Teenage Millionaire

Chapter 28: Lessons

He loses by about half a second on a blue shell that somebody else threw. He still blamed me, since I got first, and tackled me anyways. After that, he comes over to sit closer to me so he can bump my remote if I get too close to beating him (or so he can see if I press the power-up button a few seconds before he gets bombed with a blue shell). Somehow, I end up sitting in his lap- I think we were wrestling for my remote, and then couldn't go back to our previous sitting positions because we had to finish the race. He's not complaining because it makes it easier for him to keep an eye on me, and I'm not complaining because I can interfere with his view of the TV.

After a few rounds, Darla comes down to tell us that Sharla's here, and asks if we'd rather go upstairs to the usual tutoring room or stay in the basement. He says stay in the basement, because it'll make it easier to go back to Mario Kart between tutors.

I move back to the empty bean bag chair before remembering that Sharla asked me for his name last time, so I lean towards him. He does the same, though a lot more conspiratorially. I roll my eyes at him.

"What should I tell her your name is?"

He shrugs. "Henry. Just don't act weird about it like my parents did and it'll be fine."

"So... did you actually want me to know?"

He shrugs. "I dunno. It just felt like my name."

"Is that how you choose?"

"Kinda. I just think through a bunch of names until I find one that feels good for my mood."

I nod. "So, do you consider Henry to be your real name, or whatever feels right?"

"Usually whatever feels right. Henry is my birth name, which some people would classify as my real one. But I don't like the idea of chaining myself to a name. It feels so permanent, then, and everyone's going to constantly associate you with whatever they thought of the name before they knew it was yours, or other people they know with the same name, and I know several people named Henry. And I'm just... a different person. And I'm a different person from day to day, too. People change, nobody's exactly the same all the time. So..."

I look at him for a moment. He looks really real right now, and it's kind of touching that he's willing to share that with me. Share himself.

The moment's broken when the door to the basement opens and Sharla comes down, making her way over to us.

"Why am I not surprised that you decided to stay down here?"

He flashes her a toothy grin. "Because you know how much I like Mario Kart."

"Yup, that's it. Oh, and hi. Todd, was it?"

"Yeah. Henry," I say, jutting my thumb in his direction. She nods and sits on another nearby beanbag.

"Alright then, Henry, how're you feeling about the state of nature project?"

"Good. Did you read my notes?"

She smirks a little. "Yes. A very entertaining read, though your handwriting still sucks."

"I can't write fast enough if I have to make every letter perfect!" he protests.

"You're just lucky I can read it. Now, care to summarize the fraction of your notes that were actually relevant to the project?"

He smirks. "No huge desire for violence just because it's not illegal, but that could be because Todd's a moral person. Governed by needs if there's no government or society. Concerned about lack of protection and potential lack of food during the winter."