Hey there, we're starting to dive into where the story is really starting to diverge from the canon story. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 4: Maybe it's a crush
After finally getting inside, away from the sunburn and birds trying to steal your lunch, Sheldon finally made it to the university president's office. She called him in claiming she needed a favor, hopefully she meant something to improve the science department and not something like picking up her dry cleaning.
"Sheldon you have been a major asset to this university" she praised, he really has hasn't he, he has accomplished so much and is truly the best person for any job she had in mind "so we would really use your help in raising the school's profile even higher"
"Of course, my intellect is at your service" Sheldon said proudly
"Excellent, there is another young physics prodigy we want you to help us recruit. Her name is Paige Swanson" recruit Paige? Well it's not picking up her dry cleaning.
"You want Paige to come here?" Sheldon asked, it was a valid question, last he heard she was scouting at TTU in Lubbock.
"You know her?"
"Yes, according to her we're friends"
"Perfect, then convince her to enroll her"
"Just out of curiosity why do you want 2 child prodigies, you've already got me"
"And just imagine if there were two of you"
"People have brought that up, they usually say either it would be a handful or would bring the end of the world" Sheldon explained "I must warn you I haven't had the best luck convincing her of anything"
"Well to tell you the truth, you're the best chance we have to recruit her and as the smartest one we have I trust you the most" President Hagimeyer praised
"Thank you, I won't let you down"
"See how easy it is?" she said downplaying the praise, of course she was also right about all that stuff so he should try his best
"I must tell you Sheldon was very excited to hear you might be joining us" Hagilmeyer stretched the truth past the point of snapping
"Well ain't he sweet" her mom said
"Yeah, it'll be great to see him again" Paige added
"Alright I'm here" Sheldon said coming into the office "Hello Paige"
"Hi Sheldon"
"I've prepared a tour map around the campus, signifying everything you might be interested in" Sheldon explained giving her a printed brochure written by himself
"Alright, Sheldon and Paige on another whirlwind adventure!" she said getting out of her chair
"What was the first whirlwind adventure"
"Nevermind" Paige said as they left the office
They walked around campus for a while Sheldon provided some insightful commentary about each building "over there is the cafeteria, I dislike the incessant noise but most neurotypical people don't seem to mind" he continued "over there is the quad, a popular relaxing spot for students in the spring semester"
"Sheldon you don't have to try that hard" Paige said "I know President Hagilmeyer made you do this"
"Oh…does that mean my journalistic integrity is compromised"
"Very much so" Paige messed with him "anyways I'm, (sighs) I'm probably gonna go here anyway"
Sheldon had a confused look on his face as he observed her facial expression
"What?"
"Hold on" Sheldon said, trying to read her "you…are…Upset About That!"
"(gasp) How do you do it" Paige said playing along
"I've had a lot of practice" Sheldon bragged before diverting back to Paige "but why? What's wrong with the university"
"Well there's nothing wrong with it, it's just not as good as Harvard or Columbia" Paige explained
"Why can't you go to either of them, there's no way they'd turn you down"
"They made me an offer, along with a bunch of other universities..but my mom wants me to stay close so I'll stay out of trouble, if I go here it means I'll still live at home" Paige explained
"That's just like the deal I made with my mother" Sheldon related "either here or stay in high school"
"Yeah" Paige vented "things haven't been going well at home, my sister still pretty much hates me, so I was hoping to be somewhere where I'd live in the dorms. My mom said she would only think about one still in Texas if I could behave myself, but I think I'm out of time for that"
Sheldon wasn't sure what to say, plus Paige's situation made him reconsider his own. However he didn't have a choice and she had a chance of leaving.
"But hey, this place isn't so bad, it has a pretty good science division, the quad is nice in the spring, and you go here too" Paige said before realizing how cheesy that sounded. "Well since I probably don't need the tour, do you wanna do anything?"
"Like what?"
"Do you wanna get lunch? There's a restaurant section in your brochure"
"Alright, that sounds pleasant" Sheldon agreed
He ended up bringing her to a pizza place he usually went to after ME 320 on Thursdays, right before it started drizzling. However as they went along Sheldon couldn't help but feel differently on the campus, Paige's words seemed to have completely changed his perception of his university. Suddenly the colors felt muted, the chairs sounded squeaky, the studies felt dumbed down, the people…actually the people were always jerks so at least that hadn't changed.
Him and Paige sat down, she asked him how Missy and Georgie were doing, he asked her how she was after all the divorce stuff; Missy and Georgie are good and she's not as upset as she used to but not as good as before the divorce.
As he ate his pizza Sheldon made a paper football (the only piece of sports equipment he knew inside and out) and easily flicked it out the window
"..Impressive" Paige said. She started doing so quick math "I can do it with one hand" she said before she made a paper football and punted it flawlessly with one hand
Sheldon wasn't going to be beat "I can do it with my eyes closed" he said in a more playful manner then their competitions in the past, he made a paper football, shut his eyes and punted it through the window flawlessly
"I can do it with one hand and my eyes closed" Paige challenged before covering her eyes, and flawlessly punting a paper football out the window.
