Waiting for Perfect (3 page)

SEBASTIAN

Emma is stretching
her arms above her head.
 
Her shirt
rides up, exposing the creamy flesh on her back, right above her ass where the
skin dimples.
 
I love that spot on
a woman.

I think she is
doing this on purpose, and the fact that she tilts her head slightly and then
gives me a smirk when she catches me watching her confirms it.

“So, Sebastian,”
she says seductively.
 
“Did you
decide about Jeff’s party tonight?”

I sit up straight
in my desk and open my English book.
 
“Not yet.
 
Maybe I’ll meet
you there if I decide to show up.”

She looks
disappointed with my answer.
 
I
know she was hoping we’d arrive together so she can put some kind of claim on
me, but I don’t roll like that.

“Come on,
Sebastian.
 
It will be fun.
 
We could have a
lot
of fun.”
 
Her voice
goes low and raspy.

She’s
persistent.
 
I’ll give her
that.
 
I’m sure that works on most
guys.
 
Hell, it’s almost working on
me, but I’m trying to make a new start in California.
 
I can’t be the same guy I was in San Antonio.

I give her my
sweetest smile.
 
“I’m not even sure
if I’m going to this party, babe.
 
Maybe I’ll see you there.”
 
I’m
hoping she’ll take the hint.

Emma’s smile
disappears, and she turns toward the front of the classroom.
 
She doesn’t talk to me the rest of the
period and leaves as soon as the bell rings – but not before
‘accidentally’ dropping her pencil beside my desk and bending over at the waist
in her short skirt to retrieve it.

In my history
class, Mrs. Dillard assigns us to groups for a project that will be due in a
couple of weeks.
 
My group consists
of three girls and four guys.
 
Jeff
Weaver is one of the four.
 
I’m
glad to meet the guy, considering I might be going to his house later
tonight.
 
He’s on the football
team, so he tells us if we’re coming to his party, not to come until after the
game.
 
The other guys in our group
are meatheads too, and the three of them talk about how they’re going to kill
San Clemente High School tonight.

Talking with them
makes me miss my basketball team back in San Antonio, and it reminds me to talk
with the coach about joining the team.
 
I hadn’t thought about going to the football game tonight, but the way these
guys are talking about it, I find myself wanting to kick San Clemente’s asses
too.
 
I’ll have to ask Nick if he
wants to come with me.

The girls in my
group are trying to talk to me, but I‘m paying more attention to Jeff and his
buddies.
 
I should be getting to
know these girls better so I can convince one of them to do my homework for me
this year.
 
Girls are usually much
obliged to volunteer for that position.

When Mrs. Dillard comes
to check on our progress, she quickly discovers we haven’t been working on the
project at all.
 
She suggests we
all exchange numbers so we can meet over the weekend, but as soon as she
leaves, we’re all talking about the game and the party again.

When class is over,
Jeff strolls up next to me.
 
He’s
wearing slacks, his football jersey, and a necktie, like all the other varsity
players today.
 

“Hey man,” he says,
lifting his chin in a single nod.
 
“You’re new here right?”

I grab my binder as
we walk toward the to the door.
 
“Yeah.
 
I moved here over
the summer.”

In the hallway,
kids are racing to their classes.
 
One bumps Jeff, and he reaches out and grabs the kid’s backpack.
 
For a second, I think he’s going to
punch him, but then he just ignores it and lets the kid go.
 
He turns to me and says, “Freshman
punk.
 
Anyway, are you coming to my
party tonight?”

“Not sure yet.
 
Is it cool if I do?”

Jeff smiles.
 
With his white-blonde hair, he looks
like the stereotypical Californian.
 
He’s shorter than me, but he’s built thick.
 
I wonder if he takes steroids.

“Yeah, it’s cool,
man.
 
You should come.”

I nod.
 
“Cool.
 
Okay, thanks.”

He holds out his
fist, and I bump it with mine.
 
“Alright, man,” he says.
 
“I’ll
see you tonight…” He turns and starts walking down the hallway shouting, “…after
we kill San Clemente!”
 

The kids in the
hall start cheering.
 
I guess this
is a pretty big game.
 
Now I really
want to go.
 
Nick better come with
me.

After Statistics, it’s
time for lunch.
 
I meet Nick at his
locker to tell him about the football game tonight.

“Yeah,
Sebastian.
 
Football games every
Friday night.
 
I’m sure they had football
back in San Antonio.”
 
He’s mocking
me.
 
Smartass.
 

I watch as he
shoves books into his locker, amazed that it can be so entirely messy after
only one day of school.
 
“Well, do
you ever go to them?” I ask.
 
“Jeff
said San Clemente beat us last year, so it’s payback time.”

Nick gives me a
weird look.
 
