The Nerd

Chapter 7

I opened the door to my room, hoping that there would be no one there. No one was. I smiled and threw all of my bags on my bed. The room was simple, less roomy but enough space for my bags. I was about to get unpacked until a knock came on the door. I opened it in a hurry and smiled. It was a British competitor. "I'm Andrew."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kerttu."

"Ker two?"

"No, like Care Two."

"Oh, Princess. I'm so sorry, Your Highness." He bowed and I giggled.

"No need for that. Anyway, Andrew, how was your trip?"

"Wonderful, so many sights." He nodded and looked at me. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Me? Oh no, it scares boys away that they could help rule the country." I looked at my feet and bounced up and down.

"Such a shame, you are beautiful."

"I know, I'm a mirror image of my grandmother. Sometimes Grandpa calls me, America."

"You do look like her. So since you don't have a guy, do you want to hang out?" I looked at his crisp hair, blonde and set to the side. He had bright blue eyes.

"Sure?" I said, unconfidently. "I mean it would be a pleasure."

"Now?" I panicked.

"I kind of have to study. Can it wait till our first day of break?"

"But that's so long, I can't stay away from gorgeous girls that long." He whined.

"It's only until Saturday, two days."

"Fine. Princess Kerttu will just have to wait to have this." He motioned around his body and I laughed.

"Goodbye, Andrew." He chuckled as I shut the door. Something about the guy made me question life, he was perky, he obviously doesn't know me. I decided to ignore the fact that I was attracted to him. It didn't work. He stayed in my thoughts all night.

When I woke up I was in a rush to get ready. I grabbed my outfit, and my jacket that said what country I was from and ran to the showers. It was a unisex bathroom which made me really uncomfortable while I walked through the room. Everyone was clothed, my bathroom cubicle was in the very back and I watched girls run out of the bathroom, looking for hair products.

I opened up the door and pulled on my clothes. Once I was done I grabbed my brush and put my hair in a simple bun. When I opened the door I saw Andrew. "Gorgeous."

"Am not." He took my hand, grasping it.

"Are too." He added. I grabbed his hand back. "I'm in love with you."

"You can't be, we just met."

"Yes, and I love you."

"Wait until our first date or whatever." He nodded and we walked to the competition room.

"Kerttu?" Another voice said. I recognized that voice. It was the driver.

"Excuse me." I said to Andrew. "Hello."

"I need to properly introduce myself."

"Indeed you do."

"I'm Arnold Fitzpatrick." I melted. "I'm sorry about the other day."

"You're totally fine, Sir Andrew told me he loved me, even though we just met yesterday." He chuckled.

"I'm on the team, your coordinate plane as well." I bit my lip to hold back my smile. "I guess I'll see you there."

"I guess." I held out my hand, he opened up his arms. I opened up my arms and he held out a hand. "Hug?"

"Yeah." We giggled like school girls when we walked back to the stage.

The second we walked on there was an announcer booming in the distance. "HER ROYAL HIGHNESS KERTTU SCHREAVE DE KOSKINEN!" I had to step back, it scared me. "ARNOLD FITZPATRICK OF ANGELES, ILLÉA!" He gasped.

"Was not expecting that." I giggled. He walked confidently to his seat and I did as well. "You ready?"

"Ready as ever." The coordinate planes had graphing paper all over it. The announcer yelled start and we got to work on the first problem. They were designed for all four members to work on the problem together, and yet still take five hours to do them. "So, what are your names?"

"I'm Kathleen." A brunette said, she was working on the graph that was designed to help us figure out what shape would be made out of this problem.

"I'm Arnold." Arnold said that clearly for the others sake.

"I'm Wesley." He had a thick British accent and I smiled. "Did you guys finish your first part of the problem?" We all nodded. That was the last our group spoke for the day.

"Sadly, there will be one group leaving us today." There was a total of thirty five coordinate planes, enough for one team to be eliminated each day. Andrew was on plane six, by the looks of it their answers were the same as ours. "Plane 10." We were instructed to look at their answers to see what they did wrong.

Their answers were correct but they had a graphing calculator that did all of their work. We weren't allowed to have a calculator, we could only use our knowledge. I couldn't hold back my laugh that escaped. "Idiots." Someone said.

I looked over my shoulder to see who said that but all I saw was Andrew resting his head on my shoulder, one arm wrapped around my waist, and his hand resting on my other shoulder. "Sorry, is this uncomfortable?"

"Not at all." The announcer kept speaking as we exited the room. Andrew offered his arm and I took it. "Congratulations on staying in the competition."

"And to you." We were stopped by Arnold appearing. "Do you know this gentleman."

"Yes, Andrew. Andrew, Arnold. Arnold, Andrew."

"So this is the guy that's in love with you?" Arnold said calmly.

"As it seems." Andrew said.

"Listen, I've known Kerttu since she was fifteen, she hasn't loved anyone in her life, besides her family. Don't be upset if she doesn't love you. I'm in love with her, I have been since I was eight."

"Sounds like a competition."

"It is."

"May the best man get her love." And that's how I became a prize.