::A/N:: I have been in a writing mood, and seeing that I don't finish multi-chaptered stories, I am sticking with one-shots. I have many ideas for more, so you may be seeing me again.
My take on how genius met stupid and klutz. Regardless if age is right, Genis is 9, Lloyd is 14, and Colette is 13.
Summary: Genis thought Lloyd was the dumbest person he had ever met. Colette was a hazard to the people and the objects within falling distance. There was no way he could be friends with them...right?
Disclaimer: I do own Tales of Symphonia, (you know, the game) but I do not own the rights to the game, manga, or anime. Darn...
He was going to kill Raine.
It was raining, pouring actually. In the short time it took for him to walk from his house to the one-room schoolhouse Raine had enrolled him in, he was drenched. A couple older, more immature kids hurried past him and ran into nearby puddles and as a result, coated Genis with a layer of muddy water. Irritated, he trekked on to his destination.
Why did Raine have to enroll him again? It's not like she couldn't teach him herself, or he couldn't read and research things on his own. No matter how much he had opposed her idea, his older, wiser sister had not been swayed.
"Genis, you are a very intelligent child. You know more about algebra and history than any child your age does. However, there are things you need to learn about life that cannot be learned by reading a book, by studying history, or living in a sheltered environment. I cannot teach you everything you need to know about life and the people in it. You need to discover that for yourself."
The younger boy sighed, remembering the argument from a few hours ago. He had imagined that this day would come eventually, when he would have to go out into the world he didn't want to get to know. He just kept hoping Raine would never think he was ready.
What if he couldn't fit in, or worse? What if they made fun of him? What if he couldn't make a single friend? Raine had made it seem so easy, that it would just happen if he was around someone. He could only hope it was that simple, but the better, smarter half of him told him otherwise.
The wooden structure where his life would be torn apart was a few feet in front of him. Raine had always said that first impressions were important, but he was soaked in muddy water. He must have looked like an idiot. He grasped the doorknob and stopped before walking in.
He couldn't do this.
Maybe after a terrible first day, he would be able to convince Raine that it was much better for him to study under her or on his own. That he had tried to do things her way, but it was too hard on someone his age. Maybe after a few more years…
He snapped back to the present and wiped his feet clean before continuing inside. He was greeted by an older woman, he assumed to be the teacher. Or, he had hoped, anyways. He knew that this was the only school for miles, but still. How awkward would that be for a nine year old to be in the same class with a sixty year old?
"Oh, hello," she said ever so politely. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. "You must be new to the school. You wiped your feet clean."
Confused as to why wiping his feet meant that he had to be new, he simply nodded his head and returned the smile. "I'm Genis."
The lady's smile grew larger, and for a second, Genis was terrified she was going to pinch his cheeks. "Oh, and so polite at this age. Welcome to the Iselia class, Genis. Did you know that you are one of the youngest children in my class? Your sister has told me you are so smart. Oh, this is just a pleasure to meet you. I hope that maybe you can set an example to some of the students and—,"
Genis had a feeling that she would have kept rambling had someone not just barged through the door behind him.
"Ah, I'm not late today, am I?" a boy said from behind him. He turned around and was nearly blinded by his bright red outfit and he immediately looked away to adjust his eyes.
"Good morning, Lloyd. And unfortunately, you are a few minutes late, but all is well. Class has not started, as I was getting acquainted with our newest student. His name is—,"
"Damn it!" the boy yelled, slamming his fist against the door, causing Genis to jump a good couple inches. "I ran as fast as I could to get here a few minutes early!"
Genis was appalled by the boy's impudence. Did this teenager seriously just swear in front of an elderly woman, his teacher and interrupt her? Had he no manners?
"All is well, Lloyd," she said, completely unaffected by the boy's vulgarity. "Why don't you say hello to our new friend. He is new to our school. He can even sit next to you. Don't chit-chat for too long, for class will begin in a few minutes." With that said, she smiled her good-bye and left the two of them standing in the hallway.
Genis turned quickly to the boy, disgusted with his lack of respect. "Hey, you don't have to swear in front of your teacher!"
The boy known as Lloyd simply stared at him, as if noticing him for the first time. "Oh, hi! I'm Lloyd. What's your name?"
Genis had a feeling this kid was going to drive him insane. "My name is Genis. But, don't swear like that in front of your elders! It's very disrespectful!"
The older boy looked at Genis as in deep in thought. "…Dis…res…peck? Are you pecking someone?"
Genis would have just believed he was making a joke, that wasn't funny, but Lloyd looked very serious. "Don't make fun of me! Do you have no respect for anyone?"
Lloyd shrugged his shoulders, the seriousness still on his face. "As soon as I know what this 'res peck' is, I will answer your question. Is that okay?"
Genis just rolled his eyes. How could someone be so dumb! "Never mind."
Just as soon as he turned his back, a blur of red popped in front of him. "Are you smart?"
Smart enough to know you're stupid, he thought. "Well, I don't know. My sister says I am very accomplished for my age."
Lloyd stared at him again for the second time in mere minutes, perplexed. "A comp…list? Wait, so, does that mean you are smart?"
Genis sighed. If this kid had the normal IQ level for his age, he would have to tell Raine they needed to move. Or to pull him out of school. He hoped that this kid was just faking his stupidity for comical purposes. And he made a note to himself that if he was acting, he wasn't into his kind of humor.
