43 Convincing (1/2)
Standing in front of her house, Leah looked over to her brother and thought back to yesterday when they met a rather strange person who invited her to his academy.
Unfortunately, they arrived home later than usual due to losing track of time. Because of this, they didn't have the time to bring it up.
As such, the siblings had decided that they would bring it up after studying the next day. While they were homeschooled, both of them gave their best effort in studying. Mainly because they didn't want to be farmers, they wanted to move to the city and get a nice job.
Approaching her house with nervous steps, Leah arrived at the door and entered her house. After taking her shoes off, she turned her head to the direction of the kitchen smelled what seemed like their usual dinner, a big pot of corn chowder.
Feeling delighted at her dinner, Leah visibly relaxed as she walked towards the kitchen with her brother following behind.
Looking at her father who was currently putting the finishing touches on the corn chowder in his casual red and black plaid shirt which had a few small stains from working with it on.
With a peaceful smile, her father looked over towards the two of them and said with a peaceful smile ”It will be ready in just a few minutes. Could you set the table for me?”
”Okay, we will,” Leah responded for both of them.
Taking small steps towards the cabinets with the bowls and silverware, Leah grabbed some silverware to set the tables whereas Brian grabbed the bowls.
As they began to set the table Leah was in deep thought. While their meeting yesterday was odd, she truly did believe Ensen after both double-checking the search results of his name, including looking slightly more in-depth and checking the government website which had all of the private academies listed out.
Although it was placed last in the list due to its recent creation, Evergreen Academy was there.
Unknown to Leah and even Ensen however, was the fact that the Supreme Private Academy System had altered the records and even the registration employee's memory to gain the legal requirements to run the establishment.
While this did come at a slight cost to the system, they knew that it would easily be gained back in the future so a slight investment was no big deal.
After Leah had finished setting the table, she took a seat and remained in deep thought until she heard a voice declare loudly ”Supper is done.”
Following her father saying that supper had been done, Leah looked around to find that her brother Brian had disappeared at some point.
”Brian, Honey, supper is done. Let's eat now.” Leah's father said with a slightly louder tone of voice.
After pausing for a moment, he began to hear footsteps. Nodding in satisfaction, he began walking over towards the table with the pot of corn chowder in one hand and a placemat to put the hot pot on in his other hand.
When everybody had arrived, they began to eat slowly. Deciding that it would be a good time to bring it up, Leah did a slight signal towards her left where Brian had been sitting to tell him she would begin.
Clearing her throat to gain everybody's attention, she began ”Ahem. Mom, dad I have something to talk about.”
Taking a small pause to ensure they were both paying attention, she continued.
”Brian and I got an offer from the principal of a nearby new private academy last night, and we both want to go. It's not too far from here so we could walk.” Leah said carefully.
As Leah finished her short speech, silence ruled over the dining table. Both of her parents were looking at each other for a brief moment before her father began to speak.
”You know we don't have much money to spare, Leah. I would love for you to go, but we can't afford it.” Her father said after a moment of thought.
”He said that the prices were negotiable and that he didn't care much about the money though.” Leah retorted.
Pausing for a moment, her father responded ”Leah, at the end of the day a private academy is still a business. They need to make money to stay open, so I'm sure there will still be costs. Even if the founder does care about raising talents more than money, it is simply unreasonable to think that we could afford it. I'm sorry.”
As silence returned to the room, Leah realized that her parents wouldn't change their minds in the slightest no matter what they argued. Her father did make a good point after all.
”How about you talk to him then?” Leah said in a polite tone, hoping that he would agree.
”What is there to talk about? It's not that he has done anything wrong, we just can't afford it. That won't change either way.” Her father said calmly.
”Please, dad.” Leah said somewhat desperately. While her education at home wasn't terrible, she would much prefer to attend a private academy.