Immature
4.
When I wake up, I'm back in bed. I smile weakly because it must have
been a dream. Then I remember I don't take naps and Le leans over and
puts a wet cloth on my forehead.
"Alex? Are you ok?" He asks worried.
"Uh . . ." Is all I hear myself say.
"You fainted, Ally," I hear Jake say. He sounds so far away but he's
leaned over me.
"Thank you Captain Obvious. I think we all know she fainted," scowls Le.
"Well last time I checked you're the one who caused the problem," he
says with displeasure.
"What? How is this my fault again?" asks Le.
"Well first of all she has been through a lot today then I was going to
take her out to dinner. That's when you come along and put more stress
on her by asking her out to dinner."
"What? Well how was I sapposed to know she was going out with you,"
yells Le.
"I'm . . . not going out . . . Out with Jake," I hear myself mumble.
They both look at me with worried eyes.
"See? Your just plain bad luck, Le," complains Jake.
Le stands up and grabs Jake by the collar. He dangles Jake a good 6
inches off the ground.
"I should have let that kid beat your geeky ass up on the bus."
Jake struggles but Le has a good grasp. Since he's Japanese, he must
know Kung Fu or something.
"I'm not . . . A geek," he argues.
Le slams him against the wall to the left of me and holds his fist up to
knock the living daylight out of Jake. I struggle out of bed and almost trip
on the covers that are now wrapped around my leg.
"Le . . ., "I say and rest my hand on his fist. He lowers it and places
Jake on the ground lightly.
"Sorry," he whispers and looks into my eyes. I look at Jake and he's
staitening his collar.
"You're so . . .," begins Jake. I hold up my hand in reproach.
I look out my window and see the streetlights coming on.
"It's late. We should get some rest for school tomorrow," I say solemnly.
"Sounds good to me," says Jake with a sigh.
"Okay," Le says calmly.
* * *
The next day I shuffle down the stairs in my robe. My throat hurts, I
feel crummy, and I think I started today because I feel a sudden urge to
have Coco Puffs. I plop down on the counter chairs and poor a full bowl of
Coco Puffs. I don't bother pooring milk and eat it raw.
My mom shuffles down the stairs with dark rings under her eyes. That's
another thing I like about my mom. When I feel crummy, so does she. We
also end our menstrol cycle at the same time.
"You wanna stay home darling. You don't look so good," she says
looking at me with anxious eyes.
I smile weakly. "Ha, you're one to talk. That sounds cool. Thanks mom."
She plops down in the chair next to me. She poors a full bowl of
Special K cereal with chunks of chocolate in it. She, of course, eats it raw.
"I think I'll stay home too, honey. I was up all night organizing your
dad's office. Oh, and he left for Vermont this morning," she says wearily.
"I didn't even know he was here. So he'll be up in the mountains?"
"Yeppers. So how are the boys? You know. . . Jake and Le?"
"I don't know anymore. I'm so confused right now I don't know up
from down. I wish I could rewind time and fix all of this."
"There's no time like the present. You still have time to fix it, honey.
Just tell them how you feel," she says and I smile.
"Yeah, but what can I say? All I know is that I like both of them. At
this point, I just want them to be my friends. Nothing more," I say and put
my head in my hands.
"Oh, you need a break don't you? How's about we go to the beach?
Have a nice relaxing picinic. No worries. Just us and the calming sound of
the waves."
"The beach, right now, sounds like heaven."
We pack a small lunch and I put my swimsuit on and put my dads Guy
Harvey shirt over it. My dad is pretty tall so the shirt falls down to my
knees. I gather two towels and a beach blanket, and my mom gets out the
beach umbrella from the garage. We pack all of the beach supplies in my
mom's red Jeep, which by the way is doorless. We put on matching Miami
bandanas. A stranger would think we were twin sisters since we look alike
and I'm just as tall as my mom too.
I jump in the Jeep's driver seat and my mom stands there with her
hands on her hips.
"Aw, come on! I never get to drive the Jeep," I complain.
"That's why I got you a Cooper, sweetie. Now scoot over and let me
drive," she says.
I do so, but reluctantly.
