The Perfect One

Chapter 21

"Are you staring at me or are you staring at me?"

"Kirsten?"

I snapped my head towards Michael. "I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

"He did first." He pointed towards David.

"Sorry," I muttered. "What did you say?"

David rolled his eyes. "You were staring at me."

"I was?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah."

"I didn't realize."

"Obviously you were lost in your thoughts." David sounded annoyed.

"Um, yes. I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing!" He exclaimed.

"Jeez. I'm-" I stopped myself. "Alright."

"You've been acting extremely weird, Kirsten," Zoey said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." I shook my head. "Everything's fine."

"You sure about that?" Jason asked, looking concerned. "Did something happen with Adam?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

"Just concerned."

I looked around at the rest of them and noticed that their expressions mirrored each other. "What did I do?"

"You've been behaving strangely since yesterday," David said.

"I'm fine. Seriously," I said firmly. "All of you can finish eating your food now."

David still looked skeptical. "If you're sure..."

"I am."

Lying to you friends had to be one of the most difficult things to do in life. They seemed to read through everything you said and did.

I guess I was acting a bit different. I was more restrained since yesterday. It was my mom's fault for putting those ideas into my head, but I was responsible for acting on them.

I had barely spoken with David. To top it off, along with thinking about him and my mom and back to him all through lunch, I had been staring at involuntarily too.

Needless to say, I finish my food quickly and left early, making an excuse about having to meet a teacher. I would be seeing Jason in my next class which was Algebra II and afterwards I had Music which I shared with both David and Zoey.

I wasn't going to get any peace in the next few hours and I needed solitude desperately. Getting away from my friends during lunch seemed like the best thing to do. I needed to clear my head.

I knew I had to move on from Jason if I valued my sanity. Adam's return distracted me temporarily but I knew I couldn't possibly like him again. And sure, I had been spending more time with David than Jason of late. And yeah, my heart hadn't sped up crazily or did somersaults whenever I saw Jason in a while. It would be a good thing if only I wasn't developing a crush on my other best friend.

Crap. I did not just think that.

Here's the thing. I've known David for a long time. I know him really well. He's funny, good looking and, unlike Jason, available. Not to mention, I did have a crush on him before he was replaced by some else.

Well, screw teenage hormones. They ruin everything.

"Hey, Kirsten." A familiar voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Hey." I smiled at Adam.

"I saw you leave lunch early," he commented as we walked.

"Um, yeah. I needed to go somewhere."