Nerd // l.h [au] (re-writing)

Chapter 1 ~ "Sup Nerds!"

Avalon's P.O.V

When I was a child, I had a fascination with fairytales and happy endings. I dreamt of one day becoming the princess I thought I was destined to be, finding my prince charming, and living happily ever after. I thought life was one big tall tale.

This belief continued into my teen years. I thought everything would always work out in the end. If a school year ended badly, I'd always tell myself, "Well, maybe next year will be my year."

Unfortunately, I had to tell myself that every year, and now that I was a senior in high school, I didn't get another second chance to make that saying become a reality.

I walked through the hallways with my head low, my hands clutching the straps of my backpack, and my combat boot clad feet shuffling against the tile of the floor. I looked up through hooded lashes, trying my hardest not to make eye contact with anyone.

I did end up catching the cold, blue stare of Theresa Falk, volleyball captain and a girl I'd known since middle school. To think I used to believe we were friends made me physically sick to my stomach. She hated me ever since I snapped on her during softball season because she made fun of me. She ended up getting suspended for a game for being a brat. It was four years ago and it was her fault she wasn't over it.

My eye shifted slightly to observe an entirely different group, one that could've only been classified as the "guy jocks." There wasn't a preference of any sport within the group, but most of them either played football or wrestled or both. Some of them played other things though, like Calum Hood. He was the soccer captain as well as the kicker on the football team.

The football players were the kings of the school though, more specifically Luke Hemmings. He was a new kid coming into high school and Calum, being the nice guy he was, took him under his wing. Pretty soon, Luke passed Calum on the social food chain until he was comfortably sitting up on his throne. I didn't even understand how the two got along. Calum was so level-headed and kind whereas Luke just...wasn't.

I put my head down again, already overwhelmed by the people I was seeing, It was only the first day of senior year. How was I supposed to survive 179 more?

A thud sounded when my body collided with another, a pair of hands landing on my shoulders to steady me. I glanced up and caught the green eyes of Michael Clifford, one of my favorite persons in the world. He and I had been friends since we were kids considering we used to be neighbors. We only exchanged nods and small smiles, both of us knowing the other was already dying on the inside, before we headed in our own separate directions.

As if on instinct, I arrived at the double doors of a place that was uncharted territory for most but was all too familiar to me: the band room. Being in chorus and the marching band - the color guard to be exact - had deemed me with the classification of "nerd," not that I really minded all that much. Titles were only there to know who to associate with; they had no real meaning.

As I opened the doors, my ears flooded with noise from the mass of students within the large room. There was a group of girls by the color guard closets, a group of string players tuning their instruments, and a group all standing in the middle, which was my group.

Once I advanced toward them, a pair of bright hazel eyes landed on me and before I knew it, I was engulfed into a giant hug complete with squeezes from giant arms and swaying back and forth.

"Avalon's here!" Ashton called out, releasing me to be seen by the cluster of my friends. "Welcome back to hell Avalon!"

Ashton Irwin, my best friend since kindergarten. It all started when I fell off of the monkey bars at recess and he kissed my boo boo better. We'd been almost inseparable ever since. We knew each other almost as much as we knew ourselves.