"felt familiar." "This place was different... and so was I." "The school is supposed to provide one-on-one instruction." "I thought you understood Kyle's special needs." "Mrs. Trager, I strive to meet the needs of every student." "And given Kyle's situation, a personal tutor is probably best." "But that is a costly arrangement, and I have some additional concerns." "He spent time at a juvenile detention center." "That was an improper placement." "Where he engaged in an altercation." "Another resident punched him." "Kyle never hit back." "He is currently involved in a homicide investigation." "As a possible witness." "He still can't remember anything." "And I am afraid that his memory issues may become problematic." "Mr. Hooper, Kyle is an exceptionally bright boy who is eager to learn." "I think this school would be lucky to have him." "We have five hours of testing ahead of us." "We should get started." "I've already tested Kyle." "His I.Q. is phenomenal." "Mrs. Trager, aptitude and I.Q. are not the same thing." "And since we do not have any former school records for Kyle," "I can't even consider a personal tutor until we determine his grade level." "What kind of tests are we talking about?" "Well, assuming he's around 16, I'll administer the standard tenth grade placement exams, and we shall see how he does." "He's a great kid." "And he's so happy to be here." "[Teacher] Hello, everybody." "I hope your instruments haven't gathered too much dust over the summer, but my guess is it's the first time most of them have been out of their cases since June." "Kyle, there you are." "I have to leave now, but Mr. Hooper's gonna give you some tests." "Tests?" "Yeah, to see what you've learned and what the school still needs to teach you." "He loves math." "That's a good place to start." "Thank you." "I'll take it from here." "Okay, so you have your money for lunch, and I think you're all set." "Thanks." "You're gonna do fine." "Bye." "Bye." "All right, Kyle." "Let's get started." "Okay." "Fire up those brains and check this out, people." "Solve it by the end of the semester, you get an automatic "A" in my class." "A professor at M.I.T. presented this problem." "It took his students six weeks to crack it." "Sort of like a mathematical Mount Everest, if you will." "Trager, comma, Lori." "Discussing the Jacobi algorithm?" "Um...what?" "Didn't think so." "Conduct your personal business on your own time." "And as for wasting mine," "I'll see you after school." "[Woman] "It was a cold, damp morning." "The mist clung to the ground like a silver cloak."" "Continue with the next paragraph..." "Toby." "Pass." "I'm afraid I don't offer that option." ""Grandfather's hat was still... in the gravel--"" ""--path... near the gern--geraniums." [laughing]" "That's enough!" "Toby, continue." "From where we left off." ""Near the geraniums he hadn't finished planting." ""Rich earth was piled next to a hole he'd prepared, like a mound of dirt beside a fresh grave."" "This is not math." "We're going to start with history." "90 minutes for that portion." "I'll check on you then." "[Narrating] Page after page of names and dates, all of them unfamiliar." "1492." "1812." "George Washington." "Marie Antoinette." "I hadn't been taught anything yet, but I was expected to complete a test." "I thought I was here to ask questions, not answer them." "That bell again." "Apparently, it rang at precise intervals, moving students at a regular pace." "At least this time I knew what to do." "Time to find a place again." "In a morning filled with confusion, here was something that spoke to me clearly." "Finally, a test I could pass." "Someone solved it." "[Narrating] I'd learned to follow the ebb and flow of students." "But this time, instead of scattering in every direction, they all moved to the same place." "It seemed everyone was welcome here." "And I thought I might find a place to belong." "Hey, you." "Whoa, I wouldn't sit there." "Unless you want to be known as Geekman's friend." "That's what everyone calls me 'cause my last name's Deichman." "Except some people say "Dykeman," so they might also think you're Dykeman's friend, which would make you a lesbian." "Nope." "Whatever." "Do what you want." "I can't see?" "This is a joke." "Right?" "Someone told you to sit here?" "Very funny!" "No." "I draw, too." "Shut up." "You do?" "[Josh] See where Kyle's