Thanks to rfast for the editing... Your help keeps this from being mindless drivel.
The Ultimate Nerd:
Graham Nelson stared out the living room window of his townhouse, nervous. He knew as soon as Tori Masterson arrived, he would go into his proverbial shell, a mental safe haven from ignorance. When in his element, he was confident and sharp as a whip, but when it came to social nuances outside his group; he was the focus of an unrelenting barrage of verbal assaults. He was tortured daily at school - simply because he enjoyed things that were considered less than chic by the popular crowd - and now he coerced one of his biggest antagonists to his home, his sanctuary.
It was not ideal.
Graham would have liked to have said he didn't care, and at first, he didn't. But as the taunts, the insults, the physical brush ups continued, they began weighing on his psyche. At first, he wanted revenge, his anger growing to a boil, but now, all he wanted was for it to stop.
'I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this High School garbage in college.'
It was difficult, but Graham had finally formulated a plan to gain peace, at least from the tormentor he had to deal with two times a week, and that's just in his Applied Computer Science class. 'She's late; but isn't that typical for a woman?' Graham shook his head, 'I wouldn't know... but seriously, why couldn't Professor Branyan allow us to pick our own case study partners?'
*
Tori Masterson stared in disgust at the dilapated townhouse, her red Mazda MX-5 Miata sports car sticking out like a sore thumb against the rusted out, thirty year old brown pick up truck and the hatchback dented on all sides she was forced to park in between. She checked her make up in the mirror, more out of habit than trying to impress, to note her pink lipstick, mascara, and eyeshadow were perfect, as always, while she tussled her flawless baby blonde locks into place. With a deep breath, she shook her head in irritation, "This had better be only ten minutes."
Tori got out of her car to note the front door of the townhouse had opened to reveal Graham Nelson; Graham Cracker or Nerdy Nelson or even Fat Ass (Although she had to admit he was only a few pounds overweight, he wasn't perfect like her and that was enough)... who was also her case study partner. She was wondering how fast she could belittle him depending on which taunt she felt would sting the most. Though wearing similar clothes as she, him in a white t shirt and jeans and her in a tight white tank top and skinny jeans, she scoffed at his appearance - as everything about her ensemble radiated a sexiness that amplified her well endowed upper front half and her luscious backside while his was a jumbled, baggy mess complete with some sort of green baby alien type creature with pointy ears on his chest. 'Why did Professor Branyan have to assign me with him?'
Regardless, it was a match Tori easily took advantage of; Graham did all the work and she would spend her time with her boyfriend, the chiseled physique and fellow in crowd member, Lane Groves, or hanging out with her pack of like minded girlfriends at the mall. 'Oh, what I could be doing right now? Better get this shit over with.'
Tori sauntered to the front porch, trying to entice the Nerd's eyes so she could berate him for being a pervert, but it didn't work. It never worked on Graham. His eyes always shied down and away while his hands appeared to get clammy. She might have considered his shyness sweet if she wasn't trying to get him to look... but it still made him an easy target.
Tori's palm pressed into Graham's chest, her pink nails edging close to indenting the skin through his shirt, "All right Virgin Nerd Boy, this better take exactly ten seconds!" Yes, ten minutes was far too long.
Graham shivered at the tone, his chest tightened at the verbal taunt, and his body buckled slightly as it took a small step backward at the contact. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans before running a hand through his brown, unkempt hair. "Um, probably, uh, maybe twenty to, uh, thirty minutes?"
Tori rolled her eyes at both the response and the decor - on every wall there were reminders of where she was from light up swords to wands to super hero paraphernalia and even the coffee table in front of her wasn't safe to spy as it held a gold ring in a display case. She fell into Graham's beat up blue couch, "Fine... but hurry the fuck up, before I stuff you in the oven and turn you into a pie crust."
Graham hurried into the kitchen, which was the original place he had planned on doing the task, to grab his laptop and noise cancelling headphones and hustled into the living room. He sat down slowly, eyes diverted. 'Am I really going to try this?' He took a deep breath, his resolve crumbling.
"C'mon, I don't have all fucking day, you tub of lard!" Tori snatched the headphones and carefully placed them over her hair. She pulled one side off of her ear, "It's not like I'm going to know how to fix the app if it doesn't work. You design it, I read the summary you write to class, and you answer the questions, why is that so hard, Nerd?"
The repeated insults jolted Graham's resolve to adamantium. He rapidly clicked through several tabs before the last decision lay before him. All three files were his new game app, the first was what he would turn in to Professor Branyan, the second was encoded with subliminal messages and imagery to try to manipulate the user subconsciously to become "The Ultimate Slut" - one who would cater only to him, and the third one would use the same principles to encourage the user to become "The Ultimate Nerd." 'I need to get this girl off my back.'
Graham clicked the desired tab and handed the laptop to Tori. "Just, um, play this jeweled game until the end and then tell me what you think is wrong." It came out in a rushed, panicked whisper.
