don’t have to talk about it or anything—it’s a given.”
“So you guys are telling me that ’cool it’ means Georg has dumped me?”
They all look at one another, then Jules shrugs. “Maybe. I mean, we weren’t there, and since you left us out of the loop it’s not like we can give you a fair assessment.”
“What I think,” Natalie tells me in a very deliberate tone, “is that you need to decide whether you want to be with him . That’s what really matters.”
I frown at her, because she’s sounding like my mother—or, more accurately, like one of Mom’s self-help gurus. “I can’t be with him if he doesn’t want me, so I don’tknow that that’s helpful. I mean, what if I do want him, but he doesn’t want me?”
“Then forget him,” Jules mutters, “and I’ll have a crack at the boy.”
I ignore her. In the most unemotional and firm voice I can manage, I say, “Well, we can debate it all day long, but there’s no point. I won’t know anything for sure until I get back to Schwerinborg and Georg and I can sort it all out.”
Assuming the spin control plan actually works and we’re allowed to have more than a five-minute face-to-face conversation alone, that is.
“That’s not true,” Christie cuts in. “Just go out with David while you’re here. I bet you decide pretty quickly whether Georg is really the guy for you once you’re out with David. Even if Georg is a prince and you think he ‘gets’ you.”
Right. I can tell what she’s really saying is: 1) Georg doesn’t get me, or he would have known to explain “cool it”—or to not even say “cool it” in the first place; and 2) David does get me, so who cares if Georg does or not, since I’ve been crushing on David practically my whole life?
“I agree with Christie,” Natalie says. “What can it hurt?”
Well, it can hurt Georg. But I’m not going to say that aloud because it’s clear to me that they’re all in David’s corner.
“Okay, fine. I’ll go out with David.” I point a finger at Christie. “But it is NOT a date. Casual really has to mean casual, okay? Make that crystal clear to David and to Jeremy. I still believe I’m the Armor Girl.”
“You’re wrong,” Christie says. “But you can wait and see for yourself.”
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Are you there?
I know this is your old e-mail address from home, but I thought I’d try to send to it on the off-chance you’d get it.
I’m at an Internet café in Zermatt—l managed to get over here from my hotel without anyone from the press following me. I think I can safely send you a message, but you know how that goes, so I’ll keep this basic.
I just wanted you to know I meant what I said after the dinner. The way things happened afterward, I wasn’t sure you’d know that anymore.
Don’t respond-this is only a temporary address-but I promise we’ll talk as soon as possible after we both get back. I’ll find a way. Even if I have to sneak out at midnight to do it.
G-
I forgot how completely, totally, unequivocally gorgeous and witty David is. I had a crush on him for nearly a decade for a very, very good reason.
I keep peeking over at him in the next chair, watching him watch the movie (and hoping he doesn’t see me doing it), and thinking about how his surfer-blond hair and smooth, just-tanned-even-in-the-winter skin makes him look like he belongs in a movie himself.
And speaking of the movie … yeah, it’sHeath Ledger. And it’s one of those historical dramas. Christie KNOWS I get all hot and bothered by Heath wearing a fancy costume, so this is totally intentional. To top it off, David bought me a large Diet Coke and a medium popcorn, no butter, which is exactly what I like to have. He bought himself Reese’s Pieces (which I love but never buy, because everyone will think I’m an oinker) and made a point of offering me some.
I feel like there’s a massive conspiracy going on around me.
“So you guys are telling me that ’cool it’ means Georg has dumped me?”
They all look at one another, then Jules shrugs. “Maybe. I mean, we weren’t there, and since you left us out of the loop it’s not like we can give you a fair assessment.”
“What I think,” Natalie tells me in a very deliberate tone, “is that you need to decide whether you want to be with him . That’s what really matters.”
I frown at her, because she’s sounding like my mother—or, more accurately, like one of Mom’s self-help gurus. “I can’t be with him if he doesn’t want me, so I don’tknow that that’s helpful. I mean, what if I do want him, but he doesn’t want me?”
“Then forget him,” Jules mutters, “and I’ll have a crack at the boy.”
I ignore her. In the most unemotional and firm voice I can manage, I say, “Well, we can debate it all day long, but there’s no point. I won’t know anything for sure until I get back to Schwerinborg and Georg and I can sort it all out.”
Assuming the spin control plan actually works and we’re allowed to have more than a five-minute face-to-face conversation alone, that is.
“That’s not true,” Christie cuts in. “Just go out with David while you’re here. I bet you decide pretty quickly whether Georg is really the guy for you once you’re out with David. Even if Georg is a prince and you think he ‘gets’ you.”
Right. I can tell what she’s really saying is: 1) Georg doesn’t get me, or he would have known to explain “cool it”—or to not even say “cool it” in the first place; and 2) David does get me, so who cares if Georg does or not, since I’ve been crushing on David practically my whole life?
“I agree with Christie,” Natalie says. “What can it hurt?”
Well, it can hurt Georg. But I’m not going to say that aloud because it’s clear to me that they’re all in David’s corner.
“Okay, fine. I’ll go out with David.” I point a finger at Christie. “But it is NOT a date. Casual really has to mean casual, okay? Make that crystal clear to David and to Jeremy. I still believe I’m the Armor Girl.”
“You’re wrong,” Christie says. “But you can wait and see for yourself.”
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Subject: Are you there?
I know this is your old e-mail address from home, but I thought I’d try to send to it on the off-chance you’d get it.
I’m at an Internet café in Zermatt—l managed to get over here from my hotel without anyone from the press following me. I think I can safely send you a message, but you know how that goes, so I’ll keep this basic.
I just wanted you to know I meant what I said after the dinner. The way things happened afterward, I wasn’t sure you’d know that anymore.
Don’t respond-this is only a temporary address-but I promise we’ll talk as soon as possible after we both get back. I’ll find a way. Even if I have to sneak out at midnight to do it.
G-
I forgot how completely, totally, unequivocally gorgeous and witty David is. I had a crush on him for nearly a decade for a very, very good reason.
I keep peeking over at him in the next chair, watching him watch the movie (and hoping he doesn’t see me doing it), and thinking about how his surfer-blond hair and smooth, just-tanned-even-in-the-winter skin makes him look like he belongs in a movie himself.
And speaking of the movie … yeah, it’sHeath Ledger. And it’s one of those historical dramas. Christie KNOWS I get all hot and bothered by Heath wearing a fancy costume, so this is totally intentional. To top it off, David bought me a large Diet Coke and a medium popcorn, no butter, which is exactly what I like to have. He bought himself Reese’s Pieces (which I love but never buy, because everyone will think I’m an oinker) and made a point of offering me some.
I feel like there’s a massive conspiracy going on around me.
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