Professor Collins: Professor Collins smiled a little as she got a hold of Max's father. As she talked, an angry, loud voice could be heard from the phone, but you couldn't hear what it was saying. "Hello? Is this Lieutenant Patterson? Hi, I'm Professor Elizabeth Collins, from the Collins Institute fo Gifted Youngsters. I'm calling because your daughter, Maxine, has had poor behavior all day. She was disrupting my class, not paying attention, and not following diretions. I also took a sketchbook from her. Oh, so this is her normal behavior at school, is it? And have you done anything about it, seeing as this is her "normal school behavior"? Are you - Are you demanding me to put Maxine on the phone? Are you seriously speaking to me like this? You can talk to your girl, but we're not finished yet." Professor Collins thrust the phone into Max's hands.
Max: Max pressed the phone to her ear. At once, her father's normal verbal abuse poured out into her ears, filling her head with thoughts she had been trained to think for much of her life. If one was good with the sound of voices, it sounded much worse than a father angry with his daughter for not following the rules. As she was listening to her father and speaking to him, she was not keeping her guard up, and so allowed her emotions to show. She looked absolutely depressed, she looked as if she was in pain or she could be sick, and she looked as if all the fight had gone out of her eyes. But most notably, she looked afraid. "Yes sir, it's me. Sir, what happened was - Yes, I know. I know sir. I am sir. You're right sir, I am a disgrace to the family name. I should, sir. You've told me before sir. Sir, I - I - please listen sir, I'm trying - no, I'm not being disrespectful, I'm trying to explain - Yes sir. I'll follow through with whatever punishment you send me in the email. I always do. I know it's not good enough sir, I don't fool myself. Yes sir. I'm sorry sir. I know sir. No one knows better than me, sir. Yes sir. Yes, I understand sir. I know what day it is sir. I know what you'll have to do if I mess around too much. Sir, I - sir, you aren't listening! I am listening sir! I'm not being disrespectful. Yes sir. Yes, I know sir. Yes sir. Good bye sir." Max handed the phone to Professor Collins and said, "My father wants to talk to you again."
Professor Collins: Professor Collins listened on the phone for a bit before she opened her muth and said, "What are you saying? Lieutenant, I don't hit my students, even when they're disobediant. I don't like your tone. Excuse me? Are you threatening me? Well Lieutenant Patterson, you have certainly shown me a lot during this conversation. I have a class to teach, so I'll be hanging up now. Good bye." Professor Collins hung up the phone a bit harder than she needed to. She turned to Max, who was looking defeatedly at her, waiting to be spoken to. Based on what Lieutenant Patterson said on the phone with her, she wondered what he had said to his own daughter. "Maxine, you and your father are certainly pieces of work."
Max: Max looked apologetically at Professor Collins and replied with a hollow voice, "I know. Almost everyone I know has told me that one way or another."
Professor Collinbs; Professor Collins was going to throw the sketchbook on the desk and allow the other students to look through it, but she decided Max had gone through enough at the moment. "Take your seat Maxine," she said mercifully and put the sketchbook in her desk.
Max: Max turned away without replying and briskly took her seat, unwilling to look at Jack or any of the other students.
