“Oh, she’s a total weirdo,” Nick admitted. “Runs with the theatre kids, nerds, geeks, and of course freaks. Reads continually. Stopped wearing pants two years ago. Overall quiet and unobtrusive, but if pushed, she goes off.” He leaned in to keep things more covert. “Rumor has it she shouted down an entire film class at the end of last year because there were a few assholes bullying her friends and the teacher. Someone pissed her off and she just snapped. No one acted out afterwards, and no one could even hate her for it. That’s kind of the thing…” he half-laughed to himself, glancing at Jane out of what looked almost like scientific interest rather than sexual. Like she was a puzzle to figure out. “People who know her say she’s the sweetest person they’ve ever met, but at the same time, if you fuck with her or someone close to her, you can set off a beast. She used to be bullied a lot back in the middle school, but just became weirder and weirder, like a big fuck you to everyone. You know Jeffrey Spirano?”
“I do,” Cal rumbled, leaning over with his arms on the desk and supporting his chin. He was watching the girl with this gleam in his eyes. Studying her as she opened her book and proceeded to block out the classroom around her. “That guy is a major dickwad and just such a loser.”
I glanced at the clock. Still twenty minutes until class started.
“Well back in ninth grade he used to fuck with her. Stole her stuff, made fun of her, all that. One day he comes out of their class together all freaked out. He was trying to get under her skin, apparently, and showed her this nasty cut on his finger. Well, she turns around and shows him this picture of a cut-up dead body in a book she was reading.”
I gasped. Randy’s eyebrows shot up. Cal sat up straight in a jolt.
“Really?” My best friend asked, shocked.
“If he was telling the truth.”
“He stopped fucking with her after that, didn’t he?” Our dirty nerd asks, his voice amused. I heard the tell-tale rasp. Randy likey.
“Yeah, he did. Immediately. Most everybody did after ninth grade, because she never stopped being… weird. And she didn’t engage with people teasing her anymore either, as if they just didn’t exist. At the same time… no one can ever get close to her. No one who’s not already been labeled one of our resident freaks or geeks, anyway.”
“What book was it?” I asked, stunned and at the same time, deeply deeply attracted. Look at this girl. Her own sense of style, a secret core of strength. Sweetness. Book-lover. My friends were clearly intrigued, even if Cal wasn’t ready to admit it to himself yet. Nick looked my way as I took my eyes off Jane and glanced over.
“Oh… I have no idea. I doubt Jeffrey knew.” Nick shrugged his shoulders and relaxed in his chair. “What’s up with you guys? You into her?”
“Time will tell,” I took the liberty of answering. “She sounds like an interesting person, and she sure stands out.” Nick snorted.
“That’s an understatement. The senior class is buzzing about the awards already, and everybody I’ve talked to is voting her ‘Most Likely to be Remembered’ at the end of the year.”
“Dubious honor,” Cal remarked dryly. “But seemingly fitting. It would be hard to forget someone like her…”
Nodding in agreement, I looked longingly at that silky mane trailing to her lower back. It hung around her shoulders and arms like a mantle.
“There’s one more thing you guys should know,” our buddy continued, his tone dry. “Jane’s status in the social hierarchy isn’t the same as it was back in the day. She is and was a ‘freak’, but because she doesn’t give a shit and owns it, she rocketed up to ‘cool’ on the scale. She’s like our class’s Fonzie.”
Oh, did that ever track.
“There’s a catch though,” he carried on, not missing a beat. “She has no idea anyone thinks she’s cool. And if you actually try to approach her, well, the description has been ‘kind but impenetrable’. Crushes get crushed. The few times she’s been seen with anyone in the school, it didn’t last long. Even guys who say they fucked her- everyone knows it’s complete bullshit, because she doesn’t party. She doesn’t do most of the dances or social events. There’s no connections.”
“Anything outside of classes that she can be confirmed with? Clubs, sports, student council, theatre, anything?” I asked, watching the seconds tick by. Nearly down to twelve minutes left.
“Besides appearing in Romeo and Juliet last term, the only extracurricular she is confirmed a part of is the improv troupe that meets on Fridays in Cafeteria E.”
Through this entire inquisition, I was watching Cal closely. If there was nothing he saw to keep him interested, he would’ve tuned out long ago. He was keeping very close tabs on the conversation here, and I saw the curiosity in his face.
“Thanks man,” I said as I was rising from my seat. “That should help tremendously.” I started off, and Nick hissed
“Dude, you’re gonna try right now?” under his breath.
“Oooooooh M,” Randy uttered, a huge smile on his face. “Her? Yes? You think?”
My eyes connected to Cal’s. “Her. Yes.” Since we straddled different social classes from Freak to Jock (me being Popular), I had already heard and seen something in her that each of us would like. I had this feeling. An itch. An intuition, if you will.
And I wanted to know what she was reading.
“You have my blessing, M,” Calvin nodded, watching her like a predator, as he sat hiding his size.
So I walked over.
“Hey, you’re Jane, right? Whatcha reading?”
***
Cal
As M greeted her suave and sure of himself, blond curls tossed so casually and prettily, I watched silently and subtly. Randy too. Even Nick had fallen quiet as he exchanged looks with us, his face contorted in disbelief. My bro had never been shy about approaching girls he liked, and neither was Randy. You tell M he can’t get a girl? He will walk by you in the hall with her on his arm the next day. Sure, it had a lot to do with him being ‘so hot’, but he was also a total romantic sweetheart and everybody knew it.
“Whatcha reading?” He asked the girl, and I saw her trance visibly shatter. Huh. M did that too, zoning out so hard with a book it was hard to get his attention sometimes.
“Oh! Um…” Closing the book on her fingers, she looked up. I watched the exact moment the surprise hit her face and she began to tremble. Tremble? At the sight of M? Why…? “Aren’t you… Mickey Smith?” My boy gave her a dazzling smile.
“You know me? Yeah! You can call me M. I came over because I want to know what’s got you so blissed out right before Brit Lit,” he teased, gesturing to her book. “I’m so excited about this class and I love seeing another big reader! Not just someone taking it to fulfill an elective, you know?”
She blushed, the shy little thing. And hugged her book to her chest, as if shielding herself.
“It’s… Dracula. By Bram Stoker.” She seemed reluctant, but maybe a little… less guarded. “Um, that can’t really be it, right? I mean, the most popular guy in senior year doesn’t just walk up to me and ask me what I’m reading.” She looked around, as if searching for the reason why M was standing at her desk, and finally spotted us. Randy first, and as she looked to him, the scruffy bastard grinned and tipped his fingers to her. Her gaze drifted my way, and I snared her into direct eye contact. For a moment, I waited to see the hint of fear, like everyone else got when they spotted me. But her blush only deepened, and she looked me up and down.