Chapter 4
Part 1 – Josh
I waited outside of the boy's bathroom. I had made sure to set my alarm an hour early just so that I knew that I would have time to run my errand and get to school on time to be able to spend some quality time with Andy before school started. I had been thinking about how she sounded on the phone all night and, when I woke up in the morning, I was determined that even if I couldn't plan the perfect Valentine's Day, there were plenty of other special things I could do.
The hallways of school were mostly deserted. The occasional student walked by, but it was still early. If it were a normal day, I wouldn't even be out of bed yet. I was thankful for the quiet and solidarity. I just hoped that Andy would have the same idea of getting to school early, too.
"Hey," I said when I saw her turn the corner into the hallway. The first thing I noticed was that she seemed to be okay. The second was that she had stuck with the brown wig from the day before. I had to admit that the color was growing on me.
"Well, someone got up early today," she commented, walking towards me.
"Thought I'd surprise you," I answered. As soon as she was close enough, I reached out for her hand. "And I have one more surprise."
I took the flower out from behind my back and handed it to her. It was a white orchid in a dark blue vase. The look of shock on her face said it all. She was happily surprised. And the best part was, I had thought of the idea all by myself. I was thinking of going for roses, but that just reminded me too much of Valentine's Day and I definitely didn't want to remind me, or her, about that. I searched the entire flower shop for something that wasn't too pungent, because strong smells did have a tendency to make her sick, but that was still beautiful. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it. It reminded me of her - exquisite.
"Josh, it's…perfect."
"Just like you." I leaned in and kissed her cheek.
"What's the occasion?"
"No occasion. I saw it and it made me think of you."
"Right. You just happened to be walking through a flower shop recently?"
"So maybe I put a little more thought into it than that."
"Well, thank you. I love it."
She looked at it like I had given her a diamond necklace. Seeing her so happy made me smile. I knew that things were definitely better than they had been when we had spoken the night before. I watched her place the orchid gently on the ground.
"What are you…" I began to ask, but she cut me off.
She put her hands on either side of my face and kissed me. I was completely lost in the kiss. I loved the feeling of her soft lips against my own and the feeling of her body pressed against mine. I felt her tongue begging entry into my mouth. There was no way I was going to deny it.
"Mr. Trager." We both pulled apart. I was glad to see that it wasn't the principal who caught us. It was Mr. Costello, the science teacher I had last year. He smiled at us both as he crossed his arms over his chest. "So is this what it takes to get you to school on time?"
"It's just what I've always been trying to tell you, Mr. C, if you start giving kids real motivation to get to school on time, they'll start coming." Mr. C had always been one of my favorite teachers in the school. He was an adult who actually seemed to not only care about their students, but understand them as well. Not to mention that he loved my jokes. "And pretty girls are definitely good motivators."
I slipped my arm around Andy's shoulder and she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well, don't let the principal catch you two," he said before walking away.
I kissed her again, trying to pick up right where we left off.
"Are you trying to get us into trouble?" She asked.
"That depends." I took a step towards her, backing her into a row of lockers. Placing one hand on either side of her head, I trapped her. "What kind of trouble do you want to get into?"
She giggled and I kissed her again.
"Get a room," I heard someone say as they walked by. When we surfaced from our kiss, we both noticed that the hallways were becoming increasingly more crowded.
"I know a place that's a little more…private," I suggested, pointing to the boy's bathroom.
"As appealing as that sounds, I've got some homework I didn't get to finish last night that I've got to do before class."
"You? Ms. A plus student didn't finish her homework?"
"Yeah, well, Alex kept me a little busy last night."
I knew she was teasing, but it didn't stop the jealousy from running through my veins. All I could imagine was some tanned, muscular, shirtless man with his hands all over Andy's body. And the only people's hands I wanted to see on her body were mine.
"You're cruel, you know that."
She smiled one of her flirtatious smiles and stooped down to pick up the orchid.
"I'll see you tonight." She gave me one last peck on the cheek before walking away.
