After The Rain✔️

Robbie Knight

Robbie Knight the other half of dumb and dumber. The boy could not even do well in school if he tried. Good thing he had looks because his brain was out in outer space somewhere.

Between him and Randy, I would say he was dumber. While Braydon was exceptionally smart, well Robbie wasn't. Then the unthinkable happened. I got paired with him to tutor him, great. That means I get to do all the work.

"Hey Molly," he said, holding his books.

"Hey, Robbie," I said back to him.

"So, I was wondering if we could start tonight if you don't mind?"

"Yeah, sure," I sighed. I looked at him and he was fidgeting.

"Why are you so nervous?"

"Oh, no reason," he said with a nervous tone.

"Come on. We'll study at my house," I sighed as I walked to the doors and he followed behind me. This didn't go unnoticed by Braydon.

******
"I don't get it," he said.

"What don't you get?! You have to add the variables before the numbers in groups. How hard is that? Look, I'll show you."

I took a seat next to him at the table and started writing out the steps. I was helping him with Algebra. He watched as I worked the steps in three easy steps.

"How do you understand this?" He asked.

"How do you not?" I shot him a look and he diverted his eyes away from me as if he was embarrassed. "Robbie, you don't really understand any of this?"

"Well, um, you see," he trailed off.

I just looked at him and that's when I realized, he wasn't dumb. He really didn't know any of this stuff. With each subject, he had a hard time with it especially reading. As we worked on the stuff that's when I realized something. He was hiding something.

"What? You think I'm dumb, don't you? I mean, isn't that what you call me and Randy, dumb and dumber?"

His words struck me. While people had made my life hell, I was no better.

"Only because you are mean to me."

"Was and I already apologized."

"It's hard to move past when people have basically treated you like you are nothing. Wallflower; isn't that how you referred to me?"

"Fair point," he sighed.

"I guess we all feel hurt by names, don't we," I asked him.

"Yeah, but when you go through school knowing you aren't exactly smart and a smart person points it out, it stings even more."

"Why does you and everyone hate me so much?" I asked him. I didn't even realize I had asked until the words were out of my mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing," I mumbled.

"You think we hate you?"

"Well, don't you. I mean you did beat me up a couple of times, call me names, make my life hell through school."

"Honestly, I never hated you and I regret doing those things to you," he said. "I remember in elementary school how you use to want to play with everyone and people pushed you aside. You would sit on a step and watch everyone intently. You had these big eyes hiding behind glasses, that would fall down on your nose and you would push them up. I remember how you would take is it just to be part of it or monkey in the middle. I remember middle school how you would stand at your locker, clinching your books to your chest hoping someone would say hi. In freshman year you would wait to be invited to a party or dance only to be pass right by. I remember it all," he said to me as he stared into my hazel eyes with his emerald green ones.