Best Friends...Forever? (14 page)

Peyton's family left, and Devon went to track down her mother, who had cornered the cheerleading coach. Ashanti and I walked around, and she saw some people she knew, but I didn't know anybody. I didn't even see
any
Hillcrest students. The school was bigger than I realized, since we didn't even run into Ericka and Thalia. We did run into a million girls who wore tons of makeup and clothes like they wore on
Hot Videos Now
. Those girls all seemed so much older than my friends and me.

We ran into India before we left. India's cousin, Valine, was in high school, so I guess she had met some people through her. India was hanging out with a group of girls with highlighted hair. I didn't know any girls my age who had been allowed to dye their hair. Peyton always talked about putting blonde streaks in her dark red hair, but so far her mom hadn't let her do it. I wondered if her mom would change her mind when she got to high school. My hair was already so light I wouldn't need highlights, but I did dream of making my hair a nice golden shade instead of its pale color. My modeling agent told me my hair made me unique, but sometimes I didn't like feeling so on display with it. I wanted dark hair — like Devon's and Hana's. I did see a couple of girls at the high school with hair lighter than mine, but they had obviously bleached their hair.

Afterward, Mr. Russell took us to Ignatowski's for a hot fudge sundae.

"So what did you girls think?" he asked.

"I can't wait," Ashanti said. "There are so many more people there than at Hillcrest. It's going to be so much fun."

Mr. Russell asked me what I thought of the school, and I just shrugged and said it seemed big. The truth was I had
no
idea how I was going to handle it. It seemed like there were twenty-thousand students at the freshman info night, so what would it be like when all four grades were there together? Plus, I only knew people from Hillcrest. I didn't meet one new person that night, and the only other high school student I knew was Vladi, and he had broken up with me, so he wouldn't want to hang around with me next year. Plus, he'd be a sophomore and, by then, would probably be an even bigger player on the varsity team and would have even more girls after him.

Mr. Russell said he owned several of the books on Mrs. Deckroe's English 101 reading list. "Why don't you come over after school tomorrow and pick them up, Landry?" he said. "That way you can get a head start."

How could Mr. Russell think that I'd actually be able to make it in high school? Those kids would eat me alive. I was like a preteen acne ad in a sea of cover girls. There was no way I would survive there. I might as well join a convent and save myself four years of humiliation and fear. Maybe I should have Mom check into whether or not the Carmelite sisterhood accepted fourteen-year-olds. They might make an exception if they saw what the other high school kids were like. If they could see what I was up against – a bunch of girls who dressed like they were thirty and the guy with the "hate" tattoo –they just might let me in to save me.

 

The next day, no one said a word about being completely scared out of their minds after going to freshman school info night. In fact, a bunch of people talked about how excited they were for the coming year. Kyle was telling Yasmin how he couldn't wait to try out for the basketball team. I thought he was too short to make it, but I wasn't going to tell
him
that. Yasmin didn't say anything, and I wondered if she was worried about fitting in. She and Arianna were the most popular girls at Hillcrest, but they weren't anything like the girls I saw yesterday. Of course, I can't look cute when I was wearing a Hillcrest uniform with the colors that made me look like a dead goldfish. I figured Thalia would be a little nervous about next year, but even she was excited.

"Did you see the girls there?" I asked. "And some of the guys were like adults or something. One guy even had a mustache."

She shrugged. "Yeah, but there were some hot guys, too. The ones here stink. Well, other than Hakeem. He's kinda looking cute lately."

I told her I was terrified about starting high school, and she pointed out that I had gone to the basketball games with the older kids.

"You could always go to the private high school," she said. "They have a lot more rules and stuff, so maybe it would be a little less scary."

I did think about going to St. Faustina's high school, but all my friends were planning on going to the public school. St. Faustina's was farther away from home, and it was downtown, which made it a little scary, too. Plus, they had stricter rules about grades, and they didn't allow jeans. Tori and Ericka were the only ones I knew who had considered going to private school. I decided to sit with them in social studies so I could ask if either of them had decided which high school they were going to.

"My parents want me to apply to St. Faustina's — especially after yesterday. My dad said he had never seen so many weirdos. He's afraid that I'll end up dressing all trashy and dating some loser," Ericka said.

"My mom wants me to go to St. Faustina's, but the Cougars have a better soccer team, and my dad thinks I'd have a good chance to get a scholarship if I went to Central," Tori said.

Peyton dropped a note on my desk on her way to the pencil sharpener.

Landry,

Why are you sitting with them today? Are you mad at India or me?

-Peyton

I shook my head with a smile. She waited for me after class, and I told her I had been asking them about St. Faustina's.

"Are you thinking about applying there?" she asked. I shrugged and told her I was a little nervous about going to Central.

"Me, too. I almost had a panic attack yesterday. Those girls could have passed for, like, thirty or something. I told my mom I wanted to be homeschooled when we got in the car," she said.

