The Bad Nerd

Hearing my father yell my name, I grabbed my glasses from my dresser and walked out of my room. "I'm here. You can stop yelling now." I mumbled under my breath as I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a slice of toast from a plate. "You know, if you didn't take so long getting dressed, you would have enough time to eat right?" "Yeah but I'm not really hungry in the morning." Shrugging, I sat down at the kitchen table and watched my little sister, Violet, color a picture. "Indi, don't forget that you and Vi are going to your mother's house next week." My dad spoke as he picked up his phone once he heard it ring. My parents have been divorced for the past 3 years. I never really understood why they got a divorce even though they love each other so much. Neither one of them has gone on a date since the divorce. "Indi, do you want me to take you to school?" My dad asked once he hung up the phone, snapping me out of my thoughts. I instantly shook my head as I stood up from the table, gathering my things up to leave. "No thanks. I'll walk." You see, my dad has this minivan that makes it look like we're a bunch of hippies and I tend to get bullied about it. Well, I tend to get bullied about a lot of things. My dad's van just happens to be one of them. "Alright. Well, you should get heading. You don't want to be late for school." Smiling, I kissed Vi on the head and quickly hugged my dad before rushing out the door. "Be safe, Indi. I love you!" My dad yelled before I shut the door. Taking a deep breath, I began my journey to the most disliked place of all time, school. Let me tell you about school. I know you must be thinking every school is the same and for the most part, it is. We have the queen bee, meathead jocks, dumb cheerleaders, nerds, etc.  Just like every school, there's that bullied victim which is me. The reason why I get bullied is unknown but I just know that once 9th grade started, I just happened to be the unfortunate soul to be outcasted. And luckily for me, I enjoyed being the outcast. I don't get asked for my homework, I don't have to worry about any lies about me getting out, nor do I have to worry about guy problems and there is literally plenty of that at my school.  The only thing that I don't enjoy is the queen bee, Mercedes Leggings. Mercedes is your basic school girl bully. From money to looks, she was perfect. All except for her nasty attitude. For some unknown reason, everyone loves her. Maybe it's because she either scared them to love her or she's had their kids on her face at one point. Who knows? Sighing, I stepped into the school and took a quick look around, spotting my best friend. "Hey, Malcolm!" I exclaimed as I walked over to him. Malcolm and I have been best friends since we were in kindergarten. I saved him from breaking his arm and he gave me one of his animal crackers. Match made in heaven huh? Anyways, since high school, we've kinda started drifting but we still connect with each other. Malcolm turned into the hot football player of the school and I became one of the untouchables. "Hey Indi. What's up?" Malcolm spoke once his teammates walked off. "I just wanted to see if you're doing something this weekend. I'm leaving next week to go to my mom's and wanted to see if you wanted to hang out for a bit." "Oh damn. I actually can't. My dad wants to have a family dinner tonight. How about after you come back?" Malcolm spoke before walking off. "Yeah. After." I replied softly before shaking my head and began making my way to class. Walking into the classroom, a small sigh left my lips as I sat down in my seat. The one and only class that I hate just happened to be my first class. Math. The teacher, Mr. Matthews, knew nothing about Math. He would just go over things that we learned in the 5th-6th grade. Before I knew it, the class was beginning. It went on just like any normal Monday with us nerds answering all of the questions while the popular kids sat in the back making jokes and throwing paper balls at any nerd that made them look stupid. It got to the point where no one would raise their hands and the teacher began calling out people. "Indigo, what is the answer to the question?" Mr. Matthew blurted out, causing me to stop writing and look up at him. "Oh. It's -3." In response, I felt a ball of paper hit me on the back of the head. Sighing, I dug my nails into my jeans and kept looking forward. The little snickers from the back were nearly driving me insane and I was tempted to turn around and break all of their necks.  "Good job." Mr. Matthews spoke just before the bell rang. "That's enough for the day. Remember you need to have questions 7-21 finished by Wednesday." Everyone got up from their seats and began walking out of the classroom. It took me a while until I finally gathered all of my things and headed towards my locker. For some reason, the halls were more packed than they normally were so it took me a while to get to my locker. Then, that's when I realized why the hall was more packed. There on my locker were pictures of me dressed up as Captain Underpants in my grandmother's living room with a huge toothless grin on my face. When I turned and looked around to see who could have possibly done it, I noticed Malcolm leaning against a locker laughing his ass off with the rest of the football team. Trying my best to keep the tears from flowing down my face, I snatched the pictures off and tossed them in a trashcan nearby.  "Throw them away all you want. I have plenty more copies." Malcolm spoke out, causing all of the snickers and whispering to cease. I turned towards him and glared at him, my vision becoming blurry from the tears. "How could you do this to me?" Malcolm pushed himself off the lockers and walked towards me shrugging. "Do you really think I could be friends with someone like you? I was just using you. Hell, if I kept the little game up, I could have possibly gotten into your pants." "Now why would you do that when you have me?" Mercedes voice rang out as she made her way through the group of people and into Malcolm's arms. His arm snaked its way around her hips and their lips connected, making me feel like I had to throw up. Once they pulled away, Mercedes turned and looked towards me. "Nice outfit. It would be a shame if something happened to it." At the same time, she grabbed someone's bottle of water and began pouring it onto my head. She emptied the bottle then tossed the bottle at my face. "Now no one can tell if you're crying." Laughter erupted throughout the crowd as I began to feel warm tears roll down my face. "f**k you, Malcolm!" I screamed at the top of my lungs before running to the bathroom. I stayed in there for the rest of the day until everyone, and I mean everyone, left the school. My dad ended up coming up to the school to figure out why I haven't come home. When he found out, he told me that I was packing my things and moving to my mother's. Now, it's been 3 years and I was moving back in with my father. Hugging my mother once more, I pulled away and pushed my bag up onto my shoulder. "Bye, mom. I'll see you again come Thanksgiving." My mother placed a small kiss on my cheek before stepping back. I waved at her before turning around and began making my way towards my dad's car. As I'm walking, men nodded their heads towards me and mumbled small goodbyes. "Keep safe, boss." One yelled out from the roof, causing me to chuckle a bit. Now, I know you may be wondering why he just called me boss. Well, I'm Indigo Collins and I'm the daughter of a gang leader. While I'm not exactly their boss, they treat me as such. I would rather them just call me Indigo but they say they have too much respect for my father to call me by my name. Although I never really engaged in their gang activity, I did fight. I was the best fighter in my dad's gang. I was trained by my father's right-hand man before he was killed. Since he passed, I was named the best fighter. "Indigo, you've changed so much." My dad sighed as he held the door open for me. "I've missed you, too, dad." Hugging him quickly, I got into the car and put my seat belt on. He shut the door and jogged over to the driver's side. "Stay safe, Tony." My mother yelled as my dad turned the car on and began driving away. "Dad, why don't you and mom make up?" I mumbled, taking a quick look back towards the house before looking back at him. "There's still something between us that isn't right. We need to figure that out before we do anything else." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Sometimes, we need to be separated to know what's wrong and if we can fix it. If we can't, then it's not meant to be. If we can, then we'll be back together." Smiling at him, I turned my head back towards my window. "That's true love." Whatever my parents have, I want. Sighing, I closed my eyes and began slipping into a deep sleep.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Indigo, wake up." My body shook as the voice kept repeating my name. Groaning, I finally opened my eyes and looked at who it was. "Wake up, Indigo. You have to get ready for school." Blinking, I sat up and took a look around my surroundings. Somehow, I managed to get into my room. Shrugging, I got up from the bed and grabbed the towel that was placed on my dresser. I walked into my bathroom, turned the water on, and undressed. Looking at my body from the mirror, I smiled at what I saw. For years, I never liked my body. I felt like I was the ugliest thing on the earth.  