Page 91 of The Warrior
“They do?”
“Yes.”
“Huh, I didn’t know that.” Mila looked back at the poem. “I guess that’s because people here hadn’t met a real genius before Shelly arrived.”
“Shelly is a genius?” I looked over at the teenager with the bushy eyebrows, unruly hair, and bad skin.
“Yes. She’s even smarter than Pearl, but in a different way.”
“I see.” There was a moment of pride in my chest. I was surrounded by intelligent women and sitting next to a girl who had female role models that I hadn’t had access to when I was her age.
“There’s plenty of things she sucks at though.”
“Who, Shelly?”
“Yes.” Mila widened her eyes and nodded her head with exaggeration. “She can’t fightat all. Her cooking isn’t good either, and she is hopeless at drawing. It’s like her intelligence wasn’t distributed evenly in her brain. In some areas she’s a genius, in other areas she’shopeless.” She whispered the last part.
“Mila, are you analyzing the poem?” Kya asked from the other end of the room.
“I’m sorry. I got a little distracted,” Mila admitted and returned to the poem, pointing her finger at a line. “I like this part where it says, ‘only light can conquer darkness – even a child like me can seethat much is clear.”
“I like that too.”
She tilted her head. “It’s nice how she uses the word clear in reference to the light.”
“Yeah.”
“And I think she’s right. If someone is being mean to you it doesn’t help to be mean back. Someone has to smile first.”
I sucked in a breath, Athena’s words playing in my mind about my telling Magni that I loved him instead of waiting for him to say it first.
“You’re right, but smiling first can be difficult,” I pointed out.
“You think so?” Mila looked thoughtful. “For me it’s harder to be mean. It feels bad inside, like I can’t breathe right.” She held a hand to her chest. “Sometimes I get the same feeling if I see people fighting. It makes me sad.”
My hands stroked over her long blond hair. “You’re a born pacifist, aren’t you?”
“Maybe; I’ve always loved babies.”
“That’s good, but you know a pacifist loves everybody, right?”
“I’m not sure what a pacifist is. Is that a person who makes pacifiers?”
I laughed. “No, it’s a person who loves peace.”
“Oh.” She smiled. “Then that’s what I want to be when I grow up.”
“I’m afraid a pacifist is not a job description, Mila. It’s a mindset.”
“What a shame. I think I would have been good at it.”
“I’m sure you would.” With a smile plastered on my face, I looked back at the poem. “I think this is my favorite part,‘We’ll talk about people we admire and respect. And share what we are grateful for and hopefully – everyone will feel the effect.’I wish I was better at that. But it’s difficult.”
Mila took my hand under the table. “Kya says that difficult isn’t the same as impossible. Maybe you just need to practice.”
I looked down at our hands and felt honored that the girl showed me trust. “I think Magni needs to practice it too. He’s not good at giving compliments.”
“What do you mean? He says nice things to me all the time.”
