章 79: Chapter 79
In this chapter there is a big change in the Young Sheldon series, I'm cooking, I'm cooking (at least I try) so please bear with me.
Enjoy.
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"My age?" I asked, surprised.
"I think you might be a year younger; I'm not really sure," Mom explained.
"Uhh, Mrs. Cooper set you up on a blind date," Teddy, who had been listening to my conversation with Mom with great interest, said playfully, with a hint of teasing.
"Yeah, sure, a date" I said sarcastically, "I'm going to listen to Sheldon talking with someone just as smart as him, that's really romantic," I added exaggeratedly smiling at my sister.
"Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun," Gabe said smiling mockingly towards me.
"So, are you going?" ignoring Gabe, Mom asked, strangely excited.
"Sure," I answered easily; Sheldon's reaction might be entertaining.
After dinner, sitting on the living room sofa, Mom called Mrs. Cooper to let her know I had accepted her invitation and to chat about other things, including neighborhood gossip.
With her maternity leave just beginning after spring break, Mom didn't have much to do around the house. She was quickly getting bored, but with her large belly, she couldn't do much, so her only escape was to talk, whether on the phone or in person, with Mrs. Cooper.
The next day, with plenty of time before heading to the Coopers' house, I continued with my regular day, going for my morning run later than usual in the week. I took Teddy to the Baja House and helped Mom with her fifth attempt that week to rearrange the living room furniture.
"Here?" I asked, tired, after pushing one of the living room sofas a few steps.
"You know what..." with one hand on her chin, Mom said slowly, "I think I liked it better where it was before," a moment later she admitted, slightly embarrassed, as she scratched the side of her face.
"So, where it was originally" I murmured, "All right," defeated I nodded, as I set to work once again.
"Yes, I love it this way," Mom said, pausing to look at the room, smiling.
"I'm glad," I said, forcing a smile back at her as I collapsed into the comfortable sofa.
After nearly an hour of moving the chairs into different arrangements, rearranging the coffee table, and even shifting the TV, following Mom's orders, with this last sofa I had slowly put everything back as it was before we started, it wouldn't be long before Mom wanted to rearrange everything again.
Checking my watch, my break had to end, unfortunately. "I'm going to the Coopers' house," I said, slowly standing up.
Mom listening to my words quickly checked her own watch.
"Oh yeah, go, it's late," she said, pushing me slightly, still strangely excited.
"It's only two minutes past the time Mrs. Cooper told you," I said, surprised, looking at Mom. I really wasn't that late.
"Late!" she declared, exasperated, opening the front door. "Have fun at your meeting," she said, pushing me out of the house, still excited. "My son, the genius," she murmured excitedly before closing the door in my face.
Oh, I see what's going on here.
Amused by Mom's excitement that Mrs. Cooper had invited me to a 'genius kids' gathering,' I walked to the Coopers' house.
"PJ! Please, come in," Mrs. Cooper said, radiating joy as she opened her door a few moments after I knocked.
"Thank you, Mrs. Cooper, you look especially radiant today," I said, smiling at her, making her laugh in embarrassment.
"Always the flatterer," Mrs. Cooper said, smiling widely as she guided me through her house.
Soon we reached the entrance of the Coopers' living room. There, next to Mr. Cooper, who looked uncomfortable with a beer in hand, was a couple—a man with a strange, seemingly brand-new cowboy outfit and a blonde woman sitting surprisingly upright, also looking somewhat uncomfortable.
"PJ, let me introduce you," Mrs. Cooper said, smiling at the unusual couple. "This is Evelyn Adler and her husband, Hank Summers."
"Nice to meet you, I'm PJ Duncan," I said, smiling as I introduced myself.
"Howdy," Mr. Summers said in a completely forced Southern accent, tipping his brand-new hat in greeting. Mr. Cooper awkwardly took a swig of his beer, while Mrs. Adler tilted her head slightly, revealing the reason for the discomfort.
"Oh, I've heard about you. You made a significant contribution to last year's Nobel Prize-winning medical paper," Mrs. Adler said with a strong British accent, recognizing my name immediately. "The prodigy of medicine," she added with a touch of theatrics.
