the badass nerd

meet Jake

My name is Jake Collins and I'm the bad boy from my school. Yeah, I am very aware of the fact that I'm  bad boy. I might even say I'm proud of it.

I'm not only a bad boy, I'm a streetfighter too. Well, fighter, racer, dancer, you get the idea. I'm the prince of The Streets. Obviously because I'm the best. I have to share my titel with a stupid bitch called Beauty. She's princess because of her father. Not because she's good... Okay... Maybe she ís good, but I'm still better. My street name is Beast for 2 reasons: I'm truely a monster when I'm fighting or racing and just because I wanted to annoy the crap out of Beauty. She hates it when people tell her we should date and I, as the amazing guy I am, made things worse by making our names fit together. She was furious when she heard what I did. She even nearly begged me to change my name. But I didn't. I thought it was fun and I don't mind people thinking me and her are together. It makes me even more popular.

Nobody knows who I am. I always wear a mask when I'm at The Streets. I love what I do, but it's still illegal. I don't want anyone to find out what I do. Not that my bad boy image at school isn't already bad enough for people to think I'm a criminal.

Fun fact about my image: it's fake. There are rumours that I've slept with every girl from my school, that I go to whores, that I steal and break in just for fun,... But that's just what they are. Rumours. Okay, I might have slept with a girl or 2, but that's all. I'm not a fan of STD's... Or sluts for that matter.

Ofcourse, like every bad boy, I have my secrets... But that's a story for another time.

****
'hello class. I want to introduce you to Belle Queens. She's new. Be nice' ms. Dillis says. A shy, dark-haired, green-eyed girl stands next to her. She looks familiar, but I can't remember - 'look! That pathetic nerd is back', Amber whispers. Ofcourse! Isabella Queen. The little stupid bullied nerd. I thought she had left after the bullying got to much. 'Belle just moved back here. You can sit over there, dear' the teachers points at the empty seat next to me. Shit.

'please don't look at me, don't even breath my way' I say coldly before she can even sit down. She nods softly before taking out her books. She looks even more shy and scared than she did a few years ago. She did got a lot hotter under those glasses, but you will never hear me say that out loud.

'there will be a groupproject this year. I already decided that you will all work with your neighbour. You can choose the -' I don't hear a thing the teacher explains. The only thing I do is scowl. I seriously have to put my name on the same paper as the nerd? Is she f*cking kidding me?

The bell rings and the only thing I think is that I will not do anything at all for this stupid project. It's senior year, I will be gone next year anyway. If the nerd wants to do something, she'll have to do it without me.

***

'hey man, did you hear? our little victim is back' my best friend Luke says to me when I enter the cafeteria. 'oh yeah I heard. I already have a project with her' I say angrily. Luke starts to laugh and I shoot him daggers with my eyes. 'this is NOT funny. I'm not going to do the project anyway.' Luke is the only friend I have and also the only guy who knows the real me. he also knows about me  being Beast. if I'm all rumours, he is all facts. he does sleep with a lot of girls and he does have a record. not that I mind. it keeps my image alive too. 

'you really think the nerd is going to do the project alone?' Luke asks and I shrug. 'don't know, don't care. I only know that I am not going to do a damn thing' the nerd walks past us just as we said that. her hands make fists, but she doesn't say and thing and just walks away faster. 'oops' Luke says, but I don't care. she was going to find out anyway. 

***

I'm just making myself comfortable on the couch when to doorbell goes. I wonder who that is. the only ones who come here are my parents and Luke, and it can't be neither of them.

when I open the door, I see it is the nerd. what is she doing here and how did she find my house? 'you really think I'm going to do this alone?' she asks unbelievably. I look at her suprised. this isn't little nerd from a few years ago. what is going on? 

'well?' she asks. I don't answer, but keep staring at her. I'm just to amazed by this new nerd. I mean, she is more attractive than a few years ago, but then again, most of us are. most of us are now free of braces, acne, mothers who buy our clothes for us,... and she stands up for herself. she even comes to my house! this is something I have to get used to, because it looks like I can't mess with her like I used to.

when I don't answer, she steps closer to me. our faces our just inches away and she looks me right into my eyes. 'I. am. not. doing. this. project. alone. understood?' she says really slowly. I will never admit it, but I feel a little scared. is there anything more dangerous than standing between a nerd and her homework? probably The Streets, but I'm used to that. I know I'm the best and I know I can win, but I've never met this side of the nerd before. who knows what she did in those years she was gone. she might have worn an oversized hoodie, but I could still see her body has changed. she's fitter and has more muscles. not that I've observing her or something. I accidentely looked her way a couple of times today. she was in the library taking a book from the top shelve and her stomach was visible for a minute. or the moment she was carying like 15 books with ease. I noticed because Luke and I Always thought it was fun to see her struggle with like 4 or 5 books in her hands.

now I think about it, maybe she wasn't shy in class earlier. Maybe she was angry and she wanted to hide that. that makes sense right?

mabe I should do this project with her. I think this is a puzzle I want to solve.

'okay, we'll do the project together' I say before stepping away and closing the door, not giving her time to respond.