His Favorite Nerd

Without My Glasses

Chapter 6

:⁠-[ADRIAN'S POV]:⁠-

A week had passed since the day I embarrassed myself in front of the entire cafeteria. The gossip had finally died down, and I was back to being the quiet nerd nobody paid attention to.

The students had spent the past week preparing for the mid-semester test, and now it was only a day away.

That evening, the dormitory was lit by the soft glow of our study lamps.

Ethan sat at his desk with a neat pile of books in front of him. I was doing the same, revising the notes I had gathered over the past week, even though we had already spent hours studying in the library earlier that day.

Meanwhile, Lucas was sitting on his bed, completely focused on his phone while the rest of us suffered.

" Why aren't you studying?" I asked, looking over at him.

He lifted his head and smiled.

" Adrian, there are two kinds of people in this world," he said confidently.

I glanced at Ethan, who didn't even bother looking up from his notes. He probably already knew what Lucas was about to say.

" The hardworking ones," Lucas continued proudly, "and the naturally gifted ones."

" And which one are you?" I asked.

" Obviously, the naturally gifted ones," he replied. "I can still remember everything they taught in class."

Ethan finally looked up.

" Just keep quiet. You're talking as if you'll ace every subject."

Lucas chuckled and swung his legs off the bed. " I don't have to ace every subject. As long as I'm not at the bottom of the class, I'm satisfied."

" And besides, the answers won't magically change whether I study tonight or not."

A small smile escaped my lips while Ethan stared at him in disbelief as he walked into the bathroom.

By exactly eleven o'clock, we decided to call it a night. None of us wanted to oversleep and be late for the test. We were just about to fall asleep when Lucas suddenly threw off his duvet.

" s**t!"

Ethan and I sighed at the same time.

" What now?" Ethan asked.

" You won't believe this. The guy I started talking to a few days ago just posted a picture with Tyler on his Instagram."

As soon as he said that, I found myself wondering why he was still flirting with other students if he had a crush on Jason. Maybe he wasn't as interested in him as Ethan though.

" They could just be friends," Ethan said calmly.

" That's impossible!" Lucas shot back. "Tyler has been getting on my nerves since freshman year. Every single person I've ever tried to flirt with somehow ends up around him."

" Maybe you both just have the same taste," I suggested.

Lucas glared at me, and I quickly looked away.

" You know," Ethan said with a grin, "a lot of movies these days are about enemies becoming lovers and..."

" What do you think you're trying to say?" Lucas interrupted, clearly annoyed.

" I mean... maybe one day you two could end up together," Ethan finished, trying not to laugh.

I couldn't help smiling too.

"Hey!" Lucas shouted. "That's not funny."

" But it is," I said.

He immediately threw a pillow at me.

The idea of being shipped with Tyler seemed to irritate him more than anything else. He switched off his lamp without another word and pulled the duvet over his head.

The same Lucas who barely got angry became really annoyed of him getting shipped with Tyler. That really got to him.

Ethan turned to me.

" Why didn't you switch off your lamp?" he asked, probably because he noticed I was about to sleep with the lamp turned on.

" I prefer sleeping with it on," I replied.

" Alright. I only asked because I've noticed you always leave it on."

" I just don't like being in the dark," I admitted.

He nodded without asking any more questions.

" Goodnight, Adrian."

" Goodnight."

***

TEST DAY

The day everyone had been working toward was finally here. Students were gathered in small groups, revising everything they had studied, while the more carefree ones were discussing things outside the class.

My English Literature notebook was already on my desk. It was the first test we were to take that morning. I had gone through it over and over again until everything had settled firmly in my memory.

The moment everyone noticed Mr. Bradford's presence, we all straightened up and stood to greet him.

His expression remained as cold as ever. A stack of test papers rested in his hands as he dropped them onto the desk.

" Take your seats," he said quietly.

Anyone would have thought he already had our results, even though we were yet to take the test.

" This morning," Mr. Bradford began, "you will all be taking your English Literature test, which will also be your first test this semester."

He paused and looked around the classroom." Any kind of insolent behavior during this test will earn you a straight zero, including your examination."

Everyone's eyes widened. We quickly put away our notebooks and every other items, leaving only our pens on the desks.

" Good," he simply said.

