“Nope, just a girls night.”
She laughed for some reason. I told her I was going to my room, and I went to check my messages. I was hoping for one from Vladi, but no such luck, so I got into bed and picked up my new Skylar Halston book. As I read, my mind wandered, and I wondered if Vladi was out with another girl. Then I started thinking about Ashanti and if she was having more fun with Halle than she ever did with me. I tried to push those thoughts out of my head as I began to get into the story. At least in Skylar Halston’s books the worst thing that happened was she stumbled over a dead body. Not that I’d want to trade places with her on that, but none of the books ever had her dealing with boy trouble or friend drama. Maybe that’s why I liked them so much. I could escape into her world and leave mine behind.
Chapter 30
On Monday, Ashanti didn’t ride the bus to school, and she hadn’t sent me an email or text all weekend. I thought she had been trying to talk to Halle to figure out what Yasmin was up by telling Vladi I was going behind his back with Kyle. But maybe she realized it would be a lot easier to look the other way on this seeing as she and Yasmin were going to be cheering together next fall.
I went to my locker and saw Yasmin, Maggie, Halle, and Ashanti walking down the hall together, and I noticed they were all carrying the same purse in different colors. It was an Antoni Frank purse and those cost a lot. Ashanti didn’t even look in my direction as they passed me. I spun around fast and bumped into Mr. Ivanov, the janitor. My books went all over the floor.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
“You’re fine,” he said and stooped down to help me pick up my things.
“Nice job there, Landry,” Stuart said. “It’s so obvious why you’re a model with all that dainty gracefulness.”
My face burned.
“Dude, shut up,” Kyle said. “Not cool. You’re going to be washing her car someday, so you better be nice to her now.”
Kyle’s voice had that weird soothing tone to it — the same tone he used when I felt like he was about to say something jerky to Tad or Thalia.
“Sorry, Miss Supermodel,” Stuart said bowing. “Please forgive me.”
“As if I’d let you touch my car,” I said, and then I gave him a fake smile as I added, “Just kidding,” in that same phony tone he always used on the rest of us.
Stuart’s eyes narrowed at me, and Kyle threw his arm around my shoulder. I wanted to push it off, but then I thought maybe I should go along with it and I could get him to lay off Thalia a bit. However, just then the bell rang and who should pass us but Thalia and Yasmin. Thalia’s eyes were wide at the sight of Kyle hanging on me, and Yasmin gave me the coldest look ever. Great, without meaning to, I had just made her even madder at me. At least this time she didn’t have her camera phone ready to take a picture of us.
We went into homeroom, and I tore out a piece of notebook paper and wrote Thalia a note saying, “That was nothing. Honest.”
She glanced down at it and nodded, but she didn’t look at me once in class. When Ms. Ashcroft told us to switch homework assignments with our partners to grade our work, she passed hers to Hakeem.
At lunch, Devon told me Yasmin had been super sweet to her in class.
“It was weird,” she said. “She’s up to something.”
Ericka shook her head. “She’s been super nice to me lately,” she said. “And I know she’s not using me to get back at Landry.”
“Have you found out anything from Ashanti?” Devon asked.
I shook my head hoping we could just drop the subject so I didn’t have to admit Ashanti hadn’t talked to me in days.
“Well, maybe there’s nothing going on,” she said. But even she didn’t sound like she believed it.
After school, I went in my room to play some music before starting my homework. I was listening to the new song from the Puking Baby Dolls when I saw my phone light up. It was Ashanti.
“Hello?”
“Landry, I don’t know how to tell you this, but during practice today, Yasmin went over to Vladi and told him Kyle was all over you in the hall today.”
“Oh wow—”
“And that’s not the worst part.”
“It gets worse?” I asked.
“People backed her up saying they saw Kyle with his arm around you. It made the picture seem like less of a random thing.”
I sighed. “Well, he did have his arm around me again, but you know I don’t like him and nothing is going on there.”
“I know and I tried to find Vladi after our practice was over, but he was already gone.”
“Did you say anything to her? Did you defend me at all?” I asked. My voice came out so small.
“I wasn’t there when she did it. Halle told me about it.”
I didn’t say anything, but I wanted to ask about the matching purses and why she hadn’t bothered to call or message me in days.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said.
“Me either. I told Yaz you’re a sweet person, but she blew me off.”
Yaz? She was calling her by a little nickname now? Lovely.
“So that’s it? She just gets to spread rumors about me, and there’s no one who will stand up for me? I don’t understand how you could hang around with that jerk,” I said.
“She’s not that bad. I think she’s just upset because she thinks you and Kyle were going behind her and Vladi’s backs.”
“Are you joking? First of all, Kyle has been doing that forever with tons of girls, including her best friend. How can you defend somebody who you know is telling the guy I liked all sorts of false crap about me?”
“I just told you how I let her know you’re a nice person,” Ashanti said.
“But how can you stand by and watch Yasmin trash me—”
“Landry, I gotta go. Halle is here. I’ll try to message you later,” she said and the phone flashed, “Call ended.”
