Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Adventure

Chapter 1: Nerd

"Watch it nerd," he grunts as he runs into me, knocking my books out of my arms. I don't dare make eye contact with him, mostly because he'll see that I don't have an ounce of fear In my eyes.

"Sorry, sorry," I squeak in terror, gathering my books and rushing to my class. I hear the laughter of the guy and his friends, probably making fun of the scared little girl who ran away from them.

I clutch onto my golden pendant of my
phoenix medallion tightly in anger. I didn't want to play the timid, little nerd act. And that's what it was, an act. I did it because it was the only way to lay low and not be discovered. No, I'm not a hidden celebrity or an FBI agent. It's a little bit more complex than that. 

I arrive in my class, the first one there like always, and head straight to the very back of the class. As a nerd, I should sit in the front as a good nerd is supposed to. But that's where I draw the line.

I hate school with a passion. There's no way I'm going to sit in the front row learning stupid lessons. I'm not going to bother raising my hand for every question the teacher asks. That's just annoying and a waste of time and energy. I already know almost everything about my courses. I studied the entire textbooks in the beginning of the year. Some I didn't even need to read or study because I already learned it. And the school administration claim these are special "advanced college-leveled" courses. I expected more. 

I pretend to scribble notes In class when really I'm observing everyone in the classroom. Sometimes, I doodle like a normal student. I've pretty much categorized every single person in this school, which was pretty tough considering how protected the files are. 

I'm in an elite, private highschool of only 1,088 students. It's a school where important people enroll their kids in and ship them off for the year. I guess you could call this a boarding school or something? Don't even get me started on the name, it's named Elite Prep, or maybe it's Elite Academy. I'm sure there's an acronym in there, but I don't really care to remember. 

A class of about two-hundred seventy teens isn't a tremendous amount. That doesn't prevent the school from having social statuses between the students. Basically, I'm at the bottom of the food chain because I'm the quiet girl who nobody can figure out who my important parents are. They label me as the nerd. It's quite ironic since almost every student in this school is exceptionally gifted mentally and physically. That's how you can get in in the first place. Well, besides buying your way in or how influential your parents are. That kind of explains how some of these kids are snobby, rich kids. 

Talk about laying low huh? With a prestigious school like this, you'd think we get alot of attention. We do, but I don't. It works to my advantage. The school has high security and is well protected. That's why alot of politicians, celebrities, and other powerful people make their kids come here. My mom signed me up here. The last place anyone would look for us. She's off in God knows where, but we keep in touch. I'm just a nobody pretending to be a somebody in this school.

"Good evening class," Ms Harper addresses us. I don't look up. Today I feel like finishing my artistic masterpiece. I'm currently drawing my most hated teacher, Mr. Smeeks, being chased by s ferocious lion. So far, it looks pretty realistic with Mr. Smeeks spotting a terrified look at the smirking lion about to chomp on him. Can lions smirk? This is a little bit graphic, but at least I haven't drawn him already being eaten. 

"We have a brand new student named Jacob Smith. Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?" I snap up at those words. A new student this late in the semester? That's suspicious. His parents must be very influential people, or he's just some Albert Einstein. I focus my attention on this kid Jacob.

"My name is Jacob Smith, like she said. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I'm a quarter French, half Brazilian, and quarter Chinese. (I swear the girls swooned when he said this) My blood type is AB positive. My height is 5'10. I've been alive for seventeen years. My relationship status is single, but not looking for anything..." He lists in a bored voice. The girls sigh collectively when he says he's not looking for a relationship. I can't help but sigh at how pathetic they are. He's handsome and to be here, probably intelligent. The girls will devour him, "Did I forget anything?" He turns to Ms. Harper.

"Um, no. You're fine." She says, caught off guard. "Why don't you sit next to Shay Kerr?" 

Everyone turns their heads and looks at me. Oh wait, I'm Shay Kerr. I forget I'm assuming my mom's maiden name right now. My actual name is Shay Ricca.

I'm tempted to act cool and say 'sup' to my classmates staring at me. Obviously, that's going to be out of the ordinary since I don't usually talk, so I peer down at my doodle and continue. I pretend to look concentrated even though I'm alert as Jacob comes down to sit next to me. He's number one on my suspicious people list. 

"Nice art," Jacob nods towards my drawing. He's saying this to create a conversation opener and find out a thing or two about me. 

"Thanks." I nod, not bothering to look up.

"I'm-"he's about to introduce himself again. 

"Jacob Smith. I know," I nod. I could list his introduction word for word, cementing his impression that I'm a weird girl. Thus, he will stay away from me and it will be better for us that way. He's already grabbing too much attention, and he has only been here for six minutes. I would be polite and say my name, but he knows it already so I don't know what else he's waiting for me to say. 

He stares at me for a while, creeping me out in the process. I'm not much to look at. I should be the most bland girl here in this Academy, maybe that's why I get bullied. I deliberately fashioned my hair into braids. I even stuck on fake thick, framed eyeglasses. The clothes I can't do much since we all wear uniforms, but I don't try to change it to look cute. I sorely want to burn these rags, but that'd be troublesome. 

"So why are you In this school? Is it your parents, or are you a genius?" He says bluntly. 

Well, I sure didn't expect that. 

"Do you always ask these types of questions when you meet someone?" I'm rather amused at this new student's boldness. 

"Do you always answer questions with questions?" He grins. 

"No." I gave him a clipped response. I'm not here to socialize and make friends. 

"Cold..." He still grins. "Who's the guy?" He points to Mr. Smeeks. 

"I don't know," I shrug. 

"Shouldn't you be paying attention in class?" He is getting on my nerves. Not once has he looked away from me.  

"Shouldn't you?" I grit my teeth. Something about him gets on my nerves. 

"Well, I came in the middle of the year. I'm already behind. Would you like to tutor me?" He winks flirtatiously. 

"No, thank you," I refuse. I can't believe he thinks he can charm me to help me. I choose to ignore for the rest of the class time despite him trying to make conversation. I just don't trust him.

I'm the first one out of the class as soon as the bell rings. I let out a breath of relief, hoping I never have another class with Jacob. The dude just doesn't know when to quit. 

"So what's your next class?" He walks with in step with me. His long legs easily keep stride with me. 

"Math." 

"With a Ms. Wallgren?" He glances at his schedule. "What's your classes?" 

I glance at his schedule. 

Great, he has more classes with me. To be specific, five out of seven classes. 

"We have the first three classes, and then fifth and seventh together," I say reluctantly. 

"Then I guess I'll stick with you," he nods. 

Well, all this work to remain unnoticed has been unraveled within a day.