Chapter 12 Gifted

"How's it hanging, little bro?" Roy exclaimed. He gave Junior a smile. The whiteness of his teeth created an interesting contrast to the blackness of the sunglasses covering his eyes.

Junior smiled back. Roy was cool. Sure, he was as dumb as a rock, but he was still cool. He was one of Junior's favorite siblings.

"Things are going fine," Junior said. He began walking, thinking that they would eventually wind up at the common room, and thus, he would be able to listen to Roy's story. Oh yeah, he was definitely listening to Roy's story next; that was kind of a no-brainer.

Roy beamed. "Awesome." He began following the Koopa Prince, much to Junior's relief. "Fine is better than not fine."

Junior laughed. "That is true. That is true." He directed his attention down to his notebook. It was filling up, but you know what? That was a good thing. That meant that he was gathering more than enough information from everyone. Besides, if all else failed, he could always find a new notebook and use that. He bet Iggy would have something in his lab.

Iggy. Maybe he should ask him next after asking Roy.

Anyway, the two of them walked in silence for the most part. Junior would often look up into Roy's face, and everytime he did, Roy would give him a smile. It was big, goofy, and dumb; just like the Koopaling himself. Junior loved it. He really wished he had a camera on him.

After a little bit of walking, the two of them came to the common room. Junior sighed when he got there and opened the door. He didn't often spend time in this room, as he had his own common room in the west wing. He opened the door and held it open, inviting Roy to come inside. However, the burly Koopaling, not even aware of what Junior was trying to do, just walked past.

Junior scrunched up his nose. "Roy?"

"Yeah?" Roy asked as he turned back around.

"Can you…" Suddenly, Junior felt embarrassment take hold of him. He had never asked something like this before. It was like he was a baby asking for a bottle, or a toddler asking for his dad to stay with him at night because he was afraid of the dark. "Can you stay with me?"

Junior barely ended up getting the words out, but Roy smiled regardless. "Sure! Whatever you want, little bro."

Junior smiled as Roy came back to the common room. As a prince, he was used to people telling him the phrase "whatever you want." However, hearing it in this context was...nice.

Anyway, Roy went over to the couch, put his feet on the footrest in front of it, and leaned back with a sigh. "Oh yeah, that's nice." He grabbed hold of the remote. "Time to watch Double Intrigue."

With that, he switched on the TV. Junior looked at the scene playing out before slowly turning back to his brother. "Um, actually, I don't want to watch TV?"

Roy blinked. "You don't?" He sat up as he switched off the show. "But….it's no fun staring at a black screen."

Junior snorted. "I don't want to stare at a black screen. I want to do something else."

Roy blinked again. "Like what?"

Junior let out a breath and showed Roy the notebook. "Well, I'm asking people. specifically my siblings, to tell me stories about their past so that I can write them down."

Roy leaned forward. "Go on."

Junior smiled. "I was wondering...if you could tell me your story?"

Roy leaned against his left hand. "Go on."

Junior blinked. "I finished."

"Oh! You finished!" Roy sat back. "Well, sure! We can do that! That sounds like fun!"

Junior beamed in relief and plopped himself down on the couch next to Roy. "I'm glad." He got his pen and notebook ready. "So, what do you want to tell me?"

Roy's face slowly fell. "Tell you?" He put his hand to his chin. "Oh man, there wasn't anything in the job description talking about me telling you things."

Junior sighed. "I...literally just said that I wanted you to tell me stories."

Roy blinked. "You did?" When Junior nodded, he flushed in embarrassment. "Oh man. I must have forgotten."

Junior facepalmed. "You have the memory of a goldfish, don't you?"

"Ha ha….yeah."

Junior shook his head and closed the book. "Maybe it's best if I get back to you. I think you trying to come up with things to tell me could be an all-day project." With that, he got up off the couch.

"Wait!"

Junior turned around, exerting all self control he had to not groan. "Yes?"

Roy sighed. "I'm sorry I'm not that smart." He leaned back. "I've always been dumb. Always. I couldn't even tie my shoes properly until I was twelve."

Junior raised an eyebrow. "Roy, you don't even wear shoes."

Roy blinked. "I don't?" When Junior shook his head, he groaned. "Oh, darn it! See, there goes my brain, backfiring on me again." He shook his head. "I always knew that there was something wrong with me. I mean, how could I not? Especially when I compared myself to my little brother."

Junior blinked. "You mean Iggy?"

Roy nodded and launched into the story.

…

I remember one day in particular, when I was about...let's see, Iggy was seven when he went to college, and I'm one year older than he is, so I believe that I was...eight? Yeah, eight; that sounds about right. Eight does come after seven, after all.

I had just been in the common room, just like you and I are right now. I had been watching TV. I loved watching TV. It was a way for me to turn my brain off and not have to think. I could just watch the pretty colors move across the screen. Nowadays, I like TV shows for the plot, but back then, I didn't care about that stuff. How could I when I could barely comprehend what people were saying to me?

