Page 36 of The Genius
In her usual way Shelly retorted with ease. “And I’ll show people your gift and say it’s a reminder of a young man who had stones for brains.”
I would have never made fun of her lack of a filter if I’d known that the one time I needed her to speak up, she’d quiet and not tell me who she really was.
The thought that I had been inside Shelly Summers had me plunking down on my bed, my arms spread over the top of my head, and my eyes fixed on the ceiling with memories from that day.
Shelly had always been like a fucking unicorn. So rare and special that everyone around her knew they should be honored to know her. She was the kind of person who would go down in history for making the world a better place with her goddamn genius. Kids would learn about her in school and talk about her contributions to the world. I just knew it!
If I’d known who she was that day in the testing facility, I would have treated her with the respect and care she deserved. Her sad face when she left me was back to haunt me and made me curse out loud. I had hurt her feelings and made insensitive comments about her body and her skills in bed. I had fucking talked about her imperfections and shoved my cock down her throat.Jesus!
Self-loathing made way for shame as details from that day stood out clearly in my mind’s eye. She had been so beautiful, and I’d complained that I couldn’t make her breasts bigger. What a moron I’d been.
By some miracle, a woman had taken an interest in me and I’d been given a chance to prove myself worthy of her.
What had I done with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? I had fucking blown it.
Not that I stood much of a chance to begin with. This was Shelly Summers, for fuck’s sake. The genius.
I was mad at myself and mad at her for tricking me into thinking that she was a machine and nothing else. Fuck, I wish I had known. She should have told me!
My apartment was quiet and I sat on my sofa just thinking for a long time. When Storm came home, he went straight to the kitchen.
“Don’t drink the last beer, it’s mine,” I said from the open living room.
“Shit, you scared me,” he exclaimed. “I didn’t see you. Why didn’t you turn on some lights?”
“It was still light when I got home, and I guess I dozed off.” It wasn’t true. I’d been so deep in my thoughts that I hadn’t paid attention to the sunset outside.
“You missed out on the best part. Why the hell did you leave so soon? Hunter and I got to ride in the winning drone with Tristan. It was only a few minutes, but still. You wouldn’t believe how fast it accelerates. It’s like your whole body gets smashed back into the seat and you can’t move.”
Storm was building a pile of food on a plate. He came in with it balanced in one hand while carrying a glass with the other. “Tristan said he was there with Shelly, and that you took her home.” He took a seat on the couch next to me.
“Yeah, she had a headache.”
“I remember Shelly. She was a quirky type.”
“Still is,” I said in a flat tone. “Definitely out of the ordinary.”
“But I’m confused. If Shelly was the one sitting next to Tristan, then how come you thought she was a sex-bot?”
“I was wrong.” I turned my head and looked at Storm. “She just looked similar, but once I got closer I could tell it wasn’t her.”
Storm began stuffing his mouth and made non-verbal sounds because of all the food in his mouth.
“I have no clue what you just said.”
He swallowed. “I said, I can’t believe that Shelly turned out this hot. She was butt-ugly when we knew her.”
“Hey, I recall you with a fair portion of zits too. We all looked funny when we were teens. At least Shelly had more brainpower than all of us together.”
Storm laughed. “True, but remember how she would always go off about random things no one cared about? Or how we all dreaded it when she had kitchen duty?”
I gave a lazy roll of my shoulders, the corners of my mouth curving upward. “I remember one time when she and I had to do arts and crafts with you children. Shelly had this idea that we could all do something called knitting. She had studied the technique and could explain it perfectly, but she was so fumble-fingered that it was a big waste of time. I was laughing so hard because she refused to give up and kept at it long after the kids had left. It was ridiculous, but she had stamina, I’ll give her that.”
“I don’t remember the knitting, but I remember she couldn’t run or fight for shit.” Storm peeled a banana. “Remember how she always got lost on the morning runs because she got distracted by some flower, tree, or animal that she had to get closer to?”
“It’s the curse of smart people,” I said. “They don’t have much common sense.”
Storm made grunts of agreements and I snatched some chips from his plate, adding to the conversation: “But when it came to the academic stuff Shelly was phenomenal.”
