1novels Chapter 38 French School
Chapter 38 French School
Fortunately, the people standing outside the door weren't police officers.
"It's me, TJ."
"Why are you here?"
After running back to the balcony and drawing the curtains, and checking repeatedly through the peephole, Zeke finally breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door.
TJ greeted you with a bright smile: "Zick, good morning! Mr. Bogart has already arranged a school for you, and you can start classes today. I'll go with you."
Qi Ke was somewhat surprised and frowned: "So fast? By the way, TJ, why are you being used as a errand boy? Doesn't the PR department have any work to do?"
TJ shrugged indifferently: "I'm actually in the rock department. Lately, the company's focus has been on disco, and our rock artists haven't made much of a splash. KISS is on tour and hasn't released a new album, so I'm just sitting here doing nothing. Neil asked me to go to school with you."
Well, working in Casablanca is really quite casual.
His carefree, unattended days seem to be coming to an end.
But that's not necessarily a bad thing. This secluded cliffside cabin is great in every way, but it's just too lonely. Zeke feels that it's because he's been living here that he's been feeling a bit down these past few days.
The good news is that Marco is arriving today too; having company will make things much better.
After a quick wash, Zeke followed TJ to school.
After driving for about half an hour, we arrived at a private high school called Lycée Français de Los Angeles.
The school may not seem very large, but the campus is exceptionally beautiful, with shady trees and French-style architecture that is clean and elegant.
"This is a French-language school, a private elite preparatory school with very high teaching quality. Most of the students are children of the wealthy or celebrities."
Zik was increasingly puzzled, frowning as he asked, "Why did Neil choose this French school for me? I don't speak French, will I be able to keep up with the pace here?"
TJ patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry about that, they teach in English too. Because disco originated in France, it's a French specialty, and you're good at disco, so in Neil's eyes it's a sure-fire formula for success."
This reason left Zeke speechless. Was Neil Bogart really reliable?
Disco originated in France, so what does that have to do with him attending a French school? What kind of strange logic is that?
He couldn't help but roll his eyes: "What do these two things have to do with each other? I'm just writing disco songs, not going to France to develop my career."
"Learning more about French culture and some French will definitely help you create disco songs in the future. Besides, knowing more foreign languages opens up more career paths, and you can use them in college to earn credits."
That's not bad. After a few days of living on the West Coast, Zeke felt that life in the ivory tower was still more comfortable.
He followed TJ into the administration building, where the principal was a middle-aged woman dressed in a well-fitting suit. Her light brown hair was styled in a bun, her makeup was exquisite but not ostentatious, and her demeanor was composed and capable, exuding elegance from head to toe.
She was very welcoming to Mr. Zick, stepping forward and extending her hand with a gentle and polite smile: "Hello, Mr. Zick, I am Marina Dupont, the principal of this school. A warm welcome to you to our school. Mr. Peter Cooper has already spoken to me."
Qi Ke quickly reached out to shake her hand and politely replied, "Hello, Principal, thank you for accepting me."
He suddenly realized that Neil had gotten in touch with Hollywood mogul Peter Cooper, who was also the chairman of Casablanca's board of directors. He couldn't help but twitch his lips: Americans are pretty good at social maneuvering!
Principal Marina introduced the school, saying, "Our school adopts a small class teaching system, with no more than twelve students in each class, and implements flexible class hours, which can highly accommodate the acting work of underage stars. It can be considered one of the most favored private schools by major Hollywood studios, and it is one of the top ones among them."
"Underage celebrities... uh, isn't that just child stars?"
"That's one way to put it."
The principal pointed to some movie stills on the wall, but unfortunately, Zeke only recognized Tatum O'Neill. This tomboy is the youngest Oscar winner, having won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the age of 10 for "Paper Moon".
"Many young stars choose our school to preserve their academic qualifications. They can flexibly arrange their class time according to their filming schedule, such as attending classes during the day and going to the film set to film in the afternoon, or they can concentrate on attending classes for a few weeks and then take a break from filming for a few months. The credits can be flexibly converted, so it will not delay their acting career at all."
Furthermore, our school boasts strong academic strength and a highly qualified faculty, mostly comprised of professors from top universities in France and the United States. This ensures that students can balance their careers with acquiring solid knowledge, enabling them to smoothly transition into top-tier universities.
Zik nodded, gradually understanding Neil's intention. This school not only had high teaching quality, but more importantly, it offered flexible hours, which wouldn't interfere with his songwriting or work with Casablanca. It was a good choice.
The thought of being forced to learn French gave him a headache. This school was an overseas French school recognized by the French Ministry of Education, where French was a compulsory subject, required at every grade level, and constituted a significant portion of the curriculum.
Under the principal's arrangement, the academic affairs teacher quickly helped Qi Ke complete the eleventh grade enrollment procedures, filled in his personal information, and measured his school uniform size. The school uniform is a custom-made item and requires a certain amount of production time.
