Note

  Eighty chapters into my first attempt at writing, over 350k words, and a story that still has a long way to go (no, seriously, I checked the word t and surprised myself—by the time I finish the novel, will I have written over a million words?).

  To this note, I want to thank everyone who reads this every week. We're almost at 100 chapters and in the final stretch of volume 1.

  Enjoy.

  ---

  The rest of the time, it gradually became easier to talk to Diahings about her home in Boston, her csses at MIT, her brother who was homeschooled and whom I deduced was at that moment with Missy and Geie, wherever they were, her mother, who, like her, was a mathemati, her stepfather, ealthy and had an odd fasation with southern culture, cowboys, and ranches, among many other things as the hours passed, I learned a lot about the girl's not very varied life.

  As she had cimed, Dia Sheldon in their chess game after only six moves, something that again affected the boy for several minutes; not being the "smartest" in the room was a huge shock for him.

  During the time Sheldon took to accept his chess loss, staring ily at the board and surely repying the entire game in his mind, I took the opportunity to talk to Diahis time about my life. She had tended a high school, so she was pletely absorbed in my friends' funny stories, my narrations of games, what I did at the hospital, and my training with Case.

  Obviously, there were many things I left out; I didn't feel fortable talking abina or the fight, nor about An and Brock, who had goheir separate ways.

  When he snapped out of his trance, even Sheldon, with a bit of encement from me, slowly came around to talk about his life. I hoped this would help Diane uand that even gifted people like them could have a retively "normal" life.

  "Really?" Diane asked Sheldon, now with a barely visible smile stantly on her face.

  "Oh yeah, I systematically overcame my dog phobia. PJ was there—he firm it," Sheldon said proudly.

  "He was quite brave," I decred, amused, sharing a small smile with Diane, which made Sheldon puff up his chest even more proudly.

  "That's impressive, Sheldon, a really smart way to use systematic desensitization" the girl kindly said to him, and he nodded with vanity. "I myself am afraid of the o; I should learn from you and try to overe it."

  "You're afraid of the o?" I asked incredulously. "But you said you enjoyed going to the beach."

  "I stay on the sand," Diah plete tranquility in her words replied.

  "I get it; I 't stand the idea of entering a pce at the mercy of thousands of marine species. Though unlike you, I would never set foot on a public beach; they're really dirty," Sheldon decred, nodding seriously.

  "Usually, the fish are more afraid of you than you are of them buddy. I assure you it's almost impossible for a fish to approach you," I assured him, partly to reassure Diane as well, though I didn't have much access to the o to help her overe her fear.

  "It's not about the animals," Diane expined, notig the implication in my words. "Even though there's aimate of over two hundred and thirty thousand different species of marine anisms, including fish, marine mammals, iebrates, and roups," she said with a sparkle of enthusiasm in her eyes, making Sheldon nod in distaste.

  I had noticed that whenever she got the ce, Diane had many facts memorized that, like Sheldon, she seemed ined to share enthusiastically. However, somehow it was much less annoying than Sheldon, possibly because of the reason behind sharing it.

  Sheldon did it to show he was smarter; Diane was excited to share something she knew.

  "What actually happens is that I don't know how to swim," Diane tihis time slightly embarrassed.

  That was much easier to fix.

  "I don't bme you for not wanting to swim; it's an unpleasant thing. My Meemaw came back smelling of chlorine a few days ago because she went swimming in public pools, and that's not even the worst part. On average, there could be between thirty to seventy liters of urine in a regution-size pool," Sheldon said, frowning in disgust.

  Sheldon's disgusted statement once again made me chuckle, and as I exged gnces with Diane, I noticed her smile became much more visible as she saw my rea, likely as amused as I was.

  Time passed incredibly quickly; after awo lost chess games on Sheldon's part, entirely at the boy's insistence, I offered to py against him so he wouldn't suffer emotional damage.

  "How are you so good?" A few mier Sheldon asked, frowning as he stared at the board in front of him, frustrated.

  Somehow, what at least the little boy and I expected to be games pletely dominated by him, turned out to be quite intense games. After many minutes, Sheldon and I had won one game each, this being the tiebreaker, and with how things were going, I was sure this game was mine.

