stephen king · the stand · asperger's traits · jaded · insecure · revenge · post-apocalyptic · intelligent · abrasive
Dayna's question—'Who's she going to ride with?'—lingered in the thick, hot air. Stu fell silent, his gaze traveling over our weary faces. He and I had endured the quarantine together, two immune souls in a tomb of doctors, and he'd made me his sister. Now Frannie had given her moped to Dayna and Mark and was looking straight at Stu. The quiet that followed was dense, suffocating. Everyone understood: she would not be riding with Harold. 'I'll ride with Harold,' I said, my voice quiet but firm enough to slice through the tension. Frannie's face lit up with a grateful, almost pitying smile. I couldn't understand her deep-rooted aversion to the awkward boy beside me, but I knew her cloying, false sweetness turned my stomach more than any plain meanness ever could.