Landry in Like (13 page)

“Oh, um… yeah, that does sound fun, but Halle just texted me about going to a new teen dance club that just opened up downtown with her and her friends tonight. They're meeting some girls from the cheer squad there.”

“Is Yasmin going?”

“Uh, yeah,” she said.

“Oh well, that sounds fun, too,” I said.

“Maybe another time,” she said. “I'll text you tomorrow, okay? Bye.”

I stared at my phone, which said, “Call Ended.” Well, Halle had asked her first, and who wouldn't want the chance to hang out with high school girls? Okay, so I'd run to the bathroom at the thought of it, but for someone like Ashanti, this was a dream come true and where she belonged. But… if it had been me and someone asked me to go to the dance club, I would have asked if she could come along. Ashanti never even said, “Hey, you want me to ask those guys if you can come, too?”

It was only one night out, but it seemed like she was doing something so grownup. Meanwhile, I was getting excited about playing a computer game with a book character I had been into since grade school. Why would she want to hang out with me? And was it weird I was more excited to spend the evening playing this game and eating snacks with Peyton than the idea of hanging out with cheerleaders at a club?

P
eyton called
. “India just asked if I wanted to go to the teen club with her cousin Valine and Valine's friends,” she said. “Devon is going to her grandparents' this weekend, so she can't come and she wants me to go.”

I felt like someone punched me.

“I'm texting her that you're coming over. Oh, okay, they said you could come, too,” she said.

Peyton and I had always been able to tell each other everything, but things were changing now and I was feeling younger and more scared of going to high school by the minute. Still, she was one of my best friends, so she should understand my feelings or at least not laugh at me, right?

“Can I ask you a question? Are you psyched about going?”

“No. Is it lame I'd rather play Skylar Halston all night and make cupcakes?” she asked.

“This is why we are best friends,” I said.

She laughed. Ashanti, used to be into that kind of stuff, too. I wondered if she was too grown up for it now that she had her cheer friends.

“So are you
sure
you want to bake cupcakes and play the Skylar game, or do you want go with those guys?” I asked.

“Maybe we can go with them some other time, but tonight is Skylar night and I just don't feel like putting on makeup and wearing anything other than my fleece sleepy pants and a sweatshirt, you know?” she said. “So, see if anyone else wants to join us to play and I'll tell India we'll skip going this time, okay?”

I texted Thalia who wasn't sure if she could come because her parents weren't home. Then it hit me. I could still ask Tori. As much as I wanted to just hang out with Peyton, because then we could talk more freely, I thought this would be a great chance for Tori and I to sort of reconnect again. With so many of the girls getting into the whole club thing, it would be nice to hang out with someone with similar interests and I had mentioned the game to her earlier. I dialed her number.

“Hello, Tori?”

“Yeah?” she said.

“I wanted to know if you wanted to come over to Peyton's to play the B&B mystery game tonight. Her parents said it was fine, and you can spend the night if you want.”

“I'm almost finished with it, so it might be kind of boring for me,” she said.

“Oh, okay. Well, maybe another time.”

We hung up and I felt queasy. Then she called back.

“Hey, Landry? Ericka just texted me that she can't hang out until later, so I could come over to Peyton's for a little bit if that's cool.”

She already had plans with Ericka? “Um, yeah, that works. I'm going over to Peyton's now, so see you in a bit.”

I called Peyton and told her what Tori said.

“So Tori is just filling time until Ericka is free again?” she asked.

That was kind of what I had been wondering, and it hurt to hear it said out loud. “Well, she did have plans with Ericka first, so…”

“Okay, whatever. I'm going to put the pizza order in now. Is there anything Tori hates on hers?” Peyton asked.

“Yeah, she hates all kinds of peppers but loves mushrooms and Canadian bacon.”

“I'm going to pretend you didn't say that because I'm not a fan of Canadian bacon on pizza. By itself, sure, but on pizza, I dunno,” she said. “I'm going to get cherry cola to drink, that cool?”

I got my sleepover stuff together, put the cupcake mix and frosting container in my bag, and Mom dropped me off at the Urich's house.

Peyton opened the door as soon as Mom pulled into the driveway. “Oven's preheated. Let's get to making cupcakes,” she said.

We went into the kitchen and started to work on the cupcakes as Peyton's dad hooked her laptop up to the TV in the living room so we could play the game on a bigger screen.