  Before I could respond with some bad joke, the bedroom door frame was tapped, catg everyone's attention.

  "Diane, honey, it's time to go. Your parents are waiting for you," Mrs. Cooper said, stopping in the doorway with a smile, though her eyes showed a certain sadness.

  "Oh," Diane murmured with some apprehension, quickly standing up.

  When I offered to py against Sheldon, I sat beside the girl on the bed, which obviously, with all the stuffed animals on it, beloo Missy. At first, there was a small distaween us, but without realizing it, we had slowly moved closer, and by the end, our arms were pletely pressed together.

  When Diaood up, I could still feel the warmth from the side of her much smaller body on my arm.

  "I'll walk you out," I said, standing up right behind Diane, smiling at her, who suddenly, just like when I first arrived at the room, quickly avoided my gaze.

  "You too, Sheldon, e say goodbye," Mrs. Cooper said seriously to her son, who was once again pletely focused on the board in front of him. That made him grumble but slowly stand up.

  As we left the twins' room and walked down the hall toward the Cooper family's foyer, Mrs. Cooper kept turning her head, smiling at me signifitly, obviously getting ideas in her head.

  On the Cooper porch were Mr. Cooper, happily chatting with Mr. Summers, and Mrs. Adler, who was simply standing there, smiling politely.

  "Diane, we o go; you have a study session in ten minutes," Mrs. Adler said, smiling at her daughter with a strange sweetness.

  "Yes, Mom," Diane said, nodding as she walked over to her stepfather and mother. "Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper," she added, pletely different from the slightly open Diane, her faow pletely void of emotion as she o the Cooper couple.

  "Oh, it leasure meeting you, Diane; you're wele anytime honey," Mrs. Cooper said with mueaning behind her words, smiling sweetly at Diane.

  "Sheldon, I hope to see you in my seminar," Diane tinued formally, looking at my little friend.

  "I'll be there," Sheldon said, nodding formally with his hands csped in front of his abdomen. "Dr. Adler, it leasure meeting you."

  "The same to you, Sheldon," Dr. Adler replied, nodding. "I look forward to hearing great things from you," she decred, making Mrs. Cooper instinctively put her arm around her son's shoulder.

  "I'm sure you will," Sheldon decred arrogantly, puffing out his chest once again.

  "It leasure meeting you," I said, the st to say goodbye, feeling slightly unfortable as I caught Dr. Adler's attention. For a sed, she looked at me with what I could barely reize as distaste.

  Ign her, I smiled at Diane, who suddenly nodded and walked over to me again.

  Raising her hand to offer a handshake, just as I had when I first met her, she said, "I'm looking forward to the experiment," with a small smile and biting the edge of her lip, slightly embarrassed.

  "Likewise," I said, recalling her response from ho, amused as I took her hand in a firm shake. Her small hands were incredibly soft and cool despite the temperature in Medford.

  As Dia with her family, I could see her brother, Frank, who simply ran to their stepfather's car after saying goodbye to Geie and Missy, who were outside the house with him.

  "Crazy people. I need another beer," Mr. Cooper said as he walked bato the house, losing his forced smile ohe car with the small family was far enough away.

  "She's really cute, but she's too smart for my tastes," Geie said, patting my shoulder as a greeting and smiling suggestively. "I'm hungry; what's for dinner?" he asked his mother, immediately ging the subject without intending to tinue.

  "Oh yes, she is way too smart for you," Missy said teasingly to her brother as she walked in with Geie. "I wish you were a girl," she decred stopping for a sed o Sheldon, ign her mother's annoyed look awin brother's offended gre she tinued walking.

  "Thank you so much for ing, PJ," a moment ter Mrs. Cooper said, smiling at me and choosing to ignore her daughter's ent. "I knew inviting you was a good idea."

  "Oh, don't mention it, Mrs. Cooper. Thank you for inviting me," I replied right away, gng at the time and notig it was much ter than I'd realized.

  "Wait, we haven't fihe game," Sheldon, who was still being held by his mother's hands on his shoulders, said anxiously.

  "Right, remind me of the position," I said, smiling briefly at Mrs. Cooper and then looking at Sheldon.

