Blaine and I went to college later that day. Thankfully, they were off last week for Spring Break, so I didn't miss out on anything in our Psychology class. Our professor gave us a reminder that our projects are due this weekend by email and have to be presented next week. He gave us the class time to work on finalizing our projects. I looked at Blaine, and she held out the Nerd Project.
"Do you want to read this now?" She asked me. I almost snatched it out of her hands, but she stopped me. "Or later after you get your glasses back?"
"But, I'll still have to wait about a week or two for them to be ready." I informed her as I reached for the guide, and my fingers went over the title. The Nerd Project, it said. I paused.
"You can read it later if you want, and we can talk about other things now." She suggested. I looked at her curiously.
"Like what?" I inquired, and she's the one who paused now.
"Charlie said Kevin is taking her on another date this weekend, and she has no clue what he's planning." She said putting her elbows on her desk, facing me. I bit my lip.
"Kevin..um, well.." I said not knowing what to say. "I'm sure it'll be somewhere creative." I finished, looking down at the Nerd Project. I felt Blaine's gaze on me.
"How about you get to your eye doctor's appointment, take the guide with you, and when I see you next, you let me know what you think." She told me. I nodded. We were free to leave because we just needed to meet with our partners. So, we started to pack up our things. I couldn't help but feel anxious. Excited to finally read the guide, but worried about having to get new glasses. The beauty of anxiety.
I really wished I changed the date of my eye doctor appointment because I wanted to read the Nerd Project then and there. But instead, my mom dropped Blaine and me off to change. Blaine gave me a hug for good luck as we dropped her off. I didn't want anyone with me while I went to my appointment, but I was still a minor so my mom had to stick around.
I left the Nerd Project at home, and my mom took me to my appointment. My hands kept grabbing each other, which I stopped every time I noticed them. They called my name sooner than I thought, so I went in with my mom following behind. My heart beat was increasing with each step, but I told myself to relax and took a deep breath. Come on Alan, this needs to be done. We went into an empty room, and a minute or two later, Dr. Carter showed up. Dr. Carter was in his early 40s. He had short black hair that looked similar to when I last saw him a couple years ago. He had a smile on his face and a clip-board in hand.
"Hello Alan," He said. I smiled weakly back at him. He shook my mom's hand and greeted her while I looked around the room.
The appointment went on, while I answered what looked more clear. He asked me questions about school and Blaine, and I answered them as best as I can, hoping my voice didn't come out shaky. I told him that I would be interested in buying both glasses and contacts. I felt myself relaxing as I realized it was ending soon. Afterwards, he let me see the glasses available and gave me information about the best contacts. I listened, asking questions when I needed to. As I picked out glasses, I looked at the mirror and saw which ones looked the best with different silly faces. When I saw my mom catch me, my laughter stopped. I looked seriously into the mirror, and I blinked in the mirror. All I could think when I saw my reflection is that if I get these glasses, I would desperately need a repeat of the Nerd Project.
I looked around some more, and I found a great pair that was comfortable and didn't look too bad on me. I took a picture to show Blaine them, and I told my mom and the sales lady. We did some measurements for the glasses and I was on my way. I was to pick them up in a week or two, whenever they called us.
I was proud of myself for making it through the appointment. Now I could get home and read the guide! My mom picked up some take-out; so when we got home, we ate together. I could see she was happy too that I didn't run screaming at the sight of the eye-doctor clinic, so that was nice.
As I finished my second slice of pizza, we heard a knock at the door. I smiled at my mom and said I'll get it. So, I got up and made my way to the door, wondering who that was. I opened the door and saw black hair first.
"Hey." Jesse said scratching the back of his head.
"Hey," I said awkwardly wiping my hands on my pants.
"Busy?" He asked me, looking almost as uncomfortable.
"Nah, just eating with my mom." I answered. He nodded. "You hungry?" I asked, he shrugged.
"I don't want to be a bother." He said tapping his foot on the porch.
"Since when?" I said with a smile, opening the door.
"I guess it makes up for that punch." He said massaging his jaw and walking in.
"Just about," I said letting him in and shutting the door behind him. "Does it still hurt?" I said leading the way to the dining room.
"You wish." He muttered. We got to the dining room, and I turned to my mom.
