Walking Through the Apartments

He heard Uzma laugh when he spoke, but thought it was something that happened. When he heard her speak with sarcasm about what he said, he realized that it was what he said that caused her to laugh. 'Years of being too smart has lead me to be quite arrogant. I have dropped modesty entirely. I suppose it makes sense, but she may not suspect that it would.' He looked down at his hands with a distant gaze, one that seemed as if he was lost in some problem.

Then, she responded that teaching is fun. She seemed genuine about it, almost to his surprise. She went over to the window to look at the sun setting to the West. It was natural, the rose to the East and set in the West, but many wondered why. He never once thought to bother with that question. Who was he to question God. Nonetheless, he knew that she seemed honest about what she said, and that she thought it was interesting that he was a teacher.

Then, she responded with something that made him cringe slightly. She asked him how old he was, something that felt strange. He was not sure why, but he could feel that it was strange for a girl to be asking his age. Even in the way she asked it, he could tell it was strange. She pointed out that he was not closed with personal information, which was true. She also pointed out that she suspected him to be around twenty. He guessed that she thought that only because he was a teacher, otherwise she might have gone younger yet. He gave a small grin when she said twenty though.

"You are closer than some who guess my age for the first time, I am actually younger than you guessed though. Only seventeen, but I was not trying to be arrogant when I mentioned being intelligent before. It is simply that I have never met anybody who has ever challenged me in any field of learning. Even people are something I can study and understand better than most."

He looked up for a moment, at the ceiling as if he was glaring at the sky that he couldn't see.

"It has made me arrogant that there has been nobody who could push me aside from myself since I was but a child. When most people are starting high school, I was already pushing far into my college education with a few fields of study. I have more PH.D's than most people can dream of obtaining in a lifetime."

Neal paused for a moment, looking straight at Uzma, willing to tell her something that he had told very few others.

"To be honest, it all feels meaningless. The only thing that even keeps me sane... I shouldn't say, but the government would likely not appreciate it."

He looked at Uzma carefully as she spoke, it seemed she was speaking the truth. She really thought he was somewhat attractive, not that it was unfeasible. He just never thought about his looks to be something that would garner attention before, but he figured it couldn't hurt though either. He gave a small smirk to her reaction, realizing that she was nearly choking on her own spit before she had recomposed herself.

"I bet your awkward middle age there was a little bit less hectic than mine, eh? Could you imagine if you were in college and had a guest speaker that was younger than anybody in the class? Most of the people are in disbelief to say the least, but some realize that I speak the truth of my age."

He watched as she opened the window further, letting air blow in to the room. It seemed that he had shocked her more than he at first realized. Still, he found it almost attractive that she was that shaken by his age. She must have really thought something to have that kind of reaction to his age. Then, she mentioned him being a genius, something that he had heard many people say about him since he was first put in school.

"Yeah, that is what everybody calls me. Some say that I am too smart for my own good, others say that I am the smartest person they have ever met and I will surpass all human limits."

He noticed that her eyes were close in color to his own, a green that seemed to nearly match his own. It was a deep intense green, something that was not commonly seen in people. It was quite alluring to be honest, something he had never really realized. Very few others had green eyes, and never a woman that he had met.

She mentioned modeling to Neal, suggesting that he would be the manager and that she would do the modeling. It made him smile at how funny it seemed, him being a modeling manager. Of course he could manage it, but it just seemed peculiar to him for a seventeen year old guy to manage a model. With a grin, he would respond to her sentence, not insinuating sarcasm or a straightforward yes. His teeth seemed almost perfect, straight and white.

"I suppose that would be interesting, managing a model and making some extra cash on the side."

Uzma then asked what he meant by the government not liking what he did in some of his spare time, something he almost did not expect her to ask. He would answer it nonetheless though, hoping that what he would give to be enough to make her either realize or know that it was a more private subject. "Just that the government doesn't like people taking the law into their own hands, but that is something that I am not sure you would want to hear."

