Perfectly Imperfect

20

The morning breeze was chilly. I'd overslept, so we were all late. Both my parents had left earlier than us and I still had to drive my sisters to summer school. The three of us had been running around the house; I even ended up having breakfast while brushing my hair. Thankfully, my sisters had set their lunch and were ready before me. Straightening my blouse, I made my way to Mom's car. Haley had been kind enough to carry my backpack, too.

"Thanks, Hals." Her brown eyes lit as she cracked a smile through the rear-view mirror. I was glad things were much better between us. I had a feeling she still liked me to call her Hals because she hadn't protested like on the first week when I came back.

I don't know what Mom had told them, but they were being extra-nice with me. I had a feeling that the fact that I looked like crap when I woke up, had something to do with it, too.

My eyes were puffy and red from all the crying. I'd put on some over-the-counter eye drops Mom had left me on the bathroom sink. They had helped with the redness, but not with the puffiness. I tried to mask it by applying dark liner on my lids. Which only ended up making my eyes stand up more than usual, but I didn't have time to take the makeup off.

Right as I was parking the car in front of the school, Riley placed a hand on my shoulder. "Chris called you yesterday, but you were gone. I forgot to tell Mom." Her tone was soft, laced with concern at the same time.

I turned to her. Haley was already outside of the car, waiting for her. I wanted to prod more. Like what had he said, at what time exactly had he called, how did he sound. Yet, there was barely time for everyone to get to class. Including me.

"Thanks," I tried to smile, but I was pretty sure a crooked expression, more like a grimace, came out. She nodded before hopping out of the car.

Michael had summoned us on the classroom again. Warily, I made my way through the hallways. The door was closed when I reached the room. Worrying my lip, I pushed open the door. The whole group was there. All except Michael. At least I'm not that late.

My eyes locked with Caitlin for a moment. She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, her usual cheeriness gone. She actually seemed pissed at me. Take that, you bitch. I rolled my eyes as I stepped to the first empty seat, who happened to be next to Chris.

I settled my backpack on the table. "Hey," I heard his rough voice as soon as I plopped on the chair.

I glanced at Caitlin once again. She scowled. "Hi." He must have followed my line of vision because when I turned to him, he had leaned back on his seat, looking guarded.

"I called you last night," he crossed his arms, his thick brows furrowing. "Riley said that you were out?"

I nodded once. "Yes," I trailed cautiously before adding, "I went to a karaoke bar with Caitlin." I couldn't help but asses his reaction.

His lips pressed in a tight slash while averting his eyes. "Huh. I didn't know you do karaoke now," his right hand started to tap on the table.

"I left early," I muttered, turning back to my seat. I couldn't be mad at him. He did say he had a list of conquests, didn't he? And he had every right to. Still, I couldn't help but feel my stomach burning just thinking about it.

Thankfully, Michael walked inside the room right at that moment. He was pretty excited about the upcoming exposition. He gave us an encouraging speech about how we all had come a long way during the last few weeks. I zoned him out. I couldn't share his excitement. I was still leaving in two weeks and I had no clue what the hell was going on with Chris.

I couldn't help but think back to a year ago. Chris was so different. I distinctively remembered the time I planned our Valentine's date. I'd set out a perfect set of events but everything turned inside out. My lips tugged up on a half-smile. I'd bought a marathon ticket for an art film festival thinking we would have so much fun at the movies, but we were barely able to finish the first one. It was awful. The whole thing was a documentary on hungry children; while we'd bought half the candy store. Then, I wanted to have a romantic picnic on the backyard. I'd even paid my sisters to set candles outside, to set the mood, but apparently, I was out of luck that day. Rain had poured on us as we reached our house. We ended up watching a movie and sharing pizza with my sisters. Chris had been the best, though.