Andrea's New Boyfriend (Chapter 5)

"Hey, Madeline," Skye greeted, spotting Madeline entering the cafeteria on a Monday afternoon and walking towards the table.
"Hey, Skye," she greeted, sitting down in her spot of the table bench and laying her lunch bag on the table. "Hey, girls."
The other girls greeted back.
"Still wearing pants?" asked Lizzie.
"Yeah," Madeline replied. "My scabs won't go away."
"It's been, like, a week," Skye noted.
"Well, scabs should go away in two days," Madeline responded. "But I guess I got to wait a month."
"So, Andrea..." Skye said softly. "How was your weekend?"
Andrea rolled her lips in. She paused for a while but then spit out, "Me and Ricardo broke up."
Madeline gasped. "What?"
"It wasn't working out," Andrea continued.
"Andy, I hope this has nothing to do with me," said Debra. "Because I wasn't trying to break you guys up."
"I know. I started to think and now I know."
"So I didn't break you guys up?"
"No."
"Whoa. Well, praise Jesus."
"Why did you guys break up?" asked Lizzie.
"He told me if I was going to continue to date him, I had to stop being friends with you all," answered Andrea.
"What?" Skye's eyes widened.
Madeline dug through her lunch bag. "Where are my matches?"
"He gave you a choice?" asked Debra.
"Pretty much," Andrea replied.
"I am so sorry."
"It's okay. I thought we would last but stuff like this happens."
"I just started to remember: I don't carry my matches with me," said Madeline.
"Why do you have matches?" Lizzie questioned.
"My mother gave them to me for 'an emergency'."
"What would be the emergency be?" asked Skye. "To light some fireworks on the fourth of July?"
Andrea giggled, making all of the girls giggle.
"That is a true emergency," Andrea said through her giggles, "to use your matches for."
Madeline's giggles turned into loud laughs. "Aw, you're smiling."
"I guess I am."
"When there are bad days, you just need to laugh," said Debra.
"Thank you, Mohandas Gandhi."
"Welcome back!"
"I never left."
"Well, if you were to, then... welcome back."
"I just can't believe Ricardo would say that to you," said Lizzie to Andrea. "That jerk on a stick."
Andrea giggled again. "Oh, he was about to be."
"What?"
"After he told me to stop being friends with you guys, I threaten to hurt him with my grandfather's cane then broke up with him."
"You threatened him?"
"Actually, I did it. I did hurt him. If I say it, I'll do it."
"Classic Andrea," said Madeline. "That's why I love you."
"Debra, I am sorry for shouting at you a couple days ago. I guess I was a little blinded by love."
"No, you were a lot blinded by love," said Debra. "You were a lot blinded."
"Okay, don't rub it in my face."
"We're sorry for that we even got pestered by your excessive chattering about your boyfriend."
"We just want to let you know that we were happy for you," said Lizzie.
"I know," said Andrea. "Y'all my girls and you were being honest. I'm sorry for the way I acted when I was with him."
"Sorry things didn't work out between you and Ricardo," said Madeline.
"That's okay. I'll find someone new."
"Promise not to talk about him so much?" Skye recommended.
Andrea glared at Skye playfully. "I'll try."
"As long as we have each other, that is all what matters," said Madeline. "Plus, you can date Ricardo's drug-using friend to get back at him."
"Okay, that sounds like a plan."
Madeline stared at her in a serious way. "Dude, I was kidding. Don't do that."
"I thought Ricardo said his friend used to do drugs," Lizzie said.
"So you're agreeing with him?"
"No, I--"
"Don't agree with the enemy. Enemies lie and wear pants that are too tight."
"Ricardo did wear small jeans, didn't he?" Andrea questioned.
"A thing you actually don't like about him," Skye commented.
"Actually, I don't really--"
"No!"
Debra snickered a bit.
"Whatever," Andrea responded. "I pick good friends over bad boyfriends anyway. I can't date someone who insults my amigas."
"Wait, he insulted us, too?" asked Lizzie.
"Yeah, he called you nappy."
"Nappy?" said Madeline. "I'll have you know that I use an InStyler. Nothing nappy about that."
"His face is nappy," Skye muttered to herself.
"So, guys, I have a question," said Andrea.
"And that is?" Madeline responded.
"You guys weren't really annoyed with me talking about Ricardo, were you?"
The girls answered the question at once with comments, all agreeing that they were annoyed.
"I wanted to cut my ears off like Van Gogh," Debra had the last word.

