In this chapter there is a big ge in the Young Sheldon series, I'm cooking (at least I try) so please bear with me.

  Enjoy.

  ---

  "My age?" I asked, surprised.

  "I think you might be a year younger; I'm not really sure," Mom expined.

  "Uhh, Mrs. Cooper set you up on a blind date," Teddy, who had been listening to my versation with Mom with great i, said pyfully, with a hint of teasing.

  "Yeah, sure, a date" I said sarcastically, "I'm going to listen to Sheldon talking with someone just as smart as him, that's really romantic," I added exaggeratedly smiling at my sister.

  "Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun," Gabe said smiling mogly towards me.

  "So, are you going?" ign Gabe, Mom asked, strangely excited.

  "Sure," I answered easily; Sheldon's reaight be eaining.

  After dinner, sitting on the living room sofa, Mom called Mrs. Cooper to let her know I had accepted her invitation and to chat about other things, including neighborhood gossip.

  With her maternity leave just beginning after spring break, Mom didn't have much to do around the house. She was quickly getting bored, but with her rge belly, she couldn't do much, so her only escape was to talk, whether on the phone or in person, with Mrs. Cooper.

  The day, with plenty of time before heading to the Coopers' house, I tinued with my regur day, going for my m ruhan usual in the week. I took Teddy to the Baja House and helped Mom with her fifth attempt that week to rearrahe living room furniture.

  "Here?" I asked, tired, after pushing one of the living room sofas a few steps.

  "You know what..." with one hand on her , Mom said slowly, "I think I liked it better where it was before," a moment ter she admitted, slightly embarrassed, as she scratched the side of her face.

  "So, where it was inally" I murmured, "All right," defeated I nodded, as I set to work once again.

  "Yes, I love it this way," Mom said, pausing to look at the room, smiling.

  "I'm gd," I said, f a smile back at her as I colpsed into the fortable sofa.

  After nearly an hour of moving the chairs into different arras, rearranging the coffee table, and even shifting the TV, following Mom's orders, with this st sofa I had slowly put everything back as it was before we started, it wouldn't be long before Mom wao rearrange everything again.

  Cheg my watch, my break had to end, unfortunately. "I'm going to the Coopers' house," I said, slowly standing up.

  Mom listening to my words quickly checked her own watch.

  "Oh yeah, go, it's te," she said, pushing me slightly, still strangely excited.

  "It's only two minutes past the time Mrs. Cooper told you," I said, surprised, looking at Mom. I really wasn't that te.

  "Late!" she decred, exasperated, opening the front door. "Have fun at your meeting," she said, pushi of the house, still excited. "My son, the genius," she murmured excitedly before closing the door in my face.

  Oh, I see what's going on here.

  Amused by Mom's excitement that Mrs. Cooper had invited me to a 'genius kids' gathering,' I walked to the Coopers' house.

  "PJ! Please, e in," Mrs. Cooper said, radiating joy as she opened her door a few moments after I knocked.

  "Thank you, Mrs. Cooper, you look especially radiant today," I said, smiling at her, making her ugh in embarrassment.

  "Always the ftterer," Mrs. Cooper said, smiling widely as she guided me through her house.

  Soon we reached the entrance of the Coopers' living room. There, o Mr. Cooper, who looked unfortable with a beer in hand, was a couple—a man with a strange, seemingly brand-new cowboy outfit and a blonde woman sitting surprisingly upright, also looking somewhat unfortable.

  "PJ, let me introduce you," Mrs. Cooper said, smiling at the unusual couple. "This is Evelyn Adler and her husband, Hank Summers."

  "o meet you, I'm PJ Dun," I said, smiling as I introduced myself.

  "Howdy," Mr. Summers said in a pletely forced Southern at, tipping his brand-new hat iing. Mr. Cooper awkwardly took a swig of his beer, while Mrs. Adler tilted her head slightly, revealing the reason for the disfort.

  "Oh, I've heard about you. You made a signifit tribution to st year's Nobel Prize-winning medical paper," Mrs. Adler said with a strong British at, reizing my name immediately. "The prodigy of medie," she added with a touch of theatrics.

