CHAPTER 9

THE DAY BEFORE THE DAY OF LOVE

LLOYD'S POV:

A lot of things have happened for the past week and a half. Brad and I finally went over to the house where his parents were suppose to be at for the New Year's Eve party. When we got there, the couple said they never showed up. When we got back home, we were stumped and didn't know where else to go. I'm not gonna give up, though, and that's a promise. A few days ago, Kai was just simply going to the grocery store to pick up a few things when somebody hit the back of his car, causing him to sprain his arm and gather a few cuts and bruises. The leader of the whole thing was none other than Dareth. If anything, he doesn't deserve to have a driver's license. Also, a storm hit the other night and a tree crashed in the parking lot of the school. The only damages caused were a few broken windows, but school was cancelled yesterday for the repairs to get started.

If you think things can't get worse, they can. I've been hearing people all day long at school talking about what they were going to give their secret crush for Valentine's Day. Although, that was a lot of the girls saying that, but still. I had forgotten that Valentine's Day was tomorrow and I didn't plan to make anything for Zelda. So I gather up some arts and crafts stuff and began working. The least I could make her was a card. I'm pretty sure a lot of girls would be getting little stuffed teddy bears and boxes of chocolate, but I think a card is much nicer. Plus, its simpler.

While I was working on the card, Nick came into my room. I didn't noticed him, so he started tapping on my desk. I looked at him at first then continued on with my work. He knocked on my desk hard with his fist. "Is there a reason why I'm being ignored?"

"What did you say, Nick?" I asked, pretending not to hear him, "Sorry, I can't talk right now. I'm working on a very important gift for a very important person."

"How could you possibly be making a gift for somebody? You don't even like any girls. Unless you're making something for your mom."

"It's none of your business."

Nick sighed. "I understand that you're mad at me, Lloyd, but I really need your help. I know I never really ask for your help much, but this time I am. I can't of the right gift to make for Monica. I don't have money to buy anything so my brain is all I have, but my brain isn't thinking about mushy gushy love gifts. Can you tell me anything?"

"It's simple. Just make her a Valentine's card."

"What should I draw in it? Or should I cut the drawings out? What color construction paper should I use? Pink or red? What kind of love quote should I use? Should I find a quote somebody else says or should I make one up myself?"

"Really, Nick, I thought you were a genius. I guess I was wrong."

"I am a genius. I'm just not used to making Valentine cards to certain people."

"Why are you making one for Monica then?"

"Because, in a way, she's special to me. You know what, Lloyd? Your no help at all. I'm gonna go find someone else."

Once Nick was out of sight, I continued working on my card for Zelda. Nick already knew that I have a crush on a girl, but I wasn't too happy with him. My birthday was coming up the day after tomorrow. Since Nick wouldn't be there, I wouldn't be nice to him until then. My thoughts started scattering when somebody else came into my room. I was thinking that it was Nick again so I kept working. A light tap was made on my shoulder. I turned around to see Brad. My eyes widened as I did my best to hide the card I was making for Zelda.

Brad gave me a confused stare, but changed his expression a second later. "Hey, Lloyd, I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Sure thing, Brad. Hold on a second." I got up from my desk and closed my bedroom door. I sat back down, looking at Brad. "What do you need, Brad?"

"Why did you just close the door?"

"I was just trying to make sure that nobody came in here while we were talking. Especially Nick. So, what do you need?"

"I don't know if I should be talking about this because it's kind of personal. Can you keep a secret?"

"Keep a secret? I've kept plenty of them. I have secrets of my own that you don't even know about, but that's a different story. I don't mind keeping one that you've told me, though. What is it?"

"Well, there's this girl at school that I kind of like. She's really nice and we've never really spoken to each other before. I mean, we've made eye contact with each other, but we've just never talked. Anyway, I had a little money saved up and I went and bought her this little teddy bear. It's a little brown teddy bear and it has a heart in its hands that says you'll always be perfect to me. I wanna make her a card as well, but I just don't know what to say in it. Got any ideas?"

"What did it say on the heart the teddy bear was holding?"

