Max

From my spot near the back of the class, I watched as Adam entered. He looked just as confident as before on the steps, not at all embarrassed to not only be the new kid but to be walking into class technically late.

“Hi, apologies—I was meeting with the headmaster,” Adam said to the teacher as he walked in.

“Adam,” our teacher said with a smile and a nod. “Welcome. It’s great to have you.”

“Thank you, excited to be here,” he said. His eyes scanned the room for an empty seat, and when he found one right in the middle of the room, he sat down.

The teacher then went back to the class discussion. “Adam, we were just talking about Oedipus Rex and the concept of free will. When it comes to this, can anyone think of examples that illustrate the author’s point of view?”

Adam raised his hand immediately. I nearly smiled but resisted at the last second. Of course he would be the first person to raise his hand. It didn’t take much to realize that Adam was determined to beat people to the punch. If everyone was going to be talking about him anyway, he would give them something to talk about that was in his control. If people were going to be curious about why he was selected to come here in the first place, he would demonstrate right off the bat.

One thing I had to give him a lot of credit for—he definitely wasn’t shy.

“Killing his father and marrying his mother just as predicted, even without realizing,” Adam said.

“Good, and what about that signifies free will, if any part of it at all?”

“Arguably, it doesn’t show free will. If anything, that could be considered an example of how we don’t have free will. Despite trying to avoid that outcome, it still ended up happening,” Adam explained.

“Great. Thanks, Adam. Anyone else have any thoughts they want to share? Any expansion on Adam’s interpretation?”

Another student raised their hand, offering a different example from part of the book. I then raised my hand.

“Max?” the teacher said.

“It could also be argued that Oedipus does have free will because he makes the active choice to continue looking into his past even after being told what would happen and also being told to let it go,” I said. “It was his inability to let go of the subject that secured his fate.”

The teacher smiled, nodding. “Good, good. Okay. And what is that meant to say about Oedipus as a whole? What do we think one overall theme from the book could be, combining these thoughts?”

“Fate is decided, but the way you respond to fate is not,” Adam said quickly, before I could say anything.

I leaned forward in my seat, surprised to see how quickly Adam interjected himself. I could see exactly where this was all going.

“And that’s where the decision to blind himself comes into play,” I added quickly after, attempting to beat him to the punch. Our teacher didn’t even have the chance to say anything else.

Adam swiveled in his seat to face me. “But was the decision to blind himself truly free will? Or was that also fated?”

***

Adam

I waited, enjoying the play of Max’s thoughts on his face. I could practically see him thinking and processing the information. I couldn’t help but be pleased by how willing Max was to be up for the challenge. He didn’t back down when I stepped in; he kept going. He added to it.

A twinge of a smile appeared at the corner of Max’s lips. “Oedipus himself argues that point.”

“But just because Oedipus argues it, does it mean it’s really true? Jocasta also thought that she knew the truth, and she’d ended up killing herself when she realized that her fate had turned out exactly as predicted.”

We kept going back and forth, our questions becoming increasingly more philosophical and compelling. The entire class fell away, and it was just the two of us, our eyes locked on to each other. It was an incredible rush. It was so rare for me to meet someone who was willing to spar like this. It wasn’t to say that I was particularly more intelligent than anyone else; it was that people tended to get tired of theoreticals and philosophy after long enough.

But it appeared that Max didn’t.

There was no doubt in my mind that this was meant to be competitive. I’d intentionally stepped on his toes, unafraid to contribute where I had the chance to. Max had responded because he felt like he needed to make sure I wasn’t stealing his limelight.

But there was also something else happening. I was truly enjoying myself. I liked pushing Max, poking at his perspective and adding new facts to his answers. I liked that our brains worked in similar ways but our approaches were just different enough that it made things fresh and interesting. We could be agreeing on the same thing but have different ways of getting there or justifying our answer.

And it wasn’t just me—I could tell Max enjoyed turning the tables on me. We were both having a ball, nobody interrupting.

“It could also be said that it’s all just a display of hubris. They attempted to push back against fate and because of that, they were punished,” Adam said.

“But if that were the case, their fate is dependent on if they decide to push back against fate or not. It would mean the prophecy was false. In the end, it seems to be believed that the characters were always going to suffer the same fate no matter what they did.”

As we continued on, classmates threw in small comments and reactions here and there. Whenever one of us made a good point, there were oohs. Someone in the back of the room had whispered a quiet damn at one point.

“All right, okay,” our teacher interrupted, bringing our attention back to the front of the room.

I returned to face forward, snapped out of my daze.

“Thank you for the very engaging and enlightening discussion. This is a reminder that your classmates have something to contribute as well, even if you both have a lot of thoughts on the subject. We’ll have time to discuss this all week,” he said. “Though, I suggest the conversations happen a little less aggressively.”

***

Max

When class ended, I was still riding the high of volleying with Adam. There was something thrilling about the way his brain worked. I took it personally that he’d steamrolled over me when giving the teacher answers to his questions, but I appreciated that he didn’t back down when I challenged him.

“Max, can I speak with you?” the teacher asked and called me over as the students began filing out of the classroom.

“Sure,” I said. I stepped through the crowd and stopped in front of his desk. “What’s up?”

“I applaud your rigorous engagement in the class today. It’s a pleasure to see you express in words the mastery of the material I see in your writing,” he said.

I offered a small, closed-mouth smile. It wasn’t necessarily that praise embarrassed me, but I never really knew how to respond to it. “Thank you,” I said.

“It’s good to see you come out of your shell,” the teacher said. “I encourage you to do more of it. It’s obvious that you have a talent for both writing and speaking. You’re very eloquent on both accounts.” He leaned back into his chair. “All right. Enough from me. Get on with the rest of your day. I look forward to hearing more from you going forward in class this year.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said and then headed out into the hallway.

The teacher wasn’t the only one surprised by my active participation today; I also didn’t exactly know where that had come from. I’d always appreciated and engaged in debate, but when it came to class discussion, I kept to myself more often than not. It’d never been in my comfort zone. The only time I felt okay with being the center of attention was when I debated.

But I couldn’t resist. The way Adam spoke, the points that he made—all of it made sense to me. It was like every thought pushed me forward, making me think more about the material and making me want to share it all openly.

It wasn’t all good—most of it had to do with wanting to compete with Adam’s ego. I didn’t like the way he was in the center of the room, stepping on my toes. The easy way he had of inserting himself into every answer. It all got under my skin, even if it had been a rush to engage with someone in that way. He’d provoked me to challenge him.

And despite the teacher’s praise, I knew it wasn’t just the material I was so into—it was the back and forth with Adam.

I hadn’t wanted it to stop.