Patti Gets the Nerd

Patti Perkins lived up to the stereotype of the popular high school cheerleader. Thin, beautiful, shapely, and snobbish. She had a close circle of friends that shared those same qualities. Most people didn't measure up to their lofty standards of looks...or what they considered to be cool.

I was, quite simply, just a nerd. Straight A student, and somewhat of a loner. I did excel at golf, though. I was the best golfer on our high school team and already had been asked to join the junior college team for the next season.

Although my parents weren't well-to-do by any means, my dad loved golf and it became a frequent Saturday or Sunday family activity. That included my mother and my older sister.

I'm Scott Stephens, the son of Randy and Stella Stephens, and younger brother of Cindy Stephens. At the time of these series of events, in the winter of 1980, I was 18 and a high school senior, and Cindy was 22 and a college senior.

My dad was a mechanic that specialized in repairs of farm equipment and machinery. My mother worked part-time as a librarian at a nearby junior high school. Cindy was close to receiving her bachelor's degree and had designs on being an elementary school teacher.

Me? I've always been a history buff. World History, US History, History of Religions, and a special interest in US Civil War History. Like my sister, I was going to spend my first two years of college at the junior college less than a mile from our home, then finish at the large university on the opposite side of town, about 12 miles west of our home.

So, how did a nerdy nobody get so well acquainted with this hip cheerleader? One word: tutoring.

During our junior year, my US History teacher informed me that Patti's parents were willing to pay someone to help rescue her from her failing US History grades. She barely survived with a D in the first quarter of the school year and weren't happy with her.

That was my 2^nd period class and Patti took the same class with the same curriculum during 6^th period. I met her mother at the school and immediately liked her.

She was disappointed in her daughter's efforts and was hoping that I could help her with her studies, but also instill a desire in her to care more about her studies. The best part was that she lived only two streets down from me and since I had no transportation but to walk, it was convenient. I had tutored before in Math and English as well as helping elementary school students with reading, but this would be the first chance to tutor in History...and for a very pretty girl at that!

My time tutoring Patti also gave me time to get to know her parents, Thelma and Wayne Perkins. Patti had an older brother, Paul, that was ready to graduate from college. He had a future in banking ahead of him.

Wayne was a heavy equipment operator. He had been at his job for over 20 years. Thelma had been doing light bookkeeping, including some payroll, from her home for nearly 15 years.

Neither made great money, but it put food on the table and got their oldest son through two years of junior college, then two years of a four-year college. That was similar to what my parents had done with my older sister...and their plans for me.

Not only did I help Patti raise her 1^st semester grade to a B-, but her 2^nd semester grade was an A-. I also helped her understand why learning history was so important.

It also gave me an opportunity to get to know her better. At home, she would talk to me like an equal. I wasn't that uncool kid that her friends ignored. Sadly, at school, I was a stranger to her. I was simply referred to as "the tutor" to her friends.

Still, I had enjoyed the chance to know her parents. Also, our mothers got to meet a few times and became friends as well.

Although I refer to myself as a nerd, I really don't feel like that's an insult. I know it's used as an insult by others, but I wear it as a badge of honor. Besides, although I wasn't a big sports star in high school (other than golf), I wasn't some helpless little weakling.

I was almost 6 feet tall and although I had a very thin frame, I had learned how to fight and defend myself, thanks to my Uncle Jeff. Jeff, my dad's oldest brother, was an excellent boxer in his youth. I spent a lot of time in his garage with his punching bag and his assortment of light weights.

The purpose wasn't to make me a mean bully, but to help me use my skills to hopefully defuse a confrontation. If that didn't work, then use my boxing (and some much more limited martial arts knowledge) to defend myself and my family against aggressive behavior.

In my first 3 ½ years of high school, I never had a need for those skills. I went to school, did well, stayed out of trouble, then either went home or to the library.

While tutoring Patti in History, we learned an odd truth...our birthdays are exactly one day apart. She turned 18 on January 11^th during her senior year, and I turned 18 the following day. It was only about 3 weeks later that the friendship was tested to the extreme.

