Perfectly Mean

The Perfectionist

Hayden sat in Gail's office, fidgeting uncomfortably in his chair. Could this possibly get any worse? He wasn't sure how many more personal questions he could stand to answer. Honestly, how much of the information that he had given her did she really need? What did having any pets have to do with the current matter?

She was probably just trying to get to know him, but Hayden just wanted to get away and hide in the seclusion on his room. He strongly disliked talking to people, especially when he had to talk about himself. Gail didn't need to know about every hobby, band, sport or color that he liked.

Gail turned about in her swivel chair to get something out of a file cabinet, and Hayden immediately glanced at the clock behind him. 1:15. No wonder he was so hungry. He could occasionally catch a waft of food, making his stomach growl. He wasn't fond of living in a strange place surrounded by strange people, but at least the food was good.

Today seemed a little better than yesterday though. He and Ava had come down for dinner, and he had tripped over his own foot and fell down the last three stairs. Then he had accidentally knocked over his water glass and saturated his steak. Ava had a fit of laughter both times, and Hayden could only hope that his cheeks were not a red as they felt.

Sir Tarlo had accidentally gotten locked in his room, and in the middle of dessert, he started to yowl. Nova had howled along with him, and to top all of it off, Azula started squawking. Ava had given him an annoyed look and told a maid to go let the cat out. And he had to be her photographer this afternoon.

"So, Hayden," Gail went on, "I have been thinking about enrolling you in Ava's school. You would be able to finish the semester out. How do you feel about the idea? I can pull you out as soon as you want to."

Hayden thought seriously. If he went to school, it would be ten times easier to convince Gail that he was fine. He could go home sooner. "That sounds pretty good," he decided, nodding his head. "I think I'd like that."

"Great!" Gail said excitedly, "You'll start on Monday. The school is out for fall break this week. I'll make sure you have all the books you need. This is a private school, but there is no dress code, other than it needs to be relatively nice."

Hayden nodded again, trying to get a good whiff of whatever lunch was. The dinner bell rang, and he let out a small sigh of relief.

Gail stood. "That's our lunch cue. Shall we?"

Hayden followed her out the door and into the dining room, silently praying that he wouldn't embarrass himself again. He had checked his room thoroughly for the cat, so at least that couldn't repeat itself.

He and Gail sat down at the table. Ava, however, was nowhere in sight. Hayden expected Gail to wait for her daughter, but she waved the servers on anyway. They had been eating for several minutes before Ava came barreling into the dining room, still in her riding breeches and boots. She had huge dirt and grass stains on her knees.

"Good to see you, Ava," Gail said flatly. "I wasn't sure whether you'd be joining us."

"I fell off," Ava gushed. "That's why I'm late. And you could have waited for me. I mean, I'm only five minutes late." She glanced at her mother, a slightly disrespectful look passing over her face.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright." Gail nonchalantly told her daughter, reaching for the salt shaker.

Lunch was eaten in silence, and when Ava had finished, she immediately motioned for Hayden to follow her out of the room. He did so, not wanting to make her mad. She hurried up the stairs and into her room.

"Okay," she started, a commanding tone in her voice. "Alaska and I scouted out some cool locations to shoot at. I have a few outfits that I picked out for them."