It's All Good

by Nikki Carter

  “Umm ... I guess just put, ‘from your good friend, Gia.’ ”

  Chloe scrunches up her nose. “That’s all?”

  I nod. “Yep. That’s it.”

  “Okay.”

  Chloe whips out that pen like she’s some kind of Picasso and writes the note in big curly letters. And then she has the audacity to put a heart over the I in my name. A simple dot would’ve been more than sufficient.

  Chloe then hands the note to another rally girl and says, “Here. We’ve got another one for Ricky Freeman.”

  Another one? Another one! Wow. I see why he’s trying to avoid Valentine’s Day.

  By the time I make it back into the classroom, I’m seething and Hope can tell. “What’s wrong with you?” she whispers.

  “Mr. Playa has a whole stack of flowers getting delivered to him.”

  “So what? Ricky’s been having girls chase him for like ever!”

  “It’s just that he wanted to cancel Valentine’s Day this year. He said he didn’t want to exchange gifts. I’m thinking he’s tapped out buying for all his other crushes.”

  Hope rolls her eyes. “Girl, bye! He’s tapped out spending all of his money on you. He went broke throwing your birthday party and he bought that little butterfly at the jewelry store.”

  “Well ...”

  “Are you a gold digger, Gia?”

  “What?”

  “I’m just saying. Here’s something else for you to think about. Ricky might be getting a lot of carnations, but how many did he send?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, I do. And there’s only one girl getting anything from Ricky today.”

  I sit back in my chair and smile. “For real?”

  “Yeah. Gia, you’re so spoiled, it’s ridiculous.”

  “I am not.”

  “You are, but it’s cool. As long as Ricky likes it.”

  “Did Kevin send any flowers?”

  Hope nods. “He got some too, and not just from Candy.”

  “Get out! Candy sent him a carnation?”

  “Yep! If you weren’t so busy being wrapped up in your own dysfunctional crush, you’d see that they really dig each other.”

  I’m not that wrapped up in Ricky. I’ve known for a long time about Candy liking Kevin and vice versa. I was the first person to know, in fact.

  “You know who else got a bunch of carnations?” Hope whispers.

  “Who?”

  “Sascha. She got a whole dozen of them from Chase.”

  “Eww! He’s gross.”

  I can’t believe he’s trying to get back with Sascha after what happened in the hallway. I wonder if she’s going to take him back. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past her, but I hope she’s feeling powerful right about now!

  Two hours later, it’s sixth-period Trig and I’m stoked about getting my Valentine’s Day flowers from Ricky. I’m just glad that he and Kevin aren’t in this class with me.

  I tap my pencil on the desk until the inevitable rally girl sticks her head in our door.

  “Mr. Roscoe,” rally girl Chloe sings, “I’ve got a special delivery.”

  Every girl in the class perks up, even the ones who got a delivery last period, because Chloe has a huge bunch of carnations in her hand.

  Mr. Roscoe rolls his eyes and lets Chloe into the classroom. Guess he’s not romantic. He’s probably getting his wife a protractor for Valentine’s Day. Boo, Mr. Roscoe.

  Chloe walks up to my desk wearing a huge smile on her face. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Gia.”

  Then, she hands me the entire bundle of carnations. There’s got to be at least fifteen here.

  “Are these all for me?” I ask.

  “Yep. Somebody’s sure crushing hard on you.”

  Wow. Now, I feel completely bad for only buying two! So much for the moratorium.

  I take out the card and read the note. It says, “Hope these make you smile. Your BFF, Ricky.”

  I’m so not one of those girls who cries when I’m happy, but I feel a tear in the corner of my eye. I wipe it away quickly before anyone sees.

  “If all of the romance is done,” Mr. Roscoe says, “then we can get back to work.”

  Ha! Maybe he can get back to work, but I’m not going to be able to concentrate on anything for the rest of the day!

  Kevin and Ricky are already sitting at our lunch table when Hope and I arrive. It’s pizza day in honor of the holiday, so I’m about to score some. I drop my bag and start toward the line.

