Perfect

"Oh, this are so nice!" Mushi buried her nose into the bouquet of roses I gave her. We were on our way back to her house after our second date. "Honestly, I never expected you to be the romantic type" She giggled as she held on to my arm. I smiled at her. That's almost the only thing I've been doing all evening. Listening, smiling, and forcing laughs.

"Here we are" She said as we stood in front of her house, "You wanna come in with me?"

"Sure" I said.

After we went in, I settled on the couch while she went to her room for a minute. I just sat there thinking back on the evening. I felt guilty after realizing that I found nothing special about it.

"No way!" I turned towards the stairs and saw Kuki in shock, "You're Mushi's new boyfriend?" She gasped.

I stared at her.

"Are you serious? You're like three years older than her!"

"So…? Chad is three years older than you are…"

"Good point" She laughed, "So why are you dating my sister? Is it because Joey is my little boyfriend and now you think Mushi has to be your little girlfriend?"

I stared at her blankly to hide the fact that it hurt me that this was just a laughing matter to her. She didn't care at all.

"I just thought that I should start dating" I said simply.

"Okay. Well, good luck with my sister" She smiled and she left. I thought about her while I was alone. What am I doing with Mushi? I should be with Kuki, shouldn't I? I wish Chad would just drop dead…

Just then, Mushi arrived. "So" She sat beside me, "What do you wanna talk about?"

I stared straight ahead. I didn't care about what we were to talk about. I didn't care at all.

"Wally? You okay?" She asked me. I turned to her to answer but no words came out of my mouth. It was because my eyes led to the picture of Chad behind her. And once again, I felt that intense jealousy rising inside me.

"Wally?" Mushi called. I didn't know why but next thing I knew, I had leaned towards her and kissed her. She took it by surprise but she didn't push me away at all. When I finally let go, I stared at her with wide eyes. I was shocked with what I just did.

"Wow" She took a breath, "That was amazing"

I turned back straight ahead and breathed heavily. I just kissed Mushi to avoid my jealousy.

More than a week had gone by and Mushi and I had lasted that long. I was completely wrong about her. She wasn't like Kuki as much as I thought. She was a lot more preppy and giggly and unlike Kuki she was never sincere. Everything was a laughing matter to her.

I started to regret asking her out. In fact, I've regretted asking her out from the very first day we got together. I thought being with her would feel like being with Kuki but no. It was impossible. There was only one Kuki and I can't have her. That was what kept me holding on to Mushi. Ever since I met up with Hoagie at the ice cream shop I started seeing my friends again, thus, I was left to endure pain once again. And every single time I saw Kuki and Chad together in the clubhouse, I'd be with Mushi later that same day. I was running away from my problem using Mushi. Kissing her reminded me that I had a new girlfriend, meaning I have to move on. I have to forget about Kuki because I have Mushi now.

"Tell us the truth, Wally" Nigel asked me one afternoon as I hung out with him, Abby and Hoagie in the clubhouse.

"What truth?"
"Why are you dating Mushi? Seriously?"

"Because I like her" I snapped.

"Your tone doesn't really back that up" Abby said.

"Look, Hoagie told me that I should start dating so I did"

"But why Mushi?" Nigel said.

"Because she was the first girl I talked to when I decided to start dating. That's all"

"Do you think it's possible that you're dating Mushi because you want to make Kuki jealous?"

I sat quietly for a minute while I avoided my friends' stares. "Why would I do that…? She doesn't give a damn about who I'm dating. She only cares about Chad…"

It was true. She didn't care. And I won't deny the fact that I wanted her to be jealous of Mushi and me. Unfortunately, nothing was happening. She wasn't jealous at all. In fact, she seemed happy to see me dating Mushi. She really didn't give a damn about me.

Later that afternoon, my thoughts had been bothering me so much that I decided to escape from them again. So, I came over to Mushi's house.

"Hi!" She exclaimed after she opened the door, "What are you doing here?"

"Just visiting" I told her and I faked a smile.

I watched her blush and giggle before she let me in. And inside her house I found three other girls of her age sitting in the living room. They were all giggling when they saw me.

"You want me to get you anything from the kitchen?" Mushi asked me.

"It's alright. I'll go get it myself" I made my way to the kitchen, ignoring the pre-teens who watched me. While I was in there drinking Coke I listened to their conversation.

"Mushi, he is so cute"

"I can't believe you're dating a high school guy, you're so lucky!"

"Yeah, I'm so jealous of you!"

I knew that I should be flattered to hear all that but I wasn't. I didn't care at all.

"Hey Wally" I turned around and saw Kuki searching for a drink in the fridge. "It's not nice to eavesdrop, you know" She said.

"I wasn't eavesdropping"

"Yes you were" She grinned at me, "So…like what you're hearing so far?"

"Not really…"

"Why not? Everyone in there is drooling over you. You made my sister a star in her school" She laughed.

"That's not really what I was hoping to get out of this relationship"

"Oh, you think she's using you? No way! She likes you Wally. She really does"

What about you, do you like me?

"I have to go" She said, "Chad's waiting for me upstairs"

I squeezed the soda can that I was holding as I watched her leave.

Go ahead and abandon me for your perfect boyfriend…

Why did Chad have to be so perfect? That's what made him a good match for Kuki. They were both perfect. And here I am, a not so perfect guy, stuck with a junior high student. The thought of all this made me throw the soda can angrily at the trashcan.

Damn this jealousy!

I started rubbing my face as I tried to prevent the emotional breakdown from coming. And in perfect timing, Mushi came hopping into the room and she tried to give me a peck on the lips. But before she could even pull away, I held her tight and kept her close to me. I was kissing her again to forget about Kuki.

"Wow!" She gasped when I let go of her, "I love it when you do that!"

I gazed at her as I breathed heavily.

"Come on" She took my hand, "My friends are gone. We can hang out in the living room"

We sat on the couch quietly for a few minutes. I was thinking about the kiss that I have her. What I was doing was wrong. I was using her.

"Are you okay?" Mushi asked me after seeing the worry on my face.

I looked at her and felt a heavy amount of guilt on my shoulders. She was a sweet girl and she didn't deserve to be used. I had to stop myself before things get too far. Besides, no matter how long I stay in this relationship with her, it won't do me any good. Kuki is the one that I lvoe and there was nothing that I can do about it.

"Mushi," I said as I faced her, "What's your definition of perfect…?"

She looked at me curiously, "Um…I guess it's something with no defects or something"

"No…I meant what's your definition of a perfect guy?" A mischievous smile spread upon her face when I asked her this.

"Well" She grinned at me, "I guess he'd have to be cute, smart, nice, and funny and stuff"

"If you found that a guy like that existed, would you choose him over me…?"

"No…of course not?"
"Why not…?"

"Wally what is this about?"

"I just wanted to know if I ever had a chance to compete with perfect…"

I sat there quietly with her staring at me. All of a sudden she said something that caught me off guard.

"There's someone else that you like, is there?"

"What…?" I gulped.

"Don't worry, Wally. I understand"

"But…how did you…?"

"Wally, you and I have been dating for more than a week and despite the kisses we never had a connection, not once. Besides, you wouldn't as a girl out unless you were trying to run away from something else"

I stared at her for I was amazed at her cleverness. She just smiled back at me.

"I guess that's it" She hugged me before standing up, "I guess we're over"

I watched her as she walked towards the stairs.

"By the way Wally" She turned to me, "Don't worry too much. You definitely have a chance to win, even when you're competing with someone 'perfect'"