How To Be A Perfect Girl (13 page)

“Yup, you might as well give up on this
whole student thing and go back to your job as a coat hanger.”

“Excuse me?”

Dylan grinned evilly, “Your enormous nose
makes that such a perfect job for you. I just figured that’s how
you got in here—you know, they bring you in as a coat hanger and
you decided you wanted to be a real student.”

“Why do you have to be such a jerk
Dylan?”

“I’m not a jerk. It was an honest mistake,
really. Geesh, no need to take it personally. You have to admit,
you do have a lot in common with a coat hanger; for one thing, no
one really notices you or cares that you exist. If you disappeared
tomorrow not a tear would be shed.”

“Uh huh,” Val replied dubiously, “I bet I
have more friends here than you, Dylan. And I don’t have to make
fun of people to make them.”

“Let’s do a quick head count then, shall we?
My friends in this class,” he held up five fingers, “John, Isaac,
Aaliyah—“

Aaliyah shook her head, “Don’t bring me into
this.”

Dylan smiled, “Alright, no Aaliyah then.
Owen and Brayden make four, and I suppose let’s count Allie too. So
I have five friends just in here, and how many do you have?” He
looked around the room pointedly; only Carrie sat beside Val. “It
looks like you have one friend here, and I hesitate to even count
her, she’s such a nonentity at this school.”

Aaliyah got up from her seat and sat next to
Val, “You should count me too.” She flashed a kind smile.

Dylan looked confused, “You two are
friends?”

“Oh yeah,” Aaliyah lied, “We’re besties for
life.” Val nodded in agreement.

“Well then she has one friend. Good for her;
even a coat hanger needs love.” Dylan’s friends sniggered, but he
left Val alone and rejoined them.

“Thanks,” Val whispered to Aaliyah.

“Don’t mention it. Dylan’s a total jerk, so
every once in a while I like to confound his harassment.”

Val didn’t know what to say, “Well, thanks
again.”

“You’re welcome. I’m Aaliyah, by the way,”
the brunette girl offered her hand.

“Valentina, but you can call me Val.”

“Nice to meet you, Val. I don’t recall
seeing you in any of my classes—“ Aaliyah pulled out her schedule,
and Val did the same.

Val laughed, “We have like the exact same
schedule, except one hour off. Look—you have Italian, Drawing, and
then Lunch, just like me. Only you have Italian fourth instead of
third.”

Aaliyah giggled, “You’re right! Why aren’t
we in any of the same classes? Our schedules are practically
identical; it’s like someone would have had to consciously try and
keep us from being in the same class to make them so similar yet
never overlap. You even have the same geography teacher!”

“Yeah, we do! You get your quiz back today,
just in case you were wondering.”

“Oh, that’ll be good. I was worried I may
have missed some of the terms. I just don’t quite understand what
the difference between a plateau and a mesa is.”

Val nodded, “That’s one of the ones I got
wrong, too. I think—“ she retrieved her quiz, “—yeah, I missed way
more than just that. I only got forty-five right.”

They talked about geography the rest of the
period, and by the end Val was pleasantly surprised to have found a
new friend in Aaliyah—as a result of Dylan’s teasing, nonetheless.
She felt like she should thank him on her way out, but decided that
would be too much—no need to invite more of his wrath than she
already had.

Two periods later, it was time for lunch;
Val sat with Jenny and the Trio. They were already deep in
conversation when she arrived.

“I’m telling you, it’s Dylan at number one
and then Keenan and Alex,” Jenny whispered.

“What are you guys talking about?” Val set
her bag down under the bench and retrieved her lunch, a cold peanut
butter and jelly sandwich.

Jenny fixed Val with a haughty look, “Trying
to decide who the cutest boy in our class is. Who do you
think?”

“Oh, I really like Keenan. Alex can be
annoying and Dylan’s just a jerk.”

“We
were talking about looks, not personality,” Sophia
smirked.

“Well I mean, just based on looks—“
Valentina frowned, “I suppose I’d stay with the same order. Keenan
and then Alex and Dylan last.”

“Please,” Jenny laughed once, “Keenan’s cute
in a boyish way; Dylan looks like an adult. He could pass for a
senior, and he has those blonde highlights,” she sighed
wistfully.

