"Watch where you're walking, nerd!" Someone shoves me aside, and I crash to the floor as everyone laughs around me.
I'm Anastasia Montez, 17, turning 18 next month, and yes, I'm a school nerd.
My locker is next to Stephanie Shears, the self-proclaimed queen bee with blonde hair, hazel eyes, and fake boobs. She's the cheerleading captain dating the track team captain after Justin, one of the school's bad boys, dumped her over the summer.
How do I know? News spreads like wildfire here, and I heard it just last Monday.
As I approach my locker, I see Stephanie applying makeup in the mirror on her locker door, dressed in a mini skirt, crop top, and heels. I open my locker, and a bunch of junk spills out. Stephanie smirks, and everyone laughs.
The bell rings, and everyone rushes to class. The janitor, Joe, comes to clean up. He became my friend in freshman year after I often hid in the janitor's closet.
"Go ahead, I'll clean up; that's my job," he says. I nod and hurry down the hall.
Turning a corner, I bump into someone and fall again.
"I'm s-" I look up to see Justin, one of the bad boys, smirking at me.
The five guys with him watch me, smirking as I get up and head to chemistry class.
"Welcome, Anastasia. It's good to see you join us," the teacher says. I roll my eyes and sit next to my lab partner, Juliet.
The morning passes with me being pushed aside and pranked.
Finally, lunchtime arrives. I join the line in the cafeteria and decide to eat in the janitor's closet as usual. When I reach the door, I hear noise inside.
I open it and gasp, "What the hell?!"
Stephanie and her boyfriend are having sex. I slam the door shut, my appetite gone. I give my lunch money to someone who had theirs stolen and head to the library.
*******
Now I'm in P.E., wearing the uniform with my chestnut hair in a ponytail. We're running today, while the cheerleaders make excuses to skip practice. I'm stuck with a few others, including Justin and Luke.
They keep watching and smiling at me. I take off my glasses, even though I don't need them. We start running laps around the field. I can run long distances since the jocks used to chase me home, which is a fifteen-minute walk from here.
The whistle blows, and we start our laps. I pass two boys, who look surprised. One says, "You aren't an athlete, nerd."
I reply, "Well, right now, I'm in front of both of you." I pick up speed, passing another guy and smirking at him as I continue running, breathing heavily.
Some guys slow down or start walking. Only the running team members and the two bad boys keep jogging. I'm holding my own for a girl.
I catch up to a jock who frowns. "I'm not losing to a nerd; it would ruin my reputation."
I roll my eyes; reputation, my ass.
I finish the run just behind the annoying jock.
"Nice job, Ana," the coach says. "All the guys who came in after her, give me twenty sit-ups and fifty push-ups."
The guy I passed shoots me a threatening look, and I smirk. Someone whispers, "You're full of surprises, nerd." I turn to see Luke.
I snap, "So what? Gonna do something about it?"
He just smiles and walks away. I enter the locker room to overhear:
"I can't believe Justin and Luke were staring at her and smiling."
"Luke was talking to her; I had to rub my eyes to believe it."
"She can't be good at running; look at her—she can't even dress properly."
"She made my boyfriend late because he has to do extra work."
I walk in, and all the cheerleaders gasp and fall silent. I pretend not to hear and take a shower.
Afterward, I put on baggy sweatpants and a shirt and decide to walk home instead of taking the bus. I have a red SUV and a motorcycle, but I don't know why I don't use them.
As I reach the school parking lot, I'm pushed to the ground. A group of guys surrounds me, and one of the boys from P.E. grabs me by the collar.
He has brown eyes and punches me in the face three times before throwing me down. They start kicking me, and tears stream down my face. Just as I feel faint, someone comes to fight the jocks. I feel someone pick me up and carry me to a vehicle, and that's when I faint.
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YOU ARE READING
Hanging With The Bad Boys (Edited)
Teen FictionNow available as an audiobook on Wehear, with the first 8 chapters ready for listening. Simply type "Afiya" when you download the app. _____________________ Anastasia Montez is an average teenager, known as the school nerd. Her only friends are her...