The Nerd and The Jock - LT Fanfic

21: Bae's Salty Girlfriend

21: Bae's Salty Girlfriend

In the knick of time, I thought, slipping into Fourth a breath before the bell rang. Ms. Sanders had her back turned, and I used that unexpected luck to slide into my seat next to Blaze. It was only after I set down my bag and got out my notebook and pen that I relaxed.

"You're late to class," Blaze teased me, poking me with his pencil.

Man, was I glad to see him. Tall, cute, friendly -- and clearly, waiting for me to arrive. My favorite guy to see.

"Hey, you." I reached out to poke him back -- what a flirty thing to do, right? I was definitely progressing -- but ended up hitting my notebook off the desk instead. Aw jeez.

"I got it," Blaze chuckled. He picked it up and placed it carefully on top of my desk for me.

"Thanks."

"You okay, by the way?"

"Sure," I huffed. "Why?"

He grinned. "You sound out of breath."

"That might be because I escaped Vanessa's harassment just now in the hall. Like just, just now." I paused. "You'd think that after getting her butt kicked by Candice she'd leave me alone. Guess getting her hair snatched out wasn't enough."

"The hell did you do, Mara? Run here?"

"She was actually sort of trying to chase me, so yeah, I booked it." Quite literally, too, if I was being honest.

Blaze stared at me for a good second before he started chortling. Out loud. "So you ran to class, not because you were running late, but because you were running from someone? How did you even...? God, you're such a freaking... such a freaking nerd!"

"Blaze!" Oh, man. Chagrine. Chagrine everywhere. I was now being ridiculed after having escaped one of my mockers. How amazing. Today was truly awful.

Blaze stopped laughing after some time and turned to me, about to say something, I think, when Ms. Sanders turned around from whatever it was that held her attention and began taking roll.

When the bell rang for lunch I grabbed my bag, slung it across an arm, and stormed past Blaze while he was gathering his things. A bit of guilt took hold of me as I power walked down the hall -- effectively leaving him behind -- but I figured this was my payback. You make fun of me? Well, don't be mad if you get left behind! Redness warmed my cheeks as I stormed out of English.

It was only when I passed a couple doors in the hall that I heard him.

"Temara? Temara!"

Keep walking. Keep your head down. Keep walking.

"Temara -- girl, I see you! Is that you ducking your head?"

Dang! I really, really wished I was shorter. That way he wouldn't be able to pick me out from the crowd as easy as I got away. I knew it was childish to run away, but I was still stung from being made fun of. Even if I was being made fun of by him, someone I liked so, so much, I wasn't going to sit there and take it. Absolutely not.

"God, Temara, slow down!" He called.

I only sped up. Could I outrun a soccer player? I peeked behind me, trying to gauge the distance between him and I, but made a mistake -- I made eye contact with him. Once I did, a series of emotions flashed across his face, and I contemplated them all with ambivalence: surprise flashed first, I think, because his eyes widened; then suspicion, noted by the almost-immediate squinting after he widened his eyes; and exasperation, because he rolled them. Then he sped up, power walking and maneuvering through teenagers.

Long-legged dork. No, I couldn't outrun him, not with his lengthy legs. So instead I turned around and faced him.

"What?" I taunted him. He caught up to me and I switched my weight to one leg, hand on hip, annoyed and unashamed to be. "You gonna make fun of me some more?"

"Is this what this is about?" Blaze demanded. "Me making fun of you in class?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"Don't be childish, Temara."

"Don't be childish, Blaze."

Blaze stared at me. And I stared back right back. For some reason, I felt... empowered. Where did this sudden rush of empowerment come from? I thought about it, but couldn't quite figure it out. Blaze kept eye contact with me until he blew air out of his nose, reeling back. I smiled in victory.

"It's not funny," he said.

"I'm not laughing," I retorted.

He didn't seem to believe me. "So, you decided to ditch me in class because... what? You were embarrassed because I laughed at you? Huh?" He reached for my chin but I wouldn't let him touch me, and he sighed. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

I had to stare at him for a moment before I relented. He sounded genuine enough. "Just don't laugh at me again," I warned.

He held up both hands. "Fine. I won't laugh at you again."

"You'd better not."

We started toward the cafeteria, walking down the empty hall. Most people were already eating lunch by now, and for the second time this year, it was just me and Blaze sauntering down the hallway. For a moment I remembered the time when he lectured me about explaining myself. He had told me that I didn't need to, that I could just be me. Now I didn't feel that need to explain myself; he just knew I was annoyed with him, and I knew that he knew. And that was what mattered.

Blaze opened the door for me when we got to the building's end and we walked out, into the quad. The quad spanned out and gave a view of the cafereria that was only a few feet away. "You know," he said as he held the door open for me, "I didn't know you could be so obstinate. You were rolling your eyes and stuff. I'm learning so much about you."

"Yeah?" I was amused. To be honest, I didn't know I had it in me to be... obstinate, either. I was usually the reserved type, someone who experienced her annoyance in silence rather than show out to a boy. Huh. Where did that come from? Who knew that buried under all that nerdiness and reserve, was a supply of unabashed nerve? I thought about it for a second. "Is that... a bad thing?" I was referring to my newfound trait.

"You mean me learning about you?" Blaze misunderstood my question, and I was about to clarify, but his next words shut me up. "Not at all," he continued, kept in the dark. "In fact the more I learn about you, the more beautiful you become to me. I said was sorry about making fun of you but now I'm apologizing for calling you a nerd again. You're much more than that, Mara. I see that, and it was stupid -- and an affront to you -- to call you that. You've got layers to you, and I'm glad I'm finally noticing them."