"I wouldn't call it significant," I said, slightly embarrassed. "I was included in the acknowledgments thanks to Dr. Thomas's incredibly kind heart."
"Oh, don't be modest," Mrs. Cooper said, patting my shoulder lightly. "PJ was published in a major Texas newspaper," she said, her eyes widening with excitement. "He even works at the hospital after school."
"You're still attending high school despite your achievements?" Mrs. Adler asked incredulously.
"Oh yeah, I really enjoy going to school. My friends are there," I replied easily, recognizing in her another possible case like Dr. Grey.
"Besides Sheldon, PJ is also a great friend of my eldest, Georgie," Mrs. Cooper said, smiling at me.
"Well, I hope you get along with Diane. She doesn't always have the chance to meet someone excellent in their own field who are the same age," Mrs. Adler said, with her pronounced British accent, looking at me intently, her brow slightly furrowed.
"Of course," I replied, a bit uncomfortable under the Englishwoman's penetrating gaze, not sure what else to say.
"Oh, that's right," Mrs. Cooper exclaimed, raising her hands as if she'd just remembered the reason I was there. "Diane and Shelly are in his room," she added.
After saying goodbye with a small nod I walked to Sheldon's room, while walking I could still feel Mrs. Adler's strange gaze lingering on my back.
The door to Sheldon and Missy's room was wide open allowing me to see who was inside and what was happening.
In the middle of the room, with a small table set up with a chess game in progress, was Sheldon, sitting on his bed with a big frown, right in front of Sheldon, in Missy's bed, was a girl with her side towards me, like Mrs. Adler completely straight despite not having any back support, and with the straightest blonde hair I'd ever seen, playing with the kid.
Knocking on the door frame to announce my presence, I stepped in. My action immediately caught the attention of the other two people in the room.
"Ah, PJ," Sheldon, facing me, greeted me warmly.
"Hey Sheldon," I nodded at him, returning his greeting.
After greeting my young friend, I focused on the other person in the room.
Facing me, completely expressionless, with large round-frame glasses, 'Diane' seemed to glow for some strange reason, possibly due to the way the light entered the room at that moment.
She was really pretty.
"Oh, how rude of me," Sheldon said, breaking an odd silence that I wasn't sure how long had lasted. "PJ, this is Diane Adler. She was invited to the university to give a lecture on advances in the Navier-Stokes problem, one of the Millennium Prize Problems," he added formally, to my disappointment, apparently not reacting as I'd expected when someone as gifted as him was around.
"A pleasure to meet you, PJ Duncan," I said, extending my hand, expecting a handshake, smiling at her, but she immediately avoided eye contact.
"Likewise," Diane replied, adjusting her glasses with the sleeve of her sweater, without shaking my hand.
"All right," I said slowly, lowering my hand awkwardly, nodding.
Possibly like Sheldon, Diane might have some level of germophobia.
"So, Navier-Stokes—remind me which one that is?" I asked, still awkwardly smiling. Throughout my studies, I'd obviously read about the seven Millennium Prize Problems, supposedly so challenging that institutions were willing to pay a large sum to anyone who solved any of them.
Being such difficult problems, I'd never really paid much attention to them, not really being of my interest.
"It's about the existence and uniqueness of solutions for the Navier-Stokes equations," Sheldon answered immediately, as if it were a quiz, not fully clarifying my question.
"Got it," I said sarcastically, smiling at Sheldon, amused by the child's innocence.
"They're a set of partial differential equations that represent the conservation of momentum, mass, and energy in a fluid," Diane quickly explained, looking up and making eye contact for the second time since I'd entered the room, evidently excited when talking about it.
"Really?, it sounds interesting," I said, smiling once more at the girl, mildly amused by her excitement when talking about her interests.
"It is," Diane replied, quickly calming her sudden excitement and, somewhat embarrassed, avoiding eye contact once again.
"It's an interesting topic, though not as much as black holes, but still not too bad," Sheldon declared with a slightly arrogant expression as he moved a piece on the board, acting a bit more like I expected him to act.
"Bad move," I said, shaking my head slightly. After the slightly embarrassing moment of staring at the uncomfortable girl, I'd studied the board on the table. I'd played hundreds of games against Case, and the move my little friend had just made led into a trap that Case often used.
