The problem with being so much smarter than everyone else is, well, that you’re

so much smarter than everyone else.

…
Most of the time it feels like you’re Galileo, stuck in the sixteen hundreds with the
misfortune of knowing that the Earth is, in fact, not the center of our galaxy, the sun is. No one
really sees the things you see, no one understands just how genius you really are, so you’re
stuck crossing your fingers behind your back and hoping that the pope doesn’t condemn you to
death. (Oh, what a nuisance being so canny is.)

Others on the other hand do not have the same learning curve as I do, it is not that they are
dumb– per say –but they just don’t possess the same level of understanding, I get things, it’s
that simple.

Let’s take Seth for example, graduated high school (unlike a lot of us), above average GPA, not
too shabby with mechanics- but sometimes he’s just slow on figuring out the basics, like you
need to shove the horse up in his face just for him to realize he’s inside a stable.

Now Evelyn on the other is the clever one, could sly her way through any situation. Probably
above average if tested- but always too caught up in the details to look at the big picture. Idiot
would probably notice the flies before she saw the actual horse.

In conclusion, they aren’t complete morons for most things.

But for other things, they are just diving straight towards a bottomless pit.

So in my head I’m standing in the middle of some plaza located in the outskirts of Italy,
preaching about the Earth’s orbit while the masses gather around me and talk about my
dementia, labeling me as the deranged maniac on the century.

But in reality I’m sitting in the stool behind the kitchen counter, watching Seth and Evelyn
prepare some sort of contraption over the wooden top of the table.

“Trust me.” She murmurs as the struggles with the Nutella container, Seth gently taking it from
her to open it himself.

“Seriously, Lyn, this looks disgusting.” He makes a face as he looks down at the bowl in front of
them, he was right- it did look disgusting. Curse her mother for giving her such a whimsical
taste in food.
“Oh shut up, you’ll love it.” She finishes mixing the hazelnut and chocolate into the cereal bowl,
taking a spoonful of the monstrosity and hovering in front of his lips. “Ah.” She makes an ‘O’
shape with her lips and he quickly responded, opening his own and letting the spoon inside his
mouth. She could have been feeding him poison and he would have still obliged.

The trust they had with each other was more than noticeable. Not that they saw it.

I folded my newspaper and slipped it under my arm, standing from my lonesome stool to leave
the room- all I heard was a ‘okay, that wasn’t so bad’ between laughs as I stepped away.

…
I was lounging outside under one of the daintiest trees I have ever seen and there they
were, less than twenty feet away from me. Not that I didn’t expect them to be there, jogging
together had become a routine for them since Satan knows when, but I just saw it as another
opportunity to add more substance to my research.

I see Seth run ahead a bit and touch the tree in front of him, throwing his arms up in victory
now as Evelyn caught up, they were racing- how cute (for a moment there I felt like puking).

“I hate you” I thought I heard her say as she placed her hands over her knees and leaned over,
Seth laughing as he crouched down to look at her in the eyes- they both smiled, probably
keeping that position longer than they should have before breaking their gaze and pretending it
wasn’t awkward. He tugged on her fingers to lead her back to the house, walking now and
somewhere between steps their hands found each other completely.

Would it be cheating if I tell them that they’re already going steady before they know they are?

Probably, they should figure it out themselves.

And then I was back to being poor Galileo, the church’s guards taking me away to prison as I
yelled out the importance of the sun, my theories being discarded as simply psychotic.

…
It was three in the morning. Why the fuck were they up at three in the morning? I hate
kids, I really do. I could hear the television downstairs quite clearly; they were watching
Nightmare on Elm Street- Evelyn giggling every time an innocent teenager got slaughtered and
Seth mindlessly chewing on his cereal. Freaks.

I walked past them, throwing a sharp glare (which was left unnoticed) as I walked to the far end
of the room and sat on the armchair grabbing yesterday’s newspaper.
They didn’t talk; her legs were over his lap, both heads turned towards the sorry excuse for a
horror movie they had on. I watched as he shoved his hand inside the cereal box (probably only
eating the marshmallows, bastard always ruins the cereal) as his free hand rested above her
knee, mindlessly caressing her skin with his thumb.

Seth found something inside the box, one of those lame decoder rings five year olds get excited
about, he placed it over her stomach and she took it- subconsciously slipping it around her
index finger, neither of them taking their eyes off the screen.

I figure this means they’re engaged now, maybe someone should tell them, but not me.

I was still being persecuted all around Rome.

…
We were in the jet now, following some (probably false) lead that Clyde had insisted we
went after. They always sat in the back- always, and this time I was right next to them.

“No, I don’t want to listen to that. “ Evelyn said, sharing earphones with Seth as he scrolled the
music on his iPod.

“What? Why the hell not- that’s a great band.” Seth pouted, she scrunched her nose is
disapproval, throwing a leg over his as she leaned over to rest her head over his shoulder. I
watched him press the ‘next’ button to make her happy and place a hand over her knee,
leaning back as their bodies sank into the seats.

“Oh for fucks sake make out already.” I blurted out, I couldn’t take it anymore. The church
can’t stop my beliefs!

They turned their heads, staring at me like if I had grown another eye.

“Why the hell would I make out with him in front of you?” She furrowed her brow like if I was
some kind of idiot.

“Because you are frustrating, you’re de-“And then I replayed her words inside my head. “Wait,
you mean you would kiss him if I wasn’t here?”

They nodded.

And suddenly I was Galileo again, but this time I had somehow managed to get thrown into the
21st century and everybody knew the Earth revolved around the sun. I was left out now, so
many struggles for nothing.

“What?” I managed to say without a stutter. “For how long?”

“Months” Seth stated, amusement was showing on his face, and I just wanted to throw a
punch. “Like… months.”

I took off my seatbelt and stood up, walking into the back room to meditate on my failure.

Months.

How the hell did I miss that?

FIN