Crushing on the Geek(4)
“Sorry. Can’t pick you up. Big sale at g-store in next town over.”
“Damn it,” Tamara said and shoved the phone back into her pocket.
Tamara’s mom, Mrs. Page, couldn’t resist a sale or a coupon. This wasn’t the first time Tamara was forced to walk home so her mom could shop. Her dad was working late, because he had a high profile case going to court soon.
Tamara zipped her black hoodie and readjusted her backpack. Tamara normally didn’t mind the two mile walk between the school and her house, but the autumn air was growing cool and the breeze cut through her with every step. She pulled her sleeves down over her hands and walked quicker. The weight that had ridden in her stomach on the way to Chess Club had dissolved, allowing Tamara to move freely.
Startled by the bellow of a car horn, Tamara looked over her shoulder and waved at the unfamiliar black car. Her father’s coworkers got new cars more often than Tamara bought shoes. The car came to a stop beside of her and the window buzzed as it rolled down.
“Need a ride?” Hayden grinned.
“Sure,” Tamara nodded.
She sprinted around the car and slid into the passenger seat. After fastening her seat belt Tamara shoved her hands deep in her pockets trying to warm them.
“It’s so cold already,” Tamara said, “It’s only October fourth By Halloween we’re going to be wearing winter coats.”
“Nah, it’s just a cold front moving through,” Hayden chuckled, “It’s not as cold as it could be. Some places get snow this time of the year and that’s every year, just not a freak occurrence.”
“Did you move from somewhere like that?” Tamara asked, imagining for a moment being snowed in with him. Her eyes settled on his lips and she swallowed hard. Hayden was the cutest nerd Tamara had ever met.
“Yeah, we moved here from North Dakota because my dad finally finished law school. The best job offer he got was here, so here we are.”
“I think our dads may work together,” Tamara said, “Roberts and Sons?”
“Yeah, that would be the one,” Hayden laughed.
“Do you like it here?”
“It’s okay” Hayden shrugged, “I mean it’s not bad.”
“You don’t like it,” Tamara laughed, “It’s okay. So you were part of your Chess Club at your old school too?”
“Yeah,” Hayden nodded.
“What got you into Chess?”
“My dad plays. I took to it easily enough and it just stuck,” Hayden said.
“Cool.”
“What about you? You’ve never played before and you suddenly want to start?”
“I need an extracurricular activity to keep my scholarship.”
“Why chess, though?”
“That’s complicated. I wanted to do drama or maybe softball, but my mom insisted I do chess because the team needed one more player,” Tamara admitted.
“That was nice of you,” Hayden said.
“Yeah, I guess,” Tamara laughed.
“It’s not that bad is it?”
“Well, I’ll be surprised if any of my friends talk to me tomorrow,” Tamara said.
“Oh, you hang out with that crowd,” Hayden tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he spoke.
“What do you mean that crowd?”
“Nothing, there’s one at every school, I guess. A group of kids at every school that spends too much time worrying about what everyone else is doing.”
“It’s not like that!” Tamara snapped.
“Okay,” Hayden said, shaking his head.
“It’s really not. It’s just….”
“You don’t want to be grouped together with us, right?”
“I didn’t say that,” Tamara said, “You need to turn here. This is my street.”
“You don’t have to,” Hayden said, “I should have known though, really.”
“Should have known what?”
“That you were one of them,” Hayden shook his head.
“One of them?” Tamara asked feeling bemused.
“Snob squad, cheerleaders, jocks, the list goes on,” Hayden said.
“Big words coming from a nerd,” Tamara said as the car pulled into the driveway.
“Geek, get it right,” Hayden said.
“Who’s concerned about what other people think now?”
“If you're going to make an attempt to insult me, you should at least do it properly.”
“Thanks for the ride home. I’ll see you on Monday,” Tamara said opening the car door.
“Not a problem. See you on Monday unless I come up with the gas money to get back to North Dakota first.”
“Good luck!”