Alright. I admit it.
I know she likes me. I understand that completely. And when I kissed her? There was definitely something. And I've told her things I never really told anyone else, and it's not all over school yet. So I think things with Carly are pretty safe, and I'm really comfortable with that. I am.
But that play... drove me out... of my freakin' mindJust... I ( Read more... )
But that play... drove me out... of my freakin' mindJust... I ( Read more... )
I've been told that not only could you move back the curtain and see me talking to Sam, but that I was acting 'a little pushy' too. And since being pushy isn't really my thing as much as Sam probably thinks it is, that's bad. He's going to end up afraid of me, and I'm going to hate myself for driving away the cute boy with too many stupid words.
Oh crap, did I just call him the cute boy?
I'm losing it. I know I had a long night and everything, but I think I've completely lost touch with reality now.
I let everyone else go out first, knowing that if I was in the front of the line, all the parents and teachers would make small talk and throw fake compliments at me while they waited for their ( ... )
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"Hey."
"Hi."
Sam is so weird. He's mean to me and he's weird. And he's trying not to be mad. He thinks I don't know. I know. I'm ten, not stupid. Duh.
He's upset because that boy kissed Carly, I bet. Or something like that. Sam gets mad over little things and then pretends he isn't because he thinks that makes it better because he doesn't like getting mad. And for that? He's weird. Weird and strange and mean because he keeps getting mad at me for asking.
"Thanks for waiting."
"No problem."
"That was um..." What am I supposed to say? Uh oh. "Really really good." Yeah, that's it.
"I wasn't even bored." I really wasn't. Even at some parts that were sort of boring, it wasn't too bad. But then there were some parts that seemed sort of dumb. So I was bored for those. But she did good.
And Sam's giving me the look like he's mad at me again. What? I'm not doing anything wrong. I told your girlfriend nice things. You're the one getting all mad because some boy kissed her ( ... )
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I like this girl. She says the right thing when she doesn't have to. The kid gets points for that.
"Thanks." I smiled, crossing my arms over my chest. I should have left two buttons open instead of three. I knew it.
"I wasn't even bored."
Either she was bored, and this is her way of indirectly telling me that, or she really wasn't all that bored. I mean, she had to be bored for some of it. I was bored for most of it. There are only so many times you can hear the same lines and the same songs before they start getting annoying. I never want to have to sing "I Need A Hero", or "Almost Paradise" ever again.
Eighties music is just...it's bad.
"I'm glad to hear that."
Why is he looking at her like that?
"Did you have fun? Because it seemed like fun."
"Arianna."Why won't Sam let her talk? She's being nice. After all of the talking he did about her, you think he wouldn't mind me getting to know Arianna a little. She's obviously very imporant to him, and she's been sweet to me. I want to talk ( ... )
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No, it's not okay. I thought she was going to do this right. I didn't know she was going to talk on and on and... Oh great, I'm getting a look now. What's that for? I'm not the freakin' ten year old who can't shut up.
"It was a lot of fun. Some of it was hard to remember, like my lines and the dance moves, and where I was supposed to be on the stage, that kind of stuff. But I like performing."
Right. Okay. Humor her, but stop giving me the look, please. I was good. I was a little upset, still sort of am, but I was good. Come on. Stop looking at me like I'm the jackass here who sort of...
"I like toact."
Okay. Yeah.
I might be the jackass here, a little.
"And while some of the things I may be required to do to get the performance done kind of suck--at times in ways that they are not supposed to because it's not like a teacher can step in and tell them to give a little less enthusiasm for their role while they're up on stage with their arms around you in front of an audience--overall, I like it."Is it bad I ( ... )
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Good. Can this please be over now? I don't like this. I like it better when we get along. We've had a lot of things to fight about, but we like each other. It keeps going back to that every time we get tired of fighting, so I think that's the most important part. We like each other. Who cares about what happened up on stage?
