Landry in Like

by Krysten Lindsay Hager

  “Hey, Vladi,” some guy came up to us. “What’s up?”

  “Hey, Evan. This is Landry,” Vladi said.

  “Who was that chick you were just talking to?” he asked.

  “The librarian?” Vladi asked.

  “No, the blonde one.”

  “Landry’s mother?”

  “She’s hot,” Evan said.

  “Gross!” I said and they both stared at me. My face got warm.

  Vladi laughed. “Not cool, dude. That’s her mom.”

  “Sorry, but she’s hot.”

  It was official that even when my mother was just in the general area, she could embarrass me. Hot? Seriously? Great. Vladi had assured me he wasn’t into me because of my looks, but now I had to worry about my mother’s, too?

  “Dude, seriously. Stop talking,” Vladi said.

  “What? It’s a compliment,” Evan said as he laughed and walked off.

  “Sorry about that guy,” Vladi said. “He speaks before the thinks.”

  I shuddered. “So weird.”

  “Are you wondering now if I think your mom is hot?” he asked.

  “No. Well, yes, kind of.”

  He burst out laughing. “No. Well, she sort of is, but you look just like her, so no worries, right?”

  “I don’t think we can hang out ever again,” I said making a face.

  “I’m on my own for a ride home, aren’t I?” he asked.

  The librarian was obviously listening to us because she was trying to hide a smile. “You’re all set. These are due back on the twenty-eighth,” she said.

  “Thanks,” he said to her. He leaned toward me. “So do I need to call for a ride?”

  I sighed. “Do you promise not to flirt with my mother?” I crossed my arms and pretended to glare at him.

  He promised, but we were laughing so hard as we walked out to the parking lot. I even dropped the keys I was shaking so much.

  My mom came up then. “What’s so funny?”

  We both stopped laughing.

  “My friend Evan was cracking jokes,” he said.

  I got in the back, while Vladi sat in front with my mother. She spent the whole ride asking him about school. We pulled up to his house, and he thanked her for the ride.

  “I’ll message you later, Landry,” he said and winked at me.

  I moved up to the front seat.

  “So, how was it?” she asked.

  “It was fine.”

  “Did you both behave?”

  “Gross. Mother, we were in the public library.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  My face felt tingly as I thought about the kiss.

  “We were good.”

  “Any hand holding?”

  “Mom!”

  “You went three shades of red. That means yes,” she said, but she was smiling so she didn’t seem mad. “What about—”

  “One of his friends from school saw you and called you hot,” I said. I never, ever intended to tell her that, but it was share that piece of info or continue on with her rapid-fire questions. And that woman could sniff out anything.

  She laughed. “That’s funny.”

  Um, the word I’d use to describe it was “creepy,” but the compliment distracted her from her original line of questioning, so it was worth it.

  We got home and she made BLTs for dinner. I was getting ready for bed when I saw I had a text from Vladi. He wrote he was glad we hung out this afternoon and wanted to say good-night before I went to sleep.

  Vladi: “Oh yeah, say, ‘good-night,’ to your mom for me.”

  And then he put laughing smiley faces after it.

  Landry: Jerk.

  Vladi: Teasing. Only teasing. So did your mom say anything after I got out of the car?

  I bit my lip. Was this still about him and his friend thinking she was hot?

  Landry: About the hot thing?

  Vladi: No!!! Haha, I meant if she’d let us hang out again. LOL.

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  Landry: She didn’t, but she seemed okay with today.

  Vladi: Good. I hope we can meet up again. Night!

  I wrote back, “night” with a smiley face after it and went to sleep with the same smile on my face.

  Chapter 15

  I was in class the next day when I noticed my purse was lighting up. That was weird. I sometimes forgot to turn my phone off, but no one ever called or texted me during the day, so I asked for a bathroom pass so I could go check it. It was a message from my mom to call her at lunch. That was weird. She never messaged me during the day. I hoped everything was okay. What if one of my grandparents was sick or something? Or my dad got hurt? Oh man, lunch could not come fast enough.

  As soon as the lunch bell rang, I rushed to the cafeteria and bought a turkey sandwich, fruit cup, and bottle of water. I left my tray at Devon’s table and went to call my mother.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”

  “No, it is most certainly not okay. I got a call at work today from Mrs. Robins—”

  “Tori’s mom?”

  “Yes, she called to inform me that you were, and I quote, ‘making out behind the stacks at the library yesterday,’” Mom said.

  “What? I didn’t know she was even there.”

  “What does that matter?” Mom said almost deafening me.

  “Well, it’s not true. I don’t know why she’d say that.”

  “I’m going to ask you this one time, young lady. Is there any truth to it at all?”

  She had given me that whole speech about not being able to trust me if I lied to her the other day, but I didn’t think one tiny forehead kiss was so bad, so in my eyes we were being good. I wasn’t going to lie to her, but I just hoped she’d see it my way.

  “There was one little—”

  “Landry, I am so upset with you right now.”

  “It was a tiny kiss on the forehead — that’s it. Honest, that’s all it was. I promise you we were not making out. For one, I’ve never made out with anyone in my entire life, and I certainly wouldn’t do that at the library.”