Anyway, I had just been watching TV when Iggy came into the room. Now, I want you to know that I wasn't the biggest fan of my brother back then. That was mostly because I hated smart people. I hated them. How could they have what I didn't? It wasn't fair. Plus, if other smart people were anything like Iggy, then that meant they could be that extra special type of annoying.

"Oh older brother!" Iggy had called out in a sing-song voice. "Guess what just happened to me!"

I looked up. "What?" I asked.

Iggy smiled obnoxiously. "I just got accepted into not three, not four, but EIGHT colleges all across the Koopa Kingdom."

I blinked, for I hadn't heard that word before. "What's college?"

"It's a form of postsecondary education." When I gave him a confused look, he rephrased. "In other words, it's a really big school. You can go there and study whatever you want."

I smiled. "Whatever you want?"

"Whatever you want."

I bounced up. That sounded awesome! There were so many things that I wanted to study! I wanted to go to college too; there was so much I could do there.

"Cool! Can I come with you?"

Iggy blinked. "To college?" When I nodded, he burst into laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, Roy." He wiped a tear from his eye. "You...You can't come to college."

I blinked. "What? Why not?"

"Because! The only reason I got accepted at this age is because I discovered the element of Galaxium as a four year old. That means that the neural connections within the gray matter I possess are designed to allow special electrical flow." I blinked, causing him to sigh and rephrase. "That means I'm a genius."

My heart sank. "And I'm not."

"Precisely." Iggy nodded. "You're not. So, I apologize sincerely, but I am afraid you cannot come to college. Perhaps, if you are lucky, you will be accepted when you are eighteen."

With that, he walked away, leaving me...hurt.

…

Junior stared at Roy. "Hey. Is it just me, or does Iggy sound like a jerk?"

Roy nodded. "He was. I mean, it's possible I am misremembering some details." He chuckled. "I tend to do that."

Junior nodded. "Don't worry; I got the picture." He wrote something down in his notebook. "So you weren't accepted into college, and you really wanted to go."

Roy nodded. "Right. Now, honestly, nowadays I realize that college would be a little difficult for me. I mean, it's a place where you use your brain, and my brain doesn't work properly. But I didn't know that back then. I really wanted to go."

Junior nodded. "Was that just because Iggy was going?"

"Not entirely, but it was a big part of it. I wanted to do what my little brother was doing. After all, we were brothers. We should get the same...uh….uh…"

"Opportunities?"

"Yes, thank you, opportunities." Roy leaned back. "I thought it was unfair. So, I went to Bowser about it."

Junior nodded and prepared his pen so that he could write this down.

…

"Bowser?" I asked as I stood next to him at the table one morning.

"Yes, Roy?" Bowser asked as he stuffed a Reuben down his gullet.

"Why is it that Iggy is going to college and I'm not?"

"Because Iggy is special," Bowser said, licking some of the sandwich juice off of his fingers.

I felt bile rise to my throat, sour and peppery. "And I'm not special?"

Bowser paused, realizing what he had just said to me. He turned toward me and shook his head rapidly. "No! No, that's not what I said; not what I said at all! You are special Roy; very special."

I sighed, my shoulders slumping all the way to the floor. "Just not as special as Iggy."

Bowser bit his lip, clearly trying to think of something to say. "Well, you're just not special in the same way as Iggy." He smiled, confidence growing in his expression. "Everyone has different talents that make them unique. You're special in a different way."

I blinked. "Really?" When Bowser nodded, I stepped toward him. "How am I special?"

Bowser smiled. "You're very sweet."

I blinked. "Sweet! I'm not sweet; I'm tough!"

Bowser laughed. "You're sweet and tough. Like a piece of challah bread." He leaned down next to me. "You have special gifts Roy. Just because they aren't exactly like your brother's doesn't mean they aren't there."

I nodded. That...oddly made sense. It was like something was clicking inside of me when I heard that. I had gifts. I never really thought about that before, but I had gifts.

"That's cool that I have gifts. But how do I use them?"

Bowser shrugged. "That's up to you."

…

Junior nodded as he wrote down those words. Man, his Dad was an awesome guy. He was learning so many cool things about him through these stories. He smiled when he finished and turned back to Roy.

"So, how did you decide to use your gifts?"

Roy paused before sighing and leaning back. "I don't know."

Junior blinked. "You don't know? What do you mean you don't know?"

"Well, I haven't really...used my gifts. There waa no incident where I realized what I wanted to do with my life, nor what my destiny was. I just….I guess I'm still trying to decide what I should do." He sniffled. "I mean, I want to use them in some way. I haven't really been doing anything with them."

Junior shook his head. The way Roy said that sounded so sad. He wanted to prove his brother otherwise. He refused to believe that his brother wasn't leaving an impact, because he was leaving a huge impact.

"That's not true." He grinned. "You helped Celia find her Dad."

Roy looked over at Junior. "That is true….But what does that have to do with anything?"

"It was something you didn't have to do. You went out of your way to help a girl you had just met." Junior grinned. "It takes a big heart to do that. It takes a lot of selflessness."

Roy stared off at a distant corner of the room. "Selflessness, huh?" He turned and smiled. "Thanks, Junior."

Junior smiled back. "Anytime."