The Knuckleheaded Genius

I have always been a knucklehead. I act like an idiot until it comes to something I truly care about. My friends know that I love to give out advice when I know about something, so they come to me when they have problems. They do sometimes come to me with relationship advice. Me being me, I only care about this stuff since there my friends and I care about what happens to them.

Little did I know, they were telling everyone about how much I've helped them. They say things like,

"He may act like an idiot but he's pretty smart."

Sometimes they would tell a story about their problems and say stuff like,

"He actually helped me solve some problems of mine in a matter of days that I couldn't solve in a month."

This obviously led to some people asking me about their problems. Because this is my friends fault, I decided to help them but I told them only this once. It was mostly guys that came to ask me for help. After almost a week, all the guys in school had been helped. I was exhausted. I heard a female voice behind me when I was walking. I turned around and saw the most popular girl at my school, Samantha, or Sam for short.

"Hello, you're the famous "Problem Guru" right?"

"Oh come on. How much is this tall tale going to grow."

"That is you, isn't it?"

"Yeah that's me, Ryan, at your service. What do you need help with today? I can help with anything you need."

She looked at me and blushed, obviously embarrassed.

"Hey, it's alright if you're feeling uncomfortable you can always talk to me at a later time. My door's usually always open, but today is not a good day. My dad's sending me to cram school so I can't be late. If you're ready to talk by tomorrow, find me in class 123."

I ran off in the direction of the exit. As I was rounding a corner I bumped into one of my friends. I looked up and saw he was with his girlfriend.

"Sorry man, you know me. An idiot till the end. Here I'll help you up."

We talked for about a minute until I remembered I had cram school. I ran and yelled back to him.

"Sorry, I gotta go. I'll buy your lunch tomorrow as apology."

I ran outside and all the way to my cram school. On the way I thought about how lucky my friend is. He's got a girlfriend who confessed to him and they spend most of the day together. They look like there always having fun. There's only one girl that I like. It was Sam, she was always having fun and she had a very beautiful smile. Even when I only acted like an idiot and when I didn't have anyone that wanted to talk to me, she was there and always smiled at me. I looked at my phone and saw that I had one minute left until I was late. I ran inside my cram school and to my class. I ran through the door as the late bell rang. I spent my time there wisely. That's a lie, I mostly just daydreamed about different things. The teacher saw me and called on me to answer a problem on the board. It wasn't an easy one but I already learned it almost two years ago.

"Sir, the answer to the problem is 452.25."

He looked at me stunned. The class joined him in.

"What's the matter. The problem wasn't that hard."

They looked at me for another minute. Luckily for me, the bell rang and grabbed my stuff and walked out.

The next day, while sleeping in class, my friend poked me on the shoulder and said that Sam was her to see me. I got up and walked towards the door. I saw Sam standing there waiting.

"Hey Sam, what do you need."

"W-well I have a problem and I want help fixing it."

"Alright tell me about it.

"Okay, I have this boy that I like but we don't talk much and I don't think he likes me back."

"Question, what's his name, if not that what's his personality like."

"Well, he's a lot like you."

I thought about it for a minute.

"Okay, I have an idea. If possible, try to spend more time with him. It doesn't have to be alone time, just time where you two are together. Try this for a week and come back and tell me about it."

She nodded and walked away. I didn't hear from her again till the end of school.

"Hey Ryan, well, you see, my parents wanted me to go into a cram school so do you mind if I visit the one you're going to."

"Hey, I'm a problem solver. You have a problem and I'll fix it."

"'Oh, thank you so much. Is there a way I can repay you."

"Don't worry Sam, this one is on the house."

We walked and talked all the way to the cram school. As soon as the late bell rang, I walked to the teacher. He gave e conformation so I introduced my shadow.

"Hello everybody. Today, one of my friends from school decided to check out this cram school. Please make her feel welcome."

I then sat back down and Sam sat next to me. I told her how things usually operate. Close to the end, the teacher called on me again. This time, the question had nothing to do with the lesson. He wrote a college level question on the board. I didn't think it was that hard so I answered it within a couple seconds.

"Sir, the answer is 863,201,863.89"

Again everybody looked at me. I didn't have anything with me today so I just did it in my head. Even Sam looked at me. When I was walking her home she asked me a question.

"How did you know the answer to the question?"

"Well, my parents always had me study. When I was done with my grade level, they had me go to the next grade level and so on. So by the time I entered the sixth grade I already mastered middle school level schooling. By the time I went into ninth grade, I was already past college level. I even know four different languages. The reason I act like an idiot all the time is because I never had any other childhood besides studying. My childhood is now I guess. When I told you that my dad sent me to cram school. Well, that was a lie. I really just wanted to see if I could learn more. Also, don't tell anyone else about this. You're the only person that knows."

She smiled at me.

"Don't worry, your secret’s safe with me."

When she said this, my face turned red and I looked away.

"Well, I guess we better get going before it gets late."

Ever since that day, we've talked almost everyday. She came to see me again when the month ended.

"So how was your month?"

"Well, we've talked almost everyday now. He shared a secret with me that he's never shared with anyone before. He even blushed in front of me. I have a feeling it's working out well."

I thought about the month that I had with her. The stories sounded alike but I didn't think it was possible. I felt my voice shake as I asked her a question that I thought was important.

"So, are you comfortable with telling me who he is or is that still confidential?"

She just stared at me. I stared back, trying to figure out what the blank gaze was for.

"If you can't tell who it is by now then I'll have to give you a better hint. We go to the same cram school and he's very smart. He acts like a knucklehead all the time, like now. He's very oblivious to a girls feelings and he doesn't know how I feel about him."

The only person that I thought of at the time was me. I didn't believe it. I mean, What kind of girl would like a guy who acts like an idiot and gets himself into trouble a lot.

"I want to take a guess. If I'm wrong, I'll crawl deep into a whole and never come out. My guess is, the person you like and spent the whole month with is m-me?"

Next thing I knew she was standing and came over to me. The silence was killing me so I also stood up. She walked over to me and stopped about three feet away from me. I just stood there. My entire class was just looking at me and her. She looked up at me and then hugged me.

"You figured it out. Good job, you helped me with my problem. So, do you feel the same?"

As I heard this I blushed and looked down at her. She looked up at me and waited.

"Well, um, yeah. Sam, will you go out with me?"

As a guy I thought about making the first move. I did so and it paid off. She jumped up and kissed me on the cheek.

"Of course. See you in cram school."

She ran off down the hallway and turned a corner. I kept thinking about it and when I realized it, I was thrilled. I am dating the girl that I liked for almost two years now. I was so happy that I finally told her how I felt. We started eating, walking, and even just spending time with each other. This was a great end to my high school life.