How to Date a Nerd

43 - It Ended with a Blast

“Call an ambulance!” It was Reed.

“We totally screwed up, man…” I heard Ricky from my left.

The loud commotion, the sense of panic made me all the more lightheaded.

“What the hell, Chuck!” Reed yelled. “You shouldn’t have hit him so hard!”

I could hear Chuck coughing. “He head-butted be bro! I dink by dose’s broked.” He sounded like he had a bad cold.

“Get a medic in here!” Moira shouted through the noise. “Oh my goodness! Leon, are you okay?”

It was the first time I heard Moira panic. If I could speak, I would’ve told her how weird she sounded. I was dying, if I wasn’t already dead without me actually knowing it, and she just had to ask if I was okay.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Ricky grumbled. All of a sudden he started sniveling. “Now look at him. He’s not moving. I think we really killed him! Chuck killed him!”

“You guys…” Sarah mumbled under her breath, her legs moving under my head. Her hand touched the side of my neck where I’d been stabbed. Carefully, my head was lifted by a pair of hands onto what felt like a tangle of clothes. “What stupid thing have you done now?”

No one was paying attention to Sarah as they kept arguing.

The noise of metal clanging against concrete made me open my eyes. This time, I could see fuzzy shapes moving in front of me. I blinked twice, letting my eyes adjust to the light. My whole world swayed and I had the strong urge to hurl.

My head was turned to the side, allowing me to focus on the dozens of shoes pacing about. More so, the bloodied knife just a few inches from my face.

“Shut up, Ricky!” Reed snapped. “No one killed anybody.”

“Yes. No one did,” Sarah answered under her breath, her voice small but threatening. “But I think I will!”

Ricky started to back away. I noticed he was wearing some kind of blue uniform; police uniform. There was this stupid fake moustache hanging lopsidedly over his lips. “This is so not good,” he moaned, paling.

In perfect timing, I heard a very familiar voice through what sounded to me as a megaphone. “And… cut! Okay, people! Take five.” It was none other than Nathan—some guy I was born with and who, most unfortunately, happen to look like me.

I couldn’t say I was pleased to know he was here. In fact, a bad feeling just ran down my spine, like an impending doom.

Again, I closed my eyes and breathed in. I could breathe. I tried to feel. Besides the constant throbbing in my head and the dull pain in my right shoulder, I couldn’t point out anything wrong with my body. I could feel. Then, I tried to move. My hands and legs felt weak but, all in all, I was feeling pretty good. Finally, I scooted up, gasping for air.

I looked around. No one seemed to be paying any attention to me.

Suddenly, Chuck streaked through the crowd. Then Reed. Then Ricky.

A foldable chair flew towards them, barely missing Ricky before clattering against the pavement.

“Ricky Burns!” It was Sarah, storming her way to my friends. “You can forget all about the deal! I’ll tell everyone you kept peeing your pants every time a girl talks to you back in fourth grade!”

“Oh, come on!” Ricky stopped and raised both his hands up. “I got circumcised in fourth grade. The doctor said it was normal!”

I could feel my brows furrowing. What the hell was happening? I picked up the knife from the ground while feeling for the wound at the side of my neck. There was nothing there but blood. I’d swear I saw that knife go all the way through my neck.