Authors: Cindy C. Bennett
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Girls & Women, #School & Education
Geek Girl
| Geek Girl | |
| Cindy C. Bennett | |
| Createspace (2010) | |
| Rating: | **** |
| Tags: | Juvenile Fiction, Girls & Women, School & Education |
"Think I can turn that boy bad?"High school junior Jen inadvertantly turns her life upside down when, out of boredom, she makes a bet that she can turn school geek Trevor into a someone bad, someone like her. His complete opposite in every way, the sarcastic goth-girl tries pulling him into her world of partying. Instead she finds herself sucked into Trevor's world of sci-fi movies, charity work and even - ugh! - bowling. If that weren't bad enough, she desperately wants to become a permanent part of the foster family she currently lives with, even if it means having a cheerleader for a sister. What's up with that But Jen must come to terms with her past, including her now-dead abusive father and her imprisoned mother. Jen's journey will lead her to discover the true meaning of friendship. family, forgiveness, and above all, love.
2. The Brady House . . . Or Is It the Cleavers?
5. Stardates and the Spock-girl
6. The Dance Begins in Earnest
10. Marshmallows and Competition
11. Mr. Green in the Study with the Candlestick
12. New Resolve from the Lost Girl
13. Chicken, Flat Soda, and Vines
18. Will the Real Mother Please Stand Up?
19. If All the Raindrops Were Lemon Drops and Gum Drops . . .
22. Adopting a New Lifestyle Isn’t for the Weak of Heart
24. If It Seems Too Good to Be True . . .
25 Life Goes On . . . Until you Meet an Angel, Anyway
27. Change Doesn’t Always Make Sense
28. Friends and Sisters—Sometimes Both at the Same Time
31. Date Disaster # 2 . . . With a Twist Ending
32. All Good Things . . . Well, You Know the Rest
Geek Girl
Cindy C. Bennett
Sweetwater Books
An imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc.
Springville, Utah
© 2011 Cindy C Bennett
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, names, incidents, places, and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, whether by graphic, visual, electronic, film, microfilm, tape recording, or any other means, without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviews and articles.
ISBN 13: 978-1-59955-925-4
Published by Sweetwater Books, an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc.
2373 W. 700 S., Springville, UT 84663
Distributed by Cedar Fort, Inc., www.cedarfort.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bennett, Cindy C. (Cindy Carlsen), 1967- author.
Geek girl / Cindy C. Bennett.
pages cm
Summary: Jen, a teenaged foster child and social outcast, makes a bet with
her friends that she can turn Trevor, a straight-A student and self-avowed
“geek”, into a social outcast like herself, but quickly finds there is more
to him than she expected.
ISBN 978-1-59955-925-4
1. High school students--Fiction. 2. High schools--Social
aspects--Fiction. 3. Friendship--Fiction. 4. Marginality, Social--Fiction.
5. Foster children--Fiction. [1. Interpersonal relations--Fiction. 2.
Wagers--Fiction. 3. Dating (Social customs)--Fiction. 4. High
schools--Fiction. 5. Schools--Fiction. 6. Friendship--Fiction. 7. Foster
home care--Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.B43913Gee 2011
[Fic]--dc23
2011033130
Cover design by Angela D. Olsen
Cover design © 2011 by Lyle Mortimer
Edited and typeset by Melissa J. Caldwell
Formatted for Kindle by Simon Shepherd
For Lexcie, my amazing daughter, who forced me to finally finish Jen’s story by insisting on new chapters to read daily, and whose enthusiasm for the story made the journey that much more pleasurable. You rock, chickadee.
“Think I could turn that boy bad?”
My two best friends—my only two friends, really—Ella and Beth, follow my gaze and laugh. We’re sitting on the outskirts of the cafeteria, outcasts physically and socially. We’re proud of this. We strive for this.
“
Trevor Hoffman?
” Beth scoffs. “No way, Jen.”
“I bet I can,” I say, chewing on one of my painted black nails as I gaze at my intended target.
“No way,” they both agree.
I look at Trevor Hoffman and my grin widens. He is such a nerdy, Goody Two-shoes. Kinda cute actually. But he always has his shirt buttoned to the top and is a straight-A student who all of the teachers adore. He’s the Junior Class something or other—not the president but one of the other officers. He’s a little different than the other geeks in that he’s sort of . . . cool-geek, I guess. No glasses, asthmatic wheezing, or too-short pants for him. But he’s firmly entrenched with the geek-squad, a nerd to the core himself.
