Nerd in Disguise: Blood Bound

Nerd

"Watch it nerd," he grunts as he runs into me, knocking my books out of my arms. I don't dare make eye contact with him, because he'll see that I don't have an ounce of fear in my eyes.

"Sorry, sorry," I lace my words with terror as I gather my books in a rush. I hear the laughter him and his friends, probably mocking the scared little girl who ran away from them.

My blood boils but I grip onto my phoenix medallion necklace tightly in anger. A part of me is tired of keeping the timid, little nerd act. And that's what this is-- an act. I do it because it is the only way to lay low and undiscovered. No, I'm not a hidden celebrity or FBI agent. It's a little bit more complex than that.

    Arriving first in my class, I head straight to the backof the class. To keep my nerd appearance, I should sit in the front like a goodnerd is supposed to, but that's where I draw the line.     

I hate school with a passion.

It's ridiculously mind-numbing and suffocating. There's no way I'm going to sit in the front row whereI can be closer to the societal brainwashers—teachers . I'm not going to bother raising my hand for every question the teacher asks. That's just annoying and a waste of time and energy. I already know almost everything about my courses. I studied the entire textbooks in the beginning of the year so I can do more important activities in school—likesleep. And the school administration claim these are special "advanced college-leveled" courses. I expected more. They will say anything to please the rich donators.

I pretend to scribble notes in class when really I'm observing everyone in the classroom. Sometimes, I doodle like a normal student. I've pretty much categorized every single person in this school, which is tough considering how protected the files are.

I'm in an elite, private high school of only 1,088 students. It's a school where important people enroll their kids in and ship them off for the year. I guess you could call this a boarding school or something? Don't even get me started on the name, it's named Elite Prep, or maybe it's Elite Academy. I'm sure there is an acronym in there, but I did notpay attention at orientation.

A class of about two hundred seventy teens isn't a tremendous amount. That doesn't prevent the school from having social statuses between the students. Basically, I'm at the bottom of the food chain because I'm the quiet girl who nobody can figure out who my important parents are. They label me as the nerd. It's quite ironic since almost every student in this school is exceptionally gifted mentally and physically. That's how you can get in in the first place. Well, besides buying your way in or how influential your parents are. That kind of explains how some of these kids are snobby, rich kids.

Talk about laying low, huh? With a prestigious school like this, you'd think we get a lot of attention. We do, but I don't. It works to my advantage. The school has high security and is well protected. That's why a lot of politicians, celebrities, and other powerful people make their kids come here. My mom signed me up here; it's the last place anybody would probably look for us. Her old friend pulled some strings before she ploppedme here. She's off in God knows where, but we keep in touch. I'm just a nobody pretending to be a somebody in this school.

"Good evening class," Ms. Harper addresses us. I don't look up. Today I feel like finishing my artistic masterpiece. I'm currently drawing my most hated teacher, Mr. Smeeks, being chased by a ferocious lion. So far, it looks pretty realistic with Mr. Smeeks sporting a terrified look at the smirking lion about to chomp on him. Can lions smirk? This is a little bit graphic, but at least I haven't drawn him already being eaten.

"We have a brand-new student named Jacob Smith. Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?" I snap up at those words. A new student at this late in the semester? That's suspicious. His parents must be very influential people, or he's an Albert Einstein. I focus my attention on this kid Jacob.

"My name is Jacob Smith, like she said. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I'm a quarter French, half Brazilian, and quarter Chinese. (I swear the girls swooned when he said this). My blood type is AB positive. My height is 5'10. I've been alive for seventeen years. My relationship status is single, but not looking for anything..." He lists in a bored voice. The girls sigh collectively when he say he's not looking for a relationship. I can't help but sigh at how pathetic they are. From my one second glance, I can tell he's handsome.He might even be intelligent too. The girls will devour him up. 

"Did I forget anything?" He turns to Ms. Harper.

"Um, no. You're fine." She says, caught off guard. "Why don't you sit next to Shay Kerr?"

Everyone turns their head and looks at me. Oh wait, I'm Shay Kerr. I forget I am assuming my mom's maiden name right now. My actual name is Shay Ricca, or that's what I usuallygo with.    

I am tempted to act cool and say 'sup' to my classmates staring at me. Obviously, that's going to be out of the ordinary since I usually don't talk, so I peer down at my doodle and continue. I pretend to look concentrated even though I'm alert as Jacob comes down to sit next to me. He's number one on my suspicious people list.

"Nice art," Jacob nods towards my doodle. He's saying this to create a conversation opener and probably find out a thing or two about me.

"Thanks." I nod, not bothering to look up.

"I'm-" he is about to introduce himself again.

"Jacob Smith. I know," I nod. I could list his introduction word for word, cementing his impression that I'm a weird girl. Thus, he will stay away from me and it would be better for us that way. He's already grabbing too much attention, and he has only been here for six minutes. I would be polite and say my name, but he knows it already so I don't know what else he is waiting for me to say.

He stares at me for a while, creeping me out in the process. I'm not much to look at. I should be the most bland girl here in this Academy, maybe that's why I get bullied. There is not much to do here except torment those who don'tfit in. I deliberately fashion my hair into braids. I even stick on fake thick, framed eyeglasses. The clothes I can't change since we all wear uniforms, but I don't try to adjust it fashionably. I sorely want to burn these rags, but that'd be troublesome.

"So why are you in this school? Is it your parents, or are you a genius?" He says bluntly.

Well, I sure didn't expect that.

"Do you always ask these types of questions when you meet someone?" I'm rather amused at this new student's boldness.

"Do you always answer questions with questions?" He grins.

"No." I give him a clipped response. I'm not here to socialize and make friends.

"Cold..." He still grins. "Who's the guy?" He points to Mr. Smeeks.

"I don't know," I shrug.

"Shouldn't you be paying attention in class?" He is getting on my nerves. His attention has never drifted away from me.

"Shouldn't you?" I grit my teeth. Something about him makes me want to punch the smirk off his face. 

"Well, I came in the middle of the year. I'm already behind. Would you like to tutor me?" He winks flirtatiously.

"No, thank you," I refuse. I can't believe he thinks he can charm me to help him. I choose to ignore him for the rest of the class time despite him trying to make conversation. I just don't trust him.

I'm the first one out of the class as soon as the bell rings. I let out a breath of relief, hoping I never have another class with Jacob. The dude just doesn't know when to quit.

"So what's your next class?" He walks in step with me. His long legs easily keep stride with me.

"Math."

"With a Ms. Wallgren?" He glances at his schedule. "What's your classes?"

I glance at his schedule.

Great, he has more classes with me. To be specific, five out of seven classes.

"We have the first three classes, and then fifth and seventh together," I say reluctantly.

"Then I guess I'll stick with you," he nods.

Well, all this work to remain unnoticed has been unraveled within a day.

~A/N edited on 9-10-18. orig. published on Sept 2014~