The Best Person in Somewhereville
In Beckett’s eyes, Olivia is perfect. Okay, maybe perfect is too strong of a word. No human being is without flaws. She is no exception to this rule. This is not a story told after a fantastic apocalypse happens on Earth and ushers in the perfection of humanity. Advances in science or technology are not going to be able to control for the vices and imperfections of human beings. There is no soma to control the extremities of human psychology. Alien overlords are not going to come to Earth and fix all of humanity's problems. The setting is not in a mystical, isolated paradise in the middle of a mountain range in Tibet. Instead, this is simply the story of the best person, in the eyes of Beckett Voyce, in Somewhereville, North Carolina. Her name is Olivia Turner. Why is she the best?
Contrary to what some may assume, it is not that she is the most beautiful girl in town. She is of average height and weight. She has bright pink braces on her teeth. Her long dark brown hair is tied up in a perpetually messy bun. Her signature look is jeans with patterned button-down shirts of all colors. She has more faux leather jackets than Beckett can keep track of. Never once has Beckett seen her without make-up in the last two years. It continues to baffle him why she spends so much time putting it on. Who has that kind of time in the morning? She goes to soccer practice at six every morning. Beckett could barely get out of bed without the help of an obnoxious alarm clock. Anyway, there are many aspects of her personality that continue to perplex and astound him, the most prominent of which is the way her mind works.
Despite how long they have known each other, he has never grown bored of talking with her. She can make the most mundane incidences interesting simply by her questioning of them. She loves to question occurrences that everyone else takes for granted. Questioning is a phase that all toddlers experience in their psychological development. Olivia, now eighteen-years-old, has never fully lost her childhood curiosity. Nothing sparks her intrigue more than the unknown does. It is a simultaneously endearing and annoying quality, as Beckett knows that he can never answer all of her questions. There is no one in the world that can.
There is one example of this that comes clearly into Beckett´s memory. One night they sat together on a bench. It was the middle of August and the humidity of the day could still be felt lingering in the air. The temperature was comfortable, as the heat had subsided. There was only one boat out upon the river. The only source of light was the street light that hung above their heads. In the darkness, a silhouette of a person standing at the steering wheel was all that they could see on the boat. The question: Where do you think that person is going to this late at night? After a moment of silence, the answer Beckett gave: I don´t know. She longed to know the answer to her question. There are very few times that he had ever seen her upset; however, she does have a tendency to be frustrated often with an overwhelming curiosity. For those who do not know her as well as Beckett, the amount of questions she will asks may appear astonishing.
Whenever teacher ask if the students have any questions in class, Beckett cannot recall an instance where Olivia would not ask something. Even if it is one question, why? In his experience, high school teachers frequently dreaded the question. The question presents the possibility that they will have to admit that they do not know. They have to admit to being ignorant, to being human. In a similar fashion, she often questions teachers on her grades. He can still remember the genuinely confused look when she received a C on her first paper in Mr. Henderson´s class. She had never gotten a C on any assignment before that. Can we talk about my paper, Mr. Henderson?
She would receive an A in her ability to speak her mind, if that were graded. For her, it only seems natural. Why should she not? On the few times that she has been upset with a person that Beckett had seen, she would let the aforementioned person know immediately. The Matt incident was evidence of this trait. He can still feel the frustration when she abruptly cut him off during conversation. He was listing his numerous complaints towards his unreliable chemistry partner while they ate lunch. His partner´s name was Matthew Murdock. At that exact moment, Matt walked towards their table. Without hesitation, Olivia stood up and stopped him. Beckett watched as she persuaded him to sit down: You want a good grade, right? Is it really going to kill you to sit down and listen to him? Matt sat down and he listened. Beckett was no longer frustrated but grateful for Olivia. Olivia is no pushover. She refuses to allow people to treat herself or anyone else with disrespect.
She treats others with respect and she expects the same in return. Beckett cannot think of anyone who does not respect Olivia. While her peers strive for popularity, she is more interested in respectability. She refuses to do things simply because they will please other people. She can provide numerous reasoning for her actions when prompted, but that has never been one. A common response when questioned about her decisions, why should I? Here is another peculiarity of Olivia. She thinks in terms of the present and future and not in the past. Whether it is a facet of her personality or a consequence of her age, Beckett cannot be certain. To be honest, despite their long history he does not know much about Olivia´s past. He has never asked. If he ever were to ask, he has not doubt that she would answer his questions.