Of all the times Ericka had made passive aggressive comments to me or flat out insulted me, it never hurt as bad as having a true friend not stand by me. All of a sudden it hit me — major queasiness. I ran to the bathroom and threw up.
“Hon, I’m home,” Mom called as she walked into the house. “Where are you?”
I was sitting in front of the toilet crying, so I flushed it and kicked the door shut while I rinsed out my mouth and washed my face.
“Be out in a sec,” I said.
“I have great news. Grandma Lily and Grandpa Bernie are coming for a visit,” she said.
My stomach hurt, and all I wanted to do was hide in my bed and cry.
“That’s awesome. Can’t wait,” I said.
“I got subs for dinner,” she said. “Extra pickles on yours just like you like it.”
Oh yeah, pickles. That was all my stomach needed now. But if I didn’t at least try to eat a little, Mom would ask me what was wrong, and I didn’t want to get into the whole Yasmin/Ashanti thing with her.
I sat down and took a tiny bite of my sub eating mostly the bread and trying to avoid the rest of it. Oh man, someone had drenched this thing in oil. Ugh.
She started telling me how Dad called and told her a funny story about work, but all I could do was focus on keeping my sandwich down.
“So Grandma and Grandpa finally picked a time to come visit. They’re dropping in this weekend,” she said.
“Seriously?” It was so great to get good news for a change.
“Yes, just see if you can keep your grandmother occupied so she doesn’t redo my kitchen cabinets and pantry once again, will ya?”
“I can’t wait to see them.”
“Grandpa’s bringing you something he made in his new class,” she said.
I nodded.
“So how’s Mr. Wonderful?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“How’s Vladi?”
How should I know? Ask Yasmin McCarty. Better yet, ask her why she’s taking all her boyfriend frustrations out on me instead of her supposed “best friend�
� Arianna, who actually does flirt with her boyfriend.
“Fine. How’s work?” I asked.
Mom put her sub down.
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
“Landry Lilyanne Albright. In fourteen years you have never once asked me that. Although, in all fairness, you weren’t talking all fourteen years of your life, but still. What are you trying to distract me from?”
How had the C.I.A. not recruited this woman?
“Nothing.”
“I got your favorite sub and you’ve barely touched it, and there’s a new issue of Young and Fun magazine sitting on the counter still encased in the plastic wrap that it arrived in today. Something is wrong,” she said.
“I was talking to Ashanti. She’s all in with this new group of girls now and I’m worried she’s going to drop me for them and I got all queasy and… well, you know my stupid stomach.”
“Nervous pukies?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’m so pathetic.”
“Wanna know a secret?”
“Hmmm?”
“You know who else gets nervous pukies? Daddy.”
“What?” I asked.
“Yup. When he started med school, he used to stress puke before big exams,” she said.
“How come he never told me that?” I asked.
“Because I never told him you do that, too,” she said. “You know he tells your grandma everything, and then she’d send newspaper clippings about how to handle stress and weird mediation CDs of guys chanting in the woods.”
“For real?”
“Ask him about the retreat she wanted him to go on. It was a three day no-talking retreat where you chanted all day. She claimed it cured her neighbor’s hair stylist’s anxiety,” Mom said.
“Do they have an opening?” I asked and she laughed.
“You might want to talk to your father about it, but just know, he is a problem solver and he will also send you a million articles and things on handling stress. He does that to me before every presentation I do.”
“It’s nice Dad cares, but it’s not something I want to talk about.”
“Right, I don’t want to push you, but I’m glad you told me. You internalize so much and… well, I’m just happy you opened up and if you do want to talk, I’m here.”
“Okay. Can I put this sub away for later? This oily dressing is not my friend right now,” I said.
“Sure. You want some soup or something to settle your stomach?”
“Just crackers and maybe a cola. Regular though. I can’t see introducing cherry syrup as being a good idea.”
I sat in front of the TV with some crackers and a can of soda. Instead of watching the business report, Mom said I could watch whatever I wanted. Too bad my choices all brought up bad feelings: a basketball game that reminded me of Vladi, a teen show about best friends, and a movie about cheerleaders. I ended up putting on a cartoon that got me out of my own mind for a little while.
“Hon? Your phone is ringing in the other room,” Mom said.
I went to check my cell and found I’d missed a call from Ashanti. Taking a deep breath, I called her back.
“Hey, so Halle just left,” she said.
“Oh?”
“I mentioned to her I thought it was weird Yasmin suggested we all get the same purse but left Arianna out of it.”
“Oh?”
“I’m trying to get Halle to realize Yaz is going out of her way to get us on her side and leave Arianna out.”
Arianna and I had much in common.
“Don’t you have anything to say about that?” Ashanti asked.
“What do you want me to say?”
“I’m trying to get Halle to see Yasmin will turn on us the way she turns on her other friends and how it seemed odd Yaz just happened to have her phone out to get a pic of you and Kyle together that day.”
I wanted to believe Ashanti was on my side, but all I could see was her walking down the hall ignoring me with her matching purse and new besties.
“Well, does Halle seem to be listening?”
