Have You Heard? I'm a Nerd. (EDITING)

Ch17: Just be yourself

Like yesterday, Sydney was still proposing the idea of the 'dropping a napkin signal' in case Jess wanted help. To try to win my approval, she was constantly letting the flimsy white napkin flutter to the ground.  All she was accomplishing was making me less convinced than ever. After a few more minutes of futile demonstration on Sydney's behalf, she finally stopped, but only to bring up a subject we've addressed earlier.

"So where were you hiding again? Not in the library right?" You could hear every bit of sarcasm she intended.

I rolled my eyes. "I was behind the pillar to be exact."

"That’s not the point."

I started pushing around the noodles I didn't bother to consume with my fork. The macaroni really needed more cheese, but what's the point of complaining about school food? Even the cafeteria lady's know what they're serving; which is nothingness. Everything tastes the same to me. It's bland, but you can't stop eating it. No one’s willing to starve after all.

Realizing I was quiet for too long and becoming off topic in my head, my attention veered back to Sydney, who was waiting for me to explain the whole story again.

"Basically Syd, I left you and Jess alone so I could observe you two. Don’t you remember when I said I would forget about you and Jess, but only temporarily? Temporarily has ended, “ I explained.

Sydney grumbled, but after listening for a second time, it seemed like her anger had dissolved, and curiosity settled in. “So what exactly did you see?” She asked softly.

I put a finger on my chin and hummed to tease her. “I can’t seem to remember.”

I regretted letting that sentence escape my mouth. “Ouch!” I yelped.

Sydney had whacked my arm. “Stop playing, Tam.” She was smiling at me, so I knew she didn’t mean to harm me excruciatingly. But still. Arm thwacking can hurt.

I rubbed my arm tenderly and shot her a single glare before finally letting out what I took note on. “One word: Awkward.”

Her eyes widened. “I was being awkward?!” She cried.

“Yup.” I told it plain and simple. I guarantee if you were me, you could’ve detected Sydney’s awkwardness a mile away. I told her just that also.

“Well, do you have any tips?” Sydney looked like a worried child who had a drawing spree on a white wall. The question in this situation is not, ‘how do I scrub this off?’ but ‘how can we help Sydney?’

Sydney hasn’t revealed if she is just discovering her little liking for Jess, or has been harboring this secret for a long time. Though, I think it may be the former. But whichever one it is, Sydney definitively wants to be more aware of what she does when Jess is in the vicinity.

 “Well,  there’s no hiding that you must like Jess.” I said just to make sure.

Sydney sighed. “I’m not really sure, because-”

I cut her off. “I could also hear ya'll, you know. ‘How’s Natalie doing?’ Isn’t exactly the most innocent conversation starter.”

“Okay, okay, but all I’m trying to say is if I do like Jess, it isn’t a whole lot. He first started out as a friend, so it’s weird to consider him to be something other than a friend.”

I nodded my head. “I can understand your thinking. As for tips, I say just be yourself. It’s cliché advice, but it’s the best advice.”

Sydney mulled over my suggestion for a moment. “Okay, but isn't it all pointless to try anything? I highly doubt he would choose me over..... Natalie.”

A slight frown claimed Sydney's features, but I was quick to remove it.

"Hey, it's too early on to think like that. I would pick my best friend over anyone any day."

"Oh, so Natalie's suddenly your best friend?" Sydney said coolly.

I stuttered surprised. "Uhm, n-no."

Steadily the hard glint in her eyes were replaced with a cheery one. "I'm just kidding!" Sydney smiled before giving me a look that obviously said, 'haha you fell for it.'

"But thanks Tammie, that means a lot." Sydney told me sincerely.

"No problem." I breezed, even though I felt good inside that I could give helpful advice to my best friend.

After a moments silence I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "I still can't believe it!" I chortled. Que obsessive laughter again.

I had an inkling of certainty that Sydney had grown fond of Jess somehow, but her loud and crazy self doesn't seem like the one to go for a shy and reserved boy.

As unsupportive as me laughing at Sydney's expense makes me, at the end of the day Sydney knows she's just as puzzled as myself. With a short grin she joined in on my humor making the laughing just the more fun.

Lunch ended on a happy note. Together we left for our next class, but we didn’t get too far when Jess came chasing after us.

“Guys wait up!” He called. We stopped at command, and waited to see what Jess wanted to report for the day.

Jess approached us slightly out of breath, but his words were still coherent and intact, and not interrupted with a gasp for air.

“So I overheard something interesting. I thought ya’ll should know.”

“Tell us, now!” Sydney instantly demanded. As usual she can never wait long for anything.

“Okay, well, to sum things up, I think Nadine, Kat, and Hallie are dealing with a bump in their friendship. In other words, Kat was nowhere to be found, and apparently she must’ve done something wrong because Hallie was crying over it. There was also something about confronting Brent, but I didn’t catch anything exact, so I’m lost with whatever happened between them.”

After hearing what Jess had to say, I couldn’t be sure of anything either. Sydney looked like to be in the same boat as all of us.

“That’s interesting. Keep up the good eavesdropping. Maybe you can pursue to be the next Sherlock Holmes.” Sydney complimented. That coming from Sydney might as well be taken as a compliment.

“Thanks, you make me feel like some sort of criminal.” Jess replied.

I chuckled on my own then suggested we should get to class. We were bound to be late if we didn’t start moving now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was about 10:30 p.m and I wasn't quite ready to get some shut eye, so I took out my red notebook and pen and began to write down my thoughts.

I paused before for marking the page, because I wanted to think on what to begin with. After I decided on what to write, my pen slowly began to write words that would tell my story.

Yesterday was Jess's big debut. After a week of preparation, he showed up and delivered. So far he's overheard small conversation pertaining to Nadine and her friends. Who knows what it will lead to....

Sometimes I stop and wonder what it's like to be him, when in reality we're just alike. I mean we changed ourselves to gain information. We gradually stripped our appearances to resemble something like a reflection mirrored from a puddle of water. The water can easily be disturbed and at any moment the puddle will evaporate like our cover.

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A/N I know this is a short chapter but I should've included this with the last chapter. I'll make next one longer and up quick! :)Love all the support guys, thanks so much! Comment? Vote? Fan? Bye-bye :)