  "On the board, your king is on g8, pawns on b5, c6, f7, g6, and h5; you have a knight on e4, bishops on d5 and f8, and a rook on a2," Sheldoed the exact position of all my pieces on the board as easily as ting from oo ten.

  "Okay, I think I got it," I said, trying to remember the position as I nodded.

  "All right, my pieces: king on h2, pawns on g2 and h4, knight on e5, and queen on b8," pressing his lips together, my little frieed, clearly knowing he was in a losing position. "It's your move," he said, showing some effort.

  "King to g7," I said after a moment of thought.

  "King to g1," Sheldon responded, slightly defeated.

  "Bishop to c5, check."

  "King to f1."

  "Knight to g3, check."

  "King to e1," murmured Sheldon, pressing his lips even tighter, obviously frustrated by his loss.

  "Bishop to b4—".

  "I know, check," Sheldon interrupted, anxious.

  "King to d1."

  "Bishop to b3," I tinued, avoiding saying "check" to keep from annoying him further.

  "King to c1," Sheldon said nervously.

  "e on, Sheldon, you lost this one," I said, shaking my head to ence him to give up.

  "It's your move," he said, frowning as if still sidering possible moves, with no iion of surrendering.

  "Knight to e2," I replied, rolling my eyes.

  "King to b1."

  "Knight to c3," I finally said, trapping his king.

  "King to c1," Sheldon admitted, l his head i.

  "Rook to c2, checkmate," I decred, smiling kindly at him.

  "What happened? Did you finish?" Mrs. Cooper asked with a sweet smile as she watched the situation.

  "Yeah, I lost," Sheldon replied, nodding i to his mother.

  "Oh, Shelly, better luext time," Mrs. Cooper said, squeezing his shoulder with a bit of pity.

  "Yeah, you're right 'ime'" Nodding to his mother, Sheldon stated seriously. "I want a rematch," Sheldon said with resilience.

  "Maybe another day, buddy. I have to go train," I told him, gng at my watce more.

  "All right" Sheldon shrugged his shoulders in disappoi and replied, "anyrofessor Proton's show is about to start," Sheldon said cheg his own watch. "See you ter, PJ," he added with a more formal nod, separating from his mother's hands and walking bato the house.

  Yes, that's how a child should be. Even with Sheldon's brain, he was still just a kid.

  I watched as Mrs. Cooper smiled sweetly at her son as he walked to the living room.

  "I don't know if it matters to you, but I think you and Mr. Cooper are doing an excellent job raising Sheldoing him be as much of a normal kid as someoh his intellect be," I said, smiling at her and thinking of how socially awkward Diane was and how she reacted to 'muhings in life.

  "Oh, PJ, thank you so much," she said emotionally, pg one hand on her chest, possibly uanding the meaning behind my ent.

  "It's nothing," I said with a smile, nodding in farewell as I walked bae to get my things ao training.

  At home, apparently waiting for me, Mom turned from the infomercial program she was watg, as much as her third-trimester belly would allow, to look at me.

  "How did it go?" Mom asked excitedly.

  "It was fun. Diane is really smart, very different from Sheldon in a lot of ways, but no less intelligent," I replied, amused by her i.

  "And how were her parents?" Mom asked, smiling widely. "I would have gone—Mary invited me—but I knew she'd want to ask a millioions to the parents of the enius kid, so I preferred not to intrude," she expined.

  Thinking about it, it retty clear why Mrs. Cooper's mood had ged after meeting Diane's mom. From the way Diane had been raised, like a robot with a single purpose, Mrs. Cooper would probably despise the woman's parenting style.

  If I had to describe her, I retty sure House would have said she'd hit a wall in her career at some point, likely bming her former husband and kids for holding her back from pursuing her mathematics career. But then, when Diane showed undeniable intellige a young age, the woman must have started seeing herself in her daughter and has since been pushing Diao a perfect mold for mathematics, making her miss out on both her childhood and now her teenage years.

  Basically, a narcissistic, megalomaniacal, arrogant woman with little regard for others—even it seemed, for her other son, based on the way Diaalked about him.

