#Nerd (Hashtag #1)

by Cambria Hebert

  After what seemed like eternity, the light clicked off, the door shut, and the sound of footsteps faded away.

  I let out a breath but sat there for a while just to make sure the guard wasn’t coming back.

  When I was sure he was gone, I crept to the door and let myself out. I stuffed the nameplate in the waistband of my jeans and rushed back into the office where I’d come through the window.

  Braeden wasn’t there when I dropped onto the ground. I rushed around the side of the building and almost got caught in the beam of security’s headlights. I dropped to the ground and rolled into the shadows.

  Security drove away.

  The sound of muffled laughter burst from behind.

  I jumped up and turned. Braeden stepped out from behind some landscaping, his white teeth flashing in the dark. “Dude, you should have seen your face.”

  “Fuck you,” I said with a grin.

  “Did you get it?”

  “Yeah, let’s go.”

  Once we were in the safety of Braeden’s truck, he turned to me. “Now what?”

  Now I had to hold on to this until the frat party on Friday night, but I didn’t want it at my house. I didn’t trust Zach. I wouldn’t put it past him to call in some lame tip to the dean about the missing item from his office. The next thing I’d know, people would be pounding on my door and searching for this stupid piece of wood.

  Yeah, no. I wasn’t going down like that.

  I needed somewhere to keep it.

  Somewhere no one would think to look.

  I rolled my head toward Braeden. “Let’s go to Cypress Hall.”

  He gave me a strange look. “The chick’s dorm?”

  I smiled.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Rimmel

  “You stole that from the dean’s office!” I heard myself shriek, and I stared at the nameplate he held out for me to see. I jumped up from the bed and paced the small space in front of Romeo.

  He was absolutely nuts.

  “Why the hell would you do that?” I asked.

  Then I stubbed my toe on the edge of my desk.

  “Ow!” I hissed and doubled over while bouncing around on one foot.

  “You’re like a one-woman show,” Romeo remarked from behind me. His voice was clearly amused.

  “I need my glasses,” I muttered, hopping around and reaching for them somewhere near my bed. I knocked something over and it fell to the floor.

  “Whoa there, graceful,” Romeo said and scooped me up in his arms.

  I let out a little squeak in surprise. “Put me down.”

  “No,” he said mildly. “You are a danger to yourself.”

  I made a hmph sound and he snickered. The bed sagged beneath his weight as he sat down. I moved to scramble off his lap, but he locked his arms around me and wouldn’t let go.

  “I’m rushing a frat. The Alpha Omegas,” he said.

  I glanced up; our faces were so close I could feel his breath mingling with mine. “Are you supposed to tell me that?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “So you’re saying you took this as part of rush?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why would they make you do something that could get you in serious trouble?” I asked. That just seemed stupid.

  “Because it’s a frat,” he said, like it was obvious.

  Then I realized I was dealing with a bunch of men. “Right.”

  “Anyway, I just need somewhere to keep it ‘til Friday.”

  “What’s Friday?” I asked, suspicious.

  “A frat party.”

  “Oh.” I thought about when I went to pick up Ivy from the bonfire and the people crowded around him. Something in my stomach churned, and I twisted out of his lap to stand. Somehow during everything that happened tonight, I forgot who Romeo was.

  He was popular. He partied. He played football. He had girls vying for his attention. There was no way I could compete with that. I was just a phase. A way to pass time while he was being forced into studying.

  I needed to remember that. I couldn’t let him in.

  Well, not any further than he’d already gotten.

  “Hey,” Romeo said softly and came to stand behind me. I didn’t bother to turn around. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I said. I certainly wasn’t about to admit that for a little while, I was letting my heart take over for my head.

  “Hell-o up there!” Braeden’s voice floated through the still-open window.

  Romeo went over and looked down at him. “I’m coming!” He turned away from the window and picked up my cell that was lying on the table by my bed. With my glasses.

