Leaving The Genius’s World Chapter 02

Leaving The Genius’s World Chapter 02

At eight that night, the front door unlocked.

Theo came in first, carrying a takeout bag from a restaurant in Old Pasadena.

“Still mad at us? Look, I went out of my way to bring you Nashville hot chicken. You used to love spicy food.”

The smell hit me, and my stomach clenched. “My doctor said no spicy food for the next six months.”

Theo froze. Regret flashed through his eyes, but it vanished fast.

“Sorry. I’ve had model parameters stuck in my head all day. I forgot.”

He set the takeout aside and ruffled my hair.

“I’ll order you something bland. Anyway, you’ve got me now. You don’t have to push yourself like this. If you really don’t want college, it’s fine. I’ll take care of you.”

Before, those words had felt safe.

Now they just made my chest tighten.

Sadie suddenly pulled a thick notebook from her backpack and tossed it onto the coffee table.

“Audrey, this is yours, right? The lab couldn’t find scratch paper today, so I grabbed it for calculations.”

I looked over. My breath stopped. It was my SAT mistake notebook.

Next to every problem, I’d written why I got it wrong.

Now the last dozen pages were covered in Sadie’s matrices, loss functions, and model parameters.

“That’s my SAT notebook.”

My voice came out rough.

Wyatt glanced at it. “It’s just basic problems. You read this stuff once and remember it, right? Besides, you didn’t even take the test today. At least it contributed a few pages to Sadie’s model. Put it to good use.”

I looked at the smug, entitled look on all four faces. And just like that, the last bit of me that cared was gone.

Right.

They remembered fast, so they thought repetition was stupid.

They calculated fast, so they thought writing out every step was worthless.

It was like AI spitting out answers until people forgot how hard it used to be to work numbers by hand.

They memorized everything on the first pass, so they looked down on anyone who needed repetition.

I’d bought into it too. I really believed that if you weren’t a fast learner, you didn’t get to call yourself smart.

But now…

“Okay.” I closed the notebook. “It’s fine.”

I turned and went back to my room.

Owen followed.

He’d always been the big brother of the group.

Every time I was scared of being left behind, he’d kneel down in front of me and wait as long as it took.

“It’s okay, Audrey. I’ve got you.”

This time, he spotted the open suitcase by the bed immediately. “What are you packing for? Jesus, Audrey, are you really gonna stay pissed this long?”

I started to answer, but Sadie’s urgent voice came from outside.

“Owen, the data’s off again.”

“Coming.”

His head whipped around. Before he left, he waved at me.

“Don’t do anything crazy. When this project’s over, we’ll take you to Malibu to clear your head.”

Then he walked out.

I stared at the doorway, then quietly zipped the suitcase.

The next day was my follow-up at Huntington Hospital.

A week earlier, Theo had sworn he’d be there.

I waited from morning until noon. His phone kept going to voicemail.

After I finished the appointment alone and sat in recovery for a long time, I saw Sadie’s Instagram post.

The four of them were raising glasses at a restaurant in Old Pasadena.

The caption read: [Two days straight and the model’s finally stable. Nothing beats solving problems with people who actually get it.]

I stared at that sentence for a few seconds.

Then I turned off the screen.

So the geniuses had their celebration. And I, the ordinary one, wasn’t part of it.

When I walked out of the hospital, it was suddenly pouring in Pasadena.

I stood at the entrance, staring at the rain, then instinctively called a car to the lab.

I’d even bought a few extra umbrellas.

When I pushed open the door to the break room, my phone lit up.

An airline email popped up. [Los Angeles—Seattle, booking confirmed.]

Wyatt happened to see it. “Audrey, you’re going to Seattle?”