The Other Way Round.

Chapter 4

Andre grinned from ear to ear as he thought of his latest development. He was getting a hang of it now. Although he found it difficult around girls as he thought, his recent dealings with Candy showed otherwise.

Last time I tried to talk to a girl I choked on my own saliva. Well I was trying to hit on her.

Andre was currently at the gym. His personal gym. He walked over to the miniature shelve to get a short towel and a bottle of water from the fridge standing beside it. The gym had every equipment a personal trainer could have and all were top notch.

Andre turned to face the mirror at the other end of the room. Just a few more weeks before he would pop out of his nerd shell. Andre had had to enter a shell ever since his little 'discussion' with his friend. The one person he was competing with.

Tristan.

Well it'll be all in the past by the end of next few weeks. Andre thought to himself.

He needed to be ready to face Tristan with full force. He couldn't afford to humiliate himself any further than his eighth grade humiliation. To attack Tristan, he had to outdo him, in attitude and physique. For the attitude, Andre was more than ready. He was already using his compulsory relationship with Candy as practice. But for the physical aspect, he was almost more than ready.

Prepare to fall in love with me again y'all. I'm bringing it on full time baby.

His phone beeped.

Candy's mail I guess.

Well it was.

Candy: I have no idea.

Thought as much. Popular people and their dumb minds.

Andre: lunch tomorrow at school. Don't object. Bye.

He thought she was going to send something like all those romantics, but she sent nothing. There was something about Candy that made her seem different. The fact that she didn't move with one minion on the left and another in her right made her a weird 'diva'.

She never really bullied people. There was something about her aura. The way she talked to different people in different manners according to social stats. She only made it clear to the third class students that she was better socially. Plus only called nerds 'nerd', not with irritation, but with a neutral tone that showed she was neither cool nor bitter with them.

Andre suddenly thought of his sister. Audrey. She had been his second half in their childhood. Audrey had always protected him from the bad guys then. She was a year older than he but they related like mates.  They had stuff like friendship bracelets and matching shoes. Andre couldn't imagine another person as his best friend apart from Audrey.

But Audrey left him. It turned out Audrey wasn't his real sister. She had been adopted by his parents when she was born because her mom didn't have resources to care for her then and so it was agreed that when she became financially stable, she would come back for Audrey.

Andre felt betrayed and abandoned even before she packed her stuff. Audrey didn't want to go, but she had no choice. They decided to see every week but each family had to move.

Andre shed a tear in the midst of his thought.

He picked up his iPhone and opened a drawer. He brought out a card with a number written on it. He dialed the number and it rang twice before he heard a feminine voice.

He didn't need a ghost to tell him the number was right. After all these years, he still recognized her voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey Audrey."