How to Date a Nerd (3 page)

He doesn’t acknowledge me at all, which I try to seem fine with. I don’t know why I want his attention so badly. He’s made it pretty clear that he doesn’t see me that way, and I don’t blame him after what I did. I may swoon and sway as I look at him from across our windows, but in school, if I even glanced in his direction, I’d get shit for it.

I turn back to the mirror and let out a sigh—a real one this time. The dark circles under my eyes make it look like I’ve been on drugs for the past few days, when really, I’ve just been up every hour reliving those few scary seconds in Cody’s unrelenting grasp. My long, fake, red hair is matted and knotty from not brushing it after my shower last night. Do I have my work cut out for me this morning or what?

I plug in the flat iron and get up to dig through my closet. If I’m going to convince people I’m okay, I need something short and sexy, pushing the boundaries of the dress code. I slip on a tight miniskirt and a low-cut pink top and assess the outfit. Besides the horror that is my face and hair, I look pretty damn hot. Just like the girls in those movies. We’re on the right track, baby!

My hair takes me a good twenty minutes to untangle, and I slather globs of makeup to cover my raccoon eyes. Perfect and just in time, too. First period starts in fifteen minutes. I throw my purse over my shoulder—only losers wear backpacks—tuck my Algebra II book under my arm and head out the door.

My car isn’t in the driveway, though. Great, this shit of a morning keeps getting better and better. Even though I know it’s really childish, I stomp my foot on the cement.

Sierra!

I could strangle her until her brain starts working. It had to be her. It isn’t the first time she’s stolen my car to ditch school. Being underage doesn’t stop her from swiping my keys the second my parents leave for work.

And now I’m going to be really late. I kick off my heels and curl the straps around my fingers as I walk barefoot down the sidewalk. Just when I think my day couldn’t get much worse, I feel a light splash on my arm. How cliché. I pick up the pace as the rain starts to fall and fold my body around my book to keep it from getting wet. So much for taking time to do my hair. Oh, I’m going to kill Sierra!

A shiver runs up my spine, and I’m instantly regretting the short and slinky outfit. I’d take wearing my own “Use the Force” shirt over freezing to death. I consider turning back and staying home for the day, but the possibility of getting expelled propels me forward.

Why can’t I graduate without actually
going
to school?

I start running. The balls of my feet smack the pavement, and I pray I don’t end up stepping on anything that would cause serious damage. Rain water splashes up my legs as I run through the puddles. If I slip and fall, that’s it for my morning.

The glow of headlights flickers behind me. Maybe some fool will take pity on me and give me a ride to school.

“Zoe?”

His voice always sends a wave of butterflies through my stomach, and I can’t help the dorky grin that forms on my face.

“Yeah, it’s me!” I call back over the weather.

“Get in!”

He doesn’t need to tell me twice.

“Thanks,” I say once I’m in.

“No problem.” Zak puts the truck in first gear and eases back onto the road. Driving stick adds the sexy to this wonderful geekboy.

“Feeling better, I see.” He smirks out of the side of his mouth, and I roll my eyes.

“Shut up.” I wring out my hair on the leather seat and give him a fake grimace. He laughs as he wipes it up with one of the plaid overshirts he keeps in the cab.

We don’t talk for a few seconds while Zak messes around with the radio. How he does that while driving a manual, I have no idea.

“You know, there’s a new Spiderman documentary on this weekend.”

No freakin’ way! How did I not know about this? My heart jumps through a hoop of excitement, but I keep my face composed. “So?”

“Maybe we could watch it together. Just like old times.”

Is he for real? My dorky grin almost comes back, but I keep it restrained.

He steals a glance at me and says quickly, “It’ll be a bunch of us. Ariana’s coming, I think.”

I want to go—oh boy, do I want to—and if it was just going to be the two of us, I probably would say,  “Heck yes!” But it’s not, and that’s social suicide. If I’m going to watch it…scratch that,
when
I watch it, I’ll do it hidden in my room with the curtains drawn and the door securely locked.

I force an amused “as if” chuckle and gaze at the raindrops slipping down the window.

“Well, you’ll miss out. Stan Lee is hosting it.”

“Who?” My voice drizzles with sarcasm, and he lets out a booming laugh.

“All right. I won’t bug you about it.”

