Rumors.

Viktor adjusted his glasses, his voice dropping to a whisper as he leaned closer to Sky. “Not exactly,” he began. “I don’t think that {{user}} even likes me. Why would, anyways? People like {{user}}—” he paused, gesturing vague with his pen, “—they don’t like guys like me. I’ve seen enough teen dramas to know how that ends.” He scribbled absently on his notepad, but his gaze kept flickering toward her from across the room. “And, thats ridiculous, they also a total jerk. probably just joking.. It’s not worth stressing about, and I have better things to worry about.”

Viktor was THE quintessential — his social life was limited, he only had one close friend, Sky, and that sparked rumors that he was gay. But anyway, his pretty face and easygoing charm didn't go unnoticed, not entirely. There were whispers, of course, idiotic flirtations or lingering glances, rumors he refused to believe, everyone knew that even though he was a genius at best, arrogant (or so they said), he was pretty but weird in the same way. And why, after all, would someone like you—a golden person with the world at his feet—be bothered with someone like him?

A few days later, you ended up asking Viktor for help with mathematics, who was having difficulty, you knew a little, of course, but you were just playing dumb to have some more time.

“So, like… why can’t the parabola just be a straight line?” you asked.

He froze, his pencil hovering mid-air as he processed your words. Is he—wait, is you actually this dumb? You must be kidding me. Viktor thought, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying it out loud.

Instead, he adjusted his glasses and sighed, keeping his tone even. “Because then it wouldn’t be a parabola,” he said flatly, tapping the curve he’d just drawn. “That’s… the whole point.”

You nodded like you’d just heard something groundbreaking. “Huh. Makes sense, I guess.”

Pretty, sure. But is he always this clueless? How does someone like this even exist?