Not Your Average Nerd

Chapter Eight

My outfit for the day wasn’t special in any way. A maroon colored thin long sleeve shirt with, jeans, and sandals. Was it sad that my thirteen year old sister had more style than I did? I was the oldest girl, a college student at that… wasn’t I supposed to be the one telling her what she should and shouldn’t wear? Nothing made sense.

Seriously.

I was still blown away at the fact that for the first time ever, when looked in the mirror and didn’t see some frizzy headed girl with oily skin and some gaps between my teeth. A girl who was good enough to be on some super star’s arm stared back instead, who had some pretty amazing teeth. My parents were never going to believe th—my parents! What were they going to think? Would they believe me if I told them I went to a really good spa? I looked down. Oh yeah, I was now curvy. It could have been a really, really good spa.

My hands ran through my soft hair as I made my way from my bedroom to the living room. I really needed something to do. There were so many things running through my head, so many questions, that I felt like screaming. It was like my brain would not shut the hell up. What’s going on? Maybe I’m seeing things? This could all be a dream? Jesus, I’m really hungry but pasta salad doesn’t sound good. I really needed some sort of mute button for my mind.

Since it was one o’clock in the afternoon on a sunny Saturday, nothing good was on TV. Day time TV made my life sad. I flipped through the channels and no matter what station it was on, there was just crap. Was it really that hard for television stations to make sure they played something good during the day? How difficult was it to air shows that people actually wanted to watch? Honestly, nobody wants to watch infomercials about ‘NEW AND IMPROVED CUTLERY’ or reruns of fake and scripted reality TV shows. I stood to my feet and turned the TV off.

“Anywhere but here,” I hissed while tossing remote down on the spot I stood up from. Really, a trip to the orthodontist could have been more exciting. I hated anyone who came at my mouth with a sharp pointy object who wanted to stab at my gums and harass me about flossing. Saying I’d rather spend my day there really said something.

As I walked through the white halls of the seventh floor I couldn’t help but sniff everything I passed. Yes, that included people, my neighbors, who gave me the strangest look. I never knew that Katie Oaks, a girl I’d lived by for years, was a smoker. She smelled so strong of cigarettes it seemed like she was rolling around in ashes. Mark Rheine, another neighbor I’d lived by for quite some time, smelled strongly of cheap cologne and cinnamon. I liked the way he smelled. The elevator reeked of sweat and dirt. My nose was wrinkled during the long trip down to the ground floor. There were so many things I never smelled before; it made me what all I had been missing out on. It was still unknown why I could suddenly smell, but hell, that wasn’t the first thing I couldn’t explain. My nails tapped against the silver walls, causing a loud and annoying click-y sound.

“Hey, are you new here or something?” I turned around and saw Jared Roark, a guy who lived in the apartment above me, staring at me with his eyes wide and a grin on his lips. “You seem some-what familiar but I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before.” We had a few classes together our freshman and sophomore year. He enjoyed talking and making others laugh. We never spoke before except for the time he almost hit me in the parking lot.

“Jared,” I chuckled, “you’ve lived in the apartment above me for nearly four years. Plus, we had classes before.” I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting to see if it would click in his head.

It took him some time, but after squinting his eyes, whispering names to himself, and even counting on his fingers he finally clapped his hands together and got the answer. “Stoica!” He shouted, pointing his right index finger at me. “Wait, Stoica?” A quizzical look overtook his face.

“The one and only in San Antonio.” I nodded my head. And yes, I checked. What else was I supposed to do while waiting for my professor run an hour late? Attempt to strike up an awkward conversation with the girl beside me?

Jared exhaled through his mouth quite dramatically and then ran his hand through his chestnut brown hair. “You… wow.” Nice sentence structure, I thought while chuckling. His eyes began running over every inch of my body, making me feel even more uncomfortable than I already felt. Was there anything else he wanted to say or could I leave? I tested this question out by taking a step backwards.

“Wait!” He threw a hand out. I stopped moving. “Don’t mind me asking but, you know, what happened to you?” If this were a cartoon, his baby-face would have been replaced that awkward whistling grey wolf’s head. The mental image made me chuckle. Why did I have to think that? I thought. Now, every time I see him I’m going to imagine him whistling and flipping over tables.

            “I went to a spa in Oregon when I went to visit my family.” Attempt at lying: numero uno. “The lady there was really good.” My shoulders shrugged.

It was getting more and more awkward by the second. It was funny actually (not the ha-ha kind) how all it took for Jared to talk to me was for him to, well, not recognize me. But even after I told him who I was he still kept talking and complementing me. I didn’t know how to respond back to him whenever he would complement me so I ended up saying, “you too!” It kind of pissed me off, really. What, I wasn’t good enough to speak to him when I was fuzzy headed? The only way I could talk to Jared Roark was if I looked good? Realization kicked in while I was in mid-sentence.

“You know,” I said in a flat tone, “I really have to get going.” I turned around and began to walk toward the building’s exit. It was rude to leave so soon and I was probably going to feel bad about it later, but really? It’s not like Jared wasn’t rude to me. The only time he spoke to me when I still looked like “me” was when he had almost hit me, and even then the only said was “Holy shit, you’re alright, aren’t you?” While sticking his head out of his window. No, he didn’t deserve a nice exit. He deserved a punch to the face, really, but I didn’t have the guts to actually do so. Sure my looks had changed from dog to fox, but I was still a bunny rabbit on the inside.

“Hey, uh, I-I should call you sometime!” Jared shouted. He smelled like he was beginning to sweat through his deodorant.

“Maybe,” I called, pushing through the door. And by maybe, I mean maybe you’ll never get your hands on my number. He had a lot to prove to me if he wanted me to actually pick up my phone. It was a shame, really, because Jared seemed like he was a funny and pretty nice guy. But then again, if he was really that nice, my dorky looks wouldn’t have stopped him from talking to me before.

The smell of gasoline and Mexican food swirled around my nose as I walked through the parking lot. My face felt as hot as the sun and it was pretty freaking smoking that day. Was I really that unrecognizable? I looked at my face in the mirror once I sat down and pulled at my cheeks. Sure, I defininetly did not look like the Ileana I did when I went to sleep, but I could still see myself.

“Holy geez,” Lauren squeaked as I walked into the boutique. It was my day off and I was spending my time at work. I really did have too much time on my hands. She ran her hands through my hair, touched my face, and then brushed my clothing off, all while giggling. “Ile, you look absolutely, completely, and totally different! You’re so… pretty!” Her hands clapped together as she squealed. At least she recognized me. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you,” I chuckled, “that means a lot.” Actually, it really did mean a lot coming from her. Lauren, the girl who could have had Hugh Heffner begging on his knees, was calling me pretty. This was quite flattering.

“Sure! I mean, you still had this dorky-cuteness before but, now, look at you!” She made a strange ow sound while pointing at my backside. I really did need to walk away before she made my head grow twenty times its normal size.