“Hey, Mom,” Peyton said as her mother cleaned up the flour spill around her. “Would you guys ever give me an advance on my allowance if I did extra chores or something?”

Mr. and Mrs. Urich exchanged a nervous look. “What for?”

“So I could download the next Skylar game in the series,” she said.

Her parents glanced at each other again. “So not to get clothes to go to that teen dance club place Devon invited you to?”

“No, I just want to get the new game. I checked online and there are four out right now.”

Her father was smiling as he pulled out his wallet “Here, take my credit card and download all of them. Go nuts.”

“The games are like thirty bucks a piece. Are you sure? I don't want to be your maid forever,” Peyton said.

Her dad laughed. “No, it's on me.”

“Why? I'm scared. What am I promising in return?” She crossed her arms in front of her

Mrs. Urich cracked up. “Honey, when you brought up that dance club, your father and I had mini panic attacks. I know it's safe and all, but we just hate to see you grow up too fast. So if you guys want to stay in and play these games, then we are more than happy to indulge you. Have fun.”

“Best. Parents. Ever,” Peyton said hugging them. Tori arrived while I was putting the cupcakes in the oven.

“Hey, Landry, your phone is getting a text. Want me to check it?” Peyton asked.

“Sure,” I said, hoping it was Ashanti saying she changed her mind and was on her way over.

“It's from Thalia. She wants to know if it's still cool if she comes over,” Peyton said.

“Do you mind?” I asked.

“Nope, I'll call her myself.”

The pizza arrived and we took it into the living room. Peyton said Thalia told her that she couldn't spend the night, but she was on her way with some snacks from her dad's candy store.

“Is that why you invited her, Landry?” Tori asked.

“No, of course not,” I said, taking a slice of pizza. What kind of person did she think I was?

“Oh, I didn't mean to make it sound bad. It's just something Yasmin said.”

“What did she say?” I asked. That first bite of pizza wasn't sitting so well.

“You know how she is,” Tori said, rolling her eyes. “I mean, don't breathe a word of this, but Yasmin was talking and you know how everyone kisses up to her — well, she said you were hanging around with Thalia to make yourself look better.”

Peyton choked on a mouthful of cherry cola.

“Um, you do know Thalia is my friend, right?” I said.

“Yeah, I do, it's just… well, you know how Yasmin can be, and everyone goes along with whatever she says. Lately, Ericka has been following her every word, too.”

I nodded but was afraid that anything I'd say might get back to Ericka. In the past, Tori could always be counted on to keep a secret, but lately things had been so weird that I didn't know where her loyalty was — to me or Ericka. After all, weren't they best friends now? I guessed they were, and I didn't talk to Tori every single night after school anymore like we used to. In my eyes, Ashanti and Peyton were my two closest friends.

“Whatever. Let's just get the game set up so we can start playing when Thalia gets here,” I said.

Thalia arrived and we watched the intro to the game. A voice, Skylar, came on and told us all about her mysterious visit to the B&B and outlined the case for us. Then the screen made it look like we were in the car driving up to the old inn.

“Oh cool, it's like we're actually Skylar ourselves and we see from her point of view,” Thalia said.

“I love this so much. Look at the graphics. This is so awesome,” Peyton said.

“Wait until you get to the rooms,” Tori said. “You can hunt for clues in the closets and stuff. Oh, and Sterling's room has a — never mind, you'll see. No spoilers.”

Tori knew we needed a notebook to write down the clues, so she had brought one with her. Peyton controlled the game with the keyboard, but she said we could all take turns. My hands were greasy from the pizza, so I was content with just watching and picking questions for Skylar and Sterling to ask the other B&B guests.

We were having fun when Tori's phone got a text. She picked it up.

“Oh, Ericka's home now. I'm supposed to go over there now,” she said. She bit her lip. “I guess I'll call my dad for a ride.”

“Yeah, sure. I mean, you guys had plans first,” I said.

Thalia checked the time on her phone. “Maybe I should call my dad, too. I wish they would have let me spend the night, but I'm on these weird new allergy meds and my mom didn't want me away from home.”

We kept playing until the doorbell rang. Mr. Urich told Tori her father was at the door.

“Thanks for having me over. We should do this again,” she said. “This was fun.”

Just then Peyton's phone got a text. “It's a pic from India,” she said. “I guess Vladi's at the club.”

I swallowed my cola and it hit my stomach like acid.

“Is he with anyone?” I asked.

