the nerd and the heartbreaker

mika - first love never wins

 "So, anything cool this week?" Racheal asked cheerfully, the week in her words quickly ascending into a priceless laugh.

"Yeah. You," I responded, rolling my eyes. I felt myself join in her laughter, and, after a few moments, the entire gang was surrounded by a warm atmosphere.

"Hey, I knew Maya from elementary school," Kat remarked, her smooth platinum blonde hair in a direct ray of sunlight.

"Yeah? How was she?" Harley queried, her playful smile dropping into an unusual, soft-eyed concern. I was a little taken aback; from what I had seen, Harley was the more outspoken member of the gang.

Kat managed to hold a grim smile. "She wasn't always that bad, but she was pretty self-righteous about this and that. She hated not having the upper hand. I remember feeling bad for her at some point, though I can't put my finger on why."

"That sucks," Maria commented.

"Eh, I'd still punch her in the face if I saw her anywhere near Monica-"

I cut off Racheal's sentence, though I had a regretful notion that I was taking advantage of her trust that I would always say something meaningful.

"Oh!" I started. "Uh... You all can call me Mika. If you'd prefer."

"Wait, that's such a cute nickname!" Kat remarked.

"Mika?" Karla added, her eyes brightening. "That's a cool nickname."

Harley's expression lifted again, as though she had suddenly come across a new idea. "Maybe we should start calling Racheal Rach from now on."

Racheal rolled her eyes. "Not bad for your ideas."

Harley widened her eyes in fake offendedness. "My ideas are always brilliant!"

"Yeah!" Maria interjected. "Almost as brilliant as your dirty-minded soul."

"I'm not dirty-minded. Karla is!" Harley protested.

"I am?" Karla was not impressed. "I'm the most mature kid in this gang."

"Not as mature as Monica," Kat remarked. "Look at how patient she is while y'all are arguing over who is the 'most mature.' C'mon, let's have some democracy."

"I'm with Kat," Maria agreed, turning to me. "Mika, what do you think?"

"I think..." I recalled everyone who hadn't participated in the light-hearted accusations, "... that Racheal is most mature."

The look on Racheal's face was priceless. Her eyes widened with joy and gratitude, more than I'd expect for the aftermath of a joking debate, but I didn't question it. Everyone in this gang was equally unpredictable, and I might as well have gotten used to it before it struck me back two weeks later.

"Oh! Hey, baby girl."

A masculine voice arose from a playful clamor, and I turned to see Jack, the captain of the football team. I recognized him from the games I had attended in the past thanks to being the captain of the cheerleading team, and, from what I have seen, I wasn't sure how I felt about his smug, overconfident atmosphere.

Racheal instantly stood up from her seat and gave him a punch in the face. I was grateful that we were in the lunch area, and not in the classroom, where we would've been given detention the moment one of our strict, conservative teachers turned around.

As Jack clasped his hand on the new bruise and smiled through the pain, Racheal smirked. "I hope you've learned your lesson, Jack."

Jack smirked back, despite the small amount of blood that was now leaking on the side of his forehead, and strolled back to his football teammates, his shoulders as relaxed and haughty as ever.

I barely knew her, but I was already beginning to feel empathy for Racheal, and that included my new, negative connotations around Jack.

"So... that's what you have to deal with 24/7?" I observed.

"Yeah," Racheal replied mildly. "He's a pain in my life, but all I have to do is treat him like a pest."

"That shouldn't be hard," Maria mused. "He's already ugly, disgusting, and annoying, and never learns his lesson."

Racheal huffed. "I'll just take that as a sign that he's okay with being punched whenever he's in my sight. I prefer vengeance, anyway."

"How did he even ask you out in the first place, anyway?" I wondered aloud with genuine curiosity, despite Racheal's grimace in the corner of my eye.

I had probably struck a nerve.

"Well, Racheal had always kept that little secret," Karla answered gently.

"Well, it's about time you guys know, anyway," Racheal sighed.

I felt my eyes widen with sympathy. "Well, you don't have to if you don't want to. I'm sorry for bringing this up – I should've known you didn't like him that well from before."

"Don't worry about that. I've got your heart covered," Racheal joked, placing an empathetic hand on my shoulder. "You should know some basics about me, anyway."

"If it's alright with you..." I trailed away as I saw her eyes glisten. "Um..."

Racheal laughed. "Don't worry all too much about my mental health. I'm fine."

"Erm, actually-" Karla protested, making a gesture with her fingers. Frankly, I had never seen that before in my life.

"I know you want to say something," Racheal interjected, "but let's make things clear for Mika for one second. Your mental health isn't much better than mine."

Karla did not respond.

"So... Were you forced into a relationship?" I started quietly.

Racheal smiled grimly while staring down at the table. "No, I-Jack took the initiative. You know, he's quite popular with his fangirls, and I..."

"Yeah, she used to be one of them," Kat finished.

"I regretted it instantly," my new friend explained. "He, you know, pinned me to a wall and gave me a kiss. I thought he had good intentions — I mean, doing all that in public, even though his fangirls were watching and, rightfully, annoyed."

"You know, after all that, you would assume he truly loved my victimized best friend, but, no, he was a trash boyfriend!" Harley declared.

Maria chuckled darkly. "Yeah, he would always ask Racheal for her lunch, homework answers, help with school chores that he threw onto her, and... and even her body in bed." She shuddered. "I am so lucky that Karla cares about me for real."

Karla, whose eyes were beginning to brim with tears, gasped, and threw herself onto Maria, before giving me an apologetic look.

"We all lost a part of ourselves when we saw how Jack treated Racheal." She then turned to her partner. "Maria, I know we both care for each other for real."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Racheal exclaimed as if breaking the tight atmosphere. "I'm fine! I learned to stand up for myself! Well, that was thanks to Harley, but yeah! Stop being such drama queens — I am literally, perfectly sane."

She then gave me a wink, as though signaling that this was how she kept the gang going. "So..." Racheal whispered playfully, "wanna join the party?"

"What are you saying?" I teased my brave friend sarcastically. "No, I am going to ditch you out of thin air, just Mr. Pepper Jack Trash Can. Yes, of course, I want to join!"

Suddenly, I heard heavy footsteps behind me. I skipped a breath.

No. This could not be. Why is she always there when things are going well? Realization stung me like a bee, and anger simmered in my chest.

She only wants to take my happiness away.