F-ing Perfect - Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Grace agreed that she needed to tell her father about Will as soon as possible...but she just couldn't get herself to do it over the weekend.
There's been radio silence from Will ever since they locked eyes at the party, and that unsettled Grace even more than if he continued contacting her. She was worried he was planning something...
But her father was in such a good mood over the weekend. He took them out to eat, to see a movie, played with the boys outside...he was a great father who tried his best when he could, but he was normally exhausted from work over the weekend. It was rare to see him so energetic and just...happy.
Grace had several times where she wanted to bring it up, but her dad's genuine smile would prevent her from souring the mood. Plus, she knew the moment she told him he'd do all but make her go to school in bubble wrap with a 24/7 bodyguard.
I need to find the right time, Grace thought as she walked out of her class to go to lunch. She was supposed to meet Jeanette and Megan in the parking lot so they could eat off campus today.
"Well if it isn't my old best friend."
The familiar voice made Grace stop dead in her tracks.
No no no, I really don't need this shit on my plate at well.
Grace turned on her heel and was met with a sickeningly sweet smile and long blond hair. The scent of perfume was enough to make Grace nearly gag out loud.
"Dana," she stated.
"Long time, no see, Grace," the beautiful girl greeted. "You haven't changed at all, I see."
"Why are you here?" Grace snapped. She didn't have time for this bitch's games.
"I just missed you so much in California that I had to come straight back when the new school year started."
Oh, Grace wanted nothing more than to slap that pearly white smile off Dana's face.
"I have too much going on to deal with your bullshit," Grace hissed. "Leave me alone from now on."
Dana frowned in mock disappointment. "Aw, you shouldn't be like that to your old bestie. I'm all alone in this school because no one else remembers me." Suddenly, Dana flashed a wicked smile. "Oh, except for this other new girl...we got all buddy-buddy in first period."
Grace scowled harder than usual. Fuck, she's already got to Cal...does she know that...?
"Based on the face you're making, you must know her," Dana remarked.
Grace spun around and faced the original direction she was going. "Nope, and I don't care who your next victim is either."
"Is that so?" Dana crooned, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Well, you should come and meet her. I invited her to lunch today."
That stopped Grace in her tracks. She's already inviting her to hang out? What's she planning?
Dana walked up to her and threw an arm around Grace's shoulders. "Come on, let's hang out and talk about the good ol' days."
The last thing Grace wanted to do was spend her lunch with Dana, but she basically had to go. Who knows what kinds of things she was planning to tell Cal.
--
"Oh, hey Grace."
Cal looked surprised to see the honor student, blinking in confusion. She was already sitting at an outdoor lunch table when she was approached by Dana hauling Grace behind her. The two sat down with Cal, Grace rather reluctantly.
"Cal, Grace used to be my best friend freshman year," Dana said, squeezing her arm around Grace's shoulders. "Have you two met?"
"Uh, yeah," Cal replied. She seemed uneasy at the closeness between the two, her eyes flitting over to Dana's grip on Grace's shoulder.
"How weird," Dana said. "Grace didn't seem to recall who you were when I described you to her."
Grace gritted her teeth, absolutely livid with this whole situation. What exactly was Dana planning? She almost had no doubt in her mind that Dana knew about Cal before they even met. This was all too big of a coincidence.
Grace's eyes accidentally caught Cal's who looked rather confused about the situation.
"Well I'd love to start taking a trip down memory lane with you, Grace, but I had to ask Cal a couple of questions about Spanish," Dana announced. She released Grace and slid to the other side of the table, sitting uncomfortably close to Cal.
Cal blushed a little when Dana's thigh touched her own, and the reaction made Grace seethe in anger for some reason. Then Dana had the gall to wrap her arms around one of Cal's, leaning in.
"You seem like you're so good at Spanish. You flew through those questions we had to work on together."
Cal blinked, confused. "I mean, not really. Grace is probably a better person to get help from...she's got like an A in everything."
Grace blushed a little from the compliment, their eyes meeting briefly. Dana seemed to be intently watching any interactions the two had, making Grace extremely uncomfortable.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot she's the top of the class," Dana said. Yeah right she forgot. "But from what I remember, Grace is kinda bad at teaching."
This bitch.
"Really? She seems fine with it to me," Cam responded. Please don't tell her- "She tutors me after school in Calculus and she's pretty good at it."
Fuck! This was the absolute worst thing Dana could find out about, and Grace saw her evil schemes being worked out in her head as the blonde smirked.
"Oh my gosh, really?" Dana exclaimed, then looked over at Grace. "You have to let me join in, I'm so terrible at math!"
"It's sort of just a thing I'm supposed to do with Cal," Grace said uneasily. "I don't know if the teacher would be cool with another person coming."
"Oh, come on, no one even has to know!" Dana said. "We could all become better friends, too! You don't mind, do you, Cal?"
Dana looked up at Cal with what could only be puppy-dog eyes. Grace was doing her best to keep her cool and not go around the table to slap the shit out of her. Cal shifted uncomfortably.
"Uh, no, I don't mind," Cal replied.
"See, Grace? Come on, let's have a study session!"
Grace really hated how everything was going Dana's way, but she didn't have any particular reason to deny her without seeming suspicious. Maybe she'll just talk to Cal about her later...though that might be the same as inciting a war with the blonde.
"Fine."
--
After lunch, Cal took off to her class on the opposite side of the building while Grace was left with Dana. The whole lunch period, Cal seemed to be affected by Dana's advances, blushing when she'd cling, taking peeks at Dana's cleavage (which was full on display). It grinded Grace's gears to no end, even though she shouldn't care at all.
Who cares if Cal gets close to her? Dana can tell her whatever...we're not friends or anything.
"Cal is such a nice girl," Dana said, pulling Grace out of her thoughts. "I get why the two of you are close."
"We're not close." Grace defended. "And rumor has it that she's a lesbian, so you might not want to get so clingy with her."
Something mischevious flashed in Dana's eyes, and her smile widened. "Is that so? Maybe I'll make a move on her, then."
Grace did not expect that reaction. She started to sweat, suddenly worried. "Yeah right," she bluffed.
"She's just so cute that I can make an exception if it's her," Dana continued, leaning closer to Grace.
It was obviously that she was trying to get a rise out of Grace, but Grace couldn't help but feel anxiety. Maybe if Cal didn't seem to be super attracted to her...wait, why did she care about this at all? She reconstructed her stone mask and turned away from the blonde.
"Well, go for it then. I don't care what you do." And she walked off, feeling eyes boring into her back.
This is all going from bad to worse...