• The song goes really well with this chapter, so give it a try •

Mia heaved in a wheezy breath when the thoughts kept swirling around in her head like the worst kind of carrousel on the planet, but still, one somehow managed to stayed above them all; Could Eli really be the genius?

There was only one way to find out.

Quickly before anyone saw, Mia ripped the one page with the scribbles out of Zoe's math book, hoping she wouldn't notice for a while, just like she obviously hadn't noticed the writing yet, either. If she had, she would've gone crazy and she definitely would've told someone. Mia therefore deduced that she hadn't and stuffed the scrap of paper into her pocket before closing Zoe's book and putting it back on the table where she had left it, just as Zoe returned from the bathroom.

"Hey, I'm back," She announced needlessly. "I'm getting hungry though, do you wanna get out of here and call it a day, I'm—Mia? Are you okay?" Zoe suddenly asked and granted her a wary look when she noticed how pale Mia had gotten all of a sudden.

The thing was, it had just occurred to Mia that if he really was the genius, she had fucked him; Fucked a goddamn mastermind – sucked on his cock. Mia could hardly fathom it, let alone put it into context inside her head.

So much made sense now... and yet so little.

Shaking her head, Mia quickly plastered a fake smile on her lips and looked up at her friend who was still waiting for an answer. "What? I'm perfectly fine, I think I was just having one of those brainfart thingies you talked about. Totally spaced out."

Zoe frowned a little, as if not really believing her, but chose not to push the subject any further and leave her alone. "Riiight, okay. So anyways, as I was saying, do you wanna go grab some food? I'm starving," She said as she begun to gather her things. "I don't think I'll get more work done tonight anyway, my thoughts are all over the place."

Preaching to the choir, Mia thought to herself and sucked in another breath. "Uh, actually, I think I'm just gonna go home once I'm finished here. I'm super tired. Raincheck?"

"Sure. See you tomorrow then." Zoe smiled, bending down to give her a quick hug before she then trotted off. Mia quietly watched her leave before her mind then zoned back in on the new information it was still trying to process, churning and steaming. It truly was mind-blowing. She didn't even know where to go from here.

But the way she saw it, there were two things she could do now; A – go up to Eli and confront him point blank about him being the Genius. Confirmation at this point was hardly needed, but given as stranger coincidences had happened, it was better to be safe than sorry before she went to the media with it. This would definitely be the easiest way to get the truth, but also the riskiest; He could throw another full fledged tantrum like he did when she confronted him at Low Point, where he pinned her up against the door, fuming down at her. What had happened next was of course what Mia wanted to avoid, finding herself getting bent over and fucked into oblivion again.

Or did she?

Shaking her head and forcing herself to focus, Mia quickly considered her second option, plan B; Creating a mystery.

This one would definitely be the most satisfying, but also the hardest. It all basically boiled down to the fact of wanting to fuck a little with him, like he had been fucking with her for days – stringing her along.

He had been a genius all this time, watching her prance around and accuse him, when all he had to do was open his mouth and tell her wrong. But no. All he did was sit back and enjoy watching her mouth him off, and then as his own form of punishment, worked his way into her pants, or more precisely, worked her out of them. Cunning, fucking prick...

Yeah, Mia would say she had earned the right to fuck back with him a little. This was her turn to make him feel ridiculous, and all the while making him realize that he might be a genius, but she wasn't stupid either, despite his proclaims.

For all the times he insulted her... for all the times he caused her hell... for all the times he fucked her and knew full and well what he was doing...

He had lied to her by omission, and now he was going to feel exactly how payback was a bitch. Or rather how she truly could be a true bitch when she wanted to. He thought she was a bitch now? Wait and see, little asshole.

Mia began feeling diabolical from thinking back on all of it, felt the anger and retaliation brew under her skin as revenge formed in her head, shaping into a plan.

