Exchange - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jessica, meanwhile, slimmed down. No matter how much she ate, she didn’t gain an ounce. Her round face sharpened into a delicate oval. Her dull skin became radiant. The acne vanished. By the time school started again, she was even prettier than I had been.

The love letters that used to pile up on my desk now landed on hers. The boys who had sworn their undying love to me now looked at me with disgust. Some even bragged about dodging a bullet.

“Dude, Ashley from class 3? She’s, like, this ugly, dumb, fat… thing. I can’t believe I ever had a crush on her. Good thing she turned me down.” “Totally. Her sister though? Total glow–up. Beauty and brains.”

No one hates money. No one hates beauty. Especially not teenage boys. Ethan was no exception. His eyes followed Jessica everywhere. He barely spoke to me anymore.

Ethan finally won Jessica over at the school’s welcome back dance. She wore a pale pink dress, twirling on stage, singing a popular love song. “On my tiptoes, twirling around, let my hand rest gently on your shoulder…”

A spotlight illuminated her, highlighting her newfound grace. A deep male voice joined hers. “Steps so light, breaths so soft, this waltz of love, oh so sweet…” Ethan, in a sharp black suit with a couple of buttons undone, his tall frame casting a long shadow, took her hand.

“Hold me closer, with every step, with every twirl, more certain yet, I’ll spin with you forever…” “…Our future, the most beautiful thing there is.”

The song ended. Jessica leaned against Ethan, a triumphant glint in her eye as she looked at me in the audience. She’d won again. I just looked down, pondering a problem that had plagued mathematicians for decades Szemerédi’s theorem.

Countless brilliant minds had dedicated their lives to it. It had fascinated me, even back when I was a dunce. Passionate, dramatic teenage romance wasn’t for me. I just wanted to spend my life with math.

After the first practice SATs of senior year, the two guys behind me were arguing about the last math question. I listened while trying to work through Szemerédi’s theorem. Being smart was amazing. I could finally tackle the peaks of human intellect.

The guy who chose B started explaining his reasoning. I overheard his mistake and turned around. “It’s D. You messed up this step. It should be…”

The B guy gave me a look like I was crazy. The D guy groaned. “Oh no! If you got it right, then I must be wrong! I can’t believe I picked the same answer as Ashley, the class idiot!”

Before I could explain, the math rep came in with the answer sheets. I checked. It was B. And the solution on the sheet contained the exact same mistake as the guy behind me. Classic trap question.

The arguing started again. “See? B!” “It’s Ashley’s fault. She’s always wrong. Thinks she’s Jessica or something. Trying to teach us math. So dumb.”

Just a couple of months ago, they’d been tripping over themselves to get my attention. Math was better. Loyal. No drama. I didn’t say anything. I just corrected the answer sheet with my red pen. Never argue with fools.