On Monday, Tori told me she ended up going to the movies with her dad after they dropped me off.
“My dad sat on something and had chocolate all over his pants when he walked out of the theater,” Tori said. “What did you do?”
Devon was watching me, so I shrugged as I got on the bus.
“I ate the rest of the candy last night,” Peyton said, moving her bag so I could sit next to her.
“Didn’t you buy a pound of it?” I asked, and she made a face.
“Kinda, but we didn’t have any good candy at my house. My dad only buys chocolate covered cherries, and those taste like cough syrup,” she said.
“I don’t like fruit in my candy,” I said.
India agreed, but Devon pulled out her poetry journal and started writing. I leaned over the seat and asked what she was writing, but she made a noise and scrunched down in the seat. Devon got up as soon as the bus stopped, and I had to run to catch up with her. I slowed down when I got inside so Ms. Ashcroft wouldn’t have a fit. I went to Devon’s locker, but the first bell rang and she started walking to her class.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked.
“I gotta get to class,” she said.
“Okay, see you at lunch,” I said. The second bell rang, and everyone disappeared into the classrooms. I was left in the hall with my coat and backpack still on.
“Why are you wearing your jacket?” Thalia asked when I sat down. “Did you miss the bus again?”
“No, I’m cold,” I said. It was hard to write with puffy sleeves, and I was getting hot.
Devon didn’t wait for me at lunch, and I had to walk to the cafeteria by myself. I saw her sitting at Hana’s table, but there weren’t any empty chairs. Ashanti wasn’t there either, so I sat at Ericka and Tori’s table. My tater tots were soggy and usually there was at least one chicken nugget with real chicken in it, but today they were all fatty. Then my straw broke in my juice box, and I had to drink out of the little hole. The juice dribbled down my chin and got on my white sweater.
“Are you ready to go outside?” I looked up, and Devon was standing there.
I wasn’t finished eating, but I was so happy she was talking to me I got up and dumped my tray in the garbage. Devon said Doug wanted us to go to the Cougars basketball game on Friday.
“We have to go,” she said. “And my mom said she’d drive us.”
I actually had an audition for a fashion show on Saturday morning, so I knew my mom wouldn’t want me to stay out late. I called my mom at work as soon as I got home, and she just sighed.
“Landry, you’ve got to be responsible and look at this like a career,” she said.
“I know, but we won’t be out too late, and I’ll go to bed as soon as I get home. Promise,” I said. “Nobody’s ever going to invite me to do stuff again if I always have to say no,” I said.
Mom gave in, so I called Devon to tell her I could go.
****
On Friday, Devon and her mom came to pick me up for the game. Devon wore a jean skirt and had even put on eyeliner. It made her brown eyes look huge. The public school gym was much bigger than ours with tons of banners hanging from the ceiling. There were a lot of older kids sitting in groups, and I shrank back. Even Devon looked freaked out for a minute, but then she saw Doug and Jeremy sitting in the bleachers. She sat next to Doug, and I sat between her and Jeremy. She and Doug were talking, and she elbowed me and whispered to me to talk to Jeremy. I couldn’t think of anything to say so I asked him about the cute blond guy who was playing.
“Oh, Vladi Yagudin,” he said.
Okay, now what? “He’s good,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Doug and I are going to get some candy. Do you want anything?” Devon asked.
“I’ll go with you.” I got up so she couldn’t leave without me.
Doug bought her a box of candy, and he talked to Devon like I wasn’t even there. I just stared at the team pictures on the wall.
“I’ve got to go to the bathroom. Be right back,” he said.
“Isn’t he cute?” she asked.
“Because he has to go to the toilet?”
She sighed. “No, because he bought me candy.”
“I guess,” I said. She was staring over at Doug, who was standing at the end of the hall with his arm around another girl. Devon’s shoulders tensed up.
“Let’s go sit down. He knows where to find us,” she said.
We went back to the top where Jeremy was talking to some guys he knew. He introduced us as “Devon and what’s-your-name-again?” Devon started talking to one of the guys, but Jeremy kept interrupting them. It was pretty obvious Jeremy liked her. Nobody seemed to notice I was alive, so I just sat there eating Devon’s candy and watching the game. The varsity players came out to warm up when the J.V. game ended. Doug hadn’t come back yet, but Cristian came and sat in front of me.
“Hey guys,” he said.
He started talking to me about school, and I ended up telling him I had a modeling audition tomorrow.
