The Summer I Became a Nerd

#11

The next morning, I pull up to Terra’s house and reach into the backseat to get the multitude of plastic bags containing things

like glitter pens, poster board, white T-shirts, and rhinestones. Terra comes out before I get to her door, followed by Rayann.

I internally roll my eyes. It’s not that I don’t like Rayann… Okay, I don’t like her. She’s a drama pirate. I always picture

her standing at the bow of a boat with one of those telescopes that stretch out. “Thar she blows! Looks like so-and-so has been

seeing someone else behind her boyfriend’s back, me matey.” I’ve had this exact conversation with her at least three times this

past school year, minus the pirate-isms.

“Did you get extra glue sticks?” Terra asks, her super-curly hair bouncing as she takes some bags from me.

“Yep.”

“And glitter?”

“Yep,” I say again as we go inside. I wave to Terra’s mom as we cross through the living room.

“What about sparkles for the shirts?”

“Yep, I got everything on your list, and yes, I have my money for the ticket.”

“Great, I’ll put it in my account so I can be ready to clicky, clicky on the tour website and buy our tickets. Oh my God, this

is going to be so amazing. Can you believe it? We are going to actually see Allison. In person. Hear her. With our own ears.”

Terra dumps the contents of the bags on the floor of her room.

I hold in the little comment I want to make about how we’ve always heard Allison with our own ears. “Yeah, it’s going to be

great.” I’m trying to sound enthusiastic, but it just comes out kind of flat. “So when exactly is the concert? I keep

forgetting.”

She dives for the markers. “I’ve told you like a million times, Mad. It’s not this Saturday or the next, the one after that.

Only like two weeks away.”

I nod slowly. Why does Saturday throw a switch in my head? It’s no one’s birthday, I don’t think—

The room gets all swirly when it hits me. Oh crap. Double, triple, quadruple crap to the nth degree! The comic convention is in

two weeks. And Logan only has a day pass for Saturday.

I’m the worst person ever. Which way do I go? On one side, I see my best friend all dressed up in her Allison Blair T-shirt and

glitter on her eyelids. Rayann stands behind her looking like an extra from The Pirates of the Caribbean, taunting me with the

knife she’s about to plunge into Terra’s back. On the other side is Logan, wearing his old black and white chucks and his Power

Girl T-shirt, the V.I.P. Day Pass hanging around his neck. There’s a showdown moment where Terra brandishes her Allison CDs like

throwing stars and Logan whips out a Captain America shield.

That’s when Rayann whispers something in Terra’s ear. My best friend looks at me, eyes wide and shimmering with the tears that

are about to fall. She knows. She knows I’m about to abandon her. For a guy, no less.

A disgusted shiver runs through me at the thought. I can’t believe I’m even contemplating blowing her off to go with Logan. She

’s the sweetest person in the world, like a sister to me. It sucks, but I have to back out of NerdCon. I promised Terra I’d go

with her, so I’m going. End of story.

“Did you hear Allison’s dating that guy who dated Sandra Bullock?” Rayann asks as she opens the package of T-shirts.

Terra looks at her with big, glossy eyes. “No way, she’s dating Ewan Cooper. They’re perfect for each other.”

“Well, that’s what it said on SmashTalk.com,” Rayann says smugly.

I pat Terra on the shoulder. “You know SmashTalk can never be believed. I mean, isn’t that the same site that said Allison was

really a terrorist using her music to brainwash teenagers with hidden messages?”

“Whatever.” Rayann shrugs. “But they were seen canoodling last weekend.”

Canoodling? Seriously? Terra just stares at the floor like it’s about to drop out from under her.

“Don’t worry about it,” I tell her. “I’m sure it’s just a rumor. Ewan Cooper will probably be at the concert. We’ll have to

keep an eye on the side of the stage.” I open the glitter pens and hand her the pink one. “So, what’s your shirt going to say?

”

“I’m putting ‘Number one Allison Fan,’” Rayann says.

When Terra’s face falls even further, I want to smack Rayann. Terra flattens out a sheet of poster board, then pencils in some

big bubble letters. Her brow furrows, and I’m pretty sure it’s not because she’s concentrating on drawing.

“Why don’t we all put our favorite lyric on the front and ‘I heart Allison’ on the back?” I ask.

