The Time I Failed to Hate Him

Summary: There’s some kind of unspoken rule in high school: nerds hang out with nerds, and jocks hang out with jocks and the popular crowd. Me and nerds? Never a good match. But somehow that changed when Gohan got in our class.

Fandom: Dragon Ball Z

Main Characters: Sharpner, Gohan

Rating: PG

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The Time I Failed to Hate Him

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There’s some kind of unspoken rule in high school: nerds hang out with nerds, and jocks hang out with jocks and the popular crowd. I always abided by that rule, ‘cuz I’m in the cool crowd y’know, so I never got myself involved with nerds. Unless it was to pick on them, obviously – but Videl never lets me have my fun anyway, she’s too much of a hero to let something like that happen on her watch. Good thing she’s hot, ‘cuz sometimes she’s such a pain.

Anyway, back to my point. Me and nerds? Never a good match. But somehow that changed when Gohan got in our class.

That nerd. How did I end up being friends with a nerd? Tch.

But, he’s just so… likable. He has the kind of face that just makes you want to smile back at him. That stupid face of his. He seems to be pretty popular with girls, too, thanks to that face of his, and yet the idiot is completely, utterly oblivious to them. Like, seriously. A girl could blatantly flirt with him and he’d just keep smiling innocently and let it fly right over his head. He’s such a dumbass for someone who’s supposed to be a genius.

And he’s my friend. Somehow. I, Sharpner Pencil, am friends with a nerd. How the hell did that even happen anyway?

I guess he went up in my esteem when he took one of my fastballs straight to his face and didn’t even flinch. After the initial shock passed, I figured he’d do great on the boxing team if he could take a punch like he did my pitch. But he says he doesn’t have time for after-school activities because he lives too far away. Seriously, he should just move in Satan City. Who commutes five thousand kilometers every day just to go to school? Does he even get to sleep? Only a nerd would be that dedicated to going to school.

Tch. That nerd.

After that, well… He’s just so nice. Ugh. And surprisingly fun to hang out with. This is all Erasa’s fault, actually. Just because she thinks he’s cute, she’s made him a part of our group, which forced me to hang out with a nerd. Ugh. Since when are nerds good looking anyway?

I wanted to hate the guy. Videl’s been way too interested in him, although only because she thinks he’s hiding something, but he’s still stealing her attention from ME. But, no. Somehow, I took a liking to him. Somehow, I became his friend instead.

I think the turning point was that time at lunch. I was grumbling to myself at my locker because I realized that I’d forgotten my lunch box, and the cafeteria’s food’s way too gross to even consider eating there. I’d been thinking of sneaking out of school and buying something, even though going out of the school grounds during school hours is forbidden. Then Gohan came up to me, all worried because I looked so sour, and asked what was wrong.

I told him off rudely. “I forgot my damn lunch, that’s what’s wrong. Now beat it before I beat you, nerd.”

I didn’t even feel bad about how unnecessarily mean I was to him, though when I glanced at him, his sad puppy look kinda got to me, I admit.

“You can have some of mine,” he offered kindly, despite how awful I just was to him. “My mom always packs me too much anyway.”

I eyed him suspiciously. Because really, who is so nice? Especially seeing as I just talked shit at him.

“Why would you do that for me?”

“Well, you’re in trouble, and I can help.”

He showed me his lunch capsule and smiled at me. And then, no matter how hard I tried to suppress it, I found myself smiling back at him.

“Besides, I could never go a day without lunch. That’s just awful,” he grinned playfully. That made me chuckle.

I gotta say, his mom’s cooking was the best thing I’ve ever had. And because Gohan was sharing with me and the girls were eating with us, he ended up offering them some of his gigantic lunch. He wasn’t kidding when he said his mom packed too much. I still can’t believe he finished all of it, even if we helped a little. But we had nothing in comparison. How can he be so scrawny when he eats so much?

I had fun at lunch that day. Gohan’s a funny dude when you get past his shy side. He’s got the kind of dorky sense of humor that you can’t help but laugh at despite how ridiculous his jokes are.

It’s been months now. And it turns out that Videl was actually right about Gohan all along: we saw him at the tournament. He’d entered as the Great Saiyaman, Satan City’s new superhero, and at first we thought he just borrowed the name because he wanted to stay anonymous. But then something insane happened, and he somehow transformed into the Golden Fighter. It was insane, I tell you.

Ruler, who had tagged along with me and Erasa to go to the tournament, isn’t really close to Gohan, even though like everybody else at school he’s taken a liking to our resident nerd. After the whole big bubble gum monster fiasco – now that’s a crazy story – when we all went back to school, he’s tried telling his friends about what we saw at the tournament.

Nobody believed him. Gohan’s a nerd, and it’s a well-known fact that nerds can’t be superheroes, well, except in comic books. How could such a scrawny kid lift cars or planes and fight like a god? They all laughed at Ruler that it was ridiculous and said “Good one!”

Good thing, too, because Gohan later took me and Erasa aside and told us that his identity must stay a secret at all costs. I don’t mind keeping his secret, and it’s kinda cool to be friends with a superhero. Plus, since I’m doing him this huge favor, Gohan owes me big time. And it’s always nice to have people owe me favors, heh.

Not that I’d ask him to do anything bad. We are friends, after all. But, hey, at least he’s not just a nerd! Though Saiyaman is kinda lame with his ridiculous poses and speeches, when he fights he’s super badass. And Gohan looked so cool at the tournament when he transformed. I’d never forget how he looked, glaring at his opponent while the ring’s tiles dropped back into places. And that bright glow around him. And the bolts of electricity. Seriously, that was the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I still get chills just thinking about it.

Oh yeah, and it turns out that the reason Gohan’s been absent in school for a month was because Videl found him out and blackmailed him into teaching her how to fly and entering the tournament, so he’s been training for it all this time. Smart girl, that Videl, huh?

And want to know what else? They’re dating now. Yup. Our very own tomboy and the biggest nerd ever somehow fell for each other while Gohan was teaching Videl how to fly. And they’re sickeningly cute and all lovey-dovey together – seriously, it makes me gag. Well, I’m happy for them. I guess it took a brainy superhero to steal Videl’s heart. She’s put the bar extra high, that Videl, hasn’t she? Well, with how hot and awesome she is, she’d be wrong not to.

The point is, I’m friends with a superhero. Who is also a super nerd. But that’s okay – he’s cool.