Gilbert and Louis Rule the Universe: First Impressions (20 page)

When we arrive at school Riley,
Maddy
,
and Rowan are waiting for us.
We say hi, but it isn’t with our usual
effer
v
escent
attitude.
Too much has gone on over the break.

“Hi, Riley”
I say icily, I have decided I would forgive her, but I needed to punish her a little longer.

“Hi,” she says.
I can tell she is glad I am speaking to her.

Maddy
, who luckily just got back from Florida, is out of the loop. We are all standing around declaring our jealousy for her tan when Dylan walks up.

“Hey, Alex.”

Gilbert turns around.

“I never got
a text back from you last night,
”
Dylan says.

Gilbert does her best to look calm and collected as she says, “I didn’t send you one.”
Then she turns back to our group.

Dylan stands behind her not sure what to think.
I can tell Gilbert is about to lose it so I say, “Later, Dylan.”
He gets the hint and walks away.

“Are you okay?”
Rowan asks.

“Totally fine,” Gilbert answers.
“I’d better get to class,” she whispers as she heads off.
I can see her eyes are glassy.

At lunch, Rowan and Jimmy sit together sharing their PB&J’s, Riley is in with her math teacher getting extra help so it is just
Maddy
, Gilbert
,
and me sitting together.
Dylan and Jason walk out with their trays of food.
I see Gilbert and Dylan make eye contact but then she looks away.
The guys walk outside.
We are sitting with
Maddy
filling her in on everything that had gone on while she was away.
She is jealous that she wasn’t around for such an eventful winter break.

I pull out the pickles from my chicken sandwich.
“Ralph came by my house yesterday,”
I admit to
Maddy
.

“What!?”
she practically yells.

“He actually asked me to be his girlfriend,” I say.
Gilbert and I look at one another.
I continue to wonder if this is something I should be proud of or disgusted by.
I mean, we are in full agreement that Ralph is the reason that Alex and Dylan are not together.
And other than being a total
hottie
, he is definitely a conceited jerk.

“I can’t believe that Ralph asked you out!”
Maddy
exclaims.
“I mean, not that a guy wouldn’t ask you out, but…”

“I know, I know.
But weird, right?”

The rest of the week goes on like this.
Gilbert and Dylan aren’t speaking.
I catch her watching him when he isn’t looking.
I know she still has feelings for him. I have her all to myself again, but it doesn’t feel right.
We hang out after school and all, but it isn’t our normal plotting and scheming.
We are mostly lost in our own thoughts.

I am constantly trying to puzzle out in my mind why Ralph would have asked me out.
It so totally came out of left field that I didn’t see it coming at all, and I think of myself as a pretty observant person.
I mean, you have to admit that the guy is totally
smokin
’ hot, but all the stories that I have heard about him do not paint a pretty picture.
Winston told me that he was a total
druggie, and I am so not into that. I once saw some of the guys in my grade get high at a football game and they acted like total idiots.
They just laughed and looked at you like you were speaking a foreign language when you tried to talk to them.
I have no patience for that.
Then there is the fact that Ralph deliberately hooked Dylan up with another girl—that is just so rude.
Plus, he always seems to think that he is so much better than everyone else.
It just doesn’t make sense.

Chapter 21

Wednesday, January 13

Today’s Horoscope: Expect the unexpected.

The grey and gloomy weather continues to dictate the mood at school and at home.
As for me, I am in total boredom land.
No cute boys to crush on, Christmas is over, and January movies totally suck.
There is absolutely nothing to do.
Out of sheer boredom
,
I decide to take on some extra credit assignments in my classes.
I am turning into a total nerd.
Ew
.

Apparently, Riley and Winston are totally into each other. She and I are speaking but we never discuss their relationship.
I am not sure she even talks much about it with the other girls because they haven’t
told me anything either.
Monday morning a rumor spread about her and Winston making out behind the movie theater.
I heard they even went to second base.
Gross.
I feel kind of bad for her because all the boys at school are giving her a really hard time.
Apparently they posted words like “slut” on her
Facebook
page, and sent a text around to everyone with her bra size.
Even though I am not her biggest fan right now, I still feel like those things are totally
uncool
.

Rowan came over after school on Wednesday.

“Do you think Riley really let Winston feel her up?”
she asks me as we walk home.
Rowan is a little naïve and I think the idea of middle
schoolers
going to second base is more than she can handle, although according to stuff that I have seen on TV, middle
schoolers
are doing much worse.

“I don’t know,” I am so curious if any of it was true, but none of us dare to ask Riley.

“I guess it’s okay if they are in love,”
I continue.

“I heard that he doesn’t even call or text her, that it is always Riley that calls him,”
Rowan says.

I think it through, I have seen
He’s Just Not That Into You
like five times and knew that wasn’t a good sign.
“Hmm.
That’s not good,” I say.

“No,” Rowan agrees.

When Rowan’s mom comes to pick her up
,
I walk her to the porch.
I wave as they drive away.
I pull the mail out of the mailbox.
I am waiting on a new Meg Cabot book that I have ordered from Amazon.
It hasn’t arrived yet.
I flip through the mail.
There is a plain white
envelope addressed to me with an emblem of
Havenhurst
School.
A letter?
I haven’t received a hand written letter since we had a pen-pal assignment in third grade.

I drop the rest of the mail on the dining room table and run up to my room.
I shut the door, sit down on my bed, and tear the letter open.

Dear Leah,

I realize we don’t know each other well but I think you have the wrong impression of me.
The reason I am at
Havenhurst
is because last year I got caught with a bag of pot.
It wasn’t even mine, it was Winston’s.
We were hanging out after school and the Vice Principal saw us and searched our bags.
I said Winston’s bag was mine because I know that his dad is a real asshole and that he would get in really bad trouble if his dad found out.
Anyway, I took the heat and got kicked out of school.
My parents decided to ship me off to
Havenhurst
.
I didn’t mind so much because things at home weren’t so great either.
I would rather be here than there, if you know what I mean.

As for Alex and Dylan, you were there at the movie theater when she said she didn’t like him.
Now I understand that she made that up, but I knew how much he liked her and didn’t want to see him hurt.
He is a pretty cool guy.
So I set him up with a girl I know up in Tahoe.
I don’t think they even did anything.

And as for Winston and my sister, I know
first hand
that he is a total player and treats girls like crap, I overheard him at a party bragging about how he made out with two girls in one night. I just didn’t want to see my sister involved with someone like that.

I am sorry that I asked you out.
I realize now you don’t have any feelings for me.
Maybe I will see you around sometime.

Ralph

My stomach drops just like on The Edge at Magic Mountain.
Can all this be true?
Is Ralph actually a totally cool guy and I have fully blown my chance with him?
I am nauseous and need to sit down. Wait, I am sitting.
Maybe I should lie down.
As soon as I lay down on my bed I feel the tears start to come.
I know I have made a huge mistake.

I have been sobbing for about ten minutes when my mother knocks on the door.
She sees me lying on my bed,
the balled up letter in my hand,
and
the envelope discarded on the floor.

“Leah, what is going on?” she asks.

“I had him all wrong,” I say between sobs.

“What are you talking about?
Who is that letter from?”