Gilbert and Louis Rule the Universe: First Impressions (17 page)

“So cute,” Gilbert's mom agrees.

“That’s what we are going to see, too.
Ralph doesn’t want to but he was out voted,” Kate says.
Ralph looks a little embarrassed.

My mom breaks in.
“It has such a nice love story.
It’s just so romantic.
Didn’t you girls think?”
Why do parents have to speak in front of other kids?
They are so totally
mortifying
.

Somewhat annoyed, I agree, “Yeah, really cute”.

“Have you talked to Dylan?”
Ralph asks Gilbert.

“
Ew
, no!” Gilbert turns bright red.
“Why would I talk to him?”
I can tell Gilbert is freaking out.

“Who’s Dylan?” Gilbert’s mom asks.
We can’t let her mom know they are dating.

Gilbert jumps in, “No one. Just some boy from school.
I had to do a school project with him.
That’s all.”

I try to think of something to say to help her.
I can’t think of anything.
All I can come up with is, “Well, we will see you guys later.”
I say as I grab Gilbert and head for the exit.

I can hear our mom’s say to Kate and Ralph, “nice to meet you,” as our mothers trail after us.

Whew, that was close!

Chapter 16

Saturday, December 26

Today’s horoscope:
Major changes are afoot
.

The day after Christmas, t
he girls and I are hanging out in my room, sitting on the floor,
and
playing with our Christmas presents.
Gilbert, Riley, and I are checking out apps on our new cell phones.
Rowan is trying to get us to play the board game she brought over.
“Come on guys, it will be fun.”

Poor Rowan, she had asked Santa for a new phone, too, but her parents bought her the limited edition Teen Trivial Pursuit set.
So lame.

“You guys you have to check this out,”
Riley says and shows us a new gizmo on her phone.
Rowan is squirming and I worry she is getting bored.
I am about to put my phone down and play the good hostess when Rowan quietly says, “You guys, I think I need to tell you something.”

“What,” Riley says still looking at her phone.

“Well, there is this guy that I
kinda
like and he
kinda
likes me.”

Um, excuse me.
This is good gossip.
With that, we all put our phones down.

“Oh my God, who?” Gilbert jumps in.
We are so excited.

“I don’t think you guys like him very much,” Rowan continues.
No really, she is killing us.

“Who?” we insist.

“Never mind.
Forget it.
It’s totally lame.”

I am not going to let her get out of it.
“Rowan, you can tell us.
We’re your best friends.”

“Okay, remember when we went to the movies with Winston and his friends?”

“Yes.”
Of course we did.

“Remember how scary the movie was, and I don’t really like scary movies?”

We are all holding our breath.
Where is this going?

“
Jimmy was so nice to me that day.”

“Jimmy!”
I blurt out.
I can’t help myself.
Gilbert slaps me on the leg.

“Sorry, but… Jimmy?” I say in a much lower tone.
“That’s, that’s… cool.”
I can’t stop myself.
“Really?”

I am just trying to get my head around it.

Rowan goes on sheepishly, “Yeah, he walked me home from school the Friday before Christmas break.
And we have been texting each other and stuff.
We even went to the movies together on Tuesday.
He’s really nice.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the room.
None of us knew what to say.
I mean, I guess Jimmy is okay.

Rowan is saved.
Riley blurts out, “Leah, I have to talk to you about something.”

“You, too?”
I laugh.

“My family had a Christmas Eve party.
You know the one I told you about, but you couldn’t come because you were going to your aunt’s.
Well, Winston came because my brother had invited him.” She stops.

“And?”
I need her to go on.
This is definitely topping Rowan’s news.

“It was late.
We were all hanging out in the basement and, well, it was kind of romantic being Christmas Eve and all.”
She pauses again.
I am about to kill her.

“We kissed,” Riley blurts out.

“What?”
Everyone in the room says at the same time.
I haven’t even kissed Winston and now Riley has?

“You, you…bitch!”
I yell, get up, run into the bathroom, and slam the door.

I sit on the edge of the tub.
I am furious.
I keep waiting for tears to come to my eyes, but they don’t.
Gilbert knocks on the door.

“Louis, are you alright?” she asks.

“I’m fine!”
I yell back.
From my tone, you can tell I am not fine, but I can’t think of anything else to say.
I am hurt and angry and jealous.
I am so annoyed at Riley.
She knows I like him. What a crappy move.
I can’t believe she would go behind my back like that.

Riley came to the door next. “I am so sorry, Leah.”

I stay quiet.
I am embarrassed that I made such a scene over liking Winston and here I am locked in a bathroom, and Riley is the one who got to kiss him.
There is no way I am coming out and facing my friends.

I hear my mom approach.
“Alex, what’s going on?” she asks Gilbert.
Gilbert gives her the
Cliffs Notes
version.
Now it is my mom’s turn; she knocks on the door.
“Leah, are you okay?
Do you want me to send the girls home?”
I am not sure what I want so I don’t answer.
After a
minute, I hear my mom’s footsteps walking away and I hear her talking to Gilbert.
I can’t tell what they were saying.

Gilbert is back at the bathroom door.
“We’re going to go. Are you sure you are alright?
Do you want me to stay?”

“No thanks,” I say
through the door
.
“I’ll be fine,” I whisper mostly to myself. The funny thing is I sort of am okay.
I mean, Winston is hot and all, but it has been almost a month since I saw him last. And I guess Sophie was right, obviously he is a player.
But something inside still hurt.
I just can’t put my finger on it.

Once all the girls had gone, my mom came back to the door.
This time she opens it and comes in.
She sees me sitting there
dry-eyed
.
“Are you alright?” she asks again.
I looked up at her.
“Yeah, I am.
Can we go get some fro
yo
?”
I ask.

“Of course.”

Nothing cures a broken heart, or e
ven just a fractured one, like
frozen dessert.

Chapter 17

Monday, December 28

Today’s Horoscope:
Be kind to a friend in need.

Gilbert and I are hanging in the driveway.
I am determined to master my new skateboard.
This time I have all the pads and the helmet on.
I am practicing wheelies while Gilbert watches.

“Are you so pissed at Riley?”
Gilbert asks me.

“Yeah, I guess so.”
I am still not sure.
I push off the sidewalk and roll a few feet. I put my weight on the tail of the skateboard and lift the front wheels off the ground for just a moment before I lose my balance and have to jump off.
The board goes straight into the bushes.
“But more importantly, can we talk about Rowan and Jimmy?”

“Yes, what the heck is that about?”
Gilbert and I laugh.

“It sounds like they really like each other,”
I continue, still giggling.

That’
s it, we are in hysterics.
We both fall down and roll around on the grass cracking up.

“What’s so funny?”
I look up into the sun and see Jason’s shadow.
We sit up.

“Hey, Jason.
What are you up to?”
I ask, as I catch my breath and shield my eyes from the sun.

“I was just on my way back from Ralph’s house.”

“Cool, what were you guys up to?”

“Not much, just hanging out.
We talked to Dylan up in Tahoe.
Ralph set him up with some super
hottie
he knows up there.
He is going to have a great Christmas break.”
Jason laughs and heads home.
I turn to Gilbert.
She is no longer laughing and she looks suddenly pale.