“I bet I could,” I say, shrugging. “Might be fun.”
Fun is something I desperately need. I can’t tell Beth and Ella, but my life has become a dreary cycle of tedious monotony. I get up, go to school, go home, avoid the people I live with as much as possible, and sneak out on weekends to party with my friends. There was a time when that was something to look forward to. I have to take it easy on that end now since this newest do-good family I’ve been foisted onto has a DEA agent for a father, who seems to be able to spot glassy eyes a mile away.
The first time I came home from a party, I’d been subjected to hours of maudlin lecturing from them on the dangers of drugs and drinking, with much crying by the mother and fact-giving by the father until I wanted to pull my hair out. They grounded me, which meant even more time spent in their charity-radiating presence. I’d have preferred they yell at or beat me—those things I can deal with. I’ll do almost anything to avoid another lecture and grounding like that.
“Why him?” Beth asks. “Why not any of the other nerds sitting there with him?”
“Because,” I say slowly, as if it should be obvious to them, “he isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill geek. Any of those other dorks would flip immediately if a girl so much as touched them. But Trevor Hoffman is different. He’s a geek, right? I mean, none of the cheerleaders would date him because he’s not a jock, but they all know him, talk to him, use his help for their homework, whatever. And he
is
the Junior Class . . . Treasurer, or something like that. He would be a little more difficult to take down, more of a challenge—and more satisfying, you know?”
They laugh again. Looking at each other, they silently agree to the plan, an odd ability the two of them have, probably because they’re identical twins, separated in looks only by Ella’s small mole above her lip—amplified with an eyebrow pencil.
“If you can,” Ella says thoughtfully, “we’ll pay for your lip to be repierced.”
That
would be worth it. My current foster family has a no-piercing-on-the-face rule, which really cramps my style. At least so far they haven’t banned my hair, makeup, or clothing choices because, as my newest do-gooder foster mother says, those things aren’t permanent. Goes to show how much she knows.
I’ll have to wait until the summertime to get the repiercing because that’s when I’m due for my big blowup so that I can get kicked out and move on to the next unsuspecting do-gooders. It’s been my MO for almost as long as I’ve been passed around, so I don’t see any reason to stop now, even if the current ones aren’t so bad. Though compared to what I’ve lived with, that isn’t saying much.
“It’s a deal,” I tell her, hooking pinkie fingers with first Ella and then Beth in our traditional promise-making gesture. I attended this same school last year, though I lived with a different family then, so I’ve had the chance to get to know a few people pretty well. It was pure luck to be placed with a new family within the same school boundaries. Ella and Beth are my girls, having pulled me firmly into their circle when first they recognized my kindred spirit.
Beth pokes my lip where the scar from the last piercing shows faintly. “How you gonna explain that one to the Straw Hat?”
This is the nickname we call the foster mom, in reference to her penchant for wearing straw hats when working in her garden. The hats are utterly ridiculous.
“My time’s up this summer, so it’ll be a good catalyst.”
Ella and Beth know my history; they understand without explanation.
“We’ll miss you,” they say at the same time.
“But you aren’t going to win using this one as a bet,” Ella says, indicating Trevor with a nod of her head. As if to confirm her words, Trevor makes a dorky face at his equally dorky friends, who all burst out in dorky laughter. And then he cuts his eyes toward Mary Ellen, a complete homebody girl who sits at the table.
Competition, huh?
I muse.
I watch her for a minute. She’s completely unaware that Trevor’s display was for her. She sits quietly, shyly eating her lunch with her head down. She has long, straight, mousy brown hair, glasses, and shapeless nerd clothes covering her shapeless nerd body.
She’s perfect for Trevor.
I smile. She’s no competition for me. I am his complete opposite in every way, but when I’m finished with him, he’ll recognize Mary Ellen for the mouse she is.
I stand up and turn toward where Beth and Ella still sit. A flyer hanging above their heads catches my eye. I pull it down with a grin and hand it to them.
“A school stomp?” they echo together, horrified.
“A stomp,” I say firmly. “Tonight. We’re going.”
I look back toward where Trevor sits, straight and tall as befits a nerd of his station.
“Tonight, I begin,” I tell them, walking away as they dissolve into laughter behind me.
⊕⊗⊕
We show up to the stomp. They have to admit us in spite of our heavy black eyeliner, cherry red lips, stark black hair with red streaks, and tight black shirts and miniskirts with thigh-high plaid stockings and black boots. They want to turn us away, these cheerleader-types, but they have to let us in: we have student ID cards.