The Daemon Diaries

Little Miss English Nerd

Chapter 1

Senior year...

I followed Taylor Swift's advice and took a deep breath as I walked through the doors, though I was hardly nervous. No longer the underdog at the bottom of the totem pole, I felt a sense of confidence in myself that was rather foreign.

I'd always been on the shyer side of things, only opening up to those I was close to, which were a very select few…most of whom had "abandoned" me and gone to the local public school instead—not that I really blamed them…

The only friend I really had left was Jenny, but then again, she was usually too busy with her boyfriend to pay me any mind.

So I was known as "the loner" of the school.

The five foot two, black haired, freckled, hazel-eyed and nerdy loner.

A lot of people had the notion that private schools were a lot better than public schools, but it all boils down to the same thing…

Teenagers are brutal.

They single out the weakest links, spy on them, wait for the opportune moment, then—BAM! Those suckers are on you like a little kid eating birthday cake…picking every juicy morsel off of you until you're merely a pile of crumbs covered in baby snot.

Just kidding! No attacking or eating, but definitely ignoring. People like to turn a blind eye.

I walked through the barely occupied hallway and then clunked up a set of stairs in my flats, careful not to bump my leather bag on anything—and when I say leather, don't get me wrong. It was just a bag that my dad had gotten me when he'd gone to India for a business trip.

Descriptions aside, I began walking down the upstairs hallway, wondering who my homeroom teacher was.

A voice came from behind me. "Clara, wait up!"

It was Jenny and her boyfriend, Austin. I smiled and quickly hugged them, making small talk and whatnot.

They told me that we had homeroom with Mrs. Gomez, our Spanish teacher. The duo eventually went off to find their lockers, and I sighed in relief. I'd had enough social interaction for one day…

Alas, being slightly introverted has its downside…

Actually, it has a lot of downsides…like a freaking roller coaster!

"Clara Fulton?"

"Here," I replied, fiddling with a pencil and smiling at Mrs. Gomez politely.

A few more familiar names were called, and I already felt a bit bored. That is, until another name was announced.

"Charles Johnson?"

My head snapped up—I hadn't expected a new student. We hadn't had a new student since sophomore year. I met the blue-green eyes of this "Charles" character, inwardly sighing when I realized how attractive he was with his brown hair and chiseled features.

Pity, really…all the attractive ones were always snatched up by the class flirt, Adele Fletcher.

It was an odd, Twilight moment.

He got a really weird look on his face, looking away, then back, away, then back. His eyes seemed to darken a bit, and he looked like he might be sick. He asked Mrs. Gomez if he could use the bathroom, and she handed him the ruler that served as the hall pass.

As this intriguing character rushed from the room, I inwardly pouted. I knew I wasn't that pretty, but he didn't need to make such a show of it…

I nearly ran from the room when the bell shrilled, overcome with the fact that someone would hate me so much so literally. I stopped myself and almost began to crack up.

This isn't some stupid Stephenie Meyer book! Pull yourself together, and think about something else. According to Pottermore, you're a Ravenclaw, so why don't you go be smart somewhere to occupy your mind? The voice in my head admonished. I relented, hurrying to my honor's English class.

Turns out, he was in all of my classes.

Unlike Edward, he didn't try to change his schedule or anything, which made me feel a little better, though not much. I just tried to not make eye contact and keep to myself, as I had for each previous year. Jessica was only in two of my classes—not that I minded overly much—so I was virtually alone, which made me feel a little more unloved, if that was even possible.

SIDE NOTE:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, say it all you want. "You're overreacting," "Come on, your class can't hate you that much!" "You're blowing things way out of proportion!"

I know I am! But this is my story, and I can portray my classmates however I want to, thank you very much.

END SIDE NOTE.

Anyway…it made me feel a little more unloved, if that was even possible.

And yes, the dreaded elective requirements were still there. Including the technology elective.

The world obviously hated my guts…

And as I sat in that little dungeon of a room, the new guy who thought I was so weird that he had to leave the room only seven feet away from me, I felt like taking one of the monkey wrenches and bludgeoning myself over the head with it repeatedly. He kept trying to make eye contact, I think, but I tried to deny him, wondering what his problem was.

Mr. Evans also hated my guts.

Why?

He assigned me as (drum roll, please)…Michael Brody's partner.

Yeah, he was really techy, he was really good at this kind of stuff. But when I was a freshman, everybody found out that I had a slight crush on him, and I heard through the grape vine that he told everyone he thought I was weird. That didn't bode well with me, so I basically stopped liking him and began to dislike him.

I'd like to say that I stopped being childish like that, but I really hadn't. And ugh, he was one of the most unattractive people out there…something between a gorilla and an awkward starfish, probably…don't ask me how I got that combination, I just did…

I inwardly groaned, sending a nervous look around the classroom for someone that could possibly help me with my predicament.

Catching the gorgeous set of eyes I'd been avoiding, I realized that Charles must not have thought I was so unattractive that he couldn't even look at me—he was…smiling. And not just fake smiling, but legitimately, happily giving me a lopsided grin.

I'm not gonna be cliché like Bella, and no, my heart didn't stop! But I did feel a rather odd sensation somewhere in my abdomen. Perhaps a case of the butterflies?

Pestering nuisances, butterflies…

Before I knew it, Charles was across the room and walking towards Mr. Evan's makeshift desk—as in, I'm fairly sure that the desk had actually been made by Mr. Evans. He quickly discussed something with the elderly teacher, leaving with a Malfoy-esque smirk.

He approached me with the smirk still in place, sizing up Michael with a chuckle.

"Hey Clara, meet your new partner." He smiled, chuckling at my bemused expression. "And before you ask, I just remembered your name from homeroom. I'm no stalker."

I closed my mouth, nodding my consent.

Michael's eyes glinted angrily, and he tried to stand as tall as Charles…he was beat by about three inches.

He tried the verbal approach, "Well, who said she's your partner? I'm sure that Mr. Evans assigned her to me."

"Oh please," Charles scoffed, "I'm just as technologically skilled as you, probably more so. Mr. Evans said that he just wanted her to be with someone who would be able to help her—I seem to fit the bill.

"By the way, you're now partners with Sarah, whom I believe is your girlfriend? Cheer up, mate."

He leaned in and cockily patted Michael's cheek, coming to my side and grinning down at me, at least a foot's difference in height between us.

I covered my mouth to hold back the laughter that threatened to roll through my lips. I realized that it probably looked really stupid, so I tried to compose myself, but ended up failing miserably. I opted for a "chill" laugh, but I think it sounded a lot less cool to another's ear than it did to mine.

"So, I'm not sure I properly introduced myself. I'm-"

"Edward Cullen?" I interrupted unthinkingly, not realizing that I'd said it aloud until too late.

His eyes grew wide. "I should hope not! He's far too inaccurate for my liking—everybody knows that vampires don't sparkle! Anyway, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted," he winked, "my name is Charles, but I'd prefer Charlie."

I laughed, warming up to this guy but still feeling really self-conscious at his forwardness.

There was a moment of silence as I looked at the floor awkwardly, wringing my hands and examining a scuff on my shoe. He shattered that moment like the glass on a window pane by clapping his hands together, as if to say, "sooooo."

I raised my head and tried to feel as confident as I had that morning. "Anyway, what do you want to do for the project? I must admit that I'll be barely any help at all…I can't do this stuff…"

"Oh, that's okay. We can do something that we can both work on…how about we…make a box?"

"A box?" I raised an eyebrow at that.

He was like butter—on a roll.

SIDE NOTE:

! AREN'T I JUST HILARIOUS! Hehe hee hee hehehe…hoo.

Okay…

END SIDE NOTE.

So, he was on a roll. "No, work with me here! It's a good idea, 'cause we could just make it a music box! That probably qualifies as 'technology,' and I have a bit of experience with wood. What do you think?"

I was given an extreme puppy dog look. An extremely cute one, too… He really wanted to make a music box, and I couldn't resist that adorable face. Oh my gosh.

"Errr…okay. A music box. Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad. You'll still have to do most of the work, though."

"That's okay," he said happily, motioning with his head towards Mr. Evans.