All he had to do was tell her he was the genius and they could've avoided all of this, the unpleasantries. It still wouldn't have excused what he did to the school, but at least she might've shown him more respect. In a way though, Mia supposed it made more sense now, all the quoting of Oscar Wilde, his well-equipped vocabulary, the constant feeling that he always knew better than he let on. A mind like his probably even knew exactly what to do to push her buttons, to make her blow up and do something as insane as fucking him. Manipulation, all of it.

So, deciding it was time to taste a little of his own medication, Mia created a plan in her head; she was going to draw him out of his shadows, expose him the world. She was going to make him goddamn confess. He had played all of them, but now it was time for him to get beaten in his own game.

And all by the woman he called a bitch.

~~~

The very next day, Mia walked proudly into the Alexandrettia with her head high, feeling invincible; Nothing could bring her down today – nothing.

All night she had spent planning this particular moment, spent hours imagining how she was going to bust Eli's balls thoroughly. All metaphorically, of course, she would never cause him physical harm.

And yet...

No, just metaphorically. Mia needed him to be alive so he could explain to everyone just how the hell he had gotten so smart, and of course, the biggest mystery of them all; why he hadn't come forward with it?

To do that, Mia had devised a simple plan that was close to fool proof. All she had to do was hang a single piece of paper in the infamous auditorium (without of course anyone seeing her do it), a sheet of paper with a little text she had designed just for him. On the paper was a small message that hopefully would get the whole school talking and him shitting his janitorial suit. If he loved media stunts and mysteries, he sure was gonna love her little letter to him;

You know me and now I know you,
I figured out your little secret, I've even got the proof,
You might think I'm shallow, but I can be a genius, too.
So you like solving mysteries? Well here's one for you;
Who spends their day in the spotlight, but prefers to keep in the dark?
Who walks with their head held low, but their mind kept high?
I know the answer and so do you,
But I wonder now – will anyone else figure it out, too?

Smirking to herself, Mia was quite proud of the riddle she had composed. How long would it take for someone to crack the riddle? To look for someone who walked with their head held low? Mia didn't know where he came from, but here at the Alexandrettia everyone kept their noses pointed towards where they were going, so it wouldn't be hard to find the one person who didn't – the only one who also happened to not be a legal member of the school, but still went there every day. A person who matched the male description of the handwriting and had the proper age...

It was the perfect plan, but Mia knew it also had a downside; Eli would hate her forever for exposing him, but then again, why should she care? She had what she needed for her art project, she was done with him. And besides, despite the cruelty in the way she decided to expose him, she was actually doing him a favor; Science had big money, especially if you had a big brain. Eli looked like someone who could use a buck or two, so getting discovered could potentially mean big things for him. Scientists were always trying to get discovered, so if you looked at it this way, she was actually helping him.

Even if he wouldn't see it that way, it would pay out for everybody anyway; Mia would get the satisfaction of sweet retaliation, Eli would get discovered and probably get a job somewhere nice, a place better than mopping the floor, and the Alexandrettia could finally go back to its normal, quiet school days where everyone wasn't obsessing over a mysterious genius.

All in all, there was no downside. At least not one Mia needed to concern herself with.

She was walking down the hall, quite happily in her own mind-bubble of vengefulness, when all of a sudden, a sight caught her attention out of the corner of her eye, causing her to pause up - and just like that, all of her urges for revenge dissolved into thin air.

Standing in the hallway, some fifteen feet away from her, was Eli, face deep in an argument with the head janitor about something she barely caught the brunt of – all because of the little attachment clutching onto his hand; a little girl.

Mia completely froze up, both inside and out. The little girl was adorable. Barely reaching Eli to his thigh, she held onto his hand, seemingly uninterested and unbothered by the harsh conversation Eli was having with the janitor.

