How To Be A Perfect Girl (9 page)

“See you,” Keenan waved; he took the stairs
down, where Val assumed he would meet his brother in the parking
lot. She went to the cafeteria for the fifth Student Gov meeting of
the week.

Chapter 8

“Ugh, why does algebra have to be so hard?”
Val complained.

Alex grinned, “It’s not. You’re just bad at
it.”

“Thanks,” Val stuck her tongue out at
him.

“Look, it really is simple. If you have a
variable that you want to single out, you just perform the
operations that allow you to get it to equal one,” Keenan said.

“Oh my gosh, that actually made sense!” Val
looked at the first of their homework problems.

Keenan took out a blank
sheet of paper, “Here,” he wrote down
three
quarters x
, “Now what do you need to do to
make it one x?”

“Multiply it by four and divide by three.”
Val giggled, “That’s easy.”

“Exactly. Now, you just take each number in
the equation and do to it what you did to the variable. So five
times four divided by three is—?”

“Twenty thirds.”

“It’s easier to use your calculator and
write down the number it gives you to a few decimals,” Carrie
remarked.

“Alright, so it’s six and point six six,”
Val wrote the number down. “And then on the other side I take this
gunk and do the same thing?” ‘This gunk’ referred to a collection
of numbers and operations on the right side.

“It’s easier to simplify it first.” Keenan
smiled encouragingly, “But yeah, once you simplify it you just
multiply it by four thirds.”

“Oh, alright.” Val entered the operations
into her calculator, “Is this right?”

“Yup,” Keenan confirmed.

Val wrote the result down. “Now what do I
do? Since the x isn’t by itself.”

Alex smirked, “Well in that case the
problems unsolvable, sweety.”

“Is that true?” Val looked between Keenan
and Carrie.

“Of course not,” Keenan said, “You just
subtract the number on the same side as your x. In this case, that
would be the six-point-something. And then the result is your
answer.”

Val did as he’d said; she compared her
answer to Carrie’s when she finished. “I got it!” she exclaimed, “I
actually got it! All by myself!”

Alex broke into fits of
laughter; Keenan held back a grin, and even Carrie smiled. “Ok,
maybe it wasn’t
all
by myself,” Val admitted, “But I think I understand this
now.”

“Well that’s good,” Alex
commented, half sarcastically and half humorously, “And here I was
worried we’d have to stay up till midnight helping you understand.”
He was right; Val’s clock read
12:07
. She had hardly been aware of
the passage of time, since she’d had so much fun joking around with
her friends. They’d only really settled down to work an hour
before, when the snacks Mom had brought up had all
disappeared.

“Why are you worried about it being late? I
thought you’d be the last one to complain about being in my room at
night,” Val joked.

“Yeah,” Alex replied, a smile spreading on
his face, “And that’s what I thought too. But then again, I was
imagining you with a lot less clothes on. And it would be only
us.”

“Hey,” Keenan tried to efface a stern look,
“That’s my girl you’re talking to.”

“There’d be mood lighting and rose petals
and you’d slip into something comfortable,” Alex continued.

Val laughed, “But I’m
already
in
something comfortable.”

“Yes, well those pants certainly don’t look
that comfortable to me. They’re too tight. Especially in back.”

Keenan’s eyes widened, “Have you been
looking at Val’s ass, Alex?”

“Oh yeah. Don’t tell me you haven’t. She’s
got a badonk.”

Something about the
word
badonk
caused
them all to laugh uncontrollably. When Val regained control of
herself she said, “Well these pants really are comfortable. You
should try them.”

Alex thought about it a moment. “Aren’t you
worried I’ll stretch them out?”

Val shook her head.

“Alright,” Alex said, “On one condition. If
I wear the pants you can’t put on a new pair.”

“Why?” Val asked; it didn’t make sense.

“Because I’m a perv and I wanna see you in
your underwear.” Alex laughed a little hard; it wasn’t that funny
of a joke. Carrie shifted uncomfortably.

Val bit her lip, “Um, I don’t think I’m
gonna take you up on that. Anyways, it is getting late guys. Who
wants to call it a night and go our separate ways?”

Carrie was all for it (“Just let me call my
parents”), and Keenan didn’t protest; Alex, however, seemed
reticent. “Just give us one more half hour,” he begged.

