Landry in Like (5 page)

I
woke
up on Saturday morning to a phone call from Peyton. She was supposed to come over for a movie night, but she said she had a sore throat and her mom wanted her to stay home.

“I hope you feel better,” I said.

“Thanks. Last time my mom made me miss a sleepover for feeling sick, India didn't talk to me for three days. Like it was my fault I got sick.”

I wanted to tell her how India and Devon had expected me to be grateful for them not getting mad at me, but it wasn't right to go behind their backs. Oh well, guess I was on my own for the night, but I had this month's latest
Skylar Halston
mystery novel to finish. Plus, there was a movie marathon of Blake Alderson films tonight and I could always watch that even if I wasn't as crazy about him as Devon was. A night at home might be okay after all. Kind of fun to get to do everything I wanted to do and just relax.

I made some popcorn and sat down to watch the first movie when I got a text from Vladi asking what I was doing. I texted back what Blake movie I was going to watch.

Vladi:
No way! Steve and I are going to watch the same thing. Wish you were here with us.

My face got warm. I imagined myself sitting on a couch watching movies with Vladi. I just couldn't believe he was my boyfriend.

Vladi:
I know your mom might be weird about you coming over to hang out with us, but maybe someday you and Kendall could hang out and Steve and I could be there, too. What do you think?

What did I think? Well, my mind liked that idea, but my stomach felt like the butterflies just drank a gallon of soda mixed with those fizzy candies. The
thought
of going out on an actual date with Vladi was like a dream, but the reality of it was a little scary. What if I did something wrong or — worse — stupid? I could ruin everything. Right now we only got to talk a little here and there, but on a real date? He might realize I wasn't so great after all and not want to see me anymore. Plus, Kendall was a high school girl and he might see how much of a kid I was compared to her. She was sophisticated, pretty, and older, and I was just an eighth grader. After all, he had broken up with me once before because his friends told him I was too immature for him. Our age difference was just one year, but sometimes it felt like middle school and high school were two different worlds even if both he and Kendall said they weren't.

I wrote back that could be fun. I thought that sounded vague… mysterious. Yes, so mature.

Vladi:
So, yes, then? If you feel weird about coming here, we could always meet up at the movies or something. The mall's been weird about teens hanging out in groups there lately, but the theater's still cool with it.

On the plus side, we wouldn't be talking in the theater so there were less chances of me saying something dumb, but then there was the whole fact people held hands in movie theaters and India's cousin, Valine, kissed guys when she went to movies. Is that why Vladi had suggested it, or did he just want to hang out and watch a show together?

Landry:
I'll have to see. My mom kind of sees through everything, so not sure.

Vladi:
What if you told her you were going with Kendall and that Steve and I would be there, too? That way it's not being shady, but you're still letting her know you're there with Kendall and not on a date. Be completely honest about it. She's met me already and maybe she'd be cool with it.

It was so thoughtful that he wanted to be open about it and not have me lie to my mom. I knew Kyle and Yasmin used to pretend they were going with friends and actually they would go and meet each other instead. Kyle would tell us in math how he'd make up some crazy backstories for them. Kinda sweet that Vladi wasn't like that and didn't want to lie. However, I'm not sure that would win brownie points with my mother. She'd say, “But you're supposed to be truthful. How does that make him a better person? And you're only fourteen. No dates, ever!”

And then ground me until I was thirty.

I wrote him back that I'd ask her. He sent back a smiley face.

Vladi:
Kendall said she already had plans for next weekend, but she wants to hang out so she'll email you. Can't wait.

He added two more smiley faces and I could feel a dopey smile spread across my face.

“What's with you? Are you smiling and up to something or constipated? I can't tell from here,” my unromantic mother asked, peering into the living room.

“Nothing. Just got a text from Vladi.”

“What did Mr. Wonderful want?” she asked.

Tell her now and risk her shooting down the idea or take a chance? Hmm.

“He said his friend's sister likes me,” I said.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, that Kendall girl I met at the mall is his friend's sister. I almost fainted when I found that out. But she told me Vladi talks about me a lot.”

