Secret Life of a Pretty Nerd

Chapter One

Chapter One: That Fateful Day of Fire.

"Grrk-hrrrrrrrrrk… zzzzZZz... choorrrrkk!"

Believe it or not, this was the obnoxious sound I had to endure every night.

I was asleep, or at least trying to be, next to my younger sister, Laura. Our bed was small and lumpy, making me toss and turn, grumbling under my breath. The fact that Laura was snoring as louder as a motorcycle on a bumpy highway didn't help at all.

Just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, she rolled over and mumbled, “I love you so much, Hunter King,” before smacking me square in the face with her arm. Well, if this isn't sisterhood, I don't know what is.

"What could this fourteen year old child be possibly dreaming about?" I thought to myself. Who the heck is Hunter? Whatever... I groaned, deciding it wasn’t worth thinking about at 11 p.m. All I knew was that I needed water, desperately. I felt like I had just crawled out of the Sahara Desert after running a marathon.

Reluctantly, I dragged myself out of the bed. I rubbed my eyes, yawning as I shuffled out of the room like a zombie. My body felt like it was moving in slow motion, but something strange pulled me out of my half-asleep daze.

The house was dead silent.... the kind of silence that felt eerily still, almost too perfect.

Then, a smell—something off, something wrong—hit my nose. I sniffed again, trying to make sense of it. It was sharp and acrid.

Was something on fire?

I rushed out into the kitchen. One entire corner had already caught ablaze, flaring up to the tattered ceiling. I looked around frantically for something—anything—to put out the fire. The sink? A towel? As I ran across the kitchen, the creaky, wooden floorboards shook beneath my feet, as if the house knew we were in danger.

The fire was already spreading, consuming everything in its path with an insatiable hunger. God knows I'm anything but a f*****g hero. As the toxic smoke filled my lungs, I panted heavily, clutching my chest tightly as I fought for the littlest bit of oxygen.

I could hear my parents screaming in terror as they scrambled to escape the inferno. "Arielle!" Mom managed to cough out. Daddy was holding her hands. "Laura!" He yelled.

Fuck! My younger sister was trapped in our room. The flames licked at my skin, searing my flesh with their merciless heat.

Laura's wailing voice was echoing in my ears. “Help me. Please! Somebody, help me.”

My heart pounded in my chest like a drumbeat of horror. My vision was getting blurrier by the passing seconds. I squinted my eyes against the haze, as my legs made shaky but determined strides towards my helpless sister.

Laura was crouched, hiding in one corner as the flames roared around her like a tempest unleashed. The woods had collapsed over her. It was both a shield and a trap, keeping the worst of the fire away while pinning her down.

Her wide, terrified eyes locked onto mine and she desperately stretched her hands towards me. I clasped it, a surge of adrenaline coursed through my veins. With gritted teeth and incessant coughs, we moved through the chaos. “Just a little further!” I urged her.

As soon as we stepped out, there was a loud explosion. Boom!

The sound rattled my bones, and I turned just in time to see the flames leap higher. If Laura and I had been in there a second longer, we would have been toast.

That house was all we had. And now, it was gone... Only ashes swirled in the air. I stood there, numb. My legs felt weak, as if they might give out at any moment, but I stayed upright, staring blankly at the tiny space that used to be our home.

"Ari! Where's mommy?! And daddy?!" Laura asked me, tugging roughly at my elbow. I turned to her, eyes wide with a new kind of fear. I had forgotten. In the chaos, I had forgotten about them.

My heart raced. I heard their voices earlier, didn't I? I assumed they had escaped, that we’d all make it out together. But now… I wasn’t so sure. Panic started to crawl up my throat, making it hard to breathe.

"They… they didn’t make it,” I whispered.

Tears were now streaming down Laura's cheeks in endless rivers but me? My heartless eyes refused to shed a single tear, even though I was more than heartbroken. Crying won't help. Crying wouldn’t bring them back.

I had to be strong for my little sister. For us. There was no room for my pain right now. I wrapped my arm around her trembling body, pulling her close. "It's going to be okay," I lied, because it was the only thing I could say.

There were many onlookers now gathered around the scene of the fire. They wandered around, murmuring, pointing, shaking their heads, all while offering no real help. "Bet the insurance won’t cover that," one muttered with a smirk, as if this was some kind of joke. “Do you think they’ll end up on the streets?” said another. "They should have seen it coming. That wooden house had been falling apart for years."

They had a wicked disregard for our suffering. The true monsters were not the flames devouring our home, but the cold-hearted bystanders who reveled in our misfortune without lifting a finger to help.

Then, amidst the idle gossipers, I heard a voice: "Where are my two babies?"

A jolt of recognition hit me like lightning. Mom. It was her voice, faint and screeching, but unmistakable. My heart leapt into my throat. They were alive!

"Mom!" I gasped, whipping my head around, searching for her in the crowd.

Mom found us and scooped us up into her arms, enveloping us in a desperate hug that felt both comforting and chaotic.

“Thank God you’re okay!” she cried. Her body was shaking as she held us tight, as if we might disappear if she loosened her grip.

“Where’s Dad?” I managed to choke out.

Her face was pale as she replied, "He's unconscious. I had to rush him to the hospital."

“Is he… is he going to be okay?” Laura asked, whimpering beside me.

Mom hesitated, shaking her head. “I don’t know, sweetheart. I don’t know.”

Suddenly, a voice resounded into my ear: "Wake up! Wake up, Arielle!!" The voice echoed like it was coming from nowhere and everywhere, all at once.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" the voice insisted as I felt myself being shaken, against my will.

I closed my eyes and opened them back to find Laura looking over me in concern. "Were you having another nightmare about that day?"

I blinked, the remnants of the bad dream fading away like smoke. We were now living in mom's car. “Yeah,” I murmured, rubbing my eyes as reality crashed back in. “It felt so real.”

Laura’s brow furrowed as she sat beside me on the car seat. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The answer was no. Talking meant revisiting the pain, and I wanted to bottle it up forever. "It's not a big deal, Lulu-bear. Don't worry about me."

"But you started screaming again. I thought I might have to call mom."

“No! Don’t disturb Mommy. She’s been working three different jobs... barely even sleeps since the... fire incident. And Dad is still unconscious in the hospital... She has enough to worry about. I’ll be fine.”

“But I just wish you’d talk to me about that Wednesday. Instead of changing the topic whenever I ask. I'm not that young! You're only two years older,” she insisted.

"You don't understand, Laura. It was all my fault! If only I could go back in time... I.. I... I'm the reason dad is in a coma in the hospital. I'm the problem in this family."

"What are you talking about?"

“Never mind... Forget I said anything,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “We gotta get ready. We can’t be late for school.”

I forced a smile. As I rummaged through my backpack, I could feel her gaze lingering on me. I wished I could let her in, but the scary words were stuck in my throat.

It was me. I was the evil, weak daughter who killed her own father.

The truth was a burden too great to share, so I tucked it away, hoping that ignoring it would somehow make it disappear. But the shadows from that day were far from over.