Ch 10
After dinner, Meemaw headed back to her own house, and everyone else dispersed to do their own evening activities. Mom eventually came into my bedroom to check on me yet again, her face still pinched with lingering anxiety.
Dad followed shortly after, simply giving my shoulder a firm, supportive pat. He told me that he and mom will be by his side whenever I need them. Just talk.
I suppose they were both secretly terrified that I would suddenly develop bizarre behavioral quirks exactly like Sheldon.
They simply did not have any prior experience raising gifted teenagers who actually acted like regular people. They did not know anyone else in town facing this unique parenting challenge. From their highly protective perspective, I could easily understand why Mom was fussing over me so heavily.
For proper context, Sheldon had absolutely refused to eat any solid food for the last three weeks just because he choked on a tiny piece of breakfast sausage. He obviously developed a severe phobia from the incident. A regular teenager would have gotten over that minor trauma by lunch, but Sheldon turned it into a prolonged crisis.
Sheldon was also a massive neat freak who completely refused to touch other people. My parents naturally feared that my brain changing meant I would inevitably become just as socially difficult and quirky.
My parents knew firsthand that having an exceptionally intelligent child is not always a straightforward blessing. They had Sheldon's daily struggles to prove that exhausting point.
But I was different, and I did my absolute best to assure them of that fact. I sat and talked with them calmly for another half hour. Mom asked me about every single minor detail of what I did in my free time nowadays.
Dad mostly just sat back and listened to my rational answers, seemingly relieved that I was still the exact same Charlie on the inside.
________
The very next morning, Mom stayed completely true to her word and drove me straight to the local medical clinic. I got to skip a full day of high school, which I was certainly happy about, even though I have always intensely disliked that distinct, sterile smell every medical facility seems to have.
We spent several boring hours there as the physician ran a comprehensive battery of neurological and physical examinations.
After reviewing all the test results, the doctor confidently informed Mom that absolutely nothing was wrong with my brain or my physical body.
In fact, the doctor noted that my physical health was entirely optimal. He mentioned that I was actually much more physically fit than most teenage boys my exact age.
Those were his exact words, not mine. It seems my grueling morning running routine was already paying off significantly.
Before officially discharging us, the doctor did advise Mom to take me to a psychologist just in case.
I quickly pointed out to Mom that proud Texans generally do not go to shrinks. I used those exact blunt words to try and dissuade her from the terrible idea.
She initially denied my request to skip therapy, insisting it was much better to be safe than sorry. However, she eventually accepted a firm compromise.
I promised her that I would willingly go see a professional therapist the very moment she noticed me behaving strangely or anything abnormal. She finally relented and accepted the deal.
It was certainly not cheap to go see a psychologist either. That standard doctor's visit at least fell under our family insurance plan. Here I was actively thinking of various ways to earn money, and I definitely did not want to create more problems for her.
On the car ride back home, she took a detour and pulled directly into the church parking lot. She dragged me inside the empty sanctuary and prayed fervently for my continued well being.
I simply sat quietly in the wooden pew right beside her. I only came inside the building because I realistically had no other choice in the matter.
I possess my own personal views regarding religion. However, I make it a strict rule never to disrespect someone else's deeply held faith, even if I disagree with some things.
My operating principle has always been to simply stay out of the way and not disrespect someone's religion. I mean it's just basic manners to not disrespect someone's religion if you can't accept them.
As we were walking out of the, we ran into Pastor Jeff. I had not seen him in quite a long time, and he looked entirely too excited to spot me. I mentally sighed. I was not this mentally exhausted solving complex integration problems than I was too see him.
"Well hello there, if it is not Charlie Cooper. You finally decided to grace us with your presence and come here," he greeted with a massive, beaming smile.
"Hello, Pastor Jeff," I replied rather dryly, choosing not to match his overwhelming enthusiasm.
I quickly noticed that the pastor was not standing there alone. His wife was standing right beside him, and I honestly had to suppress a shocked reaction.
She was undeniably gorgeous. She stepped forward with a warm smile and politely introduced herself as Selena. I shook her soft hand, finding it incredibly difficult to take my eyes off her striking features.
Mom immediately pulled Pastor Jeff aside, completely engrossed in telling him absolutely everything that was currently happening with my brain. She desperately wanted to get his spiritual advice on the whole bizarre situation.
Because she was so intensely focused on her consultation, she did not notice my lingering gaze at all.
Fortunately, Pastor Jeff was equally distracted by my mother's frantic storytelling, leaving Selena and me standing awkwardly together. I recalled that I knew a very small amount of conversational Spanish from my previous life.
Right then and there, I made a firm mental promise to drastically expand my foreign language literature in the coming days. I would absorb every Spanish textbook in the public library for the sole, highly motivated reason of being able to properly converse with this captivating woman.
I confidently stepped a little closer, lowering my voice so only she could hear over my mother's frantic chatter. "Hola, Selena. Es un verdadero placer," I said smoothly, offering her a polite but clearly appreciative smile.
She looked pleasantly surprised, her dark eyes lighting up instantly. "Well, someone actually speaks a little Spanish," she replied with a soft, melodic laugh. "Your accent needs a tiny bit of work, Charlie, but it is very cute that you tried."(She is talking in Spanish).
I managed to keep the conversation flowing using my broken vocabulary, and she seemed genuinely thrilled just to have someone speak her native tongue.
She playfully corrected my minor pronunciation errors, leaning in just a fraction closer as we spoke. She could undoubtedly see the clear interest shining in my eyes.
After a few minutes, Mom finally wrapped up her lengthy spiritual consultation, which meant we unfortunately had to part ways. I was completely caught off guard when Selena threw a quick, incredibly subtle wink in my direction right when absolutely no one else was looking.
Well, that single, playful gesture completely sealed my fate. She was undoubtedly going to be the absolute dream woman of my late nights from now on.
"It is a goodbye for now, señora Selena," I murmured confidently. I gently took her hand once more and playfully planted a soft kiss right on the back of it.
Pastor Jeff was still smiling obliviously and did not suspect my true intentions in the slightest. He was thinking I was being a polite Christian.
Before I could push my luck any further, Mom grabbed my shoulders and pulled me toward the exit. "It was lovely to meet you as well, Charlie," Selena called out, giggling a little bit at my bold departure.
As I walked out to the parking lot, I seriously thought that I ought to start attending Sunday church services a lot more frequently if this was the kind of spectacular scenery I had been missing out on all this time.
I honestly do not know how a guy like Pastor Jeff managed to woo a woman who looked like that. It certainly must not have happened just because of some profound, immediate true love.
I mean, does the cheerful local pastor even know how to form a full sentence in Spanish?.
That gorgeous woman was definitely giving me some subtle signals back there. Whether she was actually interested or just being incredibly playful to combat her own boredom,
I honestly do not know for sure. But what I do know is that I have always liked mature women. She was definitely my type.
I fully decided right then and there that I was going to fire my shot eventually. I have always lived by the simple philosophy that the shots you do not fire are the shots you definitively miss.
Honestly, what is the absolute worst thing that could possibly happen if I try? I was much younger than her, which gave me a natural safety net.
If she miraculously said yes to my advances, then I would be an incredibly happy guy. If she firmly said no and rejected me, then I am still just the young, dumb kid who courageously tried to get a woman way out of his league.
It would probably just be considered a cute teenage crush if anyone ever found out. A man dream right?.