" Class captain." Ethan immediately stood up. " Kindly distribute the question sheets to everyone."

Ethan bowed and picked up the papers from the desk before moving around the classroom, handing them out one by one.

I could hear some students whispering after receiving theirs. Apparently, they were already discussing the questions.

I rubbed my hands together nervously.

" The questions aren't that hard," Ethan whispered when he reached my desk. "They're mostly the things we studied together."

A warm feeling spread through my chest. I smiled at him as I accepted my question sheet.

The moment I looked through it, I realized he was right. Most of the questions came from the topics we had revised together.

I felt relieved.

I turned slightly, intending to check on Lucas, but my eyes landed on Ethan, who was about to hand Jason his own question sheet.

" Thank you," Jason said with a smile.

A wide grin instantly spread across Ethan's face, and the tips of his ears turned pink.

There was no way anyone paying attention wouldn't realize he liked Jason. I really wanted them to end up together. Jason and Ethan. Not Jason and Lucas.

Jason was calm, dependable, and easy to talk to. Even though I had only known him for a week, I could already see those qualities. Maybe that was why I thought he suited Ethan more.

I almost found myself admiring him when he introduced himself to me, but reality reminded me that both of my roommates had a crush on him.

I quietly chuckled.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

" Face front," Mason said.

I scoffed and quickly looked ahead.

He was the hot-headed type. I had never seen him smile or casually talk to anyone outside his teammates. His expression never seemed to change.

Sometimes I wondered what was actually going on inside his mind.

" You have one hour to complete the test," Mr. Bradford announced after checking the wall clock.

He began walking around the classroom. His glasses rested low on his face, just like mine. The only difference was that his sat so low they looked like they were covering his nose instead of his eyes.

Funny.

Seconds turned into minutes, and before I realized it, thirty minutes had already passed. I had answered more than half of the questions.

Not long after, students started getting up to submit their answer sheets. By then, I still had five questions left. I wasn't a slow writer. I just liked taking my time whenever it came to tests and examinations.

" Five minutes remaining," Mr. Bradford announced.

Thankfully, I was already done. I spent the last few minutes going through my answers and correcting anything that needed to be corrected.

" Time's up."

Everyone immediately stopped writing.

Mr. Bradford walked past each desk, collecting our answer sheets. The moment he was finished, he left the classroom.

It was the only test we had that morning, and as soon as it was over, the students began filing out of the classroom.

By afternoon, the second test was over, and it was Geography. The questions were much simpler than the ones we had in the morning, which made more than half of the students submit before the time was up.

After the test, Ethan gathered all the assignments we had been given the previous week. He held them in his hands, but his eyes suddenly drifted toward something for a second. Before I knew it, he was already walking toward me.

" Adrian, can you help me give these assignments to Mr. Bradford for me?" he asked.

" Where are you going?"

" Someone forgot something," he replied.

Before I could say another word, he dropped the stack of notebooks into my hands. They were much heavier than I expected. Considering they belonged to twenty-four students, what else did I expect?

I placed them on the desk, put on my backpack, then picked them up again.

Thankfully, there were no club activities that week because of the tests. I planned to head to the library as soon as I dropped off the assignments.

The staff office was a five-minute walk from our classroom, and I had to pass through several hallways before getting there.

The pile of notebooks was too high for me to see clearly ahead. I barely managed to make my way through the hallways.

As I passed through the last one, my eyes drifted toward Lucas. He was making out with another student. I scoffed and adjusted my glasses.

Before I could look ahead again, my body collided with someone.

The notebooks in my hands immediately scattered across the floor.

" Ahhh..." I cried out.

I was about to take a face-plant straight from the back...when a hand suddenly grabbed my waist and stopped me from hitting the ground.

My glasses slipped off.

I slowly opened my eyes to see who had saved me. It was Mason Carter.

For a few seconds, neither of us moved. The noise in the hallway seemed to fade away.

He stared into my eyes. And I stared back.

He was supposed to let me go, but instead, he leaned closer.

Way too close.

His eyes were fixed deeply on mine.

What's wrong with him?

" Captain! Hurry up," Tyler called out.

I immediately pushed myself away from him.

He didn't say a word. He simply turned around and walked away with his teammates.

I quickly bent down and started gathering the notebooks scattered across the floor.

To be continued...