May 17

“I’m almost 40,” Charlie retorted flatly. “I have a degenerative disease that makes me appear childlike. The doctors say I’ll be dead before I reach 50. The good news is that if I croak before the end of the semester, you all get A’s.”

“Is that true?”

“No, I’m sixteen, in perfect health, and the only way any of you are going to get A’s is to study.”