“I dunno,” Val replied, “He’s just so mean
that like I can’t see past it. He insults me like all the
time.”

“Dylan’s not mean,” Jenny argued, “You just
don’t get his humor.”

“Like you do?” Val had never seen Jenny with
Dylan, and from what she knew they’d never even met each other.

“I would—“Jenny said weakly, “—if only I was
lucky enough to have Homeroom with him, like you.”

“Lucky!” Val exclaimed, “Lucky? If I had a
choice I’d transfer Homerooms just so I wouldn’t have to share a
class with that jackal!”

“Don’t call him that!”

“I can call him whatever I want,” Val shot
back, “I actually know him.”

“I know him too—kinda. And besides, at least
he doesn’t insult me!”

“Well at least I have a chance of dating
him!” Val shouted.

For a moment that seemed to span much
longer, a tear rolled down Jenny’s cheek, “So do I.”

Val laughed, “Yeah right. Have you seen your
face? You have no chance of getting Keenan, Alex, or Dylan. Noah’s
more your speed.”

“How dare you!” Jenny glared at Val, “I
would never date someone like Noah!”

Val could feel her anger rising; it felt
good to vent her pent up feelings, and Jenny’s defense of Dylan
made railing against her feel like she was railing against him,
“Well then you’re gonna have a lonely time in high school, because
guys like Noah are the only ones who’d give you a second look!”

Jenny slapped Val; the blow rocked Val’s
head back. The adults in the cafeteria—who’d already been trying to
break through the mass of onlookers that had gathered the moment
Val and Jenny started shouting—succeeded. One man grabbed Val; she
just stood there limply. Miss Stevens grabbed Jenny, “Principal’s
office! Both of you!” She marched Jenny to the door; Val went
unassisted. Her cheeks reddened as everyone watched her leave. She
thought she saw Dylan; he was clapping slowly.

Val remembered next to nothing of the
arduous walk to the Principal’s office; Miss Stevens kept a hand on
Jenny, and checked periodically to make sure Val was still
following. Val’s cheek hurt where the slap had hit her.

The Principal, Miss Young, was a tall woman;
she stood head and shoulders above Miss Stevens. Jenny was ushered
into the office first while Val was made to sit outside. Fifteen
minutes later the door opened and Jenny rushed from the main
office; Val thought she might have seen some more tears on the
girl’s cheeks.

Miss Young gestured for Val to enter her
office, “Come on in.” The room was brightly lit; a single picture
sat next to the computer on the desk, of three people Val assumed
were younger versions of Miss Young, Porter, and Keenan. She fell
into the chair across from the Principal, her eyes fixed to the
floor.

“Miss Curtis seems to be of the impression
that you were bullying her and she was defending herself by
striking you—“ Miss Young cleared her throat, “Is that true?”

Val gulped, “Yeah, I guess so. I may have
said some things—but I felt horrible about them right after!”

“Well, that’s good. But it doesn’t excuse
your actions. What do you think a fair punishment would be, Miss
Hunter?”

Val sighed, “Expel me. It’s what I want
anyway.”

“You want to be expelled?” Val looked up to
see the confused expression on Miss Young’s face, “Why would you
want to be expelled?”

“Cause I don’t wanna go here,” Val
whispered, “I want to go to Gentry high school!”

“Ah, I see. And you think the way to
accomplish that is by getting expelled from the premiere private
school in Florida?”

Val shrugged.

Miss Young smiled sadly, “This is the
unfortunate downside of our system. We convince the parents that
they want their kids to go here, but so often fail to convince the
children themselves—you are aware, no doubt, of the stellar
reputation of this school? And you’ve heard all the numbers and
statistics?”

Val nodded.

“And yet here we are. I take it you want to
go to Gentry for some reason other than academics?”

“All my friends are there!” Val blurted.

Miss Young’s smile widened, “Of course. We
adults often forget, in our age, how important friends are. But I
daresay you seem to have made some new friends here, no? Why, my
own son is quite enamored with you—“

Scarlet flooded Val’s cheeks, “Yeah, I have
a few friends here.”

“Are your friends at Gentry are better than
your friends here?” Miss Young asked.

“No, I suppose not. I just know them better.
I was in school with them for years.”