He shifts gears again, and I see the muscles on his forearm ripple. When did he get those? He certainly didn’t have them when…ah, never mind.

My phone buzzes between my cleavage. I pull it out, trying to emphasize the fact I’m touching my boobs, but Zak focuses on the road in front of us. His indifference makes my face heat as I slide the phone open.

I need ur help! I’m about a block away from Kevin’s house. Plz hurry.

Sierra. What has she gotten into now? Even though I’m pissed at her, I suppose I should at least answer her urgent message. I fill my cheeks with air and let it come out slowly as my fingers fly across my keyboard.

I can’t. I’m gonna B late for school. Call Mom or Dad.

“You okay?” Zak looks at my face, which is still half blown up.

“Yeah.”

“You sure? You always do that when you’re frustrated.”

I narrow my eyes. “Do what?”

“Hold your breath.” His dark eyes shine with amusement, and I wish I was in the mood to appreciate that he still remembers things like that about me. Blowing up my cheeks always helped with the anxiety when I was called names in middle school.

“I’m fine.”

My phone buzzes again.

I can’t. Please! They’ll kill me if they find out I ditched school. I need you Zoe.

Argh! Curse my sisterly nature. Zak is about to pull into the school parking lot, but maybe he won’t mind being late.

“Zo?”

Oh, I love it when Zak calls me that.

“Yeah?”

He pulls into the parking lot and shuts off the truck. When he takes his hand off the gear-shift thingy, he rubs the sweat from his palm on his jeans. “You sure everything is okay?” He keeps his eyes locked on his knees. “’Cause you don’t look okay.”

Apparently, I’m transparent. “Could you take me somewhere else? My sister needs help with something.”

He cocks an eyebrow at me. Man, I wish I could do that without looking like a complete dork.

“Don’t you have enough tardies?”

“Yeah, but it sounds like she’s in trouble.”

Zak nods and starts the car, but instead of heading out of the parking lot, he pulls up to the school doors. I open my mouth to snap at him, but his concerned face stops me.

“You go to class. I’ll get Sierra.”

“But—”

“Don’t argue with me, Zoe. I can afford to be late, but you can’t. I don’t want to see you get kicked out because your sister ditched to see her boyfriend.”

“How did you…?”

“It’s not hard to guess.”

I want to kiss him. Yeah, I totally want to smack one right there on his nerdy lips. I want to wrap my arms around him and let him know how much I appreciate his concern, because I don’t deserve those worry lines he’s got on his forehead.

Okay, so I lied. He’s nothing like Peter Parker. He’s a bajillion times sexier than Peter Parker. Spider-Man ain’t got nothing on Zak Gibbons.

But we’re right in front of school. It’s bad enough I’m in the truck with him. To be seen kissing King Dork? I may as well wear my
Harry Potter
shirt to class.

So I mutter thank you, tell him the address Sierra just sent, and get out of the truck before anyone can see.

***

School really isn’t so bad. Class is my favorite part. I like learning new crap, especially if I connect it to
Star Wars
or
Lord of the Rings
. But I fail most of my tests on purpose. Not enough to fail the class, but to eke by without being called an egghead or a moron.

I make it to first period right as the bell rings. Ms. Weber isn’t even here yet. I take my seat in the back, where I’m usually surrounded by my self-righteous friends, but they’re all late today.

“Hey, Zoe.” Hannah waves at me, and I try to cock my eyebrow like Zak does, but I’m sure I look ridiculous. To cover, I give a demeaning little wave back. Hannah is not in my social circle. My brief acknowledgment causes her face to flush. I fight the urge to care about it. That Zoe can’t exist at school.

“Turn your phones off now unless you want me to chuck them against the wall,” Ms. Weber says as she finally walks in. She’s wearing a tight mauve dress, and her blonde hair is done up in an elegant braid. Her red lipstick and perfectly formed cheekbones make her face look flawless. Needless to say, she’s the hot teacher all the boys drool over.

My phone is tucked safely between my boobs, and Zak’s not in this class so I don’t pull it out to turn it off. He probably wouldn’t look anyway.

Ms. Weber dives into her lesson about Ancient Egypt, and I find myself leaning forward, enthralled with the information, but trying to keep my face nonchalant. Halfway through the lecture, Zak walks in like he’s just run a freaking marathon.

