Was i a genius?

no.

I was just a clever boy who was well taught.

“Your father is such an asshole, did you see what he just did!? He is a manipulative psycho!”

While my brother seemed to agree, i just dismissed her word.

While you might wonder why i didn’t care? it was because at the end of the week me and my brother would spend the weekend with my father, and....

“Your mother! What a sociopathic bitch! Didn’t you see what she did? She is raising you against me!”

...aaaaand this was why i didn’t care, it wasn’t tears rolling down my cheeks, not at all.

I wasn’t proud when they praised me for not “falling for the other’s manipulations”, not at all.

But i learned, i learned to lie to both them and myself, at first my father and step-father would slap me when catching me lying, but it didn’t stop me.

Because i knew that the truth would bring worse punishment, hours of mental torture with my father or mother crying saying how the other was an evil monster.

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Through all middle-school i was a quiet boy, who spent his time reading books about chemistry, philosophy and anything that caught my interest.

My teachers were worthless, so i stopped paying attention to them always passing my class with an average of 10/20.

I escaped in the world of knowledge be it fantasy or science, i was a dreamer.

I loved the feeling of passion when i came closer to understanding the world and the human mind.

I loved experimenting on others the psychological tricks i learned, put someone on a pedestal? everyone flock to them, nicknames? their power is nearly endless, blaming yourself for something you did not do and that the other knew he did? he will begin to think that it was entirely your fault, even if the reason for you to bear the blame is nearly nonsensical.

I loved the feeling of power that i got from watching them dancing in my palms, i loved their suffering and joy.

And in the vacation before i entered high-school, my mother began explained to me how in life i wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without friends, at that time i agreed to try it to prove her wrong, but it was in fact the moment which truly changed who i would become and the moment when without knowing i started to “fake it ‘til you become it”.

So when high-school started between existential questions like “how do i know that what i see truly exist and i am not just locked inside a mental asylum” and paranoïa like “my parents are spying on me, my teachers and classmate must be payed by them to keep an eye on me”, i started imitating the fictional character who had the most friends that i knew of.

And it worked well, too well.

But as i continued my escapism in books and my newfound love for alcohols and smoking with friends i tried to find a goal in life, a goal that would satisfy my hunger for control and would let me continue to learn more, always more.

and as i saw on the TV a reporting about a man with a super-human strength who was going around punching bad guys i knew, that i found my calling.