silence.
“I’m not a nerd!” She replied, startled at his comment.
“Sure you are, but don’t get so upset. It’s not a bad thing to be,” Lucian said.
Sofia replied, “I know that, but I’m not a nerd. If anything, I’m more of a jock.”
“First of all, ew. Never say that again. The connotations that go with being a jock are so much worse than being a nerd. Second, no one said the two were mutually exclusive. You’re very athletic, but nothing like a jock. Jocks are mean, and you are anything but that.”
“Fine.” She partially agreed, “ I’m not a jock. But I’m definitely not a nerd.”
“Do you read a lot?”
“Well, yeah. But mostly just about work-related stuff.”
“But other people in your line of work don’t read that stuff and they still do fine, right?”
“That’s true I guess....”
“And you’re pretty well-educated, right? Didn’t you mention something about being in the top of your class and catching up in school really quickly even though you were way behind when you got here?
“That was just...necessary.”
“So, when we take out the factors like the fact that you’re athletic and gorgeous, we’re left with; you felt socially awkward in high school; you skipped several grades and made excellent marks in school; and you have excelled in your chosen field through additional, and completely voluntary, research?”
“I’m not a nerd,” she whimpered, sticking out her bottom lip as she pouted momentarily at his revelation.
“You’re a huge nerd!”
“I’m such a nerd…,” she conceded, lowering her head. Lucian wrapped his arm around her as he laughed loudly, which brought the smile back to her face instantly.
The two turned the corner and entered the MARTA station. Lucian placed a few dollars into the machine, which sent the tokens tinkling into the receptacle. They took the coins and started towards the escalators that took them to the trains.
“So who is it that you’re protecting?” Lucian asked as they waited for the train to arrive.
“What do you mean?” She asked, turning her attention from watching a group of young girls that were having an overly loud conversation nearby. “I mean, I’m protecting everyone that the person that I arrest would have hurt in the future I suppose.”
“No. You said you are protecting the people that you care about. Is that your parents, or siblings, or what?”
“Um, I don’t really know. I guess I didn’t really mean it like that. I mean, I’m an only child, and I’ve never really known any cousins or other relatives. But yes, I suppose I did start out with my parents in mind. They had a very hard life when we lived in Colombia. We always lived in fear of what might happen if we didn’t do as we were told by the men that ran our village. When we came to the United States, I expected things to be much different and I worked to make sure I was doing my part to make that hold true.”
“Are you saying things aren’t better here?”
“No, it’s very different here. In so many ways it is better, but I can see similarities. We moved to an area that was filled with immigrants that had survived similar experiences to ours. Some of those immigrants saw the new conditions as a time for them to start their own version of what we had all already experienced. Although they would never have tried to enslave us the way that the drug lords in Colombia had, they did form gangs that tried to run our neighborhood. While they were unable to terrorize us the way we had been in our villages, they were still able to impact our lives and force us to do things we didn’t want to. I knew at a very early age that I wanted to make my neighborhood a safe place for my parents. I wanted to make their lives better because they deserved some happiness after so much suffering. So, I started doing everything that I could to learn about becoming a great police officer.” Lucian listened intently as she continued.
“I read a
“I’m not a nerd!” She replied, startled at his comment.
“Sure you are, but don’t get so upset. It’s not a bad thing to be,” Lucian said.
Sofia replied, “I know that, but I’m not a nerd. If anything, I’m more of a jock.”
“First of all, ew. Never say that again. The connotations that go with being a jock are so much worse than being a nerd. Second, no one said the two were mutually exclusive. You’re very athletic, but nothing like a jock. Jocks are mean, and you are anything but that.”
“Fine.” She partially agreed, “ I’m not a jock. But I’m definitely not a nerd.”
“Do you read a lot?”
“Well, yeah. But mostly just about work-related stuff.”
“But other people in your line of work don’t read that stuff and they still do fine, right?”
“That’s true I guess....”
“And you’re pretty well-educated, right? Didn’t you mention something about being in the top of your class and catching up in school really quickly even though you were way behind when you got here?
“That was just...necessary.”
“So, when we take out the factors like the fact that you’re athletic and gorgeous, we’re left with; you felt socially awkward in high school; you skipped several grades and made excellent marks in school; and you have excelled in your chosen field through additional, and completely voluntary, research?”
“I’m not a nerd,” she whimpered, sticking out her bottom lip as she pouted momentarily at his revelation.
“You’re a huge nerd!”
“I’m such a nerd…,” she conceded, lowering her head. Lucian wrapped his arm around her as he laughed loudly, which brought the smile back to her face instantly.
The two turned the corner and entered the MARTA station. Lucian placed a few dollars into the machine, which sent the tokens tinkling into the receptacle. They took the coins and started towards the escalators that took them to the trains.
“So who is it that you’re protecting?” Lucian asked as they waited for the train to arrive.
“What do you mean?” She asked, turning her attention from watching a group of young girls that were having an overly loud conversation nearby. “I mean, I’m protecting everyone that the person that I arrest would have hurt in the future I suppose.”
“No. You said you are protecting the people that you care about. Is that your parents, or siblings, or what?”
“Um, I don’t really know. I guess I didn’t really mean it like that. I mean, I’m an only child, and I’ve never really known any cousins or other relatives. But yes, I suppose I did start out with my parents in mind. They had a very hard life when we lived in Colombia. We always lived in fear of what might happen if we didn’t do as we were told by the men that ran our village. When we came to the United States, I expected things to be much different and I worked to make sure I was doing my part to make that hold true.”
“Are you saying things aren’t better here?”
“No, it’s very different here. In so many ways it is better, but I can see similarities. We moved to an area that was filled with immigrants that had survived similar experiences to ours. Some of those immigrants saw the new conditions as a time for them to start their own version of what we had all already experienced. Although they would never have tried to enslave us the way that the drug lords in Colombia had, they did form gangs that tried to run our neighborhood. While they were unable to terrorize us the way we had been in our villages, they were still able to impact our lives and force us to do things we didn’t want to. I knew at a very early age that I wanted to make my neighborhood a safe place for my parents. I wanted to make their lives better because they deserved some happiness after so much suffering. So, I started doing everything that I could to learn about becoming a great police officer.” Lucian listened intently as she continued.
“I read a
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