CHAPTER 9
Sarah cradled the phone on her shoulder, as she made her bed. This time she’d been the one who woke Sydney early in the morning.
After the night she’d had, she’d hardly been able to sleep. So many things invaded her mind, some blaring more than others. She had to talk to someone about it. It was times like these she missed her mom more than ever. She would’ve been able to tell her even this. That’s how close she was to her. Thank goodness she had Syd.
Angel and his mom were driving out to Los Angeles tonight to have dinner with his oldest brother Sal. He wanted Sarah to come but she couldn’t, she was booked both nights this weekend babysitting. They weren’t leaving until late in the afternoon and of course Angel still wanted to see her today so he was picking her up in an hour.
Sarah hadn’t mentioned anything about Dana wearing his jersey last night. She’d been so busy watching Angel play, she might not have even noticed if Valerie hadn’t pointed it out. But she refused to let Dana ruin the night for her, and even Valerie had insisted she not let Dana get to her.
“He’s totally into you,” she'd said. “He could give a rat’s ass about her and she knows it. She is so desperate it’s pathetic. Don’t go arguing with him because of her, it’s what she wants.”
Sarah knew Dana would’ve been showing up at the party, and she wasn’t sure if she’d still be wearing Angel’s jersey. She hadn’t wanted to stick around and give her the pleasure of making them uncomfortable. So, she was glad when Angel was so willing to make an early exit.
What had happened in his car hadn’t been totally on impulse. She'd watched Dana parade around in Angel’s jersey seductively during the game. Even saw Angel eye her as she did a dance caressing the jersey. A small part of her wanted to show Angel she had just as much to offer. It was something she’d been giving some thought to for weeks. With Angel being so ardent, she knew it was just a matter of time.
Though she'd never actually done anything like that before, she'd read about it plenty of times. And Valerie had filled her in as well. Surprisingly, it wasn't so bad, and it was over a lot faster than she had expected. Now, the morning after, she had mixed feelings. But she wasn't sure if she regretted it, yet.
Today would be different. She and Angel had to talk. She’d put up with Dana’s antics for weeks now and wasn’t sure how much longer she could deal with her crap. The only plans they had were to hang out for a few hours, and she was gonna take advantage of it. She was nervous though. The last thing she wanted was to seem insecure. But she was. Every time she’d seen Dana around Angel, it had burned her up, but she’d let it go. She didn’t feel she’d had the right to demand anything from Angel yet.
Things were different now. They were exclusive after all, and the jersey thing had pushed it.
She’d been on the phone with Sydney for a while now. He seemed to think she should just ask Angel straight out, what was up with him and Dana. From everything she’d told Sydney so far about Angel even Sydney knew there was no way Angel would’ve kept quiet if the tables were turned. Sydney had even jokingly started referring to Angel as her badass husband. Then unexpectedly Sydney asked. “Hey, Lynni, what’s Angel think about us being so tight?”
She stopped and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to lie but she had no choice. She wasn’t about to hurt his feelings.
“You know...” She hoped to sound convincing. “He really hasn’t said much about it. I guess ‘cause I really haven’t gone too much into it.” That was true wasn’t it? Technically she hadn’t lied.
“Hmm,” Sydney said. “Maybe it’s better that way.”
There you had it. As usual she and Sydney were on the same page. She smiled triumphantly. Her reasoning on not clarifying things about Syd to Angel held a little more validation now. Then as if someone had pushed the slow button on her, making her thoughts warp, he continued.
“I mean, be honest of course, you don’t wanna start things off by keeping things from him. Just don’t tell him more than he needs to know. Last thing you want is for him to think your rubbing our friendship in.”
And just like that, she was back to feeling deceitful. This shouldn’t be so complicated. She plopped down on her bed. Up until last night she hadn’t really thought about the seriousness of the relationship, and the real effect Sydney might have on it.
She looked up to see Valerie standing by her door, in her sleep clothes as usual for this time of the morning, holding a plate loaded with food, and a glass of milk. She had a big silly smile on her face, “Is that Angel?” she mouthed.
Sarah shook her head and mouthed back “Sydney.”
Valerie frowned and walked over and set her food down on Sarah’s desk. She sat down facing Sarah.
Sarah cut her conversation with Sydney short telling him she needed to finish getting ready. She’d been done getting ready for a while now, but she could tell Valerie wanted to talk. She saw Valerie shake her head disapprovingly as she hung up. She hadn’t even flipped her phone shut when Valerie started in on her.
“You know, you’re gonna blow it with Angel because of this guy,” she said. “I mean have you not noticed how possessive Angel acts around you? Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s cute; he’s not rude or anything. But it’s so obvious he wants everyone to know you’re off limits. Something tells me he doesn’t know just how much you talk to Syd.”
The knot that had formed in Sarah’s stomach during her conversation with Sydney was still there, and it was getting bigger.
She swung around sideways on the bed and brought her feet up, so that she could lean on her knees. She exhaled loudly. “I know.”
“Thank you,” Valerie said. “Finally, you’re listening.” She put a spoonful of eggs and food in her mouth and took a swig of milk, holding up a finger for Sarah to give her a second. Apparently she wasn’t done.
