How to Date a Nerd

Chapter 9 - We Formulated an Evil Plan

It was a touchy topic, but the breakup thing with Elle just slipped out of my mouth. I knew I shouldn’t have brought that up. That was way below the belt.

My mouth tasted of blood and bile. I spat to the sidewalk before his last strike finally knocked me down. A second later and Nathan collapsed on the ground, right beside me.

“Okay… Are you two done now?” Chuck asked warily.

All of a sudden Nathan started laughing in a rusty voice. “Elle didn’t break up with me. I did.”

Flat on my back and even though it hurt everywhere, I found myself grinning at the sky, like I just released all the apprehension that built up for the last few weeks. “Why on earth—“

“Because I’m a moron,” he cut me off. I had the feeling that he was hiding more than he was letting on but I didn’t dare probe. “I guess it really does run in the family.” We both laughed like psychos after that.

As Chuck was about to help me up, his eyes widened, muttering, “Dude!” while he handed me my glasses back. It must’ve fallen off while Nathan and I were too busy trying to kill each other. “It’s like I’ve seen you before. I just don’t remember where.”

In panic, I snatched the glasses from his hand and slammed it on my face as quick as I could. “What are you talking about? We’ve known each other for two years. Of course, you’ve seen me.” I wore a casual smile, becoming alert and sober in an instant.

“Yeah, Chuck. You’re just too bloody drunk, you start seeing things,” Nathan backed me up, dragging his feet while he approached us wearily.

As if in a daze, Chuck blinked looking not at all convinced.

“I’m pretty sure I—Wait. I got it! You look like that eye candy singer my little sister kept raving about. She has tons and tons of posters of that guy. Even made this mural thingy in one corner of her room,” he chuckled, lost in thought.

Reed waddled to me, eyes narrowing. “Come to think of it. Without the glasses, you really kind of look like him. What’s was his name? Uh, Lee—“

“You should probably go see an eye doctor or a brain check—“ Nathan began to say but I shook my head to silence him. It was no use lying to them anymore. Besides, I’d bet my life on these two anytime.

“You mean Leon Walden?” I asked, taking a deep breath before removing the nerdy glasses and my skullcap. “Because… I am him.”

* * *

Good thing Dad was still asleep when we got home. But he’d definitely wonder where his car went in the morning. I should probably remind Nathan to get it home before dawn.

We all crashed in Nathan’s room. But before that, we had to move all his stuff from the floor and shove it inside an already jam-packed cabinet. His room was just as big as mine but amazingly cluttered with blank canvases, easels, pieces of paper, sketchpads and the like. He’s such a slob, really.

As we were dragging mattresses from the guest rooms, Chuck accidentally stepped on something green and sticky. He chased us for a good half an hour or so, forcing us to smell the stuff on his foot. Reed tackled him to the floor, threw him into the bathroom, threatening to lock him up in there all night if he didn’t get rid of the monster goo off his foot.

I was beginning to have second thoughts about entrusting my life on those two.

“I still can’t believe you tricked us that easily. And for two years?” Reed mumbled as we laid flat on our backs, staring at the ceiling. Me and Nathan (but mostly Nathan) had just told the guys everything about us—our true identities, the switch, the mother issue. I’d say Nathan told them more than what was necessary.

“So that explains the cool car,” Chuck muttered right next to me. “Thought you were too nerdy for an Audi of that caliber.”

“Thanks a lot,” I replied bitterly.

He coughed hard when Reed elbowed him on the ribs. But as usual, he couldn’t help but open his mouth. “What if we just tell Nerdy that you’re Leon Walden? You’re like a superstar, man. Surely, she’d take you back faster than you can blink.”

“If it was that simple, don’t you think we’d have done that by now?” Nathan groaned from the other end of the mattress. “Nerdy’s not that kind of girl. She wouldn’t come chasing after him just because she finds out the he’s Leon Walden.”

I couldn’t agree more with my brother even if I was a bit stumped that he even tried to stick up for Sarah. Usually, he’d just throw snide comments and annoy us to death. But now, I couldn’t say. Maybe something had changed.

To say the least, Sarah was more than complicated. I never knew what went on inside her head. She rarely voiced out what she wanted. And lots of times, I couldn’t figure out what she really meant whenever she said something.

“Or we could just make her remember,” Reed suggested. “In the movies, when the girl gets the amnesia and accidentally bangs her head hard for the second time, the memories will come back. Why don’t we do that?”

Both Nathan and I grunted at the stupidity of his idea. Things like that didn’t really happen in real life and even if we tried, we might end up killing Sarah in the process.

“You know, like set up some event that’s really important to her. That way, her memories might come back,” he added, chuckling ruefully.

 “That’s childish, bro.” Chuck snorted. “I know. Why don’t we just do a replay of how you two met? That might help her remember.”

“Dude! That’s what I just said!” Reed groused, sounding really exasperated. And I thought my brother was annoying.

“I’m such a genius,” Chuck grinned, seemingly too pleased with himself.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Nathan muttered dryly.

“Yeah…” I mumbled broodingly. “So darn stupid, it just might work.”

My brother rumbled. “Oh, sure. It will absolutely work. Please remind me to buy you blokes straitjackets for your birthday presents, yes?”

I ignored him. “Those in favor, raise your right hand.”

Chuck and Reed exchanged crazy looks with each other before raising two left feet. “We’re in,” they said.

“How very surprising,” muttered Nathan in his normally sarcastic British tone. “Fantastic. I’m stuck with madcaps.”

“We’re really bored. And we got nothing decent to do anyway,” Reed shrugged.

“And not to mention, have lots of free time,” Chuck agreed. “So what do we do?” he asked me.

I rubbed my chin and stared at the ceiling for a while, excitement welling up in my chest. “I have an idea. But it’ll need a lot of strategic planning and precision. We might lose our faces, get killed in the process or worse, get arrested.”

“Pshh… So what? Precision is my middle name, bro,” he replied, almost skipping.

Right next to Reed, Nathan scooted over like he just received a hundred volts of electrocution. “Forget what I said. Count me in.” A crooked grin spread on his face. Something’s really not right about him.

Nodding, I ran the plan over and over again in my head, seeing it coming together like a really intricate jigsaw puzzle. “But first, we’ll need to break into the school grounds. And a car.”

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So what is this plan? Will upload after 20 votes and let's see XD Now that all the drama has been a thing of the past, what hilarious feats would our Leon Walden do for the girl of his dreams? Oh, and a picture of Chuck and the song in this chapter--> to the right.                   ~love and cookies and candy clouds, SHIM