"I was going to call a convent and reserve a spot," I said.

"Reserve one for me, too," she said. "Do you want to do something tonight? We could do a movie marathon or something."

I nodded, feeling better that I wasn't the only one about to wet my pants over high school.

Peyton called me after school, and her parents said I could spend the night if I wanted. As I packed my favorite puppy pajamas, I wondered what high school girls wore to sleepovers. They probably wore those little strappy tank tops with shorts like on the underwear commercials. They probably didn't bring their stuffed animals with them either. Maybe Peyton and I could be homeschooled together. Of course, my mom couldn't homeschool me with her late hours at the office, although I probably could get her to think about if I had taken a picture of that scary-looking guy with the black nail polish sitting next to Ericka's dad the day before.

I started to feel a little better once I got to Peyton's house. Her parents were easy to be around. She always said it was because her older brother and sister, who were in college, "wore them down." During dinner, Mrs. Urich asked me what I thought of the high school tour.

"I'm so nervous about next year," I said. "I just can't picture myself going there."

"Peyton wants me to homeschool her," she said. "I just couldn't believe how some of those girls were dressed. I'm surprised India's mother let her go out like that. I used to drive that little Valine Sachs to dance class. She used to be such a sweet girl."

"It's all those music videos," Mr. Urich said. "Did you see that new singer, Farah what's-her-name? She's sixteen, and they have her acting so trashy. That's not right."

I had actually bought Farah's new album, because I liked her newest song, "I'll Be Your Love Slave," but I guess he was right about the video.

"What surprised me was how Valine had a tattoo," Mrs. Urich said. "She came over to say hello to me, and I saw it when she walked away. She was wearing those low-cut jeans, and her underwear was sticking out. Well, if you want to call
that
underwear. It was a hot pink string, and she had a little daisy tattoo right above her underpants."

I wasn't even allowed to get my ears pierced, and India's cousin had a flower tattoo? Maybe all the girls in high school wore thongs and had tattoos. What if I didn't fit in because my mom made me wear big granny panties and kept my skin ink-free? High school was sounding scarier by the minute.

After dinner, Peyton and I changed into our pajamas and went into the family room to watch a movie. We sat on opposite couches and put the popcorn bowl on the table between us. She and her dad had rented a bunch of new releases from the video store, and she had everything from
Figure Skating
'
s Funniest Bloopers
to
Ghost Panther: The Final Revenge
.
At least I could have one worry-free night where I didn't have to think about high school. I was comfy on the couch, and Mrs. Urich had brought us fleece throws to cover up with. They were still warm from the dryer, too. Everything was perfect until the phone rang. It was India wanting to know if Peyton wanted to go out for pizza with her, Valine, Devon, and some of Valine's high school friends. Peyton told her I was spending the night, and India said I could come, too. It was nice to be invited, but the last thing I wanted to do was to hang out with high school girls.

"Maybe some other time, India. But thanks for calling," she said as she hung up. "You didn't want to go, did you?"

I shook my head. We went back to the movie, but I started thinking how they were already including Peyton in their plans. The next year Ashanti would have her cheerleading friends, Tori would have her soccer friends, and Peyton would meet all those cool high school girls through India. And I'd have no one, except maybe Ericka and her snowman sweater. Even Thalia's parents hadn't decided where she was going for sure and, with my luck, they'd send her to private school. Then it would be me and Ericka making her little comments about my hair for four years. Fabulous. Couldn't wait.

After a while, Peyton stopped the movie so we could take a bathroom break. I used the bathroom off of the kitchen, and she ran upstairs. I heard her talking to someone when I came out, so I walked into the hall to see what was going on. Devon, India, her cousin, and two other girls were standing there. Meanwhile, I was wearing my puppy pajamas, and they all were dressed like they were on the way to a club.

"Hey, Landry," Devon said. "I met the hottest guy tonight. You guys should have come with us."

Peyton exchanged a look with me. Her mom came downstairs. Mrs. Urich didn't kick them out, but she didn't look thrilled to have them over either.

"Oh guys, this is Liv, and that's Kendall," India said as she helped herself to some popcorn.

Liv had dark hair with thick red highlights, and she wore leather pants. Kendall had light-brown curly hair, and she was wearing a pink angora sweater that showed part of her stomach. Liv was sitting next to me, and I felt about two years old and completely flat chested. Peyton asked if anybody wanted something to drink, and they all wanted a diet soda. I offered to help since I didn't want to be alone with them. Sure, I was friends with both Devon and India, but Devon and India didn't even
look
like themselves. They both had on a lot of smoky eye shadow, and India was wearing a pair of knee-high boots. Peyton grabbed my arm when we got into the kitchen.

"I can't believe they came over," she said. "I feel so stupid in my pajamas. I mean, my sweatshirt has a
hole
in it."

"At least you don't have a puppy wearing a sleep mask on your pants," I said.

