Estelle, chapter 4
Estelle
Ramona just got here yesterday. We kind of had a surprise party for her. Everybody was there. I was so happy to see her again.
I realized that I'm now the same height as her. I used to feel so young around her, but now I feel older. It's a weird feeling.
At the party yesterday, she and Frankito kind of started a food fight. Well, mostly Frankito, actually. He was trying to hit Jakob with a piece of the cake he was eating, but Jakob ducked just in time. And it hit Ramona right in the face. So, of course, she took some of the cake she had and threw it at Frankito. But Jakob was just starting to stand back up from when he ducked, so it hit him instead.
They ran around the house, throwing cake at each other, and eventually Joey and I got involved too. It was so fun, just being able to forget all dignity and go crazy like that. Did I tell you Ramona was fun or what?
Ramona has never met Serena or Greg before, so yesterday I promised her she could meet them. I'm not sure when they're going to meet though. I thought maybe just Joey, her, and I should all catch up on things first. I decided to call Joey and ask him what he thought.
"Hi, Joey," I said when he picked up.
"Hey Stella," I heard him say. "What's up?"
"Well, I was thinking that you, Ramona, and I should get together today and just catch up on things," I said.
"Didn't Ramona want to meet Serena and Greg?" Joey asked.
"Yeah," I said, "But I thought it would be better if we talked for a while first. What do you think?"
"Yeah, that's cool," he said. "Where should we meet?"
"Hmm..." I thought for a minute. "What about if we meet at you house and walk to the mall?" I said. "We can go to the arcade or something."
"Ok," said Joey. "Does 1:00 sound good to you?"
"Yeah, I'll call Ramona and tell her," I said.
"Cool," said Joey. "See you then, Stella."
"Ok, bye, Joey," I said.
I hung up the phone and started dialing Ramona's number. I didn't know her cell phone number, so I just dialed her house number.
"Hello?" I heard a voice say. It sounded like a kid's, so I guessed it was Frankito.
"Hi, Frankito? It's Stella," I said. "Is Ramona there?"
"Hi, Stella!" said Frankito. "Yeah, I think she's in her room. Hold on."
A minute later I heard Ramona.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey Mona, it's Stella," I said.
"Hey Stella!" she said. "What's up?"
"Well, I just talked to Joey a minute ago, and we thought we could all meet at his place and walk to the mall or something," I said. "What do you think?"
"The mall?" she said. "Yeah, that sounds good. Hey, is that big arcade still there?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said. "They've added a few new games, too. It's really fun."
"Cool!" she said. "I remember last time I was here we went there. Do you remember that?" she said.
"How could I forget?!" I laughed. "You only had the entire arcade cheering for you when you beat the high score for Space Invaders," I said.
"Oh yeah!" she laughed. "That was awesome! Wow, and it feels like such a long time ago."
"Yeah," I agreed. "So, how does 1:00 sound?"
"Great!" she said. "I'll see you then, Stella."
"Ok, Ramona," I said. "Bye."
"Bye," she said.
***
We decided to meet at Joey's house because it's basically right between where Ramona and I live. I think I was a little early when I got there. Since I had been coming to Joe's house for such a long time, I usually just walked in the door.
When I came in I didn't see anyone around. That was strange because usually Jakob or someone was sitting on the couch watching TV. Suddenly I saw Joey walk into the room. He looked surprised to see me.
"Oh, hi Stella," he stuttered. "I didn't know you were here."
I laughed. "Well, I am," I said.
Normally he would laugh at something like that, but he just came towards me. He stopped right in front of me, and I could feel his breath on my face. It felt kind of awkward, with him just standing right in front of me not saying anything.
Then it felt like we were about to kiss or something. His face started to get closer and closer to mine. What's going on?!I started to think.
"What are you guys DOING?"
We immediately stepped away from each other. Joey was blushing.
"Nothing," said Joey.
Jakob, who was standing in the doorway, smiled.
"Were you about to KISS?" laughed Jakob. "Oh, mom's gonna have a ball when she hears about this!" He started laughing harder.
"We didn't DO anything," said Joey, getting angry.
"Hey, am I interrupting anything?"
