Perfection Ch. 01

"Typical."

Emily scowled slightly when the new boy walked into the classroom. Taking in his short but wavy brown hair, toned muscles and jawline, he, Emily had to admit, was quite cute. She shook the thoughts off. Probably just another fuckboy, after all. Yet despite her efforts, she seemed to be unable to take her eyes off of him. And she wasn't the only one.

She noticed Becky, sitting in the far back corner of the classroom, seemed to be ogling him through her pink-framed glasses. Becky was a bitch. It was as simple as that. She came from a wealthy family of doctors, but it was clear she had no intention of carrying on the legacy. She didn't have the intelligence or respect for the job. And because she was right, Becky tended to believe she was superior to most of the seniors. She seemed to be the unannounced leader of her small clique, her small group of friends. Emily scowled inwardly as she noticed several of Becky's friends were watching the new boy as well.

She was surprised at the sudden rush of jealousy, and was quick to shove away the thought. He didn't even know she existed, after all. When the bell rang, signifying the beginning of break, Emily rushed out of the class, careful to avoid Becky's glare. She made her way as quickly as she could to the school library. She glanced at the clock. It was 9:03, and the break lasted for forty minutes. It would be enough time to completely finish her History homework. Glancing at the clock once more, she began to write.

-----

Emily leaned back in her chair, dropping her pencil. The paper before her was covered in eraser smudges, and pencil markings. She wanted to pull her hair out. As she was about to reach and tear the paper into pieces, she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey."

Dropping the paper quickly, Emily whirled in her seat. It was the new kid. Despite her initial thoughts, she found herself blushing.

"Hi," she squawked awkwardly.

The new senior smiled. "I'm Tristan. You're Emily, right?"

Emily was shocked. "How'd you know?"

Tristan simply grinned. "Some girl named Becky told me about you."

With a groan, Emily replied, "What did she say? If it was something bad, I swear to God..."

"Well, some of it was a bit derogatory. But it's fine," Tristan said. "I'd rather find out for myself."

Emily found herself blushing once more. She laughed awkwardly. Her eyes widened as Tristan slumped into the seat beside her. He glanced at the messy paper and gestured at it. "Is that that history assignment?"

"Yeah," Emily nodded. Her embarrassment faded slightly, and she scowled at the paper. "I hate it. I don't know what I'm doing."

Tristan laughed and grabbed the page. He skimmed through it in a matter of seconds, and he laughed. "It isn't that hard." He grabbed the pencil and erased the first answer, replacing it with his own. He repeated the action for several of the other questions before dropping the pencil and leaning back in his chair.

Emily simply watched in a sense of shock. Without thinking, she blurted, "You're a history nerd?" She immediately blushed and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean i-"

Tristan laughed. "It's fine. Not like you're wrong, either. I love history. Don't know about 'nerd', though."

With a giggle, Emily felt herself growing comfortable around Tristan. They talked for several more minutes, and he revealed that he actually played football. He was one of the best in the state. Emily didn't play any sports, but she managed to keep herself in shape just by eating the right foods. When the bell rang once more, she was shocked to realize that she was disappointed her time with Tristan had come to an end. Reluctantly, she grabbed her bags.

"It was nice meeting you Emily," Tristan said, tucking his chair back underneath the desk. "What class do you have?"

Emily pulled out her phone. Her background was a screenshot of her schedule. "AP Physics," she said with a frown. "Another one of the most boring classes."

Tristan pulled out a physical copy of his schedule from his pocket. He searched for his next class, and his eyes widened slightly. He held out the paper for Emily to see. "Well what do you know, so do I."

Emily blushed and coughed to cover her glee. She nearly tripped over her own feet, but Tristan managed to steady her. It was only her luck that Becky turned the corner at that exact moment, with her small group in tow. Becky scowled. Then she grinned and whispered something into her friend's ear as they walked by, and they all giggled. Emily flushed with anger, and continued walking. Tristan simply watched the encounter in silence. After a few minutes, he decided to address it.

"What's the story between you and Becky?"

"There is none," Emily said. She frowned. "She's just such a.... Bitch."

Tristan's eyes widened. Emily noticed.

"What," she demanded.

Tristan grinned placatingly. "Nothing. You seem so innocent, just didn't think you were the type of person to curse."

"Why does everyone think I'm so innocent?"

