How To Be A Perfect Girl (21 page)

“Is this one taken?” Scarlett asked as both
she and Val took positions at the empty station.

“Nope,” an extremely tall boy answered. He
smiled, “Why, you two want a go?”

“Yeah,” Scarlett answered.

The tall boy laughed, “You sure you’re not
gonna break your back or something? Your friend especially looks a
little—small,” he leered at Val; the way his eyes worked up and
down, digesting her, made Val uncomfortable.

“We’re fine. Go back to whatever you were
gonna do,” Scarlett replied; she pulled weights off the end of
their station’s bar and placed them on a nearby rack.

“Well I was spotting Cameron here, but all
of a sudden I’m thinking I’d much rather—take in the scenery,” he
returned his gaze to Val, winking to emphasize his point, “Speaking
of which, what’s your name, honey?”

“Valentina—or Val. I don’t really—“

“She’s too young for you,” Scarlett scowled,
“You’re a senior, right?”

“Yes ma’am,” the tall boy replied, “But too
young for me is kind of a relative term.” He took a step closer to
Val, “I think you’re the perfect age for me, Val. Perfect height
too, and perfect name. Come to think about it, you’re just
perfect.” With a jolt, Val noticed Porter walking towards the three
of them.

Val blushed, “Thank you.”

Before she could say anything else, Scarlett
laid a hand on her arm, “Nevermind, let’s go do something
else.”

Porter was getting closer,
close enough to hear the conversation. “No, I think we should do
some squats,” Val said; she batted her eyelashes at the tall boy,
“Would you want to spot me?” With satisfaction, she noticed Porter
tense.
Maybe if I make him jealous, he’ll
admit that he actually has feelings for me.
She didn’t believe that he viewed her as just a
friend.

“Val?”

“Oh, hey Porter,” Val smiled sweetly.

“What are you doing here?”

“Me and my new friend were just going to do
some squats,” she put an arm around the tall boy, and he mirrored
the gesture.

“No you weren’t,” Porter said flatly. “Isn’t
that right, Ethan?”

The tall boy tensed as well, “I can do what
I want, Porter. You’re not the boss of me.”

“Maybe not, but I can speak to Coach about
your—personal habits.” The last part didn’t make sense to Val, but
it took all the fight out of Ethan.

“Fine,” he said, taking his arm away from
Val, “I’ll just go do some dead lifts.” He walked away.

Porter shook his head at Val, an angry look
on his face, “What was that about?”

Val maintained as innocent a look as she
could, “Like I said, we were just gonna do some squats. I don’t see
why you had to scare him off.”

Porter took a step closer to Val, so she
could see the individual flecks of color in his blue eyes, “Ethan
has been known to—do things with young girls.”

“Like what?” Val asked.

Scarlett sidestepped so she could be a part
of the conversation, “Like rufi-ing them.”

“Oh,” comprehension dawned on Val’s face;
she wrapped her arms around Porter, “But you saved me!”

Porter ducked out of the embrace, “Don’t
read too much into it. This means nothing. I only intervened
because I know Keenan would be devastated if something happened to
you. He’s head over heels for you, you know.” He left before Val
could reply.

Val turned to Scarlett, “I think I should
just go home.”

“Yeah, that would probably be for the best,”
Scarlett agreed, “Some days it’s like that down here. I think all
the weightlifting just brings out a lot of testosterone, especially
if Mr. Sharp isn’t here to keep the boys in check. Oh well,”
Scarlett looked at the squat bar, “We didn’t really get a workout
like I planned, but I guess there’s always next week.”

“Sorry, that was probably my fault.” Val
followed Scarlett back up the steps and into the girls’ locker
room.

“A little,” Scarlett admitted, “You can’t
encourage guys like Ethan. If they don’t think they have a shot,
they’ll back off. But not if you actively flirt with them.”

Val sighed, “I was just trying to make him
jealous.”

“Who? Porter?”

Val nodded.

Scarlett laughed, “Mission accomplished. He
was pretty intense down there.”

“Yeah, but only because he wanted to keep
Keenan from getting hurt.”

“If you think that’s all there was to it,”
Scarlett caught Val’s gaze, “You don’t read people very well. Heck,
Porter did everything but come out and stake his claim on you.”

