Waiting for Perfect by Kelli Kretzschmar Read Free Book Online

I’m Ryan’s girlfriend.   Nick has a strange expression that I
can’t read – something between anger and concern.
    Nick and I are
staring at each other when Ryan’s voice breaks our eye contact.   “So, how about that dance,
Kendra?”   He’s trying to slip his
hand into mine, but I pull away.   Nodding toward the window, he says, “Listen.   They’re playing that new Jay-Z song.”
    Dancing with Ryan
after he’s been acting like a total stalker?   No way in hell.   I take another long chug from my cup, emptying most of it.   “No, I don’t want to dance, Ryan.   There are a lot of people dancing on
the patio.   You should go without
me.”   Maybe he’ll get the
hint.   I peek out the window to
observe the makeshift dance floor.   “Look, there’s Hillary Brooks.   You should go dance with her.   She’d love it.   I think she
likes you.”
    He lowers his voice
and drops an eyebrow.   Maybe this
is his seductive look.   “I don’t
want to dance with Hillary,” he says.   He moves closer to me and twists a lock of my hair around his
finger.   “I want to dance with
you.”
    Seriously, how much
has he had to drink tonight?   I
tilt my head back and take down the rest of the vodka in one gulp.   I notice Lexi is looking over at us
with her eyebrows raised, giving me the what-the-hell-is-happening look.   I subliminally try to send her S.O.S.
signals, and being that she’s my best friend, she walks over to us and saves
me.   Thank God.
    She links her arm
with mine and pulls me away from Ryan.   “Kendra, walk with me to the bathroom.   I’m not sure where it is.   We can find it together.”
    “Yeah, sure.”   I am so grateful to my best friend at
this moment that I could kiss her.   I can feel Nick’s eyes on us as we leave toward the restroom.   When we’re out of earshot, I thank Lexi.   “You are the best.   I don’t know what his problem is
tonight.”
    “No problem,
sweetie,” she says with a wink.   “It’s that skirt.   You look
simply edible.”
      We’re nearing the restroom when I start
feeling light-headed.   My vision blurs,
and it’s hard to focus on anything.   I feel dizzy and, when I bump into the wall, Lexi pulls on my arm to
hold me upright.
    “Damn, Kendra.   Lay off the vodka.   You’re getting wasted.”
    When we get to the
end of the hallway, Lexi lowers me to sit on the floor.   “Stay put.   I’ll only be a second.”   She shuts the bathroom door, leaving me on my own in the
hallway.
    My head hits the
wall behind me.   It feels like it
weighs a million pounds.   How did I
get so drunk from two drinks?   My eyes
close, and I can hear the muffled sound of music mingled with voices and
laughing.   I think I’m drifting off
to sleep.   Suddenly, there’s an arm
linked with mine, and I’m being pulled up to stand.   My eyes won’t stay open, so I’m letting Lexi lead the way.
    I mumble something,
but it’s incoherent even to me.   We
walk down the hallway and then up the stairs.   My feet are lead weights holding me to the ground, and every
step is a challenge.   Slowly, I
make it to the second floor.   There
are voices around me, speaking sentences I can’t quite understand.   Someone says something about a bedroom.
I am being pulled along again.   I
assume Lexi wants to lay me down somewhere, and that sounds wonderful.   All I can think about is how much I
want to sleep.   My body feels so
heavy that I can barely move.
    There’s a soft
pillow under my head now, and I’ve never been so relieved.   I close my eyes and begin to
drift.   I feel warm breath near my
ear, and a voice that is definitely not Lexi’s saying something that I can’t
understand.   My thoughts are
jumbled, but somewhere deep inside my cloudy mind, there’s an alarm going
off.   Something isn’t right.   If I’m not with Lexi, then who is here
with me?
    I try to sit up,
but my body doesn’t listen to my brain, and I remain