True Colors (13 page)

On Friday, Devon asked me to go ice skating with her and India and Peyton. I was nervous because I had never figure skated before, but I thought it couldn't be too much harder than roller skating.

“Are you any good?” I asked.

“Don't laugh, but one time I slid across the ice and knocked an old couple over,” she said. “They were super nice about it, but I felt so stupid.”

I told Mom I was going to the ice rink, and she freaked out.

“Are you crazy? You've never even been on ice skates,” she said.

“Devon said she's not good, and I'm sure I'll be okay,” I said.

“I could barely stand up my first time. Both my ankles caved in, and I fell three times and once
while
I was holding onto a tree,” she said.

“Dad used to play hockey in high school. Maybe I inherited his talent.”

“Your dad started skating when he was five. Five-year-olds aren't afraid of falling on their rears. Call her and tell her you can't go. You'll break something,” she said. “Or you'll get bruised or something and you won't be able to model.”

I decided to tell Devon I couldn't go when I got to the bus stop, but she got a ride from her mom. Then I tried telling her at lunch, but she swore I'd be fine. In social studies, I told Peyton and India I had never skated before and was worried about making a fool of myself.

“We can teach you how. It'll be fun,” Peyton said.

“Can you skate?” I asked India.

“I'm so bad. I spend most of the time on my butt,” India said. So I said I'd go.

India's mom picked me up at four o'clock, and I got a bad feeling when I got into the van and saw both Peyton and India had brought their own ice skates. People who never skate don't own their own ice skates. Devon told me not to worry because she was going to rent skates, too.

We got to the rink and I realized I had only brought one pair of socks and the other girls had two pairs on. My rental skates had some weird metal thingies on them. I didn't know what to do with them so Peyton laced them up for me. I went to stand up and my right ankle caved in. I could walk on the carpet, but I slid when I hit a wet area. Being on blades and having the loss of control over my balance was the most horrible feeling in the world… and I hadn't even made it to the ice yet. I got on the ice and my feet went in different directions. I grabbed the rail with both hands.

Devon skated out to the middle of the ice while I was desperately trying to get my feet under control. Devon said I could hold onto her arm, and she'd take me around the rink. India skated in front of us, and Miss I'll-be-on-my-butt-the-whole-time skated backward and did little spins on the ice. I felt myself tipping backward, and Devon told me to lean forward and I almost pulled her arm off. Then my feet shot out from under me, and I landed on my butt. My legs were twisted under me, and I couldn't get to my feet. Peyton and Devon tried to help me up, but I had to crawl to the side of the rink to pull myself up. How embarrassing.

“Are you okay?” Peyton asked. My ankles were aching, but I said I was fine. She helped me off the ice and bought me a hot chocolate. I told her she could go back on the ice, but she waited until India came off the ice. I thought India was going to sit with me, but she went to buy a snack and left me alone.

After a while, Peyton convinced me to try skating again. She swore she wouldn't let me fall. Devon had said the same thing and I had landed on my butt, but I went out anyway. I didn't think Peyton would be able to support me because she was shorter than me, but she put her arm behind my back so I didn't have to worry about falling backward. My feet glided along, and she showed me how to push off on the ice. Devon said I should try it on my own, but I threatened Peyton not to let go. India came back out, and for someone who was “so bad” at skating, she seemed to be doing pretty well. She hadn't fallen once. I couldn't completely let go and skate the way she could. I was too afraid of falling again and having to crawl off the ice.

When I got home I limped over to the computer and hoped my mom wouldn't ask too many questions. I was on my social media page, and I decided to look up Tori's page. I was shocked when I saw Ericka's picture in her “friends” section. Her parents finally let her have one. Tori hadn't unfriended me, but she listed Ericka as “her sister,” in the family members section. I read three of Tori's blog posts, and they were all about soccer or doing stuff with Ericka. It was like I never existed. Devon didn't have a page because her mom said, “Social media is the devil,” but I knew Peyton did, so I looked up her page. I decided to send her a friend request.

