Read Online Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Planet Girl by Tommy Greenwald - Free Book Online Page A

Rituhbukkee staring down at us. Two hundred people. And standing right in front of us was Dr. Mal.
    I scrambled to my feet. “Hey, Dr. Mal,” I said, offering him my filthy hand. “We were just … uh … having a look around the library.”
    Dr. Mal cocked his giant, bald head. “Charlie Joe Jackson,” he said. “How I’ve missed you so.”
    I laughed awkwardly and looked around the room. The first person I saw was my mom, who didn’t exactly look thrilled. Then I saw George and Nareem and the guys from the cabin, staring at me in shock. I saw Lauren Rubin, who had made it to the reunion after all.
    And finally, I saw Katie, who was just staring at me, shaking her head.
    I turned back to Dr. Mal, who still had the microphone in his hand. I asked him the first thing that popped into my head.
    â€œHave you been talking this whole time?”
    Â 
    George Feedleman’s Guide to Romance

    GIRLS ARE LIKE BOOKS. YOU NEED TO READ THEM CAREFULLY.
    For a long time, I was the dumbest smart person in the world. Meaning, I was good at subjects like History and Geometry, but horrible at subjects like girls and dating. And the thing is, they don’t teach you that stuff in school! But then, I realized that girls are like any other subject you don’t know a lot about: The more you know, the more confident you get. Now, I’m not talking about studying girls like some weird scientist. I’m talking about just allowing yourself to discover things that make them easier to understand. Like, for instance, most girls do NOT want you to overcompliment them, because then they’ll think you’re a phony and that you don’t mean any of it. But every once in a while, saying they look really nice or that their joke was really funny can make a girl’s day. Stuff like that.
    So, I guess what I’m saying is, it’s good to be smart. But it’s even better to be willing to learn.

 
    21
    After everything got sorted out, and Jack and I got cleaned up, and we managed to explain ourselves to the point where we knew we were not going to get thrown in jail, and I decided not to let the Katie thing ruin my night, the reception turned out to be really fun. The food was delicious, it was so great to see everyone again, and there was a DJ who actually played decent songs. (If you’ve ever been to a wedding, you know that’s not always the case.) Before dessert, there was a slide show that showed a bunch of fun pictures from camp, like when we beat Wockajocka in basketball for the first time in twenty years (thanks to me, but I don’t want to brag).
    After the party, we all went back to the hotel, where George, Jack, and I convinced our parents to let us stay up for another hour. We decided to meet in George’s room, because his parents said we could order ice cream sundaes from room service.
    â€œWhat do you guys want to do?” I asked. “Wanna watch TV?”
    George shrugged. “I don’t watch TV.”
    Jack and I looked at George, then at each other. We shook our heads sadly.
    â€œWhat?” George said. “I never get to see you guys. Let’s just hang out and talk.”
    You know something? He had a good point.
    So we talked about everything—school, parents, friends, movies, sports—but avoided the one topic that we all knew was the most important one of all. I’m not sure why we avoided it—probably because they were waiting for me to bring it up, and I didn’t want to.
    Finally, George couldn’t take it anymore.
    â€œI thought maybe, uh, we could, uh, you know, talk about…”
    â€œTalk about what?” Jack asked.
    George took a deep breath. “Girls.”
    There it was.
    â€œI’m not sure there’s that much to talk about,” I said.
    â€œI’m still going out with Cathy,” George said, totally ignoring me. “We’ve seen each other twice since the