The Summer I Became a Nerd

#30

“Oh my God, I’ll be so glad when this is over,” Rayann says as she and Terra approach, both decked out in their cheer uniforms.

“You’re just going to have to deal with the heat. This is an awesome thing Maddie has put together. Who cares if your makeup

runs?”

I want to hug the crap out of Terra for standing up to Rayann. Instead, we go directly into our high fives and ankle-kicks.

“This is great, Maddie. I’m so proud of you,” she says.

“Is Chili’s going to have a booth, I could really go for some—”

I cut Rayann off by holding up a hand. “Chili’s is not exactly the right business for this event. It’s called the Small

Business Festival, remember?”

Once the rest of the squad shows up, we get to it. We perform every hour on the hour. By midday, Vera knows all our moves and

cheers. She stands in front of us with her friends, copying our routines. It’s so cute, I can hardly stand it.

We take a break, grabbing cold water bottles from our coolers, and listen to Logan over the speakers.

“Oh, I didn’t even notice we had a radio station here. Thought it was just a CD player?” Rayann nods at one of the speakers. “

What station is it?”

“The college station. They’re getting some of the profits from today. Did you even read the flier you were supposed to have put

up all over town?” I ask.

“The college radio station? As in ‘Awesome Logan’s Show of Awesome’? Oh my God, I love him. I listen to his show every night.

I call in all the time. Is he going to be here?”

“He’s here already.” I grin at Terra. “In fact, there he is.” I point at Logan sitting at station’s table into front of the

comic shop.

After realizing Capri is actually Rayann, Terra and I knew it was only a matter of time before she found out she had a crush on a

nerd, but this is better than any reveal we could’ve come up with. Rayann frowns and tilts her head to the side like a confused

poodle. “Isn’t that… Wait, A.L. is Logan Scott? The porn shirt guy? I can’t believe I actually asked him for his number. Yuck.

”

Logan spots us. I smile at him, and he waves back.

Her confused poodle-face turns to me. “Wait, are you… You’re Wonderful Wendy?”

“Yep.”

“But… He’s such a nerd. Everyone knows it. I mean, you can’t go to prom with…with…that!” She raises her voice a little too

high, and the rest of the squad turns their heads to watch.

She sits on one of the coolers, apparently too stunned by my treachery to stand. I glare at her, my hand crushing the almost empty

water bottle I’m holding. “You know what, Rayann? I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think. Or what anyone thinks, for that

matter. You don’t know him, and you definitely don’t know me. He’s the sweetest, most considerate guy ever. And if he wants to

wear that ‘porn shirt’—which by the way is Power Girl drawn by Adam Hughes and it’s a freaking work of art—and his old

sneakers to prom, I’d be proud to go with him. So, you can take your shallow self back to the pirate ship and leave us alone.”

Not only is the squad watching, but a lot of other people are, too. What’s awesome is that I don’t even have the urge to run

away and hide. I throw my shoulders back and don’t break eye contact with Rayann. There’s a snicker behind me I quickly

recognize as Terra’s. That one is followed by a couple more. I turn, preparing myself to lay into them, too, but they’re not

laughing at me. They’re focused on Rayann.

Rayann opens and closes her mouth a few times in shock. It’s an excellent impersonation of Mr. Whiskers. “Pirate ship? What are

you… Ugh. Whatever! If you want to commit social suicide, be my guest.” She throws her arms in the air and stomps off.

Dan stops her before she gets too far and tries to sell her a T-shirt. “Come on, Capri. It’s for a good cause.”

She just slaps the shirt out of his hand and keeps walking.

He turns to me and grins. “What did I say?”

…

The festival is a success. In fact, it exceeds my expectations. Next year, we’re definitely going to need more room.

Unfortunately, the squad couldn’t do a pyramid for Vera during our last performance because Rayann decided to leave. I’d like to

think this whole thing might’ve taught her a lesson, or at least, given her something to think about, but I’m not holding my

breath.

Dan and Jonah did a great job of selling the T-shirts and fan spritzers. They set up in the library parking lot so they were the

first booth people came across. Surprisingly, Dan went above and beyond when it came to hocking his merchandise.

“Stay cool and help the school, get your water gun fans here!”

“All T-shirt proceeds go to charity. Show your friends how philanthropic you are! And maybe even get a tax break!”

Mom and Dad showed up later. Dad got some back issues of comics he used to read, and Mom bought a new rocking chair from the

carpenter’s booth.

Even Tommy, a.k.a. Sorenson, showed up in costume to sell college students on the greatness of LARP of Ages. Martha made a ton of

money off the theater crowd, especially the improv troop.

