"So how about we switch things up today, let's spar today," Jenny said.
I smiled. "I'm in."
I bent my front knee slightly and placed my arms in a fighting stance. My opponent did the same.
The result?
I got destroyed.
Every punch I threw, every jab, they all somehow missed. Frustrated, I punched harder, pressing into her space. She was bigger than me so if I gave any ground I'd quickly lose.
She kept dodging until finally I made a mistake in my form and left my chest open to attack. She wasted no time and took a devastating swing at me. I braced for impact. The edge of her collar moved as she punched, revealing an angry red line on her left shoulder.
A scar?
My thoughts were interrupted as her fist hit me, knocking me flat on my back. She was soon on top of me with her fists close to my face.
"Do you yield?"
"Ow."
"Good enough." She stood up and gave me a hand to pull me up off the ground.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"Skill," she said simply.
I couldn't help but smile.
Confused, the girl then asked "You know you just lost right?"
"Yeah, but that was incredible! I got to see what you can do." I chuckled. "Even if I did get killed."
"Uhm, Chris, you're not dead. You're right here talking to me," she said genuinely confused.
"It just means that I lost in a one-sided fight. That's what I meant by I got killed." She hummed before nodding.
"Thank you. I learned a new euphemism. Now then, to get my notes."
She went to the corner of white room and fished a binder labeled "social norms and customs" out of her bag.
She the copied what I said into the binder.
"What's the binder for?" The title said enough, but I was still curious.
"My counselor said it's good to take notes on all the social cues and euphemisms I encounter," she explained. "I study them."
"Mind if I look at it?"
"Sure, do you have a binder on social norms too?" She said.
"No. I don't. No notes except for school." She handed me the thick binder. I began to read silently.
The notes started in the form of the scribbles of a small child. They described things like nodding, smiling or frowning.
"Up and down nods mean yes. Left and right means no."
I flipped some more pages. seeing that the things she described began to get more complex.
"Eyeroll- when a person does a circular up and around motion with their eyes. Oddly enough is considered rude.
It's not good to punch people when they hug me. But it's confusing because Mom talked about bad touching yesterday. So when Billy from next door hugged me I broke his nose. Did Momma lie?"
Well then.
I skipped to the last page.
"Why do people miss others? Whenever someone says they miss me, which I take to mean they craved my presence like ice cream, I always say no. I don't 'miss' people. When they are around they are and when they aren't I find I never get around to thinking about them."
Wow. This is was extremely personal. It was almost like a diary. I instantly felt dirty for even looking. It wasn't my place to look at something so personal. Even worse, I felt as if I'd taken advantage of her trusting nature.
She frowned again. "Was my handwriting too sloppy?"
"I- no, it's just…" I stopped for a moment, thinking about what to say. "You really shouldn't give that book to just anyone."
"Why? It doesn't have my social security number or any passwords."
"Well, it's almost like a piece of you, I guess," I tried to explain. I might've looked perfectly calm from the outside, but inside I was frantically thinking of how to explain this.
I saw her tilt her head sideways.
"For, uhm... Privacy." I frowned. Was that the right word? She took a moment to think about what I said. She gasped, seemingly coming to a realization.
"Like how people don't like to show their genitals to strangers," she concluded.
"Uhm, yeah, like that." I began to blush, red as tomato.
"Thanks. That sounds rather important actually." She smiled before writing it in the binder.
I was very relieved when I saw the teacher come into the room, although this in turn made me feel a bit guilty. What kind of friend was I to be relieved to walk away from her?
Later, after school, I found myself sitting on my bed thinking about the day.
Wow. That was interesting. A bit too interesting maybe, but oh well.
My father was out for a meeting so I had few minutes to think about this. Once he arrived, we headed down to our VR room.
It occurred to me that there was something I'd been meaning to do for a several months but never got around to.
"Father?" I asked while we were walking to the room.
"Yes?" he looked at me, an eyebrow raised.
"I've been been thinking… actually for a while now." I gulped. This was kind of a heavy subject for me. "I kinda don't like my last name… It's the name of the man who abused my Mom...
What angers most is how he committed suicide to avoid having a "defective wife"." He believed that in extreme circumstances suicide is ok. The mentally ill and those facing torture are exempt." I clenched my fists. "He figured the second one applied to him," I spat.
The idea that living with a mentally ill person he supposedly loved was torture to him… It made me angry thinking about it.
No, I did not like my last name. Not even one bit.
My father nodded, a contemplative look in his eyes. "I understand. I take it you want to get changed?"
I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible. "I want it changed to yours."
He stared at me for a moment. My heart sank for a second.
"Is that a problem because if it is-"
"No, not all, I just didn't expect it. I'll have the paperwork in by next week."
"Thank you." A large smile appeared on my face. It really was no-brainer for me. To me, there was no one else I'd want to share a last name with.
The date of my chess tournament date drew closer and closer. My father played a few rounds with me while using several different styles to help me prepare. This way he could teach me to think on my feet. I also got used to other ways of playing.
