July 8th
I don't have much time to write, we're getting ready for Amalia's birthday party. It's also a party for Claudia, but we won't be exchanging gifts with her until her actual birthday on the 11th. But this is the big party for them both.
Yesterday Mary Anne, Stacey and I went out and got Amalia presents. Kristy was at Justin's, Claudia was out with Rico (second day in a row. She's here now, but he'll be at the party too), so it was just us.
It was fun, just being with my Stoneybrook friends for a while. We acted goofy, we pigged out on nachos at Starburst's (Stacey didn't eat as much to keep her diet balanced, and Mary Anne complained about how it didn't have any meat. I enjoyed them) and compared CD's with books, and funky tank tops to gift baskets from Bath and Body Works.
I settled on a CD from a band I liked that I thought Amalia would like too. Stacey and Mary Anne pooled their money for one of the gift baskets. It was a nice gift, especially since they don't know her as well.
"Did you get Amalia a gift?" I asked Claudia earlier.
"Yeah," she said, hunched over her computer. "Rico and I picked out something."
Claudia has been acting so strange the past couple of days.
I just went downstairs and gave Dad a very detailed scenario of where we were going to be, and that we would probably be later than ten, and if it was really late, we'd call for a ride home so we wouldn't have to walk home in the dark, unless he wouldn't want to be bothered then Ducky could just give us a ride and that would be a lot easier.
"If you are later than ten, call me. Then..." Dad paused and considered. "If it's later than eleven, Ducky can drive you home."
"How late...?"
He got a really serious look on his face. "Dawn, you are not going to undermine me."
"I just wanted to know how late we could stay out."
"I've trusted you for a long time," Dad said, "and I hate it that I don't feel like I can now."
And he went on for a while, but he basically just said to call. I sort of felt guilty about it, but it wasn't enough to promise I'd be back at ten.
Anyway, I need to finish getting ready.
July 8th (Or very early July 9th)
I'm really worried about Claud. I thought maybe she was just homesick or finally feeling the effect of all those Snickers bars. It's a lot worse than I thought.
Let me start at the beginning. I'd go to bed, but I don't know if I'd go through with writing it all.
The five of us walked over to Amalia's together. Mary Anne and Stacey were bickering about the wrapping on their present, Kristy was writing "and Kristy" underneath "from Dawn" on the tag on my present, and Claudia was watching the ground.
We got to the party and there were already some people there. Amalia knows a lot of upperclassmen through the band members. I don't really know any of them. But I saw Maggie and Tyler and I went over to them.
"How's it going?" I asked.
"Okay, so far," Maggie said. "No big scenes, but you know how things like this tend to go."
I nodded, but at the time, I thought that Maggie was being sort of negative.
Amalia came out of the house with a platter of fresh veggies (yum!) followed by her Dad who had a plate of hamburgers and hot dogs for grilling.
"Happy birthday!" I called.
"Dawn!" she said, setting the veggies down on a table that was already filled with food. She looked over my shoulder. She gave me a hug, which was sort of weird because Amalia and I aren't that close, and said, "I'm really glad you could make it."
"There's an awful lot of people I don't know," I admitted.
Amalia rolled her eyes. "A lot of crashers. The guys know so many people and when they just mention the word "party" even if it's my own backyard, they all jump the occasion. I was hoping for something fairly small. As you can see, it's not happening."
"You have enough food to feed an army."
"Yeah... Papi was hoping for leftovers. I don't think that's happening either."
"I saw all that... meat."
Amalia laughed at me. "Dawn, not everyone thinks the cows are sacred! Besides, there's plenty of veggies, and Isabel made a vegetable lasagna. Believe me, you are going to be so stuffed after tonight you won't eat for a week."
I laughed too.
"Eeeee!"
I spun around to see Claudia jumping into Rico's arms. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and she was smiling as she kissed him. The first time I'd seen her smile in a couple of days.
"They seem really happy," Amalia commented. "I'm going to hate it when they all leave. And not just seeing Claud and Rico break up."
"They seem happy," I sort-of agreed.
More people showed up, a bunch of people I knew from school, a few people that I was getting introduced to. I nearly dropped my tomato juice when MANDY RICHARDS walked into the yard. I slipped away and hopefully I could avoid her. The Vargas' yard is fairly big.
Music started playing from a corner of the yard. A bunch of people started dancing.
Sunny walked into the yard with Ducky and Justin. I can still hardly look Sunny in the eye after what happened at the club. I still can't believe she was with that guy. I have no idea what went on there, but it can't be good. We're not even going into the fact that she was with a naked twenty-five some year man. I don't even want to think about it. But it's like talking about Sunny, that's all it takes.
Anyway, I'm of track. Getting distracted again. They were followed by Patti and Bruce (with some upperclassmen I didn't know).