"...couldn't leave her home alone. I can't afford a fucking nanny thanks to the fine you guys shoved up in my face, so you better find a goddamn place where she can be while I wax your fucking floors."

"Listen, young man, this is a pristine school, not a daycare—"

"She's five, for Christ's sake. She's not going to shit on your golden furniture. Just find a fucking place where she can be for one day until I can find a nanny. One. Day."

The head janitor sighed and pinched his nose before looking down at the little girl. Mia followed his lead; She was a beautiful little cupcake with golden, curly hair down to her shoulders, and apple cheeks pink like the fluffy princess dress she was wearing. She wore pink tights on her legs and a pair of ballet slippers on tiny feet, both looking a little old and worn out, though. Her face however, radiated and reminded Mia of a doll, and her eyes were the color of perfectly brewed camomile tea; She looked like a mini-version of Cinderella.

The head janitor finally sighed one last time, and Mia couldn't help but notice his features soften as he looked at the little beauty, saw her looking up at him with her big doe eyes. "Alright, maybe we can figure something out..." He yielded, after another moment of thought.

"Hey, babe!" A voice then suddenly chirped behind Mia. She yelped and whipped around in startle to find Anna there, smiling at her. "What's up? Why so jumpy?"

"I was just..." Mia hesitated and looked back at Eli who was listening to what the head janitor was proposing.

"Oh my God, look at that little muffin!" Anna then squealed, her voice laced in awe as she saw what Mia was looking at as well. "Look at dem little shoosiiies and her pretty tully gowny... awww, and she's missing her front toothie..."

Mia ignored Anna's babytalk and instead watched as Eli nodded and accepted whatever the head janitor had proposed to him. Eli then let go of her hand and crouched down to the little girl who smiled brightly up at him. And then, to Mia's complete surprise, he began signing to her in American Sign Language.

"Oh, my God." She whispered without taking her eyes off them. "Anna, what's Eli saying to her?"

Anna was a psychology major which meant she had to understand all the different ways of expressing oneself – verbally and non-verbally. Ergo, she knew how to speak ASL.

"Uhm," Anna frowned and squinted her eyes in concentration. "He's just telling her that... 'You'll have to spend the day in arts and crafts with some people, but it's okay. You can draw and paint all day, would you like that, princess? I promise I'll come by and check on you as often as I can. Are you okay with that?'"

Mia's heart clenched as the little girl gave him a toothy smile and then nodded before wrapping her tiny arms around his neck. Eli pulled her in for an embrace and placed a kiss on top of her head, then stood up again, taking her hand. "She'll do it."

"Excellent," The head janitor replied. "I'm sure Mr Valenches won't have a problem with it, but I'll have to run it by him first."

"Whatever."

Anna awed again behind Mia when Eli pulled the little girl up into his arms and then proceeded to carry her away, following the head janitor. "That was so adorable! And sexy, I mean did you see the way he signed so swiftly? Haaawt. You think that little girl is his sister?"

Mia felt her throat tighten. She didn't even know he had a sister – then again, she'd never cared enough to ask. "I-I don't know."

"Well, you're lucky. You get to spend the rest of your day with that little buttercup."

That was true, or at least so it appeared if Valenches didn't object. But Mia's mind was more concerned about something else.

After all of her planning to expose Eli to the public, to throw him to the media and watch them go crazy, it all just melted away after looking at that little girl. She had realized in one dumb, horrifying moment that he had responsibilities; He had a family. If he got swarmed with media madness, not only would he suffer, but so would the little girl. She didn't deserve that. She was innocent from head to toe and Mia simply couldn't do it. Instead, she took a breath and decided to just go to class, drowning in the pit of guilt that just poured over her.

~~~

"Everybody, we have a special guest who'll be joining our class today," Valenches smiled as he walked into the first class of the morning with Eli's sister securely situated on his arm. "This is Elana. We've gotten the extraordinary honors of babysitting her for one of our staff members, so she'll be helping us paint today." He chuckled when the little girl whose name was Elana nervously hid in the corner of his neck and blushed when everyone looked at her. A collective 'aww' ran through the class, mostly from the girls, while guys just seemed to shift on their feet a little, looking down and around.