“Wait, that day you met her at the mall… was Vladi there, too?” she asked narrowing her eyes.

“Nope, she and I just met to go shopping, but he wondered if you'd be cool with us all going to the movies together sometime.”

“Like a date?”

Leave it to my mother to get all technical about it and need to label it.

“Is that what it would be? I guess you could call it that. I was just thinking it would be four friends at the movies together.”

“Landry Lilyanne Albright, neither one of us is that dumb,” she said. “I don't know. You're awfully young for that. I always thought sixteen would be the age I'd let you date.”

“But to me a date is the guy coming to pick you up in his car and going on some romantic dinner thing. This would not be that at all and you know him. He's a nice guy. You said that yourself, Mom.”

She was twisting a piece of her straight blond hair, which was what she always did when she was unsure about something.

“That's true, but he's a ninth grader and you are just in middle school,” she said.

“But a lot of my friends go out with guys. Well, some do, and Vladi wanted me to ask you directly and not just meet up all shady-like and pretend we're just hanging out with friends.”

“I don't know. I have to think about it.”

“Ashanti's parents let her have Jay over to study and stuff, and they watch TV together afterward,” I said.

“Yes, but they're right there in the house with them.”

“So can Vladi come over then?”

Mom sighed. “Let me think it over. I have to talk to your father about this.”

“He'll say no. You know he will. He gets so uber-protective since he's not here all the time because of his work.”

I hated the fact my dad still hadn't found a job at a hospital in town and was living back in Chicago in our old apartment. He kept looking for something in Grand Rapids, but so far he hadn't found a position in the same pay range.

“You're right. Your father won't be receptive to this. He'll just see you as his precious baby girl, and he doesn't know Vladi at all. Dad will see him as this teenager trying to kidnap his angel,” she said. “I will think about it and we'll see. I'm not saying no, but I'm not on board with this just yet.”

I texted Vladi that my mom was thinking about it.

Vladi: :
Cool. If she's not okay with the movie thing, maybe we could meet at the library or something. Just so we could see each other since we don't get to at games anymore.

I asked him when the high school was doing their next movie night, and he said he didn't know. Then he wrote he had to go because Steve was annoyed he was texting me and not watching the movie.

Did Vladi not want to go to movie night at the high school with me for some reason? Did he have another girlfriend and us going to movie night would mean running into her? Was he embarrassed of me? I got up and went to search the high school's activity schedule and didn't see movie night listed so I went on their forum page and searched for it. I saw the school hadn't scheduled any more film nights for the school year, but they hoped to show one this spring. Okay, so maybe he wasn't lying about that to hide his secret girlfriend. Whew!

I came back into the room where I had my movie on pause. Mom was now reading on the couch.

“Do you want a soda or anything while I'm up?” I asked.

“Yeah, an iced tea would be great,” she said.

I went to the fridge and there was one bottle left, so I grabbed a mango juice for myself.

“Here. This is the last tea. I was saving it for myself, but you deserve it,” I said.

She burst out laughing. “Wow, your generosity makes me feel you're mature enough to go out with Vladi.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatevs.”

“Kid, you crack me up.”

“Grandma Albright sent me an email saying she thought I handled myself well in the interview. She said her gentleman friend thought so, too,” I said.

My mother spat out her ice tea.

“Mom! Gross,” I said, getting a paper towel.

“I'm sorry, but repeat what she wrote word-for-word,” Mom said, blotting her shirt.

I repeated it and Mom grabbed her phone and starting texting.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I'm asking if your father knew his mother is now dating.”

“What? What are you talking about? Grandma said he was a friend.”

“That's your grandma's way of saying, ‘boyfriend,'” she said as her phone buzzed. “Your dad is in shock. He said she mentioned going to the movies with a friend from the club, and he just assumed she meant a female one.”

“Grandma goes to clubs?”

“Country clubs, not the kind you're thinking of with music and dancing,” Mom said. “I cannot believe this. Your grandmother is seeing someone. Your dad says you have to ask her about him. She'll never tell your father and me a thing.”

