Read Online Present Perfect by Alison G. Bailey - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Alison G. Bailey
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and breathless. That had to be the sweetest, and hottest, thing any guy had ever said to any girl.
He had the power to fill me with 1000 lifetimes of happiness. He also had the power to bring me to my knees. Most people would jump at the chance for that much happiness, but not me. The more happiness you have, the more devastating the fall is, and there is always a fall, a crash,, or a collision of some kind. With all consuming, earth shattering happiness, there are always casualties, it’s unavoidable.
No, I’ll maintain my subpar happiness. I’ve had a taste of what it feels like when the fall starts. Just a taste, almost destroyed me.
I might not experience 1000 lifetimes of happiness, but I won’t be shattered into a million pieces that I can’t put back together. I’ll maintain subpar because it keeps everything intact, in place, under control.
(Note to self: Eating king size Hershey bar and drinking Diet Pepsi @11:25 pm, not a good idea. Hope what I just wrote makes sense tomorrow when I come down from my sucrose and caffeine (sucraffiene) overdose. Check to see if sucraffiene is an actual word. Once vetted, start to use it, so it will begin to infiltrate into society. Man, I am wired beyond belief.)
Academically, my freshman year had been okay. I ended the year with a B+ average. As usual, I missed my goal, but collected another ribbon for participation. Yay for me. I’m nothing if not tenacious, though, and it was a new school year. I needed to achieve that perfect A status as a sophomore and finally get that trophy.
The feelings I had towards Noah kept gaining strength. I got butterflies every time I saw him walk towards me, away from me, beside me. The closer he got, the more intense they became. I daydreamed about him constantly; during class, in my room, in the car, when I ate. Basically, he was on my mind every minute of every day. I felt warm and tingly when I thought about something he said to me or when he touched me. I got goose bumps every time I thought about our first kiss, and I thought about it often.
Mom caught me several times in a Noah induced haze. One morning over breakfast, she and Dad actually staged an intervention. She even had a handful of ‘Just Say No’ pamphlets from the 1980s. I think they were from her own personal stash when she was a teen.
At first, I thought I was just going through a passing phase, just an innocent crush. I had always loved Noah. It was something I did naturally, without thinking, like breathing. I figured when we started hugging more and holding hands, it was just a natural progression of our friendship. Then I noticed how it made me feel and apparently these feelings weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I thought we were both just ragging with hormones, it was a biological thing, and eventually it would go away. Well, I’m an idiot because just the opposite happened for me.
It was a beautiful day outside, so Beth and I decided to forgo the cafeteria and spend our lunch period in the courtyard area at school.
“Are you going to the dance?” She asked, as we were finishing up our lunch.
“What dance?”
“The TWIRP dance.”
“What’s that?”
“The Woman Is Required to Pay. Girls have to ask boys to go.”
“Then that would be a big fat nooo,” I said.
“You ought to go.”
“Why? I can’t dance.”
“It will be tons of fun.”
“I highly doubt that. Besides I don’t have anyone to go with.”
I balled up my empty bag of chips and tossed it in the direction of the trashcan, missing it by a foot and a half. I walked towards the crumpled bag, scooped it up, made another attempt at a basket, and missed again. How the hell did Emily score so many points during a basketball game with the basket hanging in the air, and I couldn’t toss a piece of garbage in a giant trashcan from a foot away. I made two more attempts before giving up.
“Screw it,” I said, walking back and sitting down on the bench.
“
He had the power to fill me with 1000 lifetimes of happiness. He also had the power to bring me to my knees. Most people would jump at the chance for that much happiness, but not me. The more happiness you have, the more devastating the fall is, and there is always a fall, a crash,, or a collision of some kind. With all consuming, earth shattering happiness, there are always casualties, it’s unavoidable.
No, I’ll maintain my subpar happiness. I’ve had a taste of what it feels like when the fall starts. Just a taste, almost destroyed me.
I might not experience 1000 lifetimes of happiness, but I won’t be shattered into a million pieces that I can’t put back together. I’ll maintain subpar because it keeps everything intact, in place, under control.
(Note to self: Eating king size Hershey bar and drinking Diet Pepsi @11:25 pm, not a good idea. Hope what I just wrote makes sense tomorrow when I come down from my sucrose and caffeine (sucraffiene) overdose. Check to see if sucraffiene is an actual word. Once vetted, start to use it, so it will begin to infiltrate into society. Man, I am wired beyond belief.)
Academically, my freshman year had been okay. I ended the year with a B+ average. As usual, I missed my goal, but collected another ribbon for participation. Yay for me. I’m nothing if not tenacious, though, and it was a new school year. I needed to achieve that perfect A status as a sophomore and finally get that trophy.
The feelings I had towards Noah kept gaining strength. I got butterflies every time I saw him walk towards me, away from me, beside me. The closer he got, the more intense they became. I daydreamed about him constantly; during class, in my room, in the car, when I ate. Basically, he was on my mind every minute of every day. I felt warm and tingly when I thought about something he said to me or when he touched me. I got goose bumps every time I thought about our first kiss, and I thought about it often.
Mom caught me several times in a Noah induced haze. One morning over breakfast, she and Dad actually staged an intervention. She even had a handful of ‘Just Say No’ pamphlets from the 1980s. I think they were from her own personal stash when she was a teen.
At first, I thought I was just going through a passing phase, just an innocent crush. I had always loved Noah. It was something I did naturally, without thinking, like breathing. I figured when we started hugging more and holding hands, it was just a natural progression of our friendship. Then I noticed how it made me feel and apparently these feelings weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I thought we were both just ragging with hormones, it was a biological thing, and eventually it would go away. Well, I’m an idiot because just the opposite happened for me.
It was a beautiful day outside, so Beth and I decided to forgo the cafeteria and spend our lunch period in the courtyard area at school.
“Are you going to the dance?” She asked, as we were finishing up our lunch.
“What dance?”
“The TWIRP dance.”
“What’s that?”
“The Woman Is Required to Pay. Girls have to ask boys to go.”
“Then that would be a big fat nooo,” I said.
“You ought to go.”
“Why? I can’t dance.”
“It will be tons of fun.”
“I highly doubt that. Besides I don’t have anyone to go with.”
I balled up my empty bag of chips and tossed it in the direction of the trashcan, missing it by a foot and a half. I walked towards the crumpled bag, scooped it up, made another attempt at a basket, and missed again. How the hell did Emily score so many points during a basketball game with the basket hanging in the air, and I couldn’t toss a piece of garbage in a giant trashcan from a foot away. I made two more attempts before giving up.
“Screw it,” I said, walking back and sitting down on the bench.
“
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