“Why?” Val asked, “What is going to happen
in one more half hour that hasn’t already happened?”

“We’ll find a party to go to.” Alex pulled
out his phone and sent several texts, “You can come along if you
want.”

“I haven’t heard of any parties,” Val said.
“And besides, I’m sure my parents wouldn’t let me go. They think
we’re studying, remember?”

Keenan frowned, “Would you be willing to say
you were going to a sleepover?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Perfect. I’ll say we’re going to sleep over
at my house, and I’ll tell Porter so he can answer the phone if
your parents call—“he looked at Carrie, “Do you wanna come?” She
shook her head vigorously.

“Hey, guess who’s throwing a party just a
few blocks away!” Alex shouted.

“Shhh,” Val made a quieting motion with her
hands, “Do you want to get me in trouble or what?”

Alex apologized; “Who is it?” Keenan
whispered.

“Miro!” Alex looked around, but no one else
recognized the name; Val wasn’t sure if it was the same Miro from
her Drawing class or not. “You know,” he said, “Junior kid, he’s
like the only dealer at our school. If he’s throwing a party, it’s
bound to be fun.”

“I dunno,” Val said, “Won’t there be drugs
at the party? I mean, if he’s a dealer?”

“Nope,” Alex assured her, a little too
quickly to be believable.

“Well, still—I think if that’s the party
you’d go to, I’m better off at home.”

“Ok,” Alex looked disappointed, “How about
you, Keenan?” His friend shook his head. “Alright, well I suppose
we’re all just goody-two-shoes then.” Alex shrugged, “Oh well,
there’s always next week. See you Monday, Val.”

“Bye!” Val waved; she accompanied her guests
to the front hall, and waved as Alex and Keenan drove off. Carrie’s
mother was late in picking her up, but not by much. By the time Val
got ready for bed it was just past one.

With such a long night to propel her into
sleep, Val’s sleep was long and undisturbed. It was nearly nine in
the morning by the time she awoke; Val rolled over and yawned,
stretching her shoulders. “What should I do today?” she asked the
empty room. She’d decided to hold off on her homework until Sunday,
which left Saturday wide open. It was the kind of day she’d
normally spend hanging out with McKayla, but that didn’t seem
likely. McKayla’s mom had been over to return Val’s wallet, and
since then she hadn’t heard from her one-time best friend.

Val nuzzled her pillow,
wracking her brain to try and come up with something she could do
with her free time. She retrieved her phone from her nightstand,
planning on texting Keenan; instead, she found herself on Facebook,
rereading the letter that Jaxton had written.
I could visit him,
Val
thought,
Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.
She got up and poured herself a bowl of cereal;
meanwhile, Val asked one of Jaxton’s friends from Walker for his
number.

The response was a few minutes in coming, “I
think it’s 4042910323.”

“Kk, thanks,” Val sent back. She texted the
number, “Hey, this is Val…From Walker.”

“Ha ha ha,” Jaxton replied, “Like I haven’t
heard that one before. Just leave me alone.”

“No, it’s seriously Val.”
Val frowned;
how can I prove it’s
me?

Jaxton solved the problem for her, “Alright,
if it is you… What was the name of our first grade teacher?”

Val smiled; their first grade teacher, Miss
Richards, had been one of her favorite people. Still was, in fact.
“Miss Richards,” she sent back.

There was no reply for several minutes; Val
turned on her laptop and surfed the net to pass the time. She was
starting to wonder if Jaxton was going to reply at all when she got
a text from him, “Val! How are you?”

“I’m good. Do you wanna meet up
somewhere?”

“Of course! Where were you thinking?”

“You know the Starbucks at the corner of
Vine and Berkshire?”

“Yeah. You want to meet there? I’ll treat
you!”

Val laughed; Jaxton’s enthusiasm was
infectious. The last few texts had passed between them in less than
a minute. “Hahaha, kk. How about we meet there in an hour?”

“Sure! Ten forty-five?”

“Yup,” Val checked the living room for Dad;
he wasn’t there. Mom wasn’t anywhere to be found, either; a year or
two ago that would have been unusual, but any more Val had come to
expect their unexpected absences. She called a cab service, “Hello,
could I have a cab come to 1625 Cedar Avenue in about forty
minutes?”

