Chapter 3

Part 1 – Andy

I cut the rest of my back massage short because of the stomach ache that had settled low in my stomach the moment I realized that Valentine's Day was on the same day as chemo. I waited in the spa's lavish, serene waiting room for my moms. They both emerged from their rooms twenty minutes later, one gushing about how smooth her face felt and the other showing off her matching fingers and toes. It usually made me happy to see them so happy, but their smiles had no effect on me. I was miserable.

"How was your massage?" One of my moms asked.

"Fine," I answered, staring at my hands. I didn't want to look at either of them. As I began to chew on my fingernails, I thought that maybe I should have gone for the manicure after all. At least, from what my mom has told me, I knew the manicurist doesn't even talk to her clients. I bet she wouldn't have ruined Valentine's Day for me.

"Andy…" one of my moms was obviously trying to get my attention and I wasn't listening. I was still busy brooding over the news I had just discovered.

"What?" I asked.

"Are you ready to get for dinner?"

I had forgotten about dinner. It was part of our girl's day – going to a restaurant we had never been to before. Soon we were going to run out of restaurants.

"Actually," I said. "I'm not feeling that well."

I could see the look of concern immediately appear on both of their faces. Not feeling well automatically meant that the cancer was giving me a headache or the cancer was making me tired or the cancer this or the cancer that. I didn't tell them that my not feeling well had nothing to do with the cancer and yet, it had everything to do with the cancer. Because if it weren't for the cancer, I wouldn't have to skip Valentine's Day.

"Well, we'll just take you home so you can rest," my mom said in her concerned mom voice.

We returned to the women's dressing room where we traded in our fluffy, white robes for our usual clothes. We drove home in silence, my moms constantly looking at me in the rearview mirror to make sure I was okay. It was like they thought I was going to drop dead at any second or something. I hated lying to them because it made them both so worried. But it wasn't really a lie – my stomach really did hurt.

When we got home, my moms told me to go right upstairs and get myself into bed. I did as told without argument, knowing that they would check on me in about an hour and probably every hour after that. I also knew that one of their visits would be accompanied by a big bowl of chicken noodle soup. My moms make the best chicken noodle soup. Their soup alone is reason enough to pretend that you're sick, but I wasn't pretending.

Entering my bedroom, I flopped down on my bed and hugged Rascal, my big, blue stuffed dog that my moms had given me the first time I was diagnosed with cancer. I knew I was too old for stuffed animals, but I didn't care. I needed something to hold onto.

I rolled over and saw my calendar of famous American women hanging on the wall. And there it was, Tuesday, February 14th. There was a little red heart under the fourteen. I hurled my pillow at the calendar, knocking it off the wall. Life was so totally unfair.

I hugged Rascal tighter and then looked at the crumpled calendar on the floor. I could see a picture of Harriet Tubman, the famous woman for February, staring up at me. Looking at a woman who had risked everything to save others made me realize just how ridiculous and stupid I was being. There was no reason to be so upset. Valentine's Day was just another day of the year. There was nothing really special about it. Besides, I realized, Josh and I could make our own Valentine's Day after I finish all of my chemo. Now that day would mean something. And I knew just how we could celebrate it. Him. Me. His car. Make-out point. The disappointment in my stomach started going away. Except, instead of vanishing completely, it was replaced by another, very strange feeling.

I took my vibrating cell phone out of my pocket, which was the strange sensation I had been feeling. Looking at it, I smiled.

Part 2 – Josh

I speed dialed her number and put the phone to my ear. I was hoping she was done with her girl's day and that I was interrupting. After all, I knew how important it was for her and her moms to spend time together. But I really wanted to talk to her although I didn't know why. Andy and I are more texting people than actual telephone people, but it didn't stop me from dialing her number. For some reason, I just wanted to hear her voice.

She picked up on the second ring.

"I was just thinking about you," she answered.

"Good or bad?"

She paused. "Let's say good, but doing bad things."

I laid down on my bed.

"I like the way you think," I said. "Care to elaborate?"

"Maybe some other time."

I had to admit that I was a little disappointed. After all, Andy was as good at scheming and planning as I was, which probably meant that whatever she was thinking would be awesome.