  "I wouldn't call it signifit," I said, slightly embarrassed. "I was included in the aowledgments thanks to Dr. Thomas's incredibly ki."

  "Oh, don't be modest," Mrs. Cooper said, patting my shoulder lightly. "PJ ublished in a major Texas neer," she said, her eyes widening with excitement. "He even works at the hospital after school."

  "You're still attending high school despite your achievements?" Mrs. Adler asked incredulously.

  "Oh yeah, I really enjoy going to sy friends are there," I replied easily, reizing in her another possible case like Dr. Grey.

  "Besides Sheldon, PJ is also a great friend of my eldest, Geie," Mrs. Cooper said, smiling at me.

  "Well, I hope you get along with Diane. She doesn't always have the eet someone excellent in their own field who are the same age," Mrs. Adler said, with her pronounced British at, looking at me ily, her brow slightly furrowed.

  "Of course," I replied, a bit unfortable uhe Englishwoman's peing gaze, not sure what else to say.

  "Oh, that's right," Mrs. Cooper excimed, raising her hands as if she'd just remembered the reason I was there. "Diane and Shelly are in his room," she added.

  After saying goodbye with a small nod I walked to Sheldon's room, while walking I could still feel Mrs. Adler's strange gaze lingering on my back.

  The door to Sheldon and Missy's room was wide open allowio see who was inside and what was happening.

  In the middle of the room, with a small table set up with a chess game in progress, was Sheldon, sitting on his bed with a big frown, right in front of Sheldon, in Missy's bed, was a girl with her side towards me, like Mrs. Adler pletely straight despite not having any back support, and with the straightest blonde hair I'd ever seen, pying with the kid.

  Knog on the door frame to announce my presence, I stepped in. My amediately caught the attention of the other two people in the room.

  "Ah, PJ," Sheldon, fag me, greeted me warmly.

  "Hey Sheldon," I him, returning his greeting.

  After greeting my young friend, I focused oher person in the room.

  Fag me, pletely expressionless, with rge round-frame gsses, 'Diane' seemed to glow for some strange reason, possibly due to the way the light ehe room at that moment.

  She was really pretty.

  "Oh, how rude of me," Sheldon said, breaking an odd silehat I wasn't sure how long had sted. "PJ, this is Diane Adler. She was io the uy to give a lecture on advances in the okes problem, one of the Millennium Prize Problems," he added formally, to my disappoi, apparently not reag as I'd expected when someone as gifted as him was around.

  "A pleasure to meet you, PJ Dun," I said, extending my hand, expeg a handshake, smiling at her, but she immediately avoided eye tact.

  "Likewise," Diane replied, adjusting her gsses with the sleeve of her sweater, without shaking my hand.

  "All right," I said slowly, l my hand awkwardly, nodding.

  Possibly like Sheldon, Diane might have some level of germophobia.

  "So, okes—remind me whie that is?" I asked, still awkwardly smiling. Throughout my studies, I'd obviously read about the seven Millennium Prize Problems, supposedly so challenging that institutions were willing to pay a rge sum to anyone who solved any of them.

  Being such difficult problems, I'd never really paid much attention to them, not really being of my i.

  "It's about the existend uniqueness of solutions for the okes equations," Sheldon answered immediately, as if it were a quiz, not fully crifying my question.

  "Got it," I said sarcastically, smiling at Sheldon, amused by the child's innoce.

  "They're a set of partial differential equations that represent the servation of momentum, mass, and energy in a fluid," Diane quickly expined, looking up and making eye tact for the sed time since I'd ehe room, evidently excited when talking about it.

  "Really?, it sounds iing," I said, smiling once more at the girl, mildly amused by her excitement when talking about her is.

  "It is," Diane replied, quickly calming her suddeement and, somewhat embarrassed, avoiding eye tace again.

  "It's an iing topic, though not as much as bck holes, but still not too bad," Sheldon decred with a slightly arrogant expression as he moved a pie the board, ag a bit more like I expected him to act.

  "Bad move," I said, shaking my head slightly. After the slightly embarrassing moment of staring at the unfortable girl, I'd studied the board oable. I'd pyed hundreds of games against Case, and the move my little friend had just made led into a trap that Case often used.