“He did?” Val allowed her hopes to rise,
“But he told me earlier today that he only thought of me as a
friend.”

“Well yeah, but he kinda has to say that.
Think about it; how bad would it be if he admitted that he wanted
his brother’s girl?” Scarlett pulled her bag from her locker,
“Especially because you obviously like Porter more. If he told you
he felt the same way, you’d dump his brother in a second.”

“I don’t like Porter more though,” Val
replied, a little defensively.

Scarlett raised her eyebrows, “Uh huh. I’m
not judging you for it, but I’m just saying—if you were so
infatuated with Porter’s brother, you wouldn’t even be looking at
any other guy.”

Their conversation, and
the events leading up to it, gave Val a lot to think about. She
called a cab to take her home, and while on the way all sorts of
thoughts climbed through Val’s mind.
Do I
like Porter better? If so, is there a nice way to say, ‘hey, I’m
ditching you for your brother?’
The
invariable answer was no; the only way to do right by Keenan was to
allow their relationship to take its course.

Keenan was waiting for Val in the basement
when she got home, “Hey, I thought you’d be home around five.” He
twisted to see her from his spot on the couch.

“Oh, Val gulped, “Yeah, sorry. I forgot I
was gonna have to call someone to drive me home, so it took a bit
longer than I expected.” She looked at the roman-style clock on the
wall: it read 5:27. “So, my parents said they’d be home by eleven,
but I was thinking the best way to do this would be if we finished
at ten-thirty.”

“Cool,” Keenan pulled out his phone, “I’ll
text Alex and see if he’s willing to pick me up then. Speaking of
which,” he completed the text and put his phone away, “Alex told me
he heard some rather disturbing rumors regarding you and my
brother.”

Wow, that was fast.
Val supposed it shouldn’t have surprised her that
Alex had already heard the rumor; he knew a lot of upperclassmen.
“Just rumors,” was all Val said.

“Good,” Keenan breathed an audible sigh of
relief, “I don’t know what I’d do if you left me, Val. You’re just
so great, and I—“ he touched Val’s face as she sat down on the
couch next to him, “—I love you.”

Val panicked, “Um—“ she tried to keep her
emotions from showing on her face, but Keenan’s falling expression
told her she was doing a lousy job. “Me too,” she lied, a little
too late.

“You don’t have to say it if you don’t mean
it,” Keenan looked crestfallen; it hurt to see him so obviously
wounded.

“No, I do. Here, let me show you,” before
Keenan could move, she leaned in and planted a kiss on his
lips.

Keenan laughed, his face only inches from
Val’s; at that distance, he looked almost identical to Porter.
“Prove it again,” he joked, and closed for another kiss.

Val tried to forget all her worries of the
day in that kiss, and just live in the present. When they pulled
apart a full minute later, Keenan smiled. “You’re a really good
kisser,” he said.

“Thanks. You are too.” Val returned his
smile; her stomach growled loudly.

“Oh my god, was that you?”

Val nodded sheepishly, “Sorry. I haven’t
eaten in a while.”

“It’s fine. But we should get some food in
you,” Keenan stood up from the couch. “Do you have anything in your
fridge?”

“Yeah, we have leftover chicken marsala. We
could share it, if you want.”

“Sounds like a good deal,” Keenan frowned,
then added, “But only so long as you get your fair share. You’re
thin enough as is.”

Val stuck her tongue out at Keenan, “I’m not
too skinny, am I?”

“No, you’re perfect. And besides, you’ve got
meat in all the right places,” Keenan winked.

Val couldn’t help but laugh, “That started
out as such a nice complement!” She took Keenan by the hand, “Here,
let’s go eat dinner.”

They went up the stairs; Val popped the
chicken and noodles in the microwave, and talked with Keenan while
it cooked.

“Have you ever dated anyone else?” she
asked.

Keenan shook his head, “Nope. How about
you?”

“Nope,” Val smiled, “Obviously not. So I
guess we’re both pretty new to this.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

The conversation faltered for a minute; Val
started at the microwave.

Keenan finally broke the silence, “What
actually happened with you and Porter?”

Val shrugged, “It’s a long story.”

“We have time.” The microwave buzzer
rang.