"Now do you want to go to Miami Beach or Hallandale Beach?"
"Which ever one's warmer."
"Miami Beach it is," she says and turns on the ignition. The car pulls out
silently and we are on 95 in about ten minutes. After about five more
minutes, we find a park on the sandy lot.
"I'll get the beach blanket and umbrella. You get the food and towels,"
she says wipping aside a strand of blonde hair from her face. The breeze is
perfect since it feels like 100 degrees out here.
"Sounds delicious to me," I say glad I get to carry the food. I quickly
take an Ibuprofen and spread the beach blanket across the sand. Ah, it's a
beautiful sunny day here in Hialeah.
Ten minutes later, we're munching on chocolate waffers and slurping on
KoolAid pouches.
"It's so beautiful today," coments my mom finishing her fourth waffer.
"Yeah, I wish dad was here to see it. He hates cold weather," I say in
response.
"Yeah," she agrees.
I munch on some Ranch Doritos and lay down on my belly facing the
beautiful ocean.
"I wish this moment could last forever," I say dreamily.
We spend the next 8 hours walking up and down the beach, chatting
and eating. We get some ice cream from the nearby beach parlor. We sit
back down and look out into the ocean. It's about midday by now.
She chuckles. "Look at those kids in the water."
I look to where she is pointing and see two little blonde kids splashing
each other with water and giggling. One is a girl and the others a boy.
They must be sibilings.
"He reminds me of your brother. That could be you and him splashing
each other."
"Really?" I say uninterested. I love my mom but I hate talking about my
brother. She gets the concept and changes the subject.
"So have you thought of what you would do with Le and Jake?"
"No, but I'm sure I'll think of something. Maybe I'll tell them I like them
both but can't go out with either of them. Or I'll say I think of them as
friends. Nothing more. Then again, I could just say nothing and forget this
ever happened."
She laughs that beautiful laugh of hers that sounds just like my laugh.
But better. "Or you could go out with both of them," she jokes.
"Ha, ha very funny mom. But that wouldn't work out right. Plus they
would get-" I begin but my phones goes off in my purse.
I quickly look to see someone has texted me. Great. Just great.
Drama Mama: WHERE HAVE U BEEN?!? Le is angry and Jake's on a
rampage oh & Le was totally going to ask u out but u weren't here!
Cathleen thinks u h8t her and Ronnie wont shut up now get ur little dainty
hinny to my house cause we need to talk! And don't even think about
avoiding me cause I know where u live!
I put my face down into my towel and screem. My mom rests her hand
on my back. I bet she knows who texted me.
"You'll be ok Al?" She asks anxiously.
I turn around to lie on my back, and look up at the cloudless sky and
wish I could fly.
"Ally . . . Is something wrong?"
"Everything! I hate my life! I hate myself! I hate everyone! Ugh," I yell
and everyone around us looks in our direction. They're probably wondering
why I'm not at school.
"Oh sweetie. I wish I could help. Is there anything you need me to
straiten out? I could tell everyone to leave you alone for a while if you
want."
"No, mom. You've done enough," I say. "Can we go home now? Please."
"Of course!" she says and quickly stands up gathering our belongings.
"You go sit in the car and I'll load the Jeep."
We drive home in silence and in half an hour we're home. I get in my
cream Cooper and turn on the ignition. My mom walks along side my car
and bends down to look at me through the window.
"Honey, you don't have to do this. No one's making you do anything no
matter what the circumstances," she says encouragingly. "Now turn that
frown upsidedown and come inside for some hot chocolate."
I put on a brave smile but it wavers. "No. Thanks mom but I have to
get this over with. I'll be back," I say.
She lowers her eyes. "Ok sweety. Call me if you need anything."
"Thanks," I whisper and pull out of the garage.
When I arrive at Sam's house she's standing outside with her arms
crossed tapping one foot on the ground impatiently. Her pink sports outfit
seems to glow from her porch light. I park in her driveway and sigh. I get
out and walk up to her. I tower about four inches over her. I bet Le is a
giant compared to her.
"Well?" She says looking up into my eyes.
"Well what?"
