The Summer I Became a Nerd - By Leah Rae Miller Page 0,28
Whiskers, like maybe he’ll notice me looking at him and tell me what I should do. His mouth opens and closes a few times like he’s trying to answer me, but that doesn’t help.
A week or two ago, this kind of thing would be so not doable. But, man, this sounds like fun. I mean, I’ve actually been inside The Phoenix three times now and my world hasn’t imploded. It’s just like NerdCon, I guess. There’s no way I’ll know anyone at this thing.
I turn to Logan, and he’s folding and unfolding my character. I smack his hands.
“Don’t do that, she’s fragile.” I take the paper from him. “How can she be ready for epic LARPing if she’s all rumpled?”
“So, you’ll go?” The hopefulness in his voice tips the scales.
“Yes, I’ll go. But only if I get to dress up.”
“You’ll like it, I promise.” He leans back against the wall with a satisfied sigh.
I watch Mr. Whiskers for a while. The water trickles in the aquariums. Everything is calm. Everything except my mind. It’s charged with Awesome Logan electricity. I’m aware of every little detail of him: the weave of his jeans and the smudges of ink on his forefinger and thumb. Are those goose bumps on his arms? Are these goose bumps on mine?
This is such a strange feeling. I’ve never felt it before. My mind keeps telling me this is wrong, this could ruin everything, but I feel so right. To be here with him, to be me, to be me here with him, just to be.
“Let’s play a game,” he says, and I jump like I was just caught surfing the comic book database website.
“What game?” I ask.
“Top Two and This or That.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ll start with a top two question, and you have to say what your top two of whatever is. Like ‘What are your top two colors?’ Mine are green and black, by the way, even though black technically isn’t a color but an absence of color or light or something—” He catches himself babbling and shakes his head, but I could listen to him ramble for hours. “Anyway, after we both ask a top two question, then we switch to a this or that one that’s like which thing do you prefer, this or that. All you have to do is answer honestly and as quickly as possible. If you ask out of turn, you must do a dare. Okay?”
“Sounds fun. Go for it.”
He stands and puts his hands behind his back as he paces. “What are your top two movies?”
“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Tangled.”
“Tangled? Really?” He raises an eyebrow.
I pull my legs up underneath me, crisscross applesauce. “Hey, don’t mock me. You said to be honest.”
He laughs and runs his fingers through his hair. “That I did. Your turn.”
“Okay, top two desserts?”
“That’s hard. I’ll go with my mom’s peanut butter cake and those little apple pies they have at gas stations.”
“Really?” He could pick anything, and he goes with gas station pastries?
“I’m a simple guy with simple tastes.” He shrugs.
I just shake my head and grin. He sits back down, and my knee touches his thigh. My grin disappears. He leans forward, puts his elbows on his knees, and tilts his head to look into my eyes. His face is so close I can see he wears contacts. So do I.
“Glasses or contacts, which do you prefer to wear?” he says, taking the words from my brain.
“Glasses. I still get the heebie-jeebies every morning when my finger gets close to my eyeball.”
He laughs again. “Me, too.”
“Marvel or DC?” I have a feeling which comic book publisher he’ll choose.
“DC, definitely.”
“I knew you were going to say that. You seem like a comic purist.”
“Excuse me, some of the greatest fictional characters ever conceived have come out of DC. What does Marvel have? Wolverine? A hairy guy with claws? Come on.”
“Okay then, Superman or Batman?” I say, trying to stump him.
“Nonapplicable, I’m a Green Lantern guy.” His eyes widen, and he points a finger at me. “And you just asked out of turn.”
“But you didn’t answer with this or that.”
“Doesn’t matter, the question was invalid.” He rubs his hands together. “Let’s see.”
I can feel my face warming up, but I can’t stop smiling. What is he going to dare me to do? I know what Eric would dare me. It’d probably be something inappropriate. What would I do if Logan dared me to kiss him?