The Moment After

As I fled stupidly towards the door to free myself from this wave of sensation that ran through my body, I realized that we had not introduced ourselves to the rules of good sitting.

I wanted to retrace my steps, which I find far more odd than odd, but I felt paralyzed. And why did I want to know his name? Since when did these things matter to me?

Why did this creature put me in all my states? Why didn't I manage to behave as usual, cold, distant, impenetrable, and above all, stoic?

Yes, that's stoic. That's how most people who meet me describe me. They don't know if I hear them because I never make any comments, but I assure you it's a very tender description for someone like me.

I can't believe I'm still the same person who just ran away from this bold and daring young lad endowed with enchanting beauty.

In fact, why does a boy have so much grace and look so stunning? It bothers me; it makes me uncomfortable.

Most often, the others run away when they see me, not because I am a disbeliever or anything of the sort. It is, instead, my personality that scares them away. But today, I am the one fleeing as if I had the devil on my heel.

I am an unapproachable, asocial, introverted, and hard-tempered person. I don't talk much, and people who speak a lot put me off, and I can't stand them. You could say that I am a case, as I mentioned before.

While going down the steps leading to the classrooms, laboratories, and amphitheater, I realized my mistake. I was too preoccupied to run away, and I completely forgot to ask the little creature his name in my haste.

I didn't even introduce myself. Where have my manners gone? I am indeed unaffordable, but I received a good education after all.

And why do I need to know his name? What are these disturbances? What happens to me up there? I have never wanted to know anyone's name so far.

"How stupid I am," I voiced aloud. I decided to backtrack to make up for my mistake despite everything. After all, I leave him with my things up there; if something is missing, I would know who to ask the administration for, at least, right? But my phone started ringing, and I had to answer and abandon my first idea.

A missed opportunity is not often the end of everything. Sometimes it just happens that it's not the right time, and there might be another chance to catch up with it. Or another much more attractive opportunity will present itself to us, or perhaps we will never have such an opportunity, no matter how much effort we put in to get there.

That's why we must know how to seize the opportunities that present themselves to us. Some things only happen once.

Three weeks have passed since I rushed off campus. I was so absorbed in my concerns that I completely forgot what happened that day.

Let me introduce myself before I forget. It's not my habit to hang out with many people, so I risk forgetting that I have to do a little introduction so that you know who you are dealing with.

I'm starting to run out of good manners.

My name is Aim Williams; I'm two meters tall, slim, and slander, contrary to what they used to say about people with a high IQ. I do a lot of sports, and I like it.

I get bored quickly and even faster than the speed of the light itself, of things that fail to hold my full attention, and I have the energy to spare.

It's hard for me to find things or people who can fulfill conditions that would make them interesting enough to me, which is why I have two PhDs and a master's in Biotechnology at my current age.

So my tutor set up mechanisms and protocols to captivate me just before sending me to a specialized school for geniuses or high-potential children in Switzerland.

I spent three years at the establishment before they sent me home, and I returned more disconnected than when I left. On the educational level, they did their best, or instead, I did my best, but on the social level, I regressed.

I enrolled at Ox University on the recommendation of my shrink for a more social than academic purpose.

I need to interact and socialize with people my age and others. I must understand the behavior and needs of people around me for the sake of all and my well-being.

I am English. My parents were also English; they died when I was seven, my father was in the scientific research community and developing security algorithms and other things for the government. They both died in a plane crash on their way home from a summit they attended in Washington.

And that's precisely how I became a social case, not to mention my emotional quotient, which doesn't help my situation because it's not as high as my IQ.

I have the impression that a particular person can help me climb these ladders that separate me from others. It's the first time a person has had such an effect on me.

I admit that I react pretty well in front of him.

Not only that, he made me want to approach him. I have never craved anything involving getting close to, hugging, or touching anyone.

So if I want to understand my surroundings and live more or less everyday life as my guardian Nodge Ollyster wants, I have to find this magnificent and mysterious creature at all costs.

