"Do you know why animal crackers have that small handle on top of the box?" Max questioned, nudging his older sister with his knee.
"No," May groaned. There was no use doing anything else—he was going to tell her, whether she wished to know or not.
"They were made known in 1902 as a Christmas novelty and packaged so they could be suspended from Christmas trees," he said, reading from the book on his lap.
"How fascinating," she remarked, rolling her eyes. It had been like this the entire day, and now midway into the night—a continual flood of interruptions with diverse pieces of trivia
"How many different animal shapes are there?" he questioned, tilting his head at her.
"I don't know," she responded, shutting her eyes and inclining her head back against the seat, perceiving the rolling wheels of the bus beneath them munching up the miles between here and Petalburg City. "Twenty-six?"
"No!" he derided. "Eighteen—a pair of bears, a bison, a camel, a cougar, an elephant, a giraffe, a gorilla, a hippopotamus, a hyena, a kangaroo, a lion, a monkey, a rhinoceros, a seal, a sheep, a tiger, and a zebra."
"Alright, really, Max," she said, shaking her head but not opening her eyes. "Knowing about animal crackers is not very useful to a Pokémon trainer."
"You never know," he said, sounding hurt.
"Yes, I do," she answered, disregarding the tone of his voice and pressing forward. "Pokémon trainers need to be knowledgeable about Pokémon, not snack foods."
"Fine." He yanked himself toward the window. "I'll just keep quiet and leave you alone."
May smirked, still not opening her eyes, breathing in relief, "At last!"
It was silent just for a second before he spoke up and asked, "What does the chemical symbol Fe2O3 represent?"
"Max!" she moaned, hitting her brow. "I have no clue! I'm not the Mensa member, here."
"Rust," he answered, looking smug. She slapped him in the arm. "Hey! I'm just helping to widen your scope a bit!"
"I don't require my scope to be widened," she hissed, standing up and storming off to the restroom. May splashed her face with water, pushing her long brown hair off her face. Her eyes were blue and dazzling, like her mother's, and her hair was also brown.
She exhaled, turning the hand dryer on. When she had agreed to ride a bus back to their home rather than traveling by foot, she had not taken into account that she would have to hear Max's "smartness" for hours without end. She adored her younger brother—but come on! There was only so much trivia an individual should be compelled to hear, wasn't there?
He was facing the window when she returned, glancing at something on his video Ipod. She dropped onto her seat, digging through her knapsack for her own Ipod.
"I'm sorry," Max apologized without glancing up.
She softened, listening to his hurt tone. "It's alright... I'm just... you know, not enjoying this bumpy bus ride..."
"Yeah," he agreed.
"Damnit, I think I lost my headphones," she groaned, throwing her Ipod back into her bag.
"Do you want mine?" Max asked. "I'm just reading..."
"Reading? On your Ipod?" May made a face. "Don't you hear music or watch videos like ordinary humans?"
"Just more studying," he said while raising his shoulders slightly, not meeting her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Max," she apologized again, touching his arm. "I didn't mean... what are you reading?"
"Porn."
To be continued...