“Hold up, I'm asking,” Peyton said, her thumbs flying over her phone keyboard. “She says he's with a couple guys and they're just playing ping pong in the corner right now, but there's a bunch of girls watching the game.”

Tori cleared her throat. “Well, thanks again. Hope you guys have fun,” she said as she walked out.

Thalia's dad pulled up just as the cupcakes were ready.

“Oh man, I so wish I could stay longer. This pizza is so good, too,” she said.

Peyton fixed her a little plate with pizza and a cupcake to take home.

“Okay, does this sound super bad? But I'm kind of glad Thalia and Tori couldn't spend the night. I mean, it was fun playing the game with them, but I wanted to talk to you about some stuff that I didn't feel like I could say in front of them. Does that make sense?” Peyton asked.

“I get that and feel the same way. It was fun, but I wanted to ask you what you thought about the whole teen dance club thing.”

“You mean about Vladi being there?” she asked.

“No, well, yeah, that, too. I meant the whole idea of going to a place like that in general.”

She paused the game and pulled her knees up to her chest.

“I mean, I'll go, but it's not my first choice. I'd rather hang out and eat pizza and play games or go to the mall or something than go to a place like that. Look at the pictures India is posting on her social media page,” she said handing me her phone. “That place looks crowded and noisy, and everyone looks like they're eighteen,” she said.

“I know I'm supposed to want to go to places like that, but while it looks exciting, it also seemed terrifying. I keep thinking next year everyone's going to be hanging out at places like that, and I'll be in my sleepy puppy pj pants at home playing Skylar Halston all by myself. And what's worse, other than being completely alone, some of that doesn't sound too bad.”

“On the plus side, you won't be alone. I'll be sitting next to you and if they keep putting out these games, they might last us through senior year,” she said smiling. “We may have to make a list of where we want to go to college so we can apply to the same places.”

“Shall we toast to that?” I said raising my soda glass.

Peyton cracked up as her mother walked in.

“How's the game, ladies?” she asked.

“Mom, you have got to see how cool this is,” Peyton said turning the game back on. Mrs. Urich took a cupcake as we showed her the B&B.

“Cute,” her mother said as Peyton's phone got another picture text. “Oh gracious, what is this?”

“Oh, that's from India. They're taking pics at the teen club.”

Mrs. Urich stared at the picture of the girls, her mouth set in a firm line.

“Landry, are you into that sort of thing?” she asked.

“Not exactly.”

“I thought maybe your modeling friends were all into that scene.”

I shook my head. “I don't hang out with any models. In fact, I just keep in touch with one girl, Kyra, and she's not into partying. She wants to go to med school, so she's all about studying to make sure she gets into a good college.”

“Well, that's a good goal to have.”

“Talisa Milan always stresses you have to set goals and not let things like boys and parties distract you from what you want to do down the line,” I said.

“So true. You girls have fun tonight. Let me know if you need me to run out and get you anymore snacks or anything,” she said, smiling as she walked out of the room. “And there's a new carton of chocolate marshmallow ice cream hidden behind the frozen turkey in the freezer. Peyton's dad always digs all the marshmallows out and leaves the chocolate, so I had to hide it away. Help yourselves.”

“Okay, what's with my mother? First I get credit card access to download video games, and now she's offering to make a snack run for us?” Peyton asked, narrowing her eyes. “Did aliens invade?”

“My mom was all weird, too. She bought me books and stuff because I didn't poo myself on the set of the TV show, and then she was overjoyed that I wanted books and was going to use a pencil case for school supplies instead of makeup.”

“This may sound bad, but I'm not going to let my mom know I wasn't super into the whole teen club idea. I feel like this could work to my advantage,” she said laughing.

“Is it weird I kind of want you to ask India if Vladi danced with any girls tonight?” I asked.

“No, I was wondering about that myself, but I didn't want to bring it up and get you all anxious.”

Peyton sent her a text, and it felt like an eternity before India wrote back.

“She said he's just with his friends, but Yasmin was over by them and there were a ton of girls watching the guys play,” Peyton said. “She says we need to come out with them next time.”

I shrugged and part of me wondered if Vladi should have mentioned to me he was going to a place like that. Our last conversation had been so sweet with him giving me advice about how to handle my interview and my anxiety, but now it felt weird to think about him at the club with other girls around. But, in reality, we didn't have the kind of relationship where we checked in with each other like that. It felt awkward to ask him about it and seem insecure… even though I was.