F-ing Perfect - Chapter 46: Chapter 46

As per usual, Grace was dreading it as she walked to her sixth period sociology class on Monday morning. More of Dana talking her ears off, more of learning a subject she had no use for, more of seeing the face of her ex that she was on bad terms with.
That is, if said ex showed up that day. She'd been absent the previous Friday, which mostly relieved Grace. After all, if she'd been present, Dana would've tried to loop them all together for the group project. And Grace was not having that. She would've taken her chances and just worked alone if that happened.
Still, it was a bit uncharacteristic for the tall blonde to be absent. Perhaps she just decided to ditch that class. Maybe she didn't want to have to see Grace.
Whatever! Grace thought. The feeling's mutual. She can do that every day for all I care!
Already annoyed, Grace reached the classroom and opened the door. Sure enough, Cal was in her usual spot next to Dana, and they even locked eyes for a brief moment before Grace looked away and headed over to her desk. The two were rather early today (especially Dana), but Grace figured that Cal had just arrived since she was still getting her stuff out of her backpack.
"You're looking as cheerful as ever, Grace," Dana said, launching into her usual pestering.
Grace ignored her like she always did.
As the brunette set her stuff down and took out her notebooks and pencils, Dana turned her attention back to Cal, who she had a much better chance of getting a response from.
"So, Cal," she began, "how was the wedding?"
Grace paused in middle of unzipping her pencil bag when she overheard that. A wedding? What the hell where they talking about?
"Ah, just boring," Cal replied, sounding almost a little bit nervous. "I probably would've rather been here in school."
"Show me a picture of you in your dress!" Dana insisted excitedly.
"Hell no! I deleted any picture with me in it!"
"Aw...I bet you look so cute though," Dana leaned her chin in her hands, pouting. "I can't imagine seeing you wearing something so feminine."
"Ah, shut it."
Grace felt a sense of unease at the whole conversation. Why did Dana know where she was on Friday? Were they actually closer friends than Grace realized? And why was Cal at a wedding in the first place? Whose was it?
Even though it was only natural given their now strained relationship, it felt weird for Grace to be oblivious to the happenings in Cal's life. And it was even weirder for Cal to share them with Dana.
Grace decided that thinking about it too much wouldn't lead to any good conclusions, so she instead focused on setting up her desk for taking notes. It had nothing to do with her. Grace just had to keep reminding herself of that.
The bell rang and Mr. Morrison put the PowerPoint of the day's lecture on the board. Another dull topic relating to sociology, but Grace would write down every part of it anyway. Just because she didn't care for a class didn't mean she would let it jeopardize her GPA.
Grace was especially obsessive with color-coding and organizing her notes today. It kept her mind off of Cal, especially because her and Dana were whispering throughout most of the class period. It made her want to throw something at the two blondes to get them to shut up. Needless to say, Grace's blood pressure was higher than usual that hour.
The end of the class was drawing very near and Mr. Morrison paused the lecture to look at his watch.
"Oh, one more thing before you all leave," he said hurriedly, and rushed to his desk to pick up a stack of paper.
"I'm going to quickly brief you all on the first part of your group project which will be due two weeks from now," he explained as he handed out a stack of papers to each row. "Your group just needs to pick a sociological concept as your main topic. This sheet has instructions on what you need to bring for a grade and suggestions on topics you can choose."
Grace groaned internally just from being reminded about the group project. She really wasn't looking forward to having to do all the work for her and Dana. Even if Dana did do her share, it probably wouldn't be up to Grace's standards, so she'd have to re-do it anyway.
She received her instructions sheet and looked it over. They'd just have to write down the topic they choose on a worksheet and jot down a quick outline of the project.
"I'll quickly read out the groups so I know everything's correct and we're all on the same page," Mr. Morrison said, picking up a printed out spreadsheet. "Plus, I know some of you were absent on Friday when we decided groups, so you'll know where I to placed you."
As the young teacher started reading out the names in each group, Grace wondered who Cal was forced to work with. She wasn't super familiar with everyone in the class, and she hadn't seen Cal talking to anyone else either.
In a way, Grace kind of felt bad for the left out girl. Dana could've just paired up with her instead. But still, the thought of them working on a project alone together seemed to rub Grace the wrong way.
"Group 4, Grace Jordan, Dana Gardner, and Cal McCarthy."
Grace froze when she heard those names being listed off. Did she hear him correctly?
Cal seemed to be just as shocked when Grace looked over at her, and they exchanged a confused glance. But when the honor student caught sight of Dana in between them trying to fight off a smile, she knew exactly what was going on.
"And that's all the groups," Mr. Morrison said, getting cut off by the bell. Everyone stood up and started leaving the room as the young teacher tried to get out the last part of his announcement, raising his voice over the commotion. "If anyone has any questions about the assignment or groups, come see me after class! I won't be making any changes last minute, so don't wait to bring it up!"
The trio, however, stayed still in their seats as the rest of the class was leaving. Grace awoke from her stunned silence and fixed Dana with a furious glare.
"Dana? What's going on?" she demanded.
"What are you talking about?" Dana replied.
"Don't play dumb with me!"
Cal continued to look confused. "Did we just happen to get assigned to the same group?"
"No, we chose our groups, you were just gone," Grace explained in a snappy manner. "Me and Dana were just supposed to pair up."
"Well, I couldn't just leave Cal out," Dana said, shrugging as if she were completely innocent in this situation. "And I knew you'd throw a fit about it, so I asked Mr. Morrison about it after you left on Friday."
Grace was enraged. She should've guessed that Dana would pull something like this. At any opportunity, Dana made sure that the three of them were together.
What a crazy, meddling, irritating, bitc-
"It was Cal's fault she was absent," Grace continued, on an angry tirade. "Why would you make that decision without consulting me? I'm in the group, for God's sake!"
Cal stiffened, and her expression morphed from one of confusion to one of irritation. "What's the big deal? Do you hate the thought of being near me that much?"
Grace tensed. Although she wanted to exclaim that, yes, she did hate it, deep down she didn't want to hurt Cal so much by giving her that impression. "I-well, no, it's just..."
"Plus, I had to go to a wedding!" Cal continued, still visibly upset. "I don't deserve to be left out because I was forced out of school by my family."
Grace was getting flustered, but her pride wasn't allowing her to step down so easily. She folded her arms over her chest indignantly. "Well, it doesn't matter! It's wrong for Dana to just add a person to the group without asking me."
"She knew you'd throw a tantrum just like you are now!" Cal challenged. "Are you ever going to get over yourself?"
"You don't have a right to tell me that!" Grace fired back. "If it were up to me, I wouldn't have to see your annoying face every day! Much less during a group project that lasts all semester!"
"Then why don't you drop out of the group and do the project by yourself?"
"Ahem."
The clearing of someone's throat grabbed the girls' attentions amidst all the bickering. The classroom was basically empty now except for the trio and Mr. Morrison, who was sitting at his desk. He regarded them with a questioning look.
"Is there a problem here, ladies?" he asked.
Grace flushed. She was embarrassed to have a teacher witness her more abrasive side – after all, teachers were her weak spot, and she immediately abandoned her pride and became the obedient honor student in front of them.
"Uh, no sir," she said. "Sorry for being loud."
He looked between the three of them, but didn't say anything else, and went back to grading papers or whatever he was doing at his desk.
Grace flashed the other two a glare and stood up, gathering her things, and heading towards the door.
"Wait!" Dana called. "Aren't we supposed to arrange a time to meet up for the project?"
But Grace didn't stop or go back. She stalked out the door and down the hallway, overcome with anger, embarrassment, and an inkling of hurt.