The World Through Various Eyes

[15] Strange New Addition (Christopher's POV)

Another day, thus another headache. I was to spend one more day in the confines of the madhouse known as high school. As if practically illiterate inhabitants who lived for conformity weren't enough, there was the stress of achieving. Believe it or not, school did not come as easily to me as I liked to project that it did to the general public. I did not view each day at school as a learning experience. Everyday was a chance to prove myself, an oppurtunity to gain extra knowledge and become superior. I would settle for nothing less than being the best.

As usual, the bus ride there was uneventful. I observed disdainfully as teenage girls squealed loudly and took pictures of everything, and at the jocks fooling around with their friends obnoxiously. Adjusting my collar and glaring at the rest of the vehicle, I slid myself further towards the window of my seat. My nose took in an offensive odor of strong perfume mixed with cologne, and I sighed.

It was the same routine day after day. Force myself out of bed, get ready, board the bus for approximately an hour and arrive at the building I would ultimately spend 7 hours trapped in. I began to ponder whether there was more to my life than just the usual monotony. No matter how many grades I progressed through, the cycle was unbreakable.

But for now, I had to endure the monotony of a typical teenager's life. Which, truth be told, was not fair, due to the fact that I was indeed not a typical teenager. Sixteen and a senior in high school, I had skipped two grades- eighth grade and sophomore year. My SAT scores were off the charts, and my grades impeccable.

Yet I refused to converse with my fellow students. They were unworthy, engaging in trivial pursuits and exhibiting foolish behavior with no remorse. Their small brains had no ambition, no drive for success like mine.

You'd think that all this superiority would eliminate the possibility of me feeling inferior. And to a certain extent it did. But one person was all it took to put me out of place. One person to challenge me.

That person came in the form of Jade Randolph. Extremely talented, beautiful and smart, she was competition in the highest degree. Although she had never skipped a grade, she probably should have skipped at least one. I had seen her for the first time since childhood in a library, where we were both trapped after hours. I just saw her from afar but I could instantly tell that she was like me.

She had changed so much since we were children that I almost didn't recognize her until she told me her name. A tower of books stacked by her feet caught my eye, as well as her eyes. They were two different colors but I could tell by her gaze that she was not a passive, apathetic individual.

I guess you could say that it was love at first sight. I tried desperately to deny that I was falling for her, because I wished to be above the foolish behavior that takes place when someone is in love, but it was no use.

I sketched her in that library. I wanted to remember every detail of her. That ended somewhat disasterously, with her finding the drawing. Thankfully, she was flattered rather than disturbed. Or maybe both. I couldn't quite tell.

At that library was the last place I saw her over Thanksgiving break. After that, I began to notice her around school when I had never before. My best guess was that she was a junior, but I wasn't quite sure. She was in a majority of my classes, because we both were taking AP English and AP History. In fact, I was taking AP everything. I couldn't help but wonder if she was as well, but in different classes for the rest of the subjects.

Once I began to notice her, I couldn't believe I hadn't before. I no longer wanted her in the rest of my AP classes because frequently she would "show me up" in class, as they say.

Never before had someone questioned my accuracy and intelligence, but on a regular basis, she would point out errors. In my logic. In my answers.

It was almost as if she wanted me to be wrong, and delighted in my inaccuracy. I was the same way, so I didn't judge her too harshly for it. But amidst this drama, a rivalry was born. Whether she realized it and categorized it as that or not, it was most certainly a rivalry on my behalf.