SEVENTEEN | Imagines

Dino (III)

Dino

Dino's definition of nerd didn't match who you were at all. 

. . .

Nerds didn't get picked on. Or at least you didn't.

You weren't sure how the stereotype came about that nerds were inherently weak and unable to defend themselves. These nerds seem to have resigned themselves to being bullied and taken advantage of.

Sure, you were a nerd. You were smart, got good grades, but didn't like showing it off. It always made you uncomfortable when people would ask what your marks were, you didn't want to lie nor did you want to brush them off. You knew that they would take offence to that. You also were a dead set on being an overachiever, but this trait was very much developed.

Besides this however, you weren't the most physically adept. Your coordination was non-existent and your balance may have been even worse. But you swam ever since you were a kid, giving you your broader shoulders and a nice set of strong lungs.

No one seemed to dare getting on your bad side, you never intimidated anyone or did anything even remotely shady. But people seemed to instinctively know that you weren't someone easy to deal with, you weren't an easy picking.

But Dino was.

. . .

Dino had always been scrawny, skinny, and small. Known commonly as the runt of the pack, he was what the lions would prey on if he belonged to a herd. With this position labeled onto him, he never really got the chance to build himself up. He was never expected to be anything else than the so-called 'baby', it was a role he was assigned as he grew up, especially in his group of friends. He was safe with his friends, even if one of them did take some sort of strange pleasure in being the 'mother'; they took care of him.

But then he moved. And the world was suddenly a lot bigger.

Dino fixed his shirt repeatedly as he walked down the hallway, his too baggy jeans attracting attention he didn't want. His slim arms clutched at the little folder of papers the office had given him as he looked around with wide eyes.

He looked too susceptible, it was impossible for him not to be teased. The fresh-faced innocence exuded practically invited someone to just mess with him a little.

One second he was just walking along and suddenly he was shoved, not hard, but just enough to cause him to lose his balance a bit. He probably wouldn't have fallen if it wasn't for the giant jeans that he was wearing, when stepping out to catch himself, his sneaker had landed onto his own pants.

So he fell.

And people began to laugh. It wasn't jeering laughter, there was nothing purposefully cruel about it; it was a silly moment and it was funny, so people laughed. But to Dino it wasn't like that, he was completely mortified. He wasn't sure what to do, his stuff was just scattered on the floor and people were laughing and staring. In truth, he could have calmly just picked his things up and walked off and no one would have said another word, but in his frazzled state he couldn't decide what to do at all.

"Okay people, you all have places to go, let's get moving." You announce slightly obnoxiously as you tried to shove past the crowd of people that were preventing you from reaching your classroom.

There was a little murmuring before students began to clear out, leaving Dino looking awfully pathetic and lost with papers on the ground.

When you realized what the earlier commotion was about, you felt bad. The kid was obviously new and having this happen on their first day, before they got to know the environment of the school, sucked.