*
Graham watched on as Tori did as instructed. It had been an easy decision. The third file. Sure, he wrote the slut app with her in mind, but that was a revenge fantasy, not reality... and the reality was he honestly didn't care for Tori that way. She wasn't a good person and having her around him for life lacked any sort of appeal.
That and her boyfriend would pound the living shit out of Graham if he stole his girlfriend.
That, and the fact Graham had zero inclination the subliminal and visual messaging would even work. Hell, if Tori noticed anything, he wouldn't have to wait for Lane to kick his ass, she'd kill him as soon as she took the headphones off her head. No, it was always better to go with the third option...
The ultimate revenge to the ultimate queen bee would be to have her turned into what she hates... the ultimate nerd. Okay, that idea is very much far-fetched, but Graham could dream.
Truth is, as unlikely as that full scenario would be, it was more than that to Graham. If Tori could just have empathy, she would understand; and that is why he left the messaging open ended:
"You will find pleasure in becoming The Ultimate Nerd."
Nothing else. What that meant was up to the user... if that means Tori picks up a random hobby or watches a geeky movie and liked it, just once, then she would have walked in his shoes just enough to where she would have a little appreciation and he wouldn't get slandered anymore. She would learn there is more to life than her little bubble and become a better human being for it.
And Graham would have freedom... He hoped.
*
"What the fuck, Graham Cracker? Seriously?" Tori steamed as she violently threw the headphones on the couch as she stood. "You wasted my time for that? Just put in some real music instead of the that boring ass classical garbage... and what was that little part about becoming the ultimate something or other? UGH!" She pointed mercilessly at Graham, "You better fix this, I better get an A, and you better never bother me again!"
Graham clenched up at the berating. His rouse didn't work, worse was she even pointed out the part of the encoded underscore, though it was way more than a little part of the app. The classical music was the key to the subliminal messaging, constantly repeating from beginning to end with imagery that was laced throughout, blinking at a nanosecond at a time - and now he was waiting for what certainly was going to be his death.
It never came.
Graham hesitantly squinted one eye open to find Tori stomping toward the exit. Only a mere moment passed before he ran and shut the door, swiftly locking it lest she change her mind in his destruction. He fell against the hardness, crumbling to the tiled entry way floor. A twirl of emotions coursed through his being; relief at life, hope that nothing more will come, and the dread that there is far more to follow.
Most of all, however, Graham felt disgust at himself. How could he try something so heartless, to stoop to the levels of his biggest antagonist? He shook his head, giving a deep anxiety filled breath as he did, an odd sense of relief at his failure.
*
Tori stormed out of the townhouse, mumbling under breath, "Stupid, inconsiderate, idiot, mother," she got into her car, slamming the door, "fucking Nerdy Nel..." She paused, staring at her steering wheel, as a flood of words flashed in her brain... actually one word, repeatedly, as if on a loop, "Nerd." Slightly confused, Tori shook her head, just enough to clear her mind, and started her car. Her next stop was to meet her sorority sister best friends, Sadie, Luna, and Naomi at the mall.
*
"Hello? Earth to Tori?" a tall slender brunette waved her hand at Tori, snapping her attention back to her. "Oh, I'm sorry, Naomi." Tori focused her attention to her friend, "What?"
"I said," Naomi held up the very revealing red dress, "what about this one for tomorrow night? You know, the Zeta Alpha Lambda's casino night? The biggest party of the year? We need to own that party."
"Oh," Tori gave a partial nod, "That looks fine." Her head then drifted to the left, her eyes staring out of the department store and to the electronics store across the aisle.
"That's a no," Naomi flung the dress over a table of jeans with zero intentions of putting it back before moving to a different rack. "Hmm, maybe this one," she pulled out a white dress that would leave nothing to the imagination.
"What's wrong with you?" Sadie offered a slight smile as she lightly bumped her shoulder into Tori at noticing her friend gazing at the electronics store. She then retied her auburn hair in a ponytail, "You need something at Smart Tech?"
Though minor, the contact caught Tori off guard, causing her to take two shuffled steps to catch her balance. Without thinking, she responded with the truth, "I was thinking about buying a movie."
"A movie has you distracted from clothes shopping for a party? Damn," Sadie's face fell to one of shock and awe. "What movie?"
Tori quickly became cognizant of her surroundings... and to whom she was speaking. She couldn't say what she was wanting to buy. She couldn't even understand why she was drawn to it. She glanced back at the Star Wars limited edition advertisement in the store window, only confirming once again that it was the wrong answer... but what was the right answer? "I have to write an essay on a book for my Lit class and was thinking I should just buy the movie instead." Yeah, that sounded much better.
Sadie snickered at her friend, "Yeah, that makes sense. Go ahead, I'll cover for you here. I think Naomi and Luna can be without their fashion guru for a few minutes."
"What about you?"
