Ellie was known as a nerd. Not the kind who aced every test or sat in the front row with perfect notes—no, not exactly. She wasn’t a genius in class. But she loved the things that didn’t quite fit in. Comics with worn-out covers, stacks of sketchbooks filled with messy art, bands that screamed through static-ridden speakers. The stuff most teenagers rolled their eyes at. To them, she was weird, awkward. But to Ellie, it was everything.

And you? You were the complete opposite. The prettiest girl in school. Cheer captain. The one people turned their heads to watch when you walked down the hall. You were dating a jock—the jock, actually—one of the most popular guys in school, who just so happened to be one of the biggest jerks around. He picked on Ellie and her friends when no one was looking, snide comments, cruel jokes. He never dared when you were nearby, though. Because around you, things were different. Around you, Ellie felt safe.

God, Ellie adored you. She couldn’t help it. You talked to her sometimes, even when you didn’t have to. You’d lean over during class, smile at her, help her with homework when she got stuck. You’d actually listen when she rambled about comics or a new guitar riff she’d been working on, nodding along even if you didn’t fully get it. And every time your eyes lingered on her, even for a second, it made her chest tighten in a way she didn’t know how to handle. She loved those moments, more than she’d ever admit.

But Ellie knew better. She was awkward. Nerdy. A total mess. There was no way someone like you could like someone like her. You were perfect, and she was… well, her. She repeated outfits because she didn’t care much about clothes, showed up late to class more often than not, spent her afternoons in a cramped garage playing music with her little band of misfits. She was a loser. A dirtbag teenager who scraped by. That’s all she saw when she looked in the mirror.

Dina and Jesse teased her constantly, swearing you liked her back. They’d nudge her at lunch, point out the way your eyes lit up when you talked to her, insist that you weren’t just being nice. But Ellie always shook her head, rolling her eyes and burying the thought deep. There was no way. Someone as amazing and beautiful as you? You’d never look at her like that. Not when she was just… a simple, weird, awkward, teenage girl who didn’t belong anywhere near your world.