Little Miss Not So Perfect

Chapter Twelve

      Chase and I finally were able to speak one at a time and in clear coherent sentences but I’m not sure Blake believed that we were just talking the other night. He was suspicious, and I guess he had reasons to be. Blake, Chase and I grew up together. Our parents were friends so we grew up as friends too. Chase and I developed a little crush on each other though before high school. We dated then but only innocently. He would pick me flowers from his mother’s garden, or even the weeds he would see growing on the side of the road. It was cute; it was fun, but we knew it would end.

     

      The summer before high school was one of the greatest times of my life. Blake, Chase and I were inseparable. We did everything together; we were the best of friends. Then orientation for high school happened. Chase met Harper and Oliver. I met Juliette and Grayson. Harper was beautiful even back then, she carried an essence of mystery back then also. Chase was obsessed with her immediately. She seemed like everything I wasn’t. I was girly and she was tough. She didn’t mind getting dirty when I rather watch from the sidelines.

     

      I was jealous. I never admitted it to anyone but I was. How could I? I was trying to create an image for myself. My mother always wanted the perfect family. I wanted to be the perfect daughter more than anything. I had to be perfect, and I knew what a dangerous time high school could be for me if I screwed up.

      Chase was supposed to like me. His attention was supposed to be on me, and it wasn’t at all. When high school started we were still friends, but we were quickly growing apart. If it wasn’t for Blake I’m sure Chase and I wouldn’t have talked at all. Because I was jealous and Chase was preoccupied, somehow in the mix of things tensions grew and we started having feelings of resentment. We would argue when we were around each other. We would find anything and everything to tease each other about.

      Neither of us really talked about the time during that summer though. Juliette became my best friend but I never mentioned I used to have a serious crush on Chase Sterling. If Blake ever mentioned those years I would change the subject immediately. And I never once heard of Chase talking about it either.

      Blake was in the middle of it all though. He knew both sides of the story and then he knew it from his own point of view. He always saw things neither of us did. Like even though in school we acted like we couldn’t stand each other, we always knew we would have each other’s backs. Blake always would say when it was just the three of us nothing could break us up. We were a dysfunctional family, even if two of us used to steal kisses. Before I started dating Logan, Blake would always tease us that one day we would find our ways back to each other. And that made him suspicious of Chase and I becoming close again. I couldn’t blame him.

      School that week was normal. I went to class, avoided Logan, avoided Chase, did homework, tried to avoid my mom, and then did it all over again the next day. I tried to keep my ears open to any talk about Logan and Mike but most of the school seemed oblivious of Mike’s arrival to town.

      It was quickly Thursday already when I sat next to Grayson and across from Juliette at lunch. Juliette was in a heated discussion about the cheerleading dance with Missy who still felt sorry for me. Missy wasn’t following me around anymore but she hadn’t gone back to Ashley. I knew that only made Ashley hate me more but she was the least of my worries right now.

      “Have you talked to Logan this week?” Grayson carefully asked me.