Deconstructing the Nerd Ch. 02

When Monday hit again, Reema was ready to tackle another week of university. She had a few classes to attend with some breaks in between, which she used to scout out some student associations and clubs. Her parents would be happy to hear that. In fact, she called them on the way to one. She wished she hadn't, though, because her dad kept reminding her how they looked good on CVs (although Reema wasn't sure he knew what CV actually stood for) and in applying for jobs and internships. It was all stuff she knew, of course.

After the day was done, she returned back to her residence where she ran into Cassie, coming out of her expectedly lively room just as she passed by. "Hey!" the blonde called out, making the Indian girl jump.

Reema laughed off the ambush. "Cassie. Scared me."

"My bad," she replied. As Cassie checked her out, she saw a mousy girl that was so easy to pass over. Her hair was lacking any shine and her big rectangular glasses still did her a disservice. She wore a pair of murky brown jeans that didn't belong anywhere but the back of closet or in a garbage bag. Over top, she had a purple tee that wasn't worth much either. Cassie didn't completely dismiss it, however, if only for the wrinkles in the middle of the shirt created by Reema's great chest. Reema was hunched over, weighted down by her bulging Jan Sport bag. Cassie would probably have to fix her posture too.

Cassie pointed to the backpack. "All done for the day?"

"I know, right? Finally," Reema said, showing a fairly large, white smile. Cassie noted some potential.

"I wouldn't know, I've been here since this morning," Cassie said in her own kind of humour. "How was your weekend? You went away, right?"

"Um, yeah, I did. I went up to see Miguel," she said, then laughingly added, "...Western's huge."

"There's bigger than here?"

"Apparently," Reema played back. "Then we kind of hung around in his room. It was nice."

"Cool. You going to visit him next weekend too?"

Reema wavered. "Yeah, I don't know...I think we may have rethought our original plan. We kind of decided it might be better if we made it a monthly thing - semi-monthly, if possible."

"That's smart. You don't want to kill yourself too much, right?"

"Yeah," she said, and then asked with a hint of a grin, "How was your weekend? Any crazy parties while I was gone?" It might have been a judg-y dig at Cassie and her 'lifestyle', but with everything she had seen out of Cassie so far, it was a legitimate question.

"Aha, no parties. Just a bit of dancing downtown," Cassie said understatedly.

Downtown. That was a half hour ride out of campus. Reema flashed to the mental image of a loud, stuffy night club. Even after people started to turn eighteen at her high school and started to go out, Reema didn't partake in that scene. It was way out of her comfort zone.

"That sounds like fun," Reema politely said.

"Yeah, it was. It's always cool to get out and meet new people, you know?" she said, adding that she was at karaoke last week. "Anyways, you wanna come in and chill for a bit?" Cassie pointed back to her room.

Reema shook her head. "Thanks, but I got a lot of work to do. Sorry."

"Ahh...priorities...I get it..." Cassie nodded along. "They're a bitch. I guess I'll leave you to it." Then, she went in for a hug, pushing right into Reema's cushy chest, again relishing the opportunity to take advantage of them. "See ya, alright?"

The embrace surprised her. Reema figured that meant they were officially friends now, even if she didn't quite understand why yet. Cassie was nice enough, but as Reema thought about it when she went back to her room, it was odd to have a girl as a friend. It was even odder to have a pretty blonde girlfriend. Reema's friend group in school was mostly guys. While they weren't the entire female population of her high school, there were these clique-ish type girls that Reema might have originally associated Cassie with. Perhaps she misjudged her. Perhaps it was like Cassie was saying: university was about meeting people you normally wouldn't associate with.

She had another casual hall encounter again with the Blomshell again the next day, but they really hung out together the day after that. This was the day where they had a lecture and tutorial together. Cassie stopped by her door in the morning and suggested they walk over together. Reema was ready, save for putting on a sweater. She returned with a university branded hoodie she got at the student store. Cassie offered her a closed mouth smile and then told her they should get going.

At the lecture hall, Reema started down to the front when Cassie's voice beckoned her.

"Up here, Reem," Cassie told her.

The Indian girl stopped. Cassie stood several steps above her. "Oh. I kind of like being up close..." she meekly said.