I looked and saw Ramona come up behind Jakob. Jakob was nearly on the floor with laughter.
"No," said Joe again, in an even firmer tone than before.
Ramona looked confused. She looked from me to Joey, and back again.
"Um, maybe we should go," I said.
"Yeah," said Ramona. "I'm just gonna assume Hyena-Boy over here just saw something funny on TV."
As we walked out the door, I tried to work out what just happened in my head. Was Joey actually going to kiss me? Why was he so startled to see me? I decided I would figure it out later.
Although Joey still looked embarrassed as we began to walk, I knew he wanted to make things less awkward, so he asked Ramona how she liked living in New York. I think she knew what he was trying to do too, so she casually answered the question.
"Well," she said. "I've been living there all my life. I can't not love it. It's big and exciting, at least compared to Oakland. But I guess you can get a little bored of the big city-life after a while."
She paused.
"But, you know," she said. "I miss getting to see you guys. I miss being here, where everything happens. Well, at least involving my dad and the band. I can kind of feel cut off from everything sometimes, you know?"
I nodded. "Well, you've got plenty of time to catch up on everything," I said, taking her arm. "You're staying for the whole summer!"
She smiled. "I know!" She paused, thinking. "Ok, well here's the first thing I wanna know about," she said. "What was up with the whole drinking thing?"
Both Joey and me laughed. "Oh, that," Joey laughed.
"Um, information concerning that night is purely confidential... " I said in a fake nervous-tone.
Ramona hit me in the arm. "Spill the beans or the thug gets it," Ramona said, pointing a fake gun at Joey.
"Oh, so now I'm a thug?!" Joey exclaimed.
"Oh, I don't care if you shoot him," I said, laughing.
"Stella!" Joey said, horrified.
"Hmm, betrayal," said Ramona slyly.
"Well, who knows when you'll come in handy, so... " I giggled.
Ramona laughed. "Oh, Stella, does that mean what I think it means?"
Joey and I just stared at each other. We broke out in smiles, and nearly fell to the ground with laughter.
"Ok, ok, I'll tell you what happened," I laughed. "Just no more dirty jokes that have to do with Joey, please!"
Joey pretended to be hurt by my last comment. "Why, is there something wrong with me?" he said.
I laughed. "No," I said. Then I paused. "I just don't want to think about you being a dominated love slave," I finally said.
After that, we couldn't take it. We had to stop walking, and we all fell to the ground in stitches of laughter.
"I...didn't...know...you...could...be...so...dirty...Stella!" Ramona managed to get out in between laughs.
"Neither...did...I!" Joey managed to say.
After a minute of laughing, I was finally able to speak. "Well, you guys never know, maybe I'm just a pervert at heart," I laughed.
"That could be true, but I'm betting more on this guy," laughed Ramona, referring to Joe.
Joe punched her in the arm. "What makes you think that?" he laughed.
She giggled. "Oh, Joe, we all know your dad too well," she said. "How can he possibly have a son that isn't as raunchy as he is?"
Joey smiled. "Well, its settled then," he said. "We are all officially perverted."
"Yes!" screamed Ramona, as she leapt up off the ground "Now I can tell dirty jokes without offending anyone!"
Joey got up next. "Either that, or you'll just make everyone get really horny," he said, smiling.
Ramona screamed and hugged him. "I knew you were a pervert! It was only a matter of time!"
Joey laughed and helped me off the ground. We were still laughing as we started walking again.
"Now I definitely have to know what happened that night," said Ramona. "I have a feeling that alcohol may have made you guys do things that you normally wouldn't do, if you know what I mean," Ramona said, nudging Joey with her arm.
We all laughed. "We're not the ones you should be worried about," I said. "Our friend Serena was the one showing her true side."
"Ooo, who had sex?!" Ramona said.
Joey laughed. "Ramona, you are too much," he said.
"Aww, you know you like it," she said, smiling.
Suddenly I felt like an outsider. I mean, I know Joey and Ramona are only two years older than me, but they seem to have more knowledge about these kinds of things than I do. I guess I understood everything, but I just felt like I was younger and they were older and they had some kind of connection because of that.
"Stella, are you okay?" Ramona said, with a concerned look on her face.
