The genius

Chapter 1- The Life of a Genius

A girl stumbled down her apartment complexes stairs in a pair of heels with a button-up shirt and a skirt. It wasn't her usual attire, but she had a job interview that she couldn't dress casually for. She had recently quit her last job after some...mental health issues. It wasn't too recent, in reality it had been a little over a year. Her last job was with a team of geniuses called Scorpion. She loved the job, and couldn't dream of working anywhere else until they hired a new member. He destroyed the team from the inside out and then 'vanished.' She had stayed a few extra months after that, putting her own mental health aside to help her team. She didn't realize it at the time, but she was in love with one of her team members. Love was what drove her to stay. She took care of him, and helped him from the worst mental state, back to a healthy one. She couldn't put herself aside forever though, so she finally left. The team called and texted many times but never got a response. She had moved all the way to Manchester in northern Maine. Right before her interview, she sent an email to three of her old team members. She couldn't bring herself to speak to the other. The email read:

Hey guys! Im sorry I bailed without saying anything, but I had to put myself first. Im going in for a job interview in a few hours. I guess I just sent this to say goodbye for good. I know you hate when im emotional, but I miss you guys. You've probably seen that this hasn't been sent to Walter. That's on purpose, I can't talk to him like this. Please don't tell him you've had contact with me.

-with love, Reagan Smith.

The girls name is Reagan Smith, but she goes by Meghan Harrison because of her reputation. She had an iq of 147, which is classified as gifted. She loved being intelligent, but it made others feel afraid of her or it made them uncomfortable because they thought she was better than them. She just wanted a normal life and she tried her hardest to get there. As she walked out the doors of the complex, she noticed that it was very cold, and that she had forgotten her jacket.

She smirked to herself while mumbling, "So much for a genius."

She was about to turn around to go back inside when she heard a familiar voice.

"Looking for this?"

She turned around to see her old teammates and best friends, Toby, Sylvester, and Happy. The voice was Tobys, who was holding her jacket. She smiled widely as they all looked at her.

"How...?"

She wondered aloud. She was confused as to how they found her and how they had her jacket.

"You need to talk to Walter," Happy said, abruptly.

Reagan shifted uncomfortably, her smile falling, "That's the reason you came?"

"No, we missed you. But we weren't the only ones," Toby gave her an expectant look.

She looked at the ground, "I- I genuinely don't think I can handle it. Seeing him like that broke me, Toby. It hurt."

Just then a man walked out of the double doors.

"Meghan, who are your friends?" He teased, looking Happy up and down.

"No don't-" she got cut off by Happy punching him in the face.

He gripped his nose while walking away. Giving Reagan a 'what just happened' look.

Toby looked disappointed, "boyfriend?" He asked

"Obviously," Reagan said sarcastically, laughing as she did.

"You're a Harvard trained behaviorist, you know better." she gave Toby a look.

Sylvester finally spoke up, "Wait, he called you Meghan."

Megan froze.

"Um- so I might have been going by Meghan so that people didn't realize I was a genius, because I really want to live a normal life," She rambled, putting her head in her hands.

"What about what Walter said. Didn't he convince you to-" Toby started, before realizing that was the last thing she wanted to hear.

She glanced at her watch.

"Shoot! I have to go, I'll catch up with you guys later." Reagan tried to walk away, but was turned around with ease by Happy and Toby. Both of them had grabbed either of her arms and despite her protests, forced her back into her apartment.

"Guys! I can't just blow off this interview! I need a job!" She sulked when she got thrown back into a chair.

The three got into a makeshift huddle and started whispering. Sylvester and Toby walked out. Happy crouched down so they were eye to eye.

"Listen to me. You listening? Good. You and I both know how you and Walter get when you're upset."

Reagan cut her off by saying, "He's not my responsibility! He's the reason I left."

Happy gave her a death stare, "I hated it, and I'm just as angry as you are about it, but in truth it wasn't his fault. It's not my fault and it's not your fault. It's logic. None of us were the cause of the problem."

"It wasn't his fault." The words rang over and over in her mind. It was what she told herself when she had to force feed him, and shove water down his throat. "It wasn't his fault" was what she cried herself to sleep at night thinking. "It wasn't his fault," the one thing she repeated when he kept himself an inch from death. "It's not your fault," the thing she told him every day until he could finally care for himself again.

She felt her eyes swell with tears, "No, but Walter and I were the gasoline on the fire."

She heard a distinct stomp, then a knock in a pattern that only one other person knew.

Reagan panicked, "Happy, no. I'm not doing this today."

"You two are going to talk."
Toby said as he let himself in. Happy walked out as Toby pulled Walter inside. Then Toby walked out, and left Walter and Reagan together.

She shook her head, "And then there were two."