Andrea's New Boyfriend (Chapter 4)

The day after, Debra took a walk from her house down a few blocks over to Andrea's house. Once she arrived, she took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. She started to think about what would Andrea's reactions be if she told her about the chattering of her boyfriend. After several seconds, the door opened with Andrea poking her head out.
"Hey, Debbie!" she greeted.
"Hey, Andy," Debra greeted back.
"What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming."
"Oh, this is just a quick stop. I need to talk to you."
"Oh, sure. Come on in."
Debra entered the bright orange house with Andrea closing the door for her. Debra took a few steps into the pink and white lobby and turned around to face Andrea.
"Well, sit down, moza amiga," said Andrea.
"Actually, I want to tell you something before I make myself comfortable as it might make you tense."
"Okay. Then tell me."
"Alright. First, how are you and Enrique Iglesias doing?"
"Ricardo Iglesias."
"Ricardo Iglesias. That's what I meant."
"Well, we're doing fantastic. We do better and better every day. I think I might love him."
"Oh, well, you're going to hate me after this," she smiled nervously.
"Why?"
"Um... don't take this personal. Think about me saying it because I love you."
"What is it?"
"Say you love me back."
"I love you. What is it?"
"Well... me and the girls are happy that you got a boyfriend. Actually, more than happy. Ecstatic! But you have this little habit that we want you to look over."
"Oh, is it the way I talk? I started to notice that my voice gets slightly American-sounding when I talk too long. It's probably because I'm near Americans every day. I'll try to work on it because let me tell you: it's freaking me out, too."
"No, it's not about your accent. It's about Ricardo."
"Oh. Well, that makes sense since you were talking about my relationship."
"Yeah. So about Ricardo -- and like I said, we're ecstatic -- you talk about him too much."
Andrea stared at Debra as if she blacked out. "What do you mean?"
"Well, for example, when we asked you about your day, your answer involved Ricardo."
"Well, yeah. I had a good day because I was talking to Ricardo earlier."
"And that's okay. But when you talk to Ricardo, you end up talking about Ricardo."
"What's wrong with talking about a boyfriend?"
"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. It's just that you talk about him more than you talk about yourself."
"Debbie, I'm not egotistical."
"I know but you act like he's perfect."
"He is perfect."
"Nobody's perfect."
"Just because Hannah Montana sung about that doesn't mean it's true."
"Andy, I love you. Me and the girls love you. But we would really appreciate it if you didn't talk about your boyfriend so much."
"Oh, I see how it is."
"I was afraid this was going to happen."
"You and the girls are just jealous because I am the only one in our group that has a man."
"No, it's not that at all. We're just tired."
"Oh, you're tired of me?"
"Now I didn't say that."
"Yes, you did."
"Well, I didn't mean it that way."
"Ricardo makes me happy and you're convincing me to break up with him."
"No, I'm convincing you to stop talking about him."
"So you're admitting you're trying to convince me?"
"Man, I wish talking to girls were easy."
"I can't believe you came to my house to tell me how to date."
"Zen! Zen!"
Andrea paused. "What is wrong with you?"
"I don't know. I actually thought it would work. I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Debra, if you were my friend, you'd want me to be happy."
"I do want you to be happy. And I am your friend! Weren't you listening?!"
"Hey, what's all the commotion?" Ricardo said, running down the wooden stairs.
"Oh, come on!" said Debra. "He's here?"
"Debra, you will one day find a boy who will love, cherish and appreciate you," said Andrea. "But until you do, you cannot pick on my boyfriend."
"I wasn't picking on your boyfriend!"
"You called him Enrique."
"That's because his last name is Iglesias. I can't confuse a teenage Latino with a Latin singer who used to have a mole?"
"I don't care, Debra. I just don't care."
"Well, care about this. I'm leaving!"
She stomped past Andrea towards the door.
"Good, you came for no reason anyway," Andrea turned around.
"Oh, I come for reasons!" Debra twisted the knob on the door but it did not open. She then unlocked all of the four golden locks on the door. "You got too many locks on your door," she said, opening it and exiting. She slammed it closed.
Ricardo walked over to Andrea who sighed deeply. "Whoa, what was that all about?" he asked, embracing her.
"Debra says that she and my other friends are complaining about me talking about you," she replied.
"What?"
"I know, right?"
"There's nothing wrong with talking about your boyfriend."
"That's what I said! But Debra said that I talk about you too much."
"I don't find anything wrong with that. I'm flattered."
"Good. Plus, don't you talk about me?"
"Hardly."
Andrea frowned. "Oh."
"But it's nothing personal. You know you're special."
"Yeah," she laughed, awkwardly.
"I can't believe that your friends would say that though. You need to stop hanging out with them."
Andrea released from Ricardo's embrace. "What?" she scrunched her face.
"Your friends obviously don't like me. You might as well have friends who do like me, right?"
"R- Right?"
"Yeah, you need friends who are normal and don't dress up like John Lennon."
"Her name is Debra."
"Sure. Look, Andrea, it's you and me in this relationship. Not you, me and your friends. So if you stop hanging out with your nappy friends, we can be together for a long time."
Andrea smiled in feign. "Okay. Well, before I do that, may I ask you a question?"
"Sure, you can ask me anything, baby."
"Okay." She walked into the corner of the lounge towards a long, wooden pot. Sticking out of the pot is a wooden cane which she picks up. She walked back to Ricardo, facing him from a foot away and holding the cane pointing up. "Let me ask you this: have you ever heard of a human popsicle?"

