The Nerd Is My Mate

CHAPTER 2

"You're just as headstrong as your mom was, even though she was human," Carlos murmured, pulling into the parking lot of Amber's new school. The thought of how much she seemed to resemble her mother made Amber wish, not for the first time, that she'd had the chance to meet her.

"I hope you don't give your dad any trouble this term," Carlos added, glancing at a student who was slowly making their way inside. Amber opened her car door and hopped out, waving goodbye to Carlos.

Students were milling around, trying to find their classrooms, and Amber felt a pang of being lost. She didn't know where to go next. "Uhmm, are you new here?" a sweet, girly voice asked, making Amber turn. Standing there was the most beautiful human girl she had ever seen.

"Oh, hey," Amber replied, giving a small wave.

"You look a little lost," the girl said kindly. "Do you mind if I help you?" She peered at the piece of paper Amber was clutching, the one a plump woman had given her earlier. After a moment, her face broke into a wide smile.

"Hey! You're in my class! We can go together," she said, and Amber nodded, falling into step beside her. "I'm Vanilla, by the way?" she said, turning to Amber who was busy looking around at the bustling school.

"She's nice, isn't she? We just got ourselves a new friend, Dad would be so proud of us." a voice echoed in Amber's mind, a connection she shared with her wolf side, Brenda. Amber smiled faintly at Vanilla.

"I'm Amber, Amber Lincoln," Amber introduced herself as Vanilla gave a little bob of her head. They walked into the classroom together. The room was surprisingly quiet, and the teacher wasn't there yet. Was this some kind of miracle? Amber wondered. In all the other schools she'd attended, the classrooms were always noisy, leaving her with a headache by the end of the day.

"Jamila, a Muslim student, passed away from cancer," Vanilla explained quietly, noticing Amber's surprised expression. "The whole school is still mourning." Amber nodded, understanding the somber atmosphere. Nobody even seemed to notice she was new.

Eventually, the class began with a quiet, moody student who simply nodded at everything the teacher said. Vanilla, however, wasn't as subdued as the rest. "Did you know Jamila?" Amber asked as they left the classroom together.

"Yeah, we were best friends," Vanilla replied, her voice tinged with sadness. "I've been crying a lot since she told me she was going to die. She even left me a letter, telling me not to cry but to pray for her eternal rest. I miss her every day, but I know she's in a better place now." Just then, Amber saw Carlos's car pulling up.

He got out and gave her a small, warm smile. "Do you know that guy? Is he your boyfriend?" Vanilla asked, watching Carlos intently as he glanced at his phone.

"He's a relative of mine, not my boyfriend," Amber clarified as they exchanged phone numbers. Vanilla gave Amber a quick side hug before heading towards Carlos. As soon as Amber settled into the car, a text message popped up from Vanilla. "Does your relative have a girlfriend?" it read as Carlos started the engine.

"Who was that girl you were talking to?" Carlos asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Just someone who was being nice to me," Amber mumbled in response as he drove her home. She filled him in on how her first day of school had gone.

Back home, Amber was exhausted. She spent a long time putting her things away. It was one in the morning when she finally lay down, staring at her phone. Suddenly, a text message popped up. "Hey, are you sleeping?" It was from Vanilla, and Amber sat up quickly, a mix of nervousness and excitement fluttering in her chest. Her first text from someone at her new school! She took a deep breath before replying.

"Yeah, I just finished some homework. Planning to sleep soon." She typed the message and stared at it for a moment, hesitating before hitting send.

Almost immediately, another message came through. "I couldn't sleep so I just went for a run. I wanted to check on you and let you know that Mrs. William is serious about her assignments!"

‘Why would she be running so late?’ Amber wondered, but she decided not to ask. Pulling the blanket around herself, she drifted off to sleep.

The next day, as she walked through the hallway, Amber remembered her plan to visit the library during her break to work on Mrs. William's assignment. Stepping inside, she found a quiet and elegant space. It was large, filled mostly with female students and a few slender boys. She approached the librarian to ask for the location of the textbook she needed.

The librarian pointed towards the back section. Amber nodded in understanding and began to browse the shelves. Her eyes scanned the titles, but then her attention was caught by a handsome boy sitting at a table. His hands were gripping a book, and he seemed completely absorbed in its pages.

‘Why did she even care about him?’ Amber chided herself.

She finally found the book she needed amongst the neatly arranged rows. Realizing her break would be over soon and not wanting to be late, Amber opened the book, trying to find the answer to the assignment.

But frustration quickly mounted as she couldn't understand the material. Her gaze kept drifting to the boy sitting five tables away. Amber was annoyed with herself for staring at him so many times without him even glancing her way.

She tried to focus on her assignment again when a girl with a high ponytail slid a piece of paper across the table to him. Amber's curiosity piqued. She couldn't help but roll her eyes slightly, irritated by the interruption.

Deciding she couldn't concentrate in the library, Amber picked up the book to return it to the shelf. As she turned, she lost her balance and fell to the floor with a thud. Embarrassed, she quickly turned around, apologizing to the student whose attention she had drawn.

She glanced up and saw the boy's gaze fixed on her, no longer on his book. A wave of embarrassment washed over her, but the moment was broken when another girl walked up and placed a bottle of juice on his table.

A strange twinge of jealousy and anger stirred within Amber. ‘Why was she feeling this way? She shouldn't care,’ she thought, but even her wolf side, Brenda, felt a sense of unease.