  "I didn't get to know her well, but she seemed… very focused," I said, choosing my words carefully to describe the woman without being insulting, as I looked at Mom. "But I'm sure Mrs. Cooper could tell you more."

  "You're right," Mom said, excited as she struggled to reach the phoo her on the couch.

  "I'm going to train," I said, amused rolling my eyes as I watched her dial the Cooper's number.

  "Have fun," she said, not even looking at me as she waited for the call to ect.

  By the end of that day's training, I had received some punishment from Case, as he may have caught me distracted a couple of times while training, for thinking of the list of things to do with Diane.

  The day, after my m run and a shower, I drove for several mio where Diane and her family were staying.

  In Medford, there weren't many, or even any, high-quality hotels. Instead, due to the abundance of fields and ranches in the area, many of those homes were reo tourists looking for a cowboy experience. Based on how Diane had described it, I was sure her stepfather had chosen the pce.

  After carefully driving over the rough terrain toward the ranch—since I didn't want to damage 'Debbie'—I arrived at a beautiful and well-kept ranch, surely the best in the area.

  When I got out of my car, about to walk up and kno the door, it suddenly swung open, revealing Diane, already dressed in another sweater and with a visible smile.

  "Are you ready?" I asked, amused, as it seemed she'd been eagerly awaiting my arrival.

  "I thought you wouldn't e," Diane admitted quietly, nodding as she walked up beside me.

  "Did we agree on a different time?" I asked, cheg my watch, ed. "I thought I was on time," I added, trying to remember if I had said an earlier time by mistake.

  "Oh, no, you're right on time. I just woke up way earlier, I even had my first coffee" Diane quickly reassured me, slightly nervous. "I'm not used to the sound of roosters crowing."

  "After a while, you get used to it. The Sparks, the neighbors across from the Coopers, have dozens of roosters and chis in their yard," I said as we walked together toward my car. Even though I hear them, by the time the roosters start crowing in the m, I'm practically finishing my run with Gabe.

  "In Boston, the loudest sound that could wake you in the m is the snowplow doing its rounds in the winter," Diane said with a slight smile.

  "Yeah, I imagine," I said, smiling as I recalled all the snow I'd seen on my trips to Boston. "Hop in," I added, reag my car and opening the passenger door.

  "Thank you," Diane said with a soft smile as she got in.

  As I walked around to the driver's side, I noticed Diane's younger brother, who eeking out of the window with i. I waved at him, and he responded with a curious wave as I opehe driver's door.

  "When I saw it parked outside your house, I k was your car," Once I was ihe car, Diane said, studying the interior of 'Debbie' curiously with a smile.

  "Actually, my car is the yellow truck with the giant ant," I said, grinning widely as I joked with her.

  "Oh, the oh your father's exterminator business name on the side?" Diane asked in surprise.

  "Exactly. Dad says my face is great advertising for the business," I replied, exaggeratedly arrogant, though it was unbelievable that Diaually believed me.

  "Oh really?" Diane raised one eyebrow, genuinely surprised. "Then why didn't y it today?"

  "I thought that two extremely good-looking people would be too much—it'd look fake," I said without missing a beat, surprising Diane, who didn't seem to know how to respond this time.

  I'd gotten carried away, actally saying something unfortable.

  "This is my car," regretting speaking without thinking, I admitted after a moment of awkward silence "I don't know why I lied".

  "I don't kher, acc to Frank and Hank this is a much cooler car" Shrugging her shoulders slightly, Diane ented.

  "Yeah," I said awkwardly, starting the car. "Ok let's officially kick off this experiment," I decred g, f to move past the awkward moment. "The first item on my list of 'things I'm going to show Diane about life outside of math'—the name o be shorter," I tinued with a smile, making Diane chuckle softly. "Musid a road trip," I added, king up the radio and pressing py on one of the many CDs Kat had picked out for me a while ago.

  On the drive back to town from the tryside, I took the opportunity to py my favorite songs from every my glove partment, singing loudly over the booming speakers. Diane ughed openly at my show after the first song.

  "Our first stop today is breakfast," I said, parking outside the waffle restaurant where I usually go with Gabe and Teddy on sibling days, smiling at Diane.

  "Oh, I love waffles," Diane said, smiling bad speaking somewhat loudly, probably because of the musie.