He pretended to think. "Well, let's see. Goes to the library during break to do homework, and... well, that's pretty much it."

Emily scowled. Tristan simply laughed. Emily led him to room 408, the Physics classroom. The room was much larger than others, as it was, after all, a science class. As she sat, Emily was surprised to see Tristan sit in the seat beside her. But it sent a strange feeling of warmth up her spine that he had decided to sit himself beside her, out of all the other seats. The pleasant feeling suddenly evaporated as Becky walked into the class. This time, she wasn't surrounded by her friends. Tristan noticed the sudden switch in emotions.

"Hey," he said. "Don't worry about her."

Emily looked up into Tristan's eyes, and felt her anger fading away. His blue eyes remained unwavering. Feeling reassured, she sighed and smiled back. She was about to thank him, when the professor began to speak.

"All right class, quiet down. We have a lot to cover today. Pull out your textbooks and flip to section 1.9, page 591."

Sounds clustering papers filled the room. When the room fell silent once more, the professor began to speak once more. "We'll be watching a video." He flicked on a projector. "Make sure you take notes, there will be an assignment about it after." He flicked off the lights, and the video began to play. Emily groaned as she saw that the video was nearly an hour long. Only then did she notice how cold it was in the room, and she shivered slightly. She hugged her arms around herself tightly.

Tristan noticed, and pulled off his hoodie. He placed it in Emily's lap, who swiveled to face him, shocked. Tristan's attention was already back on the large screen. Emily slowly picked up the hoodie, and pulled it over her head. She immediately felt warmer, but found that she was still shivering. But it wasn't as if Tristan had a second hoodie laying around, so she contented herself by pulling on the hood and wrapping her knees up to her chest. Emily let out a shocked squeak as she felt an arm reach around her shoulders. Tristan remained stoic, unaware of Emily's shocked expressions. But she found that she was enjoying it. She hadn't ever been in a relationship. She coughed and shook away the thought. A hoodie and a hug could hardly mean the start of a relationship... right? She found herself unconsciously leaning closer towards Tristan until her head was lying against his chest. Silently, she fell asleep.

------

"Psst," Tristan said. "Emily, wake up."

Emily shot up. She wiped her eyes groggily and saw the professor walking up to the front of the classroom. The lights shot back on, and Emily groaned as her eyes tried to adjust to the sudden brightness. She turned and saw Tristan grinning back at her. "You owe me for that one." Emily laughed quietly and nodded. Only then did she notice a small wet spot on Tristan's shoulder.

Horrified, she hissed, "I drooled on you!"

Tristan seemed to notice for the first time. He grinned once more. "You owe me twice now." Seeing that Emily was still embarrassed, he rested his hand on her shoulder. "It's fine, Emily. Relax."

Emily laughed awkwardly, wishing she could just sink down into her seat. Tristan was about to continue, when the professor's voice cut through the silence. "All right everyone, I hope you all took good notes. He began to pass out a large packet. "You will be answering the questions in this packet with a partner. The assignment will probably take a few weeks, maybe a month, so choose your partners wisely."

Becky glanced over at Tristan, who smiled at her in response. Emily noticed the exchange, and frowned, disappointed. Of course he would choose Becky. The hoodie meant nothing. She began looking around the class, searching for another possible partner, when Tristan turned towards her.

"What are you looking for?"

"A partner," Emily said quietly.

A look of disappointment flashed across Tristan's face. "I thought we would be partners?"

Emily glanced at him, surprised. "I thought you were going to work with Becky."

Tristan snorted. "Pfft. I'd rather kill myself."

Emily nearly choked in a fit of giggles. She managed to calm herself down. "No you wouldn't."

"Honest to God, I would," he replied, serious. "Speaking of the devil..."

Becky began to walk over to the pair. She held her packet in her right hand, and she leaned on the desk, planting her palms on its wooden surface. She glanced at Tristan, her eyes flashing. "Will you be my partner, Tristan?"

Tristan stared at her for several seconds. Long enough for Emily to actually begin believing that Tristan would accept. She felt a flush of pleasure when he shook his head. "Sorry Becky. I'm working with Emily."

Becky's eyes widened. "You're working with that nerdy bitch?"

Emily's pleasure disappeared, replaced by a sense of sudden anger. She went to shout at her when Tristan intervened. "What did you just call her?"

