A Little Tenderness (Marcel/HES)

***

High school was rough for everyone. Someone was going to drop out, someone would have a baby, and some wouldn't even graduate. It was the same in every school. But unlike the ridiculously 99.9% "caucasian schools" or 99.8% "minority schools", strife and violence didn't really exist at Saint Greg's. There were no reports of bullying, there were no cat fights, or nerds getting stuffed into lockers. It just didn't happen. St. Greggory's High School was one of the most diverse schools in the State. Almost everyone got along.

Just because Marcel wasn't getting stuffed into lockers or jacked up in the hallways didn't make him less of a loser. He still wasn't invited to parties, he still sat alone at lunch, and he still dressed like a nerd from the 90s. He was still invisible. He was by no means popular.

Yet like most nerds you hear about, Marcel had a crush on the popular girl.

Tahliah Monroe.

The pretty brown skinned girl who hung out with the jocks and cheerleaders. The girl who played for the varsity lacrosse team and religiously saw every new movie within the week it came out. She was the girl who was invited to every party and was never at a loss of where to sit in the cafeteria.

Tahliah was number 2 in their class and she was the girl who always noticed him. Who always smiled at him in the halls and whispered jokes to him in AP Stats when the teacher wasn't looking.

And Tahliah was the girl Marcel wanted to take to prom in three weeks. But first he'd have to get the courage to ask her.