The F Factor (19 page)

“Oh, Javito, there you are!” Selena had come into the kitchen with an empty margarita pitcher in her hand. “That girlfriend of yours is leaving.” She frowned at Javier. “Or did you already know that?”

“Yes, I know. She wants to meet her friends and go to a Sea World concert with them.” Javier explained quickly, hoping to conceal his pain over Feliz's choices. “She'll probably have a good time there.” He must have failed at hiding his emotions, because Selena quickly put down the pitcher and placed her arm around his shoulder.

“Javito, that girl is way too high maintenance. I know. I was just like her … well, okay, I still am, and so is Vivian.” Selena had started giggling. “Go find a girl that is
totally
opposite
of your sisters, okay?” She squeezed him close and let him go.

Javier felt like the dumbest guy alive. Even his sister saw the stupidity of trying to impress a girl like Feliz. He wanted to hide in the kitchen, but he heard a burst of laughter coming from his friends in the dining room and knew he had to face them.

Trying to find that don't-stop-talking-no-matter-what-happens attitude Mr. Seneca promoted, Javier forced a smile onto his face before he walked into the next room. There, he found Ignacio, Andy, and Pat standing around the food table talking with Javier's cousin Natalie and two other girls. Could he trust a sudden flicker of hope that his party wouldn't be a total wash-out?

No one had seen Natalie since they were all eighth graders. Javier was surprised to discover that the chubby girl with thick braids and big rabbit teeth had slimmed down into a nice figure. Her shoulder-length hair now framed her face in a prettier way.

“Hey, Javier, happy birthday!” Natalie proclaimed with a big grin that revealed a mouthful of braces decorated with hot pink rubber bands. She gave him a quick hug and turned to introduce the other girls. “This is Carrie, and this is Amanda.”

Carrie was a tall girl with a long black ponytail and an interesting collection of small earrings pierced all over both ears. Amanda had short brown hair highlighted with blonde streaks and gray-blue eyes that turned bluer when she smiled at him.

“Natalie said your mom's cake is fabulous!” Amanda said with laughter in her voice. “So we're crashing your party! I hope you don't mind, Javier.”

Ignacio slapped Javier on the back “The boy invites
everyone
to his parties! Pretty girls especially!” He grinned mischievously when Javier looked at him.

“Should we play pool?” Natalie turned to her friends. “Andy was
always
an easy way to earn ten bucks!” Then she raised an eyebrow at Andy. “Are you game, drummer boy?”

“You're on!” Andy called out, pointing a carrot stick at Natalie.

Ignacio and Andy quickly picked up their plates. They followed Natalie and her friends into a side room where Javier's parents had set up a pool table four years earlier and had since bought other games to entertain the family and friends who visited.

Pat stayed behind at the dining room table. He was piling some tortilla chips on his plate and spooned some salsa on top. Javier waited for Pat, wondering how to salvage the party spirit for both of them. He said, “My cousin Natalie went to grade school with us. She always makes us laugh.”

Pat shrugged and then finally looked up. His dark eyes shimmered with anger. “Feliz doesn't care about anyone but Feliz. Get used to it.”

Javier remembered what Selena had said and offered Pat a wry smile. “I'm not sure I need the extra stress of a girl like Feliz in my life.”

Pat had dribbled salsa on his fingers and paused to lick it off. Then he said, “That's too bad.” He was walking around the table toward Javier. “All my life when my friends crush on my sister, I'm always the one who gets dumped.”

“Not this time.” Javier shrugged helplessly. “Besides, your sister … well, she made it pretty clear today …”
He paused, hating to admit the truth. “… she's not interested in me.”

Pat stepped up to Javier. “Don't take it so personally. She's just one girl, and there are plenty others.” Suddenly his face brightened with a friendly grin. “Come on, Jack! Let's go party with some girls who came because they
want
to have fun.”

“F
riendly girls and good food. Great party, Jack!” Pat sighed in a happy way.

Javier had just backed his truck out of the driveway and slowly started driving down the street. He smiled and said, “Natalie and her friends made my night!”

“Carrie put her number into my phone. That made
my
night,” Pat replied and then pointed. “Turn up there. My grandma's house is on Mistletoe.” He settled back into the passenger seat. “I'm going to enjoy riding in this truck to school every day, Javier.”

“Every day? What about going home?”

Pat turned away to stare out the truck window. “I've been staying with my grandma for two years. It helps keep peace in the family.” He chuckled to himself. “And it makes Feliz mad to have to drive me around, so that's a bonus.”

“I know where your family lives, Pat. That's a lot of gas for Feliz to run you back and forth, isn't it?”

“My dad said if I make straight As this first quarter, he'll get me a car.” Pat shrugged, still looking out the window. “I don't think it's worth the hassle.”

“You should go for it, Pat.” Javier flipped on the truck blinker. “I can help you with schoolwork! Why don't we work together on our history paper tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is a holiday, Jack. Who does homework on holidays?”

“People like me who need As, that's who,” Javier answered. “Who would I be if I wasn't the smartest guy in the class?”

“I don't know,” Pat replied and finally turned to look at Javier. “Do you want to be the guy who sleeps in class? I can teach you all the tricks.”

“What, and take away your fabulous reputation?” Javier replied. He was starting to really enjoy hanging around with Pat, whose honest, funny answers made Javier feel it was good to be the same way.

Javier began scanning the neighborhood, admiring some of the restored brick homes. “Which one is your grandmother's?”

“Three houses down, where the porch light is on. Welita knows I'm coming.”