“I know she gets it, but she’s always been the type to not want to make waves,” Ashanti said. “So I had an idea. Yasmin has been trying to get Vladi to come to the teen dance club when she’s there, but I guess he hasn’t been coming. Halle said he told her he might be going this Friday, so my idea is that you come with me and maybe you and Vladi can talk.”
“Um, I hate that place and the only thing worse than that place on a good day is that place on a day where there are mean girls who hate me and my ex-boyfriend who thinks I went behind his back and will ignore me all night,” I said.
“Okay, then call him and talk to him on the phone.”
“He doesn’t answer my texts or emails, and the last few calls I made went straight to voice mail,” I said.
“Will you at least think about coming?”
“Yeah, but aren’t you going with Yasmin and those girls already?”
“Well, then see if Devon wants to go or something. Yasmin can’t trash you if you’re standing right in front of her, right?”
I felt a little better knowing Ashanti still cared, so I told her I’d come to the club. And then I did a group message to India, Devon, Peyton, and Thalia to see if they wanted to go to the club on Friday. Naturally, Devon and India were already planning to go and Peyton said she would. I was surprised Thalia agreed to go, too, but grateful for the support.
Chapter 31
On Friday, India invited us all over to get ready at her house. Fearing nervous pukies, I told her I had to finish up chores so Mom would let me go out. I didn’t want to walk into the place by myself, so I asked if they’d pick me up on the way. I put on my favorite lavender sweater and my butterfly necklace. Glancing at the clock, I realized I had twenty minutes until they arrived, so I called Dad.
“Hey, kiddo, what’s the good word?” he asked.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Okay, this is between us and Grandma doesn’t need to know, right?” I asked.
“I do not get why your mother thinks I tell Grandma everything. You know what? I can keep a secret, thank you.”
“I believe you. So anyway, Mom told me you get nervous pukies.”
“The nervous what-sies?” he asked.
“You barf when you get nervous.”
“Oh, that. Well, I haven’t for a several years, but, yes, I used to. I had bad anxiety until the last few years,” he said.
“So what did you do to stop it?” I asked.
“Well, hon, it never completely goes away. You just learn to get a handle on it,” he said.
Wonderful. It’s inherited and everlasting. Joy.
“Do you do anything in particular to help with it?” I asked.
“Okay, here’s where you promise not to tell your mother.”
“Won’t breathe a word,” I said.
“All right, I decided to let your grandma know I was struggling with anxiety because I needed some help. So Grandma started sending me all sorts of methods and alternative treatments and stuff, and some of it was weird — like floating-in-a-dark- tub kind of weird. But some of the ideas did help. She sent me a CD that had deep breathing exercises. Nothing weird, just relaxing and focusing on your breathing. And there was another book that suggested writing down all your fears and worse case scenarios every morning to get them out of your head. I did those two things and prayed a lot, and it started to calm me down. So now when I feel it starting, I’m able to handle it better.”
“So you don’t barf anymore?”
“Not in years,” he said.
“Do you ever get the other stuff?”
“Hmm?”
“Stress induced potty issues?”
“Works for that, too. Although not quite as well. And guess what? Grandma Anne used to go through that also.”
“No way.”
“Yup, you inherited her love of tomatoes and her nervous potty issues.”
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br /> “You know, some people inherit yachts and pretty curly hair, or, like, money or something,” I said.
“You did get my fetching blue eyes,” he said.
“Yeah, I think I’d prefer cash.”
“How about I send you some links to the mp3’s that have helped me, and you can download them to your phone. I’ll get you a gift card so you can get as many as you want, okay?”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Love ya, kiddo. Have fun with your grandparents this weekend.”
India’s dad drove up then. I took a deep breath and headed out to the car. The passenger seat was empty. Normally, I’d feel left out having to sit next to the parent, but today it was oddly comforting being there with Mr. Allen. I knew I could count on him if things all went south tonight.
“Landry,” he said in a quiet tone. “Remember, if you need to call, just use the party code phrase and I will be there in a flash.”
I nodded, relieved.
We pulled up to the club, and the place seemed bigger than I remembered it. I texted Ashanti that we were here, but she said they hadn’t arrived yet.
“Landry, don’t panic, but Vladi’s here,” Peyton said.
“Oh?”
“And he’s with a girl,” India said.
They all stared at me. I couldn’t see him in the crowd, but as soon as we got inside, I spotted him over by the refreshments with a tall girl with dark blond hair. My stomach flipped, and I wanted to turn around and walk right back out.
“Landry?”
Ashanti was standing there with Halle. “We just saw Vladi with that girl,” she said.
“Yeah, and Yasmin is not handling it well,” Halle said. “She thought once you were out of the way, he’d be all hers.”
I shrugged, not trusting myself to speak.
“Are you okay?” Ashanti asked. The girls were all staring at me. I tried to nod, but my eyes were filling up.
“Not my night,” I said.
“Don’t let him see you upset,” Halle said. “Act like you’re having fun without him, and let him see what he’s missing.”
“Yeah,” Ashanti said nodding.
Landry in Like Page 20
