Fing Perfect - S01 E19

Story 5 months ago

Fing Perfect - S01 E19

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 19

"Damn, this is really good!" Cal exclaimed.

Grace flashed a smug smile. "Of course it is."

The two of them sat at the dining room table, Cal stuffing her face eagerly. The dish turned out to be a lot of work, but it was fun and well worth the effort.

Cal honestly couldn't be in a better mood. The day started off so shitty, but now just being around Grace was making her giddy with excitement, like a middle school girl around her crush. Even when the topic of Cal's family came up, her mood refused to dampen.

Speaking of which, Cal forgot to tell her mom that she'd be staying over somewhere else. She grimaced at the thought, thinking of how her mom would start on her bullshit, asking a bunch of invasive questions.

Luckily, Grace didn't seem to notice Cal's momentarily sour expression. Cal didn't really want to talk about it anyway.

"We need to make a plan," Grace asserted, suddenly looking like her usual arrogant self. Cal couldn't help but think it was ridiculously cute.

"About what?" she asked.

"About what to do with Dana," Grace answered. "I know she's planning something evil."

"What makes you think that?" Cal was thoroughly amused by Grace's suspicion, though she agreed that there was more to the blonde than meets the eye.

"Because that's how she's always been!" Grace sighed. "She used to always harass me and try to one-up me in everything. It's ruining my reputation!"

"Your reputation?" Cal raised an eyebrow. "Of everyone being afraid of you?"

"Exactly!" Grace crossed her arms indignantly. "It keeps the order in this school. It's the job of the honor student to keep high school pigs in line!"

"Am I one of those high school pigs?" Cal asked playfully, taking a bite of her lasagna.

"Of course! And as a result, I'd say you've made a major improvement from the thug transfer student you used to be."

"Thug, huh?" Cal echoed. "But I'm not afraid of you, so how could you have made an impact on me?"

"I don't know, but you should be afraid of me," Grace puffed out her chest as she continued eating.

"Why?" Cal teased. "You're small and..." Cute, "all bark and no bite."

"Don't get too cocky just because you're tall and good at sports," Grace fired back. "Speaking of, that's the only thing Dana's actually better than me at, and she's totally milking it."

"So, what are you going to do about her? And why am I involved?"

"Because it seems like she wants to use you for something," Grace stated matter-of-factly.

Cal raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Like, she's all over you and she just met you. Totally suspect for someone like her."

Cal smiled deviously. "What? You don't think she might just be interested in me?"

Grace blushed, seemingly caught off guard. "No way! We're talking about you after all."

"Ouch," Cal said, feigning offense. "But if she's targeting you, then why would she be going through me?"

Grace's blush intensified, and she folded her arms and averted her eyes. "How should I know what a crazy person is thinking?"

Oh, she's being way too obvious, Cal thought excitedly. I'm gonna start thinking you like me back if you keep acting like this...

---

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

They finished up their meal and cleaned the kitchen before retreating to the living room. After feeding Donut, Grace suggested they watch a movie, so they agreed on a recently released thriller of some sort.

As they watched the movie, Cal thought about how only a few weeks ago, she'd never have imagined staying over at Grace's house getting along like they were. She wondered if Grace's mean girl reputation really had any weight to it at all – sure, the girl was blunt and unfriendly, but she didn't seem like a bad person. Honestly, she seemed more lonely than anything.

But, to be fair, Cal was rather lonely too.

She checked her phone briefly to see various texts from her mom. She got around to telling her mother that she was spending the night elsewhere, but she didn't reply to the barrage of questions that came as a result. I'm so glad I'm not home right now.

The movie seemed like it was starting to wind down to it's conclusion and Cal peeked over at Grace who was being awfully quiet. To Cal's surprise, the brunette was slumped over the armrest of the couch, sleeping.

Oh, no, it's too cute, Cal thought, pausing the movie. She lifted herself off the couch and snuck over to crouch in front of Grace's sleeping form.

"Hey, Grace," Cal whispered, poking her arm lightly.

Grace's eyebrows furrowed as she stirred a bit. "Huh? What time is it?"

"I don't know, like 10?" Cal replied.

"Ugh, sorry." Grace moved her hair out of her face lazily. "I haven't been getting much sleep so I just kind of passed out."

"Want me to carry you up to the bed?" Cal joked, hardly able to fight off a smile.

Grace blushed, shoving Cal's shoulder. "You're so annoying."

The air fell quiet, and they ended up locking eyes in the darkness of the living room, the TV screen being the only light source. Cal's brain urged her to stand up and get out of this dangerous situation, but her body wasn't obeying. Her breath shaky and quiet, she stared into Grace's blue eyes, which seemed much more awake all of a sudden.

Cal's face inched closer on instinct, and she could swear Grace's did too. I have to stop...if I do this now, everything's going to get weird between us. But, once again, Cal was having trouble listening to herself as she approached the point of no return.

Riiiiingg!

The loud noise made Cal basically fall backwards in surprise, snapping her out of the moment. She picked herself up to see Grace fumbling for her phone, her face completely red.

"Oh, it's my dad," she said, her voice a bit shaky, and she answered the phone. "Hi Daddy! Did you make it to the hotel okay?"

As Grace talked on the phone, Cal took a second to compose herself.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, what was that?!

She was having trouble calming herself down, her heart nearly beating out of her chest, her hands clammy and warm.

This is not what she came over for. It was to support Grace, not to do something stupid and ruin their relationship. She could only thank the heavens that Grace's dad called when he did.

I'm not a middle schooler, I need to control myself better than this, Cal lectured herself. But it was easier said than done – all she's been wanting to do the whole night was touch the other girl.