I snapped back from dreamland. "Yeah," I said.
She raised an eyebrow. "Ok, then what happened on booze night?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah," I said. "Ok, so we went to our friend's gig, right?"
"Which friend?" she asked.
"My friend Greg," said Joey. "He plays drums, but he's not in a band currently. He was just filling in for that band's drummer."
"Yeah," I said. "The show was in this guys backyard. Oh, and my friend Serena came with us. Anyway, so we asked the host for something to drink... "
"...And he came out with four beers," said Joey.
"And it basically went from there," I laughed.
Ramona laughed too. "So, what happened with your friend Serena?" she asked eagerly.
I giggled. "Joey was too drunk to remember this, but I'm pretty sure Serena kissed Greg. I had a feeling they kind of had a thing, but now I'm sure. Greg was hilarious after that," I said.
"The drummer's already taken?" said Ramona. "Darn."
Joey and I laughed. "Don't worry, Ramona," said Joey. "I'm sure there's plenty of drummers in Oakland who would be willing to fuck you."
We all laughed, and Ramona punched Joey in the arm.
"Ow!" he yelled. "That one hurt," he said, rubbing his arm.
"Well," she said. "You deserve it for cussing in front of Stella."
"Hey!" I said, defending myself. "I cuss!"
"You do?" said Ramona, smiling. "Say 'cock', then."
Joey laughed. "Come on Mona," he said. "Don't pressure her."
I hesitated.
"See?" said Ramona.
"Wait!" I said. "I'll say it! Ok... cock." I forced out of my mouth.
Joey and Ramona almost cried with laughter. Ramona hugged me.
"Yay!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe it! You ARE a hardass!"
I couldn't help but smile too.
***
Joey
Today was so amazing. Ramona, Estelle, and I all went to the arcade at the mall together. Since somebody had beat Ramona's score on Space Invaders from the last time she was here, she once again had everybody in the arcade watching her try to get the highest score.
I can't believe how good she is at that game. I watched her while she played it, and she looked so concentrated and fierce. When she finally got the highest score (by then we had all run out of money), I picked her up and spun her around. I'm not sure why exactly. It was just an impulse, I guess.
Ramona is so awesome. She nearly made Stella and me pee in our pants with laughter, especially when she made Stella say 'cock.' That killed me.
She's hasn't changed that much since we last saw her, except I noticed some things that I never noticed before. Like the way she shakes the hair out of her face when it gets in front of her eyes. Or the way she looks at me when I say something funny.
Oh my God. I just remembered Stella.
I had just come down the stairs of my house earlier today when I saw her standing in the kitchen. I wasn't expecting her for a while, so I was surprised to see her. I had been thinking about her all day until then, and when I saw her it just kind of startled me. She had this look on her face that I couldn't resist. It was so cute and innocent.
Without thinking I just kind of went up to her. I stood in front of her for a moment, not realizing what I was doing. I started to put my face closer to hers. I had no idea what I was planning on doing.
Then Jakob saw us. Darn him.
When I got home from the arcade, I planned to run up to my room before anyone saw me.
Unfortunately, my parents were downstairs.
My dad saw me first. He was smirking. I had a feeling Jakob told him what happened.
"Hello, lover-boy," he said.
"Shut up," I said.
Then my mom saw me. She smiled.
"Oh, hello, Joey," she giggled. "Did you have a nice time with Stella?"
"Yeah, did you have a nice time... banging in the bathrooms?!" My dad burst out laughing.
"Billie stop it!" my mom whispered.
Billie Joe ignored her. "Jakob told us what happened," he said.
"NOTHING happened," I said, annoyed.
"Of course nothing happened," my dad said, laughing.
I was getting angrier. "Seriously, nothing happened," I said. "I was just standing in front of Stella, and Joey thought we were kissing, BUT WE WEREN'T."
"But you were about to," said my dad.
"Billie, he's already embarrassed as it is," my mom whispered again. "Please stop."
"Stella and I are friends, ok? FRIENDS."
Finally my dad let down. "If you say so," he said.
I rolled my eyes and started to go up the stairs.
"Lover-boy."
I saw my mom glare at my dad as went up to my room.
