The Good, The Bad, and The Genius(ON HOLD)

You're Not The Only One

"Excuse me?" Jordan exclaimed with astonishment

"But it can't be true," I continue on, ignoring Jordan's hollering "It should have developed over time, it doesn't just pop out of nowhere."

"This is crazy!" Jordan says, trying more to convince himself "I am not dyslexic."

"Then again," I continue "There are those rare cases..."

"Alex!" Jordan snaps be back to reality.

"Huh?" I ask biting on my pen.

"You dropped this bomb on me. This is all you. So you have a lot of explaining to do."

"Why me? Can't you just go see a counselor or something?"

"You can't just tell someone their dyslexic and then run off!" Jordan snapped and then scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Oh." I looked down at my shoes.

"Oh?" He snapped "That's all you've got? You went from 'you're dyslexic' to 'oh'. Well that's just great isn't it? What the hell is even dyslexia? Am I going to die? Is it a type of cancer? Will my brain rot out and then turn me into a zom--"

"Whoa, whoa,whoa, whoa." I say, placing my hands on his shoulders "You don't know what dyslexia is?"

"Well no shit, Sherlock!" Jordan said, throwing his hands up in exasperation "I can barely remember what homework we have tonight and you expect me to memorize the definition of dyslexia?"

"Hmmm..." I said taking out a notepad and began jotting this down "Subject shows symptoms of short term memory and--"

"Alex!" Jordan snaps, cutting me off "I'm not your damn experiment!

"--...hostility" I continue, slyly smiling up at him.

"I'm not hostile!" Jordan exclaims and then realizes that he's yelling, so he lowers his voice and repeats in a calmer voice "I'm not hostile."

I giggle and look up at him with a sincere smile "Calm down, Jordan. You're acting as if it were some type of disease. Dyslexia is simply a very common learning disorder characterized by difficulty reading. There are over 3 million cases in the U.S per year. So trust me, you're not the only one with this problem."

"So basically I'm retarded?" Jordan laughs dryly and crosses his arms over his chest.

"I hate that word, Jordan." I mumble and then add "And no you're not. People with dyslexia are just as smart as people without it, some even smarter. You just have to work through it and it may go away."

"May?!" Jordan exclaimed.

"Well it depends on the mildness of your disorder. Some don't have it so bad and it goes away in a year, others have it worse and it takes over three years."

"Oh great." Jordan mumbles and puts his head in his hands as he rests his elbows on the wooden table.

I'm not quite sure what to do in moments like these. I believe physical contact is needed but I don't want to touch him. Ugh, but what if he begins to cry? I could just make it worse, I minds as well give it a try.

I slowly lift my hand and place it on the top of his head and begin patting it awkwardly. I keep doing this until Jordan slowly begins to look up at me with an odd expression on his face. A puzzled expression.

"What?" I ask with confusion.

"Are you...petting me?" Jordan chokes back a laugh.

"Well--uh--um-I just thought--" I begin to ramble on, flustered.