Notes: Yep we skip ahead a bit. One more chapter after this. Hmm I think I'll try to finish these two chapters in one sitting. They'll be short! I'm watching The Pallbearer right now. Man this is so funny. They just invited this woman to a funeral as if it was some kind of party.

Lonely on Valentines Day

"Come on Banks. At least come to the dance." Guy said combing his hair. "Not everyone's got a date." Guy was going with a junior named Windy Turner. "Don't spend this day in the room moping."

I looked up from the Internet search I was doing. "I'm not moping. I'm doing homework that's due Monday."

He sighed. "Adam it's a Friday night. You have two days to do that homework. You can hang out with Keith. I know he doesn't have a date since your sister's in California."

"The Pallbearer is on in an hour I can watch that." I said.

"Adam you are hopeless. You'd rather watch a romantic movie then go to a Valentines Dance." There was a knock on the door. Guy went to open it. Keith, Mikah, and William were standing there. "Good maybe you guys can help me. Banks won't go to the dance."

"Oh come on Banks. You can't do homework on Friday night. Especially if it's Valentines Day. There's a rule against that." William said.

I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not going. I'm going to watch The Pallbearer."

"Adam you gotta move on with your life." Keith said. "Don't let this year keep you down. There's many beautiful unattached ladies at this school. And we are going to help you find one."

"As long as it's not Windy." Guy inserted.

I don't think I have a choice in this matter. I changed into slacks and a dress shirt. We walked into the gym for the dance. There were couples everywhere. I could see Julie and Scooter who came to be with her, Charlie and Linda, Russ and a girl I didn't know. I almost did a double take when I saw Averman with Diana Silverman. Who would have thought?

I caught a glimpse of McGill and Tina and Josh and Connie dancing in a group. It was lonely on Valentines Day when you didn't have a girlfriend.

I started backing out of the gym. There was no way I was going to stick around here. I saw no one looking and walked out of the gym and into the lobby. I sat down on a bench. It was too cold to go outside to sit. I could hear the music quite well from here.

Someone sat down. I looked over and saw a blond girl. I'd seen her around a few times. Never talked to her though. She was a hockey fan I think. No wait she was in the band. That's where I'd seen her. She was a sophomore I think.

"Why aren't you dancing?" She asked me. Well that was right unexpectedly.

"I was forced to come here by my friends." I said.

"Me too. The Pallbearer was on but my friends didn't buy it."

I laughed. "I tried that too. I'm Adam."

"I'm Marcy. I hate Valentines Day."

"Me too."

"Oh!" Something seemed to dawn on her. "You're on the Varsity hockey team right? You were the one that was uh..."

"Yeah." I said knowing she didn't really want to finish that.

"This must be though on you! I just was dumped by my boyfriend right after Christmas break. I know how that feels." Then she blushed. "I'm sorry. I'm a real blabbermouth according to my friends."

"That's okay."

"You want to leave here or something? Maybe go to Starrbucks?" She asked. Starrbucks wasn't that far from here. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound pushy but I was thinking of going there."

"Sure." I said. Anything sounded better then here. But I was a bit reluctant. Though nothing happened since September, I still fear that that they are just waiting for me to put my guard down.

We walked down to Starrbucks. I wasn't a coffee drinker and got a hot tea. So did she. "My sister works here." She told me. "Hey Crystal!" She called.

A short plump girl in her early twenties came over. "Hey Marcy! I thought you'd be at that school dance I heard about. This your date?"

I blushed. "No. We both had something in common. Neither of us wanted to be at the dance." Marcy quickly explained.

She took a seat next to her sister. We were the only ones there. We talked about everything it felt like. We even discussed the bad relationships we'd been in. Something felt right. I felt less lonely. Not that I was thinking of Marcy as a girlfriend. More like another friend.