“Beat
us
?
 
What are you now, part of the football team?”
 
He slams his locker door shut and pulls
his backpack over his shoulder.

We walk toward the lunch
tables.
 
“What?
 
I take it you don’t go to football
games?”

He stops before we
reach the lunch line.
 
“Nah,
man.
 
I don’t do school
spirit.
 
It’s not really my
thing.
 
But you should go if you
want to.”

“Okay.
 
You’re coming to Jeff’s party though,
right?
 
I’ll come by the house and
pick you up after the game.”
 
I
know he’ll say no, but I ask anyway.

“Sure,” he
says.
 

I don’t buy
it.
 
I know my cousin wouldn’t go
to that party even if I paid him.
 
I thought maybe the game.
 
He could hide with me in the stands or something.
 
But a party?
 
Nick actually socializing?
 
No way.

I decide to drop
it.
 
“Sweet.
 
We’ll talk about it after school.”
 
I reach the lunch line.
 
When he hesitates, I ask, “Aren’t you
eating lunch?”

 
“I’m gonna go to the music room.”

“Okay, cuz.
 
See you after school.”
 

I observe the lunch
lines, which are packed.
 
Instead
of waiting, I swoop in and ask a pretty girl near the front if she can buy me
an orange.
 
I hand her a dollar
bill, and she smiles and agrees.
 
I
figure I can’t go wrong with an orange.
 
It’s got a thick skin covering it that has to be impervious to germs.

I walk toward the
tables with the orange in hand, looking to see if I know any of these
people.
 
I spot Jeff Weaver and
consider sitting with him, but he and his jock friends are simulating football
plays with a can of Pepsi.
 
I know
this will end with someone getting drowned in soda, and it’s not going to be
me.

The junior girls I
sat with yesterday are giggling next to me, and that sound alone gives me
chills.
 
That was the worst spent
half hour of my day, and I don’t want a repeat.

I meet Emma’s smile
across the quad, and she waves at me, trying to get me to come to her
table.
 
That’s not really what I
want either, but my choices are limited since it’s only my second day at this
school.
 
On my way over to Emma’s
table, I see one of the girls from my history group.
 
The girls at her table look decent enough.
 
They’re not giggling like idiots.

As I start moving
toward the girls’ table, I shrug at Emma.
 
Her smile turns into a grimace, a look of pure frustration, but I don’t
hesitate.
 
I really don’t give a
shit what Emma thinks.

KENDRA

By lunchtime on
Friday, everyone is talking about Jeff’s party.
 
Nicolás didn’t even look at me this morning, and I decided
to leave him alone.
 
I didn’t want
to freak him out.
 
Plus, I’m so
excited about the game and the party tonight that I’m not thinking about
Nicolás today anyway.

“All I know is that
the new guy better be there,” Megan says into her mirror as she applies another
coat of powder to her perfect button nose.
 
“He’s in my group in history.
 
We didn’t really get a chance to talk yet, but tonight would
be perfect.”

“And why is that?”
Candace says, crunching on an apple.

Megan snaps shut
her compact and drops it into her Coach purse.
 
“Because I shaved my legs this morning.”
 
She says it like that’s all the
explanation that is necessary.
 
For
Megan, I guess it is.

A hot breeze is
blowing today.
 
It’s a little early
for the Santa Ana winds, which usually start in October, but it feels
good.
 
I love the wind.
 
It energizes me.
 
It makes me feel free.

Lexi tries to tame
her pixie hair by patting her long bangs down across her forehead, but she
finally gives up and lets it blow into her eyes. “There he is!” she exclaims, looking
over my shoulder.
 
I turn to look,
and she slaps my arm.
 
“Don’t look
at him!
 
He’s looking this way.
 
He’ll know we’re talking about him.”

Lexi lowers her
head, trying to hide behind me so she can still ogle him without him
noticing.
 
Megan sits up straight,
forcing her chest out and smoothing her hair down over her shoulders.
 
Candace is unfazed, still munching her
apple and seemingly unaware of the new guy’s presence.

“Oh my God, oh my
God, oh my God,” Lexi repeats in a high-pitched voice.
 
“He’s walking over here.”
 
She straightens her posture, swiping at
her unruly bangs again.

Megan smiles
seductively as he approaches from behind me.
 
A shadow darkens the table, and when I turn to view its
source, my jaw almost drops.
 
This
guy is breathtakingly gorgeous.
 
Like Latin model, I’d-like-to-roll-around-with-you-naked-in-the-sand
gorgeous.
 
Tan skin, chocolate
brown eyes, and a just-kill-me-now dimple blessing his right cheek.

We remain quiet,
struck speechless by his beauty.
 
I
wonder why he decided to walk over to our table.
 