sitting?" "Look, if you need five bucks for lunch" "He's sitting with L.K. "Dykeman."" "And?" "That's social suicide." "You're supposed to look out for him, Lori." "Well, so are you." "Let him sit with your punk-ass little posse." "So, Lori got, like, ten shades of pissy and called me a slut, after her freakazoid foster brother is groping me." "Like I'd ever go there." "But you've been, like, salivating over him since he messed with that cop at Declan's party." "Well, not anymore." "Look at him." "He's friends with Geekman." "Okay, so do you want to hear something funny?" "Nadine Velasquez, last period, same shirt." "Laugh riot." "You call her a slut, too?" "Come on, Hills." "Truce?" "I'm so over fighting." "For reals?" "'Cause I'm so over you." "Girls, coming?" "You guys, come on." "Should have taken off the shirt." "He doesn't look like an alien." "I'm telling ya, the stuff I've seen him do..." "I got a whole file." "Right." "So instead of taking over the world, he's here in high school?" "It's part of his master plan." "To recruit an army of losers like L.K. Deichman?" "[laughing] Speaking of losers, how was Schultz this mornin'?" "I'm the king of that class." "A bunch of morons who can't read." "Man, that's pathetic." "[Deichman] That's the thing about comics." "The mainstream stuff, it's pretty cheesy." "[mockingly] Anime." "It's just a fancy word for "cartoons."" "I like the indie press stuff... comics like... [slurping] like Diesel Danny..." "Tarsus...." "Vera Zero." "Why do they have secret identities?" "To hide their amazing abilities." "So they can help people without freaking' them out." "I mean, this is basic stuff." "How can you not know this?" "I don't know." "But what about George Washington?" "Mmm...yeah." "How 'bout him." "Is he a superhero, too?" "He's the first president ever of America." "And Hathor, is she on another test?" "Superheroes aren't real." "What's wrong with you?" "Look, seriously, I know it's your first day and all, but don't you know anything?" "That's why I came here... to learn." "You came to high school... to learn." "That's a good one." "Okay, look, maybe I can help you." "You get the sushi?" "Got the sushi. [laughs]" "I can't believe we have an hour alone." "Oh, an hour is barely enough time." "We'll make the most of it." "Are you close?" "I'm around the corner, baby." "I'll be waiting." "Nicole?" "Uh, hang on." "I just heard something." "Hello?" "Stephen, I think someone's breaking in." "Get out." "Now!" "[Man] I'll try to make this as quick as possible." "[Nicole] My husband has a security problem." "Nicole!" "Oh, Stephen, I was just gonna call you." "This is Tom from our security company." "Hello, sir." "What's goin' on?" "Well, I was on patrol and saw someone break in your window." "Tom scared him off." "Does that belong to anyone?" "No." "I'm sure he dropped it." "Probably used the handle to break the glass." "Any idea who it might be?" "No, I'm sorry." "I didn't get a good look." "But there's been a number of break-ins in the neighborhood lately." "I've already called in the incident, and I'll make sure that the police are aware as well." "You okay?" "I am now." "I'm sorry I scared you." "As long as you're okay." "Yeah." "You just happened to be driving by?" "Yeah." "It's a lucky thing, huh?" "Now, if I can just finish up this report," "I'll get out of your way, okay?" "Sure." "This room is...what?" "Oh, um... it's a guest room." "Oh." "Pardon me, but our records indicate that all your bedrooms are upstairs, no?" "Well, we have a temporary foster care situation." "Oh, I see." "I see." "Well, that's nice of you folks to take someone in." "How's that workin' out?" "Fine." "What happens if he comes back?" "I'll just drive by more often, and I'll keep an eye on the house." "Well, we'd appreciate that." "That's my job." "Thank you." "[gasps]" "Gosh!" "Sorry." "Sure, you are." "I hope I didn't ruin it." "Anything you want to know, this is the place to find it." "It's like the fortress of solitude." "More like a good place to nap." "Ah." "Might as well start with this." "It's like...everything." "Boiled down." "Thank you." "No problem." "Okay." "Look, I guess, um..." "I'll see you around." "Kyle?" "Amanda." "How's it goin'?" "Oh." "You remember Charlie." "Hey, yeah, we met at Preston's party." "Yes, I remember." "Little, uh..." "light reading?" "Listen, uh, I know it's your first