Fing Perfect - S01 E10

5 months ago

Fing Perfect - S01 E10

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 10

Pins and Needles

"Ugh...shit."

Grace fumbled for her phone to turn off the head-splitting alarm. Her eyes blinked in an attempt to focus her vision after just waking up. A headache pounded at the back of her skull, and she wanted nothing more than to turn over and go back to sleep.

Except, there was a report due in history today.

Grace pulled herself out of bed and began her morning ritual in a complete daze. This weekend had been an utter blur since she was in her own head for most of it. As she brushed her teeth, she found her cheeks reddening for the 100th time after thinking about the events of the party.

Terror was building up in her stomach as she would now have to go to school and possibly face the object of her utter embarassment.

Not only did she show such extreme vulnerability in front of someone who was supposed to be her enemy, but now she might have to explain why she did it. The nature of her relationship with Cal was now compromised, and Grace was going to do everything in her power to set it back to its original status. Even her own friends have never seen Grace break down like that.

There were two possible scenarios for that day – either Cal was creeped out by the whole incident and would just avoid her, or Cal would take pity on Grace and pry her for answers about what exactly was going on.

Obviously the second scenario made Grace want to die, but for some reason she also didn't want the first scenario to occur either.

Well, there was no use in obsessing over what would happen. It was time to go to school and find out.

Jeanette and Megan were extra nice to Grace during the day. It honestly wasn't their fault that they lost track of Grace during the party – Jeanette was dragging Megan around to look for her when the latter started projectile vomiting in the living room and had to be hauled to the nearest bathroom.

Grace lied to them and told them that a girl she knew from English class gave her a ride home, but in reality, it was Cal who borrowed her friend's car. The car ride had been extremely awkward as well, and the two didn't say a word to each other besides quiet goodbyes when they reached Grace's house.

Speaking of Cal, Grace hadn't seen the girl all day and it was nearly seventh period. Like, not even a glimpse of her in the hallway or during lunch. Even though there was probably an explanation that had nothing to do with her, Grace worried that scenario 1 was coming true and that Cal was just outright avoiding her.

I mean, wasn't it normal to want to check on someone you comforted while they were seriously shaken up? Even with the little bit of information Grace told her about the incident, even Grace would be concerned if the tables were turned.

No, no, this is perfectly fine, Grace assured herself. I don't want her to think we're friends now or something...

But no matter what she told herself, there was a sort of emotional lump forming in Grace's stomach whenever she thought about the transfer student. She couldn't seem to swallow that tiny feeling of disappointment.

Tuesday afternoon rolled around and now Grace hadn't seen Cal for almost two days at school. She was starting to really believe that Cal was purposely avoiding her, and the more she tried to not think about it, the more she did.

Grace was certain that Cal wouldn't turn up to their scheduled tutor session, and she didn't. Grace even stayed the full hour she was supposed to be there, trying to study but being unable to focus. The honor student sighed as she sat at the study room table. Why was she feeling so perturbed? Wasn't this what she wanted from Cal all along? To just stop showing up to sessions?

Surely anyone would be a bit irked if they were ignored after making it known that they went through a traumatic incident, right? Especially after how rude Cal had been to Grace after all this time. That's right, these feelings are totally normal and, honestly, Cal was a shitty person for behaving this way. Even if they did basically hate each other, this was over the line.

Forget it, Grace thought, and stood up to collect her things. She headed down to the parking lot to meet Jeanette (hopefully the girl was ready to go by now). Now she just wanted to go home.

"Grace!"

A voice stopped Grace in her tracks as she was heading down the sidewalk to the parking lot. She turned and saw no other than the object of her recent anxiety: Cal. The sight of the tall blond, who was out of breath as if she'd been running, caused Grace's heart to speed up. The brunette even felt her cheeks heating up.

"C-Cal?" Did Grace Jordan just stutter? She never stuttered! What was wrong with her all of a sudden?

Cal grabbed Grace's shoulders, out of breath. The touch sent bolts of electricity throughout Grace's body, and she stiffened. "I've been looking for you. I had to make up a test so I couldn't make it to the tutoring session but I didn't have your number so I couldn't-"

"Where were you yesterday?" Grace interrupted, starting to feel angry as well. She swiped Cal's hands off her shoulders brusquely.

Cal rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Well I got sick over the weekend and I was absent."

"Sick?" Grace flushed again, suddenly feeling a wave of embarrassment. Here she was obsessing over the other girl, assuming a bunch of ridiculous things, when the transfer student was just absent. All of this worrying and it had absolutely nothing to do with her.

"Yeah, but I wanted to, uh..." Cal struggled to find her words, averting her eyes. Wait, was she blushing too? Grace was starting to feel uncomfortable with this embarrassing mood going on between them, but she couldn't get herself to speak up or walk away.

"I wanted to check in with you," Cal continued, spitting the words out. "I know we're not friends or anything, but it seemed like whatever happened to you was serious, and I wanted to make sure-"

"Don't," Grace cut her off, fighting off her emotions. "I don't want to talk about it ever again. That whole thing was just a weird fluke and it meant nothing."

"But-"

"I've got to go."

Luckily Grace spotted Jeanette walking towards the parking lot as well, and she hurried off to her before the transfer student could say anything else. Her heart was positively beating out of her chest, and Grace couldn't understand these physical reactions she was suddenly having.

She does care, Grace kept repeating in her mind, unsuccessfully trying the shoo the butterflies in her stomach away.