Beauty and the Geek

Chapter 4.

  Will had been right – the gig was totally NOT my scene; the rock music blared over the speakers, a band of rowdy men with guitars were sweating over the audience as everyone went completely bezerk in a makeshift mosh pit. Everyone seemed to be wearing leather and black nail polish and the shadows of the room housed some of the more inconspicuous characters from our town. I looked on in several different kinds of awe. So, this was what shy, bookish Will was into? Huh.

"Dude!" A shaggy-haired, toothy boy I recognized from school, who looked way too young to be there, appeared. "Thanks for coming – I thought you had other plans."
"I did but they got a little...complicated," Will shrugged in reply. "I hope you don't mind I brought a...friend. Emily, this is Zeke and vice versa. I'm sure you know each other anyway."

I felt guilty because I had never uttered a single word to Zeke, although he had been in my History class for a lifetime. Zeke didn't seem to have the same problem and, from the terrified expression on his face, I could tell he recognized me immediately. I was beginning to realise that by spending so much time with so many ignorant people maybe I was becoming a projection of it myself.

"Oh, yeah," I beamed. "We have history, right? Nice to meet you, Zeke."
"S-sure," He stuttered in reply, looking curiously at Will who seemed extremely smug that I was on his arm tonight.
"I'm gonna get us some drinks – any preference?"

Will flashed his impressive fake I.D and I smiled. How could it be that the school geek had a fake I.D and I didn't'? I shook my head in reply and Will shot off to the bar.

"So, you and Will, huh?" Zeke wore an odd, accusatory expression. "How do you know each other?"
"Will is my tutor."
"Ah, I should have known."
"What does that mean?"
"If you hadn't gathered Will isn't exactly a smooth operator," He replied, nodding at Will lingering by the bar. "Dates aren't really his area of expertise."
"Oh, we're definitely not on a date!" I scoffed. "I have a boyfriend."
"Uh, huh," Zeke smirked as Will returned and I found an interesting spot on the ceiling.

To be honest, I wasn't sure I did have a boyfriend anymore; even if I decided to give Brett another chance again, could it really work? We clearly had nothing in common and I didn't want to spend my life stuck with somebody who was scaring me more often than not lately.

"So, what do you think?" Will carried several drinks in his arms and excitedly bopped to the music. "It's Zeke's band. I didn't know if you were into rock music."
"I didn't know you were into rock music either," I replied.

He laughed, his eyes crinkling round the corners in a wonderful way that made me weak at the knees. Will was utterly charming to me and, funnily enough, he had no idea. My life was too messy right now to embark on a weird fling with my tutor but it couldn't hurt to be friends with him. 'Just friends and nothing more', I promised myself, deflated.

As the night wore on and the alcohol flowed more freely, I found myself feeling tipsy and having fun for one of the first times in a while, instead of trying to avoid Brett's wandering hands all night. Will and I danced crazily to the music, gaining amused glances from Zeke and everybody else in the bar.

The music slowed down as people filtered out of the bar and the clinking of last orders glasses filled the air. Will stared at me through unfocused eyes as I hovered a little away from him and the band came to a standstill. They began to strum an acoustic guitar and perform a rendition of Ed Sheeran's 'Photograph' that made everyone fall silent and couples take to the dance floor.

"May I have this dance?" He offered his hand and the beat of my heart oddly felt like the only sound in the whole room, radiating off the walls for all to hear.

Before I knew what I was doing, I was nodding silently and face to face with Will. He wrapped an arm slowly around my waist and I felt my head drop, resting on his chest; I was unsure whether I was just exhausted from the manic dancing or whether this was the first time I had felt content in a while.

Will was a good dancer, deliberate and soft in his movements, which added to his list of never-ending surprising qualities. I had been wrong about him – he wasn't a 'school geek' or a 'nerd' or anything I had ever anticipated. He was just a normal guy, albeit more intelligent, trying hard to get into college; with a love for rock music and tattoos and a different personality that he kept hidden for only those who he trusted. Ironically, I was the phony. I disliked all of my 'friends' and I found myself fearful everyday at school that the rest of the phonies would find out who I really was deep down.

I gazed at Will slowly and our eyes locked; his ever stretching eyelashes fluttering with nerves as he leaned closer and I felt my eyes close...

A hand thudded onto my shoulder; an accompanying cough sounding in my ear. I turned to see the barman looking on in bewilderment as he motioned around us to a silent bar and chairs stacked on counters ready for closing. It seemed we had been dancing in the same spot for much longer than I had realised.

"Oh," Will pulled away quickly, his eyes darting anywhere but at me. "Looks like it's time to go home..."
"Yeah," I tugged nervously at my shirt.
"I think it's probably best that didn't happen anyway."
"Yeah, you're right," I shrugged, even though he was completely wrong. "Let's walk home?"

Will smiled at me, his eyes sparkling, and my heart lifted a little. We shared a knowing look as he held the bar door open for me like the true gentleman he was and we walked home together for what felt like the thousandth time since we had met; butterflies flitting deep inside me.