How to Date a Nerd

Chapter 16 - I Signed Up for the Personal Slave Department

“Five… Four… Three!”

“Oh, man! D’you really know how to count?” Reed asked, running across the room. He tripped on a soda can and disappeared skidding into the kitchen. Then we heard a loud bang and a series of metallic clattering.

Chuck shivered flinching. “Awesome, bro!” Then he turned to the rest of us, lowering his voice. “That has got to hurt.”

“I’m okay!” Reed shouted while staggering back to the living room. After three seconds, he dropped to the floor with a thud.

“Two… One… Time’s up.” I stood up and looked around. “Not bad,” I said, beaming at Nathan. He looked annoyed which was just precious! And Leon won this round! Nathan, zero. Staring intently at them, I pitched the key to Nathan. “Now, break anything and I mean anything, I dunno… My tongue might just slip a bit and who knows? Dad might have an idea who broke the coffee maker. You know how he loves his coffee.”

For a second, Nathan froze on his spot. If there was one thing that could make Arthur Walden incredibly angry, it’d be that a certain someone—we could hide him under the name Nate—smashed the coffeemaker on the fridge’s door when he couldn’t get it to open. How many squirrels would it take to open the damned thing? Now, I didn’t have anything against Brits and their precious Earl Gray tea. Blimey, it must just be my brother having one of those bloody dim-wit moments. But seriously. Go figure.

“Either that,” I went on grinning, doing an impression of Nathan whenever he was in a blackmail mode or just practicing his hobby of making elaborate death threats. “Or I’d tie all of you together upside down and beat you up with a golf club for every single scratch I see on my guitars and my piano, my drum set and everything else.”

Nathan just smirked and threw me a scowl before he waved the guys to pile up to the stairs leading to the basement.

“Oh, I’m so, so scared, little brother. How do you Americans say it? That is so bad! I’m so proud of you now I might just cry, considering that we don’t even own a golf club.” He pretended to brush imaginary tears from the sides of his eyes.

I sniggered at him. “Don’t worry. There’s a big whole turkey in the fridge. And it’s frozen. Now shoo,” I muttered intently. Ugh, holy turkey. Looked like I wasn’t spared by the Nate-Virus. I’d probably grow horns and an arrow-tipped tail soon.

After a few minutes, I heard a loud drum solo that sounded like it was played by drugged kangaroo from a Mardi Gras party. “I said! Not a scratch!” I growled, restraining myself from busting into the studio and giving them a taste of hell. “At least close the goddamned door!”

I closed my eyes until the noise faded out, replaced by the soft knocks on the front door. The doorbell hadn’t been working for a year now since Nathan yanked it off the wall during one of his spaz episodes. Long story. Don’t ask.

Anyhow, I opened the door and stood aside to let Sarah in. She seemed reluctant to come inside even if there were clearly no land mines under the floor. Grunting, I snatched one of her hands from the box she was holding and pulled her nearer. Her fingers were shaking a bit and they were as cold as ice. Her eyes were wide, like she’d just seen a ghost. Or a Black Widow wolfing down its mate’s head off. I’d no idea why she looked so scared when I clearly didn’t have fangs or glitter in the sunlight. Brrr… The thought just sent shivers down my spine.

Just being this close to her made me want to put my arms around her. I missed her so much. I missed us. But before I lost control, I backed a step away.

“I… I’ve come to collect,” she mumbled, looking around the house and taking a step back. “Where’s your dad… and Nathan?”

With a shrug, I took the box from her hand and took a little peek. Chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting. Just enough chocolate to keep me up until the end of the month. Cute. I set it on the table and offered her a seat. She tiptoed to the couch, keeping an eye at me. I couldn’t help but stare at her. Her long dark reddish-brown hair that waved a little over her waist. The faint hue of pink on her cheeks. But I guess my real weakness was her eyes. Whenever I looked at them, it was like I couldn’t look at anything else.