Ramona just got here yesterday. We kind of had a surprise party for her. Everybody was there. I was so happy to see her again.
I realized that I'm now the same height as her. I used to feel so young around her, but now I feel older. It's a weird feeling.
At the party yesterday, she and Frankito kind of started a food fight. Well, mostly Frankito, actually. He was trying to hit Jakob with a piece of the cake he was eating, but Jakob ducked just in time. And it hit Ramona right in the face. So, of course, she took some of the cake she had and threw it at Frankito. But Jakob was just starting to stand back up from when he ducked, so it hit him instead.
They ran around the house, throwing cake at each other, and eventually Joey and I got involved too. It was so fun, just being able to forget all dignity and go crazy like that. Did I tell you Ramona was fun or what?
Ramona has never met Serena or Greg before, so yesterday I promised her she could meet them. I'm not sure when they're going to meet though. I thought maybe just Joey, her, and I should all catch up on things first. I decided to call Joey and ask him what he thought.
"Hi, Joey," I said when he picked up.
"Hey Stella," I heard him say. "What's up?"
"Well, I was thinking that you, Ramona, and I should get together today and just catch up on things," I said.
"Didn't Ramona want to meet Serena and Greg?" Joey asked.
"Yeah," I said, "But I thought it would be better if we talked for a while first. What do you think?"
"Yeah, that's cool," he said. "Where should we meet?"
"Hmm..." I thought for a minute. "What about if we meet at you house and walk to the mall?" I said. "We can go to the arcade or something."
"Ok," said Joey. "Does 1:00 sound good to you?"
"Yeah, I'll call Ramona and tell her," I said.
"Cool," said Joey. "See you then, Stella."
"Ok, bye, Joey," I said.
I hung up the phone and started dialing Ramona's number. I didn't know her cell phone number, so I just dialed her house number.
"Hello?" I heard a voice say. It sounded like a kid's, so I guessed it was Frankito.
"Hi, Frankito? It's Stella," I said. "Is Ramona there?"
"Hi, Stella!" said Frankito. "Yeah, I think she's in her room. Hold on."
A minute later I heard Ramona.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey Mona, it's Stella," I said.
"Hey Stella!" she said. "What's up?"
"Well, I just talked to Joey a minute ago, and we thought we could all meet at his place and walk to the mall or something," I said. "What do you think?"
"The mall?" she said. "Yeah, that sounds good. Hey, is that big arcade still there?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said. "They've added a few new games, too. It's really fun."
"Cool!" she said. "I remember last time I was here we went there. Do you remember that?" she said.
"How could I forget?!" I laughed. "You only had the entire arcade cheering for you when you beat the high score for Space Invaders," I said.
"Oh yeah!" she laughed. "That was awesome! Wow, and it feels like such a long time ago."
"Yeah," I agreed. "So, how does 1:00 sound?"
"Great!" she said. "I'll see you then, Stella."
"Ok, Ramona," I said. "Bye."
"Bye," she said.
***
We decided to meet at Joey's house because it's basically right between where Ramona and I live. I think I was a little early when I got there. Since I had been coming to Joe's house for such a long time, I usually just walked in the door.
When I came in I didn't see anyone around. That was strange because usually Jakob or someone was sitting on the couch watching TV. Suddenly I saw Joey walk into the room. He looked surprised to see me.
"Oh, hi Stella," he stuttered. "I didn't know you were here."
I laughed. "Well, I am," I said.
Normally he would laugh at something like that, but he just came towards me. He stopped right in front of me, and I could feel his breath on my face. It felt kind of awkward, with him just standing right in front of me not saying anything.
Then it felt like we were about to kiss or something. His face started to get closer and closer to mine. What's going on?!I started to think.
"What are you guys DOING?"
We immediately stepped away from each other. Joey was blushing.
"Nothing," said Joey.
Jakob, who was standing in the doorway, smiled.
"Were you about to KISS?" laughed Jakob. "Oh, mom's gonna have a ball when she hears about this!" He started laughing harder.
"We didn't DO anything," said Joey, getting angry.
"Hey, am I interrupting anything?"
I looked and saw Ramona come up behind Jakob. Jakob was nearly on the floor with laughter.
