A Nerd, a Tough Kid and the Wonder of Dance

Chapter 1: meeting Jena

His name was Jennings Akerman - a very unusual first name in our neck of the woods. It was a bit of a mouthful and caused some confusion when he first turned up at my high school. Then for some reason, everybody starting calling him 'Jena', even the teachers. It sounded a lot like a girl's name to me, but he seemed to be happy with it.

Jena was a nerd, a wimp, a geek, all of the above. He wore these gawky-looking glasses with big owlish eyes behind them. His face seemed to have a permanent expression of uncertainty and apprehension. To call his physique weedy was probably a compliment.

So, you're expecting that he was a bit of an egghead then, an academic powerhouse. Nope. Now, I don't think he was a dummy by any means, but he just got too nervous when trying to answer a question in class, and then when we did tests and exams, you could see him shaking with anxiety. I suspect that his school record was mediocre at best.

A computer geek then, an IT expert? Nope again. To be fair, this was one area where he was probably above average, but nothing special. There were plenty of other kids well ahead of him.

Jena did occasionally cop a bit from the other students, and not always light-hearted, but really, he was so pathetic that I think that most kids felt that it was cruel to make fun of him.

Getting the picture, this poor kid was an all-round loser.

I haven't introduced myself. My name is Garth, Garth Martine. That name is something to live up to, and you could say I was trying.

My father (who I'm sure gave me my name - after a muscly action hero in a old comic strip) was a bit of a redneck. He got me into boxing from a young age and I did it for a number of years. But I didn't really like it and Dad let me change to martial arts and that was a lot better.

I always loved sport and played/participated in all sorts over the years. When I went to high school I quickly showed out as the best athlete/sportsperson in my year.