Rumor Has It: The Complete Series

by Tucker, RH

  “Hey, you guys want to go through the drive-through and head back to my place.”

  “Depends,” Carter replies as we start walking. “Did your brother get the new Overwatch game?”

  Isaac does have the game, but so do I. Only, whenever Carter comes over to my house we stay in the den, and I always say the games are my brothers.

  “Yeah, but I got it too.”

  “Oh, you got your own system?”

  “I’ve always had my own system.”

  “Oh.” Carter shoots me an intrigued look.

  “Let’s go.”

  We get to our cars and head towards the closest In-N-Out Burger, going through the drive-through, before heading back to my place. Lucas has been over a couple times, and just like Carter, they both only ever stayed in the den or living room. It has nice couches, a big screen TV to watch movies and play video games, so it was never a big deal to not be in my room. Plus, my dad is hardly ever home, so we could just hang out.

  Isaac has an after-school program, so I know it’ll still be a couple hours until Debbie picks him up. I turn a corner as Carter and Lucas head straight down a hallway to my living room. I suddenly feel nervous about what I’m about to do.

  “So, you guys cool with eating in my room?”

  “Seriously?” Carter says, raising an eyebrow. “The elusive bedroom. Luc, this is history in the making.”

  Lucas laughs, and I let out a nervous chuckle.

  “Yeah, sure,” Carter says, following me up the stairs, Lucas trailing behind.

  “I got a TV in here. Not as big as the big screen, but still a good size for playing.”

  “That’s cool,” Lucas says.

  I get to the door, and my hand freezes on the handle. It feels like I’m about to ask a girl out for the first time, and in some ways, it does have the same emotional range. I have no idea what they’re going to say, or if they’ll laugh and start making fun of me. Or maybe they’ll think I’m a freak for all the posters and collectibles I have. Or that I’m weird for having the costumes and the mannequins.

  “Um, are we going in or what?” Carter says.

  “Y-yeah.” I open the door and walk inside.

  “Whoa.” Carter breathes out. “Dude, this is your room?”

  I put my food and drink on my desk, cringing a little as I look over at him. “Yeah.”

  “Really?” Lucas questions.

  “Really.”

  “Oh, wow.” Carter looks at my statues of the Ninja Turtles, sculpted in the form of their original comic book design. “That’s awesome.”

  “Obsessed much?” Lucas snickers, as he runs his finger over a line of Marvel graphic novels.

  “Dude, you’re like, an uber-nerd or something,” Carted says, scanning the posters on my wall.

  “Yeah,” I answer, but it almost sounds like a question.

  Carter stands in front of the Iron Man suit, looking over it, then looks at the Star-Lord costume. “Did you make these?”

  “Uh … yeah.”

  “This is crazy. Why don’t I know about this stuff?” Carter looks at me. “You’ve been my best friend for years.”

  “Because I didn’t want anyone to know.” I stare at the ground.

  “Why not?” Lucas asks.

  “Wait a second,” Carter starts looking around again. “Dude, you and Isabel totally have this stuff in common. There’s no way she’s not into you.”

  “What?” Lucas asks. “The girl from prom court?”

  “Yeah.” Carter smirks at me. “I was right, huh?”

  “It’s not that simple, Carter.”

  “What are you talking about? You’re two geeks who got the hots for each other. Everyone can see that. Well, not you as the geek, but just your body language at the pep rally? I know you like her. And I know she likes you.”

  “You’re right. She does like me.”

  “So, what’s the problem?”

  “This.” I wave around my room. “This is the problem.”

  “I’m not following.”

  “Dude, when I went to New York, I cosplayed as Iron Man at a comic book convention, and she was there. She knows about all this stuff.”

  “First of all, what the hell is cosplay? And secondly, what do you mean she knows about all this? Has she been here?”

  “Yeah.” I nod. “I dressed up as Iron Man. She was at the convention and saw me. Then we had to team up for that sociology class experiment, and she wanted to see my room. So, I brought her up here.”