"No," said Joe again, in an even firmer tone than before.
Ramona looked confused. She looked from me to Joey, and back again.
"Um, maybe we should go," I said.
"Yeah," said Ramona. "I'm just gonna assume Hyena-Boy over here just saw something funny on TV."
As we walked out the door, I tried to work out what just happened in my head. Was Joey actually going to kiss me? Why was he so startled to see me? I decided I would figure it out later.
Although Joey still looked embarrassed as we began to walk, I knew he wanted to make things less awkward, so he asked Ramona how she liked living in New York. I think she knew what he was trying to do too, so she casually answered the question.
"Well," she said. "I've been living there all my life. I can't not love it. It's big and exciting, at least compared to Oakland. But I guess you can get a little bored of the big city-life after a while."
She paused.
"But, you know," she said. "I miss getting to see you guys. I miss being here, where everything happens. Well, at least involving my dad and the band. I can kind of feel cut off from everything sometimes, you know?"
I nodded. "Well, you've got plenty of time to catch up on everything," I said, taking her arm. "You're staying for the whole summer!"
She smiled. "I know!" She paused, thinking. "Ok, well here's the first thing I wanna know about," she said. "What was up with the whole drinking thing?"
Both Joey and me laughed. "Oh, that," Joey laughed.
"Um, information concerning that night is purely confidential... " I said in a fake nervous-tone.
Ramona hit me in the arm. "Spill the beans or the thug gets it," Ramona said, pointing a fake gun at Joey.
"Oh, so now I'm a thug?!" Joey exclaimed.
"Oh, I don't care if you shoot him," I said, laughing.
"Stella!" Joey said, horrified.
"Hmm, betrayal," said Ramona slyly.
"Well, who knows when you'll come in handy, so... " I giggled.
Ramona laughed. "Oh, Stella, does that mean what I think it means?"
Joey and I just stared at each other. We broke out in smiles, and nearly fell to the ground with laughter.
"Ok, ok, I'll tell you what happened," I laughed. "Just no more dirty jokes that have to do with Joey, please!"
Joey pretended to be hurt by my last comment. "Why, is there something wrong with me?" he said.
I laughed. "No," I said. Then I paused. "I just don't want to think about you being a dominated love slave," I finally said.
After that, we couldn't take it. We had to stop walking, and we all fell to the ground in stitches of laughter.
"I...didn't...know...you...could...be...so...dirty...Stella!" Ramona managed to get out in between laughs.
"Neither...did...I!" Joey managed to say.
After a minute of laughing, I was finally able to speak. "Well, you guys never know, maybe I'm just a pervert at heart," I laughed.
"That could be true, but I'm betting more on this guy," laughed Ramona, referring to Joe.
Joe punched her in the arm. "What makes you think that?" he laughed.
She giggled. "Oh, Joe, we all know your dad too well," she said. "How can he possibly have a son that isn't as raunchy as he is?"
Joey smiled. "Well, its settled then," he said. "We are all officially perverted."
"Yes!" screamed Ramona, as she leapt up off the ground "Now I can tell dirty jokes without offending anyone!"
Joey got up next. "Either that, or you'll just make everyone get really horny," he said, smiling.
Ramona screamed and hugged him. "I knew you were a pervert! It was only a matter of time!"
Joey laughed and helped me off the ground. We were still laughing as we started walking again.
"Now I definitely have to know what happened that night," said Ramona. "I have a feeling that alcohol may have made you guys do things that you normally wouldn't do, if you know what I mean," Ramona said, nudging Joey with her arm.
We all laughed. "We're not the ones you should be worried about," I said. "Our friend Serena was the one showing her true side."
"Ooo, who had sex?!" Ramona said.
Joey laughed. "Ramona, you are too much," he said.
"Aww, you know you like it," she said, smiling.
Suddenly I felt like an outsider. I mean, I know Joey and Ramona are only two years older than me, but they seem to have more knowledge about these kinds of things than I do. I guess I understood everything, but I just felt like I was younger and they were older and they had some kind of connection because of that.
"Stella, are you okay?" Ramona said, with a concerned look on her face.
