At the beginning of class, Mr. Gibbon introduces him to the class: "Good morning, everyone. Today, we have something a little different. Many of you know Roderick's dad..", he gestures to Mr. Smith, "...and every year Mr. Smith is kind enough to come to school and talk about money with the junior class. So, on that note...Mr. Smith!"
There is polite applause. Roderick feels very proud, but hopes his Dad isn't compelled to do a shout-out.
Mr. Smith steps to the front of the room. "Thank you, Mr. Gibbon". He displays his first slide. It reads About Money. "Okay, class, show of hands, how many of you would like to have more money?"
All hands rise, except for Megan and Bibi, who are batting eyelashes at one another, and Molly, who is thinking about Beethoven's Serioso Quartet. She read in Wikipedia this morning that there is some doubt about exactly when Beethoven wrote the work; the autographed manuscript says October 1810, but the chemical composition of the manuscript paper differs from paper he was known to use at that time. She thinks this is really interesting and wishes she were in Vienna right now.
Mr. Smith displays his next slide. It says How to Have Money.
"There are three things you need to do if you want to have money", says Mr. Smith, warming up to his favorite subject. He holds up one finger. "First, earn as much as you can." He looks around to make sure his point is getting across. He holds up two fingers. "Second, save as much as you can". He pauses dramatically and waits to deliver his key point: "Finally, invest wisely.
"Thank you."
As Mr. Smith turns to leave, Mr. Gibbon steps to the front of the class. "Are there any questions for Mr. Smith?" There were none. Roderick considers asking about single-premium deferred annuities, and the advantages of fixed and variable SPDAs, but figures he can ask at dinner.
"Thank you, Mr. Smith. Please turn to the chapter in your texts on the Missouri Compromise." As the rest of the class pages through the History text, Dickie Wickett uses his Droid to send Mary a message:
B my date Hween Msqrd $250 OK?Dickie figures a high starting bid will pre-empt competitors. He can afford it. His website, Hot Women of Beauneville Latin, gets more eyeballs than any other website in Beauneville. Thanks to his father's connections -- Mr. Wickett owns Wickett's Bazaar, purveyors of classic nice clothing and other unremarkable items -- Dickie is in line to be a Google Platinum Partner. On top of that, Dickie runs a network of spam blogs for his search clients, and consults to other companies on how to filter out spam blogs.
Mary feels her iPhone vibrate. It startles her, as she rarely gets calls in school. She looks at Dickie's message, but does not respond.
Later, during lunch, Mary just "happens" to walk past Donny and his entourage. Donny calls out to her in his customary smooth manner.
"Hey, uh, yo, Mary, um, how ya doin?"
Mary pauses. "Fine", she says, primly.
"Whatcha doin on Halloween?"
"I don't know yet. Are you inviting me out?"
Donny is flat broke. "Uh, no, I'm goin' to the Masquerade with Betsy".
Mary is slightly disappointed. She was hoping for another offer, to see if she could get Dickie up to three hundred. Without a word, she moves on. Spying Dickie sitting alone at a picnic table, eating his pickle sandwich. Carefully, she straddles the bench, holding the hem of her skirt.
Dickie pauses mid-sandwich. "Forget your underwear again?" He seems to have found the nerve to talk with Mary.
She leans forward conspiratorially, blushing. "Isn't that silly of me" she giggles, with her best 'I'm so stupid' impression.
"I can send you a reminder every morning", says Dickie, earnestly.
Mary beams at him. "Anyway, I got your message, and it's very nice of you to ask, but I was just talking to Donny, and he..."
"Two hundred seventy five", says Dickie.
"Okay" says Mary.
Meanwhile, buxom and bubbly Megan walks with Bibi, chatting. Roderick and Molly pass them, going in the opposite direction.
"Hi, Roderick", says Megan, waving.