  “I don’t know if I can believe you right now.”

  “Mom, I didn’t do anything wrong. It was a little kiss — not even on the lips. He’s not like that and neither am I. You know that.”

  “I don’t know you at all right now. You said you could be trusted.”

  “And I can! Mommy!” Oh man, I never called her mommy. I was close to tears now. “I promise we were being good. Mrs. Kharazzi was there. You can ask her. She saw us.”

  “You want me to alert your teacher to your shoddy behavior?”

  “If it will get you to trust me, then yes,” I said.

  “I will not embarrass both of us.”

  “But Mom, I didn’t do anything wrong, and I need you to believe me. We were looking for books for his paper and talking about pressures with his basketball stuff and school, and he gave me a little kiss on the forehead. It was only a second and that was all that happened.”

  I could hear Mom sighing. “I don’t know what to do, Landry. I want to believe you and I trusted you, but then I get this call.”

  “Mrs. Robins was overreacting. I don’t know why she’d say that.”

  “She said Tori told her.”

  “What?”

  “She said Tori saw it and felt I should know. Mrs. Robins also threw in a zinger about a broken home, which I informed her we did not have and that your father was in the midst of trying to find a job here since my job was relocated, but that fell on deaf ears.”

  “Why would Tori lie about the kiss?” I asked.

  “Well, according to you, it’s not a lie because you did.”

  “There’s a big difference between one forehead kiss and making out in the library. But why would Tori tell her mother that? It’s not true.” I was crying now. I was about to lose everything — my mother’s trust, my relationship with Vladi, and my friendship with Tori.
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  “Landry, don’t cry. I just — I want to believe you on this—”

  “I don’t know why Tori would say that,” I said sobbing. “He’s such a nice guy. I don’t want you to hate him and make me stop seeing him. Please don’t get him into trouble. Ground me, if you want. I’m telling you the truth. Nothing happened.”

  “I’m not going to call his parents.”

  “You’re not?” I said sniffing.

  “No, I don’t see the need, but I’m not sure how to proceed with this.”

  “Talk to Mrs. Kharazzi. She tutors there after school. She was there the whole time and if we had been making out, she would have seen us.”

  “Landry, I—”

  “Mommy, I need you to trust me,” I said as my voice broke. “Please, ask her.”

  “Go eat your lunch. We’ll talk later.”

  “Am I grounded?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I went back to the lunch table and Devon immediately put her arm around me and asked what was wrong. Ashanti rushed over to our table asking if I was okay. I nodded, but didn’t want to say what was wrong because Tori was sitting right there. I didn’t know how to handle that whole situation. I felt so betrayed.

  “Why won’t you say what’s wrong?” Ashanti asked.

  “I-I don’t want to start crying again. It’s not a big thing, I guess. I just found out… my dad’s not coming this weekend after all,” I said, feeling guilty for lying.

  “Oh, that does suck,” Devon said. Ashanti knew my dad wasn’t scheduled to come, and she gave me a knowing look.

  “Right, okay. We’ll talk later,” she said.

  During lunch, I got a bathroom pass and called my mom saying I wanted her to pick me up from school so I wouldn’t have to talk to Tori on the bus.

  “Landry, I am busy with work—”

  “And then you can come talk to Mrs. Kharazzi.”

  “Fine. I have to go right now. I will be there to pick you up.”

  I spent most of sixth hour counting down the minutes and praying. I hoped Mrs. Kharazzi would be able to say she had seen us the entire time we were there. After all, I knew she was at a table close by, but if she hadn’t been watching us then my mom wouldn’t know who to believe. The final bell rang, and I got up slowly and gathered my books. I took my time and went to Ashanti’s locker instead of my own and told her I’d call her tonight about what was going on. She gave me a hug.

  I waited until Ericka and Tori were walking toward the doors to the bus before I went to my locker. I was putting my books away when my mom came up.

  “Kid, you’re putting me in a funny position,” she said. “My alerting your teacher to this makes you look bad because it plants a seed of doubt, and it does not reflect well on my parenting skills.”

  “It’s the only way I can prove to you I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  She pressed her lips into a straight line as we walked to Mrs. Kharazzi’s classroom. She was wiping down the dry erase board when we walked in.

  “Hello Mrs. Albright, what brings you here?” she asked.

  “Well, um… Landry mentioned you saw her at the library yesterday with her boyfriend.”

  “Oh, so he is your boyfriend,” Mrs. Kharazzi said smiling. “I wasn’t sure. He was a nice young man. So polite.”

  “Yes, he has good manners,” Mom said. “However, Mrs. Robins—Tori Robins’ mother mentioned to me that she was concerned about… what might have gone on between Landry and her boyfriend at the library.”

  “Oh? From what I saw they behaved like perfect young people.”

  “They did? And were they out of your sight at any time or did you basically, um… could you see them at all times… well, from where you were sitting?” Mom was faltering big time.

  “They were in my line of vision, yes,” she said. “I didn’t see anything inappropriate, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Well, yes, that’s what Mrs. Robins was implying,” Mom said.