Finally getting in the shower, I washed my hair. Today was the first day in three years that I was coming back to the place I wanted to stay away from. I never wanted to come back but my mom felt like it was right for me. That it was time for me to show who I am. Little does she know that I can't truly show who I am. I got out of the shower and quickly got dressed. I pulled my hair into the basic high ponytail and grabbed my glasses from my nightstand. I didn't need them anymore my eyesight had gotten better but it just helped with the nerd aesthetic. Fixing my baggy shirt and yoga pants, I left out of my room and skipped down the stairs. "Oh, father dear." I walked into the kitchen and stood beside him, batting my eyelashes. "I'm not taking you to school. Vi missed her bus so I have to drop her off. I can't take both of you." He mumbled as he took a sip of coffee. "Just walk like you used to." Feeling defeated, I walked over to the stove and grabbed a piece of bacon from a plate. "Fine. I'll walk but you have to promise to take me to school tomorrow." I pointed the piece of bacon at him, causing him to chuckle. "Fine, fine. Violet! We have to get going." Pretty soon, the sound feet came running towards the kitchen. "I'm ready!" Violet yelled, pushing the bright pink bookbag on her shoulders. She stopped running once she got to the kitchen doorway. "Have a good day at school, Vi. Try to color in the lines from now on." Vi rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "I haven't colored outside the lines for the past 3 years. Try writing a perfect 's' in cursive before you try to get on me." She stuck out her tongue before running away. "Girls." My dad called out, laughing as he walked towards the door behind Vi. "Indi, make sure you lock the door when you leave." He called out to me before shutting the door. Sighing, I grabbed my books off the table and began making my way towards the door. If I could, I would stay home but my dad would have a cow if he knew. Maybe I can just skip and just go to the mall. He'll never know. Shaking my head, I opened the door. I'm not going to risk him finding out and have him ripping my head off. "Watch out!" Someone yelled, causing me to jump and move away from the curb. "Learn how to f*****g drive," I mumbled under my breath. I swear my neighborhood is full of non-drivers. Before I know it, I'm gonna get run over. It didn't take me long until I was standing in front of the school. The one place I told myself that I would set on fire the next time I saw it. Unfortunately, my dad made me leave my things knowing that I would have done something. Multiple students stood outside by their cars or walked around until the bell rang. Eyes soon fell onto me and the loud talking hushed down into small whispers. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I could tell that they were talking about me. Rolling my eyes, I walked past everyone and walked into the school. The halls weren't as packed as I expected it but there was still a decent amount of people inside. Those that were inside started watching me, whispering. Students that I assumed were freshmen stood by their lockers asking each other if I was new. Other students that knew who I was just simply snickered and kept on with their day. "Will Indigo Collins please report to the office?" A voice rang from the intercoms. Everyone that wasn't paying attention finally looked at me and began to whisper to themselves. "Isn't she the girl that got shamed three years ago? If I was her, I would have stayed away." Sighing, I kept my mouth shut and walked to the office. Once I stepped into the office, the first thing I noticed was the young female sitting at the desk. She looked about 3 years older than me. "Hello. You must be Indigo Collins. My name is Lily Maxwell. The principal wanted me to give you this." Lily's hand came out from behind the counter, holding a piece of paper. Slowly, I reached out and grabbed it, taking a quick glance over the paper. "Looking over your paperwork, I can see that you came here three years ago. I'm sure you know where the classrooms are. If not, I can have someone come and show you around." Giving Lily a small smile, I shook my head. "That's alright. I know where everything is. Thank you, Ms. Maxwell." Lily soon laughed softly, covering her mouth. "Just call me Lily. Ms. Maxwell is my mother." I simply chuckled before nodding my head and walking out of the office. I looked down at the paper and walked to the locker, noticing that it's no longer the same one I had the last year I was here. At least I wouldn't be beside Malcolm. It