Chapter 2: The decision of Stacy Stickler
Bradley sighed as he sat in one of the picnic chairs in the courtyard. He looked down at the source of the problem between him and his best friend. A perfectly cut diamond ring that glint beautifully in the sun light. It had been almost a week since his failed proposal and Stacy still wasn't speaking to him.
"I really screwed things up this time." he mumbled to himself
"hey Bradley. What's the haps?" Stanley asked him as he was walking by with a tool that looked like a swiss army chainsaw.
"Nothing really Mr. Stickler... Umm what's that for?" Bradley asked while pointing at the obviously dangerous object.
"Well you know how those pesky gutters can get. This little baby will make the work a billion times easier." He grinned only to look at the sullen boy again. "What's the matter son? You look like the world's coming to an end."
"Not like it already hasn't." Bradley responded while rolling his eyes.
"Did you and pumpkin have another fight?" Stacy's father asked with real concern.
"It wasn't just a fight! It was a massacre, and all because I asked her to marry me!" Bradley loudly proclaimed.
"M-Marry?" Stanley's eyes grew wide as he went into complete shock. Noticing this Bradley looked back down at the ground.
"She said no Mr. Stickler." This caused the older man to breathe a sigh of relief as Bradley continued speaking. "Can I ask you something?"
"O-Okay." Mr. Stickler responded as he recovered from his earlier shock.
"Was my decision really wrong?" He looked up into Stanley's eyes causing the older man to sympathize with the dark skinned boy. After all he knew what he was feeling right now. "It's just that Stacy's talking about leaving and starting this whole new life at college and..."
"And it's scary huh? That the Cleopatra to your Marc Anthony is heading off towards her future. Leaving you behind in the same position you left her when she was nine." Another voice popped up, which surprised Bradley as he noticed Polly standing a few inches away.
"S-Scary? As if! I'm a guy so being afraid of anything is impossible." Bradley spoke with such a fake aura of machismo that Polly couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement while Stanley placed a hand on Bradley's shoulder.
"Now, now being afraid isn't a bad thing at all. As for your reasons I can't say they were all that wrong." He said as Polly nodded.
"Indeed. While your reasons for proposing were selfish with total disregard for Stacy's feelings." Bradley glared at her while she continued. "I can't put you at fault either as it is obvious that whether you were scared of Stacy's inevitable departure or not your true feelings for her were behind it."
"Thanks you two." Bradley smiled a little only to look towards his girlfriends apartment. "Though it doesn't seem like that's how Stace sees it. She'll probably never talk to me again."
"Ah I wouldn't worry about my princess." Mr. Stickler smiled. "She may take after her mother, but we've all come to accept that you hold a larger place in her heart than anyone."
"Exactly. The probability that you and Stacy will never speak again is so far beyond zero that it would need its own zip code." Polly proclaimed as even pepperoni agreed with her as its head bounced up and down in a nod.
"You're right. Maybe I should get over there and talk to her. Maybe we really can smooth things over." Bradley couldn't help but smile. The pep talk had really helped. Now wasn't the time to sit and mope around. It was time for action.
"Actually I just saw her leave quite a while ago. She was in quite a hurry too." Mr. Stickler mused as he rubbed his chin.
"Then I've got to find her fast." He sprang from the chair and ran towards the exit of the courtyard.
Meanwhile Stacy Stickler was still in her room? The spiky haired girl laid on her bed as she looked up at the ceiling quietly. This was definitely a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time.
"Stacy? Honey is something wrong?" Her mom poked her head into the room cautiously.
"There's nothing wrong. What makes you think there would be?" Stacy put on a smile for her mother that didn't last as long as she hoped.
"Well for one thing you've barely left your room all week." Stella sighed as she opened the door and placed her hands on her hips. "Did you and Bradley have another fight?"
"Hmph. If you could call it a fight." Stacy spoke softly as she continued to watch the ceiling. "The idiot actually asked me to marry him.
"He did WHAT?" Stella's temper began to flare. "That boy. I thought I warned him..."
"But I said no." Stacy interrupted still in the same emotionless state as her mother breathed a sigh of relief. "Even though I didn't really want to refuse."
"Oh Stacy..." Her mother's face softened as she made her way to her daughters bed and sat down.
"I don't know what's wrong with me." Stacy turned her head a little to face her mothers with eyes devoid of life. "When he proposed at first I was really happy, but it just didn't feel right. Nothing at all felt right about it." Mrs. Stickler softly brushed a hand through her daughters hair as she continued to speak. "Does this mean I never really loved him in the first place?"
"Is that how you really feel?" She sighed as she looked down at the spiky haired girl laying on the bed. She didn't like seeing Stacy this way. It had been hard enough having to see this version of Stacy over the years Bradley had been absent from all their lives.
"No... But why else would I not accept his proposal?" Stacy spoke quietly as she faced away from her mother. "If I really loved him why would I have thought it wrong to accept?"
"Stacy did you stop to think that maybe it isn't your feelings that are in question here?" Her mom said in a comforting voice.
"What do you mean mom?" Stacy slowly looked back at her mom who was staring back down at her with a face full of worry and concern.
"I'm saying that maybe there's a reason why you thought it would be wrong to accept it. Ever since you two became a couple it's been obvious to your father and I that the feelings of love you hold for Bradley in your heart have always been real, but it doesn't take a genius to know that Bradley has always seemed unsure of his own feelings." She explained as her daughter looked up at her with blank eyes.
"What are you trying to say? That it's actually B-man who doesn't love me?" She asked in a depressed voice, which made Stella try to rephrase her line of thought.
"No. What I'm saying is maybe the reason you thought it wasn't right to accept was because you aren't sure if his true feelings were behind those words." Her mother finished causing Stacy to look back up at the ceiling. His true feelings huh? Well it is true that it seemed like he was asking because he was afraid of something. Still that doesn't mean she could say he didn't love her just because of that.
"Maybe I should go talk to him." Stacy said as she found herself sitting up as the life slowly began to return to her eyes. "After all I'll never know for sure whether my decision was right or wrong unless I find out how he truly feels."
"That's the stickler spirit." Her mother smiled and hugged her
"Thanks mom." Stacy smiled for the first time in that week as she hugged her mother in return before hopping off the bed and making her way out of the apartment.
"I guess I can't keep them apart forever." Stella found herself smiling as she watched her daughter dash out the exit of the courtyard. "My darling Stacy's all grown up."
It was then that a knock on the door brought her back to reality.
"Who could that be?" She wondered as she went to answer the door.
TO BE CONTINUED
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