Valentine's Night

Chapter 21

(Candice's POV)

"Yeah. I was just having a bad day I guess. But, I'm fine now. I feel much better." I smiled at my boyfriend.

Brandon smiled back and pulled me into a hug. "I was so worried about you. When you didn't show up a school I thought you might be sick. Then your mom wouldn't let me see you so I didn't know how you were doing."

"No, I'm okay. I just..." My mind traveled over the past few days. "Like I said before, I was having a bad day."

J.J. rolled her eyes at us. "You know this makes a very nice girl uncomfortable. I'm trying to eat my lunch."

Brandon chuckled and I blushed. "Sorry, J.J."

She shrugged. "Nah. Don't be. I'm just a bit jealous 'cause I don't have a special someone." She grinned at me. "But, don't you worry. I'll have myself a guy before you know it."

Brandon shook his head with a smile. "You know that's not how it works. You have to actually love the person to be happy." He glanced at me and winked. "That's why I'm the happiest person in the world."

I blushed and covered my face. "Stop it, Brandon. You're embarrassing me."

He chuckled and kissed my hand. "Nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, as long as I have lips on my face and vocal cords in my throat I want to make sure you know how I feel."

I smirked. "I hope you know, that didn't sound as romantic as you probably hoped it would."

He scratched his head. "Yeah... I thought it sounded a little funny."

J.J. giggled. "'Lips on my face'? That's definitely one way to a girl's heart, Brandon."

He shrugged and I laughed. "At least I knew what you meant. It wouldn't have worked if I didn't understand you."

He grinned. "Good. I want you to understand everything I say so I know I'm saying it right."

"Oh, Brandon. You are..." I trailed off as my eyes landed on someone standing behind my boyfriend. I stared at the back of their white hoodie, my eyes wide with fear.

That can't be...

Suddenly, I snapped back to reality as I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder and stared at Brandon. He was frowning, concern written on his face. "Candice, are you okay?"

I stared at him for a minute without talking then I glanced behind him at the person in the white hoodie. To my relief, they had turned around and I saw it wasn't Jeff. "I'm fine... I just thought I saw someone familiar."

Brandon glanced behind him and looked around. Then he turned back to me. "Don't scare me like that." He smiled softly. "Whenever you drift off I worry about you like crazy."

I smiled. "Don't. I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me at all, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. I won't worry about you. Too much."

J.J. coughed and we turned to her. She held up her hands in surrender. "Oh, don't mind me. Just keep being super lovey dovey in the middle of lunchtime with everyone in the cafeteria staring at you."

We both glanced around quickly and found, to our greatest embarrassment, that there were more than a few people staring or whispering. I cleared my throat. "I'm going to go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a bit."

I left the cafeteria in a rush and headed for the nearest bathroom. I was thankful it was empty and washed my face. The cold water felt good on my flushed skin and I sighed.

Grabbing some paper towels, I dried my face and stood upright again. I glanced in the mirror to make sure I hadn't messed up my makeup and my eyes widened.

Jeff stood smirking behind me. I whipped around to face him but, he wasn't there. I frowned and glanced in the mirror again. He wasn't in the reflection anymore.

I leaned on the sink and put a hand to my forehead. There was something seriously wrong with me.

The time at lunch and now in the bathroom weren't the only times I'd thought I'd seen him. He'd shown up a number of times in the past few days and I always thought it was real. But, to my confusion, each time turned out to be a mistake. A trick of the mind.

Sometimes, like at lunch, I'd see something or someone that looked like him but, it always ended up being false. Other times, like in the bathroom, I'd see his reflection or a picture and for a split second my heart would race and I'd think it was him.

Unfortunately, I was always wrong and I'd feel like an idiot everytime. I just needed to calm down and relax. Take a day to do something for myself and not think about anything.

That's why I had agreed to go to the mall with J.J. this afternoon. Just the two of us on a girls day out like the good ol' times. It would be refreshing.

I walked out of the bathroom and headed back to lunch. I got there just as lunch was ending and I told J.J. and Brandon I'd see them later before going to fifth period.

Again, I saw the familiar black hair in the window of my English class and I had to look down at my book to keep from doing anything stupid.

When my last class ended I headed for my locker. I was relieved to see J.J. waiting for me there. "So, ready to go shopping? My mom gave me extra and told me to buy you some stuff since it'll be your birthday in a couple weeks."

I smiled. "That was nice of her. Tell her thanks for me."

She shrugged. "Okay. Let's get going before your boyfriend shows up and asks to come too. It'd be awkward trying to tell a boy what a 'girl's shopping day' is."

I laughed. "Alright."

We walked to the mall and I looked up at it, a smiling crossing my face. J.J. nudged me. "Let's get shopping!"

*******

Hey everyone! I know this is a short chapter but, I wanted to leave the mall scene for the next chapter. The next chapter will probably be a bit longer than usual so I hope that makes up for this short one. Anyways, enough of my weird babbling. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! AS ALWAYS VOTE, COMMENT, FOLLOW AND STAY AWESOME!

-Nekoco