RODRICK'S RULES

A Confusing Encounter

Rodrick:

------------------

What the hell just happened?!!

I'm panting and shaking, and my thoughts are running a mile a minute. Barely moments before I was alone with Roxanna, and we were about to...to...

The thought of her so close, the smell of her floral perfume,  a weird electricity courses through me as I try to calm myself enough to put one foot in front of the other. I'm pushing through crowds of people, shoving, I have to get out of here. I can't breathe.

I spot Heather out of the corner of my eye. Seeing her makes me simultaneously shrink and sneer at the thought of her cold, perfect, plastic face. Memories of the night's earlier events tickle in my brain, reminding me of the embarrassment I felt, just as fresh as it was a few hours before.

I'd gone up to Heather, trying to lay some ground work, put on my charm. It seemed to be working until, out of nowhere, she started bursting out laughing. "Oh, Heffley, you're so funny," she said through giggles. I began laughing nervously too.

Still caught up in her fit of laughter, I stiffened as Heather slapped a tipsy hand on my shoulder, patting me as she spoke. "You really thought you could pull it off? Oh that's so sweet! But really—you should stop trying. You'll never get a girl half as decent as me."

My mouth agape, I stood awestruck. I was burning with embarrassment, at Heather, at the group of girls surrounding us, at myself. How could I be so stupid??

I stayed there, standing in awkward silence as Heather and her perfectly-manicured clique departed, some of the girls giving me slightly sympathetic looks as they went by.

I sag under the embarrassment of my complete loss. Not only rejected by Heather, the most gorgeous girl in school, but made a complete spectacle of, a joke. I try and blow off the fury that is beginning to creep over me.

Peering across the room, I notice Roxanna is still in the place where I left her, two full cups in hand, speaking with a pair of girls I don't recognize. I make my way over to them, dodging sloshing cans of beer and drunken teenagers as I go.

The redhead by Roxanna notices me first, her eyes widening in a surprised expression, while the other bronze-haired girl seems to be eyeing me more cautiously.

Everything happens in a whirlwind. After only speaking a few words to Roxanna, she abruptly turned away and trudged off through the crowd. I was left staring dumbfounded, for the second time that night, at the pair of unfamiliar girls before me.

I shook off my stupor. Looking around the room and at the two girls sneering at me, I realized I had to find Roxanna. Immediately.

Giving the girls a quick and slightly awkward nod, I bounded off into the same direction I'd seen Roxanna go.

You know what happened from there.

Now, I was anxiously darting across Heather's lawn to my van, trying not to have a heart attack.

Turning the key, the engine rolled to life as I fumbled frantically with my seatbelt. Slamming my foot on the gas, I took of into the night.

Roxanna:

————————

Rodrick was gone. He was gone, and he left me.