– She had every single one of them spellbound just like that. Including Mia.

"Now, Elana here is what we call a deaf-mute," Valenches continued, looking at her with a smile, pinching her cheek a little. "She can't hear and she can't speak, but she does know ASL. I know most of you don't understand that, but luckily for everyone, I do, which is also why I got the pleasure of keeping her company today," He gave her a little wink that made her blush even more. "So, I'd like everyone to be on their best behavior for our guest today and try and make her feel as comfortable as possible," Valenches calmly looked to the class who were all completely enchanted by the little girl. "And with that said, let's get to it."

Class then begun, and Mia had to admit out of all the days she had been having trouble focusing, this was the hardest one of them all. And she wasn't alone with that opinion for once.

Many of the other girls in her class who already had a soft spot for Valenches now completely melted when they saw how he and Elana took a seat on the linoleum floor in front of his desk and pulled out some paints and white papers. Elana thereafter quickly came out of her shell at the sight of all the colors and immediately started dotting and splatting colorful rainbows of paint on the white papers sheets, and even giggled whenever Valenches signed something profound to her.

Mia couldn't believe that this innocent, smiling, happy little girl could possibly be related to Eli. She didn't look like him at all. Eli had blue eyes – clouded and mostly overcast, but blue. Elana eyes had the same color of golden honey or even amber when she looked away from the light, and whereas Eli's hair looked dark blond, almost brunette and black in certain lights, Elana's hair was as bright and golden as sunlight. Almost like Mia's hair herself.

She had to assume if they indeed were related, they had to be half-siblings or maybe even adoptive. If so, that would explain a lot about Eli.

At one point during the class, Elana got enough of painting and so Valenches decided to take her on a walk down the aisles of the students easels, to inspect everyone's progress and get her valid opinion on them. However, Elana turned to be a hard judge when it came to liking a picture. She either scrunched her nose or shook her head whenever Valenches stopped up in front of one of the canvases. The best reaction they got was a frown and it was to Mia's sideman who was painting the deck of cards that was building the house hands. She could imagine that being confusing for a five-year-old, but nonetheless amusing.

But as Mia perhaps should've expected when Valenches stopped them up in front of Mia's portrait, Elana broke out into a huge toothy grin and started eagerly clapping her hands and reaching for the canvas that displayed the man she clearly recognized by the one thing a small girl like her had to be fascinated by; Eli's tattoos.

"Whoa, looks like we got a winner," Valenches observed and picked Elana up off the floor so she could see better. "I don't blame her. It's coming along beautifully, Mia."

Mia smiled a little nervously as Elana begun signing clumsily and made Valenches frown. Whatever she was saying, it was obviously something that Valenches hadn't expected her to say.

"Mia, why does Elana keep saying Beastie?" He finally asked, regarding Mia with a raised eyebrow.

Beastie? Mia thought, feeling cold panic chill her spine a bit. Maybe that was what she called Eli. "Uh, maybe she thinks it looks like a beast?"

Valenches looked suspiciously at her – with good reason of course – but didn't comment any further on it. Instead he gave a thoughtful hum and set Elana down again so she could run off and do whatever she wanted. "Alright then. Your progress is coming along nicely, though. I'd say you're almost done. It just needs that last something I can't pinpoint."

Mia nodded and agreed. Now that she knew that Eli was the genius, there was so much more to him than just the art outside of him. There was an entire enigma inside of him, a whole other person that she was going to channel out onto her canvas. She just didn't quite know how to do it yet.

"Alright class, lunch break!" Valenches then announced, just before the bell rung. "We'll come back afterwards and continue, so cover up your paints and leave your brushes. Go get some food."