My father was actually so accommodating about it that he'd even replaced all of my regular reading assignments with chess books during the month before the tournament.
I also sparred everyday with Jenny, improving my hand to hand skills and indirectly helping her with her social cues. Finally, a chance for my bitter sarcasm to come in handy. She didn't know what I meant half of the time, so I often had to simplify and teach her what things meant from the basics up. She was more than happy to put it all into her binder.
The two days before my tournament, I stood before my chess team of 20 to address everyone. And no my fear of public speaking didn't apply- I had already known everyone there for a year.
"On Monday, we're going to catch a plane to Hawaii at 6am. Please note that we can't stop the plane if you're late. Our team will be disqualified if anyone is absent."
"So we'd better get our asses over there." One freshman remarked.
"Exactly. We did so much work. Too much for it to go to waste." Some people nodded or hummed affirmatively. "Well that's all, guys, see you on Monday," I ended.
The group of young people nodded and said their goodbyes.
Just as I was going to step into the hallway, I heard someone call my name.
I turned and saw Jennifer in her common spot in the corner. I hadn't heard anything out of her during practice. Not that this was unexpected.
"Need something Jen?" I asked, smiling.
"No. I just wanted to play some chess with you."
"I can't, at least not now… Sorry." I had to train with Father after club. "I know! We can do an online match."
"Sounds good."
I returned home and after training with my father, went on my computer and went to an online chess site.
I typed her username into a search engine before sending her a challenge. Not a minute later she accepted it and the game began.
Unlike my more relaxed games with my father, no words were exchanged, our actions speaking for themselves.
I used a very aggressive style which I'd been favoring at the time. However, I only used that to hide my real plan. While she was busy making sure her King was safe I was quickly getting my pieces closer and closer until I won.
"Good game," I typed.
She replied quickly. "I didn't even see that trap you were working on. Great. I feel confident about our chances at the tournament… Though to be fair I also feel a ton of pressure."
I type back. "I agree. But my father says that since we've been practicing so hard we'll be fine."
We said our goodbyes. I logged out and turned the computer off.
The day before my tournament just after I'd finished packing, my my door opened. I saw my father wearing the same face as when he would leave for a mission.
"Electron… I won't be there to see your tournament." I frowned. He had promised to be there. Still, I knew he probably had something important to do.
"Wha- oh. Okay." I then sighed but said nothing. Complaining would be extremely childish.
"There is a new development. There appears to be an extremely powerful telepath in Hawaii."
"How powerful?" I figured this telepath would have to be quite special for Father to go to him in person.
"Possibly strong enough to equal Xavier." His face was grim.
Wow.
"You're going to recruit him?"
"Correct." He sighed. "Of course Xavier knows this, so I must act quickly."
"I understand." Then I realized something. "Since he's probably around my age can I-"
"No," my father said sternly.
I frowned. "How much longer do I need to be incognito?"
"Long enough for me to deem you able to deal with the consequences of having powers like mine. This isn't a game, Electron. People will be hunting you down for the rest of your life. You'd have to stop your education and spend the rest of your days looking behind your shoulder if you get discovered. That is a life that no child should ever bare. Do you understand?"
"Yes." I really did, but still. Living incognito got old very quickly.
"I appreciate that you want to help but now isn't the time."
"I understand, Father."
I couldn't help but feel a bit bummed. Once again, I was left out of everything. And once again, it was all because of what my powers were like.
I quickly stopped myself. No, it was because of how my powers would be perceived by others. I hated this but there was nothing I could do.
Despite my powers my father in many ways wanted me to be like any other 16 year old. He didn't want the stresses that burdened him to fall on me because he felt I wasn't ready for it. He wanted me to have as normal a life as possible. He wanted me to be able to go to school, make friends and take up hobbies. Sure, I trained a lot but that was because he felt it was necessary in order to protect me. Everything he did was because he thought it would be in my best interests. And this meant that sometimes -oftentimes, actually- he had to refuse my requests.
"We can talk about your tournament when I'm done with this."
I sighed. "Will there be pizza involved?"
"As long as you don't expect me to eat any of those monstrosities." He scowled.
I smiled. I still felt a bit sad but at least we'd be able talk about it later.
"This also means I'm leaving today."
"Right now?"
"Yes, I figured I should notify you beforehand."
We hugged for a moment before separating.
"Toad will handle putting Watts in a kennel."
I nodded. Everything was taken care of. My team was prepped, I'd practiced as hard as I could and I'd be able to compete with people from throughout the nation. Still, the fact Father wouldn't be there grinded my gears.
Still, at least someone would be watching me. My Mom would be cheering me on from her bedroom in the asylum because the matches were going to be livestreamed on the internet.
Hey, I'm actually alive! I'm back to working on this story. I want to see this through to the end. Also beta reader Arces says "I really, really, really love working with Cookie Monster 4277 on this series, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it! :D"