day, and I remember when I moved." "It took a lot of getting used to." "So, if you need anything, just give me a shout." "Well, uh...okay." "Bye, Kyle." "We'll see you later." "Big talker." "Well, he can be shy, but he's really sweet." "I could be wrong, but I think he's got a problem with me." "Hey...who could ever have a problem with you?" "I'm tellin' you, she was triple-X hot, totally into me." "Dude, you're such a liar." "As if you were anywhere near that hot tub." "All true, man." "Our stock is goin' way up this year." "Dude, what was that about?" "I don't know." "I think I insulted him." "Well, un-insult him." "That's Toby Neuwirth." "He's got major anger management issues." "[snickers] No kidding." "Still on hold?" "Yep." "It's probably nothing, but I haven't seen that guy on patrol before, and he shows up just in time?" "Have you heard of any break-ins in the neighborhood?" "Uh-uh." "[on phone] Mr. Trager?" "Sorry to keep you waiting, sir." "Yes, Tom is a new employee here." "Tom Foss." "He just started this week." "I don't know." "It's just that we didn't know him." "I assume you do background checks?" "Oh, absolutely." "In fact, Tom has a very impressive military background." "He's a decorated veteran, plus several years in private security, so nothin' to worry about." "Sounds good." "Thank you." "No problem." "He checked out fine." "These suburban types, I'm tellin' you." "Must be somethin' about payin' a mortgage, makes 'em all jumpy." "Meanwhile, they got a guy like you lookin' out for them." "Shoot, couldn't be in better hands." "[Narrating] 22 volumes, over 17,000 articles." "In one afternoon, I'd covered the span of human history and circled the globe." "I thought you'd still be here." "Kyle?" "Charlie's a really great guy." "I think you'd really like him." "Because I think you're a great guy, too." "But...you know... you know there's nothing...between..." "I mean, he thought there might be, but..." "I just--I wanted to make sure that" "You don't..." "like me, do you?" "[Narrating] I'd just learned of every human tragedy:" "war and disaster." "But Amanda presented the most difficult lesson." "I could tell which answer would relieve her and which she didn't want to hear." "Kyle?" "You're my friend." "Yeah." "We're friends." "Telling Amanda my true feelings might have brought us closer." "But she belonged with Charlie, which meant I still belonged...nowhere." "Kyle, wait." "You don't have to learn everything in one day." "School's over for today." "Two more seconds." "Now it's over." "Well, so much for our afternoon rendezvous." "So, you gonna call the insurance company?" "Yeah." "The glass company, too." "Now, hold on." "I can hang a window over the weekend." "Oh." "Thanks for comin' to my rescue." "You're welcome." "Don't get that." "Hello?" "Yes." "I'm sorry." "What?" "Oh, I'll be right there." "That was the school." "Trouble?" "Yeah." "Which kid?" "Kyle." "Yeah, it's gonna be a great game." "I'll check you out later." "Hey, Trager." "What's up with you today?" "I'm late for detention." "Look, if you want to talk about what happened" "What happened?" "Yeah, you know" "You want to talk about what happened now." "I figured that we could" "It wasn't some friggin' basketball game, Declan." "Hey, man, you catch that sex we had last weekend?" "Yeah, man, that sex was awesome." "Nice offense." "Like, I don't know Hillary told you to ask me to the party." "Like you guys didn't sit there and yuk it up at lunch." "Hey, Trager, you got it all wrong." "I was just checking up on you." "If you really wanted to check up on me, you woulda called." "And you didn't, which is fine." "It's honest." "But this sudden interest in my feelings or whatever, it's so fake and unnecessary because the sex was awful, because you could give a crap about my feelings, and because you are the absolute last person that I want to talk to right now." "I was asking about what happened today." "With Hillary." "Hey." "Hey, man." "You're in Schultz with me, right?" "Little wise-ass." "Dude, I don't know why you've got a problem with me." "I don't got a problem." "You got a problem." "You're right, I do, and I'll go take care of that." "Think you're smart, huh?" "Dude, I'm in remedial." "Oh, with a bunch of morons then, huh?" "Stop." "Why'd you hit him?" "Who's this, your boyfriend?" "Let's go." "You know, you really are an idiot." "Oh!" "What's