“Mr. Gibbons,” Ms. Weber says, folding her arms over her waist. “I believe you are in my fifth period class. You’re a tad early.”

Giggles float through the air, but Zak takes no notice of them.

“Sorry to interrupt, but they need Zoe in the main office.”

Ms. Weber turns her back on him and continues to write on the whiteboard. Zak waves me over. I take Ms. Weber’s lack of response as an okay and grab my purse.

Someone wolf whistles, and I throw the bird out behind my back and laugh, trying to play it light so they don’t think I’m enjoying company with Lord of the Nerds, even though being inches from his cologne makes me drool like a darn puppy dog. A loud “Oooh” echoes around the room. People are so stupid, but I’m glad Zak doesn’t grab my arm to pull me into the hallway. More whistles would have ensued, and I can only do so much here.

I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who looks past his nerdy shirts and personality. Or thinks that adds to his cuteness level while everyone else writes him off. But Zak and I…we used to be stitched together in middle school. The two geeks who spoke Elvish and played Pokémon in the band pit. Gah! It took
forever
to rid myself of that reputation. Sure, it was fun and stuff, but I was never invited to the cool parties or asked out, like…ever.

Totally changed now, thank you very much. But I still have major anxiety attacks when I think about the stuff people said behind my back. To my face, too, I guess. Zak kind of held me together back then. Every time I’d have an “episode,” he’d pull me into the janitor’s closet—not for “seven minutes in heaven,” that’s so not what happened—and rub my shoulders till my breathing calmed, and make me recite the different shortcuts in various video games. Totally took my mind off all the nasty stuff people called me, and got rid of the tears, too. Zak was awesome like that. Always seemed to be there when I needed him.

I still don’t get what’s wrong with him, though. I mean, didn’t it hurt him, too? All the stuff people said about how dorky and loserish we were? Because it hurt me. It hurt a lot. He doesn’t seem to care. I
wish
I could not care, but it’s not possible. People want to
be
me now.  Well, fake me
.
This is much better than crying over what people say about my Yoda backpack.

Then I think about Cody and wonder if it really is better, but shove the thought from my brain before I revert to Geek Zoe.

 “What is it? Is Sierra okay?”

Zak shakes his head. “I got there just as the ambulance arrived.”

My heart drops into my butt. “What?”

“She totaled your car, Zo. I’ll take you to the hospital. Don’t worry, she didn’t look too bad when I saw her.”

“I’ve gotta call my mom,” I say, yanking out my phone. I don’t care that this time he isn’t looking at me.

“Come on,” he says, pulling my arm. “You can call her on the way.”

I nod and wiggle out of his hold.

I never knew Zak was capable of driving over the speed limit, but we could hydroplane with how fast he zooms through the neighborhood.

“Are you sure she’s all right?” I ask as I cling to the seat for dear life.

“Yeah,” he says, but he’s short with me. Guess I shouldn’t talk to him right now.

We get to the hospital and Zak drops me off right at the ER doors. As I’m clicking the seat belt, he clears his throat awkwardly. “Uh…I hope everything’s okay.”

“You’re not staying?” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. I need him to stay. I should tell him thanks for the ride and let him go, but I can’t. I need him in case Sierra— 

“Only if you want me to.”

He’s giving me another chance to tell him to leave. I search myself for that fake persona, but I’m too panicked over my sister to act on it.

“Just go park the car. I’ll need a ride home.” That should be an okay response. I fly out of the truck before I can make more of a fool of myself.

The ER smells like death. I know that’s a horrid thought when walking into a hospital, but I can’t help it. A woman pukes in a bucket in the corner, a little boy holds his arm, which is bent at an awkward angle, and there’s a man who is so drunk he can’t hold his head up straight. Dude, it’s nine in the morning!

The man behind the desk is organizing charts. When I get to him, I can already tell his Monday morning is way busier than he wants it to be.

“Put your name on the list. We’ll be with you in a minute.”

“I’m here to see my sister. She came in with the ambulance.”

“What’s her name?”

“Sierra.”

His eyes finally flick to look me up and down. He raises his eyebrows at my wet outfit, and his face flushes. “Um, she’s in room one-thirteen. I’ll take you to her.”