murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood

"I bet you're right - though I'm not sure about the maths."
"Anyway, it's a lot. 180 girls. What do you think it feels like to collect
and burn that much stuff?"
"Can't imagine," I said. How could I have imagined what the old man
was going through? Midori and I went on watching the smoke.
"I really didn't want to go to this school," Midori said. She gave her
head a little shake. "I wanted to go to an absolutely ordinary State
school with ordinary people where I could relax and have fun like an
ordinary teenager. But my parents thought it would look good for me
to go to this fancy place. They're the ones who stuck me in here. You
know: that's what happens when you do well in primary school. The
teacher tells your parents "With marks like hers, she ought to go
there.' So that's where I ended up. I went for six years and I never
liked it. All I could think about was getting out. And you know, I've
got certificates of merit for never having been late or missed a day of
school. That's how much I hated the place. Get it?"
"No, I don't get it."
"It's because I hated the place so much. I wasn't going to let it beat me.
If I'd let it get to me once I'd be finished. I was scared I'd just keep
slipping down and down. I'd crawl to school with a temperature of
103. The teacher would ask me if I was sick, but I'd say no. When I
left they gave me certificates for perfect attendance and punctuality,
plus a French dictionary. That's why I'm taking German now. I didn't
want to owe this school anything. I'm not kidding."
"Why did you hate it so much?
"Did you like your school?"
"Well, no, but I didn't especially hate it, either. I went to an ordinary
State school but I never thought about it one way or another."
"Well, this school," Midori said, scratching the corner of her eye with
her little finger, "had nothing but upper-class girls - almost a thousand
girls with good backgrounds and good exam results. Rich girls. They
had to be rich to survive. High tuition, endless contributions,
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