Patti waited until her senior year to take an algebra class that was required to graduate. During the middle of the 1^st quarter, Thelma called to see if I would be available to tutor again. She mentioned that money was a little tight and instead of the 4 dollars they were paying me each week, they could only afford 2...at least for the first couple of months.

I offered to do it for free. I liked them, and despite that Patti nearly pretended to not even know me at school, I did like her. I saw an insecure girl that was afraid to be herself in front of her "friends". At home, I believed that I saw more of the real Patti.

They refused to let me do it for free. The hours for Wayne had been cut temporarily, but it was important to them that Patti pass Algebra so she could graduate with her class. Besides, Wayne's company had a huge contract that began in February and he'd probably get more hours than he could handle...that is, on the days when the weather permitted. Then, they would go back to the previous wages for me.

That didn't matter. Every dollar that I got from my various tutoring jobs went into a fund (along with the hours I worked on Saturday nights at a nearby market stocking shelves) to buy me a car. I was still a couple hundred away from finding something that could be considered reliable for college.

On a Friday afternoon during the middle of February, things changed between us. I already had enough credits at mid-term to graduate. The only requirements left was to take another semester of P.E. and an Economics class.

I had joined a program in high school that allowed me to get credits for junior college. I spent the last two class periods each day as a Teacher's Assistant. I worked in Mr. Hayfield's US History class and Mrs. Gholz' English Literature class.

Essentially, I had a short morning with two classes. I'd go home for a couple of hours, or to the library, then come back to the school to work as an assistant. Not only did I get college credits, I also got 3 dollars per hour...or 6 dollars per day.

Walking home through the back of the school where there was an open gate that was only a block away from my home, I heard some girl screaming from behind the boy's locker room. All I heard was "stop it Michael" and "shit, you're hurting me."

I ran the next 100 feet until I saw that it was Patti that was screaming. Michael was some guy that I had never met, and he was standing behind her with his hands completely covering he breasts through her sweater. He had been squeezing them, and she had been squirming, trying to free herself.

"Stop it!" I yelled forcibly at him. "Get your fucking hands off her right now!"

Michael looked at me...angrily. "Go fuck yourself, you useless nerd. This isn't any of your business."

"Like hell, it isn't. You're hurting my friend. Get lost, or you'll be sorry you screwed with me."

He laughed at me. "Yeah right! What are you going to do? Hit me over the head with your books?"

"Scott, just go on home," Patti suggested. "He's not going to bother me anymore."

"I'll go home once he does," I said pointing to Michael and some other guy that was with him, just apparently just watching.

"Fuck you, nerd. No little prick like you is going to tell me where to go."

We stared at each other. Suddenly, he lunged at me with his right hand clenched. He was aiming for my face, but I deflected it and I landed a hard right punch right in his gut.

He stumbled backwards. I could tell my punch had an effect on him because he was trying to catch his breath. Again, I told him to get the hell out of here before it gets ugly.

He came right back at me. Again, he tried landing a right hook. Again, I deflected it. This time, I responded with a hard right jab...to the left side of his mouth as he immediately hit the ground.

There was some blood coming from his mouth. I had bloodied his lip and I may have broken a tooth. Again, I told him to get lost.

"You go get him, Zach," he said to his friend that had been watching.

"Like hell, I will. He's kicking your ass. He can kick mine as well!" Zach took off by himself. He wanted no part of this.

"Patti, I can walk you home if you wish. This guy won't bother you."

"What the hell were you thinking, Scott?" she asked angrily. "Shit, you didn't have to hurt him so badly."

"You're kidding, right?" I asked with more than a little surprise in my voice.

"No, I'm not kidding. Look at him. His mouth is bleeding and his stomach hurts like hell. Come with me, Michael. We can go to the office and get you checked out. Just leave me alone, Scott. He didn't deserve this!"

I couldn't believe it. I had defended her honor and now I was the one being treated as some kind of goon.

"I'm leaving. Right now. Oh, forget any more tutoring. I'm done with that. I have no desire to be around you at all."

"Whatever, Scott. I'm sure we can find another one."

I was pissed. I was about as angry as I could get about anything. I was going to walk home, call Thelma, and let her know that my tutoring days with Patti were over. Then, I turned to my left and decided to tell her personally.