“You model?” he asked. I nodded. “Cool. I’ll be able to say, ‘I know her,’ when you’re famous. Hey, can I have some?” he asked pointing to my candy. I passed him the box as Doug came over to sit down.
“Did you get lost?” Devon asked him. She leaned toward the guy she was flirting with and put her hand on his arm. Doug reached for the candy box, and Cristian said they were mine. Doug stared at me like he forgot I was even there. I told Cristian Doug had bought the candy, but no one heard me since they were all watching Vladi, the basketball player, walking up to us. I had never seen anyone so hot in my life. He was tall with blond bangs, and he looked like an adult. Vladi sat sideways on the bleacher in front of me, and Doug passed him the candy box. Note to self: always have food. It gave guys a reason to talk to you. Vladi looked at me and nodded.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Hi,” I said. Oh yeah, he’ll fall in love with me now.
“This is Landry and Devon,” Cristian said.
Vladi stretched out his legs as Doug started kissing his butt and telling him how great he played. Even Devon had gotten quiet. Vladi asked what school we went to, and Devon said we went to Hillcrest. Vladi looked at me.
“How old are you,” he said.
“I’ll be fourteen soon.” Great, I must have looked twelve.
“Hey, Vladi, we’re leaving.”
I looked down, and some guy was waving at Vladi to join them.
Vladi winked at me as he walked down the stairs. Oh wow, an older guy had winked at me. I could die now.
I picked up a program off the floor on the way out. It was torn, but I could kind of make out Vladi’s face underneath a dirty shoe print. All it said under his name was he was six-two. I felt like I was floating as we walked out of the gym.
“Do you guys want to go out for ice cream with us?” Doug asked.
The guy Devon had been flirting with had left without asking for her number, so Devon had started talking to Doug again. We walked up to the counter to order, and Jeremy said he’d pay for Devon. She ordered a caramel sundae, and the guy behind the counter asked what I wanted so Jeremy ended up paying for my ice cream cone, too. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t thrilled about having to pay for me. I offered him some money, but I don’t think he wanted to look cheap in front of Devon.
I slid into the booth next to Cristian, and he offered me one of the little brownies from his sundae. I didn’t finish my ice cream because I couldn’t figure out how to eat the cone without making a fool of myself. Doug had to meet up with his older sister for a ride, but Cristian and Jeremy walked us back to the school where Devon’s dad was picking us up. Jeremy looked nervous and asked Devon if he could talk to her alone, so they went around the corner by the gym door.
“Gloves — you’re smart,” Cristian said as he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. Jeremy and Devon came back just as her dad drove up. Cristian asked me for my e-mail address and I figured he was just being nice, but I searched my coat pockets for a pen and paper. Nothing. Not even a gum wrapper.
“I’ll remember it,” he said. I told him my e-mail address, and he walked backward down the sidewalk reciting it. Devon asked her dad if I could come over. I knew I needed to get home, but I didn’t want to make her mad by saying I had to get up early to model. So I went to her house and she waited until we were in her bedroom before she told me Jeremy had tried to kiss her.
“It was so gross. He was nervous, and his mouth was open,” she said pulling a pillow to her face.
“What’d you do?” I asked.
“I backed away and told him I had a cold,” she cracked up. “I didn’t even know he liked me.”
“Please, if looks could kill then the other guy you were talking to would have caught on fire,” I said.
She screwed up her face.
“Can you believe Vladi Yagudin winked at me?” I asked.
“Who?”
“The cute basketball player,” I said. How many guys did she know named Vladi?
“Oh, him. Did he?” she picked up a bottle of nail polish and started fixing her nails.
I started to tell her how Cristian had asked for my e-mail address when the phone rang. It was for her mom, but I decided not to tell her about Cristian because he probably wouldn’t write to me anyway and then I’d look stupid. Devon and I made plans to go to the movies tomorrow night, and I checked my e-mail as soon as I got home. I noticed an address I didn’t recognize.
To: Albright@alphamail.com
From: Cris996@alphamail.com
Re: Hey
Did you have fun tonight? I can’t believe they lost. What are you doing tomorrow?
-Cristian
I hadn’t even noticed who won the last game. I thought about waiting to write back like I had such a busy life, but then I decided to e-mail him in case he was still on-line and we could Instant Message each other. I told him Devon and I were going to the movies tomorrow and I waited online for ten minutes, but he didn’t write me back.