The Reclusive Genius (Open)

“Jason are you even listening to me?”

Jason cobalt colored eyes flashed in response. He didn’t bother to glance at his mother instead continuing to tap out a series of beats and rhythms as his mind crunched the mathematical concepts he was studying. The book on his lap was thick the kind of thick that would have made any other eighteen-year-old turn tail and run. His eyes eagerly drank in the complex mathematical numbers letting them wash over and drag him down as he kept tap tapping away.

“JASON!”

Jason growled in response. His eyes flickered up taking his mom in through his long jet-black hair. What was she bothering him for? Couldn’t she tell he was in the middle of something?

Then he caught the look on her face

The look of earnest concern and worry was plain on his mother’s face. The tired lines no doubt caused by him and his… unique intellect always made a pang of guilt rush through him. His mother was a beautiful creature a woman who weathered the storm of a no-good cheating husband and a dysfunctional highly intellectual young adult like him. Immediately the thought of mathematical equations were gone instead replaced with a burning desire to wipe the worry off of his moms face.

“Yes mom” He said raising an eyebrow and looking outside at his senior high school “did I forget to do something?”

“No honey” His mom said sighing “You didn’t hear a word I said did you?”

“Anything worth saying is worth saying twice” He replied a silent admission to her question.

“Jason…” His mom said shaking her head before continuing “I was just trying to bring to your attention that you’re in your senior year of high school and have still yet to make any friends”

“Not true mom” He said rolling his eyes as annoyance flashed “I have plenty of friends through the chat groups and- “

“Online friends” She said cutting him off with a wave of her hand “I’m talking about tangible friends in your school the specialist said-“

“Don’t get me started on that women” Jason retorted rolling his eyes “I’ve got a high IQ I’m not a mental patient”

“No one is saying you are” His mother Eloise said as she pinched the bridge of her nose “But you are shutting yourself off from people!”

“People my age don’t get me mom!” Jason said his tone exasperated as threw his head back and hit the headrest “I’m…. lightyears ahead of them”

“But you’re still a young adult!” She argued her tone rising as she crossed her arms “Your still into stuff… go hang out with the A.V club or the readers in the library! Go find someone that watches that anime stuff”

He sighed resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. On some level his moms words made sense. There were things he was into, things he could use to facilitate a friendship.

But why didn’t he want to?

His eyes flickered back to his school taking in its warm brick walls and glass windows. For three years he walked the halls of the high school here instead of one of the many “Genius” schools offered to him. His mother was the one who made that choice, the choice that Jason would be better off around normal people then fellow geniuses. He always suspected it was more than that though that it was a desire to keep him close and not lose him like she lost his dad.
He didn’t blame her for it.

But…. He hadn’t done anything to make the school his either. For three years he went about his business keeping to himself and breezing through the curriculum. He read to himself and hadn’t said anything more than what was needed from him. In hindsight now he knew he could have done more. Yet he wasn’t sure he even wanted to.

“I’m just worried about you” His mom said her voice soft and kind.

“Your always worried about me” Jason murmured his long slender fingers finally coming up and pinching the bridge of his nose “I wish you’d stop”

“I’m your mother sweetie” She told him a sad smile in her voice “It’s in the job description”

He sighed looking at her for several long seconds before finally reaching and popping his door open. He turned back to her hesitating.

“I’ll work on it”
…………………………………

Jason walked through the white tiled halls. His shoes black and red slapping against the tile as he shouldered his retro messenger bag. His short loudly proclaiming his love for Batman clung to his slight panther like frame. He ran a hand through his hair pushing the long black locks back as he eyed the people around him.

If he was going to try he was going to approach it from a science driven standpoint. He pushed his wire rimmed classes up analyzing each and every person that passed him as a potential “friend”. Most he disregarded a lack of shared interest and just out of plain taste. Some made the cut as a potential friend yet none of them truly captured his interest.

“This is going to be harder than I thought” Jason murmured sighing. He tightened the strap on his backpack pushing on through the crowds as he reached the cafeteria.

