Behold! Our Nerds!

Anissa Kaur, head of the Interact Club, was currently doing her duty. They had come up with a great fundraiser for the local homeless shelter, and was attempting to convince Principal Patrick to let it go ahead. She was pitching one night where the Interact Club slept outside on the street and took sponsors. She was **** for it to go ahead, as this was her first big thing as leader.

“Come on, sir, you know this is a good idea!” She pleaded. “And it could do so much good.”

“Yes, but I can’t help but feel there’s danger involved. I mean, a group of 18-year-olds, mostly girls, sleeping on the streets of New Bath City? That could be disastrous.”

“Ms. Holloway has already agreed to chaperone the event! Please, sir.”

Principal Patrick sighed. “Alright. However, I reserve the right to change my mind, so I advise you to come up with backups.”

Ani wanted to scream with delight, but felt that would be unprofessional, so instead decided to smile at him. “Thank you so much, sir! You won’t regret this!”

With that, she left the room, and was immediately greeted with her friends, fellow members of the Interact Club. She couldn’t hide her excitement from them, and released the squeal she had kept within.

Her best friend, Sadie Gomez, immediately hugged her. The Latina girl had been by her side since they were literal toddlers, and Ani trusted her with her life. Despite being head of the school’s LGBTQ+ Society (identifying as Lesbian herself), she always found time to support Ani’s endeavours with the IC. She was also one of the few people in the school shorter than her, being 5’1 compared to Ani’s 5’2 (a fact Ani never let go).

Sadie was followed by her second best friend Todd Butler, and suddenly she felt small again. The boy was 5’8, which was not tall by any means, but was still the tallest amongst them. Todd joined Ani and Sadie in First Grade, when the girls had spoken to him after noticing him staring at them shyly: they had been friends ever since. He hugged her tightly and for a beat too long, but that was just Todd.

The remaining too didn’t hug her, but we’re just as enthused. Lily Chang clapped and cheered for her, while Sienna Miller smiled.

Lily was, in Ani’s opinion, the smartest person in school. Most people wanted to pit the two against each other, but Ani preferred the friendship to the rivalry. She truly believed there’s no one better to be Student Council President.

Ani knew Sienna could be a bit uptight: after all, she was the most apprehensive to the whole Sleep Out idea, and she had a reputation for being a teacher’s pet. She also knew that, underneath the cold exterior, she was a devoted friend, going along with the plan despite her apprehensions.

Sadie took Ani’s hand in hers and lifted it, as if she had just won a boxing match. “I present to you: the greatest IC leader of all time, the one, the only… Anissaaaa Kauuuuur!”

The rest erupted into applause, and Lily playfully chanted ‘Speech!’.

Ani mimed holding a trophy and began, voice quivering with mock tears. “I’d like to thank my family, and my amazing friends, I couldn’t have done it without you, and most importantly, I… I…” She trailed off before descending into fake crying. They all laughed as Ani mimed gaining her composure. “In all seriousness, though, this isn’t even the hard part. We haven’t done the actual thing yet. For all we know, we might make no money.”

“Come on, don’t jinx it!” Sadie chimed in. “You’re amazing, it’s gonna be amazing. Believe in yourself.”

Ani blushed. She never liked accepting compliments, but did anyone?

“Oh, shit.” Lily piped up. “I need to get to work. I’ll see you all tomorrow!”

“Say hi to Harrison for me!” Ani called after her.

Lily flipped her off, though with a smile on her face. Lily worked at Big’s Diner with Harrison Miller, and had admitted to having a bit of a crush on him, though backtracked to state it was wasn’t a big one. Ani often teased her about it, but that was mostly projection for her own massive crush she was harbouring, one only Sadie knew about.

For a while now, Ani has had a crush on George Oshima. It had developed while she sat next to him in Physics last year, but it fully dawned on her during summer when she genuinely missed his company. She doubted anything would come from it, though. There was no way he liked her back.