  “Yeah, you did.” Carter smiles.

  “Dude, no.” I stop him. “Well, okay, we made out a little on my bed, but–”

  “You made out with her?” Lucas asks.

  “Was it hot?” Carter asks as he looks at Lucas. “I bet it was hot.”

  “You’re missing the point.”

  “Matt, you haven’t made a point yet.”

  “My point,” I squeeze my eyes shut, “is that yes, I like her. And yes, she likes me. I think. And I even asked her to prom.”

  “And?”

  “And she said she’d only go with me if I dressed up as Spike from Cowboy Bebop.”

  Carter and Lucas both look at each other, and if I weren’t so worked up about revealing all of this to them, I’d probably laugh at the dumbfounded expression on their faces.

  “Who—”

  “A character from an anime. That suit that’s right there.” I point to the third mannequin.

  “Oh. And why—”

  “Because she’s modifying a costume as a different character from the same show to make her prom dress out of. Spike dresses in a suit anyways, so it fits.”

  “Okay.” Lucas nods as if everything sounds completely reasonable.

  Carter does the same thing. “So, you’re dressing as some Spike dude. All right.”

  “What? No!”

  They look at each other again with more confusion.

  “Why not? Carter asks.

  I stare back at both of them, as they wait for my answer. If I’m completely honest, they seem to be taking everything even better than I imagined. I didn’t really think they’d make fun of me, but I did expect at least a little teasing. But they seem completely normal. As if finding out how much of a nerd I am means nothing. And maybe it did mean nothing to them since they’re my friends. But how would the rest of the school react?

  I lean my head back, staring up at the ceiling. “You guys are my friends. So, I’m glad you’re cool with all this. But, I’m a nerd who’s pretended to be some cool kid for the last four years. Everything everyone knows about me is just the part I want them to see. Don’t get me wrong, I like what I do. I like being in ASB, even if I did it to get my dad off my case. I like playing football and basketball, and being one of the cool kids. But this?” I wave around the room. “This is who I really am.”

  “Matt, it’s not that big of a deal,” Carter says.

  “Not to you. But to everyone else? We’re almost done with school. I just want to finish it without making waves.”

  “Matt,” Lucas speaks up. “So what if you’re into nerdy stuff. We’ve all got our things.”

  “Luc’s right,” Carter agrees.

  “Look, I don’t want to sound like an egomaniac or anything—”

  “Oh, now he doesn’t want to sound stuck up.” Carter laughs, elbowing Lucas.

  “But seriously. I’m student body president. I’ve pretended to be Joe Cool for so long, that I’m fine with keeping up the charade until school’s over. What would people say if I all of a sudden started showing how much of a geek I really am. I mean, I drive a freaking Lexus to school, you guys.”

  “So, that’s why you’re not going to go out with a girl you like? Because of what people will think?”

  “Carter,” I counter. “You loved all those rumors that were spread about you.”

  “Yeah, until I didn’t. Matt, I wanted people thinking those things. You don’t want people to know what’s really true.”

  �
��Sounds like the same thing to me.”

  “I kind of agree with Carter,” Lucas says, giving me an apologetic smirk.

  “It doesn’t matter because I would go out with her. I told her that. But she won’t unless I’m comfortable with being who I really am. But that’s stupid because I am comfortable being who I am in school.”

  “Are you more comfortable with who you are at school or who you are with her?” Carter asks. I silently stare at him, but I know the answer. And I’m sure he does too now. “Well, take it from me. There’s a difference in being comfortable with what people know about you and accepting yourself for who you are.”

  I appreciate the words, even if I let out a scoff. “Thank you, Mr. Guidance Counselor.”

  “So …” Lucas clears his throat after we stand in silence for a minute. “We eating burgers and playing games, or what?”

  “Yeah.” I let out a laugh. “I could use a little mindless video games right now.”