Victoria Quinn Was the queen bee of the school, and had been since 9th grade, everyone wanted to be her friend, but for the wrong reasons, they just wanted to shine with her, like lot of kids tried doing over the years. The group of friends that she did have, she figured that they to were just there for a reason of their own. And that's why she was close to some, but not really close. She hadn't found anyone worth getting to truly know and it was hard on her, she wanted to find a true person she could be friends with, someone to love and be loved in return. It was a nice thought anyway. It was hard to trust anyone, really trust but right now she kept everyone at a distance. And her home life wasn't much better, her mother kept asking if she filled out all her college applications which she did, hoping to shut her up with it.. That morning she was so pissed off at her mother for talking about it again, she couldn't think straight. It felt like something in her finally snapped, when she knew her mother was about to say something again.

"Mom not right NOW" She snapped at her mother.

"Come on V you know damn well if you don't do your applications you wont get into a good college" she placed her hand on V's shoulder.

"What ever" She rolled her eyes and took off, she got into her lime green spark and drove to school. Singing along to some of her music till she got to school.

Once she got to school everything changed the second she parked and got out, her so called friends were happy to see her and hugged her.

"alright guys need to do some things first, seeya before the bell rings" She said and went into the school.

She went to her locker which was next to Jason's a kid who had the highest IQ in the school, she heard his IQ was 160 which is possible, she knew what her IQ was according to the tests that she did online and even the one from school. Her IQ was 125 which is really up there, but no where near as smart as Jason. When she opened up her locker to grab her books for the next few classes, she was kinda sad he wasn't around. She didn't know why she felt like this, but she just shrugged it off and went into the cafeteria and noticed he was there. Something in her made her want to say hi, she didn't know why since she never talked to him. Sometimes he seemed like a rebel in his own right, which was something she wished she could do. She put her bag on the table and smiled over at him, she had no clue what the hell she was doing. But her friends were not around to see her, because every time she talked to someone that her group didn't approve of or like, they would put her down for it.

"Hey Jason" She said to him waving, as she sat down and took out her binder so she could finish up her report for History. She had the great grades while her friends not so much, but she didn't care what everyone thought. She was on high honors and joined all kinds of clubs just to get her out of the house a little more. And perhaps to get away from her own so called friends she hung out with. She liked being in school because it's where she could be free to be herself. It was very important to her, no one knew what she wanted to go to school for, but what no one knew, was she didn't want to go to school. She wanted to be a model that was where her heart was, what she wanted more then anything, she thought she could do it. Sadly she had no one she trusted to tell her what she wanted to do more then anything. But she went out to la la land.

Once she finished up her home work she pulled out a fashion magazine, she smiled looking at all the beautiful women on it. She invisioned herself as one of these women, how she would look in certain light, and themes what ever it was that they did with the models. She sighed softly, hoping that maybe one day she would be able to do it. It was hard to think about other things while she was day dreaming. Thought nothing was wrong with doing that, though sometimes she could get a bit silly with it. She could ignore everyone and everything around her. Which was why she wasn't really around anyone while she did it, she came back to earth and looked at the time. She got up and decided to get a little snack to eat, so she bought a everything bagel and paid for it, she was hungry which was kinda rare in the mornings.

She went back to eat at her table and spied on him a little bit curious as to what Jason was up to, she hoped that he was okay though she didn't know him. She still wanted people to be okay it was just her thing.

“Hey Jason”

Jason blinked surprised that someone was actually talking to him. It wasn’t that he was anti-social…. Per say but still people never went out of their way to talk to him. He supposed he intimidated them the teenage masses who were sporting an IQ significantly less than his own. To think his mother actually wanted him to find a friend among them to!

Still… the currently retreating form of the Queen Bee of Victoria Quinn did seem promising. She was pretty…. Well the prettiest girl in the school! And she was second behind him in most classes. He wasn’t sure what if anything they had in common…. But at the very least she was semi smart enough to keep up with him.
He decided to make her the target of his social experiment. Throughout the day he debated the best way to talk to her constructing scenarios in his head and discarding the ones he found unsatisfying. Ultimately, he decided just to approach her to say hello and see what happened from there.

He got his chance during lunch. Usually Victoria was surrounded by her friends the popular girls but today seemed to be alone as she ate her bagel. Jason wasted no time going up to her clearing his throat to get her attention.

“I’m going to sit with you” He told her as he sat down and pulled out his own bagged lunch. He unpacked it and dug into his sandwich taking a bite before turning to her.

“I believe this is the time we make small talk” He said cracking open his water and taking a sip “You ask me how my day was and then I do the same to you yes?”