The woman on the phone coughed, “We
typically don’t send cars out for children.”

“I’m not a child!” Val insisted, “And
besides, I have more than enough money to pay for it.”

“1625 Cedar?” the woman asked.

“Yup.”

“Alright, just let me look it up—I see, so
you live in the Stonebrook Community?”

“Uh huh,” Val hated admitting it; it was
tantamount to proclaiming her family’s status to the inquiring
party.

“Well in that case, I can have a car for you
whenever you need it. Do you have a gate code?”

“Um, yeah. It’s 3127.”

“Fantastic, we’ll be there shortly.”

“You mean in forty minutes?” Val felt
compelled to ask.

“Of course. It’s just an expression.”

“Ok, well I’ll be here.” Val hung up the
phone, wondering what she should do until the cab arrived. She
wound up downloading a game for her phone; it was pointless, but a
great waste of time. A knock on the door pulled her out of the
world of flying birds. Val answered it, realizing she’d forgotten
to change from her normal Saturday clothes—a pair of sweatpants and
a t shirt.

“Uh, hello,” the cab driver said, “Did you
call for a cab?”

“Yeah!” Val frowned, “I forgot to change
before you came though. Would you be alright if I just went up to
my room really quickly and grabbed something?”

“I can wait for up to fifteen minutes.
Longer than that is against company policy.”

“Great!” Val sprinted up the stairs to her
room; she put on a red knee-length skirt along with a turquoise
shirt, and grabbed her purse on the way back to the door. “Alright,
I’m ready to go.”

The driver held the door open for her to get
in; that was strange, since Val had never seen a cab driver do that
before. Limo drivers maybe, but oh well. She decided not to say
anything about it, and got in wordlessly.

“So where are you going?” the man asked.

“You know the Starbucks at the corner of
Vine and Berkshire?” the cabbie nodded; “Well, that’s where I want
to go,” Val said. Her phone buzzed.

“Hey, are you on your way?” It was from
Jaxton.

“Yeah,” Val didn’t know
why he’d be worrying about that; it was still ten minutes before
they’d agreed to meet.
Maybe he got there
early,
she decided. She stared out the
window as the taxi turned onto Vine.

Jaxton sent another text,
“Well where are you?” Val decided not to respond;
I’ll be there in a minute or two
anyway
.

The taxi stopped; the driver turned in his
seat, “That’ll be sixty-five dollars.”

Val pulled out a crisp hundred,
“Thanks.”

“No, thank
you
,” the driver smiled,
and Val smiled back before getting out of the cab. Her phone
vibrated, probably with another text from Jaxton, but she ignored
it. The Starbucks was pretty small; she entered the store and was
greeted by the male cashier, “Hello, what can I get for
you?”

“Um, nothing, thanks. My friend’s supposed
to meet me here.”

Val peered around, trying to spot Jaxton
amidst all the other patrons. She felt a tap on her shoulder and
turned to see who’d tapped her. Porter’s distinct grin greeted her,
“What are you doing here, Val?”

“I’m meeting a friend. What about you?”

Porter held up a mug, “I’m picking up
coffee. Avery asked me to get something for her too.”

“Avery the Student Gov President?” Val
asked. Her phone rang.

“Yeah, she’s my girlfriend.” Porter looked
down at Val’s ringing purse, “Do you need to answer that?”

“Probably. Um—“ Val pressed the answer key,
“Hello?”

“Hey, are you here yet?” Val assumed the
voice belonged to Jaxton.

“Yeah, I’m standing next to the tall blonde
guy.” Porter frowned.

“Ok, I’ll look for you,” Jaxton replied.

“Sounds good.” Val hung up. “Well, it was
nice seeing you, Porter.”

“You too, Val. See you Tuesday.”

“Yeah.”

A quiet cough to Val’s right alerted her to
Jaxton’s arrival. He held out a plastic cup, “Who was that?”

“That’s—he’s—Porter.” Val took a moment to
figure out how she wanted to summarize her relationship with him,
“He’s my boyfriend’s brother.”

“Oh, cool.” Jaxton nodded, “You have a
boyfriend?”

“Uh, yeah,” Val gestured to a pair of empty
seats they could sit in. She took the closest one and Jaxton
plopped down opposite her.