Chapter 81: Big Bang
We were at Leonard Hofstadter's apartment, and Seth was sitting with him talking enthusiastically about comics.
I introduced Leonard, since he was the only one I knew who liked comics, and Seth had mentioned he wanted to create one himself (he's a great artist).
When the door opened, three people walked in.
"Hey, Coop," I waved. "Oh, I think the other two are also Coops" I pointed at the two older people with her.
"Jake, these are Sheldon and Missy Cooper, my cousins. They're twins," she presented.
"Wow, you picked a good one as a new boyfriend," Missy gave me a once-over, smirking.
Marissa looked slightly embarrassed. "He's not… my boyfriend. Jake is Summer's boyfriend. We are just friends. Great friends."
It seems like she still hasn't told her cousin about Alex.
"Hold on a second," Sheldon intervened. "You are Jake Pritchett?" He stared at me oddly, then turned to Leonard. "He doesn't seem intelligent at all." He blurted out.
Leonard, who hadn't even noticed the three entering, finally turned around.
"Sheldon!" he exclaimed. "Jake is way smarter than-" but he froze upon seeing the girls. "Hi," he waved a little shyly.
"Leonard, this is my friend I told you about - Sheldon's cousin, Marissa," I introduced. "And apparently, that's his sister."
"Isn't it strange that you and Marissa are the ones doing the introductions, considering this is Sheldon and Leonard's place?" Seth murmured to us - I just ignored it.
"Apparently?" Sheldon gave me a pointed stare. "We already established she's my twin. How could that be apparently?" He turned to Leonard again. "Are you sure he's a genius?"
"Two things," I said. "First - let me put it in a way you can understand. You two being twins is like C-3PO and Princess Leia being twin."
That made Leonard chuckle, and Missy gave me an appreciative smile. Sheldon probably didn't think of it as an insult.
"Second - I'm way smarter than you, Shelly boy," I mocked.
"Don't call me Shelly," he spoke, enraged, "and there is no way-"
I went on, "I can prove it. For starters, my board doesn't have any equation errors." I pointed at one of the whiteboards in the corner of the room.
"There is no-"
I cut him off again. "You forgot the minus sign and the modulus in the second part of the equation."
Leonard looked at it and thought for a moment. "With what Jake said, doesn't it actually solve the problem, Sheldon?"
Sheldon's eyes started twitching nonstop, like a malfunctioning robot.
"Wow, he roasted you hard, dumbass," a girl standing at the doorway mocked Sheldon. "Hey, Leonard," she added.
He responded awkwardly, "Hi, Leslie."
"Leonard, there's no reason to feel uncomfortable just because we've seen each other's faces and naked bodies contorted in the sweet agony of coitus."
We were all caught completely off guard by her commentary.
Leonard answered dryly, "There's not? Gee, because its sure sounds like there should be."
"Rest assured that any aspects of our sexual relationship regarding your preferences, your idiosyncrasies, your performance, are still protected by the inherent confidentiality of the bedroom," she concluded, somehow making it more awkward.
"Well, at least she knows the bed rules," I patted his back.
She greeted us and headed toward the apartment across the hall.
"Eww, that was really awkward," Summer emerged in our field of vision - she'd probably hear the whole thing.
"Seth, you might feeling at home here," she added.
"Ha-ha-ha. Hilarious, Summer. You two are always hilarious. How about Mr. & Mrs. Funny?" Seth shot back.
Summer hugged Sheldon's sister. "Long time, Missy."
"Quite something, the boy you got yourself," Missy teased her.
Summer came into my arms. "You don't know half of it," she smirked.
I kept chatting with Marissa, Summer, and Missy, while Seth and Leonard went back to debating DC versus Marvel. Sheldon stayed glaring at me like he wanted to blow my head up with his mind. He looked like a wounded animal.
After some time, someone knocked on the door.
"Who could that be?" Leonard murmured.
Missy answered instead, "I called a friend I haven't seen in years. I found out she's been living here in L.A." She stared directly at Sheldon. "Do you remember Paige?"
"Of course I do, I remember everything. I have a photographic memory," he replied.
Missy rolled her eyes and walked over to answer it.
When she opened the door, we four froze in surprise.
"Professor Swanson?" Marissa exclaimed.
Paige raised an eyebrow as well. "Miss Cooper, Miss Roberts… and Mister I'm‑always‑late?"
"Oh, there is also you, Mr. Cohen" she added.
Then she and Sheldon stood staring at each other. "Hi, Sheldon."
"Hello, Paige," he replied in his usual tone.
Summer made a face. "Professor, don't tell me you two had a thing?"
"Ugh, no!" Paige denied it instantly. "We were just friends."
"Paige is smarter than Sheldon," Missy smirked.
I looked at our professor with a hint of pity. A fallen genius - I had met many of them.
"Excuse me," Sheldon scoffed, outraged. "I have two PhDs-"
"Pritchett‑Moore??" Paige interrupted Sheldon the moment she noticed Leonard's board. (Besides the content, I know his handwriting. That's how I knew the other one belonged to Sheldon.)
"It will be the new '2D periodic table.' I'm working on this project as well, alongside Jake," Leonard said proudly.
"Two‑dimensional materials like graphene were supposed to be impossible," she murmured reading all the board content.
"Well, we already have 28 pieces of evidence proving otherwise," I commented.
Besides graphene, we've already synthesized: h‑BN, MoS₂, WS₂, MoSe₂, WSe₂, MoTe₂, WTe₂, Si, P, NbSe₂, CrI₃, VSe₂, C₂F, Sn, Ge, GaSe, SnS₂, TaS₂, TiS₂, TiSe₂, Sb, Bi, Al₂O₃, InSe, SnSe₂.
"With this much, a Nobel Prize is basically just a matter of when," Leonard revealed. "And Jake is even more impressive in mathematics than in physics," he smiled.
Huh, I think Alex Jensen fangirling is rubbing off on Leonard.
Paige was looking at me in disbelief.
Sheldon was ranting, "How is that even fair? A Nobel just for the discovery of some materials…"
We ignored the malfunctioning robot.
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