Meanwhile, TJ had already brought him the complete set of textbooks and class schedules, which were neatly placed on the table to the side.
Schools in different states in the United States use different textbooks, and the versions vary greatly. He didn't bring his high school textbooks from New York State at all.
After all the enrollment procedures were completed, TJ patted Zeke on the shoulder: "Zike, that's all I can do to help you. I have something to do, so I'll take my leave now."
Thanks, TJ.
TJ waved his hand, strode over to the public phone in the lobby, and immediately put on a wicked smile, flirting with the girl on the other end of the phone in an ambiguous tone, looking like he had no intention of going back to work.
Led by a teacher, Zik arrived at a classroom where the math teacher was lecturing on the blackboard with chalk.
The classroom is small, with only about ten students, almost all of whom are handsome men and beautiful women with outstanding temperament.
However, Zik is quite confident in his modeling, and it doesn't look out of place among them.
A huge horseshoe-shaped table is placed in the center of the classroom, with students sitting around it. The teacher stands at the opening of the horseshoe, able to see all the students at a glance, which facilitates teaching and interaction.
The academic affairs teacher smiled and said to the whole class, "Class, please be quiet for a moment. Let me introduce a new student to you. His name is Zeke, and he's from New York. He'll be one of us from now on. Please welcome him."
A soft round of applause rang out in the classroom. The teacher gently pushed Qi Ke to the center of the class, and all eyes instantly focused on him. Curiosity, inquiry, and scrutiny intertwined, and there was no way to avoid them.
"Hi, I'm Zeke."
Qi Ke smiled and waved to the whole class in a generous manner, which was his way of greeting them.
The students were all wearing the same school uniform. The boys wore sharp dark suit jackets with white shirts and ties, while the girls wore simple French-style dresses, exuding a gentle and elegant temperament.
He was the only one dressed casually, wearing a newly bought pair of jeans on his lower body and a custom-made Casablanca jacket on his upper body. The black satin material shimmered softly in the sunlight, creating a stark contrast with the school uniforms of the students around him.
His classmates looked him up and down, as if they were examining a novel species.
Some people lowered their heads and whispered among themselves to the students next to them:
"Is he from New York? He looks like a celebrity. Have you heard of Zeke?"
"I've seen that jacket before; he's definitely from Casablanca."
"Could it be a new singer? My dad told me that Casablanca recently signed a band."
"It doesn't seem like it. He's so handsome, and his demeanor doesn't resemble that of a singer. He must be an actor."
The chatter grew louder, and the math teacher quickly cleared his throat. "Alright, students, quiet down. Let's continue the lesson. Qi Ke, find an empty seat. You can ask me anything after class if you don't understand something."
Qi Ke smiled and didn't pay attention to his classmates' comments.
In his view, with a small class size, the previously stable small circle will inevitably be disturbed when a new person joins. Curiosity and discussion are normal, and they will get used to it over time.
He looked up at the blackboard and felt relieved. The teacher was teaching analytic geometry, explaining the derivation and properties of conic sections. The formulas written in chalk were clear and easy to understand. These concepts were familiar to him...
It doesn't seem that difficult.
Qi Ke placed the textbook and timetable on the table, listened attentively to the lesson for a while, and became increasingly certain that apart from the teacher's slightly strange accent which he needed to overcome, he could keep up with the pace perfectly well.
Not long after, the teacher wrote a problem on the blackboard that involved the application of physics:
"Please complete this problem on the spot. Pay attention to accurate calculations. If you have any questions, please raise your hand."
The students in the class all took out their slide rules and began to work out the calculations carefully.
Only Zik remained seated without moving. He didn't have a slide rule and hadn't expected to use it in class.
The girl sitting next to him gently touched his arm and said softly, "Hello, my name is Christy. I noticed you don't have a slide rule. Would you like to borrow it?"
The girl was very pretty, with short, light brown hair, clear eyes, a gentle smile, and eyes full of kindness.
She then asked curiously, "By the way, are you a new singer signed by Casablanca? Your jacket is quite nice."
Before Qi Ke could answer, a boy sitting diagonally opposite him spoke up sarcastically: "Hmph, what kind of celebrity is he? He's probably just the son of some big shot, right? I saw the academic affairs teacher being very polite to him just now."
The boy's hair was neatly combed, and his eyes held a hint of arrogance; he was clearly a pampered rich kid who had been spoiled since childhood.
Ignoring such trivial gossip, Zeke smiled at the girl and said sincerely, "Thank you for your kindness, Christie, but I don't need a slide rule."
After saying that, he turned his head to concentrate on the question. It was nothing more than a combination of conic sections and physical motion, and he felt that he could solve it mentally.
Feeling slighted by Qi Ke's cold shoulder, the boy's face fell, and his tone became even more sarcastic, his voice rising several decibels:
"Hey, Yankees kid, I bet you can't even understand the question, and you don't know how to use a slide rule, do you? New York uses imperial units, but we use metric units here. If you can't even figure out the units, don't embarrass yourself."