“Alright, well in a couple of years that’ll
be true of your friends here. And I know a lot of the reasons your
parents chose this school for you can seem unimportant, but I
promise that’s not true. If you can make it through all the friend
troubles, you’ll see that getting a good education is valuable
too.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“So do you still want me to expel you?”

“No, not really.”

“Good. Very good. What do you think your
punishment ought to be, then?”

“I have no idea,” Val admitted.

Miss Young looked at a couple of papers on
her desk, “Miss Curtis is going to be suspended for striking
another student. Do you think you should be suspended too?”

“That would be fair.”

“Perhaps,” Miss Young picked up a pen and
made a note on one of the papers, “But your crime is simply saying
some regrettable things. I see students do that every day and get
away unpunished. You didn’t strike anyone; in fact, you didn’t
actually violate any of our rules. So how about this: you agree to
apologize to Miss Curtis, in face, and I’ll let you finish your
school day. Alright?”

“Alright,” Val grabbed her bag.

“This period’s already half over—“ Val
looked at the clock and realized Miss Young was right; her Lunch
period was over, and a significant portion of the next period had
already passed, “—so I’ll tell you what: I’ll excuse you for the
rest of it and you can think about what we talked about. You can go
now.”

“Thanks,” Val left the Principal’s office,
wondering how she should spend her free half-period. She wasn’t
looking as she opened the door leading into the hall—her head
collided with someone else’s and they both fell down. “Ow!” Val
exclaimed.

She looked up to see Porter’s familiar
lopsided grin, “You should really watch where you’re going, Val.
Don’t wanna give you a concussion or anything—are you alright?”

“Yeah, I think so. My head hurts a little,
but I’ll be fine. See you tomorrow.”

“Hold up,” Porter frowned at the office
door, “Do you have this hour off?”

“Not usually, but your mom excused me for
the rest of it—so I guess today I do.”

“That’s cool. I have it off, too. I was
gonna have lunch with my mom, but—you wanna hang out?”

Val snorted, “You’d ditch lunch with your
mom just because you ran into me?”

Porter shrugged, “Sure. We have lunch every
day, but I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“It’s only been three days,” Val pointed
out, “But I’d like someone to talk to right now.”

“Well it’s settled then. Meet you in the
cafeteria in five?”

“Yeah, sure,” Val smiled. She started the
short walk back; in the cafeteria, she sat down at one of the
smaller tables, and pulled out her math homework to work on while
she waited for Porter.

“You’re supposed to be in English Lit,”
Aaliyah smiled down at Val.

“Yeah, but the Principal excused me from
it.”

“Oh, wow, lucky.” Aaliyah took one of the
two other seats at Val’s table, “What are you working on?”

“Algebra.”

“Ooh, less lucky. Do you want me to leave
you alone so you can work on it or—?”

“No, that’s alright. I was just working on
it because I didn’t have anything else to do.” Val put her homework
away.

“Well that’s good then. Cause I was gonna
talk to you whether or not you wanted me to,” they both laughed.
“So how’d you like Mr. Andrews’ lesson?”

“Ugh, it was so boring.”

Porter walked up, “Hey Val. Sorry it took me
a bit longer than expected. Who’s your friend?”

“This is Aaliyah,” Val gestured to her
friend as Porter took a seat, “And Aaliyah, this is Porter.”

“I know who he is,” Aaliyah giggled,
“Doesn’t everyone?” She checked her phone, “Oh my gosh, I totally
forgot—I have something to do. I’ll see you around Val.” She left
quickly.

“Bye. Have a good rest of your day,” Val
called after her.

“That was strange,” Porter laughed, “Does
she normally leave the moment someone else joins the
conversation?”

“I don’t know,” Valentina admitted, “I
actually just met her today. She’s really nice.”

“Oh, cool. Cool. So, you mentioned you
wanted to talk to someone?”

“Yeah.”

“What about? Is it about that girl slapping
you?”

“Yeah, I—hold on, how’d you know about
that?”

Porter laughed, “My mom’s the
principal.”

“I thought she wasn’t supposed to talk about
disciplinary matters with students, like unless they were involved
in them.”

“Probably, but I mean do you really care
that she did? I’m already briefed on what happened, so you don’t
have to recap for me. It makes it easier for you, doesn’t it?”

“’
Briefed’?” Val giggled,
“What are you, a soldier or something?”