I know this isn't that great, but I swear if I didn't get something in today, I wouldn't be able to at all!
Life’s a joke, or so the saying goes. If there is anything I’ve believed my whole life, it’s that I am myself one of those jokes. How else do you explain a gangly asthmatic with a heart murmur being born into a family overrun with the strong athletic type. My mother’s decision to name me after her grandfather Eugene seemed to reinforce the fact that I was destined to grow up the butt of countless jokes. My childhood was an endless cycle of trying to avoid the bullies and then pulling the famous atomic attack out of my backside once they found me. Making friends never came easy to me, in the whole of my youth I collected two…neither friendship lasted. After high school and then college I found the only things I had acquired in life to that point were a love for technology, and an extensive collection of comic books and graphic novels. I had a good job, but there was little for me to look forward to elsewhere. My life was dull, and honestly a little pathetic. That all changed the day I met Emma. She came into my life like a wild fire burning up everything as she roared through. At first she frightened me, and then she excited me. Eventually she changed my life forever.
Emma was the soul product of a loveless marriage. Neglectful and selfish, they paid her nearly as much attention as they paid each other. The first lesson Emma learned in life was that she was alone. She accepted this, letting her solitude envelope her, taking her to darker and darker places as the years rolled by. To distance herself from the world, Emma withdrew in to books. She read everything she could get her hands on, absorbing information like a sponge. It wasn’t long before she began using her acquired knowledge to unleash her own rage upon the world. Cold and cruel, Emma let her lips drip venom, poisoning every conversation, every relationship, every emotion that she ever encountered. She tore through life, destroying everything that got in her way. Her inability to allow others to emotionally touch her left her invulnerable to counter attacks. She was an invincible warrior, using her skills to outwit and crush everything that tried to get to close. This was her way of keeping her one truth absolute. She was alone…always.
Emma and I met at Comic Con. I never had much luck socializing at those events. I always ended up being pushed around or embarrassed in one way or another. Still, they were always the best place to find new additions for my collections, so I went. On this particular day I was trying to debate a hot story line with a less than polite couple. In turn I was being berated as an id*iot. Emma appeared out of nowhere. I’m not sure if she had been standing near by the entire time just waiting to attack, or if it was just luck she had passed by. What I do know is that the cuts that she inflicted with words alone were like watching some strange ballet taking place. She danced and twirled around ever counter attack launched, returning in their place cold hard facts and sarcasm. By the time she was finished I was certain that guy was going to punch her. I was also certain it wouldn’t have fazed her in the least. No one had ever defended me like that before, and I wanted to show my appreciation. I tried a simple thank you, only to be met with a blank stare. I extended my hand, and she ignored it. I offered to buy her lunch, and she turned to walk away. I stood there watching her go…and then stop. “You know what. I think I will.” she said turning around. I don’t know what made her change her mind, but we have been together ever since.
Emma is beautiful. Her freckled skin and burnt red hair make her blaze, radiating pure energy. I love to look at her, always scowling, and yet somehow still the most amazing thing I have ever laid eyes on. As a couple we run like a well-oiled machine. We each know how the other works. I accept Emma for who she is, not trying to recreate her. She stands guard by the wall she has built around us, destroying anything that may attempt to trespass uninvited. We aren’t exactly the couple that other couples clamor to make plans with. Emma tends to make forging friendships difficult, though she is trying to do better. We still spend most nights at home, just the two of us. I working on my laptop, and her deep in a book. She is no longer alone, but still she is just a little withdrawn. Emma doesn't like much affection given to her, nor does she offer much of her own. Our conversations tend to sway more towards my attempts to read her mind than actual words exchanged. It may seem strange that the two of us would find comfort in each other at all, yet at this point I could not imagine my life without her in it. Together we have created something that neither of us believed we would ever know. She has rescued me from the joke I believed I was, and I have changed her absolute truth.
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