The Perfectionists

Chapter 9

ON MONDAY NIGHT, AUDREY AND Chad were curled up on the giant L-shaped couch in Audrey's den. A Harry Potter movie marathon was on, but the two of them were paying more attention to each other. Audrey would've rather brought him into her bedroom, of course; but her dad and stepmom were home, and there were strict rules in Audrey's house about boyfriend-girlfriend contact in unsupervised spaces.

"Have I told you lately how gorgeous you are?" Chad murmured, pulling her close. He smelled like clean cashmere sweater and Old Spice.
Audrey nudged him playfully. "Flattery will get you nowhere, my friend."

"No ulterior motives." Chad shook his curly blonde head emphatically. "It's just the truth. You, Audrey Rose, are a complete knockout. Just don't let it go to your head."

"Don't worry," Audrey teased, touching the tip of his nose. "With you around to keep my ego in check, there's no chance of that." Chad leaned forward and kissed her. Audrey shut her eyes and reached her arms around his shoulders to pull him closer. She and Chad had been dating for a year, but their kisses never, ever got old.

Neither did the compliments. It was weird: All her life, Audrey had known she was beautiful. Plenty of people told her so: photographers, modeling managers, even a guy who once wanted to make an avatar of her for a video game he was creating. But only when Chad said it did it actually feel real—because, unlike everyone else, he actually cared about her, Audrey, not just what she looked like. Chad made her feel special all the time, and he had the unique ability to keep her sane and grounded in the overly competitive world of Auradon.

Chad's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled away to look at the screen. "Crap," he said. "I didn't realize how late it was. My parents will kill me if I miss curfew." "Stay," she said. "You know your parents love you." Much more than mine do right now. The truth was, she hated being alone right now. Whenever she was, panic about Nolan—and about her slipping grades—began to overtake her. Thanks to her evil stepmother, her relationship with her father was tenuous at best. If he ever caught wind of the Ben rumors, that would be it.

"Are you still upset about that paper?" he asked, as if reading her mind, his brown eyes warm with concern. "That was really harsh of Jay."
Audrey suddenly flashed back to that day in class, when she and the other girls in the group had discussed vengeance and ended up talking about Ben. What about Oxy? she heard their voices say. Not too much—just enough to knock him out. Just enough to take some incriminating pictures.

She gritted her teeth. Stop thinking about it.
"Yeah, that sucked," she said aloud. "I wonder if I should talk to him. See if I can rewrite it?"
Chad's gaze darted to the left. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Audrey looked at him sharply. "Why would you say that?" Instantly she thought of the rumors about her. But Chad didn't buy into them. "It was your idea," she added.

Chad shrugged. "Never mind. You're right. You should try to change the grade." "Okay." Audrey gave Chad's hand a squeeze. She felt a little uncertain after Chad's comment, but maybe Jay rubbed guys the wrong way for the same reason all the girls liked him. "I'll ask him about it."

They walked down the grand staircase to the first floor. Instantly, the heady scent of the room spray Audrey's stepmother used assaulted her nostrils. Even though her father had been married to Leslie for several years, Audrey still found the smell offensive. God forbid the house smell like the French dishes her father was cooking. That would be too foreign and weird.

Of course, the rest of the place had changed as well. Gone were the French rugs her father and mother had brought from their honeymoon, replaced with two beige couches and a leather recliner that Leslie had picked out. Gone were the gold-footed coffee table and the silk swags on the windows that Audrey used to play among when she was little; in their place was a glass table and modern wooden blinds. Audrey wasn't sure what Leslie was trying to erase—her husband's heritage, or his ex-wife's legacy.