The Perfection Paradox by LaurenVDW Read Free Book Online Page B

through.
    A
particularly dazzling fork of lightening struck a nearby tree and
its branches erupted. Emily yelped, terrified. Suddenly she felt a
hand on hers.
    She lowered
her elbows slightly and peeked over her crossed arms.
    Hunter was
sat next to her, the side of his body pressed up against her own,
though she could barely feel it in the numbing rain. Hunter was
leaning against her, sheltering her from the worst of the
storm.
    He clasped
her hand in his, and his arm was around her neck, pulling her
towards him, shielding her as best he could. He rocked her back and
forth as the thunder and lightening raged around them and she
shivered violently.
    She’d been
scared, she’d been absolutely terrified, but Hunter had made it
better, he’d made it bearable, he’d made her feel like everything
was going to be okay.
    She couldn’t
ever let him go after that, she needed him.
     

    8.
    Matt sat
patiently on the wooden bench at the exit to the student parking
lot. He had just left his twelve-year-old Volkswagen Golf in the
furthest possible empty spot to avoid any trouble with Hunter and
his friends.
    He was
fumbling with the toggle of his navy blue duffel coat when
Kennedy’s champagne coloured convertible pulled into the empty spot
closest to the school.
    He pulled his
battered Nokia out of his trouser pocket and stared at the screen
intensely, pressing random keys to make it look like he was texting
or at least busy using his phone. He glanced up and saw Kennedy
swing her bag over her shoulder and approach the school
doors.
    He pretended
to keep texting, but kept watching her with his head bent down. She
looked as breath-taking as usual, though Matt hadn’t seen her all
summer and had forgotten just how fantastic she was.
    Seeing her
standing before him was odd, like seeing a movie star in person.
For years their reality had been confined to photographs, so when
you saw them walking and talking it was unnerving to realize they
were actually just a person, as if you’d almost started to doubt
whether they truly existed at all.
    Her white
dress clung to her figure in just the right places and her hair
bounced with each step she took. Brooke Kent strolled beside her,
texting on her phone as Kennedy pulled her class schedule out of
her bag.
    Matt, who’s
glance had, as usual, evolved into a full on stare, snapped out of
it and pulled his grey backpack up onto his shoulder before
stumbling after her.
    He followed
her quietly, drinking in the sight of her. How the sun that burst
through the open windows made her golden hair shine wildly and her
long tanned legs glow.
    The two girls
joined the line outside the secretary’s office, waiting patiently
to collect their new locks and combinations for that year. Matt
caught just a glimpse of her face and his stomach
flipped.
    He realized
he was lingering and stumbled clumsily down the hallway towards his
own locker, for which he’d already received the lock and
combination, his heart beating quickly in his chest.
    Matt had been
in love with Kennedy Blakewood from the first moment he’d laid eyes
on her, this time last year. He’d moved across the country, and
Kennedy’s mother, who was PTO president, had held a luncheon for
new students and their parents.  
    Matt had
arrived at the Blakewoods’ stately home with a bowl of homemade
potato salad in his hands.
    That was when
he saw her, gracefully flowing down the steps of the grand
staircase, dressed in a white linen summer dress and brown leather
flip flops. It seemed like the world was moving in slow
motion.
    She was
perfect, flawless.
    “ This is my
daughter, Kennedy. Matt will be joining your grade this
year.”
    That smile,
that achingly gorgeous smile. Matt never wanted to look away, never
wanted to blink. He just wanted to stay in this one moment forever
with this beautiful girl, where she was smiling at him, him and no
one else. Right at that moment, she was his.
    “ Nice to meet
you Matt” her voice was like honey,