The Nerd Next Door .:COMPLETE:.

Chapter 6 - Two months later

    Zander and I's relationship was going smooth. He's my first boyfriend and I was starting to grow feelings for him. Eventually, we went from holding hands to kissing. I never imagined this would happen. My mom and I slowly drifted apart. We began to argue, and well, there were times when I didn't return home.

I never heard the voice in the back of my head again.

      Emma slowly slid down the social ladder until she became one of the losers. It felt good to be dominant over her, to show her how I felt when she bullied me. I loved the terrified look on her face when she'd see me approaching her with her previous group of friends: the look of betrayal when her own friends would knock down her books or insult her.

I loved it all.

     I was the person who controlled everything, with Zander by my side, of course. When I first got my report card one month later, it made me feel conscious. All of my straight A's went down to either a C or a D. For the first time in my life, I felt like a failure. Zander helped me through it, but I ended up failing another class. 

     I began to wonder why I never heard the faint voice that would always command me in the back of my head. I then realized that I became... it. I became the bitch it wanted, I traded my classy clothes for slutty and revealing. I dropped the books for shopping bags and make up. I became a whole different person.

    I pushed the key through the lock and opened the door. I closed it behind me and headed to my room. I took a quick shower and went downstairs. My mom was at the table with a cup of coffee in her hand. She never even glanced at me. Her usual bubbly personality was replaced with a dull and lifeless one. For once, I felt bad.

"Mom?" I whispered.

    She didn't look up. 

"Mom?" I repeated, this time a little louder.

    Her head snapped up to me and our eyes locked gazes. I felt bad, I never realized that I would not only change myself, but change my mother.

"Mom, I... I'm sorry." 

    She held a look of confusion and wiped at her eye. The bags under them were prominent and I felt a lump in my throat.

"This.... t-this isn't me. This isn't Claire."

     Mom opened her mouth in shock but then squinted her eyes as if she was looking for something in me.

"Claire?" she whispered, "Will you... Are you... My little Nerd?"

     I flinched at the word nerd. I never heard anyone call me that in about two months now. It surprisngly felt foreign. I realized my body was tense, so I relaxed.

"Of course."

     Before I could blink, she ran up to me and tightly hugged me. I was frozen in place and felt tears well in my eyes.

"I didn't know, I didn't realize I became a different person." I said as I hugged her back.

    She sobbed in my shoulder and hugged me even tighter.

"Never change again." she sobbed,  "Never be who you aren't."

    The next day, I went to school in my old clothes. A long sleeved white collar, blue jeans and black flats. I traded my Aero bag for a knapsack and slung it over my shoulder. I looked into the mirror and sighed. I took out my contacts and put my glasses back on. I tied my hair into a bun and applied lotion on my skin.

     Mom was waiting for me downstairs. She nodded at my clothes and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I went off to school. When I finally arrived and walked through those doors, I knew everything wouldn't be the same. There were mutters when I walked through the halls. When Zander spotted me, he instantly cringed.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I... I missed myself."

    He raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"You don't like being powerful? On top of people? Having the power of the student body under your nose?"

"Za-"

"Answer my question."

"It's just that, I... I don't, I just want to be me."

"A nerd?" he sneered.

"I thought you said you'd accept me for who I was?" I whispered.

"Not like this." he said with the shake of his head, "I guess Emma will climb back up."

Speaking of the devil, she walked down the hallway and gave me a terified look. When she saw what I was wearing, a look of disbelief was slapped on her face. Zander looked at her and then back to me.

"You have a choice." said Zander, "Either be who you were, or a nerd."

I knew just what was happening. The end of our relationship. Tears bit at my eyes, but I held them. Looking at him, I smiled.

"Have fun, Zander. You were... a good boyfr-"

"If you really think we're breaking up, you're wrong."

"What?"

"I don't care what you are." he said with a smile, "I'm happy that you finally made the decision to become who you really are. I was surprised the first time you came to school in revealing clothes. Take it as.. a social experiment."

"So the whole time I was an experiment?" I was hurt.

"I grew attached. You made your decision, and I'll follow you."

"I don't understand?"

He laughed.

"I really like you." he said with a smile, "Even though it's been two months, you're a great girlfriend. Sometimes you have to give up something to make a change."

You just had to mess things up?

Whatever you are, you're not going to control me anymore. I'm done with you.

You'll need me, Claire. You can't throw me away.

You're nothing but a thought, my anti. I've learned a lot from you, and it's mainly to not be controlled by negative thoughts.

My darker side never answered. Looking at Zander, I kissed him on the cheek and smiled.

"I really like you too."

"Thank you for not changing your mind. I was waiting for this day."

The moral of this short story was, no matter what happens in life, don't change yourself into something you're not. Sometimes something from that period may stay with you and affect your life in a positive or negative way.  Many people call it listening to their heart, some call it listening to their brain and others call it listening to their thoughts. If it's not leading you in the right direction, don't follow it. Claire obviously listened to whatever was leading her in the wrong direction and she followed it. She made sure she got revenge on those who made her suffer and even used their friends against them. After two months, she realized that something was wrong, that it wasn't her. What did she do? She reverted back to her old self, knowing what would follow. Usually other nerd stories would talk about a girl who became popular and stayed like that, but I never seen one that showed one who started at the bottom (LOL), made it to the top and then dropped. The story was supposed to be cheesy, but with a moral. It's a very common moral, but it's very true.

So please, don't become something you're not just to please other people. Thanks for reading. C: