Hey!
Enjoy!
And you're out.
Mara had had enough. She didn't need this anymore. Everything was just crumbling around her. What was she doing? This wasn't her! Getting grounded by her parents, and being called into the head teachers office. Cheating for other people. She was so disgusted at herself. Look at her. That was it. The straw that broke the donkeys back. She wasn't going to take it anymore. She was going to go back to when it was all simple.
Mara was going back to Geek.
Line Break
"What seriously?" Eddie sighed, his light blue eyes rolling as he heard the news "I thought the last breakup was serious."
"I couldn't say no." Jerome stated dryly "She showed up at my house, she looked so beautiful,"
"Aw, boo," Amber sighed happily, sitting on his lap and kissing the base of his neck. Mick looked away, raising his eyebrows. He couldn't help but think how everything went in this repetitive cycle. But he too found it slightly odd, Jerome and Amber's breakup had seemed real way more real than any of the other ones. "Plus you have to admit we look so good together,"
"Oh yeah," Mick laughed "You're both so good looking, it's unreal right?" Eddie laughed, and they all looked up in shock. There was Mara! But on the other side of the glass of the patio, and she didn't look at all interested in coming out. "No…" Mick whispered, "That's not…"
They all looked up and gasped.
She was dressed like…like a nerd! A collared white blouse with an old blue cardigan, a long grey skirt, thick black glasses and…and pig tails for goodness sakes! Jerome swallowed thickly "No…" he whispered "She's not…"
Eddie half smiled, and he breathe a sigh of relief "She's a geek again," he managed to laugh "She's a geek!"
"Mara!" Mick called loudly, she heard him through the glass, and sighed. But came over, opened the glass door and closed it behind her, but stayed near to it. "What are you…" he laughed slightly "What are you doing?"
"Cutting my losses." She answered politely "Eddie was right. Amber was right. I'm a nerd. I'm not one of you guys."
Jerome scrunched up his nose "Mara?" He asked "Is this because of the whole test thi-"
"No Jerome!" She snapped, and that was somewhat truthful. It wasn't just the test thing, it was everything. And she was so incredibly angry at them all, and mostly herself, for letting this happen to her. "Ugh! Just because you're all losers and lost causes doesn't mean I am!" And she sounded like her father, like Mr Hirim "Don't drag me down with you just because you can never get anywhere in life! God! Hanging out with you is so depressing! None of you have a plan for what you want to be! I have no idea why I wanted to be your friend, you guys have nothing! No future! No hope!" She cried loudly, and her eyes fell upon Jerome, and a flutter of utter guilt flew through her. Jerome was staring at her, eyes wide, and hurt. And she knew he didn't deserve this. How many times had he heard he was a failure this week? Too many times.
Mick was staring at her in total bewilderment, but his heart didn't hurt like Jerome's. Mick knew exactly who he was, and what he was capable of. And he was fine with that. It was a slap in the face for Eddie, who had done nothing but try and help Mara since he had met her, and felt that it wasn't fair. And Amber…Amber was angry.
"You can't talk to us like that." She hissed, standing up, in front of her friends, as though she were their protector. "You think you're so great, huh Mara? Fine. You go in there, you go and make something of yourself, and you know what? That's great." She flicked her hair back and crossed her arms, blue eyes flashing. "But you have no right to pass an opinion on us. You hung out with us for a few weeks. Jerome's a science whiz, Eddie's great at fixing up cars, Mick's the fastest runner in the school and I know fashion." Mara opened the glass doors to go back inside "So just because we aren't smart in the way you are, doesn't mean we aren't intelligent."
"Amber," Jerome groaned hotly standing up and wrapping his arms around her. "I love you," He was glaring at Mara when he said it, and it made her blood boil. He was just saying that to hurt her! She stalked back into the lunchroom.
And she looked around.
Where would she sit? She didn't really have any friends…and then she spotted them, people all dressed like her, the mathletes. And there was Tara! She walked over to them cautiously, hovering by the empty seat at their table. "Hey guys," she said quietly "D-do you mind if I sit here?"
Tara's smile was wide and beautiful "Of course you can Mara!" She grinned, Mara sat with a small smile, and the two other girls on the table turned interestedly to her. "Laura, Lauren, this is Mara, my cousin. She's insanely good at maths."
"Really?" Laura asked with a smile "That's great! We need a new first block, our current one's a bit…" she frowned "Not very good with mental math."
"Laura!" Lauren hissed nudging her "Don't say that! Martha will kill you!"
"Is Martha first block?" Mara asked with a curious smile "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell her," Lauren smiled, surprised.
"You are nice. I didn't think you would be," she coiled her hair in her fingers "I mean…you were hanging out with them…" she nodded at the patio "I thought you must be really mean."
"No," Mara whispered sadly, "I'm not mean, in fact…I feel so so so sorry about everything I've done." She turned to Tara "Especially to you, Tara,"
Her cousin shrugged, holding her hand "At least your back now." She laughed "Hey, it's Mara and Tara, Laura and Lauren," the four girls laughed, but the laughter died when Martha appeared, holding her tray. She frowned
"Who's this?" she snapped, sitting down. Laura and Lauren looked down, but Tara smiled
"This is my cousin Mara, she's a maths whiz."
"Oh is she?" Martha asked meanly, cocking her head and turning to Mara with a glare. "Then why isn't she on the matheletes."
"She will be." Tara said quickly "She'll be first block." Laura and Lauren gasped, and Martha's mouth dropped open.
"Ha." She spat "First block, that's my position! The best position on the team-"
"That's okay," Mara backtracked quickly "I don't want to be first block, you can have it-"
"I can have it?" she mimicked "I already got it!" she slammed her hand down flat on the table "Guys, are we just letting her into this group?" Nobody said anything, so Martha took a deep breath and leaned back. "Fine Mara, happy to have you." She smiled fakely. But then paused "Although…I guess it is better that you hang with us," and she sounded honest "I mean…those freaks you were hanging with before, are a bad crowd."
Mara shifted uncomfortably "They're not that bad."
The table erupted with laughter, and Martha laughed "You're funny Mara," she said truthfully "Sorry about that rude introduction, but you are funny, and pretty," Mara blushed, but was still rather insulted.
"You're really pretty," she complemented, trying to change the subject.
Martha smiled proudly at her, but turned to the other nerds to continue the conversation "But seriously, you know, I hear like all they do is take drugs and get high, get drunk." Mara frowned "Mara, what was it like? Don't they do a bunch of illegal stuff?"
"Um…n-not really," Mara struggled "I mean…some things are illegal, I guess…te-technically."
"Right." Martha nodded "You know, I bet that Amber girl is pregnant." Mara's mouth dropped open. Laura joined in
"I totally agree, and I bet it wasn't even Jerome's. They break up like all the time, apparently she pays him to date her-"
"That's not true," Mara said meekly.
Tara sighed "Man, what I would give to date Jerome,"
Martha laughed "Oh come on Tara, he may be good looking, but why date a loser like that? Right, Mara? I mean, he's not good at anything."
"H-he's good at science." Mara whispered.
Laura burst out laughing "Good at science? Are you kidding me? He can't be good at anything! He sucks at school work. What about all those rumours are him cheating on that maths exam?" Mara said nothing, except twiddle her thumbs.
Line Break
"Are we failures?" Eddie sighed as he and Jerome hid under the concrete stairs of the school. He traced his knee, which was drawn up to his chest. "I mean…she was incredibly rude about it, but was the shortie right? Are we failures?"
"Nah," Jerome whispered, though he didn't sound certain of it "We've got plans, haven't we mate?"
"Big plans." Eddie agreed, but then his smile dropped "Although we are ditching, again. Heck, even Ambers in lesson now," Jerome shrugged. Eddie moved to sit closer beside him, so they were touching shoulders and were in exactly the same positions. Jerome arched an eyebrow but didn't move away. In fact, it was sort of comforting, to have any physical contact, even if it was from Eddie. "Why did you get back together with that blonde haired beauty?"
Jerome half shrugged "Why not?" he replied.
Eddie smirked "Right. But I kinda meant, why did you get back together with her, when you're in love with Mara?" he watched Jerome, waiting for a flinch or a slight widening of the eyes. But Jerome just smiled at him.
"Ha ha."
"No, Jerry, I'm serious. I know she likes you. She's told me everything." That got Jerome, he swallowed, and turned to him
"Everything?"
Eddie nodded, and leaned his head back against the wall "So…why did you? I mean, I get that Amber's…nice to look at. And she enjoys looking at herself in a mirror about as much as you do. She's less prudish than Mara…but…come on, that breakup two nights ago, that was real. And I know it was real."
Jerome nudged him "You're one of my best friends Eddie. But come on, if I was 'in love' with her, don't you think I'd tell you? I don't. I promise. Maybe I like her…and…" he paused, a line appearing between his eyebrows "And maybe I like kissing her. But I don't love her." His eyes glittered truthfully "I don't." Eddie watched him for a moment, before nodding.
"Okay, I believe you," he sighed. "So how are we gonna fix this deal? I assume we want her back in our group?"
"Yeah." Jerome nodded "I have a great plan."
Line Break
"I'm so sorry," Mara whispered again, as they entered the hall for the first competition. "Listen Martha, I told him not to kick you from first block-"
"Kick me?!" she exclaimed "How dare you? You think you're so great! But I can do maths too-"
"I know!" Mara said quickly "You're really good." But Martha had stalked over to their seats. Mara sighed, sitting at the first block. It felt…awkward, to be back on the mathletes. This wasn't her anymore.
And she felt lonely, even though she was surrounded by her intellectual equals. And she stared out into the audience. And she gasped.
There they were. Albeit, right at the back, but they were there. Supporting her. She had insulted them, been absolutely horrible to them when she had claimed to be their friend. And they were there, even Amber was smiling at her.
And Mara got every question right, much to Martha's annoyance, and it was because of her, that they won the championship. And afterwards she rushed to them, and they all group hugged. For a moment, Amber forgot her hatred towards the small girl for a moment, and they embraced like best friends. Which they were. But only for a moment, before Amber pulled away, stuck to Jerome's side like glue.
"Guys…" she whispered in awe "You came?"
"Of course we did," Eddie nodded
Mick hugged her again "We'll support you if you wanna be a geek again."
"No." Mara whispered quickly, gripping Mick's arm and looking at all of them "I wanted…I didn't want to believe you guys were my best friends, because I thought I could do so much better. But I realise now, nothing's better than you. You guys…I am so lucky to have you." She tried to meet Ambers eyes, but the tall blonde kept dodging her look. "You're the best. And I would rather be a freak with you," and she ripped off her mathlete badge "Someone else wants this more than me anyway," and she marched back to the podium, and thrust it into Martha's hands. "They're not hopeless." She snapped to the shocked nerd "They're the most wonderful people you could ever meet."
And she ran back to their open arms of her friends.
Tara watched her go, broken-hearted.
Line Break
"I uh…I think it's great you're back with us," Mick confessed, crossing his arms and leaning forward on the desk, during the free study period he had with Mara. "You're…part of us now,"
"Really?" Mara smiled, blushing deeply. And she looked at Mick quite carefully, and found…that she really rather liked him. Sure he was no Jerome, but he was smart in his own way. And he was her type. With his golden hair, and light blue eyes. And his smile was becoming increasingly attractive to her. "I did miss you,"
"Me?" He whispered, looking up. "Like uh…in particular."
"Yeah." Mara nodded truthfully, "In particular," she teased, and he laughed gleefully, nodding.
Review?
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WOAH GUYS! Thank you so much for the reviews last chapter!
Guest: Thanks so much, don't worry, more Patricia to come!
xxAquaMangoxx: Aw! I love you!
Writingdawn: Oh Beth, I love you so much! I haven't actually decided how he did it yet, though I'm pretty sure I have an idea…
Anubissibuna: Aw it means so much to hear you say that, I try to keep everything surprising and not repetitive, because there are so many great stories out there and I don't want to copy their plot lines, but if you make it too different, it's not interesting enough. So that means a lot, love you xx
Rachel: Girl! Where have you been, it's been so long! I was smiling like a crazy person throughout your entire review, so obviously you know I love you! I completely understand everything you're saying about school, it is not just you! It's us! You're amazing too :)
