Page 188 of The Perfect Spiral
“Wow! That’s amazing! What were you like in school?” I start to laugh to myself.
“Well... I was probably the annoying kid that taught the teachers as well as my classmates. I honestly hardly studied, which I don’trecommend doing. I read something and I would remember it word for word. But I was the top student in the school. Knox was second, and I knew it always bugged him. I skipped grades and was put into the same grade as my older brother Kyle. He hated it at first, but it grew on him after a while. I was always the smart one. I had to tutor some of his friends a lot of the time. When I was first in school, I used to get so annoyed because I didn’t understand why people weren’t thinking the same way I was or as quickly as I was…”
“So Knox Carter is smart as well as good at football?” I nod at her, laughing.
“You could put it like that, yeah, but I can assure you he does not need another ego boost.” I turn to look at him off stage and see he’s trying to frown, but the smile on his face is too big to suppress.
“But he was never a stupid guy. If he wasn’t playing football, I would say he would have gotten an academic scholarship. He has a master’s in business and finance, so he’s smart enough.”
“Like I said, he needs to shrink that ego of his,” I quipped, eliciting a wave of laughter from the audience. The rest of the talk proceeded in a similar vein, with few questions about my personal life.
As we neared the end of the talk, I decided to open the floor to the audience. The lights came up, and I was taken aback by the sheer number of people in the room. “Wow! I didn’t realize how many people were here,” I murmured, laughing to myself.
The sight of so many eyes on me reignited my nerves. After a few moments, a microphone was passed along a line of people until it stopped. A girl stood up with it in her hand.
“Have you ever been bullied?” she asked, her voice small. She was a petite girl with glasses that seemed to take up half her face. Despite her lack of confidence, she was strikingly pretty. I smiled at her and nodded.
“Yes, I have been bullied. In school and at home. In school by your typical mean girl and at home by a man I had to call my dad. What’s your name?”
“Kate, that’s a pretty name. I was bullied in school not because I was smart, but because I was related to certain people who were friends with certain people—namely, football players.
I could always tell when a girl was befriending me just to get closer to my brothers and their friends. But one girl, in particular, made it really hard for me to go to school. My own family doesn’t even know about any of this.
But I think it’s important to say. The fact that she would bring you down emotionally meant she was threatened by you. It took me a long time to figure it out.
But at the end of the day, she’s still chasing after the same type of guys and will likely end up as the next trophy wife. Meanwhile, I’m here, selling out an event, promoting STEM, being watched by over four million viewers.
I’m making my own impact in the world and getting recognized for it. At the end of the day, the nerds make the difference in the future, not the mean girls who stamp all over people out of fear.
Trust me, Kate, it gets better when you’re older. When you can buy a Chanel and Hermes bag with your own money, design your own house with a walk-in wardrobe, have any car you want in the world, and be happy in your own shoes.
The tough times in high school make you thick-skinned, and it makes it all worth it at the end of the long road.” As soon as I finished, a thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and I couldn’t help but smile at them.
“Plus, one day you might end up being her boss,” I added, making her laugh.
A few more questions were asked until a final one of, “Is it you in Knox Carter’s Instagram photo?” I leaned back in my seat, considering the question. I could tell the truth, but it would create a media circus if I did.
“No, it’s not me. We don’t even know if it’s him in the photo. He doesn’t talk about it. But he’s good with the camera if it is him,” I concluded, effectively ending the talk as time was up.
The lie was smooth and convincing enough that nobody challenged me further.
“Seeing as our time here is up, I would like to thank you all for coming out and taking the opportunity to listen to all the promoters in this conference, especially Alex.
But I would like to thank Alex for coming from Savannah to sit with us today and to share what she has shared. I hope it inspires a lot of girls to know that it’s alright to want to study STEM courses.”
I received a standing ovation and a round of applause. I thanked everyone for coming out and taking the time to see me, assuring them that STEM for girls can be cool too.
The cameras started flashing immediately when I stood up, catching me off guard for a second. I gave them one last wave and walked off stage to be greeted by a beaming Knox with his team behind him.
Chapter 64
As soon as I neared Knox, he pulled me into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him back, resting my cheek on his chest. I never thought that Knox Carter would actually comfort me.
“You were incredible, baby doll!” he whispered into my hair.
After the event was cleared, we made our way back to his Audi that was parked in a special space for the day. We got in and drove off alone.
It was late because I wanted to stick around and see the science conference, and so did Knox. He interrupted my thoughts on the day’s events. He parked as the lights had just turned red.