"Hey Mom, can Jesse join?" I asked looking at her hopefully. She looked a little surprised but smiled nonetheless.
"Sure, let me grab you a plate. Would you like a coke?" She asked him.
"Um-yeah, thanks." He said taking a seat beside me. My mom went to the kitchen while Jesse turned to me. "Your mom's nice."
"And embarrassing sometimes." I muttered, remembering last week.
"Better than my mom." He said shaking his head. "She sucks." I gave him a surprised look. "She left my dad and me. She cheated on him and left us without a look back." I blinked, not expecting this.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know." I said, at a loss of what to say. He smiled looking down.
"You should've seen me in middle school, a total loser. Worse than you." I gave him a flat look, but let him continue. "I even broke up with Shelly, just to focus on my grades. To get all As, so my mom would get proud and come back." He chuckled darkly, "And I thought I was so smart. I even told Shelly, and she acted so understanding and everything. When I realized my mom still didn't care regardless of what I did, I tried to get my dad's appreciation. I worked hard to get to where I am. Football team captain at grade 11 is crazy, but I just wanted my dad to be proud, and to care for someone other than my mother." He shook his head. "But it didn't work out, so I stopped caring what they thought. I got back with Shelly, and I was so happy about it too, only to have her cheat on me." He finished, tapping the dinner table.
"The reason why you hate cheaters." I said, feeling really bad for him.
"They just suck, don't they?" He said. My mom came back and gave him a plate and a coke. He thanked her and turned to me. "You better eat up."
"What do you mean?" I asked bringing one of the boxes closer to him.
"I'm not letting you give up on the gym. You're not getting off that easy." He said opening his coke. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a slice.
I got to eat two more slices before there was another knock on the door. I looked at Jesse in confusion.
"Why are you looking at me? It's your house." He said finishing his slice. I rolled my eyes and got up again.
"I don't remember being this popular." I thought aloud and went to answer the door. I started to wonder if it was Kevin or Blaine and I answered it to see Kevin and Matt.
"This is gonna sound stupid, but is Jesse here?" Kevin asked first. I opened the door.
"Yeah he's here, do you want to come in?" I asked him.
"He is inside? Is he still breathing?" Kevin said me, a hint of a smile appearing. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, go on in. I'll catch up in a sec." I said as he went in with a smile. And they call me the dork. I looked at Matt, feeling surprised that he was there. He's one of Lily and Charlie's best friends. "What's up?" I said offering him my attention.
"Well, um.. I wanted to say thank you." He told me. I gave him a look of confusion, so he continued, "Well because of what you did for Lily." I blinked in surprise.
"What did I do?" I said, thinking of the mess of the friendship she and I shared.
"You stood up for her. It was nice of you." He said to me. "So thank you." I stepped outside and closed the door behind me.
"You don't have to thank me for that, man. She's a great friend." Matt's face fell a little, so I continued. "Just a friend." He nodded, looking a little relieved. "I was actually thinking of setting her up with this guy I know, from the football team." I bluffed.
"W-what really?" He said seriously before I started to laugh.
"Nah, I'm just kidding." I said putting my hands up in surrender. He muttered a curse word and shook his head.
"You're awful." He told me. I laughed some more with a shrug. So he did like her, did he?
"Good luck." I told him honestly. "Just know if you mess with her, you won't get off easy." I said crossing my arms. He started to blush and shook his head.
"We're just friends." He said failing to face me. "And thanks again." He said running a hand through his hair. I asked if he wanted to stay, but he said he was going to hang out with Charlie for a while. So I said goodbye with a chuckle and went inside. I joined Kevin and Jesse at the dinner table and heard my mom laughing.
"What are you guys talking about?" I asked drinking some of my coke. Lucky for me, I got to swallow before Jesse answered.
"We're just telling your mom how you asked Blaine out." He explained. I put the coke down in surprise.
"Why?" I asked. This is what I get for messing with Matt, now it's my time for embarrassment.
"That's what friends are for." Jesse said with a shrug and went to continue the story. "He was so nervous before it too." I covered my hands with my face.
Well, this sucks.
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Okay so, if things go as planned, I'll put him reading the Nerd Project the next chapter!
Hope you guys liked this chapter :D
A pic of Jesse on the side since he's awesome :)