  “I got your lunch, Gia!” Ricky says. “Happy V day.”

  He pushes a tray into my spot. Yummy. There’s a little card on there too. A www ... a valentine.

  I open it and it’s a little kid’s card. Dora the Explorer is on there saying “Vamanos ! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day.”

  “You are so corny, Ricky.”

  “You’re smiling.”

  Kevin asks, “Hope, who’s your valentine this year? You’ve been super quiet on the crush scene.”

  “No crush for me. I’m just chillaxin’ this year.”

  The tiny smile on Hope’s face tells me she’s hiding something. She’s keeping a secret and methinks it’s a secret crush.

  She better be glad that Inspector Gia is burned out right now or I’d be all up and through her business. Because that’s what I do!

  30

  Operation Cotillion is in full effect. We’ve got Sascha’s dress (borrowed from a bridal shop), shoes (snuck from Aunt Elena’s closet), and accessories (donated from the rally girls). She’s still broken up about her breakup with Chase, so we’ve decided against a formal escort. We also decided that it was best for Sascha to try on her dress over at Hope’s house. Gwen’s mess radar is still in full effect and Aunt Elena is at church, so it should be cool.

  “I’ll look stupid,” Sascha says as she tries on her dress in front of Hope’s mirror. “Everyone else is going to have an escort. I’ll just stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe I just won’t go at all.”

  “You’re going!” Candy says. “After everything we’ve done to help you, you’re going.”

  I have a total brainstorm. “What if we all walk in together? Kevin, Ricky, and Brother Bryan can walk in behind us, but we can all walk in, arm in arm.”

  Hope’s eyes widen. “Your mom is going to be mad.”

  “She’s going to be mad regardless. But I don’t agree with her, so whatever.”

  I’m over my mother’s ridiculous decision to keep Sascha out of the cotillion. She broke up with Chase and begged for forgiveness. There’s no way they should’ve kept her out.

  “PGP belongs to us, right?” I ask.

  Candy nods. “Yeah. It’s powerful girls and not powerful grown ladies!”

  “Since this is our cotillion, I think we should say who stays and who goes. I’m happy that Sascha kicked Chase to the curb, so I say she stays!”

  Sascha asks, “Aren’t you afraid you’ll get grounded?”

  To be honest, the thought had occurred to me. Especially, since I’m waiting on the acceptance letter to the summer enrichment program. It would not be fresh if I couldn’t go to New York City. Not fresh at all.

  But this is more important. This is about doing the right thing. And whether my mom realizes it or not, this is totally the right thing to do.

  Hope asks, “Sascha, are you happy you broke up with Chase?”

  “Sometimes. But I miss him, you know? I really thought he was going to be my first.”

  “It’s good that he wasn’t, because he is a dog!” Candy says.

  “Not all the time. Do y’all know he bought me a dozen carnations a month ago on Valentine’s Day?”

  “We know, and we’re not impressed,” I say. “Those little raggedy carnations are not something to get excited about!”

  Hope laughs out loud. “This coming from the girl who carried five dead carnations in her bag for a week.”

  Those were from Ricky. No explanation needed. Next!

  “I
just keep thinking about how sweet he can be when he wants to,” Sascha says. “But I know it’s just an act because he always goes back to being mean.”

  In the back of my mind, I wonder if Sascha would’ve broken up with Chase if she hadn’t caught him kissing another girl in the hallway. Maybe she would’ve kept letting him hit her as long as his kisses were only for her.

  “It’s okay,” Hope replies. “You’ll find another guy that really deserves you.”

  “And maybe he’ll marry you!” Candy adds.

  Marriage? Wow, I can’t even believe we’re having this conversation. Getting married seems like it should be light-years away—no—millions of light-years away. We’re still in high school, for heaven’s sake.

  “Y’all tripping, talking about getting married. We’ve still got college!”

  “Isn’t that where you’re supposed to find your husband?” Hope asks.