  Chapter 27

  Izzy

  I’m not sure if Matt is going to be wearing the Star Wars shirt when I get to school. He said he was, but our conversation ended how a lot of our conversations seem to end lately. They start out great and end horribly. If anyone asked me after the prom court meeting yesterday if he and I were going out, I honestly wouldn’t know what to tell them. He was flirting with me so much that Yvette’s scowl was locked on me for the entire meeting. But after I brought up the prom situation again, that’s where we went off the rails and not in a good way.

  I don’t know why I’m being so stubborn about the prom challenge, as Cindy and Veronica are calling it. He obviously likes me, and he doesn’t have an issue with me being a nerd. And try as I might, I can’t act like I don’t like him. I’m sure he sees my knees wobbling when he leans in close, and I’m not very discreet about staring at his lips. Those kissable lips that I can still remember. Still feel. How is that possible, when I haven’t kissed him in weeks?

  Even more than his flirty smiles, I still remember the one I found on him at PopCon. It was brief, as shock and horror took over his face as soon as he saw me, but seconds before that he had a carefree smile. A true smile. I want to see that smile on him. He can make my insides melt, and believe me, he has, but nothing gets me more than seeing him being who he really is.

  As I sit at my desk in sociology, he opens the door, and there’s the Star Wars shirt. The Empire Strikes Back logo stretches across his chest.

  “You wore it.”

  “It’s twin day,” he replies monotonically.

  Okay, so he’s still a little upset. Throughout class, I toss him side looks, smirks, and even turn around and whisper something to him. All of which earns me barely a nod. After all my talk of keeping distance between us, now that it seems like it’d be easy enough to have that distance, I don’t want it.

  At lunch, we meet up with the others as Greg is going over the rules for our event, which is a three-legged race.

  “Do you think it’d be easy for a three-legged person to go poop?” I ask Matt, looking up at him, as Greg continues on. Matt casts a glance to me, before focusing back on Greg. “I mean, how would they squat? Do they have to prop up their third leg or something?”

  I chuckle. Not so much at the joke but the comment in general, hoping Matt’s attitude will have eased. It hasn’t.

  “Are you gonna be mad at me forever?” I blurt out as Greg makes his way down through the couples, tying their legs together.

  “I’m not mad at you,” he answers but doesn’t look at me.

  “Really? Because it sure seems like you’re mad.”

  “Well, I’m not.”

  “Upset?”

  “No.”

  “Annoyed?” He looks at me, raising an eyebrow. “Perturbed? Exasperated? Vexed? Irked?” He shakes his head, and I can see him fighting off a smile, but I still get a smirk. “Finally.”

  “I’m not annoyed or perturbed, or any of those things. I just …” He looks away.

  “What?”

  He takes a moment, staring at me. “I just don’t want to argue anymore.”

  “Oh.”

  “All right.” Greg steps between us. “Middle legs forward.”

  For the three-legged race, each prom court couple has to run around the courtyard, and the team that wins gets ten extra votes for prom king and prom queen. Second place gets five extra votes, but third place through fifth doesn’t get any. These all add up for the final vote count, to see who’ll be named prom king and queen.

  Greg takes a megaphone to explain the rules to all the students watching and the point system to everyone. While he’s going over everything, I elbow Matt in the side.

  Pushing aside his last comments, Matt looks over at me and smiles. “Let’s do this, Nerd Girl. You’d look great in a crown.”

  “Even if we win, which we won’t because I’m totally uncoordinated and would trip over myself in this race even if I wasn’t tied to a person, you really think ten votes will knock out Yvette. She’s plastered her face on posters all over the school.”

  “You’ve got a following though. People are digging you.” He grins in a way that tells me he’s one of those people. “You did come in second in the voting, after all.”

  “What?”

  He puts a finger to his lips. “You didn’t hear that from me. We’re not supposed to tell anyone the actual vote numbers.”

