Landry in Like (21 page)

O
n 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.”

“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.

I knew they meant well, but all I wanted to do was call Mr. Allen and have him swoop down and save me. However, I realized that wouldn't be handling the problem. I'd just be putting it off until another day. No, Vladi had a new girlfriend, and I was just going to have to find a way to move on and hope that someday he'd realize he had been wrong about me and Kyle.

“You're not going to believe this,” Halle said. “Yasmin is dancing with Kyle right in front of Vladi trying to get his attention.”

“I will never understand those people as long as I live,” Thalia said.

“Stuart is coming over here right now,” Halle said, smoothing back her long black hair. “I think he's going to ask me to dance.”

“Ew,” Thalia said and everyone stared at her. “Oh, sorry, I just… no, I stand by my ‘ew.'”

Peyton started to laugh as Halle walked over to Stuart and they went off to dance.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Ashanti asked me.

I nodded and we went over to the corner.

“We need to talk about what went on the other day — before I had to let you go because Halle came over,” she said. “At first, I didn't know if I should bring it up, but it's been bothering me.”

Oh no, was this when she was going to tell me she felt she was outgrowing me? My stomach rolled.

“You acted like I didn't have your back in any of this, and it hurt me a lot,” she said.

“I—I wasn't sure you did. I saw you spending so much time with those girls, and I felt left out.”

“I was trying to help you the whole time.”

“It's just that I know everything is going to change next year once you're officially with the cheer squad. And you love coming to this place, and it's not my scene at all. You're so much more outgoing than me, and I know you're meeting all these cool, popular people who you have more in common with.”

“Landry, just because we like different things doesn't mean we can't still be friends. You're my best friend. Sure, I like hanging out with Halle and Maggie. I've been friends with them since we were ten years old and we're close, but I can't talk to them like I can talk to you. And you were there for me when my grandma passed away. You supported me during cheer tryouts, and you always have my back. I trust you more than anyone else in the universe,” she said. “I admit I sometimes get a little jealous of how close you and Peyton are, but I know what we have is something a lot of people never get — true friendship.”

My eyes filled with tears again, but for a different reason. “I just — I missed you.”

“Me, too,” she said giving me a hug. “I hate to say this, but I was kind of jealous when you were telling me you were spending another weekend with Peyton. I wanted to invite you to hang out with us, but I know you hated that kind of thing and you wouldn't want to be around Yasmin.”

“Wait, you wanted me to come along?”

“Of course, but I know this club thing is not your scene, so I figured you'd be uncomfortable.”

“I just thought you moved on,” I said.

“Nope, but now we have to figure out how to get Vladi alone.”

I shook my head. “Nah, he's with someone new now. I have to accept it.”

She raised her eyebrows at me. “Only because he thinks you like somebody else.”

Devon came over then. “Guys, Kendall and Liv are here. Why don't you see what Kendall knows about this new girl Vladi's with?” she said.

We walked over and Kendall gave me a hug.

“India just told me everything. Why didn't you email me? I thought it was super weird Vladi told me all this stuff and then I didn't hear from you,” she said. “I sent you a text and never heard back.”

I told her I never got her text but didn't know how to say that even though she was super sweet, I still found it intimidating to text or email a high school girl first.

“So nothing happened with this Kyle guy?” she asked. “Because a lot of people said he had his arm around you in a picture.”

“He did but for a dumb reason. I'm not into him.”

She nodded. “Well, that's not Vladi's girlfriend. This is their first date. She's in Steve's math class and she's older than Vladi.”

Terrific, an older woman.

“They're both athletic. She plays volleyball and is on the golf team. She's outgoing, oh, and she's Russian, too, but second generation.”

“So she's his dream girl and I should give up now?” I asked.

“He doesn't light up when he talks about her,” Kendall said. “Even my stupid brother said that, and he doesn't notice anything. Seriously, my mom dyed her hair blond, and it was two days before it registered with him. Clueless.”

