The Nerd Effect #Wattys2017

Chapter 8- Ancient Greek Embarassments

Two Weeks Later

The last two weeks had been eventful. Olivia came out as a lesbian to our group of friends, and Jason and Anna had started sneaking glances whenever they thought no one was looking. I had also picked up the habit of spending my free period in the library instead of at the tree. I wasn't talking to Christopher, and he noticed it from my stony expression in Math and (Shocker!) Chorus. Yup, that's right. The boy could also sing.

Yet another Monday morning had come around and surprisingly, I was up before Payton knocked on the door. I had thrown on my clothes in such a manner that I honestly didn't know what I was wearing until I looked in the mirror. I was wearing a Doctor Who 'Bow ties are Cool' t-shirt with jeans and my black converse. I put my hair in a ponytail and worked on getting my things together before Pay showed up. I wanted to get a head start to my locker so I wouldn't bump into Chris before I absolutely had to.

Suddenly the door opened and I ran to the door carrying all my stuff. I quickly turned Payton around and pushed her towards my car, and she got the message that I wanted to leave quickly.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I just want to get there quickly." After that, we didn't talk much the rest of the ride. We pulled into the school and once again I ran. It was nothing against Payton of course, but I wanted to avoid Christopher as much as possible. Sadly, my attempts were all in vain as he walked up beside my locker.

"Hey!" he said. When I didn't respond he frowned. Ugh, he was so adorable. I mentally scolded myself for thinking that. I was mad at him. "Are you mad at me?"

'"Yes. Now I don't want to be late for class."

"We have a half hour till class starts, Ken. What's wrong?" I slammed my locker door shut.

'"Ken, what is it?" He grabbed a hold of my arm as I tried to walk past him. I looked back at him over my shoulder. His eyes were filled with concern, and I felt my heart yell at me to get over it. But I couldn't. What he had done was wrong, and he didn't even know why I was mad at him. Or that I knew...

"What's wrong? Nothing. Why do you even care?" I replied stubbornly. I knew if I didn't get away from him I would end up crying. Being around him hurt now.

"I don't know what I did." he faltered.

"Well, you should." With that I broke his grasp on my arm and walked away down the hallway. I was even closer to tears now, but I didn't want him to know that. When I turned the corner the tears broke loose. I ran into the bathroom and stayed until it was time for class to start. I walked into the classroom my red eyes giving away that I had cried. I had tried getting rid of the redness, but it didn't work. It was still there as an awful reminder that I was weak.

I sat next to Olivia in class. "Are you okay?" she asked. I knew that this was awkward for her, but since I was her best friend she was willing to make an exception. "No." I said, my chin wobbling slightly. I was done crying. This was just me, being mad. "I'll tell you everything later."

"Ken-"

"Liv, please? I need some time. I promise to tell you everything. Please be patient,"

"Okay." she said and sat back in her seat. At least she wasn't pestering me too much. I'd tell them all later, but I just wanted to get through this lesson.

Unlike the last two weeks I actually payed attention to class trying to focus on anything but Chris's eyes staring at the back of my head. I didn't look back but I knew it was him, he was the only one that even slightly payed attention to me.

When the class was over I ran out. My heart pounding, I stopped in front of my next class, History. I was hesitant to go in until I remembered we were learning about Ancient Greece.