"You know what. Why did you go and play hooky on us? I bet Cathleen
is still crying right now."
"Sam I'm so, so, so sorry. I wasn't thinking, but I really did feel crummy
today. After what happened at my house last night-"
"Wait! What exactly happened last night?"
"Jake and Le didn't tell you?"
"I'm afraid not," she says sarcastically.
"It's a long story, Sam."
"We've got all night," she says with her sarcastic smile.
I tell her everything. Even though by tomorrow everyone will know. I tell
her about Jake asking me out in math and then Le asking me out to dinner
that same evening. I leave the part out about me and Le hanging at my
house knowing she'll flip. She listens earnestly and doesn't speak until I'm
finished.
"So. Two guys and one choice."
"That's pretty much it," I say with hoplesness.
"Alex. If you ever want to tell me how your feeling I'm here to listen.
You should have told me about your problem. You shouldn't have kept it a
secret."
"I know. And I was wrong for not telling you guys. You're my friends
and I should have trusted you. It was wrong and selfish and. . . ."
I trail off and look down at my shoes. She hugs me.
"Oh, Alex. I just wanted the truth. I'm not mad at you. I'm just
confused. You just need to trust us more. Me, Ronnie, and Cathleen are
here to help you. Now, we should probably go to Cathleen's house now."
"Ok," I mummble, my voice shaky.
I get in my Cooper and she gets in her shinny gray Mercedes and we
head off to Cathleen's house. I ring the doorbell on her three story house,
and after ringing the doorbell about three times she opens the door slowly.
"Look Alex, I'm sorry. I-I just want you to forgive-"
"Cath, I'm not mad at you. If there's anyone to be mad at it's me. Can
we come in?"
She nods slowly and opens the door wider to let us in. We walk into a
long wide hallway with a glass chandelier hanging over us. Her dads an
entrepreneur and her mom's a lawyer, so she's filthy rich. We walk into her
living room and up the winding staircase, which seems to go on forever.
You would think there was an elevator in this "palace".
"Please excuse the mess in my room. I was doing homework," Cathleen
says opening her room door. We walk into a neat room.
"What mess?" I mumble to myself.
The only mess I see is a few peaces of paper on her bed, but that's all.
"So, what did you want to tell me?"
"I wanted to say sorry, Cath. You didn't do anything. I-"
My phone goes off and Cathleen giggles because she loves my ring tone.
Fangfan1000: Hey where r u? I want to talk to u
"Who the heck is this?" Sam grunts.
Sam and Cathleen gather around me to see what I'm talking about.
"Oh! I know! That's Le!" Shouts Cathleen.
"What? How do you know?" Accuses Sam..
"He asked me for your number. So I gave it to him," she says smiling.
I breathe in deeply to calm myself. So that's how he got my number.
What does Le want to tell me? It's like Sam can read my mind because
she answers my question.
"He probably wants to ask you out," she says checking herself in
Cathleen's mirror on the wall. "I'm due for a haircut," she mummbles.
Darn it. I forgot about Le wanting to ask me out.
Tommy girl: U can talk to me now. . .
I wait a few seconds. I've known him for about two days and he
already wants to go out with me.
Fangfan1000: Yeah I could. . .but I bet ur with ur girlfriends =3
He thinks this is funny but I'm not smiling.
Tommy girl: How'd ya know?
I sit down on Cathleen's carpet and my "girlfriends" sit down next to
me.
Fangfan1000: it feels like I already know u
Great. This is just great.
Fangfan1000: How's about I treat u 2 Japanese food at my cousins
resturant, or did Jake already ask u out to dinner?
Ha, ha. Very funny.
"Well, say something," urges Sam.
"I already ate," I complain.
Sam glares at me.
"Ok, ok," I say.
Tommy girl: No I haven't heard from him. I'm free 4 tonight. I'll be at my
house in about 5 minutes.
I sigh and Cathleen laughs.
"This is so romantic! Japanese food. I bet he'll ask you to walk with him
by the pier. Then he'll look into your eyes and tell you he loves you. Then
he'll kiss-"
"Please, Cathleen. Your gonna make me sick," I complain.