When Javier parked at the curb, he couldn't believe he had the right place. Having seen the Berlanga's expensive home, it seemed weird that Pat's grandmother lived in a tiny house with narrow windows and a cracked sidewalk.

“This is where my mom grew up.” Pat leaned forward to look through Javier's window. “The house needs a lot of work, but my dad says it would be a waste of money. He keeps telling my grandmother to move out of the neighborhood.”

“Why doesn't she just live with your family in your big house?”

“Welita wouldn't like living there. Hey,
I
don't like living there.” Pat sighed. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the truck door. “Thanks for the ride, Javier.”

“Hey, no problem.” Javier rapped his fingers across the steering wheel. “Call me tomorrow. If you're staying here, I'll pick you up for school on Tuesday.”

Pat nodded. “Thanks. I had fun tonight, Javier. I'd love to have a family like yours.” He looked very serious as he said, “Do you know how
really
lucky you are?”

“Yeah, I'm starting to figure it out.”

It took the prep camp kids from schools around the city to make him realize that he was
very
lucky to have the family he did. His parents and siblings were older than most, but they were always loving. Sometimes he felt like they would
always
see him as “little Javito,” but it was just annoying and nothing bad.

Javier sighed as he watched Pat getting out of the truck. Here was a good guy whose family life seemed complicated and unfair. Pat slept in this old house to watch over his grandmother, but his father, who owned two of the biggest dealerships in San Antonio, wouldn't buy him a car?

Quickly, he pressed the button to lower the truck window and called out, “Hey, if you want some help to make straight As, just let me know, Pat.”

“And if you want some pointers about sleeping in class, just let
me
know!” his friend called back before he walked up the sidewalk toward the lonely porch.

Javier waited until Pat went inside the house and then drove away.

“F
orget her, Jack,” Andy told Javier as they worked together on algebra problems Monday night at the Cardona's kitchen table. He tapped his pencil against Javier's notebook. “Feliz might look hot, but she's a real ice queen.”

“Pat tried to warn me.” He raised one eyebrow as he looked at Andy. “Next time I'll listen to
him
instead of you guys.”

Andy shrugged. “At least Natalie and her friends were nicer than Feliz.”

“Feliz was so rude at the party. I can't figure her out,” Javier replied. He grabbed Andy's calculator and compared the answer with the one written on his paper. “And obviously, I can't figure out this problem either.”

Ignacio walked back into the room. “It doesn't look good for the Cowboys tonight.” He sat down at the table where he had abandoned his book ten minutes ago.

“It doesn't look good for us on tomorrow's test,” Javier said. “Forget the game and help us figure out the last two problems.”

“What? You don't have the answer yet? Last year you were a wiz at math,” Ignacio replied, wrinkling his eyebrows. “You know we depend on you to explain stuff. You're the smart guy, remember?”

Now it was Javier's turn to frown. He was sick of those expectations, especially from guys who were supposed to be his friends. “I'm not a computer, Ignacio. I don't have all the answers. Stop putting that kind of pressure on me.”

“You're crazy.” Ignacio scratched his head and stared down at his textbook. “You're the only one sitting at this table with a 4.0. What are you complaining about?”

“You're just grouchy ‘cause you struck out with Feliz.” Andy's drumming pencil bounced from Javier's book to
his calculator. “When you ace tomorrow's test, you'll feel ten times better.”

How could his old friends be so blind? Javier sighed. “Never mind. Let's just put our heads together and try to finish the last two problems, okay?”

J
avier thought driving to school with a friend would be interesting and fun. Even though the skies were still charcoal-gray when he drove on Tuesday morning, this early ride with Pat would give them a chance to talk about the media class and predict what new jobs Mr. Seneca might give them. He assumed since rush-hour traffic hadn't started yet, driving on the interstate into downtown would be easier. What he didn't expect was the guy in the seat next to him falling asleep before Javier drove around the corner and how many big eighteen-wheelers got an early start on their deliveries. His shoulders felt like they had been twisted in a vice by the time he parked his truck. The student lot by the gym was dimly lit, but he recognized Ram's jeep and Omar's old Ford.

“Hey, Pat, wake up!” he said probably louder than he needed to.

“Huh?” Pat's dark eyes fluttered open, and he straightened up in the seat. “Are we here already?” He yawned and unbuckled his seatbelt. “You've got a comfortable truck, Javier. I didn't even feel you start and stop. Feliz drives so jerky compared to you.”

If Pat had meant to compliment Javier, it did nothing to stop the irritation he felt. “Let's go, Pat. I don't need Mr. Seneca yelling at me this early in the morning.”

Javier stepped out of the truck. He lifted his heavy backpack from behind the driver's seat and hung it over one shoulder. He looked around, unaccustomed to arriving at school when the lots and fields were empty, security lights beamed around the buildings, and the classrooms looked dark and creepy.

Pat trudged along beside him, quiet except for yawning. Javier said nothing.

“Look around and see what needs to be done,” Mr. Seneca said when Pat and Javier walked into the media classroom. He leaned heavily into his crutches as he spoke with Dylan and Ram in the desk area. They wore identical grim faces, as if the football team had just lost the Homecoming game to a rival school.

Everyone gets nervous in different ways
, Javier thought, relieved his feet were itch-free this morning. He dropped his backpack on the first desk in the middle row and saw Pat already walking back to the cabinets to find the microphones.

Both Landry and Steve stood behind the juniors who sat at the computers. They looked busy as they answered questions from the upperclassmen. Kenny stood by Omar discussing the camera. Javier glanced around, but it looked like everyone was working, so he decided to go over to Mr. Seneca's desk and take a look at the announcements. There was still time to change words or rewrite them completely before Dylan and Ram went on TV.