  “In the name of everything that is good and pure!” I exclaim. “Hope, please tell me you’re not planning on going to college to find a husband.”

  “Of course, I’ll get a degree while I’m there too, but my mom told me to find my husband in college. She knows what she’s talking about. That’s where she met my dad.”

  So, Aunt Elena and Uncle Robert met while they were in college. Aunt Elena ended up never finishing because they got married their sophomore year and she had Hope the same year. Aunt Elena’s always talking about how she should’ve gotten her degree, and it sounds like Hope is planning to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Wow.

  Candy walks across the room and puts her iPod into Hope’s iStereo. “Enough talk about getting married and college! Ugh! I need some music up in here.”

  Rihanna’s “Take a Bow” flows from the speakers. Of course we all sing along, because we know the words.

  Sascha sings along too, but there’s a look of sadness in her eyes. Maybe we shouldn’t be listening to a song about a breakup. But, for real, it’s more than appropriate.

  “Gia, I got the letter!” Kevin is screaming so loud into the phone that I can barely understand him.

  “What are you talking about, Kev? What letter?”

  He slows down and takes a deep breath. “From the summer enrichment program. I got in! I got in!”

  “Oh, sweet! Now at least I know if I get in, I won’t be up there by myself.”

  “Did you check the mail? The letter came today.”

  “I don’t think our mail has been delivered.”

  “I hope you get to go, Gia. This will be fresh to infinity! Can you imagine the fun we’d have in New York City? We’ll go to Broadway shows, we’ll see the Statue of Liberty, we’ll go jogging in Central Park!”

  Excited much?

  “Kev, I’ll call you back when I find out, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Here’s the thing: I don’t know if I really want to be in the program now. They’re only accepting two people from each grade in each participating school. So that means that if Kevin got in, and I get in, then I’ll be spending the entire summer without Ricky. That would be a total bummer, especially since we’ve been getting closer over the past few months.

  What if I’m gone for the summer and his crush fades? Or worse, what if he meets some hot girl over the summer and starts crushing on her? That would be all bad.

  So as much as I want to be in the summer program, I’m hoping that I don’t get that letter.

  Dang, I sound almost as bad as Hope talking about finding a husband while she’s in college. I would be totally dogging her out if she was even considering not taking an opportunity like this one because of a boy. That is such an un-Gia-like thing to do.

  My cell phone buzzes on my hip. It’s a text from Ricky. Didn’t make it into the summer program. Did u?

  Oh, no. Now it’s totally possible that I’m going to get a letter telling me that I’m going to New York. The worst part is going to be breaking it to Kevin that I’m not going. But, real talk, what would be even worse than that would be coming back home and Ricky kicking it with someone else.

  My mom walks through the door with an armful of bags. “Gia, will you give me a hand?”

  I take two of the bags from her and set them on the table. Immediately, I start peeking in to see if she bought anything good. In the bags I have, I see only generic-brand cereal. Someone needs to explain to Gwen that Fruity-O’s do not taste like the real thing. Not at all.

  “You got a letter, Gia,” my mom says.

  Of course. I take the letter from my mother and turn it over in my hands. It’s from Columbia University, so I know it’s the acceptance letter into the program.

  “Aren’t you going to open it?” she asks. “I see it’s from the college. Is it about that summer program you all signed up for?”

  I slowly rip open the envelope and take the letter out. I bite my lip anxiously when I read the very first word—Congratulations.

  “You didn’t get in? Maybe next time, honey,” my mom says in her consoling tone. “Do you want to go up to the mall later to get job applications?”

  “No, I did get in.”

  “Then why are you looking so sad?”

  Okay, it’s completely and totally impossible for me to share this with my mom without all of her parental unit radars going off. I don’t want her to trip, nor do I want a mother-daughter bonding chat.

  “No reason! I’m cool. Can you take me to get some new outfits to rock over the summer?”

  “Sure. Kevin’s going too, right?”

  “Yep. He’s already got our travel itinerary all mapped out.”

  “Perfect! I knew he would.”

