Pieces of Perfect by Elizabeth Hayley Read Free Book Online Page A

hell was my problem? If I were honest with myself, I guess it all came down to faith.
     
    Not my faith in him; I had none of that. But my faith in myself.  I could accept that I had succumbed to a one night stand. I was even almost proud of it, in a secretive, I’d-rather-cut-my-tongue-out-than-tell-anyone kind of way. But, I didn’t want to be the type of person who did that sort of thing continually. I guess what it all boiled down to was I didn’t want to feel like a slut. Pretty Woman could spin the story any way it wanted, but the truth was that any woman who banged a bunch of dudes and then never saw them again was a whore whether she ended up being whisked away in a limousine in the end or was left slinging dick in an alley.
     
    And I just couldn’t be that girl. I had told myself before that I was better than his cocky, domineering advances, but my actions hadn’t demonstrated that. I could forgive it once, celebrate it even. But never again. This was the kind of behavior that could change a person, and I would never change for anyone, least of all that arrogant asshole Max Samson.
 
    I groaned loudly as the bell rang, dismissing the kids from the cafeteria. Okay, Lily. Game face .
     
    I smiled as the kids entered the room and I greeted each by name. I should’ve been an actress. I had been putting on an Oscar worthy performance for sure. The goal of today’s lesson was to analyze the characters and have the students begin to realize that authors had a purpose for every character they introduced. It was the reader’s job, and privilege, to discern that purpose.
     
    As the period progressed, the students became more astute at evaluating the role a particular character played in the progression of the plot and the deepening of the conflict. So far, we had discussed Pony Boy, Johnny, and Dallas. Since we were seriously lacking the female perspective, I decided to move on to Cherry Valance.
 
    Just as I said her name, I heard a knock on the door. I glanced over at the door and my face fell. I quickly looked up at the clock: 8:50. The bastard was ten minutes early. I had specifically told him that I would meet him out front. Why did he have to be such a pain in the ass?
     
    I wanted to yell at my student Ben, who sat nearest the door, “Stranger Danger! Get away from the door! Lockdown, lockdown, lockdown!” But I was too late. As I heard the handle turn, I knew I had lost another battle to Max Samson. Maybe there was still hope for the war.
 
    Max whispered a “Thanks” to Ben and quietly shut the door behind him. He nodded his head to me and then made his way to my desk, sinking into my chair. Did he have to invade every aspect of me? Now, even my chair had been contaminated by his despicable sexiness. I looked back to my room full of students, trying like hell to ignore Max’s intrusion. But as I looked at their faces, I knew that was not going to be a possibility. The boys definitely recognized Max, and they stared at him with adoration in their eyes. The girls, clearly noticing his snug fitting gray t-shirt and faded jeans slung low on his waist, sat mouths agape at this beautiful specimen of masculinity. If they only knew what a dick he was.
     
    I clapped my hands to recapture their focus. They irritatedly turned back toward me as I asked them, “Ok ay, where were we?”
     
    “We were talking about Cherry Valance,” Alicia said. What a brown-noser.
     
    “That’s right, Cherry Valance. What is her role in the story?” As Alicia prattled on about Cherry, I purposefully resisted looking over at Max. Sadly, though, my periphery couldn’t look away. He was reclined in my chair, staring at me intently. He made no sounds, no movements. He seemed to be observing me. My demeanor. The way I interacted with my students. Everything.
     
    As the end of the period approached, I wanted my students to leave with a question to ponder tonight so that we could pick up our discussion quickly tomorrow.