When I got to the front door, Wayne answered. He had another short day of work and was home earlier than usual.

I explained to her parents what had happened and what I had done. I explained that Patti defended the guy that had his hands all over her chest. I assured them that what I did was out of self-defense, not out of aggression.

"Shit, Scott. He deserved what he got even if he hadn't taken a couple of shots at you. I'm going to find out a little more about him."

"Scott," said Thelma pleasantly. "Please stay here and visit with us until Patti gets here. I'm anxious to hear her defend this jerk. I have some soda in the fridge and some fancy Oreo cookies," she said jokingly.

"Of course, you know there's nothing fancy around this house," she said while smiling playfully at me.

"Scott," added Wayne, "I have every reason to believe you. You've never been in trouble at school. I don't even have a clue who this Michael guy is. I know a Michael Windsor that lives down the street, but he's just a freshman. I doubt that it's him.

"Oh no. I'm sure this guy was an adult. Probably over 20. I'd never seen him before. I just don't understand why she was so mad at me about it, though. He was the one doing shit he shouldn't have been doing."

As I was chomping down on an Oreo cookie, I heard the front door open, then slam.

Wayne and I were at the back end of the kitchen table and Patti couldn't see us as she stormed past the kitchen and towards the hall to her bedroom.

Thelma followed directly behind her, asking her what her problem was.

"Well, for one, I'm going to need a new tutor. Scott quit."

Her dad quietly motioned for me to follow him into the living room. He wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation. We were completely silent. Only body language and facial expressions were communicated between us.

"Why did Scott quit?" asked her mother calmly.

"Because I'm mad at him for beating up some guy at school."

"Why in the world would Scott beat up a guy? That doesn't sound like him."

"Well, I guess we got to know him too well today, I guess."

"So, Patti. You're telling me that Scott beat up some guy at school for no reason whatsoever? He wasn't provoked?"

"Not really."

"Not really?" replied her mother. "What kind of answer is that? He either had a reason, or he didn't. If he didn't, then we have to believe that all of a sudden Scott became some kind of bully. Do I need to call his mother and let her know? I bet she'd be shocked as hell."

"Mom, can we drop it now?"

"No, we're not dropping it now. Maybe you can fill me in on what really happened and what caused Scott to hurt someone."

"It's complicated, Mom. You wouldn't understand."

Again, Thelma remained calm.

"Honey, I know I'm not a genius or anything like that, but I was 18 many years ago. I bet it's not too complicated for me to understand. I have the feeling that this might be about another boy, am I correct?"

I would have loved to seen Patti's face when her mother asked that question.

"Sort of," was Patti's short answer.

"Patti, like I said, I know I'm not a genius, but quit giving me answers like not really and sort of. I just want honest answers, even if it isn't flattering to you."

"It's embarrassing, Mom."

"Fine, it's embarrassing. So, why did this embarrassment cause Scott to fly off the handle like you said he did."

I'm sitting less than 15 feet away from the conversation and her dad was smiling at me. Mrs. Thelma Perkins wasn't letting this one go away until she had a satisfactory explanation.

"Fine, Mom. Here's kind of what happened."

"Kind of?" asked her mother. "I don't want to hear about what kind of happened. How about the entire truth? How about the exact reason you're so mad at Scott?"

There was about 10 seconds of dead silence. I started to doubt that she'd get an answer. What followed was even shocking to me.

"Mom, two weeks ago...on a dare...I went into the boy's bathroom with Kevin Linder. We agreed to go inside a stall and I'd let him feel me up top, but I'd keep my clothes on."

"Kevin went further. He started off doing what he promised, then he pulled up my shirt and bra and had his hands on my bare boobs. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to draw attention to it. Also, it wasn't really that bad since he'd already felt them before pulling up my shirt."

"Then he slipped his hand inside of my pants and felt me below. At that point, I pulled his hand away and pulled back down my shirt."

"I know what you and dad have told me about having boys and that you didn't mind what I did as long as we did it here under your roof. I didn't obey that rule, and I'm sorry."

