No Ordinary Nerd

Chapter 3

As the school day slowly went by, Clay felt happy and slightly nervous to finally see everyone as he left his class and headed towards his locker before going straight to the lunch tables sat outside where he and his friends normally gathered during lunch. Clay smiled slightly when he noticed that he was the first to arrive there.

Taking a seat, Clay set his bagged lunch in front of him and looked around, watching as kids come and go with their own groups of friends. "Jensen! Been a while, man. How was your summer?" A familiar voice asked, slightly shouting as he said Clay's last name. Clay turned to the direction the voice came from, spotting Jeff as he sat down to the left of Clay. The boy smiled at the friendly jock. "Hey, Jeff." Clay greeted with a smile. "So. How was your summer? Where'd you disappear off to?" Jeff asked curiously. Clay shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing too exciting. Just spent the summer with my grandparents." Clay said, casually repeating the lie he told Hannah, Jessica, and Justin earlier. Jeff nodded his head in response. "Hey, Jeff." A female voice sounded. The two friends glanced over to see Sherri walking towards their table. "Hey, Sherri." Jeff greeted back. When Sherri noticed Clay, she smiled brightly at him. "Hey, Clay! Nice haircut. Looks good." She complimemted, his new look being the first thing the girl noticed. "Thanks!" Clay said with a smile. "Man, what is it with you girls always noticing things with hair right away?" Jeff teased Sherri. "I agree too, though. The whole slightly buzzed sides thing really works for you, Jensen." Jeff complimented. Clay smiled at the two in response.

As more students exited the school to join friends for lunch, Clay spotted Hannah, Jessica, Justin, and Skye talking as they walked in their direction. "Hey, guys!" Clay greeted them when they got closer to the table. Hannah smiled at Clay as she walked over to take the empty seat to the right of him. "Hey, Clay." Skye greeted with a warm smile in his direction. "Long time, no see. What did you do all summer? I hope you didn't ditch your friends to play video games in doors all day." Skye asked, joking towards the end. Clay chuckled at her teasing. "Ha ha. No, I was away with my grandparents all summer." Clay responded, picking up on Skye's teasing tone at the end. "Hey, what happened to your hand there?" Justin asked, gesturing to the hard-to-miss wound on Clay's right hand. Clay glanced to his hand, thinking of something to say. "Oh, I was helping my grandpa try to fix his car motor and I kinda got electrocuted, I guess." Clay stuttered, hoping it was a believable lie. "Are you ok?" Jessica asked. "Yeah. It happened a week or so ago, so it doesn't hurt or anything anymore." Clay explained as he noticed Tony, Zach, and Alex walking over to the friend group. "Hey, guys." Clay greeted, glad for the distraction. "Hey, Clay!" Tony greeted with a smile while Alex and Zach waved with smiles as they sat down across from Clay at the table.

Clay was glad that Justin was the only one to ask about his injured hand. During lunch, everyone talked about what they did over the summer. Now it was finally the end of the school day as Clay exited his final class and headed towards his locker. He was anxious to get home and talk to his parents about what they had briefly discussed earlier. "Hey, Helmet." A voice greeted Clay as he was gathering his things from his locker. Clay glanced over to see Hannah smiling at him. "Hey, Hannah." He greeted back as he closed his locker and placed his backpack over his shoulders, gripping the straps of his backpack in front of his chest. "Got anything planned after school today?" She asked him as they walked together towards the exit of the school. "Well, my parents want to talk to me about something when I get home, but other than that, I don't think I have anything planned." Clay said as they followed the sidewalk through the school's parkinglot and started heading towards Hannah's house. Hannah simply nodded in response. "Oh, I like the short hair, by the way. I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier." Clay said, complimenting Hannah's new hair style. "Thanks, Clay." Hannah said, glancing towards the ground as they walked to try and hide the blush that took over her cheeks. Clay smiled, noticing her blush as he watched her with his own smile on his face. "How about I call or text you after I talk with my parents? We can maybe do something later. Just you and me, and no one else." Clay suggested, starting conversation again. "Sounds good to me." Hannah said, smiling brightly at the boy as she linked her arm with his as they kept walking.

After walking Hannah home, Clay shared a brief greeting with Mr. and Mrs. Baker before leaving and making his way to his own house.

When Clay got home, he immediately heard his parents talking in the living room. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad." Clay greeted as he entered the living room, seeing his parents sitting together on the couch. "Hey, Clay. Take a seat." His dad said with a smile towards the boy. Clay obeyed, gently setting his backpack on the ground next to him as he sat down in a vacant chair. "So, your dad and I met and talked with the Bakers earlier." Mrs. Jensen started. "What did they say?" Clay asked curiously. "Well, they're ok with you telling your friends the truth. But they think maybe you should start small, rather than telling everyone at once." Mr. Jensen explained, his wife nodding in agreement. "But I can still tell my friends the truth?" Clay asked. "Yes. The four of us are ok with that." Mr. Jensen said with a small nod. "Great! So maybe start small with telling one or two of my friends?" Clay asked. His parents looked at each other before turning back to Clay. "Yeah, I think one or two is a good number to start out with." Mrs. Jensen said. "Can one be Hannah?" Clay asked. "I think so. Especially since she seems to be one of your closer friends." Mr. Jensen said. "Thanks for letting me tell them." Clay thanked his parents. "I'm going to go upstairs and get started on some homework." Clay said as he stood up from the chair. His parents nodded in response before he picked up his bag and headed upstairs to his room.

Once in his room, Clay decided to call Hannah. Listening to the ringing tone on his phone, Clay heard Hannah pick up on the third ring. "Hey, Helmet." Hannah said through the phone. Clay smiled to himself. "Hey, Hannah." He replied. "How'd that talk with your parents go?" She asked. "Pretty good." Clay said. "I've got something I need to tell you." Clay added. "Ok. What is it?" Hannah asked curiously.