After a few minutes of talking, Grace hung up, hesistantly looking over at Cal. "Sorry, my dad's kind of a worrywort. He would've called a lot more than this, but he's technically at work."

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

"Haha, that's fine," Cal replied, rubbing the back of her neck.

There was a moment of silence as the two girls avoided looked at each other, fidgeting nervously.

"Well, uh...do you want to finish the movie or go to bed?" Grace asked.

It was still early to go to bed on a weekend night, but if they went to bed then Cal could pretend she's asleep and run away from this horrible awkwardness. She was grateful that Grace didn't seem like she was going to bring the incident up again. Cal wasn't ready for that talk.

"Well, you seem pretty tired, so why don't we just call it a night?" Cal suggested.

Grace nodded.

"I'll just, uh, sleep down here on the couch or something," Cal offered.

Grace finally looked up, a bit startled. "The couch? It's not very comfortable. I can set you up on my bedroom floor."

"Oh, no, that's alright, I really don't mind-"

Cal was cut off by Grace's nervous expression and fidgeting, as if there was something she wanted to say. She looked extremely uncomfortable, but Cal imagined that if it had something to do with the moment they just shared, Grace wouldn't be opposed to letting Cal sleep in the living room. Of course, what am I here for? I'm such an idiot!

"Are you worried about...him?" Cal asked gently.

Grace nodded, seeming thoroughly embarrassed. "I-I know it's stupid and you'd still be here in the house but..."

"It's not stupid." Cal stood up and reached her hand out for Grace to take. Grace hesitantly took it and allowed herself to be pulled off the couch and onto her feet.

Cal felt stupid for letting her personal feelings get in the way of helping Grace with her trauma...and the actual threat that she was facing. She had made the choice to support Grace when she stayed with her at the party weeks ago. There would be a time for them to talk about their feelings, but it wasn't that night.

"Thank you," Grace said quietly. Cal smiled in response, and they went upstairs to Grace's bedroom.

Cal felt awkward going into the bedroom, but when she did, she was taken aback by how clean and decorated it was. It was pretty big (not surprising for such a nice house) with a decent-sized bookshelf, a vanity, and a desk covered in textbooks.

On the desk was a photo of what appeared to be Grace in elementary school with her toddler brothers and who she assumed were her parents. Cal's eyes flitted over to the woman in the picture, a tall woman with a bob haircut. She appeared stern, but had smile wrinkles that made her seem somewhat welcoming.

"Is this your mom?" Cal asked, gesturing to the picture.

Grace looked over from her closet where she was pulling out a large blanket. "Yeah."

"You look kind of like her, but meaner," Cal joked.

Grace smiled, not even pretending to be angry. "Yeah, she was really nice. Sometimes she was a little strict, but she was a real softie." Her expression softened as if she was recalling happy memories.

Cal went to help her set up the makeshift bed on the floor before going to change into her pajamas and brush her teeth. When she came back, Grace turned lights off and they settled into their respective sleeping arrangements.

The room was rather silent and moonlight drifted through the curtains on Grace's window. Cal thought she'd put her feelings aside, but she found herself unable to go to sleep with her crush lying in a bed next to her.

Suddenly, she heard a shifting of movement, then a soft voice. "Are you awake?"

Cal turned around to see Grace at the edge of her bed, looking down at her. She couldn't see her face very well in the darkness.

"Yeah," Cal whispered.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

Grace paused for a second, finding her words. "What...actually happened at your old school?"

Cal hummed, thinking of the painful memory. "Well...I didn't actually get expelled."

"Really?"

"Yep," Cal affirmed. "Those are just rumors. I left."

"Was it actually a private school?"

"Yes," Cal continued. "My mom's a real hardass and she wanted me to go to the same school my sister went to. I didn't want to follow in her footsteps, so my mom started liking me less and I acted out more."

Grace remained silent, waiting for Cal to continue.

"During sophomore year I got this junior girlfriend who was kinda a bad influence. My mom really hated her, but she was the only one who was there for me. We were the only 'bad kids' in the school and no one else wanted to talk to me."

"What happened to her?" Grace asked gently.

"Well, right before the end of 10th grade, I found out she was cheating on me with a few people. She said she didn't know we were 'officially together'. What a load of bullshit. I was obviously extremely upset and I was basically a shut in the entire summer. When I went to student orientation I couldn't bear even being in the school, so I decided to transfer."

"That's horrible!" Grace said, seeming genuinely perturbed by the situation.

"Yeah, high school hasn't been the best so far," Cal replied with a sigh. "But I'm glad I got to come to this school. I seem to get along better with a non-private school crowd."

Grace was silent for a few seconds and Cal started to wonder if she fell asleep. However, she spoke once more. "Are you still in love with that girl?"

Cal was somewhat caught off guard by the question, which seemed out of character for Grace to ask. "Ah, well, no, not really," Cal answered. "I still have some sore feelings, but once I found out she cheated on me it was like I'd been in a relationship with someone who didn't exist."

"Well, she's a real bitch," Grace stated matter-of-factly.

Cal laughed. "You could say that again. But anyway, my transfer story isn't as interesting as the rumors, unfortunately."

"I'd say that's a good thing," Grace replied. "There's already too much drama going around, much less rumors of an expelled, druggie, predatory transfer student."

The two of them laughed, and the atmosphere started to wind down. Cal could actually feel her eyelids start to grow heavy, and she even felt herself starting to drift off to sleep after several minutes of silence.

"I'm glad you came to our school," came a soft whisper in the dark.

Cal smiled, half asleep, but extremely happy all the same.

"Me too."