just occurred to me that I haven't seen Malcolm or Mercedes (which was a good thing). Maybe they decided to skip school today or maybe skip their first class. Either way, I was glad I didn't have to deal with them. "And who do you think you are standing near my locker?" A voice rang out behind me. Rolling my eyes, I opened my locker and stuffed my things inside. "Calm your d**k, dude. I'm just putting my things in my locker. I'm getting out your way." Without giving the owner of the voice a glance, I walked off. "Who the hell is that?" Another voice asked. "I don't know but I want to find out." The first voice responded. I don't know if that was the end of their conversation but if not, I didn't hear the rest. ~~~~~~~~ "And that's how you solve the equation." The teacher turned and looked at the class. I felt weird standing at the door waiting for the perfect time to walk inside. Shaking my head, I opened the door and gave the teacher an uncomfortable smile. "Ah, the new student. Please state your name and where you just moved from." I never really understood why the teachers made us do this. Sighing, I turned towards the class. "Hello. I'm Indigo Collins and I just moved from New York." "You should have stayed in New York." A student yelled out, earning a few chuckles from everyone in the classroom. "Matthew, keep your comments to yourself. Indigo, please have a seat." I gave the teacher another uncomfortable smile before sitting down in a chair. I didn't even have the chance to fully get comfortable before paper balls were being thrown at my head. Closing my eyes, I turned and looked at Malcolm. There, surrounded by his group of meatheads, was Malcolm. He had no idea how much I wanted to go back there and smack the smug look off of his face. "I see that New York changed nothing for you. Such a shame." Shaking his head, he threw another paper ball, aiming for my face. What he didn't expect was for me to catch it. "If you know what's good for you, you wouldn't bother me." With a smile, I tossed him the paper ball back and turned back to the front. "f*****g nerd." He grumbled, throwing another ball. This went on until the bell rang. It was right on cue, too. If he had thrown one more ball at me, it would have been his head on a stick. Feeling relieved that I no longer had to be in that class, I made my way to my locker. There was a group of guys there but they paid no attention to me. Well, that was until the queen b***h herself decided to appear. "I thought everyone was lying but you're really back. Such a shame, really. That 3-year break was not good to you at all." Mercedes chuckles, looking my body up and down. Her pack began giggling to themselves as Mercedes took a step closer towards me. "Why did you come back?" I looked at her then looked around the hall. Everyone's eyes were on us, waiting to see what would happen. "Um, because I moved back? It's the only reason why." I responded with a confused look on my face. If I had the choice, I wouldn't be here. I'll be back in New York with my mother. Mercedes glared at me. "Stop being smart with me. Remember, you're on the bottom of the food chain. I'm still the queen b." "Yeah, B as in bitch." I snorted, earning a few snickers from a group of freshmen. That was until Mercedes's hand connected with my cheek. "Learn your place." Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she walked off with her little puppies following behind her, sending glares to the freshmen. The freshmen scurried away once they realized what had just happened. They knew to fear Mercedes. They knew she could end their lives. The hallway cleared up pretty fast after the whole ordeal. The bell for the next class had rung but I was still standing by my locker. I was fuming. I couldn't hit her back. "That's a lot of anger for someone so small." A voice spoke. I realized it was the voice from before, the one that had gotten mad because I got too close to their locker. "I'm not angry," I grumbled as I opened my locker and grabbed my Chemistry book. Slamming it shut, I finally looked at the owner of the voice. "And she finally looks at me." He chuckled crossing his arms over his chest. He stood at 6'3". His hair was pitch black, his eyes almost matching. He was skinny but had enough muscle to where he didn't look dangerously skinny. "The name is Marcus. Marcus Victor. I take it that you're Indigo Collins, the one that dressed up as Captain Underpants, right?" He asked, leaning in with a teasing grin tugging at his lips."Look, I don't have time for you to mess with me. I already got to deal with Mercedes and Malcolm. Just do me a favor and leave me alone." Sending him one last glare, I held my book to my chest and walked off.