Too Much Drama Read Online Free Page B

to shop for the holidays, so I told him I’d love to go. Plus, it seemed like a great use of my day, as opposed to thinking about the Brynn-Sophie-Billy triangle.
    So Leo came to pick me up this morning, which was pretty exciting because it was going to be the first time I’d been anywhere alone with a boy in a car. I didn’t want to make it seem like a big deal, and I was hoping Mom and Dad wouldn’t think it was either. What I was really hoping was that by the time he came to get me, Mom and Dad would be long gone. But somehow they both picked this morning to get a slow start.
    When Leo came inside to say hi to Mom and Dad, they were having coffee at the kitchen table. When I told them what we were doing, they thought it was a huge deal that Leo would be driving us to the mall.
    â€œHow long have you been driving?” Dad asked.
    â€œHave you had any accidents or gotten any tickets?” asked Mom.
    I was very irritated and more than a little embarrassed that my parents were grilling Leo about his driving habits. “Leo has a license,” I said. “Do you ask everyone who has a license how long they’ve been driving or if they’ve had accidents or tickets?”
    Mom and Dad both shot me a look that said they didn’t like my attitude but didn’t want to say anything that would embarrass me in front of Leo. I guess I should be grateful for that. I gave Leo a tell-my-parents-you-know-how-to-drive look, but he handled the situation in his typically unique and highly effective fashion.
    â€œI completely get why you’d be worried,” he said. “There’s nothing scarier than teen drivers.” He paused and looked at my parents. “Of course old people behind the wheel and black bears on the loose are pretty scary too.”
    Mom and Dad both laughed. I smiled too. It was hard not to appreciate Leo’s attempt at humor.
    â€œI’m a very careful driver,” said Leo. His face had turned serious. “One of my greatest accomplishments is that in my first nine months of driving I’ve had no accidents and gotten no tickets. But I woke up this morning thinking about how hard it’s going to be to find a parking spot at the mall during the holiday time.”
    Mom and Dad both nodded like they understood that.
    â€œI don’t want to inconvenience either of you,” said Leo. “But if you have time to drop us off, I’d be happy to leave my car here. Or we could take the bus,” he said looking at me. I nodded like that was fine, even though that was definitely not how I’d pictured our day.
    â€œYou don’t need to take the bus,” said Dad. “I’m leaving for the diner now, and I’d be happy to drop you off.”
    â€œAnd I can pick you up later when I close the store,” said Mom.
    â€œGreat!” said Leo as he followed Dad to the garage. I was too shocked to speak. I never thought my first car date (if this was a date, which I wasn’t even sure of) would include my parents, but Leo was totally cool with it, and it made me not mind so much. Leo chatted with my dad on the way to the mall and with my mom on the way home. I liked how comfortable he seemed around my parents.
    But that wasn’t even what I liked most about the day. There was a whole string of little things that Leo did.
    When we were shopping for a scarf, he asked the sales lady if she thought aqua or peach was a better color for him. He held two scarves up to his face like he couldn’t decide. The lady told him he was looking at scarves for women. The way she said it was condescending, like either he didn’t know what department he was in or he did know and was making a questionable choice.
    Some people would have gotten embarrassed or felt stupid, but not Leo. He told her that he’s always thought a scarf seemed liked a fairly unisex product but that he happened to be looking for his mother, who has the same