Sarah looked at Valerie’s plate. There was enough food for two people. It’d always amazed her how much Valerie could eat, being that she was so tiny. She smiled, thinking Valerie could probably give Angel a run for his money in an eating contest.
“Look, Sarah, I get it. Okay? Sydney’s been your best friend since you two were kids, and his family is the only family you had growing up. He’s like a brother to you and you’re very close, blah, blah, blah. But this whole needing to talk to each other every single day, is a bit much, don’t you think?”
Sarah grimaced. “That's so unfair though. If it was a girl that was like a sister to me and we talked every day, it would be just fine, wouldn’t it?”
Valerie shook her head as she downed more of her milk. “But that’s the thing Sarah. Fair or not, he’s not a girl, and I can guarantee you, if Angel knew how much you two talk he’d be pissed.” She paused to eat another spoonful, and then spoke with a mouthful. “You never did tell me what he thought of your best friend being a guy.”
Sarah winced and hugged her knees tighter. “He thinks Syd is a girl.”
Valerie’s eyes popped wide open. She took a quick drink of her milk, hurrying to wash her food down.
“Sarah Lynn!” Her tone was reminiscent of Sarah’s childhood, when she’d been caught being bad. ”Please tell me you’re kidding.”
Sarah put her hands on her face and groaned. “I’m not.”
She brought her arms down, crossing them over her knees, leaning her head against them. She looked at Valerie who was still staring at her shaking her head and shrugged. “He assumed Sydney was a girl when I told him about my best friend and I just let him go with that. It didn’t seem so bad at first, but then when we were in Old Town that first weekend he told me he didn’t believe guys and girls could be friends.”
“He did?”
Sarah nodded. “Yeah, and he was pretty adamant about it.”
“Not surprising. I’d expect nothing less from a Moreno,” Valerie said. “So, what are you gonna do when he finds out Sydney’s a guy?”
Sarah put her legs back down on the side of the bed and sat up straight. She put her hands under her thighs.
“That’s just the thing.” She chewed her lip. “How’s he gonna find out?”
“Are you insane? You plan on never seeing Sydney again?” Valerie stopped and seemed to ponder what she had just said “Actually, that wouldn’t be such a bad idea. But I’m sure that’s not part of your plan is it?”
Sarah looked at her, still chewing her lower lip. There was no way she could just dismiss Sydney, as if he were just an old boyfriend. He was so much more to her. He was family. Angel was just gonna have to understand that. But Valerie did have a point. She could cut down on the phone calls.
“No, of course I plan on seeing Syd again,” she said. “I’ll just have to be honest with Angel, just not yet.”
Valerie raised an eyebrow, “When?”
“Well, I’m not planning to sit him down and talk to him about this. I don’t wanna make that big a thing out of it. We haven’t discussed Sydney lately. The next time the subject arises, and he refers to Syd as a she, I’ll just correct him.”
Valerie looked at her unimpressed. “That easy. uh?”
Sarah held her chin up. “Sure, why not?”
Valerie shook her head. “Well, cuz,” she said. “I wish you luck. Just remember the longer you wait the worse it’s gonna be. Just don’t be too disappointed, if it doesn’t go over that well when you just correct him.”
Sarah frowned, but before she could respond her phone rang. It was Angel. Valerie jumped up and ran over to listen in as usual.
“Hello?”
“Hey, I gotta go to the restaurant, we’re a little short on staff this morning. I’m not sure what time I’ll be able to pick you up, but I really want you to come down for the brunch. Would you be okay if I sent Eric to pick you up?”
Valerie motioned that she could give Sarah a ride. “Valerie could give me a ride, Angel. But are you sure I’m not gonna be in your way?”
“No, not at all,” he said. “Yeah, bring her. Tell her brunch is on the house.”
Valerie clapped her fingers together, smiling big. Sarah looked over at her almost empty plate on the desk and wanted to laugh.
“Okay, what time should we be there?”
“Be here as early as possible. That way as soon as I’m done we can take off.”
Valerie made a coddling face and puckered her lips. Sarah nudged her playfully. “Okay, as soon as she’s ready we’ll leave.”
No sooner had she hung up than Valerie ran to the desk to get her plate. She was nearly out the door, when she stopped sharply. “Oh, hey, did you ask him about stupid Dana?”
Sarah shook her head. “No, I might today.”
“I almost forgot why I came in here to begin with,” She made a sour face. “Last night after you guys left, she showed up still wearing his jersey, and within a couple of hours she was crying drunk. Her bonehead friends hovered all around her consoling her, making a ridiculous scene. I even heard her asking Eric how Angel could hurt her so bad. I’m telling you she’s pathetic. She really acts like they had something. It’s such a joke. Like I said before Sarah, don’t argue with him because of her. But you might want to ask him to get his jersey back.”
Sarah felt an uncomfortable fog settle over her. Valerie was adamant that there was never anything real between Dana and Angel. But she wasn’t so sure anymore. She’d seen the way he acted when she talked to him at school. It was too nice for her to stomach. She knew he wasn’t rude, but she wished he’d just ignore her. Instead, he listened attentively. Now she was crying over him, and at a party, in front of everyone?
She was absolutely bringing it up today.