"What?" Sheldon asked, incredulous, snapping his attention back to the pieces on the board just as Diane made her next move.
"Checkmate in six," Diane said calmly, making Sheldon frown even more as he stared at the board, surely calculating any number of possible moves in his head.
"So, you were invited to give a lecture?" I asked, letting Sheldon focus on the board and attempting once again to start a conversation with the awkward girl.
"Yeah," Diane answered, looking at anything in the Cooper kids' room except me. "I have a master's degree from MIT, and part of my responsibilities is giving some seminars nationally," she continued, glancing briefly at me.
"A master's degree in math?" I asked, surprised. "At what, fifteen?" I added, sitting down next to Sheldon, who was still staring at the board on the little table.
"I got my master's when I was ten," Diane replied, a little nervous looking at me as it was now almost impossible to avoid eye contact since I'd practically sat in front of her field of vision.
"What?" Sheldon exclaimed, snapping out of his chess trance. "At ten years old?" he asked with a look of concern.
Yeah, this was what I expected.
"Yes, when I was nine, I helped win the international math olympiad team, so my mother introduced me to Dr. Shankland, who helped me get my degree," Diane explained calmly.
Hearing Diane's words, Sheldon lowered his head slightly, lost in thought.
It was impressive to see him worried about not having a master's degree at his age. Sheldon and Missy had turned ten just under a month ago.
"Now I understand why you don't watch television," Sheldon finally said slowly after a few seconds. "Your commitment is much greater than mine," he added solemnly, making Diane nod slightly.
"Wait, you don't watch TV?" I asked, surprised, receiving a very unapologetic shake of her head. "Not even once?" I asked again, incredulous.
"Well, sometimes Hank watches the news in the morning," Diane replied, adjusting her glasses with her wrist covered by her sweater.
"What about music, movies, any sports?" I asked quickly, once again receiving negatives from the girl. I understood now how Kat and my friends felt with my lack of knowledge in pop culture. At least I had a relatively normal childhood. "So what do you do in your free time when you're not studying math?" I asked, concerned, knowing firsthand that this wasn't a healthy lifestyle.
My question seemed to surprise the girl, making her stop to think.
"I don't know," Diane said, raising her shoulders and appearing truly puzzled. "We have a big library at home, so I have plenty of books."
"So just reading?" I asked, slightly frowning with concern, really understanding that kind of life.
"Well, when it's not winter, I enjoy going to the beach," she replied, slightly frowning as if trying to figure out if that was the answer I was looking for.
That's good, but not entirely.
"Have you ever wanted to try something else?" I asked, feeling a bit of pity for Diane. "Go out with friends?"
"I don't have a lot of friends," Diane admitted, pressing her lips together, slightly embarrassed.
I don't believe she had any.
"My mom says I have a really important destiny and it's my responsibility to fulfill it. She trusts me to solve Navier-Stokes, so I don't have much time to waste," Diane replied with a barely visible sadness in her eyes.
These past few months, that contrary to when I was obsessed with studies, taught me that my previous way of life was a total waste.
What I used to see as a waste of time, I now appreciate—movies, cartoons, music, sports, outdoor activities, art, having a milkshake with friends, go to parties, reading a comic, bothering my siblings, and many other things are now an essential part of my life.
Feeling the responsibility to do for someone else what everyone in my new life did for me, I said, "That won't work." Shaking my head, I declared seriously, capturing the girl's attention as she looked at me, concerned. "I've decided—I'm going to show you what made me fall in love with life; there's more than just fulfilling responsibilities," I said, looking at Diane intently.
After a moment of silence, honestly, an uncomfortable one, "I have to improve my personal studies. I can't fall behind forever; will I get my degree at fifteen? Worse, at twenty?" Sheldon asked, seemingly completely unaware of my strange declaration to the girl we both had just met, me even more briefly than him.
"Yeah, just don't overdo it; it's not good for your health," I said, patting Sheldon lightly on the shoulder, avoiding looking at Diane, who seemed to be in a bit of a trance, her mouth slightly open.
Reflecting on how I'd made my declaration, I realized I could have explained it better. "How long will you be in Medford?" I asked Diane, deciding to ignore the embarrassment of having said what I did.
