Snapshots

Nerd

He looked into her eyes. He was so confident and she seemed meek. He had never seen her like this. Had anyone ever seen her like this? She always had this aura around her absolutely exuding her cool confidence. Everything about her always portrayed her perfection, from her impeccable hair to her cool clothes to her kind eyes to her sweet smile. She smiled nervously at him and in that moment, he realized her smiles had never been directed at just him but at everyone else in the room. He had never felt so special in his life. She opened her mouth and he could hear what she was about to say before she said them, "I - 

Roland was snapped out of his reverie by his best friend, Myra, slapping him. "Roland, you idiot, quit daydreaming and focus before you get called out."

Myra was right. She was almost always right. Roland hated that. Myra loved it. He'd once told her that and then immediately regretted it. She had promised that she would never forget it or let it drop. She was right. He had told her that in the fourth grade. There they were, juniors in high school, and Myra still held it over his head constantly.

They were in Roland's favorite class: theater. He had always been the quiet nerd in the back of the crowd. He looked the part, too. With his big black glasses that framed his dark blue eyes and his messy black hair, he could fade into the background whenever he wished. But when he was in theater, he became a different person. Literally. He completely embodied his character and always forgot about his insecurities. And he was good at it.

But he still hated ever getting called out in class.

He looked over and felt his cheeks color and snapped his head forward again. Dear God he chastised himself. Stop doing that. Don't be creepy. He had just looked at Lia. Lia, with her hair in a curly blonde ponytail, whose eyes, the color of a cappuccino, gazed with true interest at their theater teacher.

Ugh. Why did he just compare Lia's eyes to coffee? Who did he think he was? Roland just decided to blame it on Myra. She always made him go get coffee with her. Dumb girls and their dumb coffee.

His thoughts were jarred by a sharp elbow in his ribcage. "Roland," Myra hissed. "Stop that or I'll call you out for goggling."

He looked over at Myra annoyed, mainly to see if she was serious, and immediately knew that she was.

"You know what?" Myra's hissing now had a sense of urgency to it that was absolutely Myra. "I dare you to tell her you like her."

"What?" Roland's mouth dropped to the floor practically. What was Myra suggesting?

"Do it. You need to get over...whatever's going on in your weird nerd brain."

"No way."

"Roland." She looked at him long and hard. "Please do it. For both of us. And I'm your best friend. If this wasn't the best thing for you, I wouldn't have suggested it."

~ ~ ~

It was after one of their shows. For over a month, Myra's words had been ringing in Roland's ears. And every time he imagined it, he knew it would only lead to disaster. Lia was popular and pretty and perfect. She was the trifecta. And he...he was just an awkward theater nerd.

Roland knew he had his chance. All of Lia's friends had left and she was just getting ready to leave.

She stood up and he found himself talking before he knew what he was doing. "Lia! Wait up!"

Lia turned around and he immediately saw the look of confusion on her face. Roland had never spoken to her outside of theater; he had hardly talked to her in theater. And here he was, practically chasing her down.

"Uh...hi," he said.

Lia looked around. "You're talking to me?"

He nodded and looked around, just to make sure there were no other Lias just hiding wandering around.

"I thought you hated me, honestly," Lia said. "You never ever speak to me, and then whenever I said hi, you got red, like you were furious that I'd dare speak to you."

Oh my gosh, do I really do that?

"Oh, that's kind of embarrassing," Roland admitted. "No, I just...don't socialize well."

Lia laughed and he felt his chest swell with a bit of pride. "Don't we all? People think that just because I look like I'm good at it, it's easy, but I really am so anxious and I worry about people liking me. But don't we all, to some extent? Oh, look at me, going on about myself. Sorry about that. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Here was his big moment. Roland took a deep breath. "Ilikeyou."

Lia blinked hard for a moment. "What?"

"Ilikeyou."

She bit her lip nervously. "Oh. I was afraid that you'd said that. Um. Wow. Well, first off, it's very flattering that you think of me in that way, even though we don't know each other at all. And Roland, I have to admit I always thought you were cute, in your shy way, but I just don't think of you in that way."

Roland felt his cheeks color. "Yeah, I knew you'd say that."

"Why?" Lia looked a tiny bit flustered.

"Look at you," Roland was saying. "We're nothing alike. And, like you said, I don't know you. And you don't know me. And, honestly, I'm just doing this because Myra told me too."

"Myra?" Lia raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Uh...yeah." Roland didn't like that look on Lia's face. That was the face girls made when they knew something that he obviously didn't and had no intention of sharing what was going on in their minds.

She smiled. "Look, Roland, I don't want to play matchmaker, and obviously you two are close, but Myra is very cute and anyone can see she's over the moon for you."

"But..." Roland's jaw had hit the floor. "She's my best friend. Wouldn't I know if she did?"

Lia smiled knowingly at him again and a small laugh escaped her lips. "Sometimes knowing someone the best can cause you to not notice the most obvious things." She began to walk away, but then turned around. "See you around, Roland."

"As in, you want to be friends?" Roland asked, a tiny bit star struck.

"Yes Roland," she smiled. "I think being your friend would be nice."

She left just like that, she smiled and then disappeared to her car.

Roland stood there mulling over his thoughts for a moment then pulled out of his phone.

"Hello?" he heard the drowsy voice and immediately felt bad. He'd forgotten that she had had a headache and that she'd probably be sleeping.

"Sorry, Myra, but I told her." The words were spilling out of his mouth.

"What happened? Tell me everything!" Myra was suddenly perky.

The corners of Roland's mouth crept up. "You'll have to come get coffee with me tomorrow and find out. I also want to talk to you about some stuff."

"What stuff?" she was suddenly suspicious.

He cocked an eyebrow before he remembered that he was on the phone. "I guess you'll just have to find out."

"Uh...okay," Myra said slowly. "Um. See you tomorrow, Roland."

"Bye," he replied and hung up. He smiled. "Thank you Myra," he said, although no one was there. "Convincing me to talk to Lia was the best thing you have ever told me."