The whole class broke up and then adjourned to the cafeteria – Mia actually joining them this time. Since they had to continue afterwards, there was no point in cleaning yet, so with a growling stomach, she proceeded to the cafeteria where she met up with Zoe and Anna. They had both had a challenging day, too, it seemed.

"Now that the servers are up and running again, you wouldn't believe how much I had to catch up on," Zoe told, actually having brought her laptop with her to the cafeteria, to work while she ate. "I've gotta get this algorithm down so I can present my problem to Mr Bleacher by Friday. It's Tuesday today, and I'm not even close to being done. I'm going to be working late these next few days, I can already tell."

"Tell me about it!" Anna contributed, taking a bite of her cucumber stick. "I'm reading up on all the latest research for my dissertation. Did you know that a survey revealed that 15% of Americans find sarcasm to be an important quality in a relationship? Fifteen percent. What happened to the world?"

"You think that's tough?" Zoe snorted. "Try studying the pattern of the millions of different DNA's in the world. It's like, every cell in my body knows how to replicate DNA, yet I'm not in on it, so I have to spend hours studying it. What's that about?"

"Guys, I get it, learning is hard," Mia broke in when it looked like they were about to begin the 'whose horse is bigger' talk. "But it's not a competition. We didn't spent years of training to become the best so we could get accepted here, just to waste it on something as petty as competition. We're here, we're at the Alexandrettia, we already won! Let's just be happy about that!"

"You're right," Anna nodded apprehensively, smiling. "I am happy. I'm gonna become the next goddamn Oprah Winfrey and—awww, look! I think my heart just melted!" She then suddenly cut herself off and cooed, her face softening with awe as she looked at something behind Zoe and Mia.

Both of them turned around in their seats and then found the cause of Anna's cooing to be Eli who was sitting in the far corner of the cafeteria with Elana, smiling and goofing around with her. Her dress twirled around her as she spun like a clumsy ballerina, holding on to Eli's finger that kept her from losing balance. Eli was chuckling down at her, his eyes actually twinkling; Mia dropped her jaw.

"Who is that?" Zoe then asked, breaking the silence that had all fallen upon them in their awe-struck moment. She had missed all the commotion that morning, so she didn't know who Elana was. "Why does Eli have a little girl with him? And what is that thing on his face? Is he smiling? That looks weird as hell."

Mia actually thought it looked beautiful and just a little bit fucking sexy. He had a perfect set of white teeth, so why didn't he show them off more often? He even had dimples, who would've known?

"We think that's Eli's sister," Anna replied to Zoe's question when Mia didn't. "Did you know he had one?"

"I didn't even know he could smile." Zoe blinked, looking as dumbfounded as Mia. "Seriously, that looks so weird. He's always brooding, even in the club. That girl must be some sort of hypnotist or an alien with magical powers. Or a unicorn."

Or maybe she's just his soft spot, Mia thought. She frowned a little as he signed something to her, something that made her nod and then sit down to take a bite of a carrot stick.

"Well, I just think she's cute," Anna voiced, sighing in adoration at the sight of him cutting out her veggies into smaller bites. "So friggin' cute."