  I crossed to pick them up and he handed them to me. Everything came into focus when I slid them into place.

  “What are you doing?” I said, noting my phone in Romeo’s hand.

  “Putting my number in here.” I watched him deftly type away. “In case you need me.”

  “I’m not going to need you.”

  He grinned and looked up. “Okay, then. In case you want me.” Then he produced his phone and held it out. “Put your number in.”

  Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt. What if he needed to cancel tutoring?

  I was a lousy liar. I totally wanted to give him my number. Just like I totally wanted him to kiss me again.

  I was in so much trouble.

  I punched it in and handed the phone back. “Give me the nameplate,” I said and held out my hand.

  His smile lit up the entire room, and I found myself smiling back. After he handed it to me, he stepped up close so barely any space separated us.

  He kissed me slowly. His lips were gentle as they took over mine. He kissed me until my knees went soft and everything in my head had gone blank.

  “I’ll see ya later,” he whispered against my lips.

  He leapt out of my window like he was some kind of cat. The muffled sound of laughter floated up as he and Braeden took off.

  I shut the window and hid the nameplate beneath my mattress. Then I climbed back in bed. His scent was on my blankets.

  I knew I shouldn’t. I knew he was nothing but trouble. But I still fell asleep with a smile on my lips.

  Ivy stumbled in the door just before seven a.m. Her shirt was buttoned up crooked and her shoes were on the wrong feet. Her hair looked like she rolled around half the night in bed…

  Which she probably did.

  Just not her bed.

  Someone else’s.

  “I’m so tired.” She groaned and collapsed on her bed.

  I was standing in front of my dresser, looking for something to wear. For the first time in a long, long time, I wasn’t grabbing the first thing my hand closed around.

  I’m not sure what that meant.

  Okay, yes, I did. I just wasn’t ready to admit it to myself.

  “Did you get any sleep last night?” I asked her.

  “Ugh. Not enough.” She groaned and rolled around on her blanket. “I can’t even skip because I have a test this morning.”

  “Want me to make you some coffee?” I offered.

  “I love you,” she moaned. I knew she was only kidding and grateful for the coffee, but even still, her words made me feel a pang.

  For years I’d told myself it was okay to be a loner. That I didn’t need friends because they just hurt you anyway.

  But deep down, sometimes I thought it would be nice to have one.

  I pushed away the thoughts and went over to the little coffee maker in the corner of the room. It was a Keurig, so all I had to do was add in a little pod and hit a button.

  Seconds later, the scent of coffee filled the room. It smelled good, and I decided to have one too. I grabbed a bottle of creamer out of the mini fridge and poured a generous amount in both mugs, then carried one over to Ivy.

  “You’re my hero,” she said, taking the cup and swallowing some down.

  I went back over to my dresser and stood sipping out of my cup, pondering my meager wardrobe. />
  “Are you trying to decide what to wear?” Her voice was sort of awed.

  I sighed.

  She appeared beside me and reached deep into the bottom drawer and pulled out a pair of dark jeans with the tags still on them. I looked at them curiously. I didn’t even remember I had those.

  “How’d you know those were there?” I asked.

  She rolled her bloodshot eyes. “I went through your clothes.”

  My mouth fell open. She shrugged. “Please,” she said, like I should be surprised. “You know I had to see if you had anything worth borrowing.”

  “I’m sure you found lots,” I said and grinned.

  She cringed. “You need a serious wardrobe overhaul.”

  Apparently she isn’t the only one who thinks so, I told myself as I grabbed the jeans. My grandmother sent me these like a year ago. She was always trying to send me cute, trendy outfits, and I never wore any of them.

  I yanked the tag off the pants and slid them up my bare legs and under the large T-shirt I had on. “Ugh, they’re too tight,” I said once they were buttoned.

  Ivy laughed. “They’re skinny jeans. They’re supposed to fit like that.”