I was about to ask when she thought they were going to leave when Kendall came into the kitchen to ask where the bathroom was. Peyton pointed to the door and went to hand the sodas out. I opened a bag of tortilla chips and tried to look busy so I wouldn't have to go back out.

"Um, Landry?" Kendall poked her head out of the bathroom door. "Do you have any maxi pads or anything? I just got my period."

My mom never let me leave home without packing an emergency menstrual kit. I told Kendall I'd be right back and went upstairs.

"Kendall?" I said, knocking on the door. "I've got…the stuff you needed."

She opened the door, and I gave her one of my overnight pads, which was more like a diaper than a normal pad.

"Thanks. I feel so dumb, 'cause I got it on my jeans. Does it show?" she asked, turning around.

"Um, a little. Do you have a jacket or something you could put on?"

She had left her jacket at Liv's house, so I offered to let her tie my basketball sweatshirt around her waist. I was so excited that a high school girl was talking to me that I didn't even think about what my shirt was going to cover. Oh well. It wasn't as if that team had won a championship in forever anyway.

"Thanks a ton, Landry. I appreciate this. Write down your address for me so I can drop off your shirt," she said.

I took a memo pad off the Urich's fridge and wrote down my address and e-mail just in case, by some crazy chance, she decided I was her soul sister and would take me around the high school, introducing me to people.

"Wait, Landry Albright," she said staring at the paper. "Are you friends with Vladi Yagudin?"

I nodded. Oh no, she was probably going to tell me that she was his girlfriend and that they laughed about me all the time. I imagined her saying, "Oh, he calls you that 'little girl stalker' who can't stop e-mailing him. How funny that I ran into you. Gee, you're even younger and more of a loser than he described."

But she didn't. Instead, she said she was his best friend Steve's sister.

"Vladi talks about you all the time," she said. "So you go to Hillcrest with India?"

I nodded.I wanted to ask her what Vladi said about me and to find out if he had been talking about me recently or in the past, but I didn't want to look desperate. Besides, she might tell Vladi that the "weirdo in the puppy pajamas" wanted to know every word he ever spoke about her.

"Do you know my uncle, Pavel Ivanov? He works at Hillcrest," she said.

"Oh yeah. He's a super nice guy," I said. "He got my bracelet out of the bathroom vent." Oh, kill me now. Why did I just tell her that? She laughed, but not in a condescending way. Well, I guess having an accident on your jeans was nothing to brag about either.

Liv came into the kitchen and said that they had to get going. "Devon has a curfew," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay. Hey, thanks for everything, Landry. I'll tell Vladi I ran into you," Kendall said. "You should e-mail him or something. He's, like, crazy about you."

Crazy about
me
? Vladi was crazy about me? Had she meant
before
he broke up with me or after? Wait, she had said, "
like
, crazy," and not just, "crazy about you." What did that mean? Did that mean he was
almost
crazy about me? Where's a translator when I needed one? I told Peyton what Kendall had said as soon as they left.

"Wow," she said. "Maybe he still likes you."

"He probably said it a long time ago, but what do you think she meant when she said, 'like, crazy?'" I asked. "Because crazy could be a bad thing, too. When my mom says my dad is driving her crazy, it's never a good thing."

"I think she meant it in the good way. Unless he's mentally unbalanced or something," she said. "This gives you the perfect excuse to e-mail him. You can say you ran into Steve's sister, and you wanted to say, 'hey.'"

She pointed out Thalia would be so jealous that we met Steve's sister. Thalia decided she was in love with Steve when she met him after a basketball game. I was pretty sure Steve, who was old enough to drive, wouldn't have been interested in an eighth-grader, seeing as Vladi said his friends thought I was too young. And Thalia, as much as I liked her, appeared about eleven on a good day. Of course, I'd have never told Thalia that and hurt her feelings.

We sat down at the computer in her kitchen, and I decided to send Vladi an e-mail card. That way all I'd have to write was his name. It was the perfect way to send an e-mail without actually having to write anything. Peyton thought I was being a chicken, but she helped me pick out an e-card to send him. I decided on one with a basketball player on it. Sure, I had never heard of the guy, but there were twenty greetings with his face on them, so I figured he must have been a pretty good player. I clicked on the "notify me" box to let me know when he opened the card. Then I'd know when he read, it and I could see how long it would take for him to write back.

Later, when we were finishing up the movie, Peyton asked what I thought of India's new friends.

"Well, that Kendall girl seemed okay, but Liv and Valine were kind of…intimidating, I guess. They look like they should be in college or something."

"Valine used to be so quiet, but she's totally different now," she said, pulling her blanket up to her chin. "We used to go to the same horseback riding camp every summer, but she gave me a look like I was crazy when I asked if she still liked horses."

"Maybe something happens to you the summer before high school," I said. "My cousin Lucy used to play games with me right before she started high school. Then she started acting like she was too cool to even talk to me at my grandma's house."