When I was in elementary, I was at the top of the class.
I went to international-level contests, I became president of everything in school, everyone admired me--but nobody became my friend.
They all just assumed that I was too much of a prodigy to get close to. They thought that I was too smart to be much of a friend--that I lacked the ability to comprehend simple world problems. They thought of me as someone incapable of enjoying small things.
They were utterly, inrevocably wrong. I wanted to prove to them that I could be simple, too. I could be normal. I could be friendly.
But I never got the chance to. I moved away after graduation, determined to start a new life somewhere--a life where I was just like any other student. Not a genius, not a prodigy, just happy.
High school started and nobody paid much attention to me. I was finally average. I was finally normal. I started approaching everyone with a smile. I started being sunny. I started having friends.
Two years in and I was the happiest guy on Earth. I had friends. I had average grades. I didn't attract attention. I was free.
And I met Emma.
---
"Zachie," Zin groaned, pulling on the curly strands of hair I had left free dangling around. "This is stupid."
I laughed at her and pulled lightly at her hair, styling half her hair into a braid. The other half lay finished over one of her shoulders and as I finished the other one, my sister complained again.
She tugged at her twin braids and twisted around in her chair to face me, her face all pouty. I made a face at her and pinched her cheeks, making her mutter profanities.
I frowned and flicked at her mouth. She flinched back. "Don't say bad words," I chided. "You're still young."
She rolled her eyes. "Zachie, I' m thirteen. Technically a teen."
I put my hands on my hips and looked down at her like a judging parent. "That doesn't validate as a reason to say such vulgar words."
"Wow," she mocked. "Who knew Zachie knew what vulgar is."
I smiled, not letting it show how her words had hit close to home. Of course. I got rid of all the evidence of how smart I was when we moved here, and she was stoll eleven then. She wouldn't remember that her brother wasn't stupid and was actually pretty smart.
"Zachie?"
I flinched back to reality and saw her looking at me with furrowed eyebrows.
"Are you okay?"
I gave her the most painless smile I could muster. "Yeah. Just thinking about how cute you look with twin braids."