  "What?" Sheldon asked, incredulous, snapping his attention back to the pieces on the board just as Diane made her move.

  "Checkmate in six," Diane said calmly, making Sheldon frown even more as he stared at the board, surely calg any number of possible moves in his head.

  "So, you were io give a lecture?" I asked, letting Sheldon focus on the board and attempting once again to start a versation with the awkward girl.

  "Yeah," Diane answered, looking at anything in the Cooper kids' room except me. "I have a master's degree from MIT, and part of my responsibilities is giving some seminars nationally," she tinued, gng briefly at me.

  "A master's degree in math?" I asked, surprised. "At what, sixteen?" I added, sitting dowo Sheldon, who was still staring at the board otle table.

  "I got my master's when I was ten," Diane replied, a little nervous looking at me as it was now almost impossible to avoid eye tact since I'd practically sat in front of her field of vision.

  "What?" Sheldon excimed, snapping out of his chess trance. "At ten years old?" he asked with a look of .

  Yeah, this was what I expected.

  "Yes, when I was nine, I helped wiernational math olympiad team, so my mother introduced me to Dr. Shanknd, who helped me get my degree," Diane expined calmly.

  Hearing Diane's words, Sheldon lowered his head slightly, lost in thought.

  It was impressive to see him worried about not having a master's degree at his age. Sheldon and Missy had turen just under a month ago.

  "Now I uand why you don't watch television," Sheldon finally said slowly after a few seds. "Your itment is much greater than mine," he added solemnly, making Diane nod slightly.

  "Wait, you don't watch TV?" I asked, surprised, receiving a very unapologetic shake of her head. "Not even once?" I asked again, incredulous.

  "Well, sometimes Hank watches the news in the m," Diane replied, adjusting her gsses with her wrist covered by her sweater.

  "What about music, movies, any sports?" I asked quickly, once again receiviives from the girl. I uood now how Kat and my friends felt with my ck of knowledge in pop culture. At least I had a retively normal childhood. "So what do you do in your free time when you're not studying math?" I asked, ed, knowing firsthand that this wasn't a healthy lifestyle.

  My question seemed to surprise the girl, makiop to think.

  "I don't know," Diane said, raising her shoulders and appearing truly puzzled. "We have a big library at home, so I have plenty of books."

  "So just reading?" I asked, slightly frowning with , really uanding that kind of life.

  "Well, when it's not winter, I enjoy going to the beach," she replied, slightly frowning as if trying to figure out if that was the answer I was looking for.

  That's good, but irely.

  "Have you ever wao try something else?" I asked, feeling a bit of pity for Diane. "Go out with friends?"

  "I don't have a lot of friends," Diane admitted, pressing her lips together, slightly embarrassed.

  I don't believe she had any.

  "My mom says I have a really importainy and it's my responsibility to fulfill it. She trusts me to solve okes, so I don't have much time to waste," Diane replied with a barely visible sadness in her eyes.

  These past few months, that trary to when I was obsessed with studies, taught me that my previous way of life was a total waste.

  What I used to see as a waste of time, I noreciate—movies, cartoons, music, sports, outdoor activities, art, having a milkshake with friends, go to parties, reading a ic, b my siblings, and many other things are now an essential part of my life.

  Feeling the responsibility to do for someone else what everyone in my new life did for me, I said, "That won't work." Shaking my head, I decred seriously, capturing the girl's attention as she looked at me, ed. "I've decided—I'm going to show you what made me fall in love with life; there's more than just fulfilling responsibilities," I said, looking at Diaently.

  After a moment of silence, holy, an unfortable one, "I have to improve my personal studies. I 't fall behind forever; will I get my degree at sixteen? Worse, at twenty?" Sheldon asked, seemingly pletely unaware of my strange decration to the girl we both had just met, me even more briefly than him.

  "Yeah, just don't overdo it; it's not good for your health," I said, patting Sheldon lightly on the shoulder, avoiding looking at Diane, who seemed to be in a bit of a trance, her mouth slightly open.

  Refleg on how I'd made my decration, I realized I could have expi better. "How long will you be in Medford?" I asked Diane, deg to ighe embarrassment of having said what I did.