Neal took a small step back, feeling uncomfortable after she said what she did. Then he realized that she was probably joking with him a little bit, something he almost didn't realize. Lacking real social skills really was something that was difficult, he still felt oddly alright with everything so far though. Usually social interactions this long left him feeling like he wanted to run to a dark and quiet room.

'Well, she thinks it impressive that I am this smart. That she seems to be honest about, which is a good thing for the most part. Still, I can help but feel that she really finds something in me. Best not to be shaken by it though, I wouldn't think twice about anything with girls. Would I? Am I perhaps starting to think more about girls than I used to? I am already seventeen, it would be unbelievable... just strange.'

Just a moment before he was going to say something, one of the moving men announced their completion and Uzma gave her permission for them to go. It seemed like they were puppies following her every whim, something that nobody had done for him. Probably because he had taken their words as he was too intelligent to actually converse normally with people.

As they left, Uzma turned to him and said how she didn't realize he would even consider the proposal to be a manager to her modeling. She was quiet for a moment, as if she was pondering what he had spoken to her about his taking the law into his own hands. She was probably drawing conclusions, whether they were right or not he did not know.

Then, she suggested something very strange, him moving into her guest bedroom. It was a strange proposition, something he'd consider but not give a yes or no to yet. It was strange that a woman would ask a man to move into her house, but she seemed to trust him.

"Well, I will think about it, but why don't you tell me what you do? There must be something you do in the spare time. Something you wouldn't want anybody else to know."

The sun was nearly all the way down, and he would need to leave soon, but he would wait and see if she had anything more to say. Before he left, he at least wanted to know what she did for a living. Or at least what it is she did that nobody else knew.

Just as he had suspected, she wanted something else from him before he left. He knew people better than they knew themselves sometimes, but that was just his way perhaps. Still, he loved how rarely he was behind in a conversation with others. Except of course in the standard social department.

As she walked across the hall to the guest room, she revealed a room very similar to the master bedroom. It was large enough, had a large bay window and showed a great view of the eastern side of Los Angeles. Obviously, she was trying to seduce him into moving in, but he would think about it before making up his mind. It wouldn't be bad to have a regular place to stay, especially if it meant he could guarantee a new friend. Still, he was cautious about almost everything he did. Striving for perfection in life was a downfall of intelligence.

To his question about what she did, she responded to be unemployed. At the same time, it seemed she enjoyed it, and had odd jobs here and there anyways. Probably something else she did too, but he would figure out later. The room she showed him needed some remodeling, but it was a great room to stay in while he wasn't busy teaching.

As she asked him if he wanted a cab called, he gave a gentle smile. She cared about him at least a little bit, but the way she did was still clouded to him. Whether it was as a younger brother type feeling, or a feeling like he'd make a good boyfriend was still hidden from him.

"Yeah, I would appreciate that, I sadly leave my phone at home too often. I should start bringing it along more, I just never know if I can leave it on me though."

As she spoke the last bit, about getting him her phone number and saying that she wasn't "too old", he felt slightly rude for having insinuated it.

"I apologize for making that unclear, I am just very young for what I do which is a bit strange. Anyways, I will definitely give you a call."

Neal watched as she smiled, a genuine smile it seemed. He could read people well, and it seemed that she was genuinely smiling about the encounter today. He felt relieved that everything worked out relatively well today and that there were no real problems with the day. A girl needed help with her new apartment and her car, but otherwise nothing was wrong with it. He almost wondered why she wore her hair the way she did, but would not over-analyze any more.

Shortly after, she moved toward the door and he followed. She opened it, holding it and letting the yellowish green light from the light blue glass shine upon her. It was an interesting thing to see her in this light, she looked very attractive in this light, even with the odd haircut.

Neal grinned when she began speaking to him about needing him to leave. "Yep, I will make sure to call you up and stop by before I leave. With some clothes that aren't so nice, so I can actually help with the car."

Neal made his way down the front steps, and then would stop and wait for her to see if she would say goodbye. Besides, the taxi wasn't here yet anyways, he would need to wait until it arrived.