****

The next morning my right leg felt like it had been wound up. I walked like a doll who had her leg popped in wrong. My mom, with her cat-like alertness, had to make a big deal out of it.

“I told you you'd hurt yourself,” she said as I limped over to get the cereal.

“I'll be fine. It just has to… pop back into its socket,” I said.

Devon called and asked if I wanted to go to the mall this afternoon. Walking around a big mall wasn't the smartest thing I could do, but I wanted to go.

“We'll pick you up at one. What are you going to wear?” she asked.

“Probably my new jeans and yellow sweater.”

“Why don't you wear your green shirt and the jean skirt you wore on ‘jeans day,'” she said. “It's kind of like mine.”

We only have one day a year when everybody is allowed to wear jeans, but this year my only clean pair had a hole in the butt so I wore a jean skirt instead. Thalia told me Ericka said I was trying to get Kyle to notice me by wearing a skirt. I tried to ignore it, but why couldn't Ericka leave me alone?

I told Devon I'd put on a skirt, but I felt weird wearing one just to go to the mall. Ashanti wore skirts a lot, but she was shorter and super pretty so she looked good in them. I felt like a toothpick wearing a rubber band when I wore one. Devon had on a short denim skirt with a black fuzzy sweater under her coat. She looked great while I looked like her freakishly tall friend.

Devon said we should get a locker for our coats. I thought we could just carry them, but I went along with it and dug some quarters out of my purse. She pulled me into a toy store and whispered there were two boys watching us. I started to turn, but she grabbed my arm.

“Don't look,” she said. “I wonder if they're going to come in here.”

She finally let me turn around, and I saw the guys standing outside of the toy store. They were both short, but it wasn't like they were interested in me anyway. The two guys walked away, and Devon wondered where they were going. I figured they either went to play video games or eat, but I didn't want to find them and have to sit there while they flirted with her. We went to a jewelry store, and she went up to the case to look at the more expensive stuff. She pulled back her hair to try on a gold necklace. A piece of her hair got caught in the clasp. I was surprised at how different her curly hair felt from mine when I pulled her hair out.

“Look, best friend bracelets. My cousin has one of these,” she said.

I had always wanted to get best friend necklaces, but Tori thought they were stupid and a waste of money, so we bought matching school supplies instead. Yasmin and Arianna had best friend necklaces, but all I had was a stupid binder with fish on it.

“Do you want to get them? The bracelets are twenty-five dollars, but if we split the price of the charm…” She looked at me. Devon Abrams with the perfect hair, who all the boys liked, and was way more popular than I could ever dream of being, wanted to get best friend bracelets with me? I had enough money to buy the charm, but not enough to get the bracelet. The lady behind the counter said the silver charms and bracelets were cheaper, so Devon picked up a silver one.

“The silver matches your other bracelet,” the woman said, pointing to the bracelet my dad had given me. We paid for them, and she put the little silver heart charms on the bracelets. Devon took the “best” half and I got the “friend” side. We walked around the mall, and I kept looking at my wrist in every mirror we passed. I couldn't wait to wear it in front of Ericka, but I wondered what Tori would think when she saw it.

“Let's go to the drugstore and look at the makeup,” Devon said.

We went to the cosmetics aisle, and she started to look at the nail polish. I hadn't worn nail polish since I was little and my grandma had given me peel-off nail polish. Devon picked up a bottle of bright red polish.

“I bought this last week. You should get this color,” she said. I took the bottle from her, and she led me over to a display. “I love their gloss. This one's my favorite,” she said handing me a purple tube.

We went to the music department and decided to split the cost of a Crazytones CD. I didn't know much about the band, but I gave her some money. I wanted to get a slice of pizza for lunch, but I only had enough money left for a hamburger and then I had to ask for a cup of water because I couldn't afford a drink. Devon got extra ketchup so we could share her fries. I started to head toward a booth in the back when she said she wanted to sit in the middle of the food court. She sat down near three guys who had been checking her out in line. One of them tossed a straw wrapper on our table, and she rolled her eyes. Then one of the guys leaned over and started talking to her.

