The Perfection Paradox by LaurenVDW Read Free Book Online

shampoo and conditioner in a TV
commercial.
    “ Oh my god!
You guys look great!” Emily exclaimed. She realized this was the
perfect opportunity to utilize some of the ‘hip’ lingo she’d
adopted over the summer, “totally fab! Fab
a daba doo !”
    There was an
awkward silence for several seconds as Emily’s friends raised their
eyebrows at her questioningly, unsure of whether she was joking or
not.
    “ I’ve got to
run honeys, but let’s do lunch together?” Emily asked. Amanda
glanced at Sarah, dumb founded.
    “ Yeah… yeah,
sure…” she replied slowly, trying to read Emily’s expression as she
pulled her pink glitter bedecked sunglasses out of her handbag and
headed down the hall away from them.
    After sitting
through a double Literature lesson, she joined Sarah and Amanda in
the cafeteria. She carried her homemade salad through the bustling
rows of lunch tables and chairs, waving and smiling at surrounding
students like a presidential candidate on the election
trail.
    She sat down
curtly and pulled the lid off her salad.
    “ How come
you’re eating rabbit food Em?” Sarah asked jokingly.
    “ Just trying
to be a little healthier. I want to get down to a size four at
least…” She answered matter of factly, pressing her lips
together.
    “ Oh… okay”
Sarah mumbled back, lathering her double cheeseburger with ketchup.
Another awkward silence followed.
    Sarah was
very tall and very skinny. She was surprisingly athletic given her
awkward frame. She competed on the volleyball team and football
team, providing a coveted link with the in crowd of Rosewell for
her two best friends. Her teammates all liked her; she was friendly
and athletic, but not quite right for their clique.
    Not that that
bothered Sarah particularly, she liked them, but was refreshingly
unfazed by popularity, indifferent to their opinion of
her.
    She played
the sports because she loved them, not because she wanted access to
Rosewell high school’s elite.
    Amanda was a
lot more like Emily. Like Emily, she thrived on the gossip of
Rosewell. Like Emily she craved to peek over the wall that
separated her from them.
    She was pale
and pear-shaped and as plain looking as a girl could be. She liked
to pretend her life was far too interesting to be involved with
idle gossip.
    She was quiet
in public but boisterous and self-assured, almost insolent, around
her friends.
    The immense
size of her cleavage had been the cause of much unwanted attention
in freshman year, which steadily chipped away at her
confidence. 
     “ How
were your classes?” Amanda inquired eventually.
    “ They seem
pretty easy so far… Which is good news, I’m thinking of applying to
Harvard”
    Amanda nearly
spat out her coke, gasping for breath “Harvard? Since
when?”
    Her shock
didn’t register with Emily as she gazed out over the cafeteria
melodramatically.
    “ I was just
thinking about where I wanted to go over summer, and it seemed like
the right choice,” she answered nebulously, shrugging her shoulders
and shooting them a faux-cute smile, “If Kennedy thinks she can get
in there I don’t see why I shouldn’t try.”
    Sarah tilted
her head to one side and examined Emily’s enthusiastic
grin.
    “ Emily…
Kennedy has a 4.0 GPA… She’ll probably get a full score on the
SATs… She won a national essay competition and is signed up to
every extracurricular Rosewell has to offer… Don’t you think you’re
maybe being a bit over ambitious?” Emily tutted resentfully and shot Sarah an
irritated glare before plastering another fake smile on her face,
“Let’s just say I’m quietly confident” she answered, a hint of
maleficence in her voice, “I mean Kennedy commits herself to so
much, she can’t be doing anything thoroughly , it’s all so half-hearted …”
    Amanda gasped
quietly at Emily’s blasphemy.
    “ How exactly
do you know that?” Sarah asked, a threatening edge to her voice.
Emily was one of her best friends, but Kennedy was her