"I haven't attended a school before, so I don't know if I am or not. I like to say that I am, though. I have studied with my sister for—,"
"Great!" He was cut off by the ruffle of papers and saw Lloyd digging into his bag, yanking out a paper book, a notebook, and a pencil. Lloyd looked at him with a playful face, causing Genis to take a step back.
"Could you do my homework for me?"
It was Friday; the start of day five. Genis couldn't have been happier to be so close to two days away from school. So far, he had made no friends. He had spoken to a total of three people. The first was his teacher, who had seemed like a nice lady, but soon learned she really needed to retire. She couldn't keep up with kids like Lloyd and the younger, very energetic children that disrupted class too much. That, and she was way too nice. She wouldn't have punished them for being a disruption. She just smiled, and sometimes, even played along.
Then there was the Chosen, whom everyone knew. Colette, he thought her name was. She seemed nice, but he soon realized, very dangerous. The one time they spoke was when she had tripped on her own feet and collided with him, causing the corner of his desk to collide with his stomach. He had never thought a person could apologize so much in a minute, but still, it hurt. He rubbed the bruise below his ribs at the memory. He had learned to keep his distance.
Finally, the idiot, Lloyd. He had never once heard him say anything intelligent. He slept in class and always asked him to do his homework. The first time he asked, he said no. The second, he offered to help but would not do it for him, and Lloyd said no. The third, fourth, all the way to the tenth time, he tried to teach Lloyd how to do the basic math, but Lloyd would just ask for the answers, and Genis had walked away. This morning, however, he gave in and decided his mind could use the morning workout.
It was lunchtime. It meant he had survived half of the day. But lunch was always the worst time for him. He got to watch while everyone else huddled in their circle of friends and enjoy themselves. Since he had no friends, and refused to invite himself into one of these circles for fear of being rejected, he always ate alone.
Every now and then, he could feel his classmates' eyes on his back, thinking either of pitying him and sitting with him or laughing at how much of a loser he was for not having friends. It was only during lunch that he really wanted someone to talk to, since Raine couldn't be there for him. He wanted someone, just so the rest of the class would stop looking at him.
He soon lost his appetite. How could he think about eating when people were staring at him? Instead, he whipped out some of the work his teacher had assigned earlier in the day and began working on that. It helped get his mind off the feeling of being watched.
But he soon realized that even working on his homework wasn't taking the feeling of loneliness away. Why did no one want to sit with him, or invite him to sit with them? He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? The fear that his class knew he was a half-elf clicked in his mind. What would Raine say if they knew? They would have to move, as Raine had said humans did not like half-elves. That was why they had to imply they were elves; to not be rejected. They couldn't know…could they?
His stomach growled to remind him that he had not eaten all day. With his back turned to the rest of his class, he told himself not to cry. He wouldn't. Then his classmates would have a reason to make fun of him and to ignore him. Fighting back the tears, he reached for his food sitting behind him without turning around. He might as well eat instead of doing nothing and looking more like a fool to his peers.
"Hi!"
Genis jumped out of his skin at the voice. He turned around, even though he knew that whoever it was couldn't have been talking to him. His face dropped when he saw Lloyd. And standing behind him was Colette.
"Oh, hi," he replied as he turned back around. Now he could really feel the stares of his classmates. Lloyd's greeting had been extremely loud.
"Um, may we sit with you?" Colette asked with a shaky voice.
Shocked, Genis slowly turned his head towards the two, who simply smiled and waited for a response.
But Genis was smarter than that. This was probably just a trap, if Lloyd knew what that was. "Don't you have somewhere else to sit?"
It was silent for a moment, and Genis wondered if he should have just let them sit with him. Isn't that what he wanted a few minutes ago? Someone to sit with him?
"Nah!" came Lloyd's exuberant voice. "We want to sit with you!"
The first thought that came to Genis's mind was why. So far, no one else had the idea to sit with him, so why did they decide to now? However, he was overwhelmed with happiness that someone had even walked up to him and offered not for him to sit with them, but for them to sit with him.
"Why do you want to sit with me? No one else does."
Lloyd cocked his head in confusion. "Do we need a reason to sit with you?"
"Oh, I know! Maybe we could be friends!"
"F…friends?" It was like the word was foreign to him. And coming from the two people he never thought would even talk to him. Yet, here he was, letting the thought of being befriended by Lloyd and Colette sink in.
"Yeah! Let's be friends! You are a lot smarter than me, so I hope you don't hold that against me!" Lloyd said with a smile as he sat down beside Genis. "How did you get so smart anyway? How old are you?"
Colette followed suit and sat beside Lloyd. "Yeah, you are so good in school! It's amazing!"
The two kept bombarding him with questions, unaware that Genis was still in a state of shock at making friends. Lloyd may have been extremely slow, but now Genis saw past that. He had made Genis so angry a few days ago when they first met, but here he was, sitting with him, enjoying his company.
Genis smiled, zoning back into the conversation. "Oh, Genis! Thanks for helping with my homework!"
Instead of growing irritated, he simply laughed. "Ah, you're welcome. But don't tell my sister. She'd kill both of us."
The three friends laughed together, and it was the best feeling Genis had ever experienced.
Raine's death could be postponed, for now.
This could very well be a hot mess, seeing as I wrote it all today. Hope it didn't go terribly wrong. Possible edit...when I get around to it.
Thanks for getting this far. :)