Cassie shrugged. "I mean, it's up to you, but you hear and see the same at the top as the bottom. Trust me." The blonde teen saw Reema's wavered expression. It was killing her not to be teacher's pet. There probably wasn't a class in her high school that she didn't claim a front row seat. "If you really wanted, you can still talk to the prof during the break."

Reema was still a bit divided when she said, "OK."

They sat next to each other again in tutorial. Reema saw that Cassie, with her 'extrovertedness' outside of the classroom, she wasn't really chatty inside of it. On occasion she tried to get her attention with something else, but Reema snickered and told her to focus. Even in lecture Cassie wasn't as rigorous with her note taking as Reema was. She could glance over and see that Cassie was 'just checking one thing' on Facebook. It was peculiar, but it didn't set off too many alarm bells. Perhaps that was just her style.

That night, they repeated their jointed essay venture from the previous week. Even if she didn't overtly show off her brain in class, Reema saw that Cassie did have the savviness to get through the school year. She had good ideas and Reema assumed her natural role of coordinating and organizing things into something concise and presentable. They had good time talking and they finally finished the paper, which was a big plus.

When the end of the week hit, Reema was quietly nestled in her room. It was Friday night and there were rumblings on her floor about people going to the local campus watering hole or downtown for a 'good night'. Reema figured she could entertain herself with some World of Warcraft or a movie later on, but that was if she finished her work. Her dad would've made her skip the movie altogether, but with him not here, she was free to have some fun.

It was a quiet and productive evening, so when Reema heard someone call out from her main room, it was a bit startling. "Hey, hey, knock, knock! Anyone home?" chimed the cheery voice.

Reema stopped highlighting mid-sentence and called back, "In here!" Cassie appeared in her tiny white shorts, telling her that her door was unlocked and that she let herself in, if that was OK with Reema.

She told her it was. The truth was that Cassie was so liberal about leaving her door unlocked and, more often than not, wide open, so Reema took her suggestion on being less uptight about shutting her door. She didn't bow to what other people normally did, but Cassie's suggestion that she was the only person that locked was odd. It was up to her, but maybe it would be better than she didn't isolate herself. Night time was a different issue. She locked it then.

Cassie casually sauntered into the room, surveying her computer screen, although not without glancing down at her body again. "Whatchoo doin'?"

She didn't have to really ask, however. Reema was always typing up an assignment or reviewing her lecture notes from earlier in the day. Again, she was dressed in drab, colourless sweats. Still though, she did like how those wide hips filled out the computer chair.

"Just reading up on the Lawrence article Professor Trevor was referring to in lecture," Reema responded.

"Oh wow, Reema...so studious to look that up! That's amazing of you!"

Reema lit up at the commendation. "Yeah! It's quite good...I can Facebook you a link, if you'd like?"

"Yeah, sure that'd be great," Cassie politely accepted. Reema really was a hopeless keener. That wasn't even on the required reading list. She was giving herself more work to help her 'better understand the material'. "Actually, I came in here to tell you that a bunch of us are going to go to karaoke for pub night tonight. You should come!"

Reema remembered Cassie mentioning her rave reviews about the week before, but she politely shook her head. "I can't," she meekly smiled. "I've got that Anderson reading to do for our class."

"Oh," Cassie said, dropping her enticing, animated smile. "That's kind of cool. You're so good with being ahead with stuff. That's due, like what, next week...?"

"I know, I just wanted to a jump on it so I don't have cram it in the night before," the girl explained.

Cassie laughed. "You're Reema Ahmed, university all-star. I'm pretty sure that won't ever happen."

Reema had never been called an 'all-star' in any regard. She had set herself well in her school work that it wouldn't really be falling behind. Perhaps she could spare a night out. Plus, she liked karaoke and Korean culture. She had been a couple of times in high school with Miguel. He probably would have liked to come tonight too. He was probably going to studying, though.

"C'mon, I'm sure it won't be the end of the world if you don't do it tonight," Cassie said, echoing her friend's thoughts. "It's Friday after all. That's fun night!" She flashed her perfectly white and straight teeth again, playfully singing her enticement, "It'll be a lot of funnnn..." As if that wasn't enough, she pointed out that friends tended to spend time in fun social environments - places that weren't their dorms, class, and if lucky, the laundry room. Tonight would be the first opportunity for such a hang out.