We told him what we were doing, and he seemed cool with it. He pointed to a storage shed that was across the parking lot, giving us the key and explaining that there was a lot of wood in there that we could use. Maybe he wasn't as bad as I gave him credit for…

The storage shed was old and dilapidated, with rusty metal and everything. I reached my hand out to unlock the handle, but Charlie grabbed my arm quickly, a startled look in his eyes as he glanced at the rusted iron. He awkwardly let go of me, a bit to my displeasure.

"I'll-I'll unlock it," he said quietly, taking the key carefully from me and twisting the handle.

I furrowed my brows, wondering what'd gotten into him. It wasn't like I was incapable of opening a door, and the way he stopped me was anything but gentlemanly. I shrugged it off and went inside the warm little shack with Charlie behind me.

A bunch of old radios and monitors were piled in one corner and random scraps of wood were lining the walls, all with some weird kind of shape cut out of them. It would be one heck of a time finding some easy-to-work-with wood.

I groaned and knelt down to sift through a pile of wood, though it didn't look quite big enough for a whole box. Hearing Charlie sorting through some of the larger pieces, I came across a very weird shaped…er, shape.

A wooden heart.

I blushed and hoped that Charlie hadn't seen anything; I didn't know why I was so embarrassed, but hearts could just be…awkward in certain situations. Coughing, I shoved it at the bottom of the stack, standing up abruptly and searching a set of shelves, pondering this morning's events, especially Charlie's oddness during homeroom.

The heat of the little shed began to get to me, and I suddenly felt a little lightheaded. Facing the shelves, I closed my eyes and hoped that I wouldn't faint.

A random secret about me? I was very prone to fainting in hot temperatures, or whenever there were a lot of people around me. Yippee. Of course I'd forgotten all about that in the presence of Charlie, as he kind of made me shy and muddled up. He made my knees go all knocky, as my Grammy would say.

I shivered anxiously, opening my eyes slowly and sneakily turning my head to look at my project partner. He was looking back worriedly, a concerned frown on his face.

Answering his unasked question, I forced a smile. "I'm fine. Um, would it be okay if I went inside while you pick the wood?"

He nodded, moving so I could pass. I felt a bit better when I got some fresh air, but not much. I completely forgot about the little step down from the shed, much to my chagrin and horror.

You know the feeling in the pit of your stomach when the ground suddenly disappears from underneath your feet? The moment of mortal terror when gravity does its thing?

Yeah, that.

I squeaked, grabbing the door of the shed to balance myself as I tumbled. A stinging pain resounded in my hand, feeling the rough surface of the wood against my unprotected palm. A few splinters went into my hand, but I managed not to fall.

Charlie poked his head out of the shed. "Are you okay? Did you fall?"

I grunted, hiding my slightly wounded hand behind me. "Yeah. I'm okay. I'll just be inside. Make sure you find good wood, alright?"

He was saying something, but I rushed to the tech room, happy that most of the class was in the hallway. I grabbed the required first aid kit and dug for some tweezers, sighing contently when a pair appeared in my good hand. I plucked the offending particles from my palm and sighed in content.

Noticing a blood blister between two of my fingers, I groaned and tried to poke the offending bubble with my tweezers, but to no avail.

Charlie walked in then, and I barely had enough time to throw the tweezers on Mr. Evans's desk before he saw them. I smiled, walking over and inspecting the large piece of wood that he'd so cleverly found.

I laughed. "Are you a Hufflepuff or something?"

His eyes widened, and he looked a little surprised. "No…why?"

"'Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders,' right?" I sighed. "Never mind. I guess you're not into Harry Potter…"

A slightly nervous laugh escaped his throat, and he shook his head. "No, I really like Harry Potter. Do you really think I'm a Hufflepuff, though? I always imagined myself more a Gryffindor or something…"

"Oh really? Pottermore said that I'm a Ravenclaw, but I guess only the sorting hat can really decide that…and it's not like that's ever gonna happen…even if it was all real, I'm but a mere Muggle."

He laughed and then subtly brought my attention back to the project.

I didn't notice the scared look on his face when I mentioned Harry Potter.

Nor did I notice the figure standing outside the window, watching our exchange.

A/N: ALOHA, FRIENDS!

Wow, it feels so good to finally upload a full chapter to fanfiction...it hasn't happened since the beginning of the school year, I think...

Anyway, hope you liked the chapter! Please review to tell me what you'd like to see next! Thank you so much!

~Little Miss English Nerd