The party went on, and I ate veggie lasagna that was fantastic. A lot of the strange upperclassmen left (Mandy with them, I hoped), and Amalia opened her gifts. She loved the gift basket and put the CD I got her right into the stereo. Claud and Rico had gotten her a really nice sketching pad and a package of special drawing pencils.
"Wow, thanks!" Amalia said.
There was a lot of dancing after that, especially since the party was a lot smaller now. I danced with Ducky, Bruce (whom I don't know very well, but is a really nice guy), this guy that Patti's friends with and was sure we'd hit it off, plus we'd all just go out and dance together.
I was out having a great time when I heard screaming. Not like horror movie "the slasher is going to get me maybe someone will hear me in the middle of nowhere" screaming, but more like yelling and shouting, someone is really angry screaming.
I pushed by a couple of people who weren't really noticing the yelling and saw Claudia and Rico standing nearly nose-to-nose shouting at each other.
It was really weird. Kristy yells when she's angry. So do Dad, Sunny, and probably a dozen other people I know. Claudia, however, isn't one of them. She's more a sulk and talk to you through someone else (It was really annoying at BSC meetings) sort of angry. She's a grudge holder. She is not a screamer.
But there she was in a screaming fight with Rico. And that was weird since they'd been so cute and happy like an hour before.
"What's going on?" Mary Anne was suddenly at my side.
"I don't know..." I was just staring. I know it's rude, but I couldn't help it. I don't remember all they said, it was all pretty accusatory, though. Finally, I guess when they realized they had an audience, they went their separate ways.
"Do you think they've been fighting a lot?" Mary Anne asked.
"I don't know. That would explain why would Claud's been acting so weird," I replied.
"Maybe she could use a break... from all of this. I mean, Dawn, this vacation is great and all, but it's been pretty intense for a lot of us."
"Or at least you romancers," I said, teasing her slightly.
She made a face, but smiled. "I'm just saying. Maybe we could use a vacation from our vacation."
It seemed like a great idea. But what?
I was talking to Maggie who was acting, well, not strange, but just more down on herself than usual. She's been that way a lot lately.
"I can't believe I got Amalia such a horrible gift," she said.
"Maggie, you got her the actual staff that Gandalf carries in the Lord of the Rings movies. She was crying."
"One of the staffs. He had more than one. But that's not it. I didn't put any real thought into that. It's just a movie prop. What else can I get people?"
As much as I try to be a good friend, I can't deal with Maggie's negative attitude all the time. I try to be a positive, and I really believe in the power of positive thinking, and when Maggie gets this way, I feel like I'm in a cage or something.
"It's a great gift," Tyler assured her. "Amalia loves those movies. You wouldn't have gotten it for her if she didn't."
I'm glad he can deal with it, because it's just too much for me.
"I told you there'd be a scene," Maggie said, getting the subject off herself. "I can't believe Claudia and Rico got into it like that. They seemed so close."
I shrugged. I had the feeling Claud and Rico would be the topic of conversation a lot lately. I didn't want it to turn into gossip. It would, though.
When it got dark around nine-thirty, everyone was gone except for my Stoneybrook friends, Ducky, Justin, Sunny, Maggie, Tyler, Bruce, and Patti. Rico had left sometime after the fight. We went inside and watched movies until after midnight when Ducky drove us home.
I'd say... it was a good night. In the big picture.
July 9th (at a reasonable hour)
I had a great idea. I couldn't call it that or Kristy would be down my throat. I e-mailed my step-cousin Lena and asked if we could stay for a day or two. She e-mailed me back nearly right away and agreed that it was a great idea and we were welcome whenever.
First, I called Ducky to see if he had any plans for the next few days. He had to work at Mr. Winslow's store, but he suggested calling Justin. So I did (feeling a little awkward since I don't know Justin that well) and Justin said he could drive us up to Lena's house and spend a few days.
Given that Dad said it was okay.
Dad wasn't very keen on the idea of a boy he didn't know driving us anywhere for a few days. He kept going on about horror stories he's read in the newspaper. Finally, I figured that the only way we could get away with this was to tell Dad that Justin was gay (even though that was only half true).
And suddenly everything turned around. He and Carol didn't mind Justin at all anymore. I guess they figure he wouldn't kidnap us or something. Who knows what grown-ups think about guys, but anyway, one thing I like about living in California: Everyone has such an open mind.
He talked to Justin and wanted to talk to his mom, but Justin assured him that his mom couldn't be bothered and it would be fine. He was very yes-sir, no-sir, thank you-sir the entire time. I think Dad called Justin's mom, but I don't know. Either way, Justin's driving us to Lena's.
So we have an official no boys allowed trip. Except for Justin, but he doesn't really count.
We somehow got everyone together to let them know about the trip. Everyone is really excited. We leave tomorrow morning.