The Nerd and The Jock - LT Fanfic

6: Bae, the Inquirer

6: Bae, the Inquirer

I thought that I was going to be alone, after I gathered my things from English when the bell rang, as I walked to lunch. I was wrong.

"What are your favorite books?" Nicolas asked when I came out of the classroom. He was waiting for me in the hall.

"What?" I asked, because how random the question seemed and how bizarre the situation was, considering he had never done this before.

"Your favorite books? Authors?"

"No, I mean...why are you asking me?"

"Am I not allowed to ask questions?" But before I got to respond, he laughed. "I'm just curious. Why do you look so surprised?"

I clutched my bag to my chest and looked at him. "Since when do you talk to kids like me? Wait, I'll answer that for you: never. You've never waited for me like this and you haven't talked to me and now that you're doing it, it's making me confused."

Blaze just met my gaze. "Are you going to answer my question?"

"Not until you tell me why you're doing this."

"I like talking to you," he said simply.

I stared at him, trying to see if he was joking. He said, "I find you cool to talk to. Or, I don't know. You're interesting."

No way. No freaking way. Nicolas saw my expression, which was alternating from confused to shocked to pleasantly surprised, and looked entertained. "I'm guessing you like talking to me too?"

I LOVE TALKING YOU OMFG YOURE AMAZING but I just said, "Yeah, you're cool." Nicolas chuckled at my nonchalant tone.

"Then we should talk. You still haven't answered my question, so." He paused. Surprising me again, he put an arm around my shoulders. "So we should continue this conversation at lunch." I nodded in agreement, too happy, too giddy, to make my voice work. We started walking in the direction of the cafeteria, making our way through the crowded hallways. Moving through people was easy, because everyone made space for Blaze and I. It was bizarre. It was as if Blaze and I was Moses and the kids, pressing themselves against the lockers to make way for us, were the Red Sea. As we passed them, I felt a multitude of eyes on me.

"Do they always stare at you like this?" I asked Nicolas, trying to be audible above the buzz of teenage chatter.

He heard me. "No," he shook his head. "I think the staring has something to do with you."

"That's ridiculous."

Blaze shrugged.

We walked a short distance and climbed the steps up into the cafeteria. The kids who were in line for lunch glanced at Blaze and did a double take when they saw me with him, eyeing his arm around my shoulders. Soon, we grabbed our separate trays and Blaze had to disentangle himself from me in order to stay in line. We slid our trays across the slot and let the lunch ladies plop food on them. Almost everyone who got near Nicolas talked to him, said hi. He smiled and bantered with them easily, knowing each of their names. We got to the end of the line, and started off toward the tables. But instead of sitting with his group of friends, Blaze and I sat at a table a little away from them. It was just me and him.

He looked at me expectantly. I caught on immediately, "Authors. Right." I thought about it. "I like James Patterson, who has, like, the best flow when it comes to telling a story. You heard of the Alex Cross series? They're really cool. It's like you're watching an action movie when you read his books."

"I was thinking you'd start off by telling me about Jane Eyre or something," he surprised me by saying. "Not about action books."

"Charlotte Bronte isn't bad."

"But you don't read her books?" He guessed.

"No, because they teach one of them in school already, so I don't need to go out of my way to read them." I added, "Why? You like Jane Eyre?"

He shook his head. "Heard of it, never read. Most nerds I know talk about her."

"You're still on that nerd stuff?"

"Usually what they say about nerds are true," he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Well, guess what?" I drank some of my apple juice and continued, knowing that what I was going to say next would surprise him, "I don't even like To Kill A Mockingbird. It doesn't impress me."

Blaze looked like I just blew his mind. "That can't be," he said.

"It's not very engaging," I told him honestly.

"You're a special breed of nerd."

"No, it's just that not all people are the same, nerd or not."

Nicolas looked at me with wide eyes, playing with a bag of chips in his hands. I stared back, amused. "Thanks for proving me wrong I guess," he said after awhile.

"You're welcome."

I said this sassily, almost sounding like Candice whenever she won an argument. Then he said, "Do you have a phone?"

"Yeah."

He slid his iPhone across the table. "Give me your number."

I looked at his phone, my heart beating fast because I was excited that he wanted my number, then looked back up at him. I tried to crack a joke to calm my nerves. "I'm surprised you think I have a phone. Don't nerds talk using walkie-talkies these days?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just give me your phone number already."

I punched my number in, marveling at how steady my hands were when I put my name into his contacts. I gave it back to him when I was done. I couldn't wrap my head around it. Why would he even want my number? Don't you only give people your number when you like them?

I didn't know that I asked that question aloud until Blaze said, "I do like you. Just like you said, not all people are the same. So me, even as a popular kid, I think you're cool. No matter how different we seem."

Blaze did something that surprised me. He leaned forward, grabbed my hand and...pressed his lips to my skin. His lips felt full and warm, a sweet, gentle peck of goodness on the back of my hand. I blinked at him as he sat back, and went to eat his lunch as if nothing happened.