She's Such A Nerd

8: Didn't See It Coming

8: Didn't See It Coming

Even though I already know what happens, I can't stop myself from tearing up. I turn the page and do my best to avoid getting teardrops on my book. There are, sadly, already a few stains on these few pages from when I've previously cried while reading. I know it's not that sad, but after experiencing the last two Selection books (again) I can't help but get emotional.

At one point, Maria brought me lunch. I was about halfway through the second book at the time. It went nearly untouched. I feel bad, but I only ate a little bit. Half of my sandwich, a good portion of chips, and a few carrot sticks lay on the plate. I end up finishing the book in practically no time. It's moments like this when I wish I had the short stories that follow The Selection series. I haven't read them yet and I'm dying to. I'm debating whether or not to finish my sandwich when I hear a knock at my door. "Come in," I say distractedly.

The door opens, and I look up to see Maria. "Jake's here." Mentally sighing, I fake a smile as he walks into the room. I hate to do this, but I stand up and give him a hug. All because Maria doesn't know. He kisses my forehead and hugs me back. Maria leaves a few seconds later, and I immediately pull away from him.

I gather my books and start putting them back on my bookshelf, not even bothering to glance over at him. "Well, hello to you, too," I hear Jake say while laughing. Taking a seat at my desk, I finally look towards him. I notice him looking at my collection of books. "You have a lot of books," he comments. I have a giant bookshelf and each shelf is packed, but I have a fairly decent amount of books on top of the bookshelf and several in the crates next to it that serve as extra storage space.

"Do you like to read?" I can tell my question surprises him, but I can't tell if it was me talking at all or it was the question itself that startled him. He glances at me before returning his attention back to the enormous stash of books.

With a non-committal shrug, he says, "It's not my favorite thing to do, but I don't mind it." I smile and shake my head. So much for getting my hopes up. You know, if those hopes even existed. "I can tell you do," he adds, grinning. I nod. I've always loved to read. Sometimes, books make better friends than people do. I turn on my laptop and log on. As I'm pulling up the essay, Jake asks, "How far have you gotten?"

I shrug. "I've written a good portion. I'm getting closer to finishing it, but I feel like something is missing. The essay is well-written and has no errors from what I can see. Of course, I'll go back and edit it before we turn it in or present." I start typing, continuing from where I left of yesterday. I half-expected Jake to respond, so when silence greets me, I stop typing and glance over at him. Of course, he's on his phone. I should've guessed. "Are you even going to help or did you come over with the intention of hanging out?" I'm pretty annoyed by this point. I mean, really? Why did he invite himself over if he wasn't even going to help out? "I don't know why you even came over if-"

Jake cuts me off. "I'm going to help. You just haven't given me the chance to yet."

Sure I haven't. I sigh. "Whatever. Just read what I have so far. I'll be right back." I get up and walk out of the room, leaving Jake to read the essay. As I walk downstairs, I hear Maria talking quietly to someone. I stop on the bottom step, not wanting to let Maria know I'm here. It's not like I don't trust her or that she keeps things from me, which she never does. I'm just curious as to why she's talking in a hushed tone. It's unlike her.

"No, it's a surprise. She has no idea." She stops talking, so I'm assuming she's on the phone. "I'm not sure. I don't think so." Pause. "No, I'll be making the-" Another pause. "Yes. She's even helped without realizing it. At this rate..." Maria's voice fades as I hear her walk away. What was that all about?

I'll figure it out later. I walk into the kitchen and grab a small snack before heading back upstairs. Finding Jake still sitting at my desk, I notice he's back on his phone. I roll my eyes and set the food on my desk, making sure to put it a little ways away from my laptop. "I brought you a snack," I inform him. "I'm going to finish my lunch, so I figured I'd get you a snack."

"Thanks," he replies. "The essay is turning out good. I added a bit more, if you don't mind.

Surprised, I say, "No, not at all." I slide my laptop closer and start reading. I'm shocked to see that he had written several paragraphs about how fiction literature compares to reality. I've been writing about the purpose of literature in our lives. I hadn't even thought about what he wrote about. "Oh my gosh. How did you write all this so-"

"I've been working on it for a while." I hear the smile in his voice and turn to look at him. I just state at him for a moment, completely shocked.

"I don't know what to say." My voice comes out as a whisper. He just smiles.