FRIENDS

ZAILIE (6:15 p.m.)

        "Are you sure this is what you want to do?" My mom asked from the driver side of her car. I had come late because of how long it took to get myself ready.

      "Yeah, I owe it to someone and to myself." I gave her a hug and kiss. I fixed my hair and got out of the car. As I approached the glass do that led into the school I caught my reflection; My once burgundy shiny locks now hung wildly from my scalp in curly strands, my clear as day vision clouded with a pair of huge black hipster glasses, and my teeth now covered in my version of DIY braces using a bent paperclip and pink beads from an old bracket making kit. My clothes didn't match my new personality either; An old pollo top with a tiny horse on the shoulder blade that hung on me like a trash bag, plain black pants, and a pair of beater converse.
     It was for a good cause though, Alex. I had went home after the set up and took a good hard think about what I wanted to do. And it was this. I looked up at the sign on the door 'science fair, this way' with an arrow pointing inside. Life was full of complicated situations and this was one of them. I had the one thing high school girls strived for, popularity and I was ready to toss it to the side like an old magazine. I checked my phone. I had gotten a group text from Khari.

        Cece= burgundy hair???😞💁?

     I hated Khari's text slang it always left TOO much to the imagination like what the hell did this even mean? I just tossed the phone back into my pocket. Whatever. I went inside the building and followed the signs to the science room. It was packed with ner- smart people. But that wasn't even what had stood out the most, it had been the amazing projects that had filled up the tables. There were bright posterboards, a robot car sliding across the floors and even a huge sized replica of some mountain or volcano. Whatever it was, it was big. I noticed Alex talking with a few kids in the back corner of the room with a poster board. I could read it from here.
     Oh. So they had built the robotic car driving around. I made my way over to the table, grabbing a few glances here and there from my clothes. I admit it might've been a bit much and too much of a cliche but I needs something big to grab Alex's attention. And being that it would take two decades to get this hair straight again, this was perfect. I swiftly made my way past a group of sophomores, huddled around their table.
    I felt my foot step on something hard and metal sending me airbourne and finllay sprawled on the floor. Shit!   The pain started at my knee and started to spread through my stomache and eventually I felt my cheeks go hot. "Ow!"
     A few guys stared at me awestruck and a few girls snickered. I felt someone helping me up. "Are you okay-" it was Alex "Zailie what the hell are you doing here, and in this." He didn't seem to be angry anymore. Good. He looked more amuzed as he tried to contain his laughter. Funny must not this funny. I looked down at my shirt which had a red too smeared from collar to stomach.
     "Sorry." A girl said standing by her huge volcano which had just errupted and was once on the floor but now on me.
      I rolled my eyes and turned back to Alex. "Look I wanted to get your attention and I thought why not bring old Zailie out. I did this to say that I'm sorry." I said blowing hair from my face. "I know I should've been more supportive of your things just as well as mine. And you're to an accessory, trust me, I've seen studded belts that are cuter." I joked with him and we pulled into a hug.

     "Hey Romeo and Juliet, why don't you bring the robot over so we can check if its ok." Alex's friend interrupted.

     I started to take the glasses off "Don't stop playing nerd now, we might need your help." Alex said scooping up the car and walking it over.

     "I'd love that." I said right behind him. And that wasn't the only thing I loved in this moment

      My entire life I had looked at life from a perspective of whether you were cool or not cool; you were in or you were out. Never in my life would I have seen a group of nerds such as Alex and his team mates as cool. I thought that the world revolved around those who were set in the center, and anyone outside of it stood... still. The old me was still and as stiff as ever. But I was wrong. The old me was a bright girl, who could barely keep her nose out of a book and saw life though a pair of odd shaped glasses which made her look even more herself, she'd smile her bright pink braced face and feel ugly, while popular kids sat green with envy. Because she didn't know it but they had been jealous of her, because she had something that they lacked, she had personality and she had herself. I thought I had repressed this Zailie so deep down within myself that she ceased to exist, but she did. She was always with me. Every time I accidentally slipped on wet floors, all the urges I had to constantly raise my hand with anticipation, every necklace I felt myself gnawing at, everything I did was her. Me and her are still here, were two different life forms existing within the same body. We made up Zailie. From every hair flip, to every hair entanglement; From every sexy wave, to every misjudged wave; From every flirtatious laugh, to every snort. Here we were and here I am. Nerd and all