  I went to the full-length mirror and lifted the shirt to study my reflection. They didn’t look too bad. At least with these, I wouldn’t trip and fall over the too large hem.

  “I wish I was that skinny,” Ivy said from her bed.

  “I look like a boy,” I muttered. I didn’t have many curves. I’d been small all my life.

  “There’s a shirt that goes with the jeans in there too,” she said.

  It was really sad that she knew more about what was in my drawers than I did.

  I rifled through the drawer again and sure enough, there in the back was a plain long-sleeve cotton top. It was sinfully soft to the touch and a shade of blue that reminded me of Romeo’s eyes.

  I pulled off the shirt I’d covered up with after my shower and added a tank top over my bra. The blue shirt wasn’t tight, thank goodness, but it wasn’t overly large either. It sort of skimmed over my body and ended at my hips. The sleeves were too long (as usual) and that made me feel a little more comfortable because I was able to tuck my hands inside like I did with everything I wore.

  “Nice,” Ivy said with a yawn.

  I decided standing here worrying about my clothes was a waste of time and I turned away from the mirror and grabbed my lip balm to smooth over my lips. I remembered how cold it was last night and fished around under my bed for a pair of cozy boots that really looked more like slippers to me than shoes. But a lot of people wore them around here, and I had to admit they did keep my toes from freezing. I pulled them on, enjoying the way my jeans fit down inside them with ease. Usually, I had to jam my pants down in there and it was uncomfortable and lumpy.

  Ivy was watching me with a curious look, and I suppressed the urge to blush like a mad woman. She got up and grabbed a large brush off her dresser and came toward me. Without saying anything, she started brushing through the thick mass that was still partially damp from my shower. It took too long to blow-dry it all completely, so I rarely did.

  “You know your hair would be gorgeous if you spent a little time on it,” she said as she worked.

  “I don’t have time to mess with my hair,” I said awkwardly.

  “Every girl has time to mess with her hair,” Ivy rebutted.

  “Maybe I just don’t care what people think.”

  “It isn’t about what other people think,” she said. “It’s about the way you feel. Being put together on the outside makes you feel better on the inside.”

  I couldn’t really argue with her because I didn’t know if she was right. I hadn’t bothered with my appearance in so long I didn’t know what it would feel like to actually try.

  Ivy wandered over to her side of the room and sprayed something on her hands and then worked it through my hair. She divided it into two sections and started braiding the length of it. It made me think of when I was a little girl and my mother used to braid my hair.

  A thick lump formed in my throat and I sipped at my coffee, trying to make it dissolve.

  When Ivy was done, she stepped back and looked at her handiwork. “Much better.”

  I got up and went to the mirror. It was a little unsettling to see myself this way. She styled my hair in pigtail braids, but it didn’t look juvenile. She somehow managed to make them look thick and bouncy. The unbraided ends curled out around the hair bands and fell against my chest. The top was side-parted and had a little bit of height at the crown, and a few short pieces at my hairline curled against my forehead. The style seemed to draw attention to the shape of my face, and my glasses didn’t take over my eyes. Added with the clothes that actually fit and a pair of boots that didn’t appear lumpy, I actually looked like all the other college girls that walked around campus.

  Without the makeup, of course. I wasn’t even going to bother with that stuff. Not today anyway.

  “Thanks,” I told Ivy, still looking at my transformed hair.

  She didn’t reply, and that’s when I noticed the utter silence. Ivy was standing there beside my bed with the Alpha hoodie in her hands. I must have been sitting on it and when I got up, it caught her eye.

  She was holding it out and staring at something. Her reaction was a little odd. I mean, it was just a hoodie. She couldn’t possibly know where I got it.

  Still clutching the sweatshirt in her hands, Ivy looked up. “How did you get Romeo’s football hoodie?” Her voice was hushed, like I’d committed some heinous crime.

  “How did you know it was Romeo’s?” I asked, slightly uncomfortable.

