"Honey! Come here quick!!" a woman squealed while staring at her 3-year-old son who was sitting on the floor with both his legs stretched and on his legs was a large book.
"Coming!" a man yelled as he walked into the room, he was wearing a lab coat and still held a vial in his right hand.
"Look! Our son is reading shakespeare!" the woman took out her small camera and took a picture of the child.
"Hey Elliot, are you enjoying the book?" the man said as Elliot looked up and nodded.
And immediately, he went back to the book, his eyes were filled with fascination.
"lit-… litechoor is so fastenating," Elliot barely said, his dad smirked and nodded with pride.
While his mom kept taking pictures and squealing with excitement.
"Our son is a genius, Like us," his dad said calmly, he then walked towards the shelf just above the big cube that is the TV and put down the vial.
Then he sat down next to his son on the floor, looking down to the book which is filled with big words.
"Need help?" Elliot's dad asked but Elliot looked at his dad and shook his head.
His mom was recording a video using the camera. To her, it was like it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"Calm down honey, only one photo is more than enough." Elliot's dad snatched the camera from his mom.
And only then was she able to take a deep breath and sit down next to Elliot on the opposite side of his father.
[5 years later]
Elliot was in school, every kid was screaming and running around while Elliot was reading the book that he snuck in.
And in class, he would add notes, correct mistakes the teacher made. He even boasts his knowledge and prank adults by using large words.
One day, Elliot was reading his book as always while sitting on an empty bench in the school's backyard, but then a particularly big kid walked up to him, the kid wasn't big in age but he had a fat stomach and big full arms.
"Hey nerd! Whatchu readin'!" the big kid laughed, punching Elliot on his shoulder, it seemed painful, but it didn't considering the size of his fist.
"Not your business you complete imbecile. Go weep to your life giver." Elliot coldly said, his eyes filled with disgust even if he didn't look at the big kid.
Elliot acts like this to those he hates, especially to this big kid who was known to humiliate and make fun of every other kid in the class.
"Oh really? Shut your smarty-pants up before I punch you so hard that these words will leave you from your eyes instead of mouth." The kid lifted then held his clinched fist in front of Elliot's face.
Elliot decided to ignore the kid but before he could enact that plan, the kid snatched the book from Elliot's hands and threw it to the floor and stomped on it.
The kid then took the book from under his foot and threw it back at Elliot who flinched as the big book hit his stomach.
"Don't ignore me, or you're dead." The kid threatened, but Elliot set the book aside then got up and stared the kid right in the eyes.
"You have made a grave mistake, you toxic toddler." Elliot sneered, furrowing his eyebrows.
Elliot grabbed his book and swung it towards the kid, and it hit the side of his head. The kid fell down.
Suddenly, the kid grabbed Elliot's ankle and pulled it, causing Elliot to trip and fall. And also causing his book to slip from his hands and landing on the ground with a heavy thud.
The kid got up and raised his fists, seemingly trying to slam them down onto Elliot's face. Elliot, on the other hand, stared with fear at the kid's enraged eyes.
As the kid swung his fist downwards toward Elliot's face, but before it could land, a teacher ran in and pushed the kid away.
That experience gave him anxiety that someone stronger than him can come and beat him up any moment now.
But because of his cautiousness, he began to notice everyone's gaze, most were hatred and envy, others were cold and distant.
He never noticed them before, since when did they… then he remembered the times he acted superior, the times he corrected mistakes and criticized everyone including teachers.
The hatred in everyone's eyes, the inability to make friends or interact with anyone without them giving him a dirty look.
Except the teachers who were as cold as they always were, even when the kids were talking behind Elliot's back, the teachers would ignore it.
He kept asking himself "Why" but the more he thought, the more clear it was, he was an intellectual Bully.
He developed a coping mechanism which is to immerse himself into stories and fantasies, it was always there but it doubled after his life began to spiral.
One day, on his 9th birthday, his parents got him a gaming console that had a game downloaded in it, which he will then get addicted to for years.
Elliot developed a new hobby other than reading, and it was playing video games. And soon after it also became a coping mechanism.
One day, he met Natalie, she would try to get him to open up and talk and laugh but he'd remain cold and dismiss her.
He'd even push her away because to him, he was never used to this much friendliness, especially from someone his age.
It's safer to push something strange away than to embrace it and accept it.
He kept up this behavior, until he reached 14 where he would start accepting her but only a few at a time.
And his personality began to change, Natalie's personality began affecting his mentality, but even then, he's still the same person just with a slightly different mentality.
And the fact that Natalie was his only friend was true until he met Aurora… he felt something pull him to her every time he is near her.
Is it a crush? He never had any, so he can't compare it to past experiences, but he did read that having a crush is wanting to get closer to the person you have a crush on.
But he couldn't base it off feeling alone so he just shoved that feeling away so it doesn't interfere with his life.