  “Who says I’m gonna hang with him for the whole summer? I might meet some hotties up there with some Jay-Z swagger.”

  Gwen frowns. “You better make sure you’re going up there for educational purposes, not boys. I’m going to have Kevin give me a weekly report.”

  “Ma, you’re playing, right? You can trust me.”

  “I know, Gia. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t be letting you go.”

  It’s irritating to me how pumped my mom is about the summer program. She would not be this cool if Ricky was the one going. This summer is soooo not going to rock.

  31

  “You two look beautiful!” LeRon gushes as Candy and I stand in the living room in our cotillion gowns.

  “Thank you, Daddy!”

  “Thanks, LeRon.”

  My mom has tears in her eyes. She’s had them in there since we started getting ready this afternoon.

  “Mama Gwen, why are you crying?”

  “Because you all are just growing up so quickly and I can’t do anything to stop it.”

  “Duh! You’re not supposed to stop it!” I reply with a laugh.

  My cell phone rings in my purse. “Talk to me.”

  “Gia, I have a code red emergency going on right now and I need your help!”

  It’s Kevin and he really does sound like he’s having an emergency. He sounds scared and sick at the same time.

  “What’s wrong, Kev?”

  “M-my grandparents aren’t letting me go to New York.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “They said that they don’t feel safe with me going to a city that’s a target for terrorist attacks.”

  “Wow. I’m sorry, Kevin. Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?”

  “No, I’m not good, but there’s nothing you can do to help. I just wanted to tell you that our fun summer is cancelled.”

  “Aw, Kev. That’s not cool. Try to chill, okay? At least until after the cotillion. We’ll talk about it then.”

  When I press End on the phone, everyone is looking at me. “What’s wrong with Kevin?” Candy asks.

  “Deacon and Mother Witherspoon are not letting him go to the summer program. They said it’s too dangerous.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” my mom says. “I know he was looking forward to it.”

  “What does that mean for Gia?” L
eRon asks.

  Um, hello! Since when did the Witherspoon household have anything to do with Gia?

  “Is anyone else from Longfellow High going to go?” my mom asks.

  “I think they go down the list and pick the third person. But I don’t know who else applied,” I answer.

  “Let’s discuss this later, after the cotillion.”

  Umm ... yeah. Nothing to discuss.

  The youth ministry has transformed the recreation room at our church into a ballroom. It looks fancy, just like a wedding reception.

  All of the PGP girls are standing in the back of the recreation hall in our white dresses. Soon we’ll have to line up with our escorts and walk in to be presented before our family and friends.

  I whisper to Hope, “Have you seen Sascha?”

  “No. She’s not here yet. She sent me a text saying that her parents were running late.”

  “She better hurry up before this whole rebellion was for nothing.”

  Just then, Sascha and her mom rush in through the rear door.

  “Are we too late?” Sascha asks.

  “No, girl. Come on and get in line.”

  Aunt Elena and my mom come out into the foyer, and Sascha’s mom goes into the room with all the other parents. They both look excited, and so far neither of them has noticed that Sascha is here. Wouldn’t it be great if they didn’t notice until the ceremony starts?

  “Excuse me, Sascha. Why are you here?” my mother asks.

  So much for wishful thinking.

  “Mom, we all decided that it was unfair for Sascha to be left out of the cotillion,” I say.

  “You what?”

  My mother is taking very short breaths through her nose, and it almost makes her look like a bull that’s getting ready to charge.

  “We, the members of PGP, accept Sascha and applaud her for making the decision to walk away from a tough situation,” Hope says, repeating the speech that I wrote for her.

  “And as a collective, we have decided that if Sascha is not allowed to participate, that none of us will participate,” Candy says.

  My mother looks about ready to explode, but Aunt Elena seems very calm. She says, “I appreciate the fact that you all have come together as a unit to solve a problem. One of the goals of PGP is for you all to discover your inner leader. That said, it would’ve been more appropriate for you all to approach us prior to the cotillion.”