Finally, he opens his mouth – his perfect, beautiful
mouth.

“Ladies,” he says
smoothly.

Megan is the first
to speak, of course. “Hi.”
 
She
extends her hand.
 
“Sebastian,
right?”

Sebastian
?
 
Is he
serious?
 
It’s like a movie name.
 
He looks like he just walked off a
movie set.

He nods and takes
her hand.
 
“Yes.
 
I didn’t catch your name in
history.
 
I’m sorry.”
 
His voice is warm and friendly.

“Megan.
 
Megan Polk.”
 
She gestures to the rest of us.
 
“And this is Candace, Lexi, and Kendra.”

“Hello.
 
It’s nice to meet you all.”
 
He catches each of our eyes and smiles
as he speaks, showing off that dimple.
 
“I don’t want to interrupt.”
 
He turns his gaze back to Megan.
 
“I just wondered if I could get your number.
 
For the history project.”

Oh, please.
 
Like he really wants her number for
some history project.
 
Obviously,
he’s attracted to Megan.
 
She’s
beautiful and exudes sex.
 
She’s
every guy’s fantasy with her long, blonde curls and perfect figure.
 
She always has her choice of guys.
 
It drives me crazy.

Megan pulls out her
cell phone.
 
“What’s your
number?
 
I’ll call you and then you’ll
have mine.”
 

Sebastian
smiles.
 
He’s standing right next
to me, and I swear I can feel heat radiating from him.
 
Okay, maybe he’s just giving me a hot
flash.
 
He’s freaking beautiful.

He rattles off his
number as Megan enters it into her phone.
 
I’m sure every girl within thirty feet is committing that number to
memory.

When quiet ringing
starts from Sebastian’s pocket, he pulls out his cell phone and puts it to his
ear.
 
He stares intensely at Megan,
and with a low, sultry voice, says, “Hello, Megan.”

Her pouty lips pull
up at the corners. “Hello, Sebastian.” She clicks off her phone and puts it
back into her purse.
 
“Now I’m all
yours.
 
Call me anytime… about the
project, I mean.”

God, I want to
puke.
 
Do guys really go for
this?
 
I wouldn’t know.
 
I haven’t had a boyfriend since Bobby
Coheed, and he was a royal douchebag – breaking up with me right after he
got me in the sack.

I can’t stand this
anymore, so I stupidly announce, “I’ve gotta pee.”

Lexi shoots me a
dirty look.
 
She’s been mesmerized
by Sebastian since he arrived at our table.
 
I know she’s wondering what the hell I’m doing.
 
The only thing I know is that I have to
get away from Megan.

In my rush to stand
from the table, I stumble over my own feet and nearly crash into
Sebastian.
 
He sets a hand on my
arm to keep me from falling over.
 
My face feels hot.
 
I’m sure I’m blushing.
 
I
realize I just verbally broadcasted my need to urinate.

When I catch my
balance and finally look at him, his eyes are drilling into mine.
 
He brings his face closer and whispers through
a crooked smile, “Well, angel.
 
Don’t let me stop you.”

I want to curl up
and die right here on the scummy cement.
 
I feel like an idiot and have absolutely no words.
 
Instead of acting like a normal person,
I remain speechless, blink a few times, and then turn and walk away. What the
hell is wrong with me?
 
I hear
someone coming up behind me and realize it’s Lexi.
 

She slips her arm
through mine.
 
“Darling, I don’t
know what the hell just happened back there, but are you okay?”
 

And this is why I
love Lexi.
 
I know she’d rather be
at our lunch table, happily gazing at Sebastian, than be here with me, but she
came anyway just to make sure I was okay.
 
And I am.
 
I think.

“Yeah, I have no
idea.
 
It was just pissing me off
to see Megan falling all over that guy.”

Lexi smiles.
 
“Honey, we’ve been friends with Megan
long enough to know how she operates.
 
Plus, she claimed him yesterday.
 
You know she’ll be done with him within the month.
 
Then he’ll be free game.”

I lean my head on Lexi’s
shoulder.
 
“It’s not even that.
 
I don’t want him.
 
Sure, he’s hot, but give me a break, Lex.
 
I’m not really into the whole
egocentric, playboy type.”
 

“Yeah,” Lexi
says.
 
“But he is pretty freaking
hot.”

“True.
 
But Sebastian is an ass.
 
I can usually tell if a hot guy is a jerk
or not.
 
Take Troy for
instance.
 
Troy is gorgeous, but he
has morals.
 
He respects women.
 
He doesn’t seem to be only interested
in getting laid.”

Lexi nods in
agreement.
 
“Ah, Troy.
 
I can’t wait to see him on
Monday.”
 
She sighs, and I know
she’s already forgotten all about Sebastian.