"Okay, okay, I've picked up!"
"About time, honestly."
"Do keep in mind that I can end this all with a press of a button."
"So why haven't you?"
"Are you challenging me?"
"May- Actually, no. I've spent too much time waiting just to have you hang up."
She smirks, knowing she won that round.
"Good, so you aren't that absorbed in saving your precious ego."
"Is that supposed to be a sexist joke about how guys can't take a hit to their pride?"
"Was it?"
"... You confuse me greatly."
"I get that a lot."
Hopefully he didn't realize the underlying bitterness in her words, she thinks.
"Do you?"
"Yes. And laughed at. But isn't that what everyone does when they hear something they can't understand? They mock me for not understanding "simple" things, yet they're the ones with the small enough brain capacity to not be able to keep up with me. Is it my fault I don't take facts for granted, and think more deeply than the rest in order to comprehend the reasons for said fact to be true?"
"You're bitter about it, aren't you?"
"Gee, you think? Naw, I'm perfectly fine with being mocked for hypocritical reasons. Totally."
"I get it though. Just because you're different, people mark you as abnormal and isolate you. You're constantly being ridiculed for not conforming to social norms. Just because you're smarter, people feel threatened, so they make you feel bad about yourself in order to make them feel better about themselves."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Well was I right?"
"More than anyone else has... Who are you?"
"We both have our secrets. You have yours, and I have mine."
"Why are you calling me? What are you doing? What do you want?"
At this point, she's starting to feel a bit hysteric. Was this all just a prank for her to let this stranger in and confide in him, only for him to expose her to all the kids at school? People were evil enough these days to do such a thing.
"You'll find out soon enough. Just trust me."
She masks herself with the icy exterior she found herself using to block everyone out these days.
"I can't trust anyone, much less a stranger. Stop calling me."
Please. She adds quietly. Or I might just slip up and do something I'll regret.
YOU ARE READING
Three Seventeen || Completed
Short Story"Each night she lies awake in bed, Blaming insomnia. But in truth it really is, Her restless thoughts instead." A phone call. A boy. A life changed. --- entry for @vinyl-'s one-shot competition (although mine's more of a short story oops)