I started to ask her if she could talk to Vladi for me when Kyle and Yasmin walked over to us.

“Hey guys,” he said. “Nice sweater, Thalia. Does your grandma know you borrowed it? Just kidding.”

He flashed a smile, but Thalia's eyes were watery like she wanted to cry.

“I like her sweater,” I said. “Do you have a problem with it?”

“I said I was kidding,” he said. “No worries.

“Don't get all worked up there, supermodel,” Yasmine said, rolling her eyes.

I had had enough of her attitude. “Well, I think it's important to be careful with what you say so lies and rumors don't get started,” I said, glaring at her.

“Huh?” Kyle asked, confused. “What does that have to do with an ugly sweater?”

“It's not ugly,” Ashanti said. “And this doesn't concern you, Kyle.”

Yasmin was staring me down now. “I just call things like I see them.”

“Right, you don't embellish anything.”

“No, I don't,” she said.

“So explain to me why everyone thinks I've been flirting with Kyle when I know you're the one telling people that.”

She glared at me. “Who told you that?”

“It doesn't matter,” I said not wanting to rat Halle out.

Yasmin stared at me. “Whatever. I'm bored. Let's go,” she said to Kyle. They walked away, and I was about to check on Thalia when I saw Vladi standing there.

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

I had so much I wanted to say, but nothing would come out. Instead, I just nodded.

Ashanti elbowed Halle.

“We were just calling Yasmin out for…” Halle cleared her throat. “Making some stuff seem like a bigger deal than it was.”

Vladi stared at all of us and then his date walked up.

“There you are. I wondered where you went,” she said, putting her hand on his arm. “Come on. They're playing my favorite song.”

“In a minute. Can you give me a second with my friends?” he asked her. She walked away looking over her shoulder.

Halle glanced over at Vladi. “I guess I should have said something a long time ago when Yasmin was saying all that stuff about Kyle and Landry.”

Vladi put his hand up. “I know Landry's not into Kyle,” he said.

“You do? Then why did you block my calls?” I asked.

“Because I just now realized it.”

“So someone else had to tell you she was on the up and up for you to believe her?” Ashanti asked.

“No, I realized it now when she stood up for Thalia. Landry told me she would never like somebody who would be mean to her friend. At the time, I didn't know if she was telling the truth or if she was just caught up with the attention from him, but there's no way she would like some guy that was that much of a jerk.”

“Are you still mad at me? Can we talk alone for a minute?” I asked.

“I'm with somebody right now. I gotta go,” he said and headed back to his date.

My heart felt like someone kicked it. I felt Ashanti's arm around me.

“Landry, I'm so sorry,” Halle said. “I wish I had spoken up sooner. It's just not that easy to stand up to Yasmin.”

I couldn't speak. Jay came up then to ask Ashanti to dance.

“Thanks, but I think we're going to call it a night,” she said. “Landry isn't feeling well.”

“It's okay,” I said. “I can call India's dad to pick me up. You stay.”

“No way,” she said.

We walked over to the girls, and Peyton took one look at my face and gave me a hug.

“What happened?” India asked.

I told them the whole story, and I could see pity in their eyes. They knew what I already felt — that it was too late for Vladi and me.

“At least he knows the truth now,” Devon said.

I called Mr. Allen, and he said he was waiting across the street.

“Do you want me to come, too?” Peyton asked.

I shook my head. “Nah, I just want to be alone and cry and maybe eat cookie dough.”

They walked us to the door, and I felt a little weird when Halle gave Ashanti a hug. Peyton told me to call her tomorrow and I nodded.

Mr. Allen was waiting by the curb. “You can go back inside,” I said to Ashanti. “I know you want to dance with Jay.”

“Forget him. Do you seriously want to be alone or can I come over for a bit, so we can talk?” she asked. “Would your mom be okay with that?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I don't want to be by myself right now.” I texted Mom and asked if Ashanti could come over.

Mom:
Of course.

Mr. Allen dropped us off and we went inside.