The Nerd has a Secret (GxG)

Chapter Five

C H A P T E R   F I V E
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L U K E

If there's one thing I hadn't expected Danielle Blake of all people to do, it's pull out a cigarette and then proceed to offer me one.

"I-what?" I stare at the cigarette between her fingers. She's already lit one and has it between her lips.

"You can say no. I was being polite." I nod.

"O-okay, I-no, thank you." She nods and puts it back in her bag, before taking in a deep breath. She blows out a cloud of smoke, and thankfully, in the direction opposite to me. "Was, uh, this what you meant? By other ways of coping?" She scoffs, slipping the stick from her lips to between her fingers.

"Of course not. I smoke 'cause I like to, not because I'm depressed." I swallow and look down at my shoes for what feels like the thousandth time today.

"Are you?" I ask.

"What?"

"Depressed?" She shakes her head. "Really? I mean...you're kind of..."

"A social pariah?" She offers. I look back up and face her. "Word of advice? Don't take anyone's shit." I frown.

"You do?" I remind. She scoffs.

"Only because I like it that way," she claims. "I could stop it if I wanted to."

"Then why not? I mean...well, your eye is bruised, for one." She brushes her fingertips over her eye absentmindedly, before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. I notice it's lighter than the rest—significantly—a light blonde so light it's nearly platinum.

"Like I said, I like it that way," she mumbles. "You don't need to know why I let them do what they do. But you do need to know that you're worth more than what they say you're worth." I try to bite back a smile but fail to do so, fiddling with the drawstrings on my hoodie.

"Thank you, Dani. You've been...really nice to me." She frowns.

"I'm not nice," she hisses.

"Are."

"I'm not doing this again," she insists. She pushes herself off the wall she'd been leaning against, dropping her cigarette and smushing it into the concrete with the back of her shoe. Her demeanor and personality don't match the way she dresses, nor any of the stories I've heard about her. "We should head back. The period's almost over and people will talk of anyone finds out I skipped to smoke and hang out with a kid who cuts himself."

"I thought you didn't care what others think?" She scoffs.

"Doesn't mean I want the attention on me." She nods to the side entrance. "You coming?" I nod and she starts off, so I begin to follow her, feeling somewhat like a lost puppy as I do.

We head back inside and Dani starts off. Her demeanor completely changes, from the way she walks to the way she carries herself, even to the look in her eye. The chill, confident girl who'd just told me not to take anyone's shit and smoked on school grounds is suddenly similar to me—quiet, closed off even in the way she moves, slouching and pulling her shoulders forwards and in to make herself seem smaller. I hadn't really noticed until now, but she's actually fairly tall. I'm not exactly reaching the top shelf, of course, so I'm used to girls being taller than me, but now that I think about it, she's got to be at least 5'11, maybe 6'0.