This is real life, not a fairy tale. I won't pretend to tell you that my story has a happy ending, at least not for all those who were involved. I can't tell you that I saved the world, got the girl (or in my case, guy), and lived happily ever after.

I can't tell you that I'm your normal, average high school girl. But then again, what's normal? Ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit is considered to be the normal human body temperature. But what if yours is only ninety-eight point five? Or ninety-eight point seven? What then? Are you abnormal? Not that I should talk- my average body temperature nowadays is only in the high eighties, when I bother to check my temperature at all.

Society is full of people who are different. Some have extraordinary people and planning skills. We look up to them as leaders. Some are geniuses, and we look to them to make the technological innovations needed to keep society running. Some peoples' minds deviate from the norm; we see them as visionaries, able to see what others can't, to dare to envision a brighter tomorrow. Or we call them criminals, when their dreams of the future and today's society's rules don't coincide.

And then there are those of us who are truly different. You, mainstream society, call us nerds, freaks or geeks, consider us outcasts in territory, i.e. school, where we have the advantage of intelligence, of not brawn.

But every once in a while, a geek gets the opportunity to be more than his or her peers. Look at all the great superheroes- Peter Parker was a nerd before he was bitten by a radioactive spider. Clark Kent is a rather geeky-looking, 'mild-mannered reporter.' Steve Rodgers was a skinny, scrawny wimp before he was given the super-soldier serum by a genius. Even Tony Stark, genius-billionaire-philanthropist-playboy he may be, was a scientist and inventor, not hero, before he made his suit.

But those are comic book characters. They saved the day, got the girl, lived happily ever after to fight another day. I've already told you my story is different. I'd never pretend to be a hero, much less of the 'super' variety. But I've done my share of saving the day in my time, as well as my share of things that I'm not proud of. So I'll let you judge. If you've got my story in your hands, you're obviously more than capable.

So don't say I didn't warn you. My story isn't for the faint of heart.

Are you ready?