The day I found you annoying

Chapter 26: Hard-on

"Dude, why are you so smart? I'm a year older, that's not fair." Colin told me as he grabbed the paper from my hands. "30 fucking seconds. That's how long it took you." He sighed exasperated. "I've been trying all night. That's not fair, man. I hate you." He repeated.

I was used to what he tried to disguise as insults, even though they were actually compliments. Sometimes I felt awkward and a real nerd when people pointed out how fast I could do maths in my head, but other times I felt crazily smart.

I remember when my sister used to tell my mom how incredibly intelligent I was. I remember the glint in her green eyes when she told her something new I had learnt to do. My mom didn't believe her until that time when she grabbed the calculator and just kept asking questions and questions until she got bored seeing that I just didn't fail.

They talked to the school's counselor who talked with the principal, who sent me to a psychologist. She asked me several questions and even though I didn't talk much, she knew I was "exceptionally gifted."

I never liked those words.

I shrugged, distracted by the outfit of a certain hazel-eyed girl that just passed us by at the school entrance.

What the hell was she wearing? 

Okay, it was not bad. It actually was pretty cool. The thing was... we were in high school. She absolutely didn't care about what other people thought of her.

She used to, I remember that very well, she used to seek approval. Now she just didn't fucking care. Colette was the main character. This was her world and we were all living in it.

As if just sensing my gaze, she turned her head towards me, smiling widely as she waved.

She wore a tight black dress with an oversized beige blazer over it, black boots and a black hat that I knew teachers were going to confiscate from her as soon as they saw her wearing it. 

I half-smiled when she approached.

She rolled her eyes. "Just say it."

I raised my hands. "I wasn't going to say anything. I actually like this one."

Colin examined her figure. "You look... cool." He cocked his head eyeing the hat. "They're gonna take that from you."

"What?" Colette protested. "Why?"

The bell rang and we stood up.

"School rules."

"Stupid rules! Where is our identity? What do they want to turn us into? A fucking army?"

We headed towards the front doors, walking beside her as we listened to her, amused by her rants about creativity, individuality and patriarchy.

I smiled to myself when, just as we entered school, one of the teachers pointed at her hat, not even looking at her as he stirred his coffee.

"Take that off."

She did quickly, saluting him right after. "Yes, sir."

"What about that speech you just gave us?" Colin laughed.

"I have two strikes for bad behavior, Colin." She messed up his hair and began to walk backwards towards her class. "I'm a rebel, but I'm not dumb."

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On Saturday morning, I heard murmurs downstairs. I thought my mom would have been sleeping by now, and there was no one else in the house, so I didn't know who could that be.

"So he is one of those, huh? There are still romantic guys out there." My mom said.

"It seems so." I heard Colette's voice, who, by the tone of it, seemed embarrassed.