  "Great, they also have an amazing ilkshake here," I said, opening my door to get out.

  "ilkshake?" Diane asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "Just the best drink there is," I defended myself quickly, feeling judged by her question and shrugging.

  "I know what it is, Frank has always wanted one," Diane said, biting her lip slightly, as I'd noticed she often did when feeling embarrassed.

  "'Wanted?' don't tell me you've never had a ilkshake?" incredulous and at the same time worried, I asked.

  Pressing her lips together Diane slowly deariraight in the eyes, apparently ied in studying my rea.

  "What? Why not?" I excimed in disbelief.

  "My mother is allergic to chocote," Diane expined simply, shrugging.

  Of course she is; chocote brings joy to people—she wouldn't stand it.

  "We have to fix that immediately," I said, feeling an unusual amount of irritation towards Dr. Adler at that moment as I held the door to the restaurant open for Diane.

  "Oh, PJ honey, wele! Where are Gabe and Teddy?" Sam, an older waitress whnized me as I entered with Diane, asked right away. "And who is this lovely young dy?" she asked, smiling meaningfully at Diane.

  I came here fairly often on sibling days with Teddy and Gabe; the waffles were really good.

  "Sam, this is Diane. Sam has magical hands for making milkshakes," I said, smiling at Diane and nodding kindly toward Sam.

  "o meet you," Diane replied politely, nodding. "Did you know that what's sidered the first version of a milkshake as we know it today was created in the Uates in 1885 in a recipe book called *The Mixicologist*?" she shared with a barely visible smile. "Also, cacao, a fual ingredient in making chocote, has been used and tio be used as a psychoactive substance, especially in the Mesoameri region where it was used in ceremonial rites."

  "I did know that," I replied slightly excited to know something, amused by Diane's enthusiasm, making her smile at me. "Not the milkshake part, though, but I knew about the cacao—it has around 0.1 milligrams of anandamide per gram of dry cacao."

  "I'd never want to pete against you two in a trivia game," Sam said, watg our iion with amusement. "Though if you need a third teammate, I know a lot about try music," she added, smiling.

  "I'll keep that in mind," I replied with a smile, pying along with her joke.

  "Perfect!" Sam said, lookied. "So, I'll bring your milkshakes," she added with another smile to Diane before heading to where she had her "tools."

  "Are you pnning to go to a trivia petition?" Diane asked curiously once Sam was far enough away.

  "No," I replied, ughing. "Even though Sam is right—you'd crush other teams in a lot of trivia games on your own. And if we add Sheldon, there'd be no stopping you two," I added with a slight smile, though I was sure there'd be questions about pop culture that her of them would know. I might not even know.

  "You would also be a great help for the team; you knew about anandamide in cacao," Diane said with a slight smile, biting her lip.

  "That's because it's reted to medie. If it were aopic, I probably wouldn't have a clue. Like pnes—who flew the first pne?" I asked, testing her encyclopediowledge.

  "The first trolled, sustained flight of an 'airpne' was by the Wright brothers in 1903," Diane replied quickly, smiling as if she'd had the answer before I even asked.

  "See?" I said, amused.

  "Yeah, I get it," Diane said slowly after a sed, nodding. "Still, I think you'd be an invaluable member of any trivia team," she murmured, avoiding direct eye tact but gng at me out of the er of her eye.

  "Thank you," I replied, smiling at her, amused.

  "So, do you e to this pce a lot?" Diane asked, obviously ging the subjed now fully avoiding eye tact, with a bit of longing in her gaze.

  "Yeah, I usually e here with my siblings, Teddy and Gabe, every now and then. Just us—a siblings' day. We always e here for breakfast," I expined, remembering all the times I'd been out with them.

  "That sounds great," Diane said, resting her head in her hand, leaning against the ter of the restaurant as she looked at me.

  "It is," I replied after a moment, smiling. "Those two are the best. I 't wait for the one," I added, thinking about the future with my new brother or sister.

  "When is your new sibling going to be born?" Diane asked, clearly ied, leaning against the ter.

  "I estimate the end of month, but it's not something you predict that easily," I replied calmly.

