Falling For The Nerd

Begin Again

A/N: Dedicated to @Author-L. Thank you for your constant support!

           Melissa followed Mike's car as we drove to the restaurant. We had a lengthy drive ahead of us, so I turned up the radio. Little Mix's cover of 'Cannonball' was playing. I groaned and reached out to change the station when Melissa slapped my hand away. "Don't change it. I love this song!" Melissa said and hummed along. "It's a cover!" I argued. "Whatever. You are not changing the song." Melissa warned. I huffed and sat back. Eventually, I began to sing along. I liked the original version, but I had to admit that their cover sounded nice.

             After about 30 minutes of driving, Melissa turned into a parking lot and parked the van next to Mike's car. I got off and hurried to help Remy out. "I'm not that fragile, you know." Remy said. "Of course not! I'm just helping you because you're old!" I said and shielded myself from a sharp hit from Remy. "Derek! Leave her alone!" Mom called out and I raised my hands as a show of innocence. Melissa came upto me and I immediately held her hand.  "Leave my sister alone, you bully!" Melissa played along. "Yeah! Meanie!" Remy pouted. "He isn't mean. He's just stating the truth!" Mike came to my defence. "Micheal. Save yourself while you can." Melissa said as Remy narrowed her eyes at him. Mike did not miss this. "I think I'll just take Derek upto the restaurant." Mike said, and we both ran away from Remy as soon as we could. We could hear the girls laughing at us, but we did not stop to see if they were still looking to threaten us.

               The moment I stepped into the restaurant, the smell of spices hit me. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten anything except a bowl of cereal before the exam. I took a seat next to mom on the sofa and Mike sat on the chair. Melissa came in with Remy, and sat opposite me. A man with the most impressive moustache and a turban handed us a menu and said, "My name is Satnam and I'll be serving you today. Take your time to go through the menu, I shall take down orders when you're ready." He gave a short bow and left. "Wow. His moustache was amazing." Mr.Howard remarked and everyone made sounds of agreement. After a lot of thinking and discussion, we decided that we woud order naan (flat bread made by rolling out dough) for everyone with a dish which consisted of cottage cheese (Indians call it paneer) and a thick gravy for six of us and Remy could have steamed rice with a curry. Satnam came over and suggested a curry called 'dal tadka' for Remy to have the rice with. He noted our orders and told us that the orders would take around half an hour. Remy and Mike told us about life in New York. From where I was sitting, it seemed amazing. A big city, small apartments, good transportation and communication. I decided that I would like to live there once I was old enough.

              By the time the food arrived, we were all immersed in a discussion about the pros and cons of city life. Satnam served us our food and I dove into my plate. The parents and Mike had begun to talk about the mortgage rates in the city. I zoned out and focussed all my attention on my food. I was so intent on enjoying the taste, that I didn't notice Melissa laughing at me until the table began to shake due to her supressed laughter. "What?" I asked, confused. "Derek!" Melissa started laughing before she could finish her sentence. "Lizzie?" I asked in a slighly annoyed tone. Melissa held on to her stomach and she pointed to her face. I wiped my nose with my sleeve and gave her confused look when it came out clean. "Hold on." Melissa said and she brought out her phone and clicked a photo of me. Then she handed it to me and I tapped the screen to see a picture of me with gravy all around my mouth. I grimaced and quickly wiped my mouth using the napkin kept on the table and looked over at mom. Thankfully, she hadn't noticed. "Sorry about that." I said as I handed Melissa her phone. "It's okay." Melissa grinned. "I'm never deleting that picture." she said as she turned to her plate and ate her first mouth. "Wow! The food is amazing!" Melissa exclaimed. "Yeah. Heaven." Remy answered. She was enjoying her rice a lot.

                After we had our food, mom ordered some rice and the same curry as Remy as a take away so that we could have it for dinner. Mike paid the bill and we headed out. "I think you two should go out and spend some time together. It has been ages since you met right?" Diana suggested. "Definitely. I was about to ask you if I could take Melissa out." I answered. "Well. Go on. Enjoy!" Remy said and they left. Melissa was about to get into the drivers seat when I stopped her. "I have something in mind." I said as I took the car keys from her. We got into the car and I first drove to a ice cream parlour. I bought myself a choco chip ice cream and I bought Melissa a cookie 'n' cream. After that I  drove to a park near by. The park had a man-made lake there and it would be deserted at this time. I helped Melissa down to the edge of the lake and we sat on a large rock, facing the water. "The last time you took me near water, you made me swim and then wear a dress that you made my sister buy. What is it now?" Melissa asked me with a smile. I realised that she was joking and played along. "Well, unfortunately, we aren't allowed to swim here. and the delivery guys messed up the dates, so you might get the dress next year instead. Do you mind?" "I have never been more offended." Melissa replied, turning her face away from mine. I started laughing and Melissa joined in.

                  I devoured my ice cream in a couple of minutes and began to look at hers. Melissa was having hers really slowly. She had a little less than half a cone left. Finally I couldn't take it. "Lizzie, could you give me a bit of ice cream." I asked. "Not a chance. You shouldn't have eaten yours so fast." she said and bit off a bit off the ice cream cone. "Please?" I pleaded using my puppy face. "No." Melissa said. "Melissa pwease?" I resorted to using my I'm-a-cute-kid-please-give-me-ice-cream face. "Derek. I said no." Melissa said. I could see that her defences were breaking. "One bite. Please?" I pouted and Melissa sighed. "Fine. Just one bite." she said. "I promise." I said while I did a mental victory dance. Melissa held out her ice cream to me and I took the biggest bite I could. When I pulled back, only the tip of the cone was left. "Derek!" Melissa was annoyed. "Wha?" I asked through a full mouth. The ice cream was melted and extremely tasty. "You're asking for it!" Melissa got up and I began to slowly back off. Melissa stepped down from the rock and I made a run for it. Melissa began to chase me, her loose hair flowing behind her. "Aaaaaahh!" I screamed as Melissa began to catch up.  

                   The ground ahead was uneven and I forced to stop. Melissa tackled me from the back and I had to hold on to her hands so that I wouldn't fall. I turned around, expecting a punch, but I relaxed when I saw Melissa laughing as well. I pulled her into a hug and rested my chin on her head. It felt good to hold her again. She wrapped her arms around my waist and we stood there in silence for a couple of minutes. Then I lifted head and said, "Am I forgiven?" Melissa looked up at me and said, "No. I'll take revenge when you least expect it." "So I'm forgiven for now?" "No. Just drop it." Melissa said and she kissed me. Her lips were familiar, soft and gentle. I wanted to remember this, so I placed my hand on her cheek to slow the kiss. Everything about her was exactly the way I remembered it. I ended the kiss and rested my forehead against hers, savouring the moment.

                     We sat there for around an hour, talking and just enjoying being around each other again. Once the sun began to set, we headed back. I drove until my house. I stopped the van and turned to look at her. "Lizzie I'm glad I have you." "I would always be there Derek. You just have to look." Melissa walked to the driver seat as I got out. I held her by the waist and kissed her, trying to show her how happy and content I was feeling through th kiss. She must've understood, because after we ended the kiss, she hugged me tight. "Good night Derek." Melissa smiled and I walked into the house. Before I hut the door, Melissa called out to me. "Derek! Keep Monday evening free. We're going out." She grinned at me and I said, "Will do. Bye Liz!" Melissa drove away and I went upstairs to celebrate the end of exams.