The Nerd

The Bump

"Outta bed you daisy head, outta bed you daisy head!"

"Outta bed you daisy head, outta bed you daisy head!"

"Outta bed you..."

My hand goes to shut the alarm off, I turn to the opposite direction.

Silence. Flick, flick, I feel a wet tongue on my eyelids.

"Get off Sam," I grumble, shoving the cat away.

Samantha is my feline friend, a gift from my dad on my thirteenth birthday. She was given to me when dad noticed I missed my mom immediately after her death,a week before my birthday. She had pneumonia. I still miss her though, but the cat helped a lot. She's always up by 6am, demanding for milk.

"Go disturb dad."

The cat lands, her nails making a 'click' on the mahogany floor and walks out of my room.

"Aaaarrgh! Get out!" I hear a thump, then a meow. The cat runs back to the foot of my bed and settles, nursing it's left hind leg.

Dad hates cats.

"You know better than to let it in my room" my dad says from his room.

"It's a 'she' dad, you'll hurt her feelings!" I say, going to close Sam's ears.

"Ha! Like I care!" Dad says.

"C'mon Sam, I'll fix you some milk," I say, getting out of bed.

"And get ready for school while you're at it" dad says.

"Ugh! Everybody from school hates me!"

"And me too! But that doesn't stop me from going to work now, does it?" My dad asks standing on the doorframe. Though he's looking disheveled, my dad doesn't fail to turn heads wherever he goes. He's just 42, but he could be mistaken to be in his mid- thirties with his boyish looks. The stress of being a single dad is taking it's toll on him, but he's adapting, and I want to make it easier for him.

"Fine dad," I say, pouring milk for Sam.

By 7:15, I'm all set for school.

"I'll drop you off" my dad says, gesturing to the old pickup truck parked in the curb.

"Okay dad, thanks" I say, bounding to the truck.

Twenty minutes later, I arrive at school. Just then, my thoughts go back to last night. I had to do the walk of shame and go back home after the humiliation I got. I don't want to attend school today.

"You can go back home and skip school today if you want" my dad says, noticing my discomfort.

"No Dad, I'm not backing out" I say with determination. "Bye dad," I say, kissing his cheek.

"Bye. Love you."

"Love you too dad," I say, hurrying to the entrance of my school. I glance back one last time, dad's already driving out.

I lose every courage I had when I approach the locker room. All chattering ceases when I walk in, all eyes are now on me, the pictures of last night must have spread, because I hear murmurs like "weirdo" and "freak."

I decide to turn tail and run, I should have listened to dad and gone back home. Decision made, I turn to run, just two steps and collides with something solid, my glasses slipping off in the process. A hand shoots out to steady me, I seem to have collided with a solid six feet of hard muscle. Everything looks blurry until I'm handed back my glasses, and I put it back on. Everything seems to focus slowly, and oh my God! I come face to face with the softest, fullest lips I've come across, though I don't stare at guys really much. I swallow saliva lodged in my throat and let out an audible gasp. I'm staring at St Rudolph's High darling boy. Immediately, he let's go of me and I hit the ground hard.

"She's every bit as weird as you guys said," he says,with his signatory deep voice that sends shivers up every girl's spine, including mine.

"Of course darl" a southern drawl from behind, then a girl comes into focus.

Oh! His girlfriend, Hillary, the blonde airhead as she's called by her friends behind her back. Today, she's dressed in a black mini skirt and a hot pink top that barely covers are fake DD breasts. She's the daughter of one of the richest family in the district, who deals in shady business.

"Next time watch were ya going, b***h," she says puckering her botched lips.

I just lay there in disbelief staring at their retreating backs, while hearing calls of "weirdo".

Just then, a hand comes into focus and I take it.

" Hello, I am Raymond, but you can call me Ray, I'm new here and everyone seems to be avoiding me" the stranger says.

"Helooo! Earth to!" He says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

He's gay.