54. STEM
Author: Ryker Helios
last update2022-12-30 01:03:47

For a moment, silence dawns. I wonder if I had heard him wrong.

And then…

“You graduated high school at fifteen?” Coraline questions at the same time I exclaim, “you’ve been traveling around since you were fifteen?!”

“Yes, I did. But no, not really. That started later,” he chirps in answer to both the questions, “could’ve gotten out at fourteen if the teachers had let me skip another year, but noooo, they had to argue that I needed positive childhood experiences. What the hell is positive about high school, huh? The bullies? The snotty cheerleaders and too-good-for-you nerds? All those awfully stereotypes that unfortunately exist, along with teachers who could not care less! School was so boring, so I got done with it as soon as I could! Mom wanted me to go to college, and I wanted to study more too, so I did. Got a bachelor’s done, but as I was getting ready to start graduate school something happened that I absolutely refuse to talk about because of childhood trauma and whatever, so
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