How to seduce a nerd

FIRST ATTEMPT

Chapter 3: First Attempt: Flirting

I woke up at 5 AM and couldn't fall back asleep.

Which meant I had two extra hours to obsess over my outfit, my hair, my makeup, and the exact words I was going to say to Brian when I approached him at his locker. Two extra hours to build this moment up in my head until it felt like everything depended on it.

Which was stupid. It was just a guy. Just a nerd who probably didn't know how to talk to girls. This should be easy.

Except I'd seen his hands shake yesterday.

I'd seen him stand there while his entire project—months of work, probably—lay in pieces on the floor, and he'd just... accepted it. Like disappointment was just part of his daily routine. Like destruction was something he'd learned to live with.

And I was about to add myself to that list of destructive forces.

I chose my outfit carefully. Not my usual "effortlessly perfect" look—that might scare him. Instead, I went for something softer. A fitted sweater that showed I had curves but wasn't aggressive about it. Dark jeans. Boots that were cute but not intimidating. I wanted to look beautiful but accessible. Beautiful but interested.

My makeup was subtle—just enough to highlight my eyes but not so much that it looked like I was trying too hard. I wanted him to see me as genuine, not like I was performing.

The irony of that wasn't lost on me.

I got to school early, positioned myself near his locker, and pretended to check my phone while actually scanning the hallways for any sign of him. A lot of people arrived early, but Brian wasn't one of them. He usually showed up around 7:45, right before first period.

I had exactly fifteen minutes.

When I spotted him coming down the hallway, my heart did something stupid. It actually sped up, like I was nervous. Like this actually mattered to me beyond the plan.

Which it didn't. Of course it didn't.

He was wearing the same hoodie as yesterday—the JavaScript one—and his hair was falling into his eyes in that way that made him look both vulnerable and completely oblivious to his own vulnerability.

He didn't see me until I was already moving toward him.

"Hey, Brian," I said, and I made sure my voice had that perfect tone—friendly but interested, warm but not desperate.

His entire body went rigid. His hand froze on his locker combination dial, and when he turned to look at me, his eyes went wide behind his glasses. His face immediately flushed a deep red.

"Um," he said. "Hi?"

He looked like a deer caught in headlights. An adorable deer caught in headlights.

Stop it, I told myself. Don't start finding him cute. That's not part of the plan.

"I was thinking about what you said in physics yesterday," I said, leaning against the locker next to his in what I hoped was a casual, confident pose. "About the velocity thing? It was really smart."

"Oh." He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Um. Thanks. I was just... Mr. Henderson was asking and I know the answer so I..."

"You answered," I finished, smiling. "Exactly. And you were brilliant. Honestly, I didn't even understand half of what you said, but I could tell it was genius."

He looked down at his shoes like they were the most interesting things in the world. "It wasn't genius. It was just... the basic principles of physics."

"Come on," I said, and I stepped a little closer, lowering my voice like I was sharing a secret. "You're being modest. I heard you actually—"

"I have to go," he blurted out.

I blinked. "What?"

"I have to go to class. Chemistry. First period. Mr. Henderson—I mean, Mr. Walsh. He gets really mad when people are late and I've never had detention and I don't want to start now because—" He was talking faster, his words tumbling over each other, completely incoherent. "—because detention looks bad on transcripts and I'm trying to maintain my GPA and colleges look at that stuff—"

"Brian," I said gently, even though internally I was panicking. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. He was supposed to be flattered. Flustered, yes, but also completely won over by my attention. He was supposed to fall into the trap immediately.

"—and I just really can't be late, so I have to go, okay?" He was already backing away from his locker, his textbooks clutched to his chest like a shield. "Sorry. I'm sorry. It was nice talking to you but I really have to—"

"Wait—" I started to say.

But he was already moving. Not quite running, but definitely moving faster than a normal walk. He navigated through the crowded hallway like he was trying to escape, not looking back, not acknowledging me, just... gone.

I stood there in front of his locker, my perfect outfit and my perfect hair and my perfect smile suddenly feeling very stupid.

He'd basically run away from me.

I turned around and found Madison already standing there, her phone in her hand, her expression somewhere between sympathy and trying-very-hard-not-to-laugh.

"Well," she said carefully, "that went... differently than expected."

"He ran away," I said flatly.

"He really did."

"From me."

"From you," Madison confirmed. "Chelsy Adams, voted most likely to make anyone fall in love with her, just got rejected by a nerd who was literally too nervous to have a conversation."

"It's not funny," I snapped, even though I could feel Merge appearing somewhere behind me, probably with the exact same expression Madison had.

"It's a little bit funny," Madison said gently.

And the worst part? It kind of was.

I'd spent eighteen years perfecting my ability to make people want me. To walk into a room and have every eye track my movement. To smile at someone and watch them crumble. I'd built my entire identity on being desirable, on being the kind of girl that guys competed over.

And Brian Chen had literally run away rather than have a thirty-second conversation with me.

Which should have made this easier, actually. He was obviously even more of a target than I'd thought. More isolated, more awkward, less equipped to handle the attention of someone like me.

Except watching him sprint down the hallway like I was chasing him felt less like a victory and more like I'd just confirmed everything I'd been afraid of since Sam dumped me.

That maybe I wasn't desirable.

That maybe something was actually wrong.

That maybe all these perfect accessories—the makeup, the outfit, the smile—weren't enough to convince anyone to stay. That underneath all of it, I was still just the girl Sam got bored of."

I spent the rest of first period in physics staring at the back of Brian's head and trying to figure out my next move.

He didn't turn around once. Didn't acknowledge my existence. When Mr. Henderson called on him about some concept, Brian answered correctly but in a voice so quiet I could barely hear it. Like he was trying to disappear.

Merge texted me from her desk: so what's the plan? try again tomorrow?

I didn't respond. Because I didn't know the plan anymore. The whole thing had felt so simple when I was imagining it—so certain that a guy like Brian would be easy to manipulate, easy to seduce, easy to discard.

But watching him now, hunched over his desk, completely withdrawn, I realized something that made me uncomfortable.

Maybe he wasn't running away because I terrified him.

Maybe he was running away because he could sense something off about my approach. Maybe that nervous rambling wasn't him being awkward—it was him panicking. Maybe his instincts were telling him that this beautiful girl who suddenly wanted to talk to him wasn't genuine. That she was hunting.

Maybe he was smarter than I'd given him credit for.

By the end of first period, I'd made a decision. The direct approach wasn't working. Flirting wasn't working. Brian was too nervous, too skittish, too guarded to respond to anything I threw at him.

I needed a different strategy.

I needed to make him think this wasn't about seduction at all.

I needed to make him think I actually cared.

Which was funny, because the more I thought about it, the more I wasn't entirely sure I was lying about that anymore.