How to Date a Nerd

Chapter 17 - I Gambled With An Edible Dice

Sarah was nearly done when we stopped in the fruits and vegetables area. After she picked up a couple of salad greens and some potatoes, Sarah stopped in front of the crate of piled up apples and stared at them for a while. I took two and juggled them.

“They look good,” I said, showing her one of the apples. “Eat me. Eat me!”

“Put those back,” she hissed, curbing a smile. “It’s not on the list.” Then she grabbed the cart from me and headed to the counter.

I looked around while she paid for the groceries. No Matt. Maybe he moved away to Alaska and got frozen in an iceberg. With a huge grin, I headed back to the fruit section and picked up two apples. I jogged back to the counter. Sarah wasn’t there. Again.

Hurriedly, I gave the cashier the amount and ran outside. Why couldn’t she just stay where I left her? With my head pounding, I scanned the parking lot. It was already dark. Half past six. The same time Sarah got hit by a car. I made an edgy sprint around. Nothing registered in my brain except that I had to find her and fast.

I saw Sarah standing in front of Matt’s car, with no other than Matt.

“Sarah!” I called, running over to them. “There you are,” I blurted, trying to be patient. I was dead worried about her. Couldn’t she see that? How thick could she really be?

With a smirk, Matt Adams took the bags of groceries from her hand and loaded them into the backseat. “Relax, man. C’mon. I’ll drive you home.”

“I’m good,” I breathed out, managing to sound civil.

Oh. So now, he was using my no-car status to get Sarah. Clenching my teeth, I took Sarah’s hand and pulled her a few yards away from Matt. Once we were out of eavesdrop, I turned to her, breathing hard to control my temper.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

Cringing, she bit her lip and mumbled, “T-talking with Matt. What’s so wrong with—“

“That’s not what I meant.” All I wanted to do was take Sarah as far away from Matt as possible. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “Can you just stop making me worried sick? It’s really getting annoying having to look for you every two minutes,” I growled through my teeth.

“Worried sick? Look. I’m not a kid anymore,” Sarah retorted, taking my hand off hers. “I have amnesia but I’m not stupid! I know what I’m doing and I can take care of myself!”

I shook my head angrily. “So why d’you think you have amnesia now, huh? Because you got hit by a car? Oh, right. Because someone tried to—“ I caught my tongue.

Someone tried to kill you. That was what I was about to say. But I couldn’t even let her know that. I was supposed to protect her. Not make her life more miserable by letting her know that some psycho-stalker was out there to get her. And that all of it was because of me.

“Someone tried to do what?” Sarah demanded, tugging on my sleeve.

“Forget it,” I replied, a little calmer now. “If you wanted so bad to go with him, then go. Just… be careful out there, okay?”

Looking down, I went to Matt and left Sarah gaping in the middle of the parking lot. For ten seconds or more, the dude and I did a little staring contest. I blinked first of course. Not because I was intimidated. But because I knew I already lost this round. It wasn’t my right to keep Sarah all to myself. She wasn’t mine anymore to begin with. And even though I’d like it very much to beat the crap out of Matt Adams, I’d let him off, if just for Sarah’s sake.

“Just one request,” I said without blinking. “Take her straight home.”

With a wide irritating grin, he replied, “Fair enough. I can do that.”

“That’s all I need to hear,” I said, turning away.

“So you’re giving her up?” Matt said before I could take a step.

“In your dreams, Matt.” A small lopsided grin involuntarily spread on my face as I glared at him over my shoulder. “Don’t you think you’ve won just yet.”

With a sniff, he raised his hands up with a laidback nod. “May the best man win.”

As I headed to the sidewalk, I heard Sarah arguing with Matt. I hated the dude’s guts more than anything but I knew he won’t let anything bad happen to Sarah. That was enough for me. Even if it was killing me.

“Leonard!” Sarah called.

But I didn’t look back. If I did, I’d just be tempted to grab her and run away. I was angry and unstable. I didn’t want her to see me like this. It’d frighten her and drive her away from me. I needed to cool down and sort out my wits. Make a plan that’d actually work. Or I could just be the good friend she wanted and stay by her side no matter what. With a sigh, I closed my eyes at the sound of her voice. It was the first time Sarah ever called my name since she woke up from the coma.

“Leon!” she shouted.

I froze. Did she just call me Leon? Or was it just my imagination? I turned to find her not too far away from me. She caught her breath and looked up at me.

“Where are you going?” she asked. “Are you mad?”

I creased my forehead. “What did you just call me?”

Flustered, Sarah hesitated for a while and said, “L-Leon…”

“Sarah? Are your memories coming back?” I asked, taking a step toward her but stopped when she shook her head.

“Sorry,” she whispered sheepishly. “It just… slipped out but if you don’t want me calling you that—“

“No.” I cut her off, deep in thought. “Leon’s fine.”

Maybe I still had a chance. Maybe her memories were slowly coming back without her even noticing it. That should be it. At least that was what I wanted to believe in.

Just when I expected her to go, Sarah stayed on her spot while looking at me with some meaning. I wished she said something. But in perfect timing, Matt started to honk his horn.

“Well, somebody’s in a rush,” I muttered darkly. “You better go,” I said when she started gawking again.

She looked at me with questioning eyes before heading to Matt’s car. If she was asking why I’d let her go, I’d no idea. Maybe I wanted her to have some sort of freedom I wasn’t able to give her back when we were still together. I was giving her options because although all I wanted in this world was for her to be mine again, I’d want more for her to be happy.

So out of impulse, I left it all to chance. I looked at the apple in my hand and asked God for a sign.

“Sarah!” I called her. When she stopped to look at me, I said, “If you catch this, it’s yours.”

I made up my mind. If she caught the apple, she’d be mine someday. If not, then I’d stick with the best friend trump card. In my head, I was weighing the odds. Sarah had the worst coordination ever, so my chances weren’t at all good. It was crazy to put my fate in one apple. But it was all I got.

I threw it to her, crossing my fingers behind me. Next thing I knew, the apple was already in Sarah’s hand. I totally didn’t expect that.

“Nice,” I said, casually stepping away while bouncing the other apple on my hand.

Even God was on my side. Or was he?

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Hi! I've been gone for a while. Been having a hard time these past few weeks and I'm on medication again. Hopefully, I'd recover a better disposition soon and upload sooner. Thanks for all your messages and comments and please know that I appreciate all your support. Don't worry, because I will finish this book. I just need more room to think and question my existence and the like. See you soon.

~shim (incubation period T-minus 6/7 days)

PS- If this had a trailer, it would be the song to the right =_=