I snapped back from dreamland. "Yeah," I said.
She raised an eyebrow. "Ok, then what happened on booze night?" she asked.
"Oh, yeah," I said. "Ok, so we went to our friend's gig, right?"
"Which friend?" she asked.
"My friend Greg," said Joey. "He plays drums, but he's not in a band currently. He was just filling in for that band's drummer."
"Yeah," I said. "The show was in this guys backyard. Oh, and my friend Serena came with us. Anyway, so we asked the host for something to drink... "
"...And he came out with four beers," said Joey.
"And it basically went from there," I laughed.
Ramona laughed too. "So, what happened with your friend Serena?" she asked eagerly.
I giggled. "Joey was too drunk to remember this, but I'm pretty sure Serena kissed Greg. I had a feeling they kind of had a thing, but now I'm sure. Greg was hilarious after that," I said.
"The drummer's already taken?" said Ramona. "Darn."
Joey and I laughed. "Don't worry, Ramona," said Joey. "I'm sure there's plenty of drummers in Oakland who would be willing to fuck you."
We all laughed, and Ramona punched Joey in the arm.
"Ow!" he yelled. "That one hurt," he said, rubbing his arm.
"Well," she said. "You deserve it for cussing in front of Stella."
"Hey!" I said, defending myself. "I cuss!"
"You do?" said Ramona, smiling. "Say 'cock', then."
Joey laughed. "Come on Mona," he said. "Don't pressure her."
I hesitated.
"See?" said Ramona.
"Wait!" I said. "I'll say it! Ok... cock." I forced out of my mouth.
Joey and Ramona almost cried with laughter. Ramona hugged me.
"Yay!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe it! You ARE a hardass!"
I couldn't help but smile too.
***
Joey
Today was so amazing. Ramona, Estelle, and I all went to the arcade at the mall together. Since somebody had beat Ramona's score on Space Invaders from the last time she was here, she once again had everybody in the arcade watching her try to get the highest score.
I can't believe how good she is at that game. I watched her while she played it, and she looked so concentrated and fierce. When she finally got the highest score (by then we had all run out of money), I picked her up and spun her around. I'm not sure why exactly. It was just an impulse, I guess.
Ramona is so awesome. She nearly made Stella and me pee in our pants with laughter, especially when she made Stella say 'cock.' That killed me.
She's hasn't changed that much since we last saw her, except I noticed some things that I never noticed before. Like the way she shakes the hair out of her face when it gets in front of her eyes. Or the way she looks at me when I say something funny.
Oh my God. I just remembered Stella.
I had just come down the stairs of my house earlier today when I saw her standing in the kitchen. I wasn't expecting her for a while, so I was surprised to see her. I had been thinking about her all day until then, and when I saw her it just kind of startled me. She had this look on her face that I couldn't resist. It was so cute and innocent.
Without thinking I just kind of went up to her. I stood in front of her for a moment, not realizing what I was doing. I started to put my face closer to hers. I had no idea what I was planning on doing.
Then Jakob saw us. Darn him.
When I got home from the arcade, I planned to run up to my room before anyone saw me.
Unfortunately, my parents were downstairs.
My dad saw me first. He was smirking. I had a feeling Jakob told him what happened.
"Hello, lover-boy," he said.
"Shut up," I said.
Then my mom saw me. She smiled.
"Oh, hello, Joey," she giggled. "Did you have a nice time with Stella?"
"Yeah, did you have a nice time... banging in the bathrooms?!" My dad burst out laughing.
"Billie stop it!" my mom whispered.
Billie Joe ignored her. "Jakob told us what happened," he said.
"NOTHING happened," I said, annoyed.
"Of course nothing happened," my dad said, laughing.
I was getting angrier. "Seriously, nothing happened," I said. "I was just standing in front of Stella, and Joey thought we were kissing, BUT WE WEREN'T."
"But you were about to," said my dad.
"Billie, he's already embarrassed as it is," my mom whispered again. "Please stop."
"Stella and I are friends, ok? FRIENDS."
Finally my dad let down. "If you say so," he said.
I rolled my eyes and started to go up the stairs.
"Lover-boy."
I saw my mom glare at my dad as went up to my room.