And yes, Mia had to agree to that. It was cute. It was another side of him she didn't know existed, but it was definitely going on her canvas somehow. She just had to find the right way...

~~~

Mia was in the parking lot after another long and exhausting day. Not only had she thought she would've expose Eli today, but she also thought she would've hurt him like he had hurt her. But, after seeing him with Elana and seeing a side of him she didn't know existed, she felt godawful. How could she have wanted to do that to him? How?

Elana or no Elana, it didn't matter. It had been the wrong way to go about things. She knew better than to go behind his back and expose him, just to get some petty revenge, when really, she should've just come up to him and asked him in person about everything. But she had been so caught up in hatred, she had nearly lost perspective of everything for a moment there. Thank God she came to her senses before she went through with it. Now, Mia felt nothing but ashamed of herself.

She was rolling off the school's property in her car when her eyes caught two people by the bus station. Eli was reading the bus schedule with a duffle bag slung over his shoulder, while Elana was standing next to him, trying to catch his attention. Tiredly, he ran a hand through his hair before leaning down to her and signing something to her. Elana then pouted and nodded, calming down a bit, while Eli returned to reading the bus plan.

This time Mia didn't hesitate. Eli didn't know what she had been planning to do to him today, so he didn't know how truly horrible she felt, but Mia felt that she somehow needed to repent her actions, even if she hadn't actually gone through with them. She still felt guilty, and even though this was a lousy way of making up for it, it was a start. She rolled her car up to the edge of the road in front of them and then rolled down her window, seeing Eli turn his bitter eyes to her. "Hey, uh, would you guys like a ride?"

Eli scoffed lightly before turning fully to face her, tucking Elana behind him. "I've heard a prostitute say those exact words before. Switching profession or just trying to take a poor crack at philanthropy?"

Mia had expected him to say something like that. "No. I just..." Fuck, how was she going to get him to say yes? "I-I guess I just wanted to make sure Elana got home safely. I know taking the bus this late can be dangerous."

"Do you now?" Eli replied, taking a step closer. He leaned in on the roof of the car, glaring down at her. "Tell me the story in detail, I'd love to hear how an Alexandrettia girl knows about dangerous bus rides. Did you crack a nail while riding one once? Bust a heel? Maybe even got your purse stolen?"

"Eli—"

Elana suddenly jumped out behind him and came up to the car, grinning wildly and signing enthusiastically at Mia. Eli clenched his jaw at whatever she was saying, momentarily getting distracted from their argument. After a moment, he signed something to her, pursing his lips.

Elana grinned again and nodded and kept on signing with her tiny hands. She was clearly worked up about something, and from the looks of it, that something seemed to be Mia.

"She says she knows you," Eli then finally voiced, grinding his teeth. "She says she liked what you were drawing in art class."

"She recognized your tattoos," Mia calmly explained. "She got all exited and my art teacher Valenches said she kept saying Beastie. Is that what she calls you?"

A muscle in his jaw ticked at that, but he quickly brushed it off, sealing off any emotion with a hard expression. "Non of your business."

Mia sighed. And there went his walls. "Look, just let me drive you home, okay? I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for your sister. She deserves to get home at a reasonable hour so she can get to bed early. She's had a long day."

A shadow now slid over his face, just as his eyes turned down to Elana. "She's not... she's not my sister. She's my friend's sister."

Mia gasped. "Caleb's?" The one's whose sister he had threatened to kidnap?

Eli cocked a strong brow at her. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, I overheard you talking on the phone the other day," Mia nervously told. "I didn't mean to—"

"Sure you didn't. Drive on, princess, we don't need your help."

"Eli—"

Elana suddenly clapped her hands loudly when both of them had neglected to see the bus stopping and taking off. Eli whipped around and cursed blasphemously, probably because he knew, just as Mia did, that it was the last one. He furiously ran his hands through his hair and cursed some more, kicked the bus stop sign.

Mia unlocked her doors and waited as Eli slowly turned around, glaring lethally down at her while trying to control his temper. "You need a lift now," She calmly said. "Please, Eli, just take the offer. What's the worst I can do? It's just one ride this one time."

Gritting his teeth and looking like he was trying to suppress an urge that only he knew what involved, he clenched his fists, before slowly dragging his eyes to Elana who looked patiently up at him. With a controlled breath, he then unclenched again and managed to sign something to her. Elana's eyes widened in excitement, then turned and looked at Mia, before breaking into an eager clapping and nodding enthusiastically at her; She gave her a big grin.

"Fine," Eli then growled, turning to look at Mia as well, but not before picking Elana up into his arms. "Looks like the princess gets her fucking wish. Drive us home."

And then with that, they both got into her car and left Mia wondering as she begun driving... exactly which princess had he referred to this time?

• • •

Shut up and drive.