Best Friends...Forever? (12 page)

"Does Vladi know about our whole fight thing?" she asked.

I nodded. "But he doesn't know we're friends again."

She bit her lip. "Doug is friends with people who know him. I could text him."

"Would Devon kill you?"

"Not if I'm just doing it to clear up stupid drama. Okay, I'm asking him if he heard anything about Vladi Yagudin having a new girlfriend," she said.

I pulled my knees to my chest as we waited for a reply.

"Anything yet?"

"He says he hasn't heard anything, but he's asking if I like Vladi now or something. What do I say? That I'm just curious?"

I nodded. "Say you're asking for a friend that likes him."

"Oh wow, he just asked if that friend is Yasmin. I'm saying it's not."

I held my breath, and she told me, "All he's heard is some cheerleader keeps hanging around the guys when they play ball after school, but he doesn't know anything else."

"If Vladi has a new girlfriend, then I just want to move on and ignore it…but…"

"But?"

"If he started seeing her
before
telling me he just wanted to be friends…then that's different."

My phone showed a new text, and I jumped. "Oh, it's Ericka saying we should all go to movie night at the high school tomorrow. That could be fun. Wanna go?"

I started to text back when India snatched the phone out of my hands. "Wait, tell her you're not sure you can go, and then let's go and see if Vladi brings anyone."

"Wait, why are we telling her I'm not going then?"

"Landry, let's be honest, if Vladi walks in with, like, Yasmin or half the girls' soccer team, do you want to hear a night of Ericka telling you how she feels bad for you?"

I shook my head and sighed.

"Okay, so we go and see what he does," she said. "And then we'll walk past him and show him you're not sitting home alone and depressed."

"And if he
is
with Yasmin?"

"Then, depending on how brave you feel, you can confront him, or we can glare at him from across the gym. Your call," she said.

I nodded. We decided to get Peyton and Devon to go with us but not mention it to Tori.

"I feel guilty not telling Tori the truth," I said.

"It's up to you if you want Ericka there."

I shook my head. "Can we invite Thalia?"

I texted Thalia, but her parents said they didn't think the high school movie night was "well-chaperoned," so she couldn't come. The plan was set. All I had to do was show up and see what was going on with my ex.

 

Friday could go on record as the fastest day ever. It flew by, and pretty soon I was back in my room getting ready to see if Vladi and Yasmin were a couple. I felt like puking and could only hope that stayed as just a feeling. Peyton's mom dropped her off so we could get ready together. She helped me with my hair and brought over her turquoise Franciszka T sweater for me to wear. I knew this one cost a lot and hoped I didn't spill anything on it. Even Peyton seemed unsure and asked if it'd be cool if I only drank water and clear soda tonight.

"Okay, your hair looks hot. Now makeup," she said.

"I was thinking smoky eyes," I said, holding up a picture of the model, Rae Ellen.

"Um, I think the natural look might be better for tonight," she said.

"But he broke up with me because I was too young."

"Well you can't go from fourteen to forty overnight. We'll do a little shadow. Like that sparkly champagne color. That's pretty."

"Liner?" I asked, reaching for a black eye pencil.

She shook her head. "I want you to look like you're not trying to get his attention. I want him to see what he's missing out on."

What — a kid who wasn't good enough for him the first time around?

"There, that lip gloss is super pretty on you," she said. "Okay, see what you think."

I stared at myself in the mirror. It was like me, just a little better. More defined, but not like I was wearing a lot of makeup.

Devon's mom came and picked us up, and Devon and India were in the back. I squeezed in with them, and Peyton sat in the front. My hands were sweaty and I said a little prayer that everything would be okay. We got to the gym, and there were a ton of people there. The first person I saw was Ashanti sitting with Halle. I felt so lost, and even though she and Halle had been friends long before I ever came along, I felt
replaced
. My heart hurt. Then I saw Ashanti's face change. Oh crap. She saw I had the butterfly necklace on. My night was ruined.

"Landry, Vladi's here, but he's not sitting with a girl. Just some guys," India said. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I…I just want to get out of here."

"Why?" she asked.

I realized going home to cry over Ashanti wasn't going to prove anything, but I realized that it didn't matter if Vladi had a new girlfriend, the real person I was missing was my best friend. Having Peyton back had healed a lot of that, but it wasn't the same without both my best friends. Peyton was staring at me.

