As a general unspoken rule, most of the nerds were extremely stereotypical. Role playing games, comic books, tv shows, video games, these were all 'nerdy' things. Coupled with bad fashion sense and general bad looks, along with low physical prowess, it wasn't difficult to see why the Nerds were mainly marginalised. They certainly had a distinctive 'look', and they had a well-known reputation, but they weren't exactly 'great'. Furthermore, most were socially awkward, many had little regard to personal hygiene and their obesity rates were the highest in the school.

To say Nikolai didn't fit in with the nerds was an understatement. For starters, social awkwardness tended to make most nerds either put quantity of speech over quality or not say much at all. It would be lucky for them to communicate their point in a crowd while riled up. Nikolai spoke extremely little, and one could be forgiven for thinking he might be in the latter category. However, he's really just blunt, and he valued efficient speech over flowery words. He got his point across as fast as he could. Furthermore, while most nerds tended to band together, he willingly stood alone, away from the crowd. In contrast to the Nerd's timid and cowardly behaviour, Nikolai could become pretty much immovable should he want something. And while many nerds dressed like they ran full pelt into a merchandise typhoon, Nikolai dressed in the best clothes he had.

Nikolai's wore a suit as he sat in the cafeteria. Book in hand, his black-rimmed hipster glasses perched on his nose, food left unattended on the table. His suit was a sort of parting gift from his adoptive parents. He'd first worn one when he was introduced to them, and they'd brought him one when he was moving out. It was a black affair, with a black tie, blazer and pants. Nikolai polished his dress shoes every now and again, and he'd done so the night before. They shone a little as he shifted his legs under the table, one crossed over the other, to a slightly more comfortable position. His shoes were black, of course. He had to polish it a little more often recently, as they were getting scuffed more easily. Contrasting his black suit was a white dress shirt, its long sleeves almost as long as the blazer's. Every time he turned a page, he saw a glimpse of the white fabric. His attire was well suited for his features. White hair and black eyes contrasted with black suit and white shirt.

Truth be told, the suit he was wearing wasn't exactly a parting gift. His adoptive parents mustn't hate him as much as he thought, because they sent him a resized version for Christmas last year. He had a spare now, though it was a little small. Perhaps he'd ask them to adjust it. He was attached to it, as attached to it as he could be attached to anything, which wasn't really much.

Nevertheless, he was quite out of place in the Nerd tables of the Cafeteria. Most of the Nerds talked or played games, but the defining characteristic of theirs was that they weren't usually alone. Because of their apparent physical weakness, they were often picked on, and they usually resorted to strength in numbers, or sucking up to the preppies. As it stood, Nikolai sat alone.

He didn't mind that, of course. There was something he [i]did[/i] mind, of course, and that was the fact that he was in the cafeteria. Nikolai looked up from his book to his food. As soon as he did, nearby conversations filtered into his ears and the volume of the room caught up with him again. Taking his fork, he quickly shovelled another fork full of pasta into his mouth before putting it down and refocusing on his book. The sound was eventually filtered out as Nikolai returned to his book. It was a non-fiction book, one about human anatomy. It was relatively interesting, but he'd lost his spot and was quite annoyed by it.

See, the problem was that the cafeteria was noisy, and it took all of his concentration to drown out the noise. While no one usually distracted him, one lapse in concentration would cause the noise to come in again. And he hated noise, because it pointless to listen to. It caused him to lose track of his progress on many occasions, and once that happened, he found it difficult to concentrate. Once it was broken, it was difficult to get back.

Nikolai found that he couldn't really focus, as the he noticed the noise and he noticed he was still slightly hungry. It was clear that any further attempts to read would be rebuffed. Nikolai closed his book and removed his glasses, placing them close to hand on the table. Then, he picked up the fork and began to eat his pasta, stopping for nothing. Every forkful quickly cleaned out the bowl, and he was soon done. He judged he was full enough now, and drank the cup of water next to his bowl. Wiping his mouth, he picked up his glasses and his book and started again. This time, the noise filtered out completely as he became totally absorbed in his book.

In the relative chaos of the cafeteria, Nikolai sat resolutely. Most talked amongst themselves while others eyeballed the other cliques. Small conflicts were raised and settled. But even the Entertainers' attention seeking would be background noise for most, while many found Nikolai to be very strange. While entertainers gained attention because of their actions, he got attention because of his lack of action. He stood out like a sore thumb even outside the cafeteria. He looked like he belonged more to administration or the preppies, but he sat at the nerd table. He didn't talk, he never looked at anyone.

Some nerds didn't talk or look at anyone, but that was usually due to a mix of fear and social awkwardness. Nikolai didn't talk to anyone simply because he had nothing to say to anyone. No one talked to him either, through a mix of his reputation and his cold atmosphere. He was quiet, almost aloof. He stood out like a sore thumb as he sat still and read his book, and many people, nerds or not, knew not to bother him.