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

Chapter 1 ~ Hanging Around

It was just a typical Tuesday afternoon at college. Some of the kids from Year 7 were running around the courtyard in the brisk, January air, the sound of their laughter billowing in through the open window. The older Sixth Form students were hurrying between lessons or busy working on their latest pieces of coursework. And as for me...

I was hanging from a coat hook in the boys' P.E. changing rooms.

I know it's hard to believe that something so embarrassing could happen to a fully grown seventeen-year-old, but there you have it. It was happening. I was strung up by my collar like a dead pig at a butcher's shop and there was literally nothing I could do to get myself down. My hands had been bound tightly behind my back. So tight in fact, that my wrists were starting to ache from the friction burn. My feet flailed helplessly above the floor and thrashing them around wasn't helping in the slightest.

In the end, I decided to accept my fate and hung there limply in the pitch-darkness, waiting for someone to come and find me whilst singing "I Will Survive" to keep myself sane. By my third time around the chorus, a familiar voice sounded outside the door.

"Scotty? Is that you?"

"OLLY! HEELLLLPPP MEEEEE!"

There was a loud rattling. "Something's stuck in the door, I can't get in."

Of course they wedged the door shut. Just to make extra sure no one would find me for the next hour.

"PLEASE, I AM GONNA PEE MY PANTS."

"Hang on a minute!"

Funny. Really funny.

After a succession of loud banging, the door finally flew open, burning my eyes with bright light. Olive appeared out of the haze like a glorious, blonde, poofy-haired angel.

"Oh my God! What are you doing up there?!"

I kicked my feet up and down. "Oh, you know. Just contemplating life, the Universe, and everything."

"Jeeze, Scotty. This is getting out of control." She switched on the light, assessing the damage. "I knew something was wrong when you missed Maths. I told Mr. Bicknam I had cramps so I could search the building for y... Wait, they tied you up?! Seriously?"

Humiliation seeped through my bones. At least it was only my best friend seeing me in this pathetic state. She'd seen worse over the years.

"Can I maybe get a little help here?"

Olive was a good head and shoulders taller than me and pulled me down with ease before tugging at the rope around my wrists. She was a perfectionist at everything she did, including spontaneous knot untying, so I was free within seconds. I shook the pins and needles out of my fingers, trying to ignore the angry red lines pulsing on my skin.

"Who was it?" she demanded.

"Who do you think it was?"

I didn't need to elaborate. She already knew this stunt had Taylor Raven and his crew written all over it.

"What the hell is his problem? Why does he keep picking on you like this?"

I didn't have an answer. It was all I could do not to burst into hysterical wailing. Olive sensed my distress and pulled me into a big hug, her wild mane tickling my cheeks.

"Come on, don't cry... Those guys are idiots. Just think, only another year and we'll never have to see their slimy, supercilious faces again."

"Year and a half. The half makes all the difference."

Summer break was aeons away. After that, it was the second year of Sixth Form and the second year of torturous hell. I thought this immature rubbish would be behind me by now. Would I have to deal with stupid pranks at University too? Or wherever I worked when I was a fully grown adult? Did this bullying thing ever actually end?

Olive gently broke our hug and pushed her glasses up her nose. She had such a cute little hamster face that I constantly wanted to squish. I think her eccentric, openly-geeky style distracted people from how pretty she actually was. "Well, you need to start standing up for yourself then. Fight back a little. You can't keep letting them treat you like this."

I gestured to my, what some may call, 'petite' frame. "Yeah, because someone of my stature can really hold my own against Mr. Star Athlete."

"You're the smartest guy in school Scotty, you could use your dazzling wit to get out of these situations."

"You could use your dazzling wit to... shut up."

"Or... maybe I spoke too soon."

With a world-weary sigh, I headed to the bathroom beside the changing benches. "I really, genuinely am going to wet myself so let's continue this conversation in 2 minutes."

Olive followed me into the boys' toilets and waited outside the cubicle, because it's Olive, of course she did. She was lucky I had a fear of public urinals or she might have seen more than she bargained for.

"Do you want me to have a word with a teacher?" she called over the door. "I have plenty of sway with the staff, remember."

This was true. Olive was part of every club, committee, and after-school project going. But she still wasn't as influential as the infamous Raven family.

"You know Taylor is Havensdale's Golden Boy. Nothing will ever happen to him, Ol. He'll get a slap on the wrist and then make my life even worse."

"Not necessarily. This is really serious, the school has to take action. What if I just..."

I drowned her out by flushing the toilet. "No! No what if I just's... I'm not going down that road. It will become a big thing and get Mum involved. She doesn't need any more stress right now."

Finally, Olive stopped talking. She knew not to push too hard when it came to my family situation. After we lost Dad, Mum had never quite been the same. I owed it to her to get on with it and not make a fuss. There were worse things in life than being stuck on a coat hook. Much worse things.

"Sorry, I know you're only trying to help." I exited the cubicle and washed my hands. "You're a good friend, Olly."

"I know, I'm the best aren't I?"

We stuck our tongues out at each other. The closest we were going to get to heartfelt emotion. She knew what she meant to me though. No one else would have scoured the entire school to find me during class hours. I owed her my life. And my dry trousers.

I stuck my head under the tap, letting the cold water dampen my dark, unruly curls. Washing away all the humiliation before leaving this gross, sweaty changing room. Once I felt fully refreshed, I wiped my glasses with the corner of my shirt and peered at my reflection in the mirror, trying to imagine myself through other's eyes.

The pale, scrawny, homosexual, socially awkward, pitiful nerd. The easy target. The victim. Is that what people saw when they looked at me?

Because it wasn't what I saw.

I saw someone who was open. Honest. Happy. (Well, happy apart from school). I might not have been the sexiest guy in the world, but I had an 'adorkable' quality as Olive liked to call it. I had friends and family who loved me. I had a whole life stretching out before my eyes and I was excited to live it.

So screw what anyone else thought. I liked me. That was all that mattered.

"You OK?" Olive asked, watching me staring at myself. I turned to her with a genuine smile.

"Yep. I'm OK." Droplets of water were running down my neck, probably making my hair go frizzy, but I didn't care. "Shall we get out of this hellhole?"

"Why, I thought you'd never ask."

We linked arms and marched out of the changing room like King and Queen of the Nerds. This little incident wasn't going to affect me. I wasn't going to feel ashamed of who I was and I definitely wasn't going to let Taylor Raven intimidate me in any way.

But then I saw him rounding the corner, his whole gang tailing behind him.

And suddenly I didn't feel quite so brave.

~ ~ ~ 

Hey guys! Thanks so much to everyone who has been joining in the re-read so far, it means so much to me that you are here!! I've been thinking about my original fancast for the main characters in this story and how I'd cast them now 10 years later... Let me know if you agree!!

See you again on Mon! :D