After having a nice lunch they made their way back to the faculty office through the rain where her mom was waiting.
"That rain came out of nowhere" Paige said
"It's a good thing I found this umbrella"
"Found? That hockey player threw it at your head"
"How do we know he was being hostile, perhaps he gave us this as gratitude for my safety advice" Sheldon claimed causing Paige to laugh
As she laughed, Sheldon may have watched her do it for a bit too long and Paige seemed a bit curious "what?"
Sheldon snapped out of it "oh ugh, nothing" he said shrugging it off
"See, maybe going here won't be so bad" Paige expressed
Paige eventually got in her mom's car, apparently she'll inform president Hagilmeyer if she'll attend East texas Tech at another meeting tomorrow. Sheldon eventually got home later after Meemaw gave him a ride, had his dinner, and went to his and Missy's room and for some reason started researching other colleges within an acceptable distance.
"Huh, University of Rice…transfer between Humble oil and NASA, interesting" Sheldon said looking through a manuscript of Texas colleges
"I thought you liked your school?" Missy said confused
"Huh, oh I did but Paige pointed out that when compared to other universities it's pretty underwhelming" Sheldon explained "apparently she was hoping to go to a better school than mine, but her mom's not sure. Honestly she deserved to go"
"So she's gonna go to your school?" Missy said, an idea coming to form in her head "is she gonna be in any of your classes?"
"Hopefully"
Missy grinned after hearing that, getting really suspicious "you think you'll hang out with her, you know on weekends, maybe she'll come over and talk to you about..smart stuff"
"It was nice doing that with her today" Sheldon said smiling
"Sheldon, my 5th favorite brother, I tell you with this with love…you're a dumbass" Missy insulted
"Hey!"
"You obviously have a crush on her" Missy had to spell it out for him
"What, no I don't! I don't get those!"
"You like being around her, you care what she thinks, and every time you brought her up you smiled" Missy said not leaving anything out
"I don't have a crush on her"
"...are you sure?"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Missy convinced Sheldon to take a Sassy magazine 'is it a crush' quiz and he got 'Absolutely Positively Ultimately a crush'. "This is ridiculous, these questions are designed for a teenage girl audience, my neurohormones are very different than yours" Sheldon said in complete denial
Missy tried a different approach "guess you're right, can't argue with your own brain" she said getting Sheldon's attention "you clearly don't like anything about her"
Sheldon scoffed that "well no I wouldn't go that far, she has many admirable qualities" Missy waved her hand asking him to name some "she's very…unconceited" Missy raised her eyebrow at that. Sheldon sighed "she's extremely smart, she's actually very nice, she listens if I need to get something off my chest,...and she can always convince me into something that ends up being fun" he continued getting lost in his words "while I don't enjoy the shenanigans of others I have never had a bad day with her, oh and today her hair looked really pretty when the rain-" Sheldon froze as Missy had a sinister smile "ugh Nice! I meant she looked really nice"
Missy crossed her arms and shook her head "No, I don't think you did"
He didn't think he did either
There was no denying it anymore, Sheldon had a crush on Paige
"So when are you gonna tell her?" Missy rapidly asked
"I can't tell her" Sheldon scolded "she…I don't think she'd like me that"
Missy set her hand on his shoulder "No, almost definitely not" she reinforced "but I mean it's more for you than for her, if you don't tell her you'll just think about what could've happened…it would also be really funny. Trust me, I went through the same with Marcas"
"Which Marcas?"
"The one I'm dating, the one that's our age" Missy said annoyed by how oblivious he was
Sheldon thought about that, regardless if Paige felt the same as him at least he'd have an answer and be able to sleep at night.
The sun's heat was dropping down on Sheldon, either that or he was really nervous. He waited at the park bench right outside the pizza place they were at yesterday. Was she late, maybe it was good that she was late, gives him more time to practice what he's going to say.
"Hi Sheldon" practice is over
"Hello Paige" he said turning to see her in the same clothes he saw her in last time
"I was just on my way to officially join the university" she explained "but what did you need to tell me?"
"Well, I believe I have uncovered something unexpected…that involves you..and I think talking about it will solve it" well better now than never "Paige, I have a crush on you"
Paige looked at him with complete disgust "YOU have a crush on ME, are you stupid!"
Suddenly all the students and faculty in sight instantaneously pointed at him and laughed
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" they all laughed and laughed as Sheldon shrunk smaller and smaller until he fell off the bench and everyone was standing over him.
And then the Earth exploded
Back to Reality
"Sheldon, Sheldon" the sound of Meemaw's voice brought Sheldon back to reality
"Yes?"
