"Mike, how about another couple of rounds?" Paige asked expectantly after they had finished resetting the scattered chess pieces on the board.
"You're on," Mike agreed readily.
He knew he was no match for her, but looking at Paige, he could tell she didn't actually care about the game. Her expression gave it away—she had too much on her mind and was desperate for someone to talk to.
Sure enough, as soon as the pieces were set, Paige spoke up. "You know, I'm actually not as perfect as people think. And my family... it's not as happy as it looks from the outside."
The usual optimism was gone from her face, replaced by a trace of melancholy usually reserved for adults.
For a long time, Paige's "excellence" had been a one-sided project for her mother. Linda wanted a brilliant, sensible, well-behaved daughter, but she never truly considered how her daughter felt about it. Because Paige was so smart, she understood how much her mother had sacrificed for her, so deep down, she didn't want to let her down.
This internal conflict was starting to make her feel like she couldn't breathe.
Worse yet, with her high IQ and EQ, Paige had already noticed that her parents weren't as in love as they appeared. They were practically on the brink of divorce, and she felt partly responsible. Linda had poured all her focus into her youngest daughter, leaving her husband, Barry, out in the cold.
Humans are emotional creatures; when they provide, they usually want some kind of positive feedback. Barry provided the financial support for the family but didn't feel like he was treated like the head of the household. Over time, that resentment had poisoned the well.
Paige saw the problem but had no way to fix it, genius or not. That was the source of her pain. She was already starting to internalize it, thinking that if she weren't so smart, maybe her mother wouldn't be so obsessed with her, and her parents wouldn't be at each other's throats.
She was honestly starting to wish she were just a normal kid.
Mike could see she just needed to vent to feel a bit lighter, so he settled in and patiently played the role of the listener.
---
Meanwhile, over at the Cooper house, the initial warm hospitality had faded. George and Mary were currently stuck in a cycle of awkward small talk with Barry and Linda.
Right then, little Sheldon burst through the door and stormed toward his room in a huff.
"What's wrong with him? Did Paige bully him?" Linda asked, starting to stand up to go find her daughter.
Seeing her look like she was about to go scold the girl, George quickly intervened. "It's fine, Linda. Shelly gets like this all the time. He'll get over it in a bit. As for your daughter, I'm sure Mike's looking after her."
Mary chimed in to support her husband. She didn't plan on becoming best friends with the Barrys, but she didn't want to see their family fighting because of her son.
"Well, alright. I'll ask Paige what happened later," Linda said, realizing it might be poor form to discipline her child in someone else's house.
Seeing Linda sit back down looking troubled, Mary—desperate to kill the awkward silence—offered, "Let's talk about something else. Does your older daughter ever get jealous of having such a smart sister?"
When you run out of things to say, talking about the kids is always a safe bet.
"No," Linda said, shaking her head. "Erica absolutely adores her sister. She takes great care of her."
Seeing her being a bit less than honest, Mary smiled and said, "Is that so? Our Georgie is a good boy, too. He's great at looking after his little brother..."
Oh, we're doing the 'brag about our kids' thing? Mary thought. I can play that game.
The parents unknowingly entered a competitive "humble-brag" session. Little did they know that their "well-behaved, sensible" children were currently gathered in the backyard, trashing their genius siblings.
---
"You have no idea. Sheldon is such a pain," Georgie said, casting a cool look toward Erica. "He always makes me feel like a total caveman."
Erica, an eighth-grader who dressed maturely and seemed to be right in the middle of a rebellious phase, nodded in agreement. "Paige is the same. My parents treat her like a little princess... and she loves to nitpick everything I do. She says my room looks like a literal kennel."
"Sheldon has intermittent OCD," Missy added from the swing set, trying to join the "big kid" conversation.
However, Georgie and Erica—who were clearly hitting it off—completely ignored her.
Georgie said, trying to impress her, "Tell me about it. Sheldon's a total snitch. He ratted me out last time and got Mom to take away my... 'important study materials.'"
Erica felt that on a spiritual level. Having bonded over shared trauma, the two teens started inching closer to each other.
"Ahem," Missy raised her hand. "I'm still here."
His flow interrupted, Georgie shot a glare at his sister. He then struck what he thought was a suave pose for Erica and invited her, "I saw an abandoned TV in the alley earlier. You want to go throw some rocks at it?"
Erica thought about it and grinned. "Sounds fun."
As they headed for the alley, Georgie saw Missy trying to follow, so he said, "Missy, I've got some big M-80s hidden in my room. Go grab them so we can blow that TV sky-high."
Missy didn't suspect a thing and sprinted into the house. The thought of playing with fireworks had the little girl hyped.
"Alright, let's go," Georgie said as soon as his sister was out of sight.
"Are we waiting for her?" Erica asked.
"Nah. Truth is, I've got the firecrackers right here," Georgie said, pulling thumb-sized crackers out of his pocket with a grin. He clearly just wanted to ditch his sister so he could be alone on his "date" with Erica.
"You're bad," Erica laughed, catching on to his plan. She suddenly found him a lot more interesting.
---
Back inside, just as the Coopers and the Barrys were finishing up their praises of their respective children, a massive BOOM echoed from the backyard.
"What was that?" George jumped, rushing to the window. The other three parents were right behind him, looking just as shocked.
Just then, Missy walked out of Georgie's room, complaining loudly. "Georgie is such a liar! I knew I couldn't find those firecrackers in his room..."
"Missy, what do you know?" George asked sternly.
"Plenty! Georgie ditched me and took Erica to the alley to blow up a TV!" Missy blurted out.
---