Olivia is not the type who talks too little nor too much in conversation. Of course, that is if one exempts her incessant questioning. She is an expert storyteller. On the other hand, she can also listen to someone for hours upon end. Between pauses she supplements the appropriate question as affirmation to the speaker that she is listening – What happened next? Whenever a conversation starts to die down, she has a knack for adding a question that starts it right back up again. When she speaks, she does not complain or criticize other people for their appearance or actions. Beckett can hear the words in his head being said her exasperated tone, if it bugs you that much why don´t you do something about it? This was a rhetorical question; it also proved effective for its purpose. Every time she said it, he knew that any answer he gave she would not accept.
On the subject of other people, Olivia is the least judgmental person he has ever met. She can and does talk to anyone and everyone at Middleton High School. She corrects him religiously when he uses generalized terms such as they or we. Do you really know all the people that fit that description, Beck? Is it even possible to know them all? To her, no one was superior or inferior to anyone else. Everyone is a human and deserves to be treated that way. She applies this principle to herself in equal measure. To his knowledge, she never purports to be superior to anyone in anything. Whenever the idea was proposed, she consistently denied it. Liv, you are an angel! Oh no, I’m pretty sure I´m human. I wouldn´t have to go to math class if I were an angel. She never has accepted praise in an ordinary fashion.
Similarly, there were common phrases that bothered Olivia. They bothered her in a way that they did not seem to bother her other peers such as Beckett. One example: that is just the way it is. To her, this answer to any question is insufficient. There is no reason that a person, place, or thing could not be changed by human innovation and determination. She is not naïve enough to believe that all change is easy. However, change is necessary After all, she once pointed out to Beckett without change there would be no progress. Beck, do you think Edison would have spent so much time inventing the lightbulb if he had not thought of the possibility of something better? Olivia is not a person who tends to endorse maintaining the status quo in all circumstances. On a number of occasions, Beckett had overheard her ask why does it have to be that way? The way that things are, she argues, is not always the way they should be.
Further, she often argues with Beckett that the phrase implies there is no underlying motivation behind the occurrence. Everything happens for a reason for Olivia, events do not occur in a vacuum. The phrase impedes an explanation of why and that is a travesty she aims to correct whenever possible. There is a cause and effect to every action. She once explained this philosophy to him using an apple. For instance, if I drop this apple out of my hand it is going to fall to the floor. The reason I know that this will happen is because of gravity. It did not happen at random, there is a reason for it. Randomness is essential in statistical sampling; however, it is not as useful when analyzing real life. There was no room for miracles in the world of Olivia.
Whenever she confronts a question from someone else that she does not know the answer to, she grabs her cellphone and looks up the answer on Google. Her Google search history is varied and extensive. She wants to know about everything. She generally has little difficulty in finding answers to the questions of who, what, where, and when. The more challenges questions are to explain the how and why. Academic in all professions constantly seek to understand through research how and why the world works in the way that it does. Olivia mirrors this process every day, a process fueled by her curiosity. Yesterday morning, as Beckett began to dance to the music he was listening to on his IPod, she unfailing asked him why are you dancing in the middle of the hallway, Beck? She then smiled and laughed.
One statement seems to ignite Olivia´s curiosity more than any other does – you cannot do that. He can always see it in her eyes, the look. A look that says exactly what he knows she is thinking, why can´t I? If a reasonable rationale exist for why she should not do something,-- examples being psychological or physical danger—she is not going to do it. On the other hand, if the rationale is lacking then it is a safe bet that she will do it. Beckett once used this information to his advantage to get her to participate in a five kilometer run with him. Liv, you can´t run a five k! You´ve never done it before. A month later when race day came, she beat him to the finish line. When she did, she made sure he noticed. What was it you said that I could not do again? Olivia excelled at proving other people´s expectations wrong.
Consequently, she sets unreasonable expectations for herself. When it comes to soccer, she expects the team to win every game. Consequently, Beckett spends time reminding her after every loss that it is an unattainable goal. She will stay up late into the night in order to make sure her paper, project, or presentations are perfect. Her papers often have numerous editions, as she inevitably always finds something that she can do to improve it. When she doesn´t, she will ask others for their advice. Beckett reassured her that the conclusion of her English paper last week made sense. But Beck, are you sure I couldn´t add anything? She is never satisfied; she always feels that she can do better.
To Beckett it is obvious that she is the best person in all of Somewhereville. Olivia would never agree with him, of course. It is this fact above all else, he feels that qualifies her for the title. She never allows herself to believe even for a moment that she is superior to anyone else. Even more so, she never compares herself to other people when self-evaluating. She is acutely cognizant of the fact that there are things that she does not know, which is why she asks about them. She constantly works to create the best version of herself that she can. She is not perfect, but she never stops trying to be. Perhaps, that is all that perfection can be.