"You'll always be perfect to me."

"Who's the special girl you plan to give it to?"

"You might know her. She's the prettiest girl in school. Not a lot of guys drool over her, but I think she's kind of pretty, if you know what I mean."

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about Staci Johnson, would you?"

"How did you know?"

"She's the only girl everybody at school refers to as the pretty person. How in the world did you end up developing a crush on her?"

"I don't know. It feels as though she's... the one."

"What do you mean by the one?"

"I mean that she's the perfect girl for me. I can see it right through her heart. I'm hoping that she truly believes that I've changed from my evil ways. If anything, I want her to see it through my heart."

"How can somebody see through your heart?"

"I don't want her to actually see my heart. I want her to see my expression. I want her to know that I've absolutely, positively changed. So, about the card. What should I write in it?"

"Well, you don't want it to be too lovey dovey or mushy gushy. This is your first time ever making a Valentine's card to somebody you actually like. You need to make it as simple as you possibly can."

"What if she doesn't like things simple? What if she wants things to be all cute and cuddly? You know how girls are nowadays. They want everything to be filled with so much fluff that it's just gonna explode right out of you."

"Listen, Brad, this card is made from your heart. It's your responsibility to write down what you think is best."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I'm sure. I've never been more sure about anything before."

"I hope you're right, Lloyd. Okay, I need to come up with a good quote. How about I make up a rhyme? Something like this. You're as simple as can be. At least you are to me. How's that?"

"When I said simple, I didn't mean that you had to put it inside the phrase. Plus, a lot of store bought cards have rhymes in them. You might wanna think of something else."

"Okay, how about this? I think of you as a really great person. I hope we can be great friends. How does that sound?"

"It's better, but it's kind of long and its in separate sentences. You need to figure something out that's short and sweet. A lot of girls like that. Especially the pretty ones."

"Short and sweet? I'll never be able to think of something like that. It was stupid of me to think I could make a card for Staci Johnson. She would never wanna go near a guy like me."

"Brad, remember this. I'm a ninja, and ninja never quit. I'm not gonna quit on you. We're gonna figure out the right quote. You'll see."

"We're not writers, Lloyd. How can we think up of such magnificent quotes?"

"This is why we stay in school. We may not be writers, but we do have brains." I gasped. "I've got it. What did that heart say on the teddy bear again?"

"You'll always be perfect to me."

"I have an idea."

"I hope it's a good one, Lloyd."

"This is the quote that we needed. Instead of figuring out a different one, let's just keep on quote and use them for both gifts."

"Well, I can't change the quote on the bear. Do you think it's perfect?"

"It's simple, it's short and it's sweet. You can't get any better than that."

"I hope it works. Thanks, Lloyd."

"Anytime, Brad. If you ever have a problem, just let me know about it."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Brad closed the door to my room. Hopefully, I helped him out with that little love problem of his. You can't get much better that short, sweet and simple. Now I just need to figure out the right quote for Zelda. Should it be magnificent or simple? Maybe giving Brad that kind of advice wasn't such a good idea.

HEY, GUYS. I'M HERE. I TOLD YOU I WAS GOING BACK TO SCHOOL TODAY. I DID. MY SECOND BLOCK IS STILL THE SAME. I HAVE GEOMETRY AND I HATE MATH. MY OTHER CLASSES CHANGED. NOW I HAVE FOUR NEW CLASSES.

LOOKS LIKE LLOYD WAS ABLE TO GIVE BRAD SOME GREAT ADVICE ABOUT WHAT TO GIVE A GIRL. GOOD FOR HIM.

OH, I HAD FORGOTTEN TO TELL YOU THAT I GOT MY PSAT SCORES BACK. I GOT AN 830. I NEED HELP. IF ANY OF YOU ARE JUNIORS IN HIGH SCHOOL AND YOU HAVE TAKEN THE PSAT, DO YOU MIND TELLING ME IF 830 IS A GOOD SCORE OR NOT. I'M JUST WONDERING.

WELL, I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS CHAPTER.

PLEASE REVIEW.