Val retrieved their food and grabbed two
forks and a pair of plates. She set the steaming microwave-safe
plastic container on the small table just outside the kitchen; it
was supposed to be reserved for private family meals, but Val
preferred the small table to the much more sizable one in her
family’s dining room. “Well,” she began as Keenan dropped into the
chair beside her and helped himself to a healthy portion of
noodles, “You know Avery, right?”

“Yeah, we’ve met,” Keenan frowned, “I
usually try to avoid her though.”

“Ok, well Avery is the captain of the soccer
team—“ Val relayed the whole incident, taking small pauses to eat a
few forkfuls of the chicken, which had been dried out by its long
stint in the microwave. She left out what Porter had said at the
end of their lunch, and also failed to mention the incident in the
weight room.

“Oh,” Keenan said when she’d finished,
“That’s not that bad. Based on the rumors, I thought you guys had
like made out—or worse.”

Val shook her head, “I would never do that
to you.” Although, in her mind, she wondered how she would react if
a situation that would test her promise ever came to pass.

“Me either,” Keenan smiled, “So what do you
have planned for the rest of the night?” Val noticed that he’d
already finished his food.

“I didn’t really plan anything,” Val said,
“I thought the boy was supposed to make the plans.”

Keenan laughed his most sincere laugh of the
night, “We’re at your house, and you provided the meal. I think
it’s safe to say you’re taking the reins on this one.”

Val bit her lip, “But I don’t know what to
do.”

“I can think of a few ways to pass time,”
Keenan smiled mischievously.

“Oh? Like what?” Val got up from the table
and placed their plates in the sink.

“It depends on what you’re up for.”

“What I’m up for—“ Val repeated, “Hmm, well
give me some ideas and I’ll say if they sound fun.”

“We could keep talking.”

“Nah, that sounds kinda boring.”

“Nothing is ever boring, when I’m doing it
with you,” it took Val a moment to realize Keenan was being
serious.

“Awh, that’s so sweet,” she cooed, “Any
other ideas?”

Keenan frowned, “I don’t know if you’d be up
for them.”

“Try me.”

“We could kiss some more, or—go a bit
further.”

Val shook her head, “I feel like that kind
of thing is supposed to be more spontaneous than that.”

“Yeah,” Keenan agreed, “I get that. Okay,
then my last suggestion—we could play twenty-one questions.”

“Twenty-one questions?”

“Yeah. It’s like truth or dare without
dares. Basically I ask a question and you have to answer honestly,
and then you ask and I answer.”

“That sounds fun, only—“ Val gestured to the
basement stairs, “You wanna go back to the couch? It’s more
comfortable.”

“Sure.” They traipsed down the stairs and
found seats on the couch. “I’ll start,” Keenan said, “How do you
like Palm Lake so far?”

“It’s alright,” Val answered, “I’m starting
to make friends, and I’m really happy that I got elected to be
freshman class president.”

The game lasted much longer than Val
expected it to; by the time ten thirty came, she felt like she had
learned a lot more about Keenan. “Well, it’s time to kick you out,”
Val announced.

“That was fast,” Keenan remarked, “Are you
sure it’s ten thirty?”

“Very sure. Don’t worry, though, I won’t let
you go home empty-handed.” She leaned across the couch and kissed
him on the neck.

“Well that’s not exactly what I was hoping
for,” Keenan joked.

“What were you hoping for?”

Keenan’s response was to place a hand behind
Val’s head and kiss her. When they broke, he broke into a wide
grin, “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

Val giggled, “I’ll see you Monday.”

“Yes ma’am. Have I ever told you how pretty
you are?”

“Yes,” Val laughed again, “Now go, before my
parents get here.”

“We have another half hour, technically,”
Keenan argued. “Just sayin’, think of all we could get done in that
time.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for stuff like
that,” Val pulled Keenan up from the couch, with his help.
“Besides, I’m getting tired.” They walked up the stairs and to the
house’s entryway.

“Yeah, and I know that you
need to get your sleep tonight because you have
such
a big day tomorrow,” Keenan
mocked.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“Yup.” Keenan’s phone buzzed, “Right on
time. Alex says he’s outside.”

“Bye,” Val hugged Keenan, laying her head
across his shoulders for a moment before breaking the contact.

“Bye.” Keenan was gone before Val knew it;
she walked upstairs to her room and sat down on the bed, more
confused than ever.