In her own sly and playful way, Cassie was pushing hard because getting Reema out tonight was vital to her plan with this girl. The first step was to introduce her into more social situations. She had to be careful, though. If she started big, she'd scare her off and that was a waste. First she'd get her out to an innocent, fun event - a gateway outing of sorts - to break the ice. Karaoke was so silly and fun that a 'vanilla' girl like Reema shouldn't have had a problem with it. There would be alcohol, and Cassie would make sure Reema indulged, but she would deemphasize that part - despite it being very important.

Truthfully, Cassie spent those initial few days getting a sense of who exactly Reema Ahmed was to decide how to best handle her. Sitting beside her and feigning praise to her big brain was a big part of that. She had to look like she was on her side.

It was like gaining the trust of a deer. Cassie wanted to be the person Reema trusted most on campus, a person whose opinion she valued, and a person she believed would never steer her wrong. Above all, she wanted to be something Reema Ahmed had never had in her life - a BFF. Yes, Reema would be eating the feed from her hand, and soon would be the hottest fawn in the forest.

"I guess I do need a night away from all these books," Reema finally admitted.

"That's right! I'm not trying to take you away from it, because I know it's important to you...but fun is fun, right?" Reema conceded that too, much to Cassie's delight. "Great! We'll probably leave in an hour."

When Cassie left, Reema took the extra time to cram as much as she could. She didn't mind that Cassie actually came to fetch her twenty minutes later than she initially said. She lost track of time, so when the hour mark hit and Cassie wasn't there yet, at that point she quickly changed and waited.

Cassie finally arrived, having changed into a pair of tight black jeans, a light pink-coloured blouse, and bright red coloured bands around her wrists and in her hair. She took a look at Reema who also opted for a pair of jeans, albeit ill fitting, and a plain T-shirt that showed off nothing but her hairy arms. Her hair was minimally brushed, and those nerd glasses still couldn't even make her pass as a hipster. Even though her body wasn't fit or sexy at all yet, she still somewhat thought of Reema as a wasted talent. She had so much unrealized potential. Tonight, she'd say nothing. Grabbing their bags, they made their way out of the residence building.

The bar was loud and lively. Groups of friends gabbed at tables and people floating around the floor carrying amber pitchers, bottles, and variously coloured drinks. On stage, there was a pair of girls doing an energetic yet vocally questionable rendition of a Backstreet Boys song. Cassie pointed to a bunch of seated people far off across the room. They would be their 'hangout crowd' for tonight.

"But first, let's go get some beverages," she informed as they figured themselves into the bar line. When they reached the front, Cassie asked, "What are you drinking tonight, Reema?

Reema looked between Cassie, the student bartender, and the liquor bottles on the wall. Shrugging, she answered, "I don't know...a Coke?"

Cassie laughed. "You're funny. Seriously though, it's tradition to have a little drink of alcohol before you get up there. Helps with the nerves."

"I guess so...but I'm not..."

Cassie turned to the bartender. "One G&T for me and one vodka cranberry for my awesome friend."

Her skin tried to flee her body. Her brown eyes widened. "Vodka?!"

"Relax, it's not like I'm giving you a bottle. It'll be just a little bit," Cassie assured her.

"You sure?"

"Yes! Trust me on this one..." Cassie found a concerned but not overly disapproving look. She gave the bartender a nod and soon the young man handed her a couple of drinks. She placed a ten dollar bill on the bar and scooped up the drinks, giving one to Reema.

She then clinked her glass against her friend's. "To a fun, wacky night!" She lifted her tall glass to her glossy lips while she watched as Reema positioned the tiny straw in her shorter drink into her mouth - with her hand. She grimaced initially but that went away as the realization came that it wasn't as horrible as expected.

"See...not so bad, right? Let's go meet some people, OK?" She led them over to a group of tables pushed together where she pointed out various faces and introduced them to her new extremely smart friend.

Reema was greeted by a chorus of 'Hey' and 'What's up?' by the group. It struck her that Cassie seemed to know a lot of people - people that weren't in their classes. After room was made for her, Reema sat down. The tables were littered with glasses and pitchers of drinks - some empty, some half-empty - and a plate of nachos that already had its top layer devoured.