  "Ara-rge milkshake for my favorite er and a regur milkshake for the mysterious Diane," Sam announced as she set the drinks in front of us, carrying a gss and a small jug that held up to a liter. "So, are you two going out?" she asked with raised eyebrows, looking suggestively at Diane.

  Having my deliilkshake from Sam right in front of me, I couldn't help but take a quick sip of the foam before it disappeared. Sam's question made that sip go down the wrong way, making me cough.

  "Yes, we are," Diane replied before I could respond, my mild coughing fit turning into a loud cough as she answered pletely seriously.

  "I'm just showing Diane around town," I quickly said, rec, trying to avoid spreading more false rumors about me. I knew people w there had kids at my school; Sam was one of them.

  "Yeah, sure," Sam said sarcastically, almost closing her eyes. "So, a waffle order for each of you?" she asked Diah a smile, already knowing my order.

  "Yes, please," Diane replied, nodding slightly, seemingly not pig up oire iion with Sam.

  Sam winked and hen walked to the restaurant kit, likely to pce our order.

  "Was my answer incorrect?" Diane asked worriedly once Sam disappeared behind the door, apparently genuinely ied in my response.

  "In a literal sense, no—we're out, and we are together," I said slowly, pointiween us. "So yeah, we're 'going out,'" I tinued, and Diane nodded slowly. "But in a more casual, much less literal sense, Sam was asking if we're a couple," I expined quickly.

  "Oh," Diane murmured, her eyes widening.

  I had never seen anyone blush so much, at least not without having first done some strenuous physical activity, as Diane did right then.

  "I'm really sorry," Diane said, pletely embarrassed.

  "Don't worry, it's just a misuanding," I assured her, smiling slightly, amused by her rea. "Now, you have to try the milkshake."

  Since I'd taken the first sip of mine, I kept drinking whenever I had the ce, watg a little desperate as the foam on Diane's gss disappeared by the sed.

  "Oh yeah," she said quickly, realizing she also had a gss and seeming grateful for a way to ge the subject.

  Watg Diane prepare to drink her milkshake, I started feeling nervous for some reason.

  Diane nervously took a sip, pausing for what felt like ay—though it was only a couple of seds—before her eyes widened and she eagerly drank more of the delicious drink.

  "See, I told you," I said proudly, feeling both excited and oddly relieved as I watched Diane drink her milkshake almost obsessively.

  "This is delicious!" Diane excimed, putting her gss ba the ter.

  "I know," I replied, holding back a ugh, since Diane, surely unknowingly, had a foam mustache.

  "Here you go, two orders of waffles," Sam said, ing over with her usual smile, carrying two nearly identical ptes. "Honey, you have a little foam on your face," she added, smiling sweetly at Diane as she noticed it.

  "Oh," Diane quickly grabbed a napkin to wipe her face, thhly embarrassed. "By the way, I'd like to apologize for any misuanding my previous answer may have caused. PJ and I do not currently share a romantic retionship; we are dug a psychosocial experiment," Diane said seriously to Sam, pg her hands together in front of her on the ter after wiping the foam away.

  Sam, clearly not expeg Diane's sudden speech, stood still, mouth open as she looked at the girl sitting across from her, possibly without fully uanding what she had just said.

  "We're friends, and I'm showing her around Medford," I expined with a small smile, trying my hardest not to ugh at the situation.

  "...All right," Sam said slowly, nodding with a smile.

  "Also, I have a milkshake the same size as PJ's, please?" Diane asked, slightly embarrassed, pointing to my small jug, seemingly oblivious to how her speech might have sounded.

  "Of course," Sam responded, smiling widely and walking back to her station, not without first giving me a meaningful smile and a thumbs-up as she gestured toward Diane.

  "I don't know how I've never had this before; it's delicious," Diane said between sips, pletely ign Sam's gestures behind her.

  "Yeah, it is," I murmured, nodding as I watched Diane enjoy her milkshake ily.

  ---

  As I said, an attempt to write actual roman this story, if you have notes I'll be reading them.

  ---

  Author Thoughts:

  As always, I'm not Ameri, not a doctor, not a fighter and I'm not Magnus Carlsen (e here Levy I'm not scared).

  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.