Another YouTube Fairytale: Matt's Life In Hope Square; Book 1

Chapter 5 - Parent/Teacher Conference

Jack opened the front door of the orphanage, seeing Mark and another man, most likely Tyler, standing around the table. 

"This is Jack?" He pointed towards him. 

"Yes, I am. And are you Tyler?" He asked. 

Tyler chuckled. "Yes, I am! I'll be teaching here until we have a better location. In the meantime, I'm meeting with all the parents. Seeing as how you are the guardian of all the children here, I requested a meeting with you first." 

"I asked to join in. We're both concerned about Matthew, so we decided I should be here as well." Mark said. 

"Is Matt here right now?" Jack asked. 

"No. I asked Virgil to take him out to the fountain again." Mark said. 

"Speaking of Virgil, he's reading a new book." 

"Oh no... did he finally get his hands on 50 Shades of Dark White?" Jack asked. 

"No, no, not at all! I don't know what it was. It was more like a notebook without a cover. I asked him about it."

"And?" Mark asked. 

"He dropped it in my hands and ran away. He's a true Hope, that boy. Either way, I looked it over. It's a science textbook. Matt's name was in it." Tyler said. 

"Oh! Well, I'm not surprised. Matthew is incredibly smart. He must have wrote it himself." Jack said. "He's taught himself so much. He's even made up a few equations. We tested them together, and they've proved to be true." 

"Well, that's good for him." Tyler said. "However, Mark has told me that his curiosity is becoming a concern." 

"Yes, of course." Jack sat down, and Mark beside him. 

"We're worried about him." Mark said. "He's too curious. He'll be a problem if this continues. His curiosity will push him outside these walls and into places where he'll be discovered. And by extension, all of Hope Square. And it's not like he has any fear to balance it out. If he were to be cornered, he wouldn't run away, he'd try and think his way out of it, when it's not worth the risk."

"In short, we're teaching the other children science, math, and literature. But we're teaching Matt something different. We're teaching him how to be afraid. How to be a Hope." Jack said. "We teach all of our children how to be afraid, but Matt's curiosity has stopped him from picking it up." 

Mark added on. "I've made sure that everyone in Hope Square knows how to be afraid. Every single Hope knows what to do if they're spotted. Run, hide, scream. Matt doesn't." 

"Well, some kids are slower than others. We'll work on it." Tyler said, his hands folded. "It'll be fine. I promise."