One of the guys - Mike, she believed - gripped the handle of the plastic pitcher of ale while looking at her. "Reema, want a beer?"

Before Reema could inform him that she was well covered, he backtracked, noticing the glass in front of her. "Oh, nevermind. Seems you're already ahead of us." He smiled. She did too. She did appreciate the offer in principle, even if she was going to turn it down.

"Reema is a superstar in class. She's only going to have one drink tonight, OK guys?" Cassie said. Reema turned to her and caught her new friend's wink. She appreciated that Cassie had her back. She liked that she respected that academics were important to her. "She's like an encyclopedia with books. She knows so much and is like reading all the time."

"I am a kind of book nut," she laughingly admitted. "Today I made myself a list of stuff I wanna read for fun this year." She truly hoped she would have time for leisure reading within her busy school schedule.

Eventually, she was ready to admit to herself - and Cassie - that she was happy she came out tonight. Cassie joked - at least, Reema thought it was a joke - that she can thank her by enjoying her drink some more...but Reema took another drink anyways. The fun environment and the people she met allowed her to relax and laugh.

Reema's previous experience with drinking only involved finishing a few beers and feeling buzzed. She'd never been wasted before. Taking a moment to reflect on the situation, she had to admit it wasn't that bad. As she went along with Cassie's prompting, Reema found there was actually something thrilling about being in the zone between inhibition and total 'drunkness'.

"I got this big book of the complete works of Oscar Wilde and I'm trying to work my way through it," she said, continuing to say that rereading The Importance of Being Earnest made her greatly appreciate her first time reading it. She raised her glass to her lips and drank before continuing, "You miss sooo much in his words!"

"Soooo much," she heard repeated back to her. She didn't know the joke, but she joined in laughing.

Only a few moments after the binder of song selections made its way in front of Reema. She leafed through the pages, searching for a tune that, one, she liked and, two, she didn't mind performing. Her hazy mind roughly recalled the expression that sometimes too much choice was a sin. That was the case here. Her head was not cooperating with her either.

In the middle of looking through the 'G' lettered artists, her pocket started to vibrate. Picking her phone out, the screen showed Miguel's silly picture. She smiled and directed her finger toward the little green receiver icon.

Then, she felt a nudge. She looked up to see Cassie looking back at her.

"We're having a lot of fun...you can answer that later, can't you?" she told her. "I mean, it would look really bad on me and you if everyone was enjoying themselves and being social and you were on the phone, don't you think?"

Reema fumbled for an answer. "Yeah, but it's Miguel and we haven't spoken today..."

Reema watched as Cassie watched her. She wasn't going to be persuaded by her and Miguel's ritual of talking every day. "I mean - yeah, you're right. I can call him back later." With some guilt and shame washing over her, she rejected the call.

She moved to put it in her pocket, but Cassie pointed to Reema's purse on the floor instead. "It'll be less distracting," she said. Again, still with her reservation, Reema still complied.

When Reema was upright again, Cassie pointed to the page. "Decided yet??" she said, in a more cheery voice.

"I'm not sure...I think I might choose Lady Gaga."

Cassie raised an eyebrow as curiously noted the selection. She remembered Reema said she listened to pop, but she didn't figure her a fan of the eccentric pop singer. This was interesting.

"I just love her individuality and just the way she does things," Reema explained. She filled out the little sheet of paper with the song code, title, artist, and her name. Then she pushed herself out from the table and got to her feet, giggling as she nearly lost her balance in the process. She found the DJ booth and handed it to the student who was running the song machine.

A short while later her name was announced, much to her visible excitement. "A drink before you go up there, eh?" Cassie quickly told her.

"Oh yeah," she hastily reacted, effectively finishing the fruity beverage. Then she hit the stage as the short opening of 'Paparazzi' blared through the sound system.

In those three and half minutes, Cassie discovered more about her than many of her conversations with the Indian girl. Although Reema was only a decent singer at best and had awkward stage presence that probably not even her drunkenness accounted for, Cassie looked beyond that and saw a girl that, for the first time since meeting her, was really putting herself out there. Her blue eyes ogled the curious and interesting sight before her.