All day the college station’s broadcast has been piped out over our little shindig. So, when Logan pulls his mom over for a live

interview toward the end of the festival, my ears perk up to listen.

“So, Martha, this festival has been awesome. What do you think?”

“I agree. We’ve worked really hard to make it great so this is just wonderful, Awesome Logan,” Martha says.

“What gave you the idea to put this together?” His tone sounds like he already knows the answer.

“As much as I’d like to take the credit, this wasn’t my idea.”

“Wait,” he says, all hint of knowing the answer gone. “You told me this was your doing.”

“I’m sorry. I lied.” From where I’m standing on the practice mats the coach set up for the cheerleaders, I can see the

trademark Scott smile spread across her face. “The truth is this was all thought up by a certain nice, young girl.” She looks in

my direction and Logan’s gaze follows.

I pretend to be completely enraptured by the nearby bakery booth that’s selling cake-pops. After a few seconds of silence, I

glance back. Martha and Logan have their hands over their mics and are leaning close to each other, having what looks like a very

fast-paced conversation. Martha says something that makes Logan’s mouth drop open and his eyes sort of glaze over, and then she

flicks him on the forehead. He sits up straight and adjusts his mic.

The sound of him clearing his throat crackles through the speakers. “Well, let’s get the real mastermind mind over here. I hope

all of my regular listeners remember Wonderful Wendy.” He waves a hand for me to come over.

I shake my head vigorously, but Terra laughs and shoves me toward his booth. Reluctantly, I take Martha’s seat. She pats my head,

then leaves to help a customer.

Logan stares at me, his shock still obvious, then seems to realize we’re on the air. He clears his throat again. “So, this is

quite an amazing undertaking, especially for a seventeen-year-old. What made you do it?”

“I…I know this guy whose family owns a small business here in town. They were having troubles like a lot of locally owned

stores, and I couldn’t understand why they weren’t getting the customers they deserved. I know prices are lower at the bigger,

chain stores, but I think the benefits to the community are worth the extra dollar or two. Then I thought maybe people just didn’

t know about all the amazing stores around town. So, why not give them the opportunity to explore them in one place and make a

little money for charities and the college at the same time?”

I can’t believe I got all that out without stumbling over every other word, especially with how intently Logan is watching my

mouth.

He shakes his head slightly and looks me in the eye. “That’s very noble of you. So, what’s been your favorite booth today?”

“They’re all great. Did you know Cajun Confections has an orange spice cupcake with hot sauce in it? So yummy. But I’d have to

say my favorite has been The Phoenix. I spent most of my money there. I picked up the first five issues of the new Green Lantern.

”

“I’m glad to hear it. Well, thanks for talking with me today, Wonderful Wendy, and to all the listeners—”

“Actually, my name isn’t Wendy,” I blurt out. “It’s Maddie. Madelyne Jean Summers. I’m a cheerleader at Natchitoches

Central. And I love comics.”

Logan raises an eyebrow. “Good for—”

“Oh, and role-playing games. And video games.” Now that I’m confessing, I can’t seem to stop.

“Okay, well—”

“And reading regular books, all kinds, and science fiction stuff. I’ve also been thinking of making a costume for next year’s

NerdCon. Maybe Princess Leia when she was captured by Jabba the—”

Logan flips the switch on the microphone. “That’s great, but we need to get back to some music now.” He looks like he’s trying

very hard not to smile.

“What? You don’t like that part? I thought all guys had a thing for Leia in that metal bikini thing.”

“Of course, I like Leia in the…bikini thing. But don’t announce to the city you’re going to be wearing that. I can hear Dan

from here making a note on his phone to get passes to S.N.C. next year. And look at Tommy and his friends. They haven’t stopped

staring. Tommy’s grooming his fake beard, for God’s sake, probably getting ready to hit on you.” Logan glares at Tommy, who

straightens and tucks his beard comb back into his robes.

“So, you don’t want me to dress up for the con next year?”

His gaze drops to my lips again. “I didn’t say that.”

I can’t help myself. I lean closer and whisper, “How about Power Girl? I could probably work that costume up before next year.”

The rest of the festival fades away when he smiles. He opens his mouth to answer me, but I don’t let him speak. Instead, I press

my lips to his. He goes tense, and for a second I think he’s going to pull away, but then he falls into the kiss with me. He runs

his palms over my bare shoulders as I wrap my arm around his neck, and I could seriously just melt away.

When I pull back, his content sigh echoes over the speakers. Ben must have turned the mic on from the control board when the song

ended, which, by the look on some of the faces around us, was a long time ago.