Elsewhere, Mike followed his memory and made his way to the classroom where the school's Math Olympiad team held their study sessions.
"Well, well—look who showed up. Our superstar Mike~" Kevin, the team captain, who had been glancing around the room, immediately spotted Mike at the door.
He jumped to his feet and welcomed him with an exaggerated, goofy tone.
"Sit down, Kevin. This is problem-solving time," said Ms. Sharon, the instructor at the podium, frowning as she shut down the overly energetic captain.
"But I already finished…" Kevin protested cheerfully—only to be met with Ms. Sharon's icy stare.
"Okay, okay. I get it. I'll be quiet," Kevin said instantly backing down, sitting straight and miming a zipper over his mouth.
The serious, old-school Ms. Sharon also noticed Mike's arrival. She forced an awkward smile, trying to look friendlier, before saying, "Come in, Mike. Find a seat and start working on this packet."
"Alright," Mike replied, taking the test and scanning the room.
There were only four students in total. Aside from the hyper Kevin and the stylish, well-put-together Katie, the other two students wore thick glasses and looked like classic bookworms.
At that moment, all four pairs of eyes turned toward Mike. The two bespectacled students stared at him in obvious surprise.
Given how much attention Mike had been getting on the football field, they never expected him to join the Math Olympiad team.
"Over here, Mike," Katie said, seizing the opportunity to wave him over.
After Mike sat down beside her, she thoughtfully handed him a pen.
"Alright, focus, everyone," Ms. Sharon said once Mike was seated. "You have thirty minutes left."
Mike exchanged a quick glance with the girl next to him, then turned his attention to the test.
Classic rate problems, spatial geometry…
There were only ten questions on the single-page test, and in Mike's eyes, the difficulty level was pretty low.
At the podium, Ms. Sharon watched Mike write rapidly and nodded slightly in approval.
Before long, the thirty minutes were up. Led by Kevin, the team members efficiently turned in their papers.
When Ms. Sharon received Mike's test, she said, "You arrived late, so I'll give you an extra thirty minutes."
"No need. I'm already done," Mike replied.
"Alright," Ms. Sharon said, glancing at his paper and immediately getting the idea. She picked up a Math Olympiad problem book from the desk and added, "You're a bit behind the others in terms of overall progress. Take this home and study it. If you have questions, come see me."
"Okay," Mike said, taking the book and returning to his seat.
While Ms. Sharon graded the papers, Mike noticed that the other team members all pulled out study materials and started working seriously.
Even Kevin, usually so energetic, looked unusually focused.
"Katie, is our daily assignment just self-study?" Mike asked curiously.
"Of course not," Katie explained. "Once Ms. Sharon finishes grading, she'll go over a major category of Olympiad-style problems with us."
In short, the Math Olympiad team's daily routine was to complete a test, then have Ms. Sharon review mistakes and fill in knowledge gaps.
Another thirty minutes passed.
After finishing the grading, Ms. Sharon spoke up. "Overall, everyone improved on this test. Kevin and Mike both scored perfect scores. Especially Mike—he deserves special praise."
Hearing that Mike earned a perfect score on his very first Olympiad test, the other team members looked briefly surprised, then offered a round of scattered applause.
It was a clear sign that the veteran team members were acknowledging Mike's ability.
"Mike, you're amazing," Katie said with a smile, giving him a thumbs-up.
After that came the session where Ms. Sharon went over the mistake sets.
The entire afternoon passed in a cycle of solving problems and correcting errors.
"Alright, that's it for today," Ms. Sharon said after finishing the last problem. "Anyone who made mistakes should review those concepts carefully." With that, she dismissed the class and left the room.
"Mike, there are still some problems I don't quite understand. Can you explain them to me?" Katie asked, handing him her notebook.
"Sure. I'll take a look tonight and walk you through the solution steps tomorrow," Mike said, taking the notebook.
With Mike's intelligence, Olympiad-level problems at this stage weren't particularly difficult for him.
Seeing how straightforward his response was, Katie hesitated. What she really wanted was to spend a little more time alone with him.
Before she could work up the courage to ask again, Kevin suddenly popped up beside them.
"Mike, I knew it—you're a genius just like me," Kevin said with a grin. "So, what do you think? Karaoke later?"
Despite being the Math Olympiad team captain, Kevin's hip-hop-style outfit made him look more like a party guy than a nerd.
"No thanks. I'm heading straight home," Mike declined.
"That's too bad," Kevin said regretfully. "If you came, we'd definitely pull in a bunch of cute girls."
…
After escaping Kevin's enthusiasm, Mike reached the school gate, where he ran into Little George—just as expected.
"So you quit the football team?" Little George asked, getting straight to the point.
"Yeah. I joined the school's Math Olympiad team instead," Mike replied.
"Math what now?" Little George said anxiously. "You're insanely talented at football. Why would you stop playing?"
That afternoon, Coach Wayne had told him about Mike leaving the team, and Little George had been completely stunned.
On top of that, losing two familiar faces in such a short time made it even harder for him to adjust.
"No real reason. I just wanted to quit," Mike said with a generic answer.
"You…" Little George didn't know what to say. Then he asked, "Does George know about this?"
"He does."
"And what was his reaction?"
"Pretty much the same as yours."
…
"No, I still think you should keep playing," Little George said after struggling with it for a while. "The team really can't do without you…"
In the end, he decided he'd try to convince Mike again at dinner, together with the rest of the family.
But as soon as Little George got home, Mary pulled him aside.
"Little George, do you know about your father possibly going to teach at the University of Oklahoma?" Mary asked seriously.
"The University of Oklahoma? The one with the powerhouse football program?" Little George's eyes lit up. "If George teaches there, does that mean I could play football there too?"
"It's in another state," Mary said calmly. "Are you willing to leave this place?"
"Of course! That's the University of Oklahoma!" Little George said, his voice full of excitement.
By now, he was already imagining himself joining a dominant team, racking up wins, and soaking in the spotlight.
"You have friends here. People you know. Are you really willing to leave all that behind and live somewhere completely new?" Mary asked, deliberately guiding the conversation.
"Uh… that's actually a good point," Little George said hesitantly.
Seeing her son's attitude start to shift, Mary's expression softened. "Think it over carefully. We'll talk about it again at dinner."