No way. If Grandma hadn't told my parents then she had a reason. Yeah, I was sorta thrown by the idea of her with someone other than my grandpa, but he had passed away when I was a kid, so why shouldn't she have someone new in her life?

“Nope, you do your own dirty work,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Landry, we're concerned about her. She hasn't dated in a long time, and we want to make sure everything is okay.”

“When she wants you to know something, she will tell you herself,” I said.

I knew what it was like to have people interfere with a relationship — like Vladi's friends did when they started telling him I was too young for him. Sure, he was fifteen and I was fourteen, but I was just a few months younger. All their meddling had broken us up until he came over the night they aired the
American Ingénue
webisode — the night of our first kiss. He told me he never should have listened to his stupid friends, apologized, and asked for another chance. I said, “Yes,” because I could tell he meant it. And when I told him what happened with that girl lying and trying to ruin Kyra's chances at the modeling contest, he said he liked how honest I was and how I did the right thing even though I had no clue it would result in me getting an ad with my two favorite models.

“Fine, Landry, but if Grandma's new boyfriend turns out to be some money embezzling jerk…”

“Mo-om, Grandma will be fine. I hope Dad doesn't embarrass her.”

Mom nodded. “Just think, if Grandma lived in town, I'd let you guys go on a double date together.”

I gave her a look and she burst out laughing. Mothers.

T
he next morning
I woke up when the phone rang. I heard Mom outside my door saying, “I'm so sorry. I'll get her right now.”

She walked in and told me Mr. Russell wanted to speak with me because Ashanti's grandmother had died. Oh no, poor Ashanti.

“Hello?”

“Landry? It's Ashanti's dad. She doesn't feel up to talking to anyone right now, but she wanted me to call and tell you that her grandmother passed away. She won't be in school tomorrow, but she'll call you soon.”

“I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do? I can bring over her homework.”

“Thank you. It would be great if you could collect her assignments.”

I hung up the phone and my eyes started to water.

“Hon, you okay?” Mom asked.

“Ashanti was supposed to go see her grandma on Saturday, but she went to a cheerleading thing instead. She's going to feel so guilty — I just know it. I wish there was something I could do to make her feel better.”

“Well, just be a good friend to her. And listening will help, too.”

I shrugged.

“People send flowers and drop off casseroles and things like that. Do you want to think of something we could take over to the Russells?” she asked.

“Flowers might be weird, but maybe like a card or something.”

We drove over to this big supermarket in town that has everything.

“Ooh, they have kiwi flavored lip gloss. Ashanti loves kiwi stuff. Maybe I could get this with the card.”

“We could buy some kiwi to take over there when we bring them dinner as well,” Mom said.

I shook my head. Ashanti hated the actual fruit.

“But you said—”

“She likes fake kiwi flavoring, not the real kind. She thinks the actual fruit is too hairy and disgusting with all those little seed thingies in them.”

“O-kaaay.”

“It's like how fake banana flavor tastes nothing like real bananas,” I said.

“Gotcha. I seem to remember a certain little someone who used to love banana flavored taffy, yet almost threw up from the mere mention of it at the
American Ingénue
competition.”

Yeah, that was a memory I wanted to cherish forever — me barfing two minutes before I had to go on live TV and then making a fool of myself. Fortunately for me, I hadn't thrown up on camera or else that video would probably have been online everywhere as, “Stupid Girl Pukes on Stage.” However, I still managed to embarrass myself by saying I was from the wrong city. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't decided to go back and correct myself and crashed into the next contestant and hit the microphone so it made that screeching sound. Beyond embarrassing. And people laughed just like they did that time when I was a little kid and my mom forgot to stick my scarves in my dance recital tutu. I remember standing up on stage while all the other girls pulled out the scarves and looking on either side of my tutu. Then I remember how I burst into tears and cried, “Mommy,” as I ran off the stage. What was it with me and stages? Why couldn't I control myself in front of a crowd?

“Oh, Mom, they have new nail polishes. Ashanti is on a never ending quest to find the perfect opaque lavender. She's always saying the ones she has are too sheer or gray or whatever. Can I get her one?”

“How much are they?”