Well, Sam did. But I think he's getting a little better now. He can put Zach on the same list Kyle is on; the one of boys who I don't like the way I like him. I only kissed him because I had to.
"That was really good, Carly. Seriously."
That's better. Keep it that way, your jealous streak gets frustrating when I'm trying to do the performing arts thing and can't help it.
"Thanks."
"And we're uh...Going for ice cream. Do you want to come with, or is there a cast thing or something?"
"Ice cream! Yes!"Ew, the cast thing. I don't want to do the cast thing. Everyone is going to be getting drunk and acting stupid. I'm pretty sure that they're all going to hook ( ... )
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Who wouldn't want to go for ice cream?
"Great! Let's go." I pulled on both of their sleeves and started trying to get out the door. "Sam I want... I want..." I thought it over. "I want chocolate. With the gummy bears this time. And... And the chocolate syrup too!" Wait, wait no.
"Wait, I want the marshmellow stuff. Can I have that? Please?" Do I want the marshmellow stuff? Yeah, I want that. And I want... I want... "Oh, can I have whipped cream on it? And can I have a cone this time?"
"You always mess up with the damn thing."
Stop laughing at me, this is ice cream. "Well I'll have a cup with it too, okay? Come on, let's go!" Sugar! Ice cream! I need it! I'm ten, I'm entitled to as many good sugar highs as life will allow! Come on!
"So I want a sugar cone. Okay? And um... Oh. M&Ms. I like those."
"Arianna. Stop. Breathe. You can have whatever you want when we get there. I promise."
"Okay, then let's go. You guys can like each other later. I want ice cream ( ... )
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"You always mess up with the damn thing."
"Well I'll have a cup with it too, okay? Come on, let's go! So I want a sugar cone. Okay? And um... Oh. M&Ms. I like those."
"Arianna. Stop. Breathe. You can have whatever you want when we get there. I promise."
"Okay, then let's go. You guys can like each other later. I want ice cream."
"And Carly, can you teach me how to do that thing? The thing you just did. The one that made Sam all... Know that he did something wrong. Please? I want to learn that. Over ice cream."...I think I'm a little glad that I don't see much of Danny. If he's anything like her, I couldn't handle it often if sugar was part of the mix. Damn. She really likes her ice cream ( ... )
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She still did a pretty good job with it. Not that I want her even remotely trying to teach my sister anything. Still, I don't think Arianna's going to have the same effect Carly does. But she'll still want to try.
She gets a kick out of having power over anyone, it's new to her since she doesn't get much power of her own otherwise. I think that's why I'm usually so bent on spoiling her when we're out and it's just me and her.
I think Arianna's lost interest for now. She's too bent on the sugar thing. That doesn't mean she's not going to pick it up later, but maybe if I get her sugar high enough, she'll forget by default. I really like that idea.
"Sorry. I'll try not to make a habit of it.""Don't worry about it." I said just loud enough for her to hear. "I deserved it." I did. I was being a jackass. I still think it had foundation, just... not a lot ( ... )
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He has a point there. I can't say that out loud or I'll end up apologizing for being a bitch to him before the night is of, but for the most part, he did. He wasn't very understanding about the 'love interests' aspect of the play. Although, honestly? For him to be upset about it, he did have to show up, and sit through it, and he did that for me. Maybe Sam could have handled it better, but that doesn't change the fact that he showed up. He actually went to see it for me.
I think that's a lot more important than his jealousy issues.
"Arianna.Not too far, damn it. Come on. Move it back a little."
"Okay, okay."
"Keep thinking about what you want, okay? I'm not doing another fifteen minute thing in line just because you're trying to decide what kind of syrup works best with cookie dough."...He's a good big brother. I think I like that. Obviously, Arianna doesn't like that very much at the moment, but it's good. He's doing a good job of watching her, even when she's just a little bit down the ( ... )
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It is?
"To be perfectly honest with you, I like her. She's a pretty cool kid."