Andrea's New Boyfriend (Chapter 3)

A couple days after, after school, the girls decided to go over Lizzie's house by Andrea driving them all in her jeep to the house. On the car ride to her house, Andrea gabbed about her boyfriend, Ricardo Iglesias, which tired out the girls to their ears. The girls remained looking interested but Andrea kept talking from the car to the house until they finally arrived. After their arrival, the girls settled in the fancy-looking living room and started to help each other with their homework.
"I don't get this question," said Lizzie, tapping her face with her number-two pencil. She then used it to point at the question on her worksheet clipped in her polka-dotted binder. "What is a 'pyramid gore' theorem?"
Madeline, who was sitting behind her on the pale pink sofa, looked over Lizzie's shoulder to read the question on the worksheet. "That says 'Pythagorean Theorem'," she corrected.
"Oh, then that makes so much sense," Lizzie said as she began to write.
"Ricardo is good at math," Andrea noted from a comfy, blue chair. "If you ask him to solve a problem, he will solve it in an instant. I bet he studied geometry as a little kid."
"Well, that's good that you found a guy who is focused on his studies," said Debra, who was sitting on the floor.
"Yeah, he's focused on his studies, sports, family and me. Cute, huh?"
"Yeah, that's adorable," Skye said in deadpan, flipping through her chemistry textbook. "Does any of you know how to solve for a limiting reagent?"
"Ricardo is good at chemistry, also," Andrea added. "He would get a hundred percent on all of his science tests. And he still does. I find that amazing."
"That doesn't answer my question," Skye responded after a pause.
"Go to page two hundred twenty," said Madeline. "There are some notes about that."
Skye flipped through the pages of her textbook backwards to the page.
"Oh, Ricardo is thinking about publishing a textbook when he's older," said Andrea.
"What is he going to publish a textbook about?" Madeline asked.
"Practically everything he knows."
"I don't know how textbooks are made," said Lizzie, "but I don't think you can do that."
"Uh, I think you can because Ricardo can do anything."
"Okay, is there one thing about your boyfriend that you don't like?" Skye asked, frustrated.
"I don't like it when food gets stuck in his teeth," Andrea replied.
"Finally."
"But it doesn't matter because his teeth comes out clean and white by the end of the day."
Skye groaned and buried her face into her textbook.
"What?" Andrea said. "You guys aren't annoyed with me talking about my boyfriend, are you?"
"No, we're pretty fond of it," Madeline smiled, more in a sarcastic way.
"We love it when you talk about your boyfriend for hours and hours and hours and hours..." said Lizzie.
Madeline patted on Lizzie on the shoulder to get her to stop talking.
"Awesome," Andrea responded. She started to pick up her books and dump them into her shiny yellow backpack.
"Why are you putting your books away?" asked Madeline.
"I got to meet up with Ricardo at Starbucks."
"But we practically just got here."
"I know but Ricardo texted me about ten seconds ago."
"You-- You going to drive?" asked Lizzie.
"Uh, yeah."
"But you drove us here," Madeline reminded her.
"I'm sorry but I really got to see him. I haven't seen him in a couple of days."
"It's been twenty minutes," said Skye.
"That's a long time... in some countries. See you tomorrow."
She zipped her backpack closed and stood up, picking it up and carrying it over one shoulder. She walked off out of the living room into the lounge of the house.
"But Andrea, I can't walk home by myself," Madeline shouted.
The girls heard the door close from a distance.
Debra stared at Madeline in a confusing way.
"What?" said Madeline. "It's unsafe to walk by yourself. There are people out there who find girls like me 'too pretty'."
"Uh, narcissist," Skye coughed.
"Please, I rather hear Madeline talk about herself than Andrea talk about her boyfriend," Lizzie confessed.
"You know what?" Skye inquired. "I agree. I am happy that Andrea found a guy that she really likes but come on. I like leather but you don't see me going 'blah-blah-blah' about it."
"Totally," Madeline agreed. "I love Andrea and I just want her to be happy. But if she talks about Ricardo one more time, I'm going to set him on fire."
"That will just make her talk about him more."
"I don't want Andrea to break up with Ricardo," said Lizzie. "But something needs to happen so we don't die from exhaustion."
Madeline turned to her head to look at Debra. "Debra, how about you talk to Andrea?"
"Why me?" Debra asked.
"Because I feel like Andrea would listen to you. Plus, you're calm, cool and you won't tear her eyeballs out."
"I'm flattered. But what do I say?"
"Say that we all love her and we love how she found a man to make her happy. But she talks about Ricardo a little way too much and we would appreciate it if she talked less about him and focused more on other subjects like... food or... animals... or... anything that doesn't involve her boyfriend."
"Okay, I'll try. But just know... that she is Andrea. And Andrea tends to get aggressive sometimes."
"Please, like you're scared of Andrea," said Lizzie.
"I'm not scared. She just needs zen."
"What is zen?"
"A thing you don't know."
"Well, that settles it," said Madeline. "Debra is going to talk to Andrea... tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Debra shouted.
"Zen!" she pointed.
Debra sighed and relaxed her face and shoulders. "Yes, tomorrow."
"Okay, problem solved. Now which one of you is going to hold my hand and walk me home later?"