Like you could put a price on a gift to cheer up a friend. No wonder my mom had, like, no friends to hang out with on weekends. However, I decided that bringing that up might make Mom less likely to buy anything, so I just checked the price tag.

“Only seven dollars. What a bargain,” I said.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, but I better not see that on those little fingers first,” she said tapping my hand.

How rude. Like I'd try out nail polish before I gave it away. I'd try it out
after
I gave it to Ashanti — with permission, of course. I didn't wear polish much because whenever I attempted to paint my nails, my left hand would come out amazing and my right hand would look like a toddler did it for me. Plus, I didn't have a lot of patience for drying time either. Ashanti said the key was to do it at night and try to be super still with your hands while you slept, but I moved around a lot and would get sheet smears and wind up with it on my pillowcase.

We went to look at cards next, but all the sympathy cards were depressing.

“How about a thinking-of-you card instead?” Mom said.

I found a pretty butterfly card, and it said she was in my thoughts and prayers. I asked Mom if giving Ashanti the lip gloss and nail polish now was weird.

“You know, I was your age when my grandma passed away and it was difficult,” Mom said. “Sometimes just getting a little something from a friend lets you know someone cares and that helps.”

I nodded, but felt a little sick thinking about if anything happened to either of my grandmas. The idea of losing either one of them was awful, and I couldn't imagine how much Ashanti must be hurting right now.

“Okay, before we head over there, we should pick up some food for them,” Mom said. “People usually bring casseroles or things you can stick in the freezer.”

“How about dumplings? Mr. Russell loved the ones from My Lil Foodie Mart.”

“That's a good idea. If they're not hungry, they could reheat those pretty easily.”

We picked up the food and then Mom called Mrs. Russell.

“Landry and I would like to drop off something. We don't want to intrude, so we're not coming inside or anything,” she said.

We got to their house, and Mom said she'd go up to the door alone. Mrs. Russell waved to me from the door and took the bags in. I could see she was trying to get Mom to come in, but my mother hates people coming over uninvited, so she refuses to do that. She says it's just good manners, but I think it's because then people know not to drop by unannounced when our house is a mess and she's in sweatpants.

Mom came back to the car. “Ashanti will call you tonight.”

After dinner, Ashanti called and I went into my bedroom to talk to her.

She got out, “Hi,” and then started sobbing.

“I am the worst person EVER!” she said.

“What? Why? No,” I said.

“I blew off my own grandmother, and for what? Some stupid cheerleading thing that didn't even matter. We just sat on the bleachers and watched those high school girls practice. It was so dumb, and all because I wanted to fit in with those girls and I didn't want Yasmin to get mad at me for not going.”

“But you didn't know it would be your last chance to see your grandma. There's no way you could have. You're not psychic.”

“A decent granddaughter would have just gone to the nursing home to visit,” she said sniffing. “But I'm a horrible person, and horrible people do selfish things and then get punished for them.”

“No, that's so far off. You're not horrible or selfish. If your grandmother had been… more aware and you had asked her if it was okay if you went to your cheerleading thing, I'm sure she would have told you to go and have fun,” I said. “Ashanti, you couldn't have known what was going to happen.”

“I feel like the worst person in the world.”

“You're not.”

“But I let myself get talked into doing something when I knew it wasn't the right thing to do. And, yeah, I wanted to be included with those high school girls. I didn't even care what for. I would have gone and watched them fold their socks if it meant I could hang out with them, but I
knew
I shouldn't go. And you tried to tell me I should spend all the time I could with my grandma.”

“You didn't know that was going to happen. Don't beat yourself up over this,” I said.

“Tomorrow is the visitation at the funeral home. I know this is weird and all, but do you think you could come? If the whole thing weirds you out then just forget it, but… I mean, if you're not, you know… busy or whatever.”

“I'll ask my mom, but I'm sure we can come. Hang on.”

I went to ask and Mom said of course we would go.

“I wish there was something I could say to Ashanti so she wouldn't feel so guilty about not seeing her grandmother that weekend,” I said.

Mom nodded. “Maybe she could write down some things in a letter to her grandmother. Just to get her thoughts out. It might make her feel better.”

I shrugged.