Like This And Like That (18 page)

Read Like This And Like That Online

Authors: Nia Stephens

BOOK: Like This And Like That
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IF GEMMA SHOULD TELL CHRISTOPHER GOOD-BYE,
turn to page 229.
If you think Christopher and Gemma should go out again, keep reading to find out what happens.
Chapter 7
Wipe Out!
“I
like him,” Maria told Gemma over the phone. As soon as she got out of Christopher's car and went inside, Gemma had run upstairs and called Maria. “Even Manny was impressed and he don't like nobody,” she added, laughing.
“Yeah, I like him too,” Gemma admitted. “I think I'll go to his party after all.”
“He invited you out again?” Maria asked. “Oooh, that boy's in luuuuv.”
“I guess ...”
“What's wrong?” Maria asked. “You should be all giggly and excited. Is it because you're afraid of what your dad might say?”
“Not really. I mean, yes, but I'll deal with that. It's that ... well, he seems to like me for me, but I also get the message that what he really wants is sex.”
“If you really feel concerned about it, maybe you can talk to him again and explain things.”
Gemma shook her head. “That shouldn't be necessary. He should know by now.”
“Newsflash,” Maria said with a laugh. “
He's a guy!
It's their job to push a girl to her limits. It's our job to stop them in their tracks. I thought you knew.”
The more she talked to Maria, the more at ease Gemma felt about the entire situation—
that
particular situation anyway.
She'd worry about her dad tomorrow.
 
Saturday morning it was raining heavily. Normally on days like today, Gemma and Maria hung out indoors somewhere but today Maria and Manny had made plans. That left Gemma with LeBron. Maria promised to call her as soon as she got home but that did nothing to alleviate Gemma's current boredom.
Later she would rummage through her closet and figure out what to wear for Christopher's party tonight. She also had plenty of time to figure out how she was going to break the white guy factor to her father. This morning at breakfast when Gemma told him about the party, her dad had peered over his newspaper and joked that he would like to meet her date sometime
before
the wedding. That was his way of saying Gemma had been out with Christopher enough times to warrant a formal introduction.
“Gemma,” her mother called from downstairs. “Christopher is on the phone for you.”
“I got it,” Gemma said, picking up the receiver.
“Hey,” Christopher said. “I was just sitting here bored by all of this rain so I thought I'd take a chance and see if you wanted to go to the movies.”
“Sounds fun!” Gemma figured this afternoon would be a better time for introductions, rather than wait until tonight before the party. That way, it would be out of the way and they could enjoy the evening, stress-free. Or her dad would lock her away in a tower for all eternity.
 
After checking her outfit, Gemma stood in front of her bathroom mirror and rehearsed how to tell her dad about Christopher. At this point in the game, wasn't it a little too late to say,
Oh Dad, did I mention Christopher is white?
Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang. Okay, now it really
was
too late. She was coming face-to-face with the exact scenario she was trying so hard to avoid—springing this onto her dad out of the blue.
“I'll get it,” she called as she ran down the steps with LeBron following closely. She opened the door and saw Christopher standing there in a pair of khaki shorts and white T-shirt. He looked gorgeous—healthy, outdoorsy, and hot, hot, hot.
He stepped inside and tried to give her a hug but Gemma nervously pushed him away. “Later for that. You have to meet my folks first.” She took a deep breath and grabbed his hand, leading him to the living room, where her parents were sitting.
At first glance she could not read her father's expression as he watched them approach. Her mother turned in her chair and smiled pleasantly.
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Christopher said, sticking out a hand toward Mr. Williams. Gemma's father lifted himself from his chair and shook Christopher's hand. There was only a polite smile on her father's face.
Could be a ploy to throw me off
, Gemma thought.
“Nice to meet you too, son. If it weren't for the phone calls, I would have believed you were just a figment of our daughter's colorful imagination,” Mr. Williams joked.
At first Gemma worried that her dad was making a terrible joke with his “colorful” crack until she remembered he always told her that her imagination was quite colorful.
Relax yourself, girl
, she ordered. Besides, her father appeared to actually like Christopher. Her mother, too.
“It was nice to meet you both,” Christopher said with confidence—a lot more confidence than Gemma felt. He turned to Gemma. “You ready?”
Gemma nodded. “I'll meet you out by the car.”
“Okay,” he said and then turned back to her parents. “Hopefully we'll have more time to talk next time.” He headed out the door.
Once Gemma heard the door close behind Christopher she asked her father, “You don't have a problem with him being white, do you?”
Her father shook his head. “I've seen all kinds of riff-raff in my day—in every color of the rainbow. As long as he treats my daughter like the princess she is, he's okay. He could be purple for all I care.” Then he added, “Just give me the word and I'll have the entire Orange County police force after him.”
“Donald,” Gemma's mother scolded. She turned to Gemma. “He seems like a nice boy.” She gave Gemma a wink. “I told you.”
“Told her what?” her father asked.
“Nothing, Donald.”
As Gemma walked out the door, she thought,
That wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be.
If that was an indication of things to come, the rest of the night was going to be a breeze.
 