"What's going on?" she asked.

I wasn't going to hurt her feelings, so I shook my head and said I was fine and that it was just nerves. We sat where we could see Vladi from a distance and watched as Yasmin and Arianna came in with their crew. Yasmin had severe smoky eyeliner on and pale glossy lips. She had leather pants on with a soft beige cowl-neck sweater and looked at least seventeen. Then she moved her head so her ponytail swung from side to side, calling more attention to her.

"Why not just get a flashing sign saying, 'Look at me?'" Devon said.

"I think the pants are pretty much getting that idea across," India said.

Yasmin walked right past Vladi, and I stared at him, but all he did was blink and start playing with his phone.

"Is he texting her?" Devon asked.

"No, she doesn't seem to be pulling out her phone. Look — she's going past him again," India said.

That time she said something to him and gave him a big smile. He nodded at her and went back to his phone.

Peyton and I exchanged a look. "Seems like they're not together."

"Oh whoops, Tori and Ericka just walked in. Maybe they won't see us," India said, sliding down in her folding chair.

"Why?" Peyton asked.

"Landry?"

Ericka was staring at me.

"I thought you said you didn't think you could come tonight," she said as her eyes bore into mine.

"I…"

"It was all last minute," India said.

Ericka crossed her arms.

"Yeah, she didn't know she was going to come — she even had to borrow a sweater from me," Peyton said. "And we were playing around with makeup and hair stuff."

"Oh, well I was going to say, it looks less flat," Ericka said.

She was talking all sweet to Peyton, India, and Devon — because she'd never have risked getting on their bad side — but still managed to get the dig in about my hair.

"Landry, you're not here to do some super psycho stalker thing with Vladi, are you?" Ericka asked.

"No, I'm here to watch a movie. Why are
you
here?" I asked.

All the girls stared at me, and I realized I came across a little harsh.

Ericka gave me a funny look but didn't say anything as she and Tori sat down. The movie started, and I stared at Vladi's profile while he watched. I stared at Yasmin, who was a few seats away from him, and she was watching him, too. His eyes stayed on the screen the whole time. He probably never knew he was the night's entertainment for two pathetic girls who needed lives.

As soon as the film ended, we got up to go. Our plan had been to see what was up with Vladi and then decide if we wanted to get ice cream or call Peyton's mom to get us. I still wasn't sure what to do, but I didn't want to ruin everyone's night just because I was afraid of running into him at the ice cream place, so I suggested we still go.

We started to walk out of the gym when Devon realized her lip gloss had fallen out of her purse.

"Did you leave it in your mom's car?" I asked.

"No, I put some on before we walked in, remember? It must have fallen out of my purse when I sat down."

We walked over to our seats and started looking.

"Hey, Landry."

I was squatting and peering under a chair when I glanced up to see Vladi standing there.

"Oh, hey. I didn't know you were here tonight," I said.

"Yeah, I wanted to see this movie. It was good. Did you enjoy it?" he asked.

"Yeah." No, I don't know if it was because I spent every moment staring at you and wondering if you missed me or if you're a cheating scumbag. "I thought it was pretty good, too."

"Yeah, so…you guys gonna hang out or anything tonight?"

"We're going to get ice cream," Peyton said, coming up behind me.

Good. Let him know we were going there so, if he says he's going, we won't look like we're copying him.

"That sounds fun. Steve and I are headed there, too. You guys want a ride?" Then he saw Ericka and Tori. "Oh, we can only squeeze so many people in his car. Not safe, you know."

Tori nodded. "We'll meet you guys over there," she said as she and Ericka walked out of the gym.

As soon as they were out of sight, Vladi leaned forward. "What are you doing with that girl? You know she's not a true friend."

"Well, at least she doesn't lie to me."

He seemed confused. "Well, maybe not. I don't know about that, I guess." He shrugged. The other girls pretended to be searching for the lip gloss, but I could see Devon had it clenched in her fist, and they were just listening in while trying to give us space.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" I asked.

He nodded and we walked over to the bleachers.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I just…did you break up with me to date that Yasmin girl?" I asked.

"No, I'm not dating anyone. I…"

"Vladi!" a voice called.

