The Diary of a Nerd

Chapter 12

Monday, October 5, 2007. My Bedroom, 4:35 PM.

Okay. I'm feeling slightly better, now. It helps that I'm sucking on a king-sized Hershey bar, but there's another reason I'm more cheerful than earlier. Basically, Afro-boy and Taylor rushed into the coffee shop, drove me home where I was showered with worried kisses from my mom, and thrown upon my bed where Chad left Taylor and I to have a 'girl talk'. He said he didn't want to intrude, but I think the fact that my Mom's homemade brownies were steaming on the counter is the real reason. My mom bakes when she's worried, something I need to learn to do instead of drastic actions.

"Gabi, what happened?" Taylor had asked, pulling up a desk chair to the side of my bed.

I sighed, fidgeting with one of my bed pillows. You know that thing where you do something thinking it was smart at the time, but than later you look back and think, Why the hell did I do that?The whole running away thing? Yeah. I'm an idiot.

"You're going to think it's really stupid and immature," I replied tiredly.

"Try me."

"My dad called."

There was a silence as Taylor stared at me, suddenly quite shocked. See, Taylor and I have been friends basically since second grade. She would come over to my house and my Dad would take us somewhere fun, like the bowling alley. She was also there when he turned into a jerk and ditched my Mom and I.

"Oh, Gabi," she muttered, putting a hand on my arm. "That's not stupid at all. You had the right to freak out a little." She smiled for a second, then said, "If I were you I probably would have done something worse like send Chad a hate email."

I chuckled briefly, liking how it felt to laugh after an entire evening of crying. "Thanks, Tay."

"Hey, it's not problem," she replied, biting her lip. "Just . . . Next time you want to get away, get away at my house with some ice-cream and the movie Grease."

"It's a deal," I replied, smiling in spite of myself.

And I intend to keep that deal, because soon I'm going to have to ask my mom why my dad even called in the first place. I'll surly need some sort of retreat by then. As for right now, though, I've spent all today catching up on homework in bed and watching movies with my mom. It was nice, really. She's away so much that we rarely get to sit down and converse with each other. And although I skipped yet another day of school, I feel refreshed and ready to face the high school hoards tomorrow. I think.

The good news is that I not only had a nice chat with Taylor and spent the day with my mom, but Troy stopped by a little while ago after his basketball practice ended. I know, right? I was totally shocked too. After Troy was giving me the cold shoulder I half expected him to ignore me for at least a few days. But there he was, shuffling almost nervously into my bedroom after I had called, "Come in!" when he knocked.

"Hi," he muttered, sitting on the edge of my bed. "I heard what happened."

I think every person at school has. The fact that I didn't go to school today probably worsened the rumors, too. I merely nodded, still watching as Troy fiddled with his jacket sleeves.

"You should have called me, or something. I would hav -"

"Troy," I interjected. "It's not a big deal, okay? I just had a breakdown . . . Besides, I don't even have your number."

It's true. Troy and I never exchanged cell phone numbers, and I never bothered to look in the student guide for it.

Troy shook his head, standing up and moving closer to the head of my bed. "Elle, that's not the point. I mean . . . We've grown pretty close these past few days, and while you were having your episode, I was oblivious and hanging around Shannon."