How to date a Nerd

Chapter 7

Only Lauren would reference Star Wars during a driving lesson.

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

Oh gosh. I think my stomach has fallen into my butt permanently as I stand at the door. I'm trying not to blow up my face, knowing how stupid I'd look if she caught me. She opens the door smiling, but when she sees me, her face falls. She doesn't say anything. "Uh, hey." How lame am I? She narrows her eyes. "What do you want, Camila?"

She's still mad. She should be. From how I left on Friday or what I did at lunch I'm not sure. And I stammer out my next sentence. "I-I wanted to say I'm... like, I'm totally sorry about leaving the way I did on Friday." Her eyebrow goes up and her ears go red. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. That wasn't cool of me. And I don't really have a good excuse for it." She shrugs and moves to lean against the doorframe, but misses and falls smack into me. I'm trying really hard not to laugh, but I'm not successful. When she stabilizes herself she moves about ten feet away from me, but I can still feel the heat coming from her face.

"Uh..." She stumbles over the small syllable. "D-did you need something else?" My breath catches as she jams her hands in her pockets. Usually, I'm always focused on her feathery hair and those emerald eyes. And her perfect jaw line. I can see the muscles contract as she chomps her teeth together, waiting for one of us to continue the conversation. Even her Fallout shirt under her black plaid does it for me.

"Camz?" I shift my eyes, hoping she didn't notice me checking her out. "I wondered if you were still okay teaching me how to drive?"

"I thought you were grounded." That lie is really starting to bite me in the butt. "I-I just can't see any of my friends." Crap. That totally came out wrong. "I mean—"

"No, you're right," she says, not looking at me. "We're not friends." Ouchy. I wish I could argue, but I can't. I haven't been her friend. Gave that up when I gave up everything else. I gulp and ask again, "So, can you? You know, teach me?" She hesitates which makes me almost mumble out a whole bunch of "you don't have to if you don't want to, but I'd really like you to"s but I bite my tongue. I can't control the natural response I have to awkward silence, and my face blows up to the size of a giant water balloon.

"Hey, Mom!" Her sudden outburst makes me jump and she laughs at me. "It okay if I take Camila out for a drive?"

She makes it sound like a date. I'm not the only one who thinks so either. Mrs. Jauregui sticks her head out into the entryway, a gleaming smile glued on her face. "Oh hi, Camila! I didn't know you were here. Lauren, honey, aren't you going to invite her in?"

"We were going to head out," she says, giving her a look I can't see. "Will you be home for dinner?"

"Yeah."Lauren replies "Is Camila  joining us?"Questions Laurens Mother. "No." I only see half the conversation, but Lauren obviously gives her the please-don't-embarrass-me look.

"Okay. You kids have fun!" Her excitement is so transparent, it makes me feel like I should explain, but Lauren pulls me down the porch steps before I can squeeze it in.

"Sorry," she mutters as she drops her hand from my arm. I kind of wish she would've kept it there. Like old times. Like with her other... oh, that's right. We're not friends. "You don't have to apologize. I know she adores me." I nudge her with my elbow—because I just have to touch her—and she smiles.

"Must be because you're so humble about it."

"Hey, you know you want this." I gesture to my body in a teasing and completely unsexy way. Lauren throws her head back in a fit of laughter, which causes me to giggle like a little school girl. We better get in the car fast before someone sees Geek Camila. "Yes. So humble." She walks over to my car, right to the driver's side. I make my way to the passenger seat.