Perfect by Pauline C. Harris Page A

besides yourself?”
I shouted after her.
    She turned back to me. Her smile vanished
from her face. “No one ever thought about me.” And with that, she
turned and got into the car.

Chapter Seventeen
     
    I didn’t tell
Michael and Jessica about the fight. I felt there was no need. I
didn’t want to get them worried or upset.
    “I’m so sick of this hotel food,” Jessica
announced the next morning, looking over the room service menu.
“They have like, five meals on their menu. And only two of them
don’t contain something weird.”
    I laughed. It was a pretty small hotel and
didn’t have a lot to choose from. I hadn’t had any inconvenience,
but I hadn’t been eating at all.
    “I agree,” Michael said. “This food is
getting on my nerves. All I want is a bag of chips. That sounds
really good right now.”
    “Oooh,” Jessica replied. “Yeah, and some
gummy worms.” Her eyes widened in excitement.
    Michael laughed. “There’s a gas station a
block away from here. We could go get some stuff.”
    “Yes!” Jessica cried, jumping up from the
bed. “Let me take a shower and we’ll go.” She ran toward the
bathroom.
    I heard Michael sigh. “Aw, come on, Jess,” he
grumbled. “I’m starving. Can’t you take a shower afterward?”
    “No!” Jessica answered, looking appalled. “I
look terrible.”
    I glanced at her. She looked fine. Her hair
was straight and non-oily looking, and despite her complaints of
not having makeup, her skin still looked nice.
    “You’ll be fine,” Michael assured her, but
Jessica shook her head. “Can we go without you and get you
something?”
    Jessica made a pouty face.
    Michael heaved an exasperated sigh. “Jess,”
he moaned.
    “Okay, okay, go,” she replied, shutting the
bathroom door.
    Michael smiled and grabbed his sweater. “You
coming?”
    “Yep.” I said.
    He grabbed my hand and we left the room.
    Once outside on the bustling street, we
started looking around and trying to find our way to the gas
station. The streets were filled with honking cars, backed up in
each lane. The sidewalks were filled with people, pushing and
shoving, and I wondered why everything was so busy.
    “There it is.” Michael pointed above the
heads of the crowd to a large gas station sign. We made our way
through the throng of people, crossed the street, and ducked
inside.
    The gas station interior was noticeably less
crowded and crazy than on the streets. We wandered the aisles in
search of chips and gummy worms. Michael appeared around the corner
after a moment with a bag of Doritos.
    “What would she prefer?” I asked him,
studying the candy rack. “Worms or bears?”
    “Worms,” he replied seriously.
    I frowned. “But the bears are so much
cuter.”
    Michael laughed.
    “Seriously.” I laughed too. “The worms just
look gross.”
    “She’d want the worms. Trust me,” he said
between laughs. “The fact that the bears are cute is the reason she
likes the worms. She feels guilty eating them.”
    I laughed at the absurdity.
    “She’s a nutcase, I know,” Michael replied,
grinning.
    I giggled. “Fine,” I replied, snatching the
bag of gummy worms.
    We walked up to the counter. Michael grabbed
his wallet from his pocket and paid the cashier. The woman eyed us
suspiciously as though she didn’t trust us. Her frown deepened when
she noticed Michael was holding my hand. As we left the counter I
heard her mutter something about teenagers.
    After a few minutes, I walked out of the gas
station, one hand in Michael’s and the other holding a plastic bag.
We battled our way back through the crowd and finally reached the
hotel. But when we knocked on the door to our room, no one
answered. Michael pounded on it again. “Jess?” he called. “You in
there?”
    I poked him. “Didn’t you bring the card
key?”
    He frowned in thought and started rummaging
through his pockets. He finally pulled out one of the card keys and
swiped it through. The door unlocked and I pushed it