She's Such A Nerd

4: Don't Even

4: Don't Even

I walk into English, practically dancing. Singing softly along with my music, I don't feel embarrassed, 'cause I'm always the first one in the room. Ms. Kelley chuckles from her desk, knowing how silly I really am. I start doing a little dance on my way to my table. As my favorite part comes on, I start singing louder.

"My ex-man brought his new girlfriend. She's like "Oh, my gosh!" but I'm just gonna shake. And to the fella over there with the-" I put my hand over my mouth and shake my shoulders before continuing,"good hair. Won't you come on over, baby? We can shake, shake, shake. 'Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play. And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off. Heart-breakers gonna break, break, break, break, break. And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake, fake, fake. Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake. I shake it off, I shake it off!" I hear two people laughing. Spinning around, I see Jake standing right behind me. Oh, my gosh. I immediately take a step back, a blush covering my normally pale cheeks. Quickly and quietly, I sit down and start getting out everything I need.

Jake soon sits down next to me. He leans back in his seat and puts his arm around my shoulders. What?! I look at his arm then turn my head to look at him. He's looking at me with a huge grin on his face. After a minute of him just staring at me like the creeper he is, he says, "Hey."

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I ask him, "Comfortable?" I glance at his arm, which is still around me, hoping he takes the hint.

His smile grows, if even possible. "Yep," is his only response. Then, as if he couldn't surprise me more, he scoots my chair close to his and pulls me closer. What is he doing?

"Umm," I start to protest. The bell to begin class rings, but he doesn't let me go. I try to scoot away, but he just pulls me closer. I make a face at him and he laughs. Ms. Kelley tells us that we're going to be working on our project for the class period then lets us work. Squished, I look up at Jake to find him smiling again. I roll my eyes and he laughs. I sigh and try again to pull away, refusing to give up. His arm doesn't budge. Gosh dangit! This is getting really annoying. I look up at him again and ask him, "So what are we going to do our essay on?" He shrugs and I sigh. "You're not helping much." He shrugs again, obviously not caring. I think about topics we could write about. "Am I going to have to do this essay all by myself?"

"No, I'll help," he says, looking over at me. Sure you will.

"Then help figure out a topic." He makes a face like he's thinking really hard.

"We can do it on sports." I shoot him a look and shake my head. He finally removes his arm and continues to think. "Alright. Well...how about music?" I think for a moment.

"Yeah, maybe." I start a list of possible topics. I prefer to be organized and to plan ahead. I'm not much of a procrastonator. "Any other ideas?" No response. I look up to find Jake on his phone. Rolling my eyes, I snatch it from him and put it in my back pocket.

"Hey," he protests. He looks at the pocket where I put his precious iPhone.

I snap my fingers in front of his face to get his attention and he immediately grabs my hand, turning his attention to my face. Now that I have his attention, I say, "You know, it's rude to stare at a girl's butt."

He laughs, lets go of my hand, and puts his arm back around my shoulders. "I'm not afraid to take it back, you know," he states. I'm sure he's not. I narrow my eyes at him and he laughs again. "I'm kidding. I'm more of a gentleman than that." I roll my eyes.

"Anyways, back to the assignment." To my surprise, he pays attention for the rest of the period. Soon, the bell rings and I gather my things quickly, wanting to go home and eat to my heart's content. You see, food and I have a love/hate relationship. It's complicated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I throw my bag on the floor and am about to plop down on my bed when I hear a phone ringing. That's not my phone, is it? I don't recognize the ringtone. I pull Jake's phone out of my back pocket and check the caller ID. Home. I blink. Jake's phone. Jake's phone... Oh, my gosh... Do I answer it?

Without thinking twice, I answer. "Hello?"

"Well, if it isn't the phone-stealer," I hear Jake's voice on the other end.

"I didn't steal it. I just happened to forget it was in my pocket."

"If this is what I get for being a gentleman, I don't think I like it." He chuckles and I try not to laugh.

"Sorry?"

"It's fine. I'll just have to come get it from you." Wait, what?

"Come get it from me?"

"Yep. See you soon, cutie." And with that, he hangs up. Excuse me? He did not just call me that. I put the phone back in my pocket. All I wanted was for him to pay attention. I sigh. Then, all of a sudden, it hits me. How does he know where I live? You know what, I'm not even going to ponder over it. I'll just ask him when he comes over.

The doorbell rings and I start to head downstairs. From the top of the stairs, I hear Maria answer the door. Great. I pause, curious about what he'll say.

"Hello," I hear Maria say. Knowing her, she probably has a polite smile spread across her face.

"Hello. I'm looking for Emaline?" Jake's voice carries up the stairs.

"Oh. Are you one of her friends?"

        "Yeah. Well, I'm her boyfriend." My jaw drops. Why would he say that?!

"Oh! She never mentioned a boyfriend! Come on in. She's up in her room."

"Thanks."

"It's the second door on the right."

"Thank you." I hear him walk towards the stairs. Snap! I run back to my room and close the door as quickly and quietly as I possibly can.

Moments later, there's a knock on my door. I fling the door open and hit his chest before whisper-yelling, "Why on planet Earth did you say that?!" I frown up at him, but he just laughs and steps into my room. I close the door. "Answer me!"

He looks at me with eyebrows raised. "Calm down, it was just a joke." I close my eyes. I can't take it anymore. I open my eyes and find him looking at me.

"What," I snap.

He smiles and shakes his head. "Nothing."

I frown. "No. Tell me." I don't want to put up with his crap anymore.

He smiles more. "You're cute when you're mad."

"What," I ask, surprised.

He chuckles. I grab his phone and hold it out to him. I want him gone. He takes it from me and smiles. "Thanks, sweetheart," he says, adding a wink. I stay straight-faced. He chuckles again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jake finally leaves and before I know it, it's time for dinner. I sit down at the table with my parents, who decided to join me tonight. I usually eat in my room when they're away. I don't mind it, because I've got music to keep me company. As we're eating, my parents talk business. I tune them out but my attention is soon brought back as I hear my name.

My father speaks up. "So, we hear you have a boyfriend." I nearly choke on my food. How did they hear tha- Maria... Crap.

I swallow before speaking. "I believe that is simply a misunderstanding."

My mother speaks next. "You don't have to lie to us, Emaline. We'd love to meet him."

I'm about protest when my father speaks. "Yes, we'd love to meet him. Why don't you invite him and his family over for dinner on Saturday?" I go to protest but am cut off once again by my father calling Maria in and informing her the plan for Saturday evening. Double crap. Jake, this is all your fault.