Read How To Be A Perfect Girl for Free Online Page A

laughed, “Now now, that’s not true. You
love me, and you know why?”
    “Why?”
    “Because, out of all these girls, I spoke to
you first. That means something.” He spoke so quietly only Val
could hear.
    The notion was almost laughable, “What does
it mean?” Val felt compelled to ask.
    “It means you’re desirable. In their eyes,
it gives you status. See how they’re glancing at you, and then
frowning and looking away? By talking to you first, I’m sending the
message that you are above them—in my eyes at least.”
    “So?”
    Alex sighed, “So, sweety, you should thank
me.” He returned to his group of friends before Val could say
anything else.
    “What did he say?” Zoey asked.
    “Oh, nothing.”
    “It had to have been more than that,” Jenny
said, “You guys were talking for a few minutes.”
    Valentina shrugged, “Well
yeah we said some things, but nothing important. Nothing worth
repeating.” Suddenly she was the center of attention, as the Trio
gushed about how “dreamy” Alex was, and how they wished he’d talk
to them more. It made Val sick; didn’t they
see how he treated Aiden? Or do they just not care? She supposed the latter was more
likely.
    Yet Alex’s intervention had the predicted
effect. By the time Student Gov was over Val felt like she’d broken
into the group of girls—she didn’t feel extremely close to them,
but she felt like they had come to view her as a peer, one worthy
of consideration.
    Things with Mckayla hadn’t been the same
since Monday; Val texted her on the way home, “Hey, are you ok?”
She waited almost fifteen minutes for a reply.
    “Sure,” was all Mckayla had written. Val
knew something was wrong—after all, Mckayla wasn’t the one-word
response type of girl, except when she was mad—but she just didn’t
know what to say. She didn’t even know what she’d done that was so
out of line.
    Val decided to ask outright, “Why are you
mad at me?”
    Another fifteen minutes passed; Val was home
by the time her phone buzzed with Mckayla’s answer, “Life’s
unfair.” To say it was cryptic would be an understatement; Val had
no clue what it meant.
    “Uh, of course it is… But I don’t get why
you get mad at me for that.” It was nearly dinner time; from her
room in the basement, Val could smell the aroma of soup cooking in
the kitchen.
    “We need to talk,” was Mckayla’s only
answer.
    “Ok. Can I come over in ten?” It was a
question Val wouldn’t usually have had to ask; Mckayla’s door had
always been open to her.
    “Sure.”
    Val ascended the stairs to the main floor
and pulled on her flip flops; “Hey dad,” she said, “can you give me
a ride to Mckayla’s?”
    “Not now,” he replied, “dinner’s almost
ready. We’ve been working long and hard on this, so the least you
can do is appreciate it.” When Mom and Dad cooked, they cooked as a
team; Val supposed they used it as bonding time.
    “Please dad,” she begged, “this is super
important.”
    Dad sighed, “How important?” He left the
kitchen to talk face-to-face.
    “Mckayla’s mad at me for some reason and we
really need to talk about it.”
    Dad frowned, “Fine, you can eat when we get
back. I’ll drop you off, but you’ll have to find your own way
home.”
    “Ok.” It was a better deal than Val could’ve
hoped for.
    Dad handed off the cooking spoon and took
off his bright red apron before grabbing his keys. “I’m gonna be so
happy when you learn to drive,” he said.
    “Why’s that?” Val asked.
    “Cause then I can finally retire my
chauffeur’s cap.” Dad was not kidding; he literally had a
chauffeur’s cap Val had bought him for his birthday. She’d bought
it as a joke, but he wore it every time he drove her places. Dad
had a tendency to take some jokes too far.
    After a fifteen minute drive, they arrived
at Mckayla’s house. “Wish me luck?” Val asked; she felt out of
place in their new SUV, as if it belonged in a