"I was invited for the rest of the week," Diane answered immediately, biting her lip slightly, as if snapping out of the small trance she was in.
"Then let's do an experiment" I declared with confidence, "this week I'll show you that living your life isn't 'wasting time,' and if it doesn't work, I won't bother you anymore; I promise" I seriously added. "Every day, I'll introduce you to things completely different from studying math, it will only take a couple of hours each day".
Although Diane still maintained a surprisingly stoic expression, I could see interest shining in her eyes.
"So, do you want to find amazing things to do with me?" I asked, smiling, for some strange reason excited.
"Oh, are you planning to do something exciting?" Sheldon asked, suddenly interested in the conversation. "I just happened to know about a lecture at Rice University called 'What's Happening at the Center of Our Galaxy,'" he said suggestively.
"Thanks, Sheldon, but I was thinking more about listening to music at the mall's record store or playing mini-golf, you know, outside," I said, smiling meaningfully at my little friend, waiting for his reaction.
"Oh, don't count me in on your plans, then. Outdoors? And getting attacked by a bird?" Sheldon immediately shook his head forcefully, thoroughly disgusted.
Sheldon's reaction wasn't just funny to me. For the first time since I'd entered the room, Diane let out a slight chuckle, covering her smile with the side of her hand.
I hadn't even started showing her the true beauty of life, and somehow she was already discovering it for herself.
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Final Note (A huge note related to 'Diane Adler' – it's not absolutely necessary to read this).
As I mentioned in the first note, there's a big continuity change in Young Sheldon. Since I started writing this novel, this was planned so, as in TBBT, there is no character named Paige Swanson now.
I realize that someone might not understand what's going on in this note.
To explain, I'd first like to say I'm a bit scared of Victor_Venegas; it seems like he has security cameras in my house or somehow gained access to my super-secret notes (I have a .txt file with the general outline of the novel all the way to the end).
Diane Adler, as well as Evelyn Adler, are characters from a movie starring Chris Evans and McKenna Grace (the same actress who plays Paige Swanson in Young Sheldon, so I think everyone can see where the idea of mixing these worlds came from) called 'Gifted' (a movie I've watched at least 10 times in the past few months, xD).
Now in the movie, the character Diane Adler (who only appears in photos) is "played" by a model who is uncredited—or at least I haven't been able to find any credits for her o I had the idea of having Diane 'played' by someone else.
Somehow, my TikTok algorithm discovered that I was watching this movie repeatedly and started showing me videos about it, among these videos, there was an edit showing the resemblance between McKenna Grace and… Kiernan Shipka (the main actress in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), so I decided that, in my mind, Diane Adler would be played by Kiernan Shipka, specifically with her look from Twisters. (Just an idea for those who need to visualize the characters.)
As you can imagine, this new character represents the next step in the romantic part of this story, and as I said at the beginning of this novel, this was born as a method of 'practice' for writing, today I enjoy it a lot and I almost no longer take it as what it was born as, but I know that I have a LOT, to improve, and I don't know any other way than trial and error.
I've read dozens of romance books and all of them are from a woman's POV (which isn't a problem for me), few are from a man's POV which unfortunately almost always lack romance (yes, I'm not ashamed to admit it, I enjoy a good real love story, with feelings and all that) which makes it a bit difficult for me to try to write without using cliches that I've read in all these books but now 'inverted', so I apologize as it may be difficult to read if you're not adept at reading these types of stories.
I can imagine that for the 'alpha male' extremists who reject the whole idea of a man having feelings (outside of hatred or superiority in manhood, if that somehow counts as feelings) reading a 'Slice of life' story with romance might be bothered. For you, yes, there will be chapters focused entirely on it (romance) and many others not. With this I hope you understand that yes, the story is a slice of life, but that doesn't mean I'm leaving out something as important in life as love.
500 words of note, sorry.
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Author Thoughts:
As always, I'm not American, not a doctor, not a fighter and I'm not Magnus Carlsen.
Another chapter has passed, so new thanks are in order. I would like to especially thank:
RandomPasserby96
11332223
Victor_Venegas
With that said,
I think that's all. As always, if you find any errors, please let me know, and I'll correct them immediately.
Thank you for reading! :D
PS: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.
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