The Confidence of a Nerd

Chapter 8 (EDITED)

The first time I saw Lia, my brother, Ace, and I were sitting in the front row of the stand in Adrenaline, watching his future competition. She had just walked in the ring, all decked out in boxing gloves and gym clothes and every eye was on her. Ace made fun of me because of how I looked at her but no matter what he said I couldn't seem to pry my eyes away from her. Despite his teasing, he wasn't looking away from her either but for a different reason. I have no doubt in my mind that he was feeling intimidated. She fought like she was dancing; every calculated move that she made was beautiful and flexible but it was also extremely powerful. He was going to end up fighting her someday and there's no way he was winning against her.

I get why he looked so determined though, we do need the money. It's already set in stone that I'm going to inherit my dad's car dealership but at the moment I'm too young and I need to get my college degrees before I can actually take over. There's somebody who's going to be my substitute for a couple years before I can take the reins but until then, I'm not getting paid by them. There's always the money in the will but I can't access that until I turn eighteen and I'd rather not spend that money either. I mostly just work part time to save money and I only fight at Adrenaline if mom's hospital bills spike up. I pay for mom's hospital bills while Ace pays for the house bills so he gets pretty hot headed and he works regularly for Adrenaline. I think it's how he copes with the stress but unlike him I don't like fighting. I'd rather he try to rely on me a bit more or find a different way to release his anger but what can you do?

Before my dad passed away, he taught me to only invest in things that interest me. However, when he died and when we found out that my mom had cancer, I became numb. Nothing interested me anymore but my art and cars but both of things were already little pieces of me so they didn't really count anyway. Then I see this beautiful girl fighting in the ring and curiosity pricks its needles into my heart for the first time in years. I had no expectations of ever getting to know her again and then, to my surprise, there she was in the hallway standing in my way.

Admittedly, I tried to test the waters with her a bit when we first talked and I ended up being childish and rude. Calling someone a nerd the moment that they say something you don't like is beyond dumb but... it was like I was a virgin again. I didn't know what to say or do to get her interested in me. It's like I forgot how to flirt the moment she was in front of me.

My mom bought this cabin for me before we found out she had cancer as a place for me to be free and just draw. That's why Ace hates it so much when I host parties here because he says it's defiling mom's good will. It's not like I can host the parties at the main house though, that's where mom is. The doctor's want her to stay at the hospital but she's refusing to stay there so instead I drive her to the hospital when she's scheduled for chemotherapy and when she needs new medicine. I want my mom to be healthy and happy and it's starting to feel impossible to obtain that goal.

The stress has been eating away at me so much that painting just isn't releasing the stress enough anymore. Instead, I've been drinking, partying, and having sex to get rid of the extra frustration. I guess that's how the nonsensical rumors about me being a sleazy player came about. I've only had a few one night stands though and they've never led to anything else. No girl ever told me they love me, I've never dated anybody, and if I were to date anybody I'd be loyal. I don't really understand how the rumors got that far fetched but, I'm just a normal guy.