How to date a Nerd

Chapter 2

"Shut up." I wring out my hair on the leather seat and give him a fake grimace. She laughs as she wipes it up with one of the plaid overshirts she keeps in the cab. We don't talk for a few seconds while Lauren messes around with the radio. How she does that while driving a manual, I have no idea.

"You know, there's a new Spiderman documentary on this weekend." No freakin' way! How did I not know about this? My heart jumps through a hoop of excitement, but I keep my face composed. "So?"

"Maybe we could watch it together. Just like old times." Is she for real? My dorky grin almost comes back, but I keep it restrained. She steals a glance at me and says quickly, "It'll be a bunch of us. Lucy's coming, I think."

Damn right I want to go and if it was just going to be the two of us, I probably would say, "Heck yes!" But it's not, and that's total social suicide. If I'm going to watch it...scratch that, when I watch it, I'll do it hidden in my room with the curtains drawn and the door securely locked. I force an amused "as if" chuckle and gaze at the raindrops slipping down the window. "Well, you'll miss out. Stan Lee is hosting it."

"Who?" My voice drizzles with sarcasm, and she lets out a booming laugh. "All right. I won't bug you about it." My phone buzzes between my cleavage. I pull it out, trying to emphasize the fact I'm touching my boobs, but Lauren focuses on the road in front of us. Her indifference makes my face heat as I slide the phone open. "I need ur help! I'm about a block away from Kevin's house. Please, hurry." Sofia. What has she gotten into now? Even though I'm pissed at her, I suppose I should at least answer her urgent message. I fill my cheeks with air and let it come out slowly as my fingers fly across my keyboard.

I can't. I'm gonna B late for school. Call Mom or Dad. "You okay?" Lauren looks at my face, which is still half blown up. "Yeah," I say. "You sure? You always do that when you're frustrated." I narrow my eyes. "Do what?" "Hold your breath." Her green eyes shine with amusement, and I wish I was in the mood to appreciate that she still remembers things like that about me. Blowing up my cheeks always helped with the anxiety when I was called names in middle school. "I'm fine." My phone buzzes again.

I can't. Please! They'll kill me if they find out I ditched school. I need you, Zoe.

Ugh! Curse my sisterly nature. Lauren is about to pull into the school parking lot, but maybes he won't mind being late. "Camz?" Oh, I love it when Lauren calls me that. "Yeah?" She pulls into the parking lot and shuts off the truck. When she takes her hand off the gear-shift thingy, she rubs the sweat from her palm on her jeans. "You sure everything is okay?" She keeps her eyes locked on her knees. "'Cause you don't look okay." Apparently, I'm transparent. "Could you take me somewhere else? My sister needs help with something."

She cocks an eyebrow at me. Man, I wish I could do that without looking like a complete dork. "Don't you have enough tardies?"

"Yeah, but it sounds like she's in trouble." Lauren nods and starts the car, but instead of heading out of the parking lot, she pulls up to the school doors. I open my mouth to snap at her, but her concerned face stops me. "You go to class. I'll get Sofia."

"But—"

"I can afford to be late, but you can't. I don't want to see you get kicked out because your sister ditched to see her boyfriend."

"How did you...?"

"It's not hard to guess."

I want to kiss her so badly. Yeah, I totally want to smack one right there on her nerdy lips. I want to wrap my arms around her and let her know how much I appreciate her concern. But we're right in front of the school. It's bad enough I'm in the truck with her. To be seen kissing Queen Dork? I may as well wear my Star Trek shirt to class. So I mutter thank you, tell her the address Sofia just sent, and get out of the truck before anyone can see.