I was in my room reading a book, when Sanjit walked in.
“Hey Darryl!” He said. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” I said.
“It doesn’t look like nothing to me!” He responded, annoyingly.
“Well,” I told him, “If you’re as smart as they say, you would probably know that I’m reading!”
“Which book?” He asked.
I raised the cover to show him.
He frowned at the words. “Well, there’s an ‘I’ and umm...I think that’s an ‘s’. And...um...a ‘j’. And a-”
“You can’t read!” I exclaimed, shocked.
He shook his head.
“But...you’re so smart!”
‘I know, but I never learnt to read!” He spoke with his eyes shining. “You see, I just memorize stuff. Besides, I’m dyslexic!” He looked like he was on the verge of tears.
“So how are you in eighth grade?” I asked, still dealing with the shock.
“I’m a special needs kid.” He said sadly. “I don’t go to a fancy school like yours, I just...go to public school. The teachers don’t bother trying to teach me how to read, they just ask me questions and make me perform my essay aloud.”
“But...that’s terrible!”
“I know!”
“Hey! If you want I can teach you how to read!”
“Really?” He asked, surprised. “You would do that for me?”
“Of course!” I replied. “We’re best friends!”
“Thanks Darryl! I owe you big time!”
“It’s fine.”
“So when do we begin?”
“Right now!”
I spent the next few days trying to teach Sanjit to read. We studied from five am to seven am, and at night we studied from seven to ten pm.
Despite being a genius, Sanjit found it really hard to learn.
“That’s an ‘m’...no an ‘n’!” He said, struggling over the word ‘wanted’. He said something in Hindi.
He always forgot that I didn’t know Hindi. I caught the words ‘oh man!’ But after that I was lost.
“What did you say?”
He looks up, as if he forgot I was there.
“Huh? Oh, I said, ‘Oh man! This is so hard!’ ” He said, talking in a bored tone- he was very focused on the ‘troubling’ word in front of him.
“You’ll get there!” I said, as reassuring as possible.
“No I won’t!” He screams, standing up. “I can read Hindi and speak it, I’m fluent at Spanish! But I can’t read simple English? I’ll never be able to read! Or get into Yale!”
He kicks the bedpost, in an attempt to feel better. Judging by the contorted look on his face, I guessed that it didn’t help in the least.
“You’ll get there eventually!” I said. “You’re too old! The older you are the harder it is to read a new language. Or even understand it!”
“You’re right.” He said, as if it just occurred to him. “I’m sorry for losing my temper Darryl. Please forgive me!”
“It’s fine.” I smiled. “Now let’s continue!”
I arrived at the tree house as the sun was setting, turning everything to a brilliant gold. I usually loved these rare moments.
But I couldn’t focus.
So much had happened in the past two weeks, that it gave me a headache.
Mum had been arrested, I went to a social home, my best friend gave knocked me out, and now I’m teaching my best friend to read.
I doubt that happens to normal nearly-fourteen-years-old people.
I stretched my body to about sixteen feet, and climbed over the wall.
Once inside, I returned to my normal height of five foot, three inches. Before I got my powers, I was five foot, but since then I had mysteriously grown three inches. Most people tagged it off as a growth spurt, but I knew that that was a little far from the truth.
Smiling, I made my way to the latest edition. The tree of powers. At least that’s what I’m calling it. It seems cool.
I sat down under the tree, closed my eyes and prayed.
I prayed for wisdom.
I was feeling so conflicted!
Ms. Kidd said I could visit Mum in prison, but I didn’t have the courage to face her. She was always a tyrant, but now she was in jail.
She would be Godzilla’s bad side.
Also, I left the hospital last week, on the day of Harrison and Carly’s little exhibition, but I still got painful headaches every now and then.
I wasn’t sure whether to go to the nurse or not. I saw the nurse picking her nose and...eating it!
I was certain that the levels of hygiene in doing so, were very, very low.
Also, I prayed that Sanjit would be able to grip the english language reading skills, and be able to go to Yale like he’s always wanted.
I prayed and prayed. I had no idea how long I was under that tree. But I knew it was long.
The sky was a deep blue by the time I got back to FTK.
The moon looked like a giant blot of white paint, on a sheet of navy paper. The sun shone brightly from behind the moon. It lit up the floor better than any streetlamp.
It was then that I realized how powerful the people who control the elements were.
With fire you could both warm someone and blind them.
With water you could both make life and end it.
With air you could make an abundance of oxygen. Or take it away.
With earth you could create a truckload of precious stones. As well as an army of destruct bots.
I wished I had fire or water like Harrison or Carly.
They were so powerful!
And infinitely more popular and easier to talk to.
Especially Carly.
And it wasn’t all because of her enormous kindness. For most people it was because she was so beautiful!
But what was wrong with me?
I had golden eyes! Shiny white teeth! I’m pretty sure I was handsome! So why was I so unapproachable?
Could it be my brain size?
Could they be jealous?
People were so weird! I preferred machines who did exactly what you wanted them to.
If you built a human friend, they would do anything and everything they were programmed to.
Why couldn’t I program humans?
That would make life so much easier.
But the sad truth was life was unfair!
I sighed as I opened the door.
I muttered a hello to pink-haired reception lady, Francesca.
She smiled at me and waved.
I waved back.
I climbed the stairs to my dorm room. An excited Sanjit was waiting for me as soon as I opened the door.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“I got it!” He said. “The word was wanted!”
“Well done!” I congratulated him. “I told you you’d get it!”