"Now, Michael is Kevin's older brother. What's happened since that time with Kevin is that it seems like the whole school knows about it. Michael believed that I'd give him the same privilege I gave Kevin. He was wrong."

I could hear the shaking in Patti's voice. She was trying to control her emotions.

"Patti?" asked her mother. "Do you like Kevin?"

"To be honest, not really."

"Not really? Does that mean that you don't?"

"I don't like him, mom."

Thelma was determined to not accept any ambiguous answers.

"Why did you let him feel you up like that then?"

"He'd done it to others. Other girls said they enjoyed it. Besides, Mom, we didn't even come close to going all the way. He was hard, that's all. Also, a lot of girls have done a lot more, including losing their virginity."

"So, peer pressure was all it took for you to do something you didn't really want to do?"

"I guess you're right, Mom."

"Yes, I'm right. I also think there's more to what happened with Scott than you're telling me.

"Mom, Scott must have heard me yelling at Michael to stop what he was doing. He got mad at Michael and went after him."

I shook my head no at her father. I mouthed the words "that's a lie" to him. Wayne shook his head yes to acknowledge that he believed me.

"That's it?" asked her mother. "There wasn't a confrontation at all? Just Scott acting wild and reckless? You know, we've known him over a year now. He's been to our home many times. He comes from a really good family. What you're describing makes no sense."

"Remember, you first told me that Scott just beat up some kid. Now. we learn that this kid was sexually assaulting you. What else are you hiding? Remember, I can bring Scott over here to tell his side of the story."

"You'd believe Scott over me?"

"Not necessarily, but don't you think he deserves to have his side of the story heard? What if Michael went to the office and turned Scott in? What if he lost his job because of this?"

"Mom, Michael started the fight. Scott told him to go home but Michael thought he could kick Scott's ass. He learned the hard way."

"Okay, Patti, now we're getting somewhere. But...WHY be mad at Scott? He was defending your honor. It seems like he should be thanked, not hated."

"Mom, I didn't want a big deal made out of it. The girls at school are now going to find out what Scott did. See, all anybody had to know was that Michael put his hands on my boobs. That wouldn't have been a big deal. Having someone like Scott beat him up, THAT'S a big deal."

"What do you mean, someone like Scott?" asked her mother patiently. Thelma knew what the real answer was, but she was going to make Patti admit it.

"Mom, you know...Scott. Nice guy, but not real popular. Not an athlete, unless you call golf a sport. Kind of a nerd. Girls think he's kind of weird."

"Let me get this straight, Patti," answered her mother. "A guy that stays out of trouble, has a 4.0 GPA, tutors several high school and elementary school students, and stays out of trouble is weird? You know, he's not a bad looking kid and he's got great manners. I like that kind of weird."

"But my friends don't see it that way. Can you imagine how I'd be treated if they knew I really liked Scott a lot?"

Wow! She really admitted that she likes me a lot?

Suddenly, Thelma wasn't quite as sweet.

"So, because some of your friends don't think he's the right kind of guy, you're willing to treat him like shit? Do you realize what a phony that makes you? Why in the hell would a guy like Scott want to be your friend? I can't blame him for quitting."

"Too late now, Mom. Maybe we can just get another tutor. Besides, he was here because you were paying him to be here."

"You are wrong, Patti. Scott knows we're playing it tight and he's refused any money for the past several weeks. He just wanted to help you. I can see why he would want to quit. No more tutors. You're on your own with Algebra."

I could hear sniffling coming from Patti. I felt bad for her. I suspected for a long time that the real Patti was the one that I spent two evenings each week, from 7-8pm, tutoring. That same Patti and I would spend an additional 30-45 minutes afterwards each time just talking about anything else.

Peer pressure. I didn't have that issue. I grew up with a self-confidence to not care what others thought. I did what I enjoyed. I enjoyed studying, reading, and golf. My few closest friends had no problem with that. Even Patti's parents thought that my interests were great. So did Patti...when she wasn't influenced by her pretentious little snobbish girlfriends.

Patti had no clue that I had heard the entire conversation. For that matter, Thelma didn't know that we had moved so much closer so that we could hear. She didn't know until later.

Wayne motioned for me to go outside with him. We quietly exited the house and stood at the front patio.