Andrea's New Boyfriend (Chapter 2)

The next day, the girls had their lunch period at school. They all waited for Andrea as she would usually be at the cafeteria before the other girls would arrive. They sat at their table wondering when she would come for almost five minutes. She later arrived to the cafeteria, walking towards the girls arm-in-arm with a handsome, tan-skinned boy.
"Hey, girls," she greeted.
The girls greeted back in a dazed manner.
"This is my boyfriend, Ricardo Iglesias," she continued.
"I love it when you say my full name," said Ricardo.
"I say it for you, baby."
"Nice to meet you, Ricardo," smiled Madeline.
"Nice to meet you, too--" responded Ricardo before Andrea cut him off politely to introduce her friends.
"That's Madeline." She pointed at the girls individually, "And that's Lizzie, Debra and Skye."
"Well, nice to meet you all," Ricardo said.
"Oh, I think I've seen you before," said Debra. "Aren't you in the school newspaper a lot?"
"Yes, I am," he answered. "I play football."
"He's the team's best player," added Andrea. "His awesome skills get him into the newspaper every time."
"I love how you appreciate my football skills," said Ricardo.
"I love them for you, baby."
Skye stared at the happy couple in a blank expression.
"That is why you look so familiar," said Lizzie. "I like football. I go to the games with Andrea almost every month. That's probably why our team wins every game, right?"
"No, that is always why our team wins every game," Andrea responded for her boyfriend.
Lizzie stopped smiling and made a face to herself.
"So Ricardo, don't you want to sit down with us?" asked Madeline.
"I want to," said Ricardo.
"But he can't," Andrea finished his statement. "He took a bathroom pass to come and see me. Isn't that so sweet?"
"Yeah," responded Lizzie, "but wouldn't you get into trouble?"
"Yeah," Ricardo answered, "but it will be totally worth it. As long as I get to see my baby."
"Aw!" Andrea uttered. "I'm his baby."
She squeezed Ricardo as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Yes, you are," Debra said blandly.
"So Ricardo, since we're going to be friends, can I call you Ricky?" asked Skye.
"No!" Andrea responded.
Skye flinched and scrunched her forehead as Andrea's 'no' startled her.
"Ricardo is a cute name," she continued. "So we shall call him Ricardo."
"Sorry," said Skye. "I was just trying to be casual."
"You can call me Ricky," Ricardo answered for himself. "But I do prefer Ricardo."
"See?" said Andrea. "And Ricardo you shall be called."
"I love it when you talk all fancy."
"I talk like that for you, baby."
Madeline tried to hold in her laughter by covering her mouth.
"Oh, Ricardo and I should go on a double date with you and your boyfriend, Madeline," recommended Andrea.
Madeline put on a serious face. "I don't have a boyfriend."
"Oh, then you should get one."
Madeline made a face towards Andrea but she ignored it.
"I have a friend that I can set you up on a date with," Ricardo recommended. "He's good-looking, kind but he used to have a bit of a drug problem."
Madeline scrunched her eyebrows. "Why would I go out a guy with a drug problem?" she chuckled lightly.
"Used to. He used to have a drug problem."
"Uh, I think I'll pass."
"Maddie, be nice!" Andrea said through her teeth.
Madeline stared at Andrea as if she was a crazy person.
"Well, I enjoyed talking to you guys," said Ricardo, "but I got to go. Using the bathroom for more than fifteen minutes might cause suspicion." He faced Andrea. "So I will see you later."
"Dame un beso," Andrea uttered.
"Por supuesto, cariño."
Ricardo planted a kiss on Andrea's lips while embracing her. The girls stared but not in a surprising way since the two are a couple.
"Bye," she pulled away.
"Bye," he said back. He slowly pulled away from the embrace and walked out of the cafeteria.
Andrea walked around the table and sat down in her spot. "Isn't he a sweetie pie?" she asked with a smile.
"Depending on what kind of pie that would be," said Lizzie, "then yes, he is a sweetie pie."