  She held it out to me so I could see the back, his name and number in plain sight.

  Oh. Would have been nice if I’d noticed that. A little bit of shock rippled through me as well. I mean, he obviously knew it had his name and number on the back, yet he still told me to keep it. He told me to wear it. He acted as if he wanted people to see it.

  “Rimmel!” Ivy demanded.

  I glanced up. “What?”

  “You have Romeo’s football hoodie on your bed. Explain!”

  “Oh. Um, I got cold at tutoring.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. I had. Besides, I had no idea what to say.

  “The douche you’re tutoring is Romeo Anderson?” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me!” she burst out.

  I started to answer, but she was pacing and then jerked to a halt and cut me off to say, “That explains the BuzzFeed and why Romeo is suddenly hanging out at the library.”

  Then she gasped.

  I jerked because it was so dramatic.

  “Ohmigod!” she rushed out in one breath. “You’re the mystery girl in the Hellcat.”

  Damn BuzzFeed.

  “Well!” she demanded again. All traces of her utter exhaustion were long gone. “Say something!”

  “Oh, I didn’t realize I was part of the conversation,” I muttered.

  “Rimmel.” Her eyes narrowed. Then they widened again. “Is that why you were worrying about your clothes? You like him!”

  I started shaking my head furiously.

  “Yes!” she demanded. Then she glanced down at his hoodie still clutched in her paws. I had the sudden urge to snatch it from her. “Does he like you, too?”

  I snorted as my stomach flipped over. I thought about the kisses, about how he crawled in through the window just hours before. If Ivy knew he’d been here in this room, she’d probably collapse. “I highly doubt it,” I said and gently pulled the hoodie from her hands. “And the clothes are just because I got tired of tripping and falling over all my baggy stuff.”

  She gave me a pitiful look. “It sucks to like someone who doesn’t like you back.”

  “Yeah,” I said, her words piercing my heart. I wish they didn’t hurt, but they did. And so did the look in her eyes. She felt sorry for me. Like she knew there was no way in hell he could ever like me. It’s like she thought he’d given me his hoodie out
of pity.

  Ivy was watching me closely. I could feel her penetrating gaze. I turned away and grabbed my bag. It was still a little early for class, but I didn’t care. This room was stifling.

  “Hey,” she called out as I reached for the door.

  My hands tightened around Romeo’s hoodie. I hadn’t planned to bring it with me, but the thought of leaving it here with her made me sick.

  “Yeah?”

  “You going to the game Saturday night?”

  “Do I ever?” I asked. Truth was I did plan on going because Romeo asked me to. I just planned to sit where no one would notice me.

  “You should come. Me and Missy are going.” Her eyes sparkled. “She’s dating Braeden. He’s on the team too.”

  I nodded.

  “You know him?” She seemed surprised all over again.

  “I’ve met him.”

  She nodded easily. “Well, yeah, definitely come. You can sit with us. It’ll be fun.”

  Suspicion overcame me. I didn’t like feeling that way, but I couldn’t ignore it. “Why would you want me to come with you?”

  The question caught her off guard and she looked up. “I thought we were friends.”

  Friends.

  “Yeah,” I said, stuffing down the unexpected emotion that burned up the back of my throat. “Sure. I’ll sit with you at the game.”

  She gave me a wide smile and waved. “Awesome. Now I better hit the showers. It’s going to take a long time to fix all this.” She gestured to herself and stuck out her tongue.

  It was colder outside than I expected. I thought for sure once the sun was up it would chase away the worst of the autumn chill. It seemed that more leaves had fallen to the ground overnight and people shuffled through them on the sidewalks, rustling sounds filling the air. My cheeks stung a little as the breeze blew and bit into them.

  I glanced down longingly at the hoodie in my arms and thought of putting it on. But I didn’t. I adjusted it so Romeo’s name didn’t show and pulled it a little closer to my chest.