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.