Stanley Is Smart.

Stanley is smart.

He doesn't know it. No one knows it. Nobody truly saw the hidden depths of Stanley's mind. All their lives, they've been told: Stanford was smart. Academic. Bright. A world by his fingertips. Brimming with potential. His mind alone was worth millions. Stanley was lucky to be worth a cent. People knew where to look, where to point their attention, and it was never at Stan.

Ford was smart, Stan is right there. Ford was going places, Stan is right there. Ford will one day bestow upon the wisdom the world needs. Stan is right there.

But Stanley is smart. No one else knew.

Because no one knows what sharpness it took to craft the perfect lie. No one knows what understanding it takes to make masses grin in the wake of their words. No one knows what experience it belows to seemingly tip the scales of Lady Fortune herself in one's own favor as easy as breathing.

No one knows what cleverness it took to trick a trickster of the mind itself. No one knows, when Ford's own mind had dimmed with grief and despair, his hope crushed under inky black fingers bit by bit, Stan's had shone through, burning so brightly it took the two inhabitants away. No one knows what resilience of the mind it takes, to reach into the depths of their own mishapen, shattered remains and pick itself up at the call of their of their loved ones.

But Stanford knows. Stanford always knew.

Stanley is smart. He's always been smart. He keeps getting smart, every day, every minute and every second.

...

Stanford can only hope he doesn't get too smart. He can only hope that the lavender haze that plagues Stan's eyes blurs the signs enough so that he'll never be wise.

Because the day Stan wisens up, he'll understand what everyone— teachers, their father, Ford, and himself— was wrong. The day Stan wisens up, he'll see Ford as the walking chain of his insecurities and hurt that held him down for decades.

The day Stan wisens up, he'll know, and he will leave Ford to flounder.

Ford hopes Stan never knows how smart he really is. He would stay right there, just by Ford's side.