Terra perks up. “Oh, I like that! Or maybe, on the back, you could have ‘I’, Rayann could have a heart, and I could have

‘Allison’. So when we stand next to each other it’ll—”

Rayann cuts her off. “I want to be the ‘Allison’ part.”

Terra narrows her eyes at her. “Fine. I’ll be the heart.”

“That’ll work,” I say, nodding like this is the best idea ever. “That way you can wear your shirt again.”

Terra pulls out the masking tape, a little bit of her sparkle coming back. “How about we tape a bunch of poster boards together

so we have this big, long sign we can all hold up?”

I ignore Rayann’s scowl and keep going. “And we could make a cheer that involves the signs. Maybe Allison will hear it if we do

it during a break in the music. We could ask someone to film us, too.”

“Hello, YouTube gold! Perfect!” A happy grin on her face, Terra starts taping the boards together.

I should be happy I’ve managed to thwart the drama pirate and return my best friend to her happy place. And I am. But I can’t

stop a deep sigh from escaping as I reach for the bright blue rhinestones. Oh, NerdCon, your awesomeness will be missed.

Terra pops up. “I’m going to get my phone so we can listen to Allison while we do this. Maybe the chant can have the same beat

as one of her songs?”

I smile big and give her two thumbs up.

As soon as Terra leaves, Rayann turns on me. “What’s going on with you? There’s no way you’re as excited about this concert as

you’re pretending to be. I’ve seen how bored you look when Terra starts talking about Allison. Just because she’s not paying

attention doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t.”

“Nothing’s going on with me,” I say maybe a little more cheerful than I normally would. The last thing I need is for her to

think something is going on with me, and she just pulled out her telescope, I can feel it. “I’m just really excited about going

to a live concert. And hanging out with you and Terra. Summer gets boring, you know?”

“If you say so,” she says just before Terra returns and sits back down.

We all craft our hearts for a while until Terra asks, “So, where have you been, Maddie? Every time I text, you don’t answer

until it’s too late to do anything.”

“Yeah, Maddie,” Rayann says. “If summer’s been so boring, why haven’t you been hanging out with us?”

I’m pretty sure I just became the big X on the treasure map. I have to come up with an excuse quick, and in the end, the one I

come up with is pretty darn lame. “I’ve been helping my mom around the house, and the battery on my phone is really sucky so I

have to leave it plugged in all the time. By the time she lets me hang out in my room, it’s usually pretty late.”

Terra looks thoughtful. “I could always just try your home phone. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before.”

“No!” What if she calls when I’m using her as an excuse to go be a geek with Logan? “I mean, Dad is always waiting on calls

about new jobs. I can’t even pick up the home phone without him telling me to put it back.” I shrug and try to laugh again, but

it just comes out as a wobbly flutter of sound.

Rayann smiles like I’m about to walk the plank, waiting for that moment I plummet to my death. Terra just looks kind of confused

and goes back to her bubble letters.

Once my T-shirt looks only slightly better than the one I made in fourth grade during a Brownies meeting, I ask Terra, “Can I

leave this here to dry? Mom would kill me if I got this glitter pen gel stuff all over the inside of my car.”

“Sure.”

“Thanks. Well, I have to head out. Mom probably has half a million things waiting for—”

Terra sits back on her heels, a frown on her face. “But what about the cheer? We haven’t even started working on it yet.”

I edge toward the door, wishing Rayann would stop with her smug looks. Could she just stop with her stupid face all together?

“Later, I promise. I mean, how much help can my mom really need?”

“Okay,” Terra says sadly, but when she stands, she turns back into giddy, hand-talking Terra. “This is going to be awesome. I

can’t wait! You’re the best ever.” She gives me a tight hug.

Oh yeah, I’m the best, all right. More like the girl who is so buried in lies she can’t see through them enough to realize she

almost broke her best friend’s heart.

Rayann puts on a fake smile and holds her arms open for a hug, too. “Maybe your mom will let you hang out with us again soon,”

she whispers in my ear. Her tone isn’t hopeful—it’s freaking sinister. Like she can’t wait for the next opportunity to catch

me in a lie I can’t talk my way out of.

I hurry out the door while I still can, chills skittering down my spine.