Nerds Are Lovable

Bonus: Bad Girls Aren't Fighters

The halls of Greenville High are packed with people that I don't know, and that, coincidentally, don't know me either. Thank god. I stare at the ground, holding my books as close to my chest as possible and weave through the groups of students that take up the halls with their incessant gossip.

My eyes drift to the side where Jaxon is waving at me, surrounded by his fellow teammates, a smile on his face as he catches sight of me. We'd stayed up late last night, later than we should have for a school night, playing Call of Duty together.

Suddenly, I bump into someone, hearing them huff in pain. My eyes whip to the person I accidentally collided with, and when I realize who it is, my eyes go wide. Haley Jones. I'd heard many rumors circulating about her ever since she lost her mom. My father had mentioned her passing one day, maybe a year or two ago, as she used to work at one of his malls until she fell ill.

"Sorry," I mumble, gripping my books even tighter as a stroke of fear passes through me.

"You broke my phone," She replies, anger and frustration evident in her tone.

"I'm, I'll, sorry," I don't know what to say to her, one wrong word and she might punch me.

She looks at me confused but also amused at my nervous stuttering. Her eyes glance over me, looking from my head to my toes and lingering on my shirt. That only scares me more, maybe shes trying to figure out a way to punch me in the gut. Good thing I have my books as armor, said every nerd ever.

"You're gonna buy me a new one," She all but commands.

I freeze, looking around us at the students that are already whispering their newfound gossip of the week. Their eyes stay on us as they head to their first class of the day. I snap my eyes back to Haley, an expectant look on her face telling me everything I need to know. I either buy her a new phone or else. And I really don't want to know what the else is. I nod, or at least hope I do as my entire body feels numb from how tense it is, and run off to AP Calculus.

Finally in the classroom, I slump down and let out sigh.

"Jayden, yo, why was Haley giving you the evil eye this morning?" Tommy, an acquaintance as I would call him, asks.

I shrug, trying to seem as unbothered as I can, "I just bumped into her accidentally."

"And she didn't punch you?" He looks at me with wide eyes.

Guess he's also heard the rumors about Haley Jones not letting guys get away with anything.

By lunch time I had heard my name in the mouths of Greenville high's population more often than ever before. I didn't particularly enjoy the feeling of being gossiped about. Especially when the rumors were so ridiculous. People really have nothing better to do.

Far off, by the basically dead garden our school had built, I caught sight of Haley and Emma chatting. They always sat there for lunch, looking over all of us. I looked away before either of them could catch me staring. I wasn't looking to start another rumor... or a fight.

*** ***

The library, my safe haven. I loved hanging out in the library. All the nerds seemed to as well, though. There was a book club, an anime club, a programming club, and a D&D club that all, on different days of the week, would get together in the common area of the library and quietly have their meeting. The D&D club was about to get kicked out for excessive screaming. Something about the dice not working properly?

I walked to my secluded spot in the back of the library. Nobody bothered me here, or everyone knew not to bother me. I liked being alone, preferred it, really. It was calming after a hectic day of high school.