Perfect by Design

6: Aaliyah James

As hard as I try to focus on what my teacher is saying, my head is just somewhere else right now. I can't help but wonder if Trevor and I just had our first fight. I guess it wasn't really a fight, but still, I'm left feeling uneasy.

"Pssst," Taylor says behind me. I reach my hand back and grab the note that I know she's passing me.

Come with me to meet this guy during lunch? Or are you doing your bleacher thing?

There's always a guy with Taylor. There's also always a terrible decision involved. My most recent punishment isn't a distant memory, and I'm not desperate to relive it.

Still, she's my best friend, and I know she'll go without me, which is absolutely stupid. So, against my better judgment, I write down that I'll go before sliding the note back to her.

The bell rings, and I'm barely standing before Taylor loops her arm through mine.

"We'll be back before anyone knows we're gone. Promise!"

"I'm sure we won't," I respond. "Let's just get this over with. Who is this guy anyway?"

"His name is Jalen. He's a freshman at Arizona State! Leah, I'm pretty sure he's my future husband."

She's also pretty sure her on-again-off-again boyfriend Aaron is her future husband. Keeping up with Tay is a full-time job.

"Do I even want to know how you met this guy?"

"The party I told you to come to Friday night!" She rolls her eyes.

"I told you it was family game night! My parents take it very seriously."

"Yeah, yeah. Nobody told you to have a normal, functional family." She teases, and we both laugh.

"So, do you want to tell me what that's about?" She dramatically tilts her head to the left, and I follow her movement to the very guy I'm avoiding.

"It's nothing." I quickly respond.

"Great! Let's invite him to come with us!"

"Tay..." no. I'm too late as I watch her skip over in his direction. Hopefully, he says no.

Great. He's walking in this direction. So much for him saying no.

"Hi, pretty girl." It's not his usual charming grin or smooth, sweet voice. Instead, there's hesitation as he moves closer to me but stops just before he's close enough.

"Yeaaaah. This looks like a whole bunch of nothing." Taylor nudges me, pushing me closer to Trevor. I could kill her.

"Oh, it's not nothing. I overstepped and...." He grabs my hand, and I try to pull away, but our pinkies lock together, still giving him a hold on me.

"I'm sorry, Aaliyah."

The thing is, I'm not even sure I'm mad at Trevor. I think I'm madder at myself because I kind of want to know what he wanted to tell me.

The problem is, whatever he tells me, I'll have to bring up to my parents, and dad already told me that my mom doesn't really want to talk about Kennedy.

Ugh. Why couldn't his mother just mind her business?

I take a step closer to him and wrap my arms around his waist, allowing my head to fall into his chest.

"That's a hard conversation for me," I whisper.

"I know. I didn't feel right having information about you and not sharing it with you. I want you to know you can trust me." He bends down and kisses the top of my head, and now I see why my mom loves that gesture from my dad. It's so gentle but so affectionate at the same time.