"You looked like your eyes were gonna pop out for a second" Meemaw expressed concern
"Just thinking about something is all" Sheldon said evading any attempts from Meemaw to find out what it was
He got dropped off at the college entrance for once, claiming he'd prefer to walk the rest off the way. Okay he was being completely ridiculous, getting rejected doesn't lead to the earth exploding... .but his heart might. NO! Why was he thinking this way, what is the absolute worst that can happen. Besides maybe it didn't need to be today, Paige will probably be going here and he'll have ample time to confess.
"Hi Sheldon"
And his time may be up "ugh Paige hi, you look nice" that last part wasn't necessary in any capacity
"Oh ugh, Thanks Sheldon" Paige said awkwardly "can't talk for long, my mom really wants to show off the university's first accepted Cassegrian reflector"
"Isn't that from the 50's?"
"Yeah she'll hopefully figure it out when she gets there" Paige said ready to walk away
"Paige wait" he said getting her attention "..ugh, can we meet up later, I have something to tell you"
"Sure, I'll be at the faculty building to tell Hagilmeyer my decision around I think 5:30, can we meet right before that, bench in front of the building?" she arranged and Sheldon nodded "see you then-" she said before a soda can was thrown at her head
"we gotta go!" her sister Erica rudely rushed. Paige rolled her eyes and grabbed her bag, "sorry friend you and the school almost dodged a bullet" Erica said to Sheldon
Paige waved goodbye to Sheldon before walking away with Erica. That was rude of her, yeah Sheldon and Georgie fought all their lives but he never treated him as bad as that. That wasn't the only thing, Sheldon noticed Paige had some patches for some of the universities, she must have been really excited to go.
Sheldon pondered what to say- well really what to do. He had an idea he wasn't fond of, but it was the right thing to do. He went over to the nearest phone and dialed his home phone number. He reached Missy "hello?"
"Missy it's me, any chance you guys can type something so I can print it?"
Paige took a look around as they exited a lecture with . So this was it apparently, this was going to be her school until her masters. They arrived at the faculty building a little early as her mom and Erica sat in the waiting room and- Oh Crap! Sheldon was waiting for her. She checked outside and he was at the bench.
Paige left and ran to the bench "don't worry, I'm here" Paige said getting Sheldon's attention. She sat down with him and calmed down "so what did you want to tell me"
For some reason Sheldon looked a little tense and nervous, it must've actually been really important "...I've discovered something I wasn't expecting" Sheldon started "and as a scientist I have to follow the data wherever it leads"
Paige looked confused "Sheldon you're scaring me"
Sheldon bit his lip and kept going "it appears I have a crush on you"
"..What?" Paige was a bit taken aback, she didn't imagine Sheldon would ever have feelings like that, for her "Really?"
Sheldon was silent for a moment "yes"
Paige had no idea what to say, everything she thought sounded so wrong.
"I understand if my crush is unrequited," Sheldon added. 'Unrequited', well she…didn't…she didn't know if it was unrequited, she couldn't say she disliked Sheldon. And honestly Sheldon was really brave to tell her this.
She almost said 'I'm flattered but..' but that may imply she was dumping- ugh rejecting him.
She noticed his hand was laying next to him, should she lay her hand on his, then again Sheldon doesn't like being touched so maybe she shouldn't.
She knew Sheldon was waiting for an answer ".."
"Which is why I can't recommend you go to school here" Sheldon said, his words hitting her like a snow plow.
"What?" she said, was she technically getting dumped?
"I'm a strong believer in living up to your full potential, and it cannot be denied that you have a lot. I know you were hoping to go to a better school and..you deserve too, you're extremely smart and deserve to be happy" Sheldon explained making Paige blush a little
Sheldon unexpectedly pulled three pieces of paper out of his briefcase "here, I want you to have these"
"What are they?"
"They are letters of recommendation for your mother to reconsider her decision; one from me, one from Missy, and one from my mother" he explained
Paige had no idea what to say, this was just…that was amazing "Sheldon, thank you" was all she got out.
"Ugh Paige, meeting in a couple minutes, can you hurry up" her mom asked as she briefly came out.
Paige got up, smiled at Sheldon and left. Well, she knows about his crush and now she is going to college. But he strangely didn't regret it, he did something that made her happy. Well he should get going-
He heard footsteps behind him and Paige ran up, kissed his cheek, then went back to the faculty building.
He later had a meeting with President Hagilmeyer where she complained that they failed to convince Paige to attend the university. He lied and claimed he tried his best, he didn't usually condone lying but he was already in a kind of mood so he allowed it.
After all that, he eventually got home and told Missy about everything "so that's it" Missy said a bit disappointed
"Yes, I helped the girl I like get into a better college and now I might not see her again" Sheldon casually explained "but it was what she wanted"
Missy tried to comfort Sheldon, despite being disappointed Sheldon losing a girl wasn't funnier. They just sat there watching MTV as Paige was somewhere packing for college
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