No Ordinary Nerd

Chapter 1

Not many people suspected anything of Clay Jensen. Certainly not the people he had befriended: Hannah, Tony, Jeff, Jessica, Justin, Alex, Zach, Sherri, or even Skye. No one expected any more than just your average shy nerd. That's who Clay Jensen was to everyone at Liberty High. Just the average shy school nerd who always stayed to what he was comfortable with. Never spoke or acted out. Always just the calm, quiet kid who most kids didn't talk to. The guy people could go to if they needed academic help.

As the last week of Summer came around, Clay and his parents found themselves slugishly unpacking their luggage from their long summer trip. If Clay was completely honest with himself, he was glad to be back home after spending the whole summer away from his friends. As he placed some clean clothes neatly in his dresser drawers, his right hand caught his attention. Clay looked down at the top of his hand, seeing a decently sized almost-healed burn mark staring back at him. Clay sighed as he remembered the events that lead up to the almost-healed wound. He then wondered what he would tell his friends if they noticed it, which would be hard not to.

Suddenly knocking sounded on his bedroom door, pulling Clay out of his thougts. Turning around, Clay saw his mom standing there. "Hey. You ok?" She asked him as she stepped into his room a little. "Yeah." Clay said with a sigh. "Just thinking about things, I guess." He added when seeing his mother's knowing look. "I know it's hard. But it's all for good reason." Mrs. Jensen said. Clay sighed again. "I know. It's just hard keeping something like this from my friends. I feel like they deserve to know the truth. Or at least some of it, anyway." Clay said, guilt starting to set in his mind. "I know it's hard keeping something like this from them." Mrs. Jensen said in a caring tone. "I just wish I could tell them everything, so I wouldn't have to feel guilty about lying to them." Clay said. "How about this, I'll talk to your dad, and the Bakers. Maybe see what they think. Then we'll go from there." Mrs. Jensen suggested. Clay smiled slightly. "Thanks, Mom." Clay said, smiling a little. Mrs. Jensen returned the smile. "You should get some sleep since you've got school tomorrow." She said suggestively. "You're probably right." Clay said in agreement as he went to his dresser to grab a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. Mrs. Jensen smiled as she walked back towards the door again. "Good night." Mrs. Jensen said. "Good night." Clay replied before Mrs. Jensen smiled and quietly closed the door behind her.

After getting ready for bed, Clay lied in his bed, staring up at his ceiling as he thought about what would happen at school the next day. He smiled to himself at the thought of getting to see his friends, who he had not seen all summer. Clay then thought about what he and his mom had just talked about. He did feel guilty for having to lie to his friends, and he only hoped it would be possibly to at least come clean a little bit. Sighing to himself, Clay turned on his side, welcoming the sleep as it took him over.