Everybody Loves a (Kind of) Nerdy Kid

Everyone does it. They stand in front of the mirror and observe themselves as they doing the right things to attract the opposite sex. Nobody practices being a complete idiot or acting nerdy; that’s just not human nature. Everyone tries to look best for the people they’re trying to impress. It’s just a fact of life.
I was no break in the mold in my younger days. I spent much of my time trying to act macho and thinking of the “cool” thing to say to impress the ladies. Of course I eventually started dating some girls, so I thought that I was practicing the correct techniques, if that’s what you’d want to call it. Some of these relationships went better than others, but one thing remained constant: I always seemed to find myself employing the things that I had often rehearsed in my head. I often times judged my relationships on how well these things were received, and often times this left me realizing that I must be the worst person to date. But I was ok with that, because I thought that I was doing all the right things.
This summer, another opportunity presented itself to me. I had started casually dating a girl, and I was ready to make things a little bit more serious. Her friends told me that she did too, so I get myself ready for our next date. After a fun night at a professional sporting event, I had finally mustered up the courage to ask her out on the way home. I began my rather long winded speech, and ended it with asking her to be my girlfriend (not very smoothly I might add). She said yes, and this was when I made my real mistake. In response to her saying yes, I responded by giving her a thumbs up, sheepishly grinning, and muttering something stupid like, “COOL!” Right then my well rehearsed freshman self would’ve hung his head in shame for my complete ignorance in dealing with women.
But then something surprising occurred. Instead of deciding that there was no way that she actually wanted to date a big nerd like myself who gave the thumbs up, the girl said yes. In a brief moment of surprise, I almost let another stupid comment slip, but this time I was able to catch myself. I apologized for my previous faux pas, and conversation continued as usual.
I still receive random comments about my notorious thumbs up moment. Friends give me the thumbs up in the hall and then turn around and laugh at each other. I’ve even had teachers remark on the incident to me. Even with all this embarrassment, I have found myself thinking less about what I should say, and just saying even more what comes to mind. Although in many situations, this isn’t the best idea, I’ve learned that in most cases things work out better if I don’t plan things out. I’ve let my nerdy side flourish (3,000 DUCATS), and become a more fun person. Now I have no problem suggesting watching Disney movies for a whole evening, but the rehearsed me wouldn’t have enjoyed that one. Only little kids like those movies.
I don’t regret all the time I spent rehearsing stupid things to say to girls, or dumb things to do when I’m around them. I mean that worked for a while and I’m alright with that. But looking back, that was just as nerdy as anything else. I mean really? Pretending to do something just to get girls. That’s ridiculous. But hey, what ever works.