  "I was invited for the rest of the week," Diane answered immediately, biting her lip slightly, as if snapping out of the small trance she was in.

  "The's do an experiment" I decred with fidehis week I'll show you that living your life isn't 'wasting time,' and if it doesn't work, I won't bother you anymore; I promise" I seriously added. "Every day, I'll introduce you to things pletely different from studying math, it will only take a couple of hours each day".

  Although Diaill maintained a surprisingly stoic expression, I could see i shining in her eyes.

  "So, do you want to find amazing things to do with me?" I asked, smiling, for some strange reasoed.

  "Oh, are you pnning to do somethiing?" Sheldon asked, suddenly ied in the versation. "I just happeo know about a lecture at Riiversity called 'What's Happening at the ter of axy,'" he said suggestively.

  "Thanks, Sheldon, but I was thinking more about listening to music at the mall's record store or pying mini-golf, you know, outside," I said, smiling meaningfully at my little friend, waiting for his rea.

  "Oh, don't t me in on your pns, then. Outdoors? Aing attacked by a bird?" Sheldon immediately shook his head forcefully, thhly disgusted.

  Sheldon's rea wasn't just funny to me. For the first time since I'd ehe room, Dia out a slight chuckle, c her smile with the side of her hand.

  I hadn't even started showihe true beauty of life, and somehow she was already disc it for herself.

  ---

  Final Note (A huge ed to 'Diane Adler' – it's not absolutely necessary to read this).

  As I mentioned in the first here's a big tinuity ge in Young Sheldon. Since I started writing this his nned so, as in TBBT, there is no character named Paige Swanson now.

  I realize that someone might not uand what's going on in this note.

  To expin, I'd first like to say I'm a bit scared of Victor_Venegas; it seems like he has security cameras in my house or somehow gained access to my super-secret notes (I have a .txt file with the general outline of the novel all the way to the end).

  Diane Adler, as well as Evelyn Adler, are characters from a movie starring Chris Evans and Ma Grace (the same actress who pys Paige Swanson in Young Sheldon, so I think everyone see where the idea of mixing these worlds came from) called 'Gifted' (a movie I've watched at least 10 times in the past few months, xD).

  Now in the movie, the character Diane Adler (who only appears in photos) is "pyed" by a model who is ued—or at least I haven't been able to find any credits for her o I had the idea of ??having Diane 'pyed' by someone else.

  Somehow, my TikTok algorithm discovered that I was watg this movie repeatedly and started showing me videos about it, among these videos, there was a showing the resembween Ma Grad… Kiernan Shipka (the main actress in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), so I decided that, in my mind, Diane Adler would be pyed by Kiernan Shipka, specifically with her look from Twisters. (Just an idea for those who o visualize the characters.)

  As you imagihis new character represents the step in the romantic part of this story, and as I said at the beginning of this his was born as a method of 'practice' for writing, today I enjoy it a lot and I almost no loake it as what it was born as, but I know that I have a LOT, to improve, and I don't know any other way than trial and error.

  I've read dozens of romance books and all of them are from a woman's POV (which isn't a problem for me), few are from a man's POV whifortunately almost always ance (yes, I'm not ashamed to admit it, I enjoy a good real love story, with feelings and all that) which makes it a bit difficult for me to try to write without using cliches that I've read in all these books but now 'ied', so I apologize as it may be difficult to read if you're not adept at reading these types of stories.

  I imagihat for the 'alpha male' extremists who reject the whole idea of ??a man having feelings (outside of hatred or superiority in manhood, if that somehow ts as feelings) reading a 'Slice of life' story with romance might be bothered. For you, yes, there will be chapters focused entirely on it (romance) and many others not. With this I hope you uand that yes, the story is a slice of life, but that doesn't mean I'm leaving out something as important in life as love.

  500 words of note, sorry.

  ---

  Author Thoughts:

  As always, I'm not Ameri, not a doctor, not a fighter and I'm not Magnus Carlsen.

  With that said,

  I think that's all. As always, if you find any errors, please let me know, and I'll correct them immediately.

  Thank you for reading! :D

  PS: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.