  “Landry is a good student and has a good head on her shoulders. You don’t need to worry about her. It’s a small school, and I get to know the students quite well and I observe things. This may have to do more with the fact that Landry’s made new friends and is having new experiences apart from Tori. Landry, Tori, and Ericka used to be a tight little group of three, but now Landry has expanded her circle of friends and she has a boyfriend. It’s possible Tori embellished things a bit to try to… how to say this… reign that in?”

  “I guess that’s possible. Landry, what do you think?”

  “I’m not sure what that means.”

  “She means Tori feels like you’re growing up too fast and moving away from her and it scares her.”

  “Oh, maybe,” I said.

  “Mrs. Albright, Landry and that young man conducted themselves just fine yesterday. There’s nothing to worry about. If I saw anything inappropriate, I assure you, I would have stepped in. I have your daughter’s best interests at heart.”

  Mom nodded. “Okay, then. Thank you.”

  We walked out of the room, and my mind was reeling wondering if Tori was on the bus right now spreading rumors about me. My stomach felt off, and I was about to need a bathroom visit when my mother hugged me. It shocked me — and not just because my mom’s not a hugger.

  “Kid, do not grow up too fast. It will kill both of us — in different ways,” she said.

  “I won’t, but you believe me now, right?”

  She nodded. “What Mrs. Kharazzi said made sense, and truthfully, there are no dark corners where you could get away with more than just a quick kiss,” she said. “Mrs. Kharazzi is right. You are both well behaved, and I shouldn’t have assumed the worst. It’s just — well, it was my worst fear that you were going against my rules and growing up way too fast for my liking.”

  “I’m glad you finally believe me, but what do I say to Tori about all of this?”

  “One problem at a time. I’m sweating. I am literally wet under my arms,” Mom said.

  “Gross.”

  She laughed. “Let’s just get some ice cream and never ever talk about boys again.”

  We got to Ignatowski’s, and Mom ordered us both hot fudge sundaes. We sat down to eat and she didn’t say anything.

  “So how do I handle this Tori thing?” I asked.

  “I have no clue. I’m trying to figure out how to handle her mother.”

  “Huh?”

  “If Mrs. Robins calls me again, I’m going to say I talked to your teacher and that I trust you. But at the end of the day, she’s going to judge me because I’m a working mom and practically a single mom. In her eyes, that’s two strikes against me. Add in my age, and it’s another hit against me and makes me look like I let anything go.”

  “You’re worried about her judging you?” I asked.

  Mom nodded.

  “Parents have to deal with that, too?”

  “It never goes away. It just changes to other things,” she said. “I didn’t like her tone about the whole broken family thing. First of all, your father and I are married. Second, it was insulting to people who are divorced, but I was too busy defending myself to call her on that. I’m just lucky it wasn’t Ericka’s mother. That woman is judge, jury, and executioner.”

  “Like mother, like daughter,” I said and we both laughed.

  “I owe you an apology for jumping to conclusions,” Mom said. “Her mother called and had that whole accusatory voice going, and I immediately assumed the worst. I should have given you a chance to tell your side at the least. Now I’m sitting here and regretting going to talk to your teacher about a stupid, innocent little forehead kiss.”

  “Thanks, but are you ever going to let me hang out with Vladi again?”

  “Don’t ask me that right now,” she said.

  I sighed and frowned.

  “Kid, I’m not making you break up or anything. It’s just this is a lot to deal with. I don’t know what my next move is, and I don’t know what you sho
uld say to Tori.”

  “Well, should I ask Dad? He’s pretty good with—”

  She spit out her bite of ice cream. “No! You are going to tell him I let you go on a date where you got accused of publicly making out with a boy? Are you insane? Landry Lilyanne Albright, are you trying to get me in trouble?”

  “Oh… okay, then what do I do?”

  “Not that!”

  “So you want me to keep a secret from Dad? Doesn’t that go against the parenting handbook or something?” I asked.

  She sighed and her blond bangs blew up. “You can share with him that you went to the library with your friend Vladi and a girl made up a rumor about you and you aren’t sure how to handle that. I am not encouraging you to keep secrets from your father. I am, however, suggesting strongly that you carefully choose your wording lest you be locked in a tower for the rest of your life and not allowed to make eye contact with boys.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Mom had work to finish up, so she dropped me off at home and went back to the office. I stared at my phone wondering who to call first. I called Peyton and asked if she’d be okay with me three-way calling with Ashanti. She was fine with it, so I got Ashanti on the line and told them what went down.

  “She could have gotten you into serious trouble with your mom,” Peyton said. “Like grounded for life and no boyfriend — ever.”

  “Not cool,” Ashanti said.

  Peyton said she was getting a text from India who wrote that Tori was talking about me on the bus. Tori said I was all over Vladi at the library and how she was concerned.

  “So she is spreading rumors?” I asked, feeling queasy.

  “I think she realized she went too far and is now trying to get people to believe it so anything you say looks fake,” Ashanti said. “We have to stop this now.”

  “But how?” I asked.

  “I don’t know her that well. What works with her?”

  I felt like saying I obviously didn’t know her that well either.

  “I don’t know,” I said. My call waiting beeped and it was my dad.