"I'm not interrupting girl's day, am I?" I asked.

"No, we cut it short."

"Why?"

"I wasn't feeling well."

I sat straight up. Not feeling well was not a good thing.

"Are you okay?" A million thoughts ran through my mind. Was she in pain? Was she throwing up? Did she need me?

"I'm fine."

I should have seen that coming. 'I'm fine' was her usual response to any time I asked her how she was. I swear, her leg could get chopped off and she'd still say that she was fine.

"Andy…"

"No, really, I am. I just wasn't in the mood for going out to dinner. That's all."

I knew that was the end of that. There was no pressing her for details because I knew that she wouldn't give any.

"How was your massage?" I asked.

"It was good," she answered simply.

Okay, something was definitely wrong. There was just something in her tone of voice. I expected her to, at the very least, tease me about Alex, her 'magical' massage therapist, but she didn't.

"Just good?"

"Yeah, just good."

"You know, if you paid me, I'd give you a back massage," I offered, trying to cheer her up. "Of course, I can't promise that my hands will stay on your back."

Her laughter made me smile. I loved the sound of her laugh, especially when I knew that I was the one who caused it. But her laughter soon faded. There was no smart Alec remark following my comment as I expected there to be. Something was definitely up.

"So, we on for game night after school tomorrow?" I questioned.

"I wouldn't miss kicking your butt for anything."

Now that was the Andy I knew.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," I said.

"Bye."

"Yeah, bye."

I flipped my phone shut and stared at it. Something was definitely going on with Andy, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. There was only one thing I could think to do. I walked out of my room and down the hall. Lori's bedroom door was already halfway open so I pushed it the rest of the way.

"What?" She asked.

She was sitting cross legged on her bed with a bunch of papers scattered all around her. What looked like her western civilizations history book was open on her lap. I had obviously interrupted her homework, but I didn't care.

"Have you come up with anything yet?" I asked.

"Anything for what?"

She didn't even bother to look at me. A sure sign that she was pissed that I was in her room.

"You know, my Valentine's problem."

This time, she did look up.

"I told you I'd come up with something in a few days, not a few hours."

"But there's only a few days left."

I knew it sounded like I was whining, but I was desperate. There was just something off about Andy's voice. I wanted to make her happy and I knew that planning the perfect day would do just that.

"Look, I promise I'll have something for you by Monday," Lori insisted, turning her attention back to her history book.

I crossed my arms over my chest and began to tap my foot impatiently on the floor. She ignored me.

"Don't you think Monday's a little late?" I finally asked.

"What?"

"Monday is Valentine's Day."

"Josh, Tuesday is Valentine's Day," Lori stated.

"No, it's on Monday."

She sighed angrily and pulled her agenda out from underneath her book. She held it out to me. I walked over to her bed and took it in my hand. Sure enough, there was Tuesday, February 14th.

"Told you so," she said in that sisterly way that's incredibly annoying.

"But it can't be on Tuesday," I whispered, sitting down on the edge of her bed. After all the planning I had done, or not done, but planned on doing, Valentine's Day was on a Tuesday.

"Do you have something personally against Tuesdays?" She asked.

Feeling terrible, I dropped the agenda back down on her bed. Valentine's Day had never meant anything to me, but it didn't stop me from being upset. I wanted to do this for her. After all the hardships Andy had been through, I wanted to do something special and now I couldn't even give her a nice Valentine's Day.

"Yeah," I muttered. "They're hell."

Lori looked up at me with a panicked look on her face.

"Oh, Josh, I'm sorry. I forgot. Andy has…"

"Chemo on Tuesdays," I filled in.

"Maybe that's why she said that Valentine's Day didn't matter to her. Maybe she knew that she wouldn't be up to celebrating it."

I took a deep breath. "Yeah. Well, at least you don't have to come up with a plan anymore." With my arms crossed over my chest, I walked out of the room.

Author's Note: As I said before, I really wanted to get this story posted by Valentine's Day, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I just found out that I have to have a root canal done tomorrow morning and oral surgery done the following day. So, I don't know if I'm going to be much in the mood for writing. But, I promise that I'll do what I can. Enjoy and please review!