Maya, Luna, and Sally sat at their usual spot in the school cafeteria, plates of half-eaten food in front of them, but no appetite for it. The air between them was thick with frustration. The mission to tame Eddie was supposed to be a quick win, but instead, it had dragged on for weeks. The girls looked at Maya, awaiting an explanation.
"I don't get it," Luna said, throwing her hands up. "We thought this whole 'taming Eddie' thing was supposed to take, like, one day. Maybe two, tops. But it's been forever!"
Maya sighed dramatically, her head resting on her palm. "I know, I know. I thought the same thing. I've tried everything, but nothing works."
Sally narrowed her eyes, clearly skeptical. "You tried everything? Like what? Giving him the 'I'm-so-into-you' look? Flirting? The usual Maya stuff?"
"Exactly," Maya said, nodding seriously. "I gave him the 'I'm-so-into-you' look, the 'I'm-unavailable-but-still-want-you' look, even the 'I'm-bored-but-I'll-make-you-think-I'm-into-you' look."
"Wait, you didn't try the 'I'm-a-helpless-victim-who-needs-saving' look?" Luna raised an eyebrow.
Maya smirked. "Oh, I did, and it was… surprisingly effective. But Eddie? Nope. He doesn't fall for the usual stuff."
Sally groaned, slumping in her seat. "So… what are we supposed to do now? I'm honestly out of ideas."
"Okay, listen," Maya said, leaning forward with a mischievous grin. "I've been thinking. Eddie's not like the other guys. He's… different."
"Yeah, he's a nerd," Luna said, as if that explained everything.
"Exactly! Nerds are like… their own species," Maya said dramatically. "They don't think like normal guys. They don't fall for the same tricks. They want… more. They're smarter. Their standards are… different."
Sally blinked. "Wait, what do you mean by 'different'?"
"I mean," Maya said, tapping her chin, "they're not impressed by, like, hair flips and fake laughs. They're more about brains, challenge, and—"
"Not getting distracted by shiny things?" Luna interjected with a knowing look. "Yeah, we noticed."
"Exactly!" Maya exclaimed. "They don't care if you have the perfect hair or wear a cute outfit. It's all about… intellectual connection. They want someone who can keep up with them."
Sally snorted. "Well, that's just great. So now we need to become… intellectuals?"
"Basically," Maya said. "And I'm all in."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "You? Intellectual? You can barely spell 'philosophy.'"
"Ha-ha, very funny," Maya retorted. "But seriously. Eddie's not going to fall for the usual stuff. So we need to get inside his nerdy little brain and figure out what makes him tick."
"Isn't that what we've been doing for weeks?" Luna asked, clearly frustrated.
Maya shrugged. "Sort of. But we need a new approach. No more trying to fit in with the jocks or the popular crowd. It's all about the nerd life now. And I've got a plan."
The girls exchanged skeptical looks but leaned in as Maya continued. "We'll start by studying Eddie's habits. What he reads. What he talks about. And most importantly, how he sees the world. We'll follow him around and figure out exactly what he likes and doesn't like. It's like research… but with more stalking."
"You're making this sound like a project," Sally said, eyes wide. "Like a research paper on 'How to Get Eddie to Fall in Love with You 101.'"
Maya smiled. "You know what? That's actually a good idea. We're going to develop a system. A plan."
"A plan?" Luna repeated, clearly amused. "What's this, the '10 Steps to Tame the Nerd'?"
Maya's eyes lit up. "Exactly! That's it!"
Sally snorted. "Wait, are we seriously going to do this? A 10-step guide to getting Eddie to like Maya? This sounds like something out of a bad rom-com."
Maya grinned. "The cheesier, the better. It's going to work. Trust me. Step one: Learn about nerd culture. We start there."
A few days later, the girls were sitting in the library, surrounded by piles of books on everything from sci-fi to graphic novels. Maya flipped through one with exaggerated interest, pretending to understand what she was reading. Luna, on the other hand, was scrolling through her phone.
"This is boring," Luna muttered. "Can't we just go back to the cafeteria and… I don't know, flirt with some regular guys?"
Maya shot her a look. "No! We are researching Eddie. You know, understanding him."
Sally picked up a book titled The Philosophy of the Nerd: How to Think Like Eddie and raised an eyebrow. "This is for real?"
Maya nodded enthusiastically. "We need to know what makes his brain tick. Nerds don't care about surface-level stuff. They care about what's in here." She tapped her temple dramatically.
"So, we're going to be… nerds?" Sally asked with a smirk. "Is this part of your '10 Steps'?"
Maya grinned, holding up a notebook. "Exactly. We're going to get into Eddie's head, and when we do, we'll know exactly how to get him to fall for me."
The following week, Maya, Luna, and Sally sat at the same table, notebooks open, scribbling down their observations. They had spent the entire week tailing Eddie, watching him closely, and trying to understand his complex nerdy ways. The girls had learned that Eddie didn't care about makeup or fancy clothes. He was all about intellect and uniqueness.
"I think we've got it," Maya said, flipping through her notes. "We need to challenge him. But not like the way we challenge the jocks. We need to engage him in… conversations. Intellectual conversations. Show him we can keep up."
"Conversations?" Luna asked. "Do you even know what he talks about? Half of it sounds like another language."
"Exactly," Maya said with a determined grin. "But that's the challenge. And I love a good challenge."
Sally leaned back in her chair, shaking her head. "So what's next? Step two of your master plan?"
Maya stood up dramatically. "Step two: Let the nerd taming begin."
By the end of the week, the girls were fully immersed in their new roles. Maya, no longer just a pretty face, was becoming the ultimate intellectual seductress. The "10 Steps to Tame the Nerd" had taken on a life of its own, and the girls were starting to see the first glimmers of success.
Eddie might not have been impressed by her usual tricks, but Maya was about to show him that there was so much more to her than meets the eye. And this time, he wouldn't know what hit him.