Part 2 – Andy
An orchid? What did an orchid mean? Sure, it was exotic and beautiful and a complete surprise, but it wasn't like him.
I opened my locker and put the orchid gently inside. It really was perfect.
"Hey Andy."
I closed the door. For some reason I wanted to keep the orchid all to myself. Like it was mine and Josh's little secret. When I turned around, I saw Amanda standing next to me.
"Hey," I replied.
I couldn't help but smile around Amanda. Like always she had this big grin stretching from ear to ear. I always wanted to know how one girl could possibly be so perky, but I guess that was just part of what made her who she was. That would be why she and Kyle made such a perfect couple.
"Has Josh told you yet?" Amanda asked.
"Told me what?" I asked somewhat suspicious. Could this have to do with the orchid?
"About the plans for Valentine's Day?"
Those two words made my smile disappear.
"No, he didn't mention anything."
Was Josh planning something for Valentine's Day? Did he believe me when I said that it was just another day? Did he realize that it was the same day as chemo?
"Maybe Kyle didn't say anything to him yet."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I was just reading about this restaurant downtown that's got a live band playing and I was thinking that if me and Kyle and you and Josh and Lori and…whoever she's dating at the moment want to, we can all go together."
What was I supposed to say to that?
"Amanda, I…"
"I mean, I know Valentine's Day is supposed to be romantic and everything, but my mom's still not too keen on me seeing Kyle so I thought maybe if a whole group of us went, she wouldn't be able to say no and…
"Look, Amanda, it sounds great, but…I…I can't."
"Oh." This time the smile disappeared off her face. "Well, that's okay." She looked like I had just told her her puppy died.
"Maybe we can do something some other time," I suggested, trying to make her feel better. She nodded. Not only had I killed her puppy, but I squashed him with a steam roller. "Look, Amanda, Kyle will figure out some way for you two to be together. He always does. It's all work out. You'll see."
I awkwardly put my hand on her shoulder, trying to make her feel better. I wasn't exactly the best person at little pep talks, but it would have to do.
"You're right." She smiled again. "Do you and Josh have special plans?"
How could I answer that question? Fortunately, I didn't have to. The bell rang, giving me an excuse to walk away.
"I'll see you around," I mumbled. Suddenly, my happy, orchid-filled morning became another dreary day.
Part 3 – Josh
"Are you still reading that?"
Lori walked around the back of the couch and sat down beside me. I stuck the pencil I had been writing with inside the book to mark my page.
"It's for extra credit," I explained, closing the notebook I was writing in.
"And just how long has it taken you to read Romeo and Juliet?"
"Well, it would go a lot faster if I spoke Shakesperian. I swear this guy makes up his own language."
Lori laughed. "I don't know what's more funny. You doing extra credit or you trying to read Shakespeare."
"Funny or not, I've got to read it and have this paper written by next Tuesday if I want the grade boost."
"Since when did you start caring about your grades?"
Lori was right. I never cared about my grades. I did the bare minimum to pass and that was about it. I hardly ever did my homework and extra credit was definitely out of the question. But that all changed.
"Let's just say that I actually want to make something of myself."
I expected her to come back with some kind of snotty remark, but she didn't. She just patted me on the shoulder.
"Well, if you need any help deciphering Shakesperian, let me know."
She stood up and walked away. Wondering if we had just shared one of our rare brother/sister moments, I turned my attention back to the book. I really wanted to get through at least one more page before…
The doorbell rang. I knew I had to ditch the book immediately. I did not want Andy catching me reading it. There was nothing manly about reading Romeo and Juliet.
I quickly slid the book between the couch cushions. Heading for the door, I threw my notebook on the coffee table.
Part 4 – Andy
"Hey," I said as the door opened. I was so glad to see him. Somehow seeing him made the whole day better.
"Hey yourself," he replied.
I walked inside and into his living room.
"So, are you ready for me to kick your ass?" I asked.