Ollyster is a South African who worked with my father on his research and helped him deal with the outside world and was the only friend my father had.

My father was like me; we were all the time together, and sometimes I participated in his work when he worked at home. Without hesitation, he left his research in front of me or invited me to watch them with him.

If you call this feeling that way, I can say that I was happy we were vibrating on the same frequency at that time, and that was all I needed.

We didn't need words to communicate between us, we were connected, yet my intelligence quotient far exceeds that of my father, his was one hundred ninety-five, and mine is two hundred and sixty-five.

My father understood more or less somehow human feelings, thanks to the help of Nogde and my mother. But for me, it's a vast upside-down world without any exit. I know absolutely nothing about all that. Despite Nodge's best efforts to help me cope with everything, I am alone.

At the academy, the other residents used to call me RobAim. I ignored it since I spent more time in meetings with the administration than in class. You imagine other people almost in the same situation as you making fun of you by calling you a robot. Which means I'm a lost case.

I had neither the time nor the mood to let myself be drawn into their game.

As I do today, there is nothing new except that I am more mature today. I mean that I am older. I think it's better suited that way.

While crossing the campus with my head towards the ground, lost in my thoughts while listening to music. I felt the intensity of the gaze weighing on me. It's not a habit. People don't pay much attention to me when I'm here. I'm not different or eye-catching.

They see a weird tall, almost ridiculous guy who does everything to be invisible. And young people don't hang out with people like me; I am a kind of freak to them.

I'm not interesting and attractive enough for them. Whereas usually, nobody paid attention to me with such insistence, or at least it was me who did not pay too much attention to them.

But if it was me, then what changed now? Why am I starting to become aware of those youngsters around me? Who knows?

My AirPods always accompany me; no matter where I go and what I do, they are always with me, close at hand, I must say. I never part with them. On the contrary, I have two spare pairs from the one I use in my bag. I'm careful if I lose the one I use; I don't have to panic.

As I scramble through the students to make my way to a place less crowded, the feeling that I was watched doesn't leave me. It made me anxious, and I felt my throat tightening in panic.

I looked up just in time to notice someone running away toward the medicine building. I couldn't see who he was, but this flexibility told me something. This unparalleled flexibility speaks to me like the music I'm listening to.

That's when he ultimately comes to my mind. "shit! That bold little creature is you again." I say for myself. I continue to walk without paying attention to the people who throw me furtive glances.

I find myself smiling, thinking about this exotic and intriguing little human.

A hand slipped into the pocket of my army jogger in which I have more than two examples, and my eternal black t-shirt, my favorite color, accompanied by black sports sneakers, all strewn by my army green backpack. I continue to walk carefree and unaware of the world around me.

My right hand has my black coffee cup, which only sometimes has freshly squeezed orange juice or milk.

I followed a military formation under the directive of Nodge, these physical activities were the results of my total energy, and it was necessary to spend them.

So, that's how I spent two years on a military base to set up a recognition system, the most elaborate and reliable one that can access all devices with a camera or a microphone system.

I don't think I should talk about this. It's top secret. It looks like I'm starting to turn into a magpie too. That's not a problem since they are considered brilliant birds. Don't you think so?

I carry my back straight no matter what; Nodge hates hunched people, and he carries himself like a charm for a man in his forty. He's barely thirty.

It's impressive, and that's part of why I train so much and do a lot of sports, not to mention he pressures me with bullshit like: "people in your category don't live long, so you have to do your best to stay healthy and alive as long as possible."

He's a weird person and the only person who represents a source of warmth and security in my surroundings. He has a drastic and austere temperament, but you don't have to worry; he doesn't bite.

I try in vain to erase that silly smile from my face without success. I must look like a clown or a scarecrow because the other students can't keep themselves from staring at me, shuddering and whispering. And those who even burst out laughing with an "Oh my God!" Without forgetting these disparaging comments that are coming from everywhere.

Today I am instead very receptive, and I wonder why.