A lump formed in my throat and I could barely swallow the piece of fry in my mouth, but she was relaxed and joked around with them. The red-haired guy said his name was Doug, and the other two were Jeremy and Cristian. Cristian was the cutest. He had big brown eyes and seemed sweet. I wanted to take a drink of water to push the fry down my throat, but I was afraid I'd start choking and spit water all over him.

“What school do you go to?” Cristian asked.

“Hillcrest Academy,” she said.

“Pretty good school,” he said.

“Yeah, but your football team sucks,” Doug said. “All private schools have crappy teams.”

Devon laughed like this was the funniest thing she had ever heard. We found out the guys went to Gregory Baker High School and were in the tenth grade.

“Hey, do you talk at all?” Jeremy asked looking at me. My face got warm, and Devon told him not to be a jerk. Cristian elbowed him and said he wasn't interesting enough for me to talk to, so Doug changed the subject.

“Do you guys ever go to the basketball games at the public high school?” Doug asked. His brother was on the varsity team, and he said we should meet up at a game. Devon and Doug exchanged phone numbers before the guys left.

“We've gotta go to a game,” she said.

“When are they?” I asked.

“I have no idea, but I bet it's listed in the stupid community schools calendar,” she said.

Oh yes, the dreaded school calendar which came in the middle of August to remind you the summer was ending and school was about to begin. It always ruined the rest of August for me

I showed my mom the bracelet when I got home. I put my new gloss on, but it was kind of dark on me since my skin was lighter than Devon's. I thought it looked okay, but Mom said the color wasn't quite right for me so I put a little lip balm over it. I started to worry about what Tori would say when she saw my bracelet, but I figured she wouldn't notice it if I wore it under my sleeve. I painted my nails with the red polish, but the color made my hands look pale. Red looked a lot better on Devon than it did on me. Before I went to bed I checked my social media page to see if Peyton had added me to her page, but there were no new messages or adds.

I was running late on Monday morning and forgot to put on my bracelet. Of course, Devon noticed at the bus stop.

“Where's your bracelet?” she asked. She said she had slept with hers on, and I told her I woke up late and barely made it to the bus stop. Tori looked surprised when Devon mentioned it. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it because I was still hoping Tori and I could be friends again.

“Landry, I like your headband,” Peyton said as I got on the bus.

“At least you remembered to put it on,” Devon said.

“I'm sorry. I'll wear it tomorrow — promise. I wore the lip gloss and polish though,” I said. India didn't look up from her book.

I was at my locker after first hour when Ericka called my name from across the hall. I thought it was a trick and I ignored her, but after the third time, I had to look up.

“Did you read the stuff for English class?” she asked. I nodded. “Kharrazi was mad nobody in our class read, and she gave us a pop quiz.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks,” I said. What was going on? Was she trying to be nice to me now? She even walked out with me when class ended. Um, what's going on? Suddenly everything's all happy between us? She never stayed mad at Tori for as long as she had been mad at me. Of course, no one ever got mad at Ericka. Well, Tori and I had been, but we never did anything about it. I walked to my locker, and Tori came over and asked me to sit with her at lunch.

“We haven't talked in a long time,” she said. “I don't even remember why we stopped talking in the first place.”

Funny, I sure remembered. Tori asked me about the bracelet, and I tried to act like it wasn't a big deal. She asked if Devon was my “new best friend.” I said they were both my friends. I had gone from having no friends to having two best friends. I felt like asking Tori what kind of “friend” turns on her best friend, but I didn't. In science class, I told Devon that Ericka and Tori had started talking to me again. She got quiet and then asked if I was friends with them again. I shrugged.

“I figured you'd go running back to them,” she said. “So I guess you'll be eating lunch with them from now on.”

“I was planning on eating lunch with you and Hana—”

“Wouldn't want to keep you from your best friend,” she said slamming her science book on the desk. Mrs. Tamar came in and passed out our homework. I tried to get Devon's attention by poking her book with my pen. I flipped her page, and she put it back. Then I shut her book, and she snapped it back open.

