𑣲 nerd!carter x populargirl!reader
summary: high school au where carter bryant is a nerd who wears glasses, and reader is a popular girl who is kind of a bitch and struggling with algebra, so he offers to tutor her! i loved playing around with this trope sm! carter def fits the nerd type 🤭
nerd!carter who has the same algebra class as you. when you first walk in, his eyes snap to you, and in his defense, everyone’s eyes snap towards you when you enter a room. with your short skirt, baby tee, perfectly polished nails, and oh so sweet vanilla perfume, carter has to push his glasses up on his face to make sure you’re real and not a figment of his imagination. no one as perfect as you can possibly be real… right? he feels his heart beat race when he sees you talking to the teacher, and she points to the seat next to him. you walk over to him, and he tries his hardest not to look fazed, but he fails. miserably, at that. you chuckle when you see him staring at you with pure awe in his eyes.
“like what you see, baby boy?”
his face instantly turns red. “hm—huh? m-me? no, no, I wasn—”
you giggle. “relax, sweetie. i’m not mad. i’m flattered, really. i love when people stare at me.”
popular!reader who becomes accustomed to carter. you both form something akin to a friendship. carter always arrives on time and takes notes during class, so whenever you’re absent, he would get you up to speed the next day on what you missed. you also find that he is a really good listener; whenever the teacher assigns an assignment, he is always the first person you rant to.
“three assignments in one day? who does she think she is?”
“well, uhm, all things considered, the assignments are multiple choice, so it shouldn’t take you long.”
you groan in frustration. “that’s not the point, bryant. the point is, i have other—much more important—things to do! i can’t be wasting my precious time on these assignments!”
nerd!carter who gets excited to see his graded paper on his desk every friday morning. the sharp red A boosts his confidence every time. he looks over to your desk and sees you hiding your paper, a faint C curve staining through the back. his lips frown as he takes in your face: eyes turning red, lips quivering, and eyebrows scrunching up in frustration. he hates seeing you look so beat up. he’d do anything to turn that frown upside down, so he offers the only thing he can.
he clears his throat. “do you need some help? i-i can help you if you’d like?”
you glance at him and see no gloat or superiority in his eyes. just a willingness to help. you smile gratefully. “yeah. i’d like that, please.”
popular!reader who can’t believe that you are standing outside carter bryant’s front door and having your hair frizz up in the humidity just so you can study. the front door opens—after what seems like forever—and you immediately push your way in.
“you couldn’t have opened the door any faster?”
“something came up, but i’m here now—”
“yeah, yeah. let’s just get this over with.”
nerd!carter who spent extra time before you arrived ironing his clothes to make sure he looks his best during your study session. it took him longer than he’d expected to iron his shirt, which is why he opened the front door five minutes late, but he doesn’t tell you that. he leads you to his living room table, where he has set up notebooks and calculators.
“i’ve set up everything we’ll need, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
“it looks… better than i’d expected in here.”
nerd!carter who is trying really hard to stay focused, but when you’re sitting so close to him, your perfume is wafting through the air, and you’re wearing a new lip gloss that makes your lips look so soft and kissable, he forgets what he’s even supposed to be doing in the first place.
“carter, are you listening?”
popular!reader who doesn’t miss how flustered carter gets near you during tutoring. how his fists clench near his sides like he’s fighting against his inner thoughts. how his cheeks turn pink whenever you catch him staring for too long. how his glasses slightly slip down the bridge of his nose, and when you push them back up for him, he completely freezes.
nerd!carter who gets so tongue-tied after your fingers touch his face that the quadratic equation he was helping you with has completely fled his brain. 4ac minus… what? he doesn’t know. all he knows is that he would do anything to have your touch back on his face, so his brain utters the only thing he can think of.
“i-i’m on the basketball team!”
your eyebrows shoot up. “i’m sorry—what?”
the adrenaline from earlier slips as carter licks his lips anxiously. “yeah.. I, uh, I play for our school’s basketball team.”
popular!reader whose eyes practically burst out of your head when carter tells you he plays for your school’s basketball team. you have no idea how a quadratic equation resulted in that admission from him, but you’re intrigued nonetheless.
“how long have you played?”
“about two years.”
you twirl your pencil around in your hand, narrowing your eyes at him. “i don’t believe that someone as cute as you could be on our school’s basketball team.”
nerd!carter who finds himself in the school gym teaching you the rules of basketball and showing you how he plays. since you don’t think he is actually a player for your school’s team, you demanded for him to show you proof.
“and, when i make a goal from here, i get two points.”
“wait, two points? i thought you get that from behind this line?”
“no, that’s the three-point line.”
“so, there’s only two or three points that you can get from a shot?”
“..pretty much.”
“games must take forever to win!”
popular!reader who, despite your better wishes, finds yourself thinking about carter all the time. no matter what you’re doing, your thoughts always drift back to those pretty brown puppy dog eyes, that adorable smile of his, and how cute he looks when he’s blushing. you’ve had crushes on other guys before, but this one feels different.
“hello! earth to y/n?” your friend waves her hand in front of your face.
you perk up immediately. “huh? yes?”
“what’s going on up there? i was talking to you for a good ten minutes about this girl in my english class who thinks she’s all that, and you weren’t even paying attention. it was like you were somewhere else.”
“oh.. i’m sorry. just have a lot on my mind. tell me again, okay?”
nerd!carter who notices you acting differently during your next tutoring session. you were more…shy, quiet—you didn’t utter some witty remark like you usually do. to be honest, you were acting a lot like him. even though that makes him feel less awkward, he knows something is up, and he’s determined to get to the bottom of it.
“hey, is everything okay?”
“yeah! why wouldn’t it be?”
“it’s just..” he trails, wondering if saying anything is the right thing to do. “you’re quieter today.”
popular!reader who, after all those study sessions, gets your first A in algebra. your manicured fingers grip the graded paper with happiness for the first time. you let out a tiny squeal that draws the attention of students around you, but you don’t care. you finally did it.
“carter! look! do you see this?” you wave your paper excitedly in his direction.
he grins at you and you feel your heart do something weird in your chest. “yes, i do. i’m proud of you! i always knew you could do it.”
popular!reader who comes to terms with the fact that you actually like carter. not because he helped you get an A, but because of who he is. he’s a sweet and passionate person, someone unlike anyone you’ve been around. after all your classes are over and the school bell finally rings, you decide to make a move.
nerd!carter who is closing his locker when he hears it. the clicking of your heels against the school’s hallway floor—a sound he has grown used to hearing. he watches as you stop right in front of him, and before he can even blink, your lips are on top of his. he’s always dreamed about how your lips would feel against his since the first time he tutored you. but, feeling it in real life? oh. he has no idea that lips can be so soft. they feel like two clouds against him. students around gasp and cover their mouths at the sight of you two. his hands come around your waist nervously, not knowing where else to put them. he whines when you eventually pull away.
“is this okay?”
“y-yeah—yes.” he nods enthusiastically, lips glossy and wet.
“you sure?”
“yes. it’s just…” he looks down. “i’ve never been kissed before,” he admits quietly.
you smirk, tilting his chin up with your finger. “then let me show you how it’s done, pretty boy.”
amaya’s note: more nerd!carter?