"Oh no…it's my mother. Why is
she
here? And she's coming over here. Oh man. Landry, I gotta go."

I saw him rush over to an older woman waving her arms at him.

"What happened?" Devon asked. I told them he wasn't dating anyone but that we got interrupted by his mom. Peyton put her arm around my shoulders, and we went to call her mom for a ride.

 

The next day, the mail came. Dad had sent me the money to get the necklace for Ashanti and me. Since India had gotten me one already, I texted my dad and asked if it'd be okay if I used the money to buy someone else a necklace with my half of the money. I told him I wanted to get Thalia one, too. He wrote back that was a nice idea to include her.

Mom took me to the mall, and I went to the jewelry shop. The crystal butterfly pendants were in the back. I picked out one that had pink, green, and blue in it for Ashanti that would look beautiful on her, and a blue, yellow, and green one that would look pretty on Thalia. The lady behind the counter wrapped the boxes for me in blue paper with silver stars.

"Can I call Ashanti and see if I can drop it off?" I asked. I didn't want to tip Mom off that we were fighting, so I didn't want to go through the trouble of asking her if I could have a friend over and then have to explain why Ashanti wasn't coming over if she hung up on me.

"Um…yeah, I guess that's not too intrusive if you call first. But why not just wait until you have plans to hang out?"

I shrugged and texted Ashanti, saying I wanted to drop something off for school and hoping that would get Ashanti to open the door.

"Fine," was all she wrote back.

Mom pulled up, and I walked to the door. I didn't remember the pathway to Ashanti's house being so long. It was like the aisle at St. Faustina's church, maybe longer. I rang the doorbell and waited. Her dad answered.

"Hi, Landry. Come on in. Is your mom in the car? Have her come in." Then her dad stuck his head out the door and started waving for my mom to come in. Oh man, this was not going to be cool if Ashanti threw this thing in my face and told me to get out.

Mom sprinted up the path, and soon Mrs. Russell was in the hall chatting, too. She told me to go find Ashanti in her room while they talked in the living room.

I knocked on Ashanti's door. "Hey, can I come in?"

"Whatever."

I walked in, and she was sitting on the floor with a magazine on her lap. "Nice necklace," she said, raising one eyebrow.

I handed her the box.

"What's this?" she asked as she opened it.

"I told you I had been saving up to get you one, but my dad forwarded me the money."

"Is this a guilt thing?" she asked.

"Of course not. I was serious when I told you I planned on including you all along. I got Thalia one, too. India bought mine, so I had extra money for another."

"Wow, you
must
feel guilty. Seriously, do you know how many paperbacks and book downloads that would buy? It's at least two lip glosses, too," she said. Then she smirked.

"Are you laughing at me or with me?" I asked.

"Not sure yet." She made a face. "No, I forgive you. I saw the look on your face when you saw me hanging out with Halle, and at first I thought you felt left out. When I saw you wearing the necklace like the rest of them, I was like, is she just being weird because I saw it or what? But I know you better than that, and I should have…I don't know, tried to talk to you about it."

"I understand how you must have felt with me saying that and all, but I hope you know that what I said just didn't come out right. So…friends?"

"Yes. By the way, I am sorry Maggie was being such a jerk to you. Halle told me she thought Mags was way out of line over that Vladi thing, but Yasmin told her to do it, and she was trying to get on her good side."

Why did girls always do everything Arianna and Yasmin asked? Arianna could at least be sweet, but Yasmin wasn't even a nice person — well, unless she was talking to someone who was either a guy or met her standards of being cute, popular, and rich.

"I saw you talking to Vladi at movie night. What's up with that?" she asked.

I told her nothing got resolved because his mom showed up.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I thought of how he was looking at you and stuff?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, Devon told me she felt left out when all I'd talk about was him. I'm done making some guy the center of my universe…not that I completely did that, but I did get a little obsessed."

"Well, he
was
your first crush, and not many girls get to date theirs."

"And get dumped. I never thought I'd be one of those girls who put a boy first. Did I do that?" I asked.

"I didn't think so, but Devon may see it differently because of what she was going through with Doug at the time."

My mom came to the door and said we had to get going. I gave Ashanti a hug, and we promised to text later. As I walked out of Ashanti's house, I felt better than I had in a long time.