“Devon, why are you—”

“Landry? Are you having too much fun back there?” Mrs. Tamar asked.

I pretended to take notes off the board, and Devon didn't look at me for the rest of the hour. I thought she would be happy for me since she knew how upset I had been when Ericka and Tori were mad at me. We had “B” lunch today and I got up slowly to see what she would do when the bell rang, but she headed for the lunchroom and never looked back. I decided to skip lunch and started to walk to the library when Tori yelled to me she'd save me a seat in the cafeteria.

“Okay, I just have to get my coat,” I said.

I went over to our old table where Ericka was sitting with her lunch spread out. Ericka always brought the same lunch: a bologna and mustard sandwich with the crusts cut off, a baggie full of carrot sticks, and cookies wrapped in tinfoil.

“Hi Landry. I love your jacket,” Ericka said.

“Thanks.” I held back the urge to say, “What? This ugly rag?” I dropped my coat off, and Tori let me cut in front of her in line. I hadn't taken cuts in forever. I got the last piece of pizza, and Tori got stuck with the cream of broccoli soup. I waved to Maggie and Halle just to show them I had people to eat lunch with now.

“Ew, you got the soup,” Ericka said wrinkling up her ski jump nose at Tori's lunch.

“Landry, wanna trade?” Tori asked.

Normally, I would have offered to switch, but I hated the grease on top of the cream.

“There might be some peanut butter sandwiches left in the cold lunch line,” I said.

“It looks like someone threw up milk and broccoli,” Ericka said. She made a wall with her lunch bag so she wouldn't have to look at Tori's bowl. Ericka's mom always made her lunch. Ericka started talking about Thanksgiving plans and precious little Isabella while I zoned out. Then she got up to throw her lunch away. Tori was still eating, but she dumped her soup when Ericka started making gagging noises. I was done eating, but I sat there and drank all my juice and picked at my pizza crust. We went out to the courtyard to sit when I was ready. Devon was sitting outside on the parking barrier with Hana and some other girls. I said I'd be right back and walked over to Devon.

“Hey,” I said. She looked up at me.

“What'd they say to you?” she asked.

I shrugged and she rolled her eyes.

“All I heard was how mean they were to you and then you ran right back. They treated you like crap and now they're sick of each other—”

“It's not like I'm over it, but it's not easy to ignore somebody in such a small school,” I said. I couldn't believe she was getting mad at me for making up with my old friends.

“They had no problem doing it to you,” she said getting up. “I think your friends are waiting for you.” I walked back over to Ericka and Tori and it seemed like the courtyard was bigger than ever.

In social studies, Peyton started to tell me about the pop quiz in French when Ericka called me over. Peyton's eyebrows shot up.

“You guys made up?” she asked.

“I guess,” I said.

“Landry, come sit over here,” Ericka waved me over. I told her I had to talk to Peyton about something. Mrs. Hearst had us work on the chapter questions and Ericka tried to get me to work in their group, but I pretended I was too lazy to get up and move. India and Peyton didn't say anything, and I asked if they wanted to do something this weekend. I almost asked if they wanted to come over, but I figured I'd just make Ericka and Tori mad again if I had people over and didn't invite them.

“Maybe we could do movie marathon at my house,” Peyton said.

“Can't. I have to help clean the house for my grandparents this weekend,” India said.

“Who invited you?” I said. I smiled to show I was kidding, but she didn't say anything. Peyton walked me to class and told me about the extra credit question on the pop quiz.

“We had to write a recipe in French, and I put eggs in the fruit salad. I shoulda gotten half credit for even remembering how to spell the word for ‘eggs.' Tori would have argued—” She stopped. “I better shut up since you guys are friends again. Oh, by the way, I got your friend request and added you this morning. I'm never on there much. .”

I relaxed. After class, Ashanti was waiting by my locker.

“Welcome back,” I said, giving her a hug. “Why didn't you tell me you were coming back today?”

“I wasn't sure last night, but I felt a lot better this morning. Listen, I have to stay after to talk to Mrs. Tamar, but do you want a ride home?” she asked.