Reasons To Love A Nerd Like Me (10th Anniversary Edition)

Prologue

2 Years Ago -Detention

I couldn't take my eyes off him.

He was leaning over his work, dark hair falling in his eyes, hand gripped tightly around his pen like he could snap it at any second. I could tell from his hunched posture that he was purposefully avoiding eye contact with anyone else. It's why he didn't even notice me noticing him at the back of the Science lab.

Vincent Hunter was in the year above me and not the kind of guy I'd normally have anything to do with. The rare times I saw him around school he was usually in a rage, picking a fight with someone. It was better to keep my head down and hurry past him as quickly as possible.

I'd never stopped to really look at him before. The curve of his mouth, the square line of his jaw, the tiny crease of concentration between his eyebrows. Every little detail was in my direct line of vision and up close, he seemed softer than I had expected somehow. Lighter. Less angry.

And then he kicked his foot against the leg of the table, so hard it sent a booming clang echoing around the room. OK, maybe he was a little bit terrifying. He had a bad reputation for a reason. I fixed my eyes back to my notebook, counting down the remaining minutes until I could finally get out of here.

This was my third detention in a month. I used to have a spotless record, but lately I kept losing concentration and forgetting my homework. The compassionate pardons from my teachers hadn't lasted long. It had been a whole year since I'd lost my Dad and it wasn't an acceptable excuse anymore for absent-minded behaviour. I hadn't realised there was a time limit to how much grief was supposed to affect you.

Behind me, Richie Festing from my year group was leaning back on his chair, bored and restless. He called out to Vincent once the clanging died down. "Oi, Vincey, what are you in for? Did you hit someone?"

Vincent completely ignored him, keeping his eyes on his work.

"Hey, come on, answer me. What did you do, set someone on fire with your Bunsen burner?"

He turned to his mates who were all snickering so loudly I'm surprised it didn't alert Miss Whitely from the other room. Of course she couldn't even bebothered to oversee her own detention. She just shoved kids from all year groups in one place then left us to get on with it, Lord Of The Flies style. I wasn't sure that was even legal. Havensdale School & Sixth Form was honestly the worst school in the history of education.

Richie's ruddy cheeks glowed with exhilaration as his showing off intensified. He was a stocky kid with broad shoulders, red hair, and a vacant look in his eyes. He always shouted out unfunny innuendos in class and copied my work because I was too scared of him to object. Basically, he was a bully. But I didn't fancy his chances against Vincent. The tension in the air was palpable and my stomach churned with building dread.

"Is it true your Dad's in prison, Vincey? Did he really kill someone?" Cue spluttering laughter from the whole group of insensitive morons. "What's it like knowing a real life murderer?"

Everyone in the room visibly tensed up all at once. Was Richie seriously going there? The rumours about Vincent's Dad had been flying around the school all year, getting more exaggerated with every passing whisper. He's a drunk. He's violent. He's a killer. Then the rumours extended to Vincent too. You know what they say, like father, like son.

I didn't believe it. I just didn't. People weren't always what they seemed on the surface. Vincent was slightly scary, but surely he'd never cause any serious harm to another person?

"Nah, his Dad never killed anyone," Richie's mate interjected. "Just nearly did. It was a bar fight, remember? He smashed a pint glass over a guy's head. Legendary."

"Oh yeah! Five years for GBH, wasn't it?"

Vincent sat there. Saying nothing. Doing nothing. A mute statue. His knuckles were white around his pen.

Brimming with cocky bravado, Richie swung back even farther on his chair. "What's the real story, Vince? Is he that bad? Does he beat you up too?"

The next 30 seconds happened at the speed of light and in painfully slow motion all at the same time. Vincent leaped from his chair, no longer a statue but a wild, frenzied animal, grabbed a fistful of Richie's hair and smashed his face into the desk.

The almighty crack of bone against metal echoed alarmingly through the science lab. Blood gushed from Richie's nose and mouth, running down his white shirt like something out of a horror movie. The whole room watched on in silent terror, paralysed by fear, myself included.

Vincent's grip on Richie's scalp got even tighter as he pulled him upright, shaking him violently. "Don't you ever talk about me or my family again. Understood?"

His warning was a furious roar, flecks of spittle flying into Richie's face. The bleeding boy nodded, tears streaking onto his newly stained shirt.

"I SAID, UNDERSTOOD?"

"Yeah, understood..." Richie's voice was a hushed whimper. His friends had edged away from him now, all their bluster drying up, revealing a group of scared little boys underneath.

For a few more seconds, Vincent held Richie's gaze. I'll never forget that crazed, steely glint in his eyes. It was the expression of someone who didn't care anymore. Of someone who had finally snapped and could never be put back together again.

Finally, he released his grip and walked back to his desk without another word. He picked up his pen and carried on writing like nothing had happened. A Year 8girl at the front of the room bravely approached Richie with a pack of tissues, as if that was going to help with the ocean of gore on the desk. I couldn't move. I could barely even breathe.

Vincent remained calm as Miss Whitely rushed back into the lab, turning pale at the sight before her. He held his hands up and admitted to his crime immediately before being escorted to our Headmistress Mrs. Patrick's office.

So much for my assumption that he was harmless. Maybe sometimes there really was no smoke without fire.

Richie didn't suffer any permanent damage unless you counted his dented pride. I noticed that he shouted out in class a lot less after that incident though. Vincent got a 5-day exclusion. That was it. Mrs. Patrick said it was a misjudged action of self-defence after being provoked.

But Mrs. Patrick didn't see the amount of blood seeping out of Richie's nose. She didn't see that angry, broken look in Vincent's eyes.

Sometimes I remembered that look. Sometimes it was all I could think about...

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Thanks so much for reading - next chapter will be Friday! :D Please do leave a comment to let me know your thoughts so far! <3

Becky xx