Tom Daley: Mr. Perfect

Chapter 15: Perfect

"Zoey?"

His words echoed in my head. "Zoey, I was born here." He was created in one of the test tubes in the back. He's not a normal human. He started out as a floating embryo in a glass tube... That's not something you hear every day.

I felt like I was going to pass out. I grabbed the wall with the hand that Tom was not holding. "Tom, let's go to the car."

Before I knew it we were out of the building and into the cold winter night.

"So, what are you? Are you superhuman?" I asked.

"No. I'm perfect." He said. "They designed me to a perfect tan British boy with abs, muscles and diving skills. They wanted me to be in the Olympics because that's how they'd get their company out there, if congress votes in favor of genetic engineering. I'm like a publicity stunt. If all goes well I'll be the face of the company."

"You're perfect?" That phrase stuck out to me. I looked at his face. His perfect eyes and perfect nose. Perfect lips and perfect skin. I believed it.

"There are perfect people all over Utah." Tom stated. "One of them, who was also born in this building, is Lexi."

Lexi. My bully who we stood up to last week. She was perfect. This was hard to take in.

We got in Tom's car.

"Tom, I know you can't control your birth. But I can't believe you're working for them."

"I didn't know you were so much against this. It has nothing to do with you."

"It has nothing to do with me? You lied to me Tom!" I said.

"I'm so sorry. But it will be okay." He said. "Soon this won't be illegal."

"I don't care that this is illegal." I said. "But the fact that people have to be perfect now. That they can't have flaws anymore."

"You can be perfect too, if you want to."

"Why would I want to?" I was starting to get mad. "You probably know that I'm insecure, but I don't want to be perfect. That's not human."

Tom was silent. I looked at him and said, "Humans have flaws. All of this is too crazy. You're like a different species."

"I'm sorry." He muttered.

We pulled up at my dorm. I got out and Tom followed me to my doorstep.

"Don't leave." He said.

"I need to think." I said.

He grabbed my hand again. "Okay, you can think. But don't take too long because I'm leaving in 6 days.

"I... I didn't realize."

As of right now I couldn't decide if I wanted to break up with him or talk with him. So I decided I'd just kiss him. His perfect lips were perfectly warm, and it made my entire cold face feel warmer.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," I whispered back.

Hopefully I'd see Tom in the next 6 days. But I had to do something about that genetic engineering lab. I didn't have a plan, but I would do something.