Andrea's New Boyfriend (Chapter 1)

"I need a new razor," confessed Madeline, taking out a bottle of mineral water from her lunch bag.
"How shocking," said Skye, smiling.
"What's wrong with the one you have now?" asked Lizzie.
"It cuts me," answered Madeline. "A lot."
"Do you shave fast?" asked Debra.
"Sometimes. But that's because I keep getting stumble, stumble, stumble. And boys don't like stumble on ladies."
"Not all boys," Skye joked.
"And now, I have cuts all over my legs," said Madeline. "So until the cuts heal up, I have to wear pants."
"Oh, well, that isn't so bad," said Lizzie.
"But we're in California and my legs sweat."
Skye scrunched her forehead at that comment.
"That's natural?" Lizzie asked.
Debra looked closely at Andrea, who was smiling and gazing at the ceiling with her elbow on the table and her head resting in her hand. Debra could tell that Andrea was barely listening to the girls' conversation.
"Andrea..." she sung.
Andrea continued to look up at the ceiling.
"Andrea," Debra repeated.
Still no response.
"Andrea!" she yelled in a gruff voice.
"What?" Andrea jumped.
Debra giggled as if she never yelled. "What's going on? You're being quiet."
"Oh, I don't have much to say today," Andrea shrugged.
"Well, that's odd," said Madeline, opening her bottle of water. "You usually have something to say. Other than Skye."
"Hey!" Skye called.
"What? It's true."
"Yeah, I know," Skye said in a calmer voice.
"So tell us," Madeline looked at Andrea, "what is up?"
Andrea sighed. "Okay, I have something to say."
"Of course you do. What is it?"
"I... have a boyfriend!"
"What?" Lizzie gasped.
"You have a boyfriend?" Madeline slowly smiled.
"Yeah," Andrea giggled. "Tengo un novio!"
"I'm so happy for you," said Debra.
"Thanks, Debbie."
"Wait a second," said Skye. "That means you've been a dating a boy for a while and didn't tell us."
"Oh, yeah, what is that all about?" Madeline lost her smile.
Andrea's eyes widened. "Well, when I met Ricardo-- that's his name-- I wasn't that interested. But later, I gave him a chance and I started to really like him. So I didn't know how to tell you guys about us since we were moving so fast. Then we settled for a relationship and I have to tell you guys about that."
"Well, we can't get mad at you for dating a guy without telling us," said Lizzie.
"Unless the guy's a serial killer," Debra mentioned. "That's important."
"Well, Ricardo is not a serial killer," said Andrea. "He's sweet and kind and thoughtful."
"Aww..." Lizzie uttered.
"So when do we get to meet your Ricardo?" asked Skye.
"You can meet him whenever," answered Andrea. "He goes to our school."
"He does?" asked Madeline. "I never heard a 'Ricardo'."
"Well, he's in one of my classes. That's how we met."
"It's possible that we've bumped into him before," mentioned Debra. "We just don't know who he would've been."
"I can get him to come to our lunch period," Andrea recommended.
"Won't he get in trouble?" Skye asked.
"Probably but I bet he'll get into trouble for me. He's so favoring. Oh! I can show you a picture if it'll refresh your memory."
"Maybe later," said Madeline.
"Okay, later. Wait, after-school-later or at-my-house-later?"
"Why?" asked Lizzie.
"Because I want to show you today."
"You said we can see him whenever," reminded Debra.
"Well, we can see him today."
"Okay, hold your horses," said Madeline.
"My horses are held!"
"We will see him when we see him. There's no rush."
"You're right. I'm sorry. I just really like Ricardo and I really want to flaunt him."
"We know you do. You flaunt everything."
"What were we talking about earlier?" questioned Lizzie.
"Madeline's leg stumble," replied Skye.
Madeline glared at Skye but playfully.
"If you guys don't want me talking about my leg stumble," she started, "then buy me a razor for Christmas."
"But Christmas is nine months away," Lizzie responded.
"That doesn't mean you can't start shopping."