Page 55 of My Fake Date With My Childhood Friend
The Rigby’s house was full of cheery people and music. My mom made me go around and greet everyone, even the people I didn’t know who somehow knew me. I was concerned by the sheer number of them who said they used to change my diapers when I was a baby. Like, gross much?
This was one of the few times that I wasn’t too angry about her making me go around, though. It gave me the excuse not to stop anywhere for too long or get dragged into an activity, giving me a chance to look around for Alexander. But just like the last day of school, he was nowhere to be found.
In the end, I circled back around to find Francine. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a nice up-do, and she was wearing a simple black dress.
“Hi, Francine!” I said as I walked up to her.
“Penny!” Francine said in a sing-song voice. She pulled me into a tight hug. She had the familiar scent of apple and cinnamon that made me feel like I was home. “How are you, honey?”
“I’m good,” I said with my face smashed against her shoulder. “Um, Francine?”
She pulled away and held me at arm’s length. I took a deep breath now that I could again.
“Yes?”
“Have you seen Alexander? I can’t find him anywhere.”
Francine's face resting face was kind and gentle, so it was very obvious when she looked concerned. Her brows furrowed, and her dark brown eyes became intense.
“He won't come out of his room,” she sighed. “He’s been so upset the past few days, but I have no idea. Have you talked to him?”
“Me?” I repeated stupidly. I didn’t know what to say. The way she was talking made it seem like Alexander hadn’t told her about our fight for some reason. “Um… no. We haven’t spoken in a few days.”
“Well, maybe you can cheer him up now,” she said. She pushed me towards the stairs. “You know where his room is. Go see if you can get him to come down and see his friends. I’m sure that will make him feel better.”
“Oh, um…” I tried to think of some sort of protest, but she pushed me all the way to the stairs, then wandered off to greet some more guests that were just coming in. “Okay, I guess I’m doing this now.”
It was only then that I realized I hadn’t actually planned out what I was going to say to Alexander once I saw him. All I knew was that I was going to talk to him once I came to the party, and now that I was here, I was worried. How was I going to explain everything? Would he even listen to me? Or would he send me away and not even entertain the idea of hearing me out?
I took a deep breath and started the climb up the stairs. The farther I got, the more scared I became. What if he didn’t want to see me? What if he was already over me?
Alexander's bedroom door was closed, and I didn't see any light seeping out from underneath it. I paused in the hallway for a second and pressed my ear to the door to see if I could hear anything, but it was dead silent. Was he even in there?
I knocked softly, scared that I might be waking him up from a nap or something. My heart was pounding in my chest, and my stomach felt sick as I waited for his response.
“Alexander?” I said. When there was no response, I knocked again a little harder. “Alexander? It's Penny.”
“Go away,” was the only reply.
“Your mom sent me up here,” I said. “She wants you to come down to the party.”
I kicked myself for saying it as soon as the words left my mouth. Telling him his mother sent me to talk to him probably wasn't winning me any points in his books. I wanted him to know that I wanted to come up here.
“Tell her I'm not coming,” he said.
“But—”
“Just go away, Penny,” he said. He sounded so resigned. So defeated. My heart broke at the thought that I had caused him to feel that way.
“All right,” I murmured sadly.
I turned around and started back down the stairs, my steps slow and reluctant. I wanted to call out to him again, to tell him how sorry I was, but I knew it would do no good. He didn't want to hear from me like that.
I paused on the bottom step and considered what I could do now. He probably expected me to just go back to the party and forget about him, but I refused to do that. I'd spent too much time just rolling over and giving up when things got tough, and I refused to do it now.
I squared my shoulders and started walking in the direction of the party again. Instead of pausing to mingle or join in on any of the activities, though, I passed straight through the house and went to the backyard. If he wouldn't hear me out through his door, he better be prepared to talk to me through his window instead because I was not going to take no for an answer. Nikki had told me to make a big gesture, and I was going to do it.
After all, Christmas was the perfect time to woo someone, right?