  A sense of pride radiates from me. I took the joke vote and ran with it. I’m not ashamed of being it, and I guess other people got behind that. Before I can relish anymore from coming in second, Greg blows a whistle, and everyone starts cheering around us.

  “Let’s go.” Matt wraps his arm around me, and we start down the course that’s set up.

  It isn’t very long, so each team has to make three laps. When I said I’m not very coordinated, I meant it. I don’t wear glasses or a pocket protector, but when it comes to anything athletic, I am the quintessential nerd cliché. I can talk about comics and movies all day long. My brain is full of useless pop-culture quotes and ridiculous, arbitrary facts about superheroes. But when it comes to anything sports related, I’m about as useful as a pile of rocks.

  Matt tries to motion me around a cone, but somehow my leg that’s tied to his comes down on top of his foot, and I lose my balance. He still has his arm around me, so I cling to him, hoping to steady myself. He holds me up for a moment, but my momentum keeps my other leg moving. It steps out in front, and my leg that’s tied to him tries to move, while his tries to stay still and upright. The opposite ways our legs are moving sends us both down.

  Falling to the grass, Matt follows right behind me and would’ve smashed me flat if he didn’t put his arms up. Laying on top of me, his arms holding himself up over my shoulders, he looks down at me with a grin. “Or, we could do this too.”

  “Very funny.”

  “Come on.” He rolls to a knee, our ankles still attached, but the rope loosened up from the fall. Offering me his hand, I take it and get back to my feet. Behind us, Oscar and Yvette are coming up.

  “We’re about to get lapped.”

  “It’s fine,” Matt brushes it off.

  “Hey, you’ve actually have a chance at being prom king.”

  “I don’t care about that.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, it’s just prom king. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  We’re still moving slow, and Yvette and Oscar pass us. Jen and Franco are starting to come up behind and about to pass us too when Matt looks behind. “You know, as much as I don’t care about being prom king, I don’t like to lose either.”

  “Okay, okay.”

  This time I wrap my arm around him, hoping to keep myself from losing balance again. It doesn’t work. We make it to the finish line, about to start the second lap, when we turn the first corner where I tripped, and I do it again.

  Matt tries catching me with both arms, but my feet are already out of balance. Instead of falling forward though
, the momentum from him trying to stop me sends me backward, and I fall on top of him.

  “Okay.” He laughs. “I’m starting to think you’re doing this on purpose.”

  “I’m not.” I purse my lips.

  “Are you sure? I wouldn’t mind.”

  I roll my eyes at him, but a grin floats over my lips. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m just highly uncoordinated.”

  “Or, you’re a master seduction artist.”

  “What?” The word comes out three octaves higher than normal, and I feel my cheeks burning. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Says the girl still on top of me.”

  “Matt, it’s a race!” I hear someone yell and look up to see his friend, Carter, laughing while standing next to a girl. “Not a make-out session.”

  Scrambling to get off Matt, I get to my knees but can’t figure out how to get to my feet with our ankles still attached.

  “Here, give me your hand,” Matt says, sitting next to me.

  He’s trying to give me a hand to stand up, but my ankle is still tied to his. I somehow twist around and fall back down on top of him. Only, he’s sitting down, so now I’m straddling him.

  He smiles and wags his eyebrows at me. “Yeah, I like this too.”

  “Shut up.” My face burns.

  “Get it!” Cindy yells, laughing, as Veronica follows suit.

  “This is so embarrassing.”

  “Wow,” Natalie snickers, looking down at us. “I guess I got the more coordinated nerd.”

  Sam shoots her an annoyed look while they stroll by.

  “Come on,” Matt puts his hands on my legs, and as embarrassed as I am I still have to swallow the bundle of excitement within.

  Don’t ask me how but somehow, he gets us both on our knees and then takes my hand. “Okay, on three. One, two, three.” He takes a step, and I follow along, both of us finally getting to our feet, as Sarah and Bret are now about to pass us.