Victora heard him clear his throat and knew he wanted to talk to her, that''s what every guy that wanted to talk to her did. She smiled and nodded to him, she was glad he had the courage to say something to her finally. She smiled at him Sighing softly she was thinking about what to talk to him, she heard everything he said and couldn't help but laugh she nodded to him. She was really cute about how he spoke to her, she couldn't help but think of things, she crossed one leg over the other and began to wiggle her foot thinking a few things about what must be going on in his head, he was the smartest boy in school and she was always looking at him when she wasn't looking, perhaps she liked him but she didn't know. She never had boyfriends because the guys always had a reason for being there, she wanted someone that wanted to be with her because he truly cared about her, not because it would make him popular along with her, just like she never truly trusted her so called friends.

"How are you doing Jason? keeping up with you is difficult" She said happily.

“keeping up with me?” He murmured unsure and confused by her choice of wording “When did I run-“

“Oh” He said understanding dawning on his face as his mind caught up with him “Your talking about in our studies… Don’t feel bad I’m a certified genius. You were never going to keep up with me”

He winced once again realizing his poor choice in wording. He forced himself to slow down, to think about what he was saying thoroughly before he opened his mouth. He ran a hand through his thick brown hair pushing it this way and that and giving himself the hairstyle of a man swept up into a tornado.

“What I meant to say was that you’re a challenging opponent” He said pulling out his lunch and putting it on his lap “So much so that I thought we might make good… friends. I studied you and noted that the popular peers you usually hang out with don’t quite seem to interest you anymore. I thought you might like to hang out with me and do…. Whatever it is teenagers do”

She smiled at him and laughed interesting choice of wording she couldn't help but shake her head and just grinned at him. "Actually I am only 5 points behind you so im keeping up with you pretty well for someone who isn't a god when it comes to knowlege" She said simply and sighed a little bit. And kept eating her lunch and heard what else he said and chuckled. "Your still human you know, don't need to act like some mutant or a machine, your a teen to you know" She said simply and couldn't help but just grin at him. It was kinda hard to imagine what more was going to happen.

"I don't trust people I have a thing where I believe they only want to be around me becaue I am pretty and not exactly stupid, I want to be able to find someone that will love me for me you know" She looked down haking her head.

Jason wasn’t sure how to answer her. In all of his vast knowledge the simple act of talking to a cute girl was something elusive and unknown to him. Social interaction itself was a variable an unknown equation he could never quite wrap his head around.

Still he would try, for his mom sake and for his quote on quote “insanity”. He took a deep breath and continued eating his own food watching her as she spoke and speaking after she was finished.

“I don’t trust most people either” Jason admitted attempting a friendly smile that just looked wrong on him.

“Most people have pretty surface level reasons for interacting with a person but I promise you I’m not” Jason said shrugging his lean shoulders “Of all the students and peers in this school I choose you as the one I would have the most in common with. So my interest in you is based on variables and math not anything superficial you and I are the most compatible in the school to socially interact”

She smiled at him she could tell he as a genius even if she hadn't known him, or knew of him. Because he acted not like a boy his age but someone much older. Which was something she really liked and she would be open and honest about it, tilting her head to the side she smiled and nodded to him. "I know your not like that" she said simply. She liked that he was getting open though she wasn't the best at it either, truly open. Where you could bare your soul, it's really hard to want to be that way with someone that she did know. Sighing softly she sat back and watched people looking at them, staring even pointing, but she wouldn't give them any reason to get off on it. She was good at ignoring people, always had been.

"I know you act much older then most our age, because of your IQ more mature and it's something I like actually"

Her words made him laugh an honest laugh that surprised even him. His eyes flickered back to her and studying her as he finished his food. All in all Jason was pleased, more pleased than he thought he would be. Things were progressing well in his experiment, his “attempt” to make a friend. Before he could say anything more the bell rang overhead blaring out over the yard. Jason watched as the students all around them began to get up and move.

“Let me walk you to our next class” Jason said crumpling the bag holding his food and standing up. He tossed it into the trashcan next to them before turning and extending his hand. He helped her up and then took her books stacking them in one hand.

“After you” He said gesturing with his hands. He followed right next to her walking side by side with her as he carried her books.

“What are you doing after school?” He asked out of the blue as they reached the halfway point.