Gilbert and Louis Rule the Universe: First Impressions (13 page)

LeahLouis
:
am
i
a bad friend?

Alex_aka_Gilbert
:
sometimes

LeahLouis
:
im
so sorry

Alex_aka_Gilbert
:
thats
ok

LeahLouis
:
i
promise to make it up to you

Alex_aka_Gilbert
:
:)

LeahLouis
:
bff
?

Alex_aka_Gilbert
:
bff
and ever

Chapter 11

Monday, November 30

Today’s horoscope: Don’t despair; this too shall pass.

When Gilbert and her mom pick me up the next morning I bring an extra toaster strudel for
Gilb
.
I snuck some in my mom’s cart during our last grocery shopping excursion.
Gilbert loves strawberry.
She gives me a big smile and I know things will get back on track.
I ask her about Thanksgiving and listen to her whole answer without interrupting once.
 
She says it was nice to see her grandparents, but she mostly stayed in the house reading because she didn’t much like the cold while her brother and their cousin went
ATVing
.
When we get out of the car and out of her mother’s earshot she tells me that she totally missed Dylan and that they had texted like
every day
.

“That is so awesome,” I say.
“I am totally happy for you.”

“Really?”
Gilb
asks.

“Of course.”

“Thanks.
Lou, I am really glad we aren’t in a fight anymore.
I hate fights.” Gilbert throws her arms around me.

“Me, too,”
I say as I hug her back.

The girls walk up and see us.

“Thank God,”
Maddy
says.
“You two not getting along sucked.”

“Yeah, totally,” Rowan agrees.

Back at school, I am really trying to work on my friend skills, which I can only do during lunch and breaks between classes since I am still grounded.
I am particularly careful with Gilbert to make sure I am a good listener.
I know this sounds lame, but it is definitely a new skill for me.
I even have to slap my hand over my mouth on several occasions so that I don’t interrupt.
Gilbert always laughs, but I think she likes the new dynamic and so she kind of doesn’t shut up.
I have to listen to Gilbert talk on and on about Dylan. She is all worked up because her parents said no boyfriends until high school, so she has to keep Dylan on the down low.
As far as her mom knows they were just partners for the history project.
Parents are so
naïve
.
Gilbert says that she and Dylan haven’t officially declared themselves bf and
gf
, and they haven’t kissed, but that they secretly held hands at the Christmas tree lighting.

I am totally jealous.
Not of her and Dylan.
I don’t like him, but am jealous that:

1. She got to go to the Christmas tree lighting, and

2. She got to hold hands with a boy she likes, who also likes her.

At lunch
Maddy
mentions she needs to go to the art room to hang her project.

“I’ll go with you.
I want to see what you are working on,” I say.

Maddy
looks at me, floored.
“Sure.”

We walk into the art room and
Maddy
goes over to the drawers where the works are drying.
She pulls hers out for me to see.
She has painted a very realistic portrait of a vase of flowers sitting on a table.

“Wow,
Maddy
, that is so good.
It looks so real,” I say.

“You think?”
Maddy
admires it herself while tacking it up to the wall.

“Yeah, totally.
You are really good at art.”
I am not just saying that, she is, like, super talented.

“Want to see some of the other stuff I have done?”
Maddy
asks.

“Sure.”

Maddy
goes back to the file cabinet.
She pulls out a few more pieces.
An abstract self portrait, and a really cool color wheel.

“I am putting a portfolio together for art camp,”
Maddy
says, “and my teacher thinks I should include these pieces.”

“These are awesome,
Maddy
, I am sure you will get in.”

“Really?”
Maddy
beams.
I nod.

“Hey, thanks for coming to look at my stuff.
No one else has ever asked to see it.
That is pretty cool of you.”

I get a warm feeling all in my belly.
It wasn’t such a big deal to come and check out something someone is so interested in; funny that I had never done it before.

I am getting pretty jazzed up about being a better friend and want to do more good deeds.
Riley is next on my list.
Riley comes from a big family, and since I am an only child, I like to play at her house because there are always so many kids around.
Plus, every now and then Riley’s parents will take us all to McDonalds, and I love me a Happy Meal.
Not a big surprise, but my Pilates-obsessed mother never, ever takes me.
Over the next few weeks, when we sit together at lunch, I ask Riley all kinds of questions.
I find out by listening to her that sometimes
she isn’t a fan of having so many brothers and sisters.
She admits to me that sometimes she is jealous of her little sister.
Riley is the second youngest, but her sister is the baby and apparently she gets a lot of attention.
Like, Riley is bummed because her parents went to her little sister’s dance recital but hadn’t gone to Riley’s softball game.
I agree that sucks and promise to cheer her on when she plays again in the spring.
Riley plays third base and can throw really far.

I have an idea about what I want to do about Rowan but I am not sure it will come across so well.
Her sense of style definitely needs addressing, but I don’t want to hurt her feelings by just coming out and telling her.
And I can’t invite her to go shopping because I am still practically under house arrest.
I will have to put that on the back burner for now and get to it later.

Because of my entire lack of a social life, television, and the Internet, all that is left is homework.
I turn into a total nerd.
I finish my homework every night and even go back and check my answers.
I pull up my math grade a whole letter.
In PE, I figure I better start dressing, so I put on the stupid school shorts and t-shirt and even attempt to play some basketball.
I am sure you have already figured it out, but I am slightly competitive.
The other girls on the court just stand around looking at their split ends, so I am able to dribble right by them and attempt basket after basket.
I only make it through the hoop a few times.
I said I was competitive, not good.
Only Maria is playing against me.
One time I run into her so hard that I fall to the floor, and Ms.
Vatter
, the PE teacher, comes over and gives me a hand up.

“I am liking your new attitude, Leah.”
She says and she blows the whistle for us to get changed.
Hmm, if that means that my letter and citizenship grade are going up, I guess I like this new attitude, too.

I end up getting an A on the Babylonian project, even though I had to do like the whole thing myself.
I researched and found all the material and even did the bibliography.
I let Charlie draw the pictures, that was about all he was good for.
While my motivation for all this is another date with Winston, it actually feels
kinda
good to be doing so well in school. All my teachers seem surprised and happy when they call on me and I actually know the answer.
My English teacher even asked if she could submit my poem to the school paper.

Chapter 12

Monday, December 14

Today’s horoscope:
Hold on just a little longer.

Even though I am stoked about school, my social life blows chunks.
I know there is nothing I can do about it, but it is lonely being grounded.
We are a week away from Christmas break and everyone is getting antsy for school to let out.
The girls always seem to have plans without me.
Sure, they are nice enough to me at school, and I really am trying my best to be a good friend to them, but it sucks when they talk about something I don't know about.
Like today at lunch they are talking about some girl in pink sunglasses and laughing and laughing, and
I am all, “what are you talking about?” and they say, “it’s not that funny, you just had to be there.”
I know I had to be there.
But I couldn’t be.
It’s like all of a sudden they have all these inside jokes and references that I don’t know.
I am supposed to be the one with the inside jokes and the center of attention.
I am starting to freak out!