Leaving The Genius’s World Chapter 08

Leaving The Genius’s World Chapter 08

Theo caught up with me before I even reached the greenroom, eyes red, and grabbed my wrist.

“Audrey. It’s really you.”

His voice caught. He almost pulled me into his arms.

“Do you know I’ve been looking for you for three years? Where did you go? Why didn’t you leave a single

word?”

I calmly peeled his fingers off one by one. “Let go of me, Mr. Anderson.”

He froze. “What did you call me?”

Tears spilled down his face before he could stop them.

“Audrey, don’t be like this. I was wrong. Those things in the lab weren’t what I meant. I was a bastard. I love

you. I really can’t live without you.”

Owen and Wyatt chased in too.

“Audrey.” Owen’s voice was hoarse. “That house hasn’t felt like home since you left. Yell at us, scream at us-

whatever. Just come back with us, okay?”

He suddenly remembered something.

“Didn’t you still want to take the SAT? If you still want to, we’ll help you prepare this time.”

I looked at him, almost thinking I’d misheard.

“Prepare for what?”

The greenroom went silent.

I looked at the four familiar and unfamiliar faces.

“Owen, do you still not get it? Three years ago, I wanted to take the SAT because I thought only a score close

to yours would make me worthy of standing beside you. Why would I need to prove that now?”

I smiled, thin and sharp.

“And weren’t you here tonight to negotiate with Summer Vale?”

“I’m Summer Vale.”

“You want authorization to train your emotion model. So now, who needs tutoring from whom?”

Wyatt’s face darkened. “Audrey, you’ve changed. You never used to talk to us like this.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I used to actually think I was stupid. So when people treated me like a pet, I thought that

was love. Now look at me. I’m the one your project is begging for a license from. What’s wrong? Not used to

it?”

Theo’s face lost all color. As if his strength had been pulled out, he suddenly half-knelt in front of me and

clutched the hem of my skirt.

“Audrey, don’t say that. Please. Don’t use that word again.”

His voice no longer sounded like the always-composed genius boy.

“After you left, I realized I wasn’t half as smart as I thought I was. I didn’t even notice how unhappy you were.”

He looked up at me.

“Give me one chance. We can start over. You can do whatever you want from now on.”

If the me from three years ago had seen Theo like this, I would’ve been heartbroken.

Now, my heart was quiet.

Sadie finally stepped forward and pulled him. “Theo, get up. You’re the project lead. There are investors and

media everywhere.”

“Audrey, I admit we ignored your feelings before. But we protected you for years too. Now that you’re

successful, do you have to make everything in the past sound malicious?”

“Protected?” I looked at her. The tears I’d held back for so long suddenly surged.

I’d been talking about how much losing Theo hurt. But I hadn’t dared say that Sadie’s betrayal cut deepest.

Sadie, did you forget?

Sadie, how could you forget?

Freshman year, after PE, a few girls cornered me in the locker room. They laughed at me:

“You follow Theo and the others around every day. Don’t you know you’re a freak? They’re all the school’s

geniuses. What makes you think you’re one of them?”

A scream ripped out of me.

It was you, Sadie. You pushed the door open and dumped the water in your hand onto the lead girl’s shoes.

“Audrey can be as dumb as she wants. She’s still my treasure. Touch her again, and I guarantee you won’t

survive this school.”

“Get away from her! Don’t you dare come near Audrey!”

Then you held me tight.

In that moment, I truly thought you’d be my friend for life.

But later, you let the three men turn off my alarms.

While I slept in my room, knowing nothing, did you look at the clock in the living room and feel even a little

guilty?

“Sadie, we’re not friends anymore.”