I was trying to sound like myself, but I didn't feel like myself. I was tired of all of this Valentine's Day bull. I was tired of my medicine that made me feel all happy one minute and weepy the next. I had been thinking about Valentine's Day all day and it was just getting annoying. I was tired of tiptoeing around the subject of Valentine's Day around Josh. I had to know what was going on inside of his head and I had to let out what was going on inside of mine or I was going to go insane.
"This time I'm giving you a run for your money," he said, sitting down on the couch.
"You wish."
I plopped down next to him and grabbed one of the game controllers. Josh turned on the TV and we waited for the game to load.
I took a deep breath.
"Josh, there's something we need to talk about," I said in one, long breath.
He turned to look at me. He looked scared. "Is it the flower? Because if you'd rather have roses, I…"
"It has nothing to do with the flower," I insisted. He might have looked cute when he was jealous, but the face he made when he was nervous was even more priceless. "We need to talk about Valentine's Day."
"Oh." He looked like he didn't know what to say or do. The truth was, I didn't know what to say or do either. "I thought you said…"
"That Valentine's Day was just another day, I know. And maybe I meant it and maybe I didn't, I'm still not really sure, but the bottom line is that I've been…thinking about it for the past few days and…"
"Me too."
I was surprised.
"You have?"
He reached over and held my hand.
"I wanted to do something special for you. Especially since this is our first Valentine's together and everything. But then you said that you didn't care about Valentine's Day so I thought maybe we shouldn't do something special, but then Lori said that all girls care about Valentine's Day and I was just so confused and then I found out that…"
"It was on a Tuesday?"
He nodded. I felt immediate relief. It was out in the open. Everything I was afraid of and angry about was out in the moment. It felt so good.
"And I didn't know what to do," he admitted.
This time it was my turn to admit something. "I didn't much care about Valentine's Day until I heard everyone else talking about. But then I found out it was on a Tuesday and I just got so…mad." I paused to think. "I got mad for no reason."
I laughed. I just couldn't help myself.
"What's so funny?"
"All this worrying about whether you were going to do something special or even want to do something special has just been so…pointless. It just proves that Valentine's Day is really just a commercial holiday. We all get so caught up in the logistics of it, we forget what's really important."
"Being together," he said, kissing me softly.
"Yeah, being together. That's all I wanted."
"Me, too."
"You know, Amanda invited you and I to some dinner thing."
"She did?"
"She doesn't think her mom will let her go out with Kyle alone."
"Bummer."
"It sounded like fun, though. If only it weren't on a Tuesday."
"Well, Valentine's Day doesn't have to be this Tuesday, you know," Josh said.
"What do you mean?"
"Who says we have to celebrate on Tuesday? Let this Tuesday come and go, it is just another day after all. We've got our whole lives to celebrate any time we want." I smiled. "Now come on, let's play."
Josh picked up his controller again and he started the game. It was nice that there was no more pressure or fear or guilt. Well, there was still a little guilt. Amanda might not be able to have her perfect Valentine's Day because of me.
"Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"You could go with them, if you want. On Tuesday I mean. You don't have to stay with me at chemo. That way Amanda and Kyle can still go out and you won't have sit there and watch me get drugged up."
He dropped his controller without even pausing the game.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be on Valentine's Day than watching you get drugged up," he said with a straight face. I burst into laughter as his lips captured mine. I began to lean backwards as our lips fed hungrily on each other. As my head sank back against the pillow, I felt something digging into my lower back.
"Ow!" I shrieked, putting my hand against Josh's chest to stop him. He shifted off of me and I pulled the object that was sticking into my back out from between the couch cushions.
"Romeo and Juliet?" I asked laughing.
Josh took the book out of my hands and threw it onto the floor. Without a word, we picked up where we had left off…kissing.
Author's Note: It looks like one more chapter to go! This chapter was difficult for me for some reason. I basically needed a "filler" chapter to get the story to where I wanted to be and I guess this was it. Thank you for reading and thank you to everyone who sent out such kind thoughts to me after my surgery. I am feeling better (although I get very tired very easily) so be on the lookout for the final chapter soon!