She is?
Okay, I know Arianna's different from other kids, but I never really considered that a 'cool' thing. This is the same girl who used to get in fights in Girl Scouts, and then they wouldn't let her back because she beat up the Leader's daughter.
From what she tells me, the girl deserved it. No one actually knows what the hell was said, and I'm still not sure if I should take her word for it.
But yeah, she's weird. On a lot of levels. Apparently that's cool to Carly.
Works for me, I'd really hate for her to run sceaming from the one person in my family I give a damn about, no matter how strange.
"I'm glad you brought her."I shrugged and kept an eye on Arianna before looking back to Carly. "Well I knew you wouldn't exactly like it if I brought Madsen." And I have no idea how the hell I'd get him here in the first place. I probably could have lied and said Jenna was going to be there, he'd love a chance to drive her nuts. But then I' ( ... )
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"Can't take a compliment?" I laughed at his reaction, wondering why it was so hard for him to believe that he's better than the teenage male jerk. I know that getting jealous and starting fires didn't do much to help my opinion of him, but there have been good things too. Sam wanted to defend me to Kyle when I didn't need it. He came to my play. He takes good care of his sister. I'd say that in spite of being jealous and hard to read, that makes him good.
Really good. I'm lucky he likes me.
"I just meant..." I don't know, I think you can take what I said at face value, can't you? You're a great guy means you're a great guy. There aren't any strings. If Sam would rather believe he's not a great guy, I can't help him there. I'm starting to really like being around him. So far Sam is the best part of moving back to Los Angeles ( ... )
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"No, I just..." I'm an alright guy, I guess. I never thought of myself as 'great'. Between what every adult has ever said to me and how the rest of the school looks at me, I think I'm not supposed to think that way anyway.
It usually helps once we're about to pull a massive prank, and I'm thinking about how we probably shouldn't do it, even when I'm the guy pushing the button.
So I don't know if I'm 'great', that's all.
"I just meant... There aren't many people like you."
There isn't?
Well, if she says so. I wouldn't know.
"I like that about you.""Thanks." I smiled a little, trying to give her something to go with. "I'm sorry, I'm just not..." Well, come on Howell. Explain to her why you don't know how to take a compliment ( ... )
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Not what? Not into being called different? Not big on compliments? I don't get it. I thought that everyone liked...well, maybe I thought wrong. I don't know. Even if its the truth, I guess Sam doesn't want to hear nice things about himself. I think I can deal with that. Its not like he's asking me to call him mean or tell him that he sucks. I wouldn't be able to handle doing that, its too far from my actual opinion. And I think I'm starting to get known around here for being outspoken, so it might be good for me to hold onto that for a while. I can do it less around him, but I'm not used to that.
"Not many people really have good things to say about me. Which is alright, sometimes it's really deserved, it's just weird when someone does. I mean, not bad, but... y'know?"Why don't people have nice things to say about him? I don't think I get this. Is he saying he deserves bad comments instead of good ones? If he is, thats just messed up. I know I was hard on him before, but now that things are ( ... )
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I tugged on Sam's sleeve, trying to get him to stop paying attention to Carly for a minute. "Sam. Sam, I want Chocolate Fudge Chunk, okay?"
"Sure. What else?"
"Marshmallow sauce... annnd... whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles and M&Ms. Okay?"
"Okay, okay."Don't look at me like I'm weird, just get me the ice cream. "Thank you." I have to say that, otherwise I'm not polite and then Sam gets annoyed. He tries to make sure I've got manners ( ... )
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But I'm practiced at this crap, so I think it's alright. And I actually remembered to order something for myself this time.
I walked back over to Arianna and Carly, and the first thing I noticed was the look on Carly's face. Then I noticed Arianna looked kind of confused.
"Here." I handed Arianna her ice cream. "With everything you asked for."
"Are you sure it's everything?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Really sure?""Absolutely sure." Brat ( ... )
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