5. True Love

5 True Love "Hi Arlo!" "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" It was Andrea! She's the only person in the world who calls me by my real name.* I must have jumped three feet in the air. Little Miss Perfect was with her crybaby friend Emily. They were carrying a bunch of packages. "What are you doing here?" I asked Andrea. "Buying yourself a new encyclopedia because your old one wore out?" "Very funny," said Andrea. "Emily and I bought toys for homeless girls and boys."

"That's right," said Emily, who always agrees with everything Andrea says. "We want to bring peace and harmony to kids all over the world." "Oh, yeah? Well, we came to meet Santa Claus," Alexia said. "Oooooo!" Andrea said, all excited. "We want to meet Santa, too. Can we come with you guys?"

"We'll have to talk it over," I said. The gang and I moved off to the side and huddled up like football players. "What do you think?" asked Neil. "Should we let them hang out with us?" "I say no," I said. "I don't want to walk around with Andrea all day." "Oooooo, A.J. doesn't want to walk with Andrea," said Ryan. "They must be in love!" "Wait a minute!" I yelled. "I told you I

didn't want to walk with Andrea. Why are you saying I'm in love with her?" "A.J., everybody knows you love Andrea," said Neil. "It's totally obvious that you only said you didn't want to walk with her to hide the fact that you're in love with her." Hmmmmm. "Okay," I said, "in that case, it's okay with me if Andrea walks with us." "Oooooo, A.J. wants to walk with Andrea!" said Ryan. "They must be in love!" "Wait a minute! That's not fair!" shouted. "So it doesn't matter what I say. I'm in love with Andrea whether I want to walk with her or not." "Oooooo, A.J. just admitted he's in love with Andrea!" said Alexia. "When are you gonna get married?" asked Neil.

If these kids weren't my best friends, I would hate them.