class!"
"Everyone settle down!"
Seeing the advisor genuinely angry, the crowd finally quieted.
Once things had gone quiet, he moved on to the next item.
"Your college life has begun. From here on there will be plenty of little things to handle, in your studies and your daily life, and plenty that needs coordinating."
"Today we're going to elect a class president. If anything important comes up, I can contact the president directly and have them pass word along to all of you."
"Whenever you have a problem, you can go to the president too, and the president can report it back to me."
With that, the advisor swept his eyes around the room.
"Anyone want to nominate themselves?"
After the earlier commotion, nobody wanted to be the one sticking their neck out. By silent agreement, no one spoke up.
Seeing that, the advisor had no choice.
"Then we'll vote."
"Whoever gets the most votes serves as interim class president for now. If anything doesn't work out later, we'll adjust."
There's never a shortage of people happy to stir the pot.
Sure enough, in the end I won by a wide margin and took on the job of interim class president.
When the result was announced, Cole Butler and his crew, who had been quiet for all of half an hour, couldn't hold back anymore.
"Hahaha, look at Eugene's face. Acting all calm, but inside he's grinning ear to ear, guaranteed."
"Of course he is. Showing off and posturing at the same time? That's Eugene's favorite thing. He's going to thank us in a minute, thank us for giving him the chance."
"Look at that dumb look on his face. Still happy? Doesn't even know we're setting him up to fall. This is too funny."
The advisor pounded the lectern until it rang.
"Quiet! Quiet! What is all this nonsense you're spouting?"
"Eugene Summers is this state's top science scorer this year!"
"You're calling someone else dumb? Are your grades anywhere near his?"