Becky snorted. "God, you guys are pathetic. You're really defending her?" She scoffed. "Whatever." She walked away, heading over to a table where most of her friends were seated.

Emily sat motionless, seething. Tristan glanced at her. "Well th-"

"You don't have to protect me, Tristan."

"What," Tristan asked, genuinely surprised. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Emily pointed at Becky. "You don't have to act like this. Like my bodyguard."

Tristan picked up his pencil. Fidgeting, he placed it back down. "Emily, I don't want to act like your bodyguard," Tristan sighed. "Look. I thought you would be able to see, but I like you, Emily." Noticing Emily's silence, he continued. "I haven't felt this way about someone for a long time. I know it's soon, but it looked like I had to tell you."

Emily gawked and blushed. From pleasure or embarrassment or barely contained excitement, she couldn't tell. Probably all three. "I- I like you too," she managed to stammer. She mentally cursed herself for sounding like a seventh grader. "But can we talk about this later?" She gestured at Becky, who was scowling at the two of them.

Tristan laughed. "Obviously." He cleared his throat. "Now that that's out of the way," he picked up his pencil. "Let's start this stupid thing."

Just as Emily was about to answer the first question, the bell rang loudly. Tristan groaned. "What the hell." Emily giggled, and began to take off the hoodie. Tristan stopped her. "Keep it. I have tons of hoodies."

Emily blushed and looked back at Tristan in shock. She pulled the hoodie back on. It was very comfortable, she had to admit. "It's lunch now," Tristan said, pocketing his schedule. "I suppose we'll have time to talk about... whatever we need to talk about."

Emily flushed but nodded. "Yep."

Emily began to walk to the cafeteria, but Tristan grabbed her arm and began pulling her in another direction. "Tristan, the cafeteria's that way."

"I know," he said with a wide smile. "But we need privacy, don't you think?"

Emily blushed. "I guess. But where are we..."

"You'll see."

You'll see? Emily echoed. She had been going to this school for four years, she had practically memorized the entire school. How would Tristan, a completely new senior, know about a private spot? But somehow, she felt herself being pulled down an unfamiliar path. She could tell they were still on school campus; there were several students and teachers walking nearby. Suddenly Tristan stopped at a large patch of grass, with several bench tables. Emily stared at him in awe.

"How do you know about this place? I've been going here for years, and I didn't even know this place existed."

Tristan smiled. "I told you."

He sat down, leaning his back against the tree. "Are you going to sit, or just stand there awkwardly," he said with a laugh.

Emily blushed and sat down, smoothing her skirt. "So back to what we were going to talk about," she said, clearing her throat.

Tristan nodded. "You feel the same way?"

Emily flushed and nodded. "Yeah. But..." She trailed off, embarrassed to go on.

Tristan gestured for her to continue. "But...?"

Flushing with embarrassment, she shut her eyes and replied, "I've never been in a relationship. I've never even had my first kiss."

Expecting Tristan to walk off, she opened her eyes slowly. Tristan was still there, staring at her. "Okay?"

"Okay," Emily repeated. "That's it? That's all you have to say?"

Tristan smiled widely once more. "I mean, none of that matters to me. It's nothing to be embarrassed about, really."

Emily frowned. "Really?"

"For sure. Why would you be embarrassed about that?"

"I don't know, Becky used to tease me about it, and I guess it just made me think that I was the only one."

Tristan shook his head. "Don't listen to her. No one thinks you're weird. Trust me," he tilted his head. "But if you've never had your first kiss..."

Emily glanced at him, blushing.

"Maybe it's time you did."

Tristan reached over, and his hand brushed against Emily's cheek. He leaned forward, cupping her head in his hand, and kissed her. Immediately, a rush of emotions exploded inside of Emily's body. When Tristan finally pulled apart, Emily took in several deep breaths. She had always dreamt about what her first kiss would be like. She had seen stories and movies, but none of it had prepared her for what she had just experienced. It was almost as if her heart was screaming at her, begging for more, making her want to kiss Tristan once more.

Blushing, she looked at Tristan, who stared back at her expectantly. "How was it?"

Emily flushed. "Perfect."

I wrote this solely because I was bored. I am still going to be continuing the 'Four More Days' series, so be ready for Ch. 4. This is my first attempt at a romance series, and I hope it goes well. If it does, I will be sure to continue making more stories. In the meantime, go check out my other stories, you'll enjoy them. - Possibilit13s