F-ing Perfect - Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Cal watched as Grace basically sprinted out the classroom door the moment the bell rang. She sighed after the honor student disappeared from her sight into the hallway.
This couldn't be worse. We're in the same class?
"So, I'm guessing you guys didn't make up after all."
Cal was distracted from her worries by the sound of Dana's voice. She looked up at the other blonde, who had stood up from her desk.
"Yeah...it didn't go well at all," Cal replied. "I guess we're just doomed to be enemies."
Dana, sensing Cal's disappointment, offered her a gentle smile. It was small, but more genuine than Cal had ever seen from the meddling cheerleader. "Well, I think things'll work out. At least you guys aren't totally depressed anymore."
"Just pissy and ready to fight at the drop of a hat."
"Well, that's still more entertaining."
And Dana's expression was replaced by her usual devious smirk.
"Maybe for you," Cal teased, standing up to sling her backpack over her shoulder.
"Hey, even if you guys are fighting now, you never know what might happen in the future," Dana said, maintaining her sly smile. "Especially now that we're all in the same class."
"Yeah...sure..."
---
Cal said that, but the second she left class and parted ways with Dana, she headed down to the counselor's offices. Maybe she was being petty or cowardly, but there was no way she could survive an entire semester with Grace giving her the death glare while Dana tried to mend their relationship (and get entertainment out of it in the process).
She'd have to try and get her schedule changed.
Usually the counselors had a policy that they wouldn't change student schedules unless there was a legitimate reason, like a time conflict or an error in class placement (like putting a freshman in a senior level class). But some of the counselors were lenient and just accepted casual requests. Cal was hoping they would offer the same leniency to her this time.
She was still trying to work out her excuse for switching when she walked through the door to the counselor's offices. Cal saw that most of the office doors were closed, but one was open wide, so she headed over to it.
To her surprise, as she stood in the doorway, she found that it wasn't just a counselor inside the office. Grace heard her approach, and turned to look at her with a startled expression. Her surprise was quickly masked with her usual icy glare.
"What are you doing here?" she grumbled.
"Ah...well...I just had a question about my schedule," Cal explained, even though she didn't really need to do so to Grace. She felt too awkward to outright admit that she wanted to be transferred out of the only class she shared with the honor student. Even though they were on bad terms it seemed too...mean-spirited.
Grace clicked her tongue, folding her arms over her chest. "Don't worry about switching out of sociology. I'm already asking for myself."
"You both want to switch out of that class?" the counselor cut in, folding his arms as he sat at his desk in front of them. "Sixth period sociology?"
Grace jumped a little as if she'd forgotten he was there. Her face morphed into a smile that Cal could easily see was fake. It was somewhat uncharacteristic for Grace...she must've just acted like this around her teachers.
"Oh, well, uh, we were talking in class about how we both didn't pick it as our first-choice elective, so we wanted to switch," Grace lied.
The counselor raised an eyebrow, obviously unconvinced. "Are you sure it isn't just about you two not getting along?"
"Of course not! We don't even really know each other! Right?" Grace turned to look at Cal for confirmation. She was smiling, but there was a hint of a threat glimmering in her eyes.
Cal felt a tug at her heart at Grace saying they didn't know each other well. Even though it was a lie, the prospect made the taller girl feel irrelevant in her ex's eyes. In spite of not knowing each other for very long, Cal felt like they'd been through a lot together and shared secrets that other people didn't know about.
But look where they were now.
"Ah...right," she finally agreed, trying not to give away disappointment in her voice. This was the only way of getting transferred out of sociology anyway...
"That's funny," the counselor replied, "because I recall an incident where you two were causing a scene in the cafeteria before break. Based on the yelling and name-calling, I assume that you guys have become relatively acquainted."
Grace paused a second, but finally, she dropped her ruse, and stepped forward to plant her hands on the counselor's desk.
"Alright, fine, we don't get along. But isn't that cause enough to switch one of us out of the class?" Grace pleaded.
"Yeah, I didn't ask for this elective anyway," Cal chimed in. "I thought we got some better scheduling priority as juniors."
"You usually do, but this year's junior class is unusually large," the counselor explained, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry, but they're really cracking down on class sizes, so we can't change electives unless there's a legitimate reason. You two are highschoolers. You need to work out your differences yourselves. Just don't talk to each other in class."
Grace looked like she was ready to argue, but she just ended up sighing. She obviously wasn't one to talk back to the teachers or school staff.
"Alright. Fine."
"If you two need to talk it out, you can come to my office," the counselor said, his voice becoming more gentle and understanding. "I know it's not ideal, but my hands are tied this semester."
"Yes, sir," Grace and Cal replied in unison.
The two girls walked out of the office and another student headed in after them. Once they were back in the hallway, they awkwardly turned towards each other, not making eye contact.
"So...you had the same idea to switch electives?" Cal asked.
"Yeah...you did too?"
"Yep."
The silent pause was ridiculously uncomfortable, and Cal shifted her weight from one leg onto the other.
"Well...you sure have a lot of nerve," Grace said suddenly.
"Huh?" Cal asked, confused. "For wanting to do the same thing you did?"
"Yes," Grace said, holding her chin higher, hands settling on her waist. Now the two were looking each other in the eye, and the action sent chills down Cal's spine. Still, the taller girl held her ground.
"And why are you allowed to transfer out and not me?" Cal questioned. "Are you that offended that I didn't want to be in the same class as you?"
Cal thought she saw Grace's cheeks redden a little, but she convinced herself it was a trick of the light.
"Of course not! That's what I wanted anyway." She folded her arms across her chest.
"Well, then I guess we'll have to try and get along, like the counselor said," Cal remarked in an obviously sarcastic tone. She stared Grace down, happy to be getting any reaction out of the honor student. Although she'd hate to admit it, she'd been somewhat starved for the shorter girl's attention since they'd stopped seeing each other regularly. The desire lay dormant in the back of Cal's mind, but it was still there nonetheless.
"Yeah right," Grace shot back. "Just stay out of my way. You and Dana can keep messing around in the corner like idiots."
And with that, Grace took off, bumping Cal out of the way with her shoulder in the process. The small touch sent waves of electricity through Cal's body – she couldn't remember the last time they had any physical contact. Reeling from her reaction to the touch, Cal just watched as the pretty brunette stalked down the hallway, even flipping her hair in the process.
This semester's gonna suck...