After the movie the rain had stopped so they went to the beach again but this time it was Gemma's turn to meet a few of his friends. She was pleasantly surprised to see he had friends in every shade. Jeff and Sascha were black. Lita and Ramon were Hispanic and Matt and Tina were how Gemma had pictured all his friends, blond and blue-eyed. But that was where all her preconceived notions ended. Every one of them, including Christopher, were into hip-hop music and all of them, including Christopher again, were really into extreme skating.
“You're athletic,” Christopher said to Gemma. “Why don't you try skateboarding?”
“She won't do it,” his black friend, Jeff, teased. “She probably doesn't want to mess up her hair.” Everyone laughed, including Gemma. Oh, how she loved to be underestimated.
“Is that right?” Gemma asked. “I think I smell a challenge.” She nodded to Christopher. “Let's go.”
Christopher grabbed Gemma's hand and led her to one of the ramps. “We'll start you off with this kiddie one.”
Gemma stared at the ramp in front of her, her eyes widening.
Kiddie ramp
? she thought.
This looks more like the adult advanced downhill slope.
As he did with his surfing instruction, Christopher grabbed Gemma's hips and held her steady as she stood on the skateboard. After about five minutes of quick instructions, he announced to his friends that she was ready. The crowd gathered around as Gemma stood at the top of the kiddie ramp and prepared to make her debut as a pro skater. Either that or a hospital outpatient.
She stepped up onto the skateboard and pushed off. Halfway down the ramp she must have hit a pebble. She slid down the rest of the ramp on her butt. Painful
and
embarrassing.
She sat at the bottom of the ramp, prepared for the taunting she knew was about to come from the sidelines.
“Whoa!” Ramon said. “That was awesome! Her first fallout. Much respect.”
Everyone started to clap. “Good job,” Sascha said. “I'm surprised you even went through with it.”
Gemma stood up and wiped the sand from her butt. Then she took a well-earned bow.
 
“Where were you all day?” Maria asked when Gemma finally called back. Gemma told Maria all about the movies, the beach and especially about the skate park. “I had the gnarliest time hanging ten,” Gemma told her best friend.
“Oh, brother,” Maria sighed. “Now you're even starting to sound like surfer dude.”
“Relax, chica,” Gemma mocked. “I'm kidding. But we did have a great time and I think his friends really liked me.”
“That's great but I was still waiting for your call so we could do something.”
“Sorry,” Gemma said. “I didn't have my phone on me.”
After apologizing to Maria for another ten minutes, Gemma told her to just come over and yell at her while she figured out what to wear to Christopher's party.
“So you really like this dude?” Maria asked as she watched Gemma try on her fifth pair of jeans.
“I do, actually. He's cool, laid-back and most importantly wasn't hands-on at all today.”
Maria nodded. “Good. Did you talk to him about it again?”
“Nope. Didn't have to. I think from here on out, everything is going to be cool.”
“I told you,” Maria said. “You just have to put them in check once.”
The girls put on their swimsuits and sat out by the pool waiting for Manny and his friend Emilio to come by. They all decided they were going to hang out together for a couple of hours until Gemma had to start getting ready for the party. She would have invited Christopher over but figured she just saw him this afternoon and didn't want him to get sick of her.
“Yo, ladies,” Manny said, walking around back. “The fun is here.”
“Hey, there,” Emilio greeted them. The two boys exchanged a mischievous look. Then they sprinted toward the pool and did cannonballs right in front of the girls. The girls shrieked as the cold water splashed up.
“Manny!” Maria exclaimed. “You are so dead!” She shot up from the lounge chair and jumped into the water after him.
After a good ten minutes of splashing around, they both emerged from the pool and plopped down on one of the lounge chairs next to Gemma. Emilio stayed in the pool doing laps.
“Gemma, Christopher is on the phone for you,” her mother said, walking over and handing her the cordless.
Surprised, Gemma said, “Hey, what's up?”
“I just wanted to call and tell you I had fun today.”
Gemma laughed. “Aside from a sore butt, so did I.”
“What's that,” he asked.
“What's what?”
“I hear voices in the background.”
Gemma glanced over at Manny and Maria who were now chasing each other around the pool. Emilio hung onto the edge of the pool, cheering them on.
“Oh, that's just a bunch of lunatics,” Gemma said, laughing at their antics.
“You have friends over and didn't invite me?” he asked. She couldn't tell if he was serious or not. “Are there guys over there too?”
“Just these menaces,” she said, shooing Manny away. “Manny and one of his buddies.”
“I'll let you go and have fun with your friends,” he said, sounding disappointed. She was about to respond but realized he had already hung up.
What the hell just happened?
she thought. She felt bad for a minute before deciding if he was really angry with her—for whatever reason—she would just make it up to him tonight at the party.
 
“So you're teaching my daughter how to surf?” Gemma's dad asked when Christopher came to pick her up for the party. “How much do you charge for lessons? I would love to learn how to surf.”
“Dad, do you have to harass my dates every time they come to pick me up?”
Her dad laughed and then leaned toward Christopher. “That's women for you. This one is just like her mother—can't take a joke.”
Gemma pushed Christopher out the door before her dad could embarrass her anymore. Once safely in Christopher's car, Gemma relaxed. She looked over at Christopher, thinking he just might be the perfect guy for her. It was funny how that worked. A guy she would ordinarily never think of dating ended up being one of the best guys she had ever dated. Even Maria and Manny had liked him and enjoyed his company at the pizzeria last night.
When she looked a little closer, she noticed a weird expression on Christopher's face. “Is anything wrong?” she asked when he hesitated to start the car.
He stared straight ahead for a second and then asked, “Geez, how many guys have you been with?”

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