happening here?" "The other student insists Kyle threw the first punch." "I didn't hit anyone." "That is not how it appeared." "Mr. Hooper, all we saw was Kyle holding that boy." "It looked like he was stopping him, not pushing him." "Are you looking for reasons to discredit him?" "Mrs. Trager, that altercation plus Kyle's complete disregard for school rules, his wandering, the tests he simply ignored..." "I'm sorry, but there's just no place for a boy like Kyle in this school." "Trager, comma, Lori." "Have a seat." "1 + 2 - 1 until you reach 500." "Legibly." "How is this possible?" "Someone answered it?" "Yeah." "You know, I put it up every year just to motivate you kids." "Hardly anyone attempts it, let alone answers it." "Well, congratulations." "Someone must know a mathematician." "Or search the Internet, you know." "No student here could possibly solve this on his own." "Mr. Miller, if I can point you in the right direction, can we forget about detention?" "He's entitled to a one-on-one tutor." "Not after today's performance." "That's him." "Mr. Miller, I'm in a conference." "Excuse me." "This is important." "Did you solve my math problem?" "Kyle?" "Yes, I did." "Okay, how did you do it?" "The Fourier series?" "You used Bessel functions?" "Kronecker delta?" "I just looked at it and I knew." "Please, tell me what's going on." "Um..." "Mr. Hooper, this student just solved a grad school-level math problem and he can't tell me how." "Well, I'm afraid this young man is not a student at this school." "Well, he has to be." "I have to work with him." "He didn't answer a single question." "Kyle." "Why didn't you?" "I didn't know the answers." "You see?" "But I do now." "Let him take the test." "Testing must be completed in a five-hour period for the scores to be valid." "There's 30 minutes left." "Just give him the test." "[sighs]" "So?" "How'd your day go?" "Awesome." "I want to transfer." "Hey, what happened?" "I'll be outside." "Yeah, that's just crazy." "Coach is goin' nuts." "He was all over me, though." "I'll see you guys later." "[answers, indistinct]" "Look..." "I know I was super harsh before." "I thought" "I know what you thought." "Look, this whole day sucked, so it wasn't about you, okay?" "It was a little about me." "Yeah, well...it was mostly bad timing." "Declan, we're going for coffee." "Come with?" "Nah, I'm good." "You didn't have to do that." "Wanted to." "I should apologize." "Yes, you should." "But you don't have to." "Look, I screw up all the time." "Maybe it's your turn." "Sounds fair." "You okay?" "I'll live." "Hey, Trager, define "awful."" "I'll see you tomorrow." "Done." "Done?" "With, uh, which section?" "All of 'em." "[Josh laughing]" "That's...that's not possible." "Totally is." "Good goin', Kyle." "Now, hold on here." "I still have to grade them." "I think that's just a formality, Mr. Hooper." "So, when can he start with his tutor?" "Well, if...if his scores measure up, first thing tomorrow morning." "Nice job, Kyle." "I'll see you soon." "I don't want a tutor." "But, Kyle, I thought you wanted to go to school." "I do, but not like that." "Now, explain this to me:" "that whole private tutor was such a sweet deal." "But you want to go to class with the rest of us?" "If I don't, I'll be alone." "You'll be lucky." "No vicious backstabbers to deal with." "And those are her friends." "Seriously, it's not like you need to go to school." "You already know everything." "Facts." "Maybe some dates." "But if I'm stuck with a tutor all day," "I'll never learn what I really need to know." "Why do people do what they do?" "Hey." "Hey." "Thanks for helpin' me today." "No worries." "People...are looking." "So?" "It's weird." "I think weird is good." "I saw what you did." "Ka-blow!" "Swoosh!" "Bam!" "You know, vanquished." "Ka-blow?" "I know I said superheroes aren't real, but..." "Keep it." "I still don't know if I'd ever been to school before that day, and I wish I could have learned something, anything, that would've helped me remember my past." "Still, every day I spent here became a part of my own history, and if I wanted to learn people," "I knew that part of that meant learning from my own